Home again, home again, jiggety jig!

We're home!     

 Albeit a little earlier than planned, but our plans are always written in pencil. 

   When I left you, we were in Susanville, CA.  We stayed there a couple days, watching weather and fires to the east, before moving on.

 

one of our morning visitors

The big fires along our planned route through Reno, NV were finally under control, so we felt safe to move on.    

Our next stop was at Cold Springs RV "resort" about halfway through the 400-mile stretch of route 50 "the Loneliest Road in America".    

The road is aptly named.    We drove and drove and drove along, up over one mountain range, down into a huge, flat, completely empty valley, then did it again and again.   Nowhere to stop, save the few very small towns along the way.

Cold Springs RV Resort was the only game in town and worked well enough for us but....no cell, no tv, etc.    It had a restaurant (closed the day we were there), a tiny motel (3 rooms), and two EV charging stations.   The sky was beautiful and dark and the landscape was silent.   One night stop was enough.   There were places I would have liked to explore but.....it was ungodly hot and to get to any of those spots would involve driving miles and miles on - the loneliest road - and back again, so off we went in the morning.

whose seat is this?

Next planned stop was Ely, NV.   The KOA there is very pleasant and well situated without all the usual hoop la that KOA's are known for.   Perfect for us.   It's a stop we use often on our way to and from Spokane, so we'd only planned a two-night stopover but.....      

 Beluga was using a little more oil than Dave was comfortable with on this trip.    She's an old girl, (she prefers we use the word "vintage" to describe her) and Dave is very gentle and careful with her.   There were no flashing dashboard lights, no huffing and puffing, no imminent break downs looming, he was just feeling like he didn't want to push her over the mountains to Santa Fe this time.    Ely was the perfect spot to end our trip and on an easy and familiar route home where he could address the situation before it became a problem.    No one wants an on the road breakdown! 

To avoid driving on the Labor Day weekend we extended our stay at the KOA, relaxed, formulated a plan moving forward and enjoyed exploring the area a bit more, at our leisure.

excursion train from Ely station

view of Ruth Copper Mine from Garnet Hill (where we found no garnets...)

alfresco lunch spot on Timber Creek

Wheeler Peak from 10,000 ft. overlook

Glacial Cirque below Wheeler Peak in Great Basin National Park

sunset view through my windshield  at the KOA

beautiful day for a hike

We stopped for a quick visit with Pam and John, in Boulder City, NV before arriving home a couple weeks ago.      

The summer Monsoons had shoved a few roof tiles back (a great neighbor took care of that before we got home!) and tore our birdfeeder holder ocotillo down but otherwise we found the house in good shape and waiting for us.

Mr. David's Ocotillo Reconstruction Specialist at work 

Taos was happy to find a duplicate of one of his very favorite toys waiting for him here.

shake

squeeeeeze and squeak!

The skies have been stunning, although the rain and storms they're hiding have eluded us here.

   

layers of color

Saturday night we enjoyed an anniversary celebration for the Lowes outside on our patio.   The weather was lovely, but we watched another storm brewing.   Sorry, no people pictures - I need to get better at that....

  

Hmmmmm

Later that night we were awakened by the most ferocious thunder and lightning storm we'd ever experienced here.     Glad it waited til dinner was over!

So, that's it for now.   Dave is busy doing some things to Beluga, I'm settling back into static living and planning the next trip!

Here's Annie!

 

Eugene and Ashland and onward......

 We always enjoy our stays in Eugene.    Jesse and Erin went to school there some years ago, so we consequently spent lots of time in that area, got to know it pretty well.   Once again, we made Armitage County Park our home.    

This visit was a short one, mainly a stop between the coast and the rest of our inland adventures.    We couldn't pass by and not stop, could we?

As you've come to expect, we ate well, drank a little wine, explored a bit and relaxed before heading on to Ashland.  

gougères and caprese

wines?  mediocre but the location and company were perfect!

doesn't everybody eat thistles?

We managed to hit the Tuesday Lane County Farmer's Market and, while it isn't nearly as big as the famous Saturday market, we came home with lots of goodies.

humongous Kouign Amann - size isn't everything...

Squinting without sunglasses

Ashland, Oregon was our next destination.     We always stay at Emigrant Lake County Park, a quiet and peaceful spot above Emigrant Lake.    The views are lovely and it's filled with birds.  

site 10

 Beautiful sunsets each evening.   We even got to watch the spectacular lunar eclipse!    My phone just couldn't believe what it was seeing so it refused to try to photograph it....grrrr.

 We just ignore it's downside, the nasty stickers all over the ground.   Taos managed to sidestep them carefully, but we still remember our old Sasha having a fit when she encountered them.  

  As we drove in this time, however, we were reminded how tenuous life can be.    First off, the lake levels were so very low.   This is a reservoir and the water is used throughout the season, we know that, but this year we were surprised.

And....we saw something no rv'r wants to think about or actually see in a site in another loop.

We never found out what happened here, and upon our return from a day's exploration it was completely removed and the site cleaned.   Except for the burned trees and grass outline.....

We left Emigrant Lake yesterday morning and drove through the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in California to our next quick stop in Susanville.  

mt. Shasta

Most of the way our route took us through beautiful deep pine forest (no pictures of course....) but we did move through plenty of evidence of fire activity, past and recent.

We've been here at the Susanville RV Park many times, it's very nice and green and convenient to what we need to restock for the next portion of our drive, along  "the loneliest road in America".....    Stay tuned!

Here's Annie! or shall I say, Annie the Angry?

Last day on the coast

Astoria, Newport and Florence.....we've had a lovely time in each of these places, but the time has come to leave the coast and move inland....sigh.    I love the place we are and hate to leave but, I can't wait to see what's next! 

I made one omission from the last post, I wanted to show you the beautiful bracelet that our friend, Cara, made for me.    She creates and sells these beautiful pieces through her company, MANA253.    I took no pictures of us at our lunch in Olympia and I was surprised by her thoughtful gift.

OK, back to Astoria.    We had a nice, private site with sweet green views at Lewis and Clark RV and Golf Course.

We had great weather.   Misty, cool temps. in the morning gave way to beautiful sunny skies for the rest of the day.    We always gravitate to the water, so we spent more than a few days on the ocean and river beaches.   We watched local fishing boats, ocean going cargo ships, locals fishing from the shore and terns, pelicans, Murre and sea lions plying the waters in front of us.   I put an app on my phone that shows us the names and information about every ship we see, fun!    

just the way I like it!

beaching is tiring.....

opening day of some sort of salmon fishing, I can't keep them straight.....

white pelicans 

sea gull parking lot

lots of tiny jellies on the Columbia River beach

We did some exploring in the low inland mountains, searching for an Elk feeding station.    We did find it, sans elk, but we had lunch under a beautiful old tree and enjoyed the day anyway.

pretty off road track

fox glove everywhere

You know we ate plenty of fresh seafood, in great restaurants and in the front seat of the Jeep!    Oh, and those Oregon Pinot Noirs!

Salmon and Cioppino at Bridgewater Grill

oh Dave...

Bow picker Tuna fish and chips Mmmmmm

Bow Picker's fish is good enough to stand in this long, long line!

it's not all about seafood ya know....

We walked around the town, strolled through the quirky Saturday Market and made a couple purchases at the "oldest family run shoe store west of the Mississippi"! 

weeping pine?

Bubbles!

After a few weeks in Astoria, we moved about 100 miles inland to another favorite stop, McMinnville.    Last year we were lucky enough to be there during their wonderful international airshow, but the entire town was fully booked this year, so we visited a few wineries and made reservations for next year's show.

Back to the coast and a new to us spot, Newport.   We'd driven through the area many times but had never stopped to check it out so.....   I evidently picked a very high end "Motorcoach Resort" right above the beach.    Pacific Shores is a private ownership resort filled with Prevost, Newmar, Country Coach, every Tiffin model ever made, etc. and more Jeeps than I've ever seen in one place (except a dealership), and little old Beluga!    The sites were lovely and large, and the park's location was great.    As per our usual pattern, we explored the area, beached and ate!

pretty precarious fishing spot, but he got one!

The weather wasn't stellar.   Our entire stay it was misty and cool.   When the ever-present marine layer would pull back a bit we'd get glimpses of spectacular scenery.

More often than not though, this is what we saw.....

where are you going without me?

We did manage a few beach "walks" with Taos, just below the RV Resort.

Of course, on our last afternoon the sun broke through, and we discovered a beautiful lighthouse high on mountainous sand dune (Yaquina Head Lighthouse) just a few minutes away!     Ah well, something to check out more the next time!

see those little birds on the top?

Murre!

these drifts were huge!

Glad they fixed the road before we got there!

 life from death in the Siletz River

Florence was our last stop along the coast for this year.   We're at a beautiful, wooded spot at the Elks Lodge RV Park, always a favorite.

site 35

Again, marine layer, beaching and eating and exploring.   Sorry.....

nearby Mercer Lake

Heceta Lighthouse beach is always a go to for us.    We can explore caves, tide pools, ocean waves and a peaceful silent walk along the creek.

low tide

himself!

peaceful Cove Creek

Can you see the Cedar Waxwing on the stump?  See his yellow tail?  It followed us all up the creek

Oh Dave....

life on the coast is exhausting.....

On to Eugene in the morning!

And....here's Annie "going through the car wash"!