Home!

We did get up early and thanks to a beautiful almost full moon, could see to unhook everything and get on the road by 4:30. It was a cool drive, and the early hour meant not too much traffic in Phoenix either, a bonus! Breakfast in Eloy (I had cereal, but Cary went into Burger King), home by 7:30. The unloading began...oh, my gosh!! Someone needs to put a leash on us. There is still more in the trailer, but we finally quit for lunch, naps, sorting mail...laundry, out to buy a newspaper--I sure missed the Arizona Daily Star and we shall start back tomorrow. Groceries and .... I do not even want to think about the list I have yet to make. Luckily the trip was wonderful. 

And, luckily, the sunsets at home make it worthwhile to be here!

p.s. If you read yesterday's post, I did go back and edit the pictures.

From Bakersfield to Tonopah

Our original plan had been just to go to Beaumont, California, then we extended it to Ehrenberg...later we thought we might as well get as far as Tonopah, arriving home much sooner.
A few things came up between Quartzite and here, so I am only posting some pictures for now. Explanations later, if you are interested, but mainly for my own benefit! (I had to pay $2.95 for the internet connection here, but the cost to stay was very inexpensive.)
1. The AC in the truck quit working out of Quartzite!
2. and 3. When we stopped to get a new battery for Cary's cochlear implant device, the bedroom slide wouldn't go out all the way, so I crawled back over the bed to get it...and broke off the connection.
4. I did get a migraine, but luckily I have meds, and we stopped for Subway sandwiches. The trailer is cooling off pretty well. We plan to get up very early to head for home. Cross your fingers!

Some of the views we had while driving

This was a great train--notice how you can see part of it here--

and around the bend, the rest of it (or more of it, really).

Way up on the hill, sits this home. You can't tell that this is a very high hill.

 One of many tunnels for the train

Traffic backup, we never saw why

This is the site where the bridge went out in June.

Bakersfield

We spent last night in Patterson at Kit Fox, with this lovely view of the grassy hillside. I want to find some new lyrics to "The Sound of Music," starting with "The hills are alive with the sound of traffic..." but that is as far as I get. Luckily!

 

You can tell by the greenery that farmers can actually get things to grow here. We would really be out of luck at the grocery store if they couldn't. On the way to Bakersfield we saw orchards of nut trees, olives, grapes, and I think some fruit trees.

 

We are now camped in an orange grove, aptly named "Orange Grove RV Park." It is the hottest we have been since the beginning of the trip.

 

There are some cute amenities here, and I am sure the place fills up in the winter.

 

This took some work, and there are two of them here!

 

 

 The lodge connected to the office is very comfortable, holds books, games, a bar and I think I saw a TV.

My cousin, Patrick Power lives in Bakersfield, but since I really didn't know we would be stopping here, I didn't make plans to see him. Most of the time we just pass through. Next year I would like to make it a point to see him though!

It is nearly 8:00 p.m. and finally cooling off, great view of the moon out our back window (but I went outside for the picture, since the camera also captured the spots on the glass)!

 

Towards Rolling Hills Casino

We got an early start since there are a lot of hills between where we stayed last night and Corning, California, where we are now. And it was a long drive. I tried to keep my eyes on a crossword puzzle or magazine the whole time, but sometimes...I just had to look.

 

 

 

 

The haze is still some smoke left from nearby fires.

 

 

You can see how it was affecting Mt. Shasta.

 

But as we drove farther, it became clearer.

 

 
Finally it became very clear, but it is so sad to see the amount of snow is so low. You can really tell that what the weather folks have been saying about the cause and effect of the drought in relation to the snow melt, among other things.
 

I posted  this picture last year; it is from the casino website. We were "stranded" here three days after discovering an oil leak (on a Saturday) and having to have it towed to nearby Red Bluff to be fixed. Tonight we went to another buffet, much better than last night's, so I ate too much!

 

Cary commented that this made it look like there were too tractors on this trailer, so I had to get a picture.

 

Inside the casino hotel, very elegant staircase...I am glad I have my own bed to sleep in though!

One Last Night in Oregon

We had lunch at a rest stop two hours into the drive; this is the view from the table. There is still smoke in the distance and in just the short time we were outside, our noses and eyes can feel it.

Our spot at the RV park at Seven Feathers Casino Resort, a very nice place on the Umpqua Indian Reservation, Cow Creek Band.

These gorgeous flowers were everywhere!

This reminded us of Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.

Raspberries?

The eagle stands guard at the casino. We went there for the buffet.

Too much smoke, not enough internet

Salem and Silverton have really been smoky. Declared unhealthy, so we stayed inside all of Sunday after getting a few groceries and filling the fuel tanks. We made the decision that with the fires up north we didn't want to take any chances, so rather than head to Montana, we are going home. ETA Saturday. It really has been a great trip, now to figure out how to use up or freeze or ... all my produce before crossing into California! You just never know when some cranky person at the border decides it is OUR turn to ask about fruit and vegetables!

Maybe my internet will be more reliable down the road, but if you have emailed me at all, I have not been able to get on there much at all. Or here!

Salem and Silverton, updated

Okay, I am ready to give it a try! First two pictures are of our campground in Gearhart, near Seaside. The owner was actually a nice guy, and except for the cranky woman at the front desk and the really loud road noise, it turned out to be a decent park. However, Seaside and Astoria, Cannon Beach and the area are forever off our list of places to go--too much traffic! I know, most of them are tourists!

This is a view from our dining room table at the RV park in Silverton (near Salem), Silver Spur, on the morning we arrived. The rates are more than we expected (they no longer accept the Passport rate in August), but it is relatively quiet and it is nice. Free root beer floats on Friday! Also, we like that it is pretty easy to get to our friends in Salem.

Cary got a kick out of the attachment on this motor home!

One of our Friday yard sales in Silverton.

Stay tuned for more explanation of Saturday's visit to World of Speed in Wilsonville.

This was the view out our window this morning; smoke from one or more of the many fires burning in Oregon blew into Silverton today.

We began the day by driving to Wilsonville, north of here, to see the World of Speed Racing Museum.

 

I guess most of the pictures are pretty self-explanatory. This is a museum dedicated to racing.

Elkhart Lake is in Wisconsin; we camped near there many years ago.

Because it is a Bentley...

One of the guides told me it was going to go back to its owner in Seattle soon.

The display on the wall moved, with a history.

A 1948 Cadillac, one of my favorites,, very classy.

Isn't that a great little TV? The story on it was all about Bonneville racing.

A really cute car!

These reminded me of when we toured the Indy museum.

Even racing boats were on display.

Music sprang up around the racing or car theme by decade; a couple of the radios or juke boxes were playing some of the songs. Poster advertised the "B" movies in the same genre.

 

Smoke doesn't appear much different than the fog I photographed a few weeks ago, but believe me, the effects on our bodies is way different! I took these on our way to Ginger's and Mark's for supper.

 

Mark fixed a yummy chicken recipe which we had with a baked potato and salad. I took a strawberry cheesecake for dessert.

 

 

Until another year, thanks, Ginger and Mark, for the hospitality!

 

You can't tell, but the sun was bright red through the smoke in my rear view mirror as we headed back to the RV park.