July 2023, Days 15-16

We said our goodbyes to cousin Tish in Yerington, NV and headed home.  Yes, we could have made the drive in one day, yet we decided to stop about half way at the Jackson Rancheria Casino RV Resort.  No photos of the park, but it was very nice, and we’d happily stay there again.  

On the last leg home, another trailer sandwich lunch didn’t sound good, so the In-N-Out in Merced was a temptation we couldn’t resist.  

Sixteen days, 1,855 miles,  so many wonderful times, stories, and smiles with family and fiends—all were awesome hosts.  We can’t thank you enough!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=MVvtC742BjE&feature=sharea

July 22, Day 9-July 27, Day 14

Bam! Where did the days go?  No internet, too tired, and just having fun.  

We left Diamond Lake and headed north to Bend, Ore.  Along the way we knocked off another old stop for me that I could share with Kari, Gordy’s Truck Stop in La Pine, where the restaurant makes a great BLT that we enjoyed for a trailer lunch.  We checked in at Crown Villa RV Resort, a Sun Outdoors property.  There for two nights, it was a bit disappointing.  Sun Outdoors properties are usually very nice.  Unfortunately, this one is suffering some severe staffing problems.  The lawns hadn’t been mowed for far too long a time, and the daily trash pickups weren’t picked up the entire time we were there and longer.  It was quiet and beautiful, just off their mark.  

We did grocery shopping in Bend, and Parfait got a new toy.  Its name is “Bendy” and she apparently loves it.  

From Bend we headed south, backtracking, ending up at out first Harvest Host location, Train Mountain Railroad Museum in Chiloquin, Ore.  Harvest Host is a service where businesses can offer overnight parking to RVs in exchange for $30 worth of purchases or donations.  It was a really cool experience.  A great walking tour and museum (we arrived too late for the train tour along 37 miles of track).  The recently received tanker car from Madera that transported wine back east was a fun catch.  They have a nice Harvest Host campground onsite for visitors.  It was very quiet and peaceful.  

The next day we headed to the 100 acre ranch of Kari’s cousin, Paul, in Greenville, Calif.  What an amazing place!  A couple years ago, the massive Dixie Fire surrounded him and almost took all his forest products and structures.  Fighting against all odds, he saved the main house, shop, and guest cabins.  The nearby town of Greenville was one of the towns burned down, and they are aggressively rebuilding.  Paul and his partner Grace were awesome hosts.  

We are now in Yerington, Nevada visiting another cousin of Kari, Tish.  She lives on a wonderful ten acre ranch.  Her 13-year old “puppy” Rascal and Parfait have hit it off as best buddies.  

Thanks to Paul and Tish, we are really enjoying sleeping in real beds and fantastic home cooking.

July 2023, Day 8

 July 21, Day 8 was Crater Lake day for us.  

We unhooked and left the trailer at the camp to take the short drive to the north Entrance Station of Crater Lake National Park.  Being a Friday morning, the “gate wait” wasn’t terrible, only about 30 minutes.  

And then, to be immediately greeted by the gate Ranger loudly exclaiming, “Greeting Yosemite folks!”  She quickly followed up by adding she has the same Yosemite employee decal on her truck.  In a quick interaction, we shared that we  both left Yosemite in 2018.  She pretty much waved us through without looking at any identification or payment. I later seemed to remember working at the Yose El Portal Entrance Station.  The decal pass expired at the end of 2020, but for some reason I’ve left it on.  In our recent trip back to Yosemite, the gate Ranger there also waved us through without getting a form of payment or checking my NPS senior pass. Maybe past membership still had some perks.  

I set the bar low for Crater Lake, and it was about right.  The history is really rich.  The deepest lake in North America and no water flows in or out by streams. It’s all rain and snowmelt that evaporates or gets soaked into the porous ground under it.  The Entrance Station flier has some cool geological and native peoples history, including a number of sets of woven sandals were found in a void encapsulated by lava, indicating natives were in the area when the volcano blew approximately 7,000 years ago.  Insect sex always spices up the information too.  

We returned to Diamond Lake for a second night of quiet rest.  Parfait was busy being on Red Alert for chipmunks as they passed through the camp. It was hilarious at times watching her.  

It was also nice to have South Shore Pizza and Ice Cream across the street.  We highly recommend both products.  

July 2023, Day 7

July 20, Day 7, was another long travel time day, as we traveled from Brooking, Ore. to Diamond Lake, Ore., ducking back into California a bit before returning to Oregon.  We added some nice shared experiences along the way.  It was tough leaving the cool coastal weather behind as we drove through miles of redwood forest toward Interstate 5.  We glumly watched the outside temperature slowly climb along our route.  

Off to the side of the road, I noticed a rural fire department that it’s name begged more questions than answers as to their coverage area.  

When I was driving for Knight Transportation,  I often visited or passed through places I’d like to visit again or share with Kari during our retirement travels.  It’ll likely be a reoccurring theme as our travels progress around the country.  

On this day, I was able to check two places off that dream list, Heaven On Earth and Seven Feathers.  We had planned to stop at Seven Feathers and HOE just happened to work out.   

Heaven On Earth is a small restaurant along I-5 at Exit 86 in Central Oregon (just south of Seven Feathers).  You can’t skip a place that advertises “Home of the Famous Cinnamon Roll.”  It’s not advertised, but the restaurant is a bakery too.  

I’ve spent nights there while I was driving for Knight Transportation even though they only offer parking in addition to their incredible food.  Today we picked up a cinnamon roll and a pecan roll for the next day breakfast and a large piece of pineapple upside down cake for Kari and apple crisp for me for dessert.  Plus a couple jars of goodness, one preservatives and the other BBQ sauce.  I really should have taken some photos, but I didn’t.  The inside photos I stole from Google Maps and they are still accurate.  

In my past visits, I’ve overheard the owner, a very nice Christian woman, talking to locals about the business and her plans to expand (pre-Covid).  I had told Kari about her the best I could, and was happily surprised when I exited the bakery after buying everything that the owner had bumped into Kari outside and they were enjoying a lovely conversation about each other.  

Just a few miles later, Seven Feathers.  

Seven Feathers is along I-5 at Exit 99 in Canyonville is a Native American casino resort, much like many others.  Good restaurants, super shows, and I’ve lost money gambling there.  Yup, typical.   

On the opposite side of the highway is a Travel Center that includes services for both the car traveler and commercial vehicle driver.  The Travel Center has a pastry and sweets counter that is certainly sourced from the casino’s food and beverage operations, and always has tempting selections.  They’ve got a nice grill for a variety of hot and cold sandwiches.  They do a good hot pastrami sandwich that claimed me as a victim—again.  

There is also a RV park there that I’ve never seen until today.  In the past I was tempted to take the casino shuttle there, but never committed to it.  We took the opportunity before fuel and lunch to check it out.  It’s likely the nicest RV park I’ve ever seen, rivaling one we stayed at in Palm Springs back when we had our Airstream in the late 1990s-early 2000s.  We are definitely interested in returning for a stay.  

Back on the road to Diamond Lake, which is next to Crater Lake National Park for two nights…and no cell service.  The RV park is a basic campground, but was well maintained with a friendly and welcoming staff.

Diamond Lake is beautiful and provides a variety or recreational activities.

  

July 2023 Anniversary Trip, Days 5-6

Day 5 was a long drive from Fort Bragg, Calif. to Brookings, Ore.  We knew it would be a long day to begin with because Hwy 1 is extremely narrow and twisty between Fort Bragg up to US-101. 

In addition to the slower driving, all along the way on both highways there were countless delays due to construction.  Most of the work appeared to be related to damage from the relentless winter storms.  

We are at At Rivers Edge RV Resort for two nights.  It is very nice and lives up to its name well.  Still very cool weather with morning fog/marine layer that cleared out about midday.  After yesterday’s almost 8 hour drive, we decided to stay hooked up to the trailer and spend another today enjoying the environment rather than going exploring.  I love to drive, yet, I appreciate “no drive” days too.  

The resort, while not large, is extremely well organized, maintained, clean and orderly, and super nice staff.  There’s a nice mixture of overnight travelers like us, longer term guests and seasonal guests. There are several spots dedicated to more full time living too.  With the exception of a couple spaces, all are kept well.  They also have a nice selection of yurts and various size rental cabins.  

Tomorrow is Thursday, July 20th, and will pull out early to head to Diamond Lake, which puts us near Crater Lake.  Another long drive because we are thinking about taking an exploratory detour along the way.