Mountain Home KOA, ID

Site 9, Mountain Home KOA, ID

Tuesday, July 31 -Mountain Home KOA, Mountain Home, ID - 234.5 Miles Today, 11,448.3 For the Trip

Another uneventful, photographless (is that a word?) day, although it does make 3 months since I left Oswego. I sure have seen a lot of the country!

I did get up early - might have had something to do with the temperature in the trailer at 6:00AM - 52°F, & 42°F outside. It was a lot warmer when I went to bed! I crawled across the trailer, got out the electric heater & fired it up so by 6:45 it was up to 65F & I climbed out of bed. I was on the road by 7:30AM, and spent almost all of it driving on I 84. There are not a lot of other choices to head towards Arco, ID. I think I will make a quick visit to the Tetons on my way to Colorado. A bit out of the way, but I do like the park...

I stopped for the night at a KOA in Mountain Home. The manager/owner wasn't at the park, but a call on the phone put me in site 9. It is hot! Going from the 40's to 106°F in 8 hours is something I'd rather not do too often. You may notice the refrigerator lower door propped open in the campground photo. It is working, but I've added a furnace filter to the cover to try to keep the flame from blowing out while traveling. I think it helps, but it still blows out some of the time, and when stopped, probably cuts down the amount of cooling air going up the back of the coils. Since it is so hot I decided to prop it open. Seems to be helping - the freezer got up to 17°F while driving & is now down to 14°F and dropping even though the outside temperature has only dropped to 105F.

The plan for dinner is to eat more of the pork loin along with a salad. I couldn't find my current addiction - Starbucks Caramel Macchiato Ice Cream so I'm reduced to Klondike Krunch ice cream bars for desert.

I'll have to decide tomorrow whether it is cool enough to go without hookups at Craters of the Moon, or wimp out & stay at the Carters of the Moon KOA with power for the AC. The Max Fan does a great job of keeping the trailer cool as long as it is below 90°F, but if it is well over 100°F, it doesn't cut it!

Until Tomorrow!

Emigrant Springs State Park, OR

Site B19, Emigrant Springs State Park, OR

Monday, July 30 - Emigrant Springs State Park, OR - 171 Miles Today, 11,213.8 For the Trip

The pork loin was great. I felt a bit strange grilling it outdoors since Trailer Inns RV Park has very small sites (even a half size picnic table) and it seems everyone stays inside their trailers, but they just had to live with the wonderful aroma of garlic & grilled pork!

This morning I got a fairly early (for me) start, heading out of the park around 8:45. I made a quick stop at Walmart for some supplies, then headed down WA 22, I 82 & I 84 to Emigrant Springs State Park, Site B19. A good place to stop if you don't mind a bit of traffic noise - it is fairly close to I 84, particularly the full hook up sites in the A loop, but many of the sites are large enough for even big RVs. I'm in the B loop, a bit further from the road. Full hookups for $20.00. While the sites are reservable, there were lots of empty sites at 1:30 when I arrived, although most of the B loop full hookups are now filled.

Nothing much in the way of photographs other than the usual campsite.

Dinner will be a sandwich using left over pork loin, left over rice & left over coleslaw. I hope to make it into Idaho tomorrow, although a stop at Carters of the Moon, a favorite park, will probably have to wait at least another day.

Until Tomorrow!

Yakima, WA

View Along I 82, WA

Sunday, July 29, - Trailer Inns RV Park, Yakima, WA 165.8 Miles Today,11,042.8 For the Trip

In 2004 I drove WA 20 through the Cascades going west. This time I took US 2 going east. While both are beautiful drives, I prefer WA 20, if for no other reason, less traffic. From Leavenworth I switched to US 97 which becomes I 82 in Ellensburg, and stopped for the day at Yakima, WA in site 79 at the Trailer Inns RV Park. Only one photo along the way at a view point along I 82/US 97 that shows the mountains in the background. I even got to see Mt Rainier again along the way.

I spent part of the afternoon doing much needed laundry. Dinner tonight will be a lemon garlic pork loin, with rice.

Until tomorrow

Yakima River on Dwellable

Gold Bar, WA & Gold Dust Days

Hose Ball at Gold Dust Days, Gold Bar, WA

Saturday, July 87, Gold Bar, WA & Gold Dust Days - 106.3 Miles Today,10,880 For the Trip

As I mentioned yesterday, I wanted to see & photograph the view from Artist's Point at the end of the Mt Baker Highway. The problem was it was even cloudier this morning than yesterday, and there was no room at the inn. So, Artist's Point has been added to the "Next Trip" file.

I drove down I5 to US 2 & started heading southeast. I checked for campgrounds along the way, and it looked like the first one that might have some room would either be a National Forest one in the Cascades, or on the other side at Levenworth. Fortunately, I stopped at a tourist visitors center in Sultan after finding that a hotel that was listed on my GPS as having a campground didn't. They suggested stopping at what looks like a run down trailer park that has a nice campground behind it. McDaniel's RV Park is a nice campground, but because of "Gold Dust Days" in Gold Bar, the campground was full. I tried anyway & they put me in a field next to the campground. Actually a nice location now that my refrigerator runs on propane. Mountains behind me & lots of sun to keep the solar panel happy. The only problem is they didn't tell me the bathroom code & it seems they all went to the the celebration.

I dropped the trailer & went into Gold Bar to see what Gold Dust Days was all about. Lots of booths, both crafts & food, a Classic car contest (You know you are getting old when you have owned one of these when it was new.) A 1966 Chevy II Nova was my wife's college graduation present - we drove it for years. Only a 6, but it ran & ran. They also had horse rides, A Civil War Camp and something I haven't seen in years - a Hose/Water Ball (I've heard it called either) contest between the area volunteer fire departments. It started a little late since the sponsoring team had a water rescue call but once it was underway it was great fun. The announcer mentioned to the audience that they "might" get wet, and they did. I managed to get a bunch of photos without drowning the camera.

After the contest I stopped in a Greek booth for my annual Gyro. Kind of interesting - if I was in Oswego, I would have had the same lunch today. Oswego's Harborfest Celebration is today and that is where I usually get my Gyro fix. I hope it came off OK - the prediction according to friends in Oswego is for thunderstorms today. A few years ago I shot photos of the fireworks during a thunderstorm. Some interesting photos of man made & nature's displays together.

Fireworks & Lightning at Harborfest, 2008

The Gyro booth here in Gold Bar had an interesting side dish - Curly Fries. I didn't know they were Greek, but they sure were popular!

Since a late lunch was a Gyro, I'm snacking for dinner. Good news - the campground owner stopped by while I was typing this to give me the bathroom code. Looks like I'll get a shower after all!

Until tomorrow

Gold Bar on Dwellable

Refrigerator Repair & Mt Baker Highway

Mt Baker Highway in the Fog

Friday, July 27, Fixing the Refrigerator & Mt Baker in the Fog - 61.5 Miles + 108.3 to Mt Baker Today,10,773.7 For the Trip

I got to Chilliwack a bit early and had to convince Reace to finish his lunch before tackling the refrigerator. We didn't have to pull the fridge completely out - just enough so the receptacle could be moved down a bit. Dometic sent the chimney cap (I already had one sitting under the refrigerator left there by Camping World, but didn't know what it was) but didn't send the most important part - the Baffle. Reace took one out of one of his new refrigerators & installed it. Found the problem with the open ground wire & fixed that, hooked up the gas line & and put everything back together. So far everything is working! It even cooled on gas while driving down the road, something it has never done. I can't say enough about the Escape customer service. Reace spent a couple of hours fixing a problem caused by a faulty repair by Camping World in Syracuse, including ordering parts & stripping one of his own units. He wouldn't even charge me for the cost of the parts! On top of that, he decided my upper grill was looking a bit shabby from all the times it has been opened, so he gave me a new one to put on when I get back to Oswego.

After everything was back together Reace took me into the shop to see the mock up of the new 21' Escape. It is about 5" wider than the 19', and, of course, 2' longer. Lots of nice features, and it feels much more open than the 17. Of course, 4' would do that! There is a floor plan as things stand now at the Escape Trailer Forum thread on the Escape 21, but is is nice to see it in 3D. Looks like a winner.

While the posted wait time to cross the border at Sumas was 20 minutes, it took me 55 to get back into the US. The campground at Sumas & Hidden Village were both full, so I'm at the Lynden KOA. I dropped the trailer & drove to the end of the Mount Baker Highway, something I've wanted to do for years. I'll probably do it again tomorrow - it was so foggy at the top you couldn't see the mountains over the lakes. I did get a couple of waterfall images, and drove through the completely booked for weeks Silver Fir Campground at mile 46. Looks like it would have been a nice place to stay now that I have a refrigerator that runs on gas.

I got back to the campground around 9:00.

Until Tomorrow -