Oregon Back Roads and Learning on the Fly

So, it turns out that we learn slower than we thought, or would have hoped. I will explain:

We awoke bright and early this morning, hoping to make a “short” 3-4 hr drive, past Crater Lake, and on to a free campsite (This one stated, quite clearly, that it was on paved roads.)

Morgan began the drive so that I could edit, which actually worked well, as Morgan is a fantastic driver, the roads were relatively straight, and I had mint ready to hand.

When I took my turn driving, Morgan helped me edit more, reading aloud the prose I had to summarize and rewrite, and typing up my dictation of the new material.

**Josh hands Morgan the computer so she can finish typing tonight’s blog entry**

This is Morgan, taking over. We are both exhausted, because we drove for almost 10 hours today. We switched off three or four times, sharing the driving load.  We went to Crater Lake, having to drive several miles to get to the entrance, only to find that it was closed due to the several feet of snow sitting where we wished to drive our car. We went back the way we came, getting to a small town in Oregon (the “town” had five commercial buildings: one gas station, three markets, and one restaurant), where we stopped at the first market and bought ice cream, because it was three in the afternoon and we had not yet stopped for lunch.

We then continued onto what we thought was our ideal campsite, the road taking us high up into the mountains, through gorgeous areas, where I, being the driver, held up several cars because there was absolutely nowhere to pull over. Most of them went around me, illegally.

We started playing a word game to pass the time, and I missed the turn off by a few miles. Retracing our steps, we found that the turn off was, not too surprisingly, gravel. Then, Google Maps found an alternate route, which was also gravel.  This, being unacceptable, we decided to push for I-5 and stop at a rest area.

On the way down Oregon 66, I have never driven such steep mountains without a guard rail. I, inadvertently, ran the brakes too hard, and thankfully opened my window to make a picture easier to take for Josh, just in time to smell the burning rubber, before I destroyed them completely. This is where I learned engine breaking, one of the oddest things I’ve done, yet. I then went 15 miles an hour for the next 15 miles (aka one hour), down the slopes, without touching the brakes or gas, just dealing with the wheel and asking Josh repeatedly to take pictures of the lavender covered mountain sides.

We made it to Ashland, where we joined up with I-5, and I, then, proceeded along I-5 going roughly 35 mph, because we were going uphill, and I had my foot to the floor. Semi trucks look so fast at that speed. I coasted down the grades into California, and, now, we are sitting in a Black Bear Diner parking lot, having eaten a meal that we did not have to prepare and drank coffee that was freely refilled. We will go from here to the Walmart, next door, where we shall sleep, then wake, and continue on our way home.

This trip has been eye-opening, for it has shown the vulnerabilities of our seemingly all-powerful smart phones, in that they have failed us almost every time we have needed them. When I get home, I’m going to print information onto paper, dozens of sheets of paper, which have no battery that can die, and no data that can be intercepted by mountains that we may be beside. I will then compile this paper into a 2.5 inch binder, which we will bring with us when we tour the country, and it will be our main reference rather than the fickle internet and downloadable applications. I am greatly excited for this gathering of information, and my only concern is that I do not know where I will acquire the 30 extra hours a day I would like to have to do this very task.

Oh well… we’ll just have to make do.

The sun is down, which means we need to be as well. We hope that you had a wonderful day and a restful night. Safe travels tomorrow, wherever you may be going.

Good night,

Morgan and Josh

Final thoughts, from Josh:

1. The sink was never, actually, clogged. After one or two more clog like incidents, we realized that our grey water tank, “Full” indicator was broken. The backed up sinks were simply an early warning system for complete catastrophe.
2. The burn on my eye is completely gone, proving to me, once again, that, while I am clearly not Superman, Wolverine is still in the running. ;)
3. Morgan’s hands have been downgraded from gauze and surgical tape to a band aid, much to our combined happiness.
4. Naga is still escaping, periodically, but he comes back faster now, especially if I ignore him, as odd as that is to me…
5. The solar panel is working great, and, as the sun is not likely to fail in the near future, our electricity needs are, henceforth, taken care of.
6. We will get home tomorrow, on the eighth day of our 5 day test trip, and that doesn’t feel like a contradiction…
7. Never say never, because you will never be right. :-P

Good night, and, if those who are dizzy feel like the world is spinning, aren’t they right? :-D

The Good, the Bad, and Naga…Who’s Both

I am feeling very weary, at this point, as we have driven far too long, today, and I am, somewhat, short on sleep, so I will do bullet points of our last two days. (We didn’t have any signal on anything, so we decided that the pictures would be sufficient, for yesterday.) On to glory!

o   I dropped Morgan and the pups off at Starbucks, yesterday, and drove the RV to the mechanic, leaving it there and walking 1+ miles back.

o   While I was gone, Morgan acquired a kitten, saving it from all the cars that were swooping and circling around it.

o   Morgan, then, gave away this cat, to a woman who had helped, and who offered to give it a home.

o   We spent the day with Morgan researching and me editing.

o   When the RV was finished, Morgan offered to go get it, so I could continue editing.

§  I agreed and she took the dogs.

§  On her way, a dog attacked her, and, as she stepped back, trying for a better position, her foot landed wrong, and she went down hard.

§  Naga and Cal, now free of their leashes, which Morgan had dropped in her tumble, put the aggressive dog in its place and chased it off, before returning to stand guard over Morgan as she got back to her feet.

§  Morgan suffered several deep cuts to her hands, but was able to clean and bandage them appropriately, using the RV mechanics First Aid kit.

o   Her return journey, in the RV was uneventful, and, after I doted on her for a bit, we headed off into the mountains.

o   Due to Morgan’s injuries, we made a quick stop at Walmart, and, when we weren’t paying close enough attention, Naga bolted.

§  I chased him, which was, probably, the wrong thing to do, as it meant that, whenever he looked back for reassurance, I was there, to let him know that he hadn’t gone too far, despite my calling him…

§  I eventually lost him, but was able to call Morgan, who leashed Cal and came to meet me.

§  Meanwhile, Naga had found a kind, jogging stranger, and followed him home.

§  Thankfully, Naga’s tags enabled this stranger to call Morgan, and, then, bring Naga part way back to meet us.

§  Needless to say, I was unhappy with the big dog, but all was righted, and we left.

o   In her research, Morgan had found a free campground that wasn’t more than 2 hours out.

§  2 “hours” on gravel does not equal 2 hours.

§  Free campgrounds are protected from hopefully occupants by said ungrated gravel roads, which the Sunrader takes quite the exception to.

§  That campsite was not reached.

o   Morgan and I had a long talk about finances and the inefficiency and folly of only using “free” campsites. (They aren’t free, because you pay in gas and vehicle wear.) We came to the conclusion that, while free camping would be nice, our journey, and our finances are in God’s hands, and we needed to trust him.

o   Thus, we ended up driving a little ways back down the road, after it returned to asphalt, up to a lovely RV campground, which the AAA book that we have said was $10

§  We pulled in, and the camp manager came out, greeted us, and told us that the dogs were welcome, as long as they were on leash.

§  I asked if we needed to pay now, later, or in the morning.

§  He looked at me quizzically and said, “It’s free.”

§  God is funny, sometimes.

o   In order to redeem the dogs, in my mind, I did a little off leash training, a little ways from the camp, to keep to the rules, and both dogs did really, really well. It helped that they were tired.

o   We awoke, this morning, to a beautiful sunrise in our mountain valley, overlooking a long lake. After a nice breakfast, and a morning shower, Morgan and I decided to take the dogs for a walk, down by the lake.

§  Now, we have been training the dogs, more and more, to be off leash, so, once we reached the lake, we let the both off, and they were wonderful.

§  They went wading.

§  They played.

§  They sprinted up and down the sandy beach.

§  It was awesome to watch. :-)

o   We sat and talked for a while, before doing what needed doing and packing up.

o   We were off, once more:

§  Sadly, though we were enjoying Idaho, we realized that we needed to be getting back to Sacramento, soon, so we set our sights on Oregon. Specifically, a free campground, just over the border.

§  It was not just over the border; it was, in fact, in a completely different part of OR.

§  Thus, we headed off for another camp ground…which, in turn, was 300 miles away. No. Too far.

§  A little back tracking, and back on the road. Actually, we were back on the Oregon Trail. (Don’t worry, no one died of dysentery.)

§  We wound our way through the wilderness, with literally no turn offs available, except for the occasional driveway, for a hundred miles.

§  We got some great pictures. :-D

o   In the end, after several more false alarms, including a place with “water,” but not potable water, we ended up here, at a rest stop. (FYI, OR allows for 12hr parking at rest stops; CA only allows for 8; NV, on the other hand, is fine with up to 24 hr stays. The more you know!)

With that brief(ish) summary of the last two days, I leave you with a couple parting thoughts:

o   At every turn, I grasp and struggle for control, and find that I have none.

o   What is great one moment can fill you with stress the next, all the while moving towards further awesomeness (i.e. Life is a mixed back, and things are rarely all good or all bad.)

Good night; sleep well; sleep long; drive safe; and, please, don’t die. I don’t have it in me to rush home. Don’t be “that guy,” ok? ;-)

At long last: Pictures!

Here is the visual representation of our travels, thus far:

 Looking back at what we drove through our first night. South Lake Tahoe is on the other side.

 The Nevada desert.

 Naga watches for any dangers out the front window, most of the time.

 Awesome rock structure!!

 Mountainous Nevada!

 It's our Sunrader's shadow!!!! I had to try so many times for this shot...

 Walmart parking lot, second night. We had so many RV and truck neighbors.

 Family photo!

 Cal came up to say hi

 Nevada. Just keeps going.

 I wanted to stop and climb it so much.

 These rock structures sprinkled this section of the road. They varied in size and shape, but shared the beauty factor.

Near the Idaho border. More rocks. Cool rocks.

Brother!!!

 Little waterfall on our way down the canyon

 Big waterfall in the canyon

 Beautiful Shoshone Falls.

 All my boys :)

 Another little waterfall we encountered on our hike

 Zoom in of Shoshone Falls

 There's a rainbow!!

 See the flat canyon on the horizon? That's the level everyone lives on. We had to come down several hundred feet to find this.

 Proof that we were there

 Couple shot :)

 This is the river that the falls flow into (note the rainbow from earlier)

 Driving through Idaho. Random gorges. We're heading into one now.

 Beautiful, mostly flat country side.

 We go through that in a minute

 Flat, just on different levels.

 Par cour puppies :)

 Naga jumped up on his own.

 We love our puppies. Cal has height envy.

 Coming down a hill, looking out over southern Idaho.

 Idaho sunset.

 We're having so much fun here!

 I forgot this one!

And I forgot this one. We love our dogs :)

Blessed

Today was not a sightseeing day, though we did enjoy a lovely Idaho sunrise and saw many beautiful rolling hills. Today was one of progress. Allow me to explain, though some background is in order.

I have been working with Costco for over a month, this time around, to try to fix Morgan’s computer. This was the fifteenth or sixteenth time it had broken, and the fifth that I had been forced to rely on Costco for a solution. In the process of trying to make this computer work, Dell had replaced the motherboard, video card, hard drive, and dvd player; I, both under Costco direction and on my own, had reimaged the system more than two dozen times; and Costco Concierge had, themselves, replaced the RAM and the cables. All this to say: we had tried everything, and I was pretty tired of it. This time around, I had asked them to consider evoking a lemon policy, as our warranty was running out and we would be left with a broken machine, despite having jumped through every hoop they asked us to.

So, the background is established; now, to the story:

Morgan and I, in preparation for our long trip, have been wanting to get a solar system for our RV, but they are not cheap, and they tend to be a hit or miss operation. That in mind, we went to an RV place, here, in the hopes that they might offer their two cents, on solar, as well as several other things we want to fix/change before it becomes our semi-permanent home.

As we were talking to the guy, he seemed incredibly knowledgeable, and he used very efficient, well built solar panels, with a Nalgene like 25 year warranty, i.e. it stops working for any reason, it’s replaced. No questions asked; no cost to the customer.

These sounded like the panels we would want, and, after a little research on our own, we found that they met our criteria, so, not wanting to commit to anything, we asked our other questions and got great, informative answers. In the end, it seemed like these would be great people to do the work, and the lower sales tax here was high in our minds. So, Morgan and I went off, alone, and discussed what all the work would be worth to us (not our maximum, but what we, ideally, wanted to pay), prayed for God’s guidance, provision, and peace, and went back to ask how much it would be and when it could be done.

The estimate came in just under our given value for the work, and, with sales tax, hit the nail right on the head. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any openings for today. However, they did have an opening tomorrow, and if we could get the rv in by 8 or 9, it would be done by 1 or 2pm. It was a go! Thus, we are getting our solar system, which will run all electricity in the motor home. It will allow us to divorce the alternator from the battery and remove that strain from the engine. The other work is exciting too, but there is only so much room in one blog post.

Now, you may be wondering how the Costco computer ties into all this, so let me tell you. I had, pretty much, given up the whole situation as lost, as the warranty runs out in three days. However, Costco called me today to tell me that, due to the unusual need for repairs and my flexibility in working with them and doing so much that would have taken them shipping the system back and forth  a half dozen times, they would like to offer us a full refund! :-D This refund, by the way, totals, almost exactly, the cost of the repairs and upgrades to the motor home.

Thus, we are, by the grace of God, trading a non-functional PC for a solar system and other needs for our RV.

We do feel an inordinate amount of peace, regarding our upcoming trip, despite the possibility of colossal failure. God is being very good to us, in this phase of our lives, and I have no doubt that, if we succeed in our quest, it will be entirely under His guidance, protection, and providence.

As final notes about today:

We drove a long way to get to a “gateway” visitor center for Idaho, only to have Morgan find their resources lacking. When we returned to Boise, we stopped off at a AAA, and they provided us with three relevant books and a detailed map, which Morgan cannot wait to dissect for information and wonderful destinations.

Morgan finished the scarf she had been knitting for herself, and began one for me.

And, most encouraging to us, financially, at the RV place we swung through before finding our final one, we were offered twice what we have put into the Sunrader in value as a trade in, and, though that isn’t money in the bank, it does reinforce that we found a sweet little RV that won’t end as a money sink if all goes south. :-D

Tomorrow, by the grace of God, will be a straight work day for me, and a planning day for Morgan. I have much to ghost write, and a deadline fast approaching, but I think it is a very doable goal. And, FYI, we will have a wonderfully powerful WiFi hookup, on the morrow, so pictures are imminent. ;-)

Thank you, all, for taking your time to catch up on our lives. We know that each of you has so much on your plate, and the fact that you have taken some of your valuable time for us means the world to us.

From us here, blessed by God and seeking His will, good night, sweet dreams, and may your day, tomorrow, be a sunny one.

Accidental Oregon Trail

Today, we spent a wonderful day in Idaho. We woke up with the sun, and met a fellow Sunrader owner! We were so surprised to see our RV’s twin in the parking lot with us. I spent a good hour talking with Troy, the RV’s owner, while Morgan came and went, doing things that needed doing, and he gave us a lot of great information. First of all, he gave us turn by turn directions for a very scenic route towards our next stop. 

Then, he spoke about how he had modified his Sunrader and how he was hoping to in the future. He was a local who, as far as we could tell, actually lived out of his Sunrader. He works at a salvage yard and has great access to parts and tools. We parted ways far better informed, if a little behind “schedule.” (We, really, have no schedule to get behind.) :-D

We took our morning to explore Shoshone Falls, hiking with the dogs on some pretty steep trails. It was wonderful; I had Naga on my leash, and he is an excellent climber/slope scaler, to the point that I could use the leash as a balancing hold, and he didn’t even notice. :-P

We left the falls, very glad for the sojourn, and set off on Troy’s route. It was well worth the added 40 minutes and took us by Hagarman Fossil Beds National Monument. We decided to take the detour to the monument, which was a little out of the way.

When we reached the stop, we were surprised by how small the place was. It was a gravel lot with one picnic table, under a standalone roof; a one room bathroom; and a concrete amphitheater (a very small one). It turns out that the fossils that were found there were moved to the museum that we had passed to get there, and this place, while the monument in question, truly only served as an overlook for the Oregon Trail.

It was still awesome. We took the dogs for a walk and helped them both do a little par-cour around the amphitheater. It was pretty cool to see Naga leaping to the top of 3-5ft walls, and it went a long way towards explaining why he can always get out of enclosed areas, if he wants to. (Those are definitely tales for another time.)

Once we had worn them down, we decided that the secluded nature of the place, and their tired state, made it the perfect time and place for some off leash training. They did so well. They stuck, with us and, even when they wandered off, they responded to our commands beautifully. We are so proud.

In the interest of early bedtimes, that is all, for now. We will, likely, have access to a more robust WiFi connection, tomorrow, to facilitate the uploading of pictures. Until then, envy our trip from afar! :)

From all of us here, in the state of “Famous Potatoes. Great Destinations.” we wish you a starchy evening with many beautiful sites to see (such as family). 

State Lines & Speed Limits

We made it to Idaho! :)

We decided that we wanted to spend most of our “meandering” time in Idaho, so we booked it through Nevada and up into Southern Idaho, to Twin Falls! To understand what I mean by “booking it,” I think that the time has come to give you some specs for our wonderful little Sunrader.

Top speed: 75 mph – Down hill, 65 – Level, 30-45 – Up anything more than the gentlest of slopes.
Gas Mileage: 12 mpg – if I am driving, 18 – if Morgan is driving…we aren't sure why, yet. It might have had something to do with the Sierras; silly mountains, eating up our gas.

For most, this would be a problem, but, for us, it is allowing/forcing us to take our time and enjoy the journey. Morgan and I have both found the stark, simple landscapes of Nevada to be gorgeous! Though it is too hot for us to want to live there, we definitely found beauty all around us. (Don’t worry, we will get to including pictures, soon enough. One step at a time. Thanks for your patience.) :-D

There’s a funny thing about Idaho, and I can say this, now that I have spent several hours here: the ground is flat, nearly horizon to horizon, in all directions. Driving is easy, and smooth, when, suddenly, the ground is gone. Make no mistake, the road is still there, but there is nothing under it but a bridge, spanning the abyss. It isn't a hundred feet before the road finds solid ground once more, on the other side, and the road continues as if nothing had changed. It looked as if some great beast had rent the ground with its claws, gouging out this, and other, gorges, leaving the surrounding land unscathed.

Well, my burn looks like I am crying scarlet tears out one eye; we fixed our kitchen sink; and think we’ve learned to work with the electrical situation. Other than that, it is later than we had hoped to go to sleep, again, and we are hoping to, finally, get on a “sunup to sundown” schedule tomorrow.

Good night to all, sweet dreams, and may the Idaho-ian, great claw leave your fields unfurrowed.

Wonderfully Horrible

This is Morgan writing tonight, and looking back on this day we’ve had, I have to say that today was both wonderful and unbelievably horrible.

On the plus side, we relaxed and enjoyed each other’s company, got our shopping done for the week, and all of our food prepared. Josh was able to finish the project that he had been working on, and I was able to both take a nice nap and relearn knitting (though not at the same time). The dogs did not escape at all, and were actually perfect, pretty much all day. We’re taking our time going through Nevada, enjoying the scenery, and I’ve learned how to take non-blurry pictures from a moving car when I’m the passenger.

On the bad side, where to begin? I can barely believe this myself, and all I can do as I write this is laugh, and think of how much we’ve grown through these experiences.

The battery died (repeatedly) and refused to charge. As a result, many of our attempts to recharge our electronics were in vain, or counterproductive, and, therefore, I’m actively typing in the dark.

The sink clogged, and, after several hours of work, Josh could not find a way to fix it, despite dismantling it several times and fishing with a pipe snake. In the process, we dirtied most of our towels, for we were not prepared for such a grimy task. We’ve learned: bring more rags, and hazmat suits. (We think the clog is in the main line to the grey water tank; hopefully, liquid plumber will clean it out…tomorrow).

We ran out of fresh water (somehow), and had to fill up at a gas station by carrying handfuls of water to and from the spigot (just kidding…we had a bucket).

Our burners have two heat settings: medium high and really high (turning it lower loses the flame). Try to imagine cooking like that… it’s really hard.

And to top it off, the internet refused to let Josh send the project, which he had just spent several hours finishing, off to the client. The internet was working fine for most of the day, both on our cell phones and this laptop, but, when Josh sat down to send it, the laptop refused to connect to his phone for internet (he brilliantly figured out a way to share his phone’s internet access with the computer). He spent over an hour, while I made dinner, trying to get it to work. Finally, though several roundabout efforts on both our parts, the email sent.

Everything worked out in the end (except the sink), and we are happy to be healthy, well fed, and together.

From a Walmart parking lot in Winnemucca, NV,

Good night.