Sat. June 23
Well, not to be. It seems the wireless signal isn't any stronger at the office than it is at the trailer. I used my phone to see if there was a strong signal when we were at the office that morning, but I got the same number of bars as I did at our trailer. Oh, well. It seems to come in stronger at times, but is erratic.
After we got ourselves together, we thought we would go off and explore Silverton a bit. It is a quaint little town with a lot of antique shops. We parked in a shopping mall parking lot, and walked to the main street. We went into a few stores and looked at a lot of the antique stuff that was there. We found a store that had some pottery in the window, and inside we found out it was like a collective for a group of artists - pottery, painting, sculpting, weaving, etc. There were many interesting things.
Right next door was a knitting shop that Dawn had seen when we drove by earlier. It opened while we were in the artists shop, so we went in and looked around. There was a young boy in the store who was looking after things for his grandmother who was away on a knitting convention (or something like that), and he seemed to know a lot about the things in the store. Dawn asked a few questions about some of the items, and found out that he was a sophomore in high school, and knitted/crocheted himself.
She bought a pattern, and then we went on to the next store, which handled antiques. We met up with the Baileys in there, and generally walked around with them for the next hour or so.
At one store, Dawn and Faith went inside, and I went down the street to find a bank machine. A Credit Union was open, so I went in and asked if they had an ATM. They did. It was right outside the door I didn't come in, so I was able to get some cash.
I walked down the other side of the street and found a small Radio Shack and went in for a look around. Pretty much like they used to be in Kamloops, before they became The Source.
As I walked outside, I could see Faith and Dawn looking around. It appeared they were looking for Al and me. Al had gone down the street for a walk, and I came up the street and met them. We could see Al coming back to where we were, so waited for him there.
Dawn and I had about enough, so headed back to the trailer. Faith and Al came back a while later, and we played some more cards before supper. We didn't feel much like playing cards that night, so we packed it in and stayed home for the evening.
Sunday, June 24
After getting up and having coffee, Faith came over to see what our plans were. She thought we might be going to head off towards home that day, but we hadn't planned on that. We both had to register for that night at the RV Park, so that is what we did.
The Baileys headed up to Silver Falls State Park to do some hiking and to look at the falls (there are 11 of them in a fairly close area). We decided to look around some more. There was a sign that indicated there was a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Silverton, so we decided to go looking for it. We didn't find it, but did end up at the State Park. I asked if we could go look around, and the lady at the booth gave us permission to go around the camping/RV area for a look.
It took us a while to find it, the sites, but after a couple wrong turns, we finally found the area. They were quite nice sites, but because there was so much rain overnight, everything was quite muddy and wet. We were happy that they did not have room for us when Faith was making reservations because of that, but they would have been nice spots to be in. Not like Champoeg park, but there was power and water at some of the sites.
The road up to the State Park was very windy and narrow, and I was quite happy to have not pulled the trailer up there. It was also mainly uphill, which would have been quite a pull. However, there were lots of RVs in there, so I guess if they could do it, so could we, if we had to.
Anyhow, after that we headed back down to our trailer. We had to do a bit of shopping first, for some things for lunch, so found the local Safeway. Then back to the trailer.
Baileys came back about 2 hours later, tired, but quite happy with their hike. Faith showed me some of the pictures they had taken of the falls. Al said that they could walk behind 4 of them, which made for some interesting photos. They were tired, though, and after they had a break, it was back to playing $1.35. Funny, this time, Dawn and I won most of the pots - this was the only time that I had won much, so I guess it's like golf - if you hit the last hole well, you'll come back.
We planned on leaving fairly early (for us) in the morning, so went to bed somewhat early. Baileys were going to take their time heading back up north, meeting one of their sons in Osoyoos on Thursday. We planned to head over to the coast, and then head north from there.
Monday, June 25
By 8:30, we were on the road. I set GPS Jill to take us to Olympia, but had to also program in some smaller places on the coast so she would get us there. Initially, she must not have understood, because we seemed to be going the wrong direction, and before we knew it, we were back to where we had come off I-5 to go to Champoeg park.
Well, the next thing was to tell her to take us first to Salem, OR, so we could at least go the right direction. She took us onto the freeway, and at least we were heading south. Then as we got to near Salem, it seemed like she was trying to get us to the centre of the city. That was NOT what we wanted, so we had to program in a small town on the coast (Otis) that the map indicated was on the road we wanted to take.
It was a bit of an adventure to get turned around, starting with a short excursion through a residential area with narrow streets. At one intersection, there was a very small round-a-bout, which I couldn't get the trailer through. The truck fit, but the trailer was too long, so I had to take it up over the curb, and hope that the back stabilizer jack wouldn't get torn off. It didn't, and we were able to get back on the main street (finally), and follow directions to get on the highway we were looking for.
This was interesting country, but we met rain a bit before the coast. From there until almost Astoria, it rained. The road was very windy, narrow, and hilly. The small towns we went through meant slowing down and speeding up, a lot.
Dawn indicated that she wanted to stop in Seaside, OR to look in some of the stores. Well, that was a mistake. We got gas right as we came into Seaside, and then went looking for where there were some shops. I got off the highway, and went down one of the streets. It was narrow, old, and not too inviting looking for us. Dawn didn't see any stores she was interested in going into, so we finally decided to get back on the highway and head out. Well, that was another adventure as again, the streets were very narrow, and once we were at the highway, we had to find a space among the traffic to get back on it.
Finally, we did, but it was shortly after that the we decided to get to Astoria, and then head back inland to the main highways, as this was too slow. After going across the bridge at Astoria, and entering Washington, we headed east, finally joining up with I-5 at Longview.
It was getting late, but we felt we had to get to around Tacoma before stopping, so that we didn't have too long a drive the next day. Our plan was to go home from wherever we stayed that night.
Let me tell you, that the closer we got to Tacoma, the fewer RV Parks were advertised on the freeway signs. We finally saw one that looked promising, shortly before Tacoma, so got off the freeway to try and find it.
We finally found it. It didn't look overly great, but we were only stopping for the night so figured it wouldn't be too bad. Little did we know then, that this would be the most expensive spot of the whole trip, and the one that was the least pleasant. We weren't overly happy with where we were directed. The site was very narrow, with trailers on both sides of us. Unfortunately, they were both partially in our site - one one side, their slides were about 2 feet into our site, and on the other, their awning was about 2 feet into ours. If we had slides on our trailer, we couldn't have opened them, and if we wanted to put out our awning, forget about it.
Oh, well. We were only there for the night, and at least it was level so I didn't have to unhook the truck. Once the jacks were down, things were stable and level, and we basically had supper and then watched some TV before bed. Our roof had started to leak a bit, so we had to make sure that we put down a bowl to catch water that dripped from our air conditioner vent. One more thing to be bothered by.
Tuesday, June 26
Off again, fairly early (again, for us). We headed out at about 8:20. I punched in HOME for GPS Jill. Funny, she finally took us out onto the freeway (I-5), and we headed toward Seattle. Well, before we got there, she directed us to get off the freeway, and follow some other major roads. It didn't feel right, but we seemed to be going the right direction, and we could see the city. I was able to fill up with gas at a station that was fairly easy to pull into, and we continued.
Jill had us moving from one highway to another, but at least heading in the right direction. I became a little worried when the traffic got much heavier, and we could see the new baseball and football stadiums. However, we saw them from the other side that we would have from the freeway. Yup, you know it. Jill took us downtown.
Suddenly we were driving down near the wharf area, with narrow roads, that had steep hills. I had an idea where we were because we had parked there long ago when we were there for some baseball games. Jill was taking us back to the freeway, but there were some very steep hills for us to climb in order to get to the entrance. Fortunately, there wasn't a lot of traffic, and other drivers were either being nice to us, or were afraid of getting too close to this truck and trailer from BC.
Then back onto I-5, where it was very busy. This is the only thing I can think of as to why Jill took us away from the freeway. As Dawn said, there is not way to tell her we are pulling a 30 foot trailer. She just didn't know what she had done to us. It was pretty straight sailing from there, until we got to Bellingham.
We knew we wanted to go through the Sumas border crossing, and Jill took us off the freeway before I expected her to. However, she seemed to know what she was doing, so we went right along with her. This route took us through a bunch of farmland, with lots of sharp corners as the road seemed to follow the township and range lines. Finally, she brought us to the highway we knew, just before Sumas, so she clearly knew what she was doing.
We stopped and filled up our one tank in Sumas, and then had to figure out how to get to the duty-free shop, for the orders that we had from the kids. Well, I parked just outside the shop, and Dawn went in to make the purchases. A fellow from the Duty Free came out and asked if my wife was inside buying alcohol or tobacco. I said yes, and he said I would have to drive inside the compound as they weren't allowed to let those things outside their fence line. He opened another gate and I was able to drive in to wait for Dawn.
Once she was back, we had to wiggle our way into the line up at the border (less than a block from the Duty Free). It took us about 15 minutes to get to customs, and after a couple questions, the border guard let us back into Canada.
We were hungry as we hadn't eaten breakfast before leaving, so decided we would stop at the White Spot in Chilliwack for lunch. After that, it was clear sailing (except for the areas of road construction on the Coquihalla) to home. We pulled into our driveway at about 5:00 pm, and it felt great to get back in our house and to not have to be setting up or pulling the trailer.
It was a great trip. We drove lots, and saw lots. We had a great time, and really enjoyed ourselves. Now we have to pay for the trip - lots of gas to pull the trailer that far.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Trip to Edmonton and then on to Portland
Thur. June 14
Well, we began our trip on June 14, leaving Kamloops for Edmonton. We didn’t plan on leaving home very early, and we didn’t. We left about noon, and our plan was to travel as far as Valemount, north on the Yellowhead Highway. Things started out well, but before long we ran into rain. It rained in various amounts, but pretty much it poured until after Blue River.
We stopped at a gas station at Valemount and filled up, before going another kilometre or so, until we came to IRVin’s RV Park. We’ve stayed here before, so knew what we were getting. It is a great place with level, pull-through parking spots. We didn’t even have to unhitch the trailer, it was so level.
On getting things organized, I was looking at the shower in the trailer, and wouldn’t you know it, the part that goes from the tap up to the shower head, broke off. So, no showers in the trailer until we were able to find a place to get it fixed.
Fortunately, the showers at IRVin’s are very clean and comfortable, and I was able to shower there the next morning. After that, it was pack up and take off for Wetaskiwin (the closest spot we were able to get to Leduc.
Fri. June 15
Off we went to Wetaskiwin, leaving Valemount at about 9:00 am. We drove a lot, and things went well. We stopped at a pullout in Jasper National Park and had lunch, and then carried on. We seemed to be going well, and didn’t have to fuel up, even by Edson. I thought I could make it farther, and we aimed for Entwistle. Just made it, but it was cheaper to fill up there than anywhere in BC, so it was worth it.
Somewhere on the way, Michael sent us a text saying he was picking Christie up at the airport, which was good for us because we thought we were supposed to do that. Unfortunately, we wouldn’t have been there on time, so it was much nicer to have him pick her up.
We finally found the Lion’s Club campground in Wetaskiwin, after missing the turn-off and going too far south. However, when we found it, it was a real nice place – grassy fields and level spots for the trailers. It was a back in site, but that isn’t too much of a problem (except one of the mirrors on the truck became loose on the trip and I couldn’t see as well as I would have liked.
Christie Sue had already contacted us through a text message, saying she was at Michael and Christie’s place. They invited us to come over for supper, so once we got settled, we thought we should get going. It is a long drive to their place in Edmonton, but GPS Jill got us there quite easily. Pizza was there, and we sat back and ate and visited. We were tired from the driving, so left somewhat early to go to our trailer and get to bed. It took about 40 minutes to get there.
Sat. June 16
I had noticed an RV place when we drove down the highway in Wetaskiwin, so the next morning, we got up, had some coffee, and went looking for parts to fix the shower. Strangely (for us), they had the part we needed, so we purchased it. Then I had to find an easy-out to get the broken part out of the tap. That cost almost 4 times as much as the shower part, and I already have a set at home, but they weren’t doing us much good while we were in Alberta.
I had to take the tap off the wall and to get the broken part out, but once I managed that, it was a piece of cake. The connection leaked a bit, but I realized I had left the washer on the broken part, and once I saw that and put it in the right place, the leak stopped. Nice to be able to shower again.
We had been invited over to Michael and Christie’s place, so off we went. Christie Sue had borrowed Michael’s car, and Christie Lee had gone out to the hair dresser, so when we got there, we sat around and talked. Then Michael got a phone call. It was Christie Lee asking me to move our truck from in front of her parking spot. I had guessed wrong.
They had to leave early to get the hall set up for the reception, so we were gone back to the trailer by 3:00. We drove around a bit, and found where the hall was located (Rollyview), so we knew where to go and how to get there. GPS Jill is fantastic.
We aimed to get to the hall at about 7:00 pm, and were fashionably late arriving. I got a text from Michael, just as we got out of the truck in the parking lot. There was a good crowd there already, and by the time we were introduced to many of the folks, there were at least 100 people there (likely more). We did a lot of visiting, taking of pictures, and generally enjoying ourselves as Michael and Christie got to celebrate their wedding at this reception.
A dinner was set out, of salads, cold cuts, vegetables and dip, and desserts, and we ate. It was great. I ate so much potato and Caesar salad that I couldn’t eat dessert. I also couldn’t eat any of the wedding cake that had been made and decorated by a friend of theirs. It was beautiful.
After the dinner, there was some thank you’s from Christie and Michael, and more mingling. As they began to clear some of the table out of the way, Dawn and I said our good byes and left for the trailer. We were tired, and had to get back to the trailer before the gate was locked. We also planned to leave early the next morning for south of Portland, and I already knew it was going to be 3 full days of driving in order to get there on time.
Back to the campsite and into bed by 11:00. I think we were asleep by 11:05, or at least I was.
Sun. June 17
We pulled out of Wetaskiwin at about 9:00 am, and headed south on Highway 2A. It was a great highway; not busy, not too many places we had to slow down, and fairly straight travelling. Most of it was 4 lanes, and it was easy driving. At about Red Deer, we went back on the freeway (Hwy 2) and followed it through Calgary and to Fort McLeod. There we turned left and went towards the border crossing at Sweet Grass, Montana.
The US customs official was quite friendly. We didn’t have to take a tour through the trailer, or put up with any unfriendly attitude, and off we went.
Things were pretty flat and boring, but we hadn’t been there before so it was nice to have a look. There was a lot of wind, and at one time, a car passed us and the lady in the passenger seat was pointing at our roof. I pulled over, and it appears that the wind was unrolling our awning (I told you it was blowing. The wind was from the west and directly onto the side of the trailer). We made for the nearest exit off the freeway (about 10 more minutes) and pulled off so we could point the other direction and get the awning rolled back in.
I wrapped a bungee cord around the end, hoping it would stop it from unrolling. It didn’t, and about 40 minutes later, Dawn noticed it unrolling again. I looked again for another exit from the freeway, and one showed up about 10 minutes later. We pulled off and again turned facing the other direction so the wind was on the other side of the trailer. I was stumped, and we had a tough time getting it to loosed up so we could re-roll it. A fellow stopped and offered help, but I didn’t know what was wrong, although I suspected that the clutch for locking the roller up or down had been stripped. So I thanked him for the offer, but couldn’t figure out how he could help. Finally we were able to get it loosened and back in. I bungeed it again, and put one on the other side, too. Thank goodness I take our short step stool with us when we travel, so I could reach the top of the awning roller. After that, things went well, and it didn’t unroll again.
Our goal was to make it to Great Falls, Montana, and we pulled in at about 7:00. We found a very nice RV park, Dick’s RV Park, they had room for us for the night – didn’t even have to unhook the trailer.
Mon. June 18
This morning, I called a mobile RV repair person recommended by the park, but he couldn’t even look at it before the late afternoon. So, we tried an RV dealer in Great Falls. He agreed with my assessment about the roller, but wouldn’t be able to look at it that day, and likely that week. He indicated that lots of people did exactly what I had done and either used bungees or Velcro straps to hold the roller closed.
Again, we left town, heading south. I hoped to make it as far as Boise, but with the continual wind, wasn’t able to get our speed up above 60 mph. Of course the truck was working really hard, and we went through gas like crazy. About 4:00, we knew we weren’t going to make Boise, so aimed for Twin Falls (which is about 2 hours before Boise). Finally we were almost to Twin Falls when we saw an RV site that looked pretty good. We pulled in, they had room, and we set up. I only had to lift the trailer tongue in order to level things, so it was a pretty easy setup, once again. It was after 8:00 pm by this time, and we ate, and then sat around for a while before going to bed.
Tues. June 19
We had to be to Champoeg (pronounce Sham-poo-ey) Heritage Park south of Portland that day, so got an earlier start (8:30 am). It was another long drive, but the wind through Montana and travelling south in Idaho, had calmed, and we were able to make good time. The terrain was similar to Kamloops for the Idaho and first part of Oregon, and the further west we went, the more similar it became to around Kamloops and Cache Creek.
However, things changed when we began the Columbia Gorge. First the wind started to blow directly in our face, and then later, the vegetation became more lush and thick. It became similar to Blue River or Salmon Arm. The wind continued, which again, sucked the gas out of our tanks and we went through a lot this day, too.
GPS Jill finally recognized where we could find Champoeg Heritage area, and then took us there. We did end up having to drive south on I-5 for a ways, around the end of rush hour in Portland. It was quite busy, and there must have been an accident going the other way as traffic was at a standstill on the freeway, heading north.
Well, finally she got us to Champoeg, and when we pulled in, we found the Bailey’s. Faith had made the reservations, and our place was basically across the road from their site. This was a very nice park; paved roads, paved, level sites, power and water. There are bathrooms there with showers, so we didn’t have to use the trailer shower to get clean. We visited with Baileys that evening for a while, but we were tired, and didn’t stay up too late.
Wed. June 20
We thought a day sitting around and resting would be good for us, so we generally stayed at the site. Bailey’s went off on a bike ride for a few hours, and we had to find a store to do some shopping as we had basically used up all our food.
Later on in the afternoon, we played a game that Baily’s had brought. It was called bolaball, and you had to throw bolo balls and try to wrap them around horizontal bars to get point. It was the boys against the girls, and it was a spirited contest. The weather was great, and we were pretty hot.
Then back to our trailer for supper, and then we played $1.35 after supper. Dawn and I basically lost our money to Faith. Al says that she is too lucky, but she says that she has too much skill. We played a couple games, but Dawn and I mostly lost.
Then off to our place so we could get some sleep.
Thur. June 21
Today, our plan was to head to the Evergreen Airplane Museum, where Howard Hughes “Spruce Goose” is housed. I needed new tires for our truck, and on our way to the museum, Dawn and I stopped at a Les Schwab to get a quote. I figured we would be back in the afternoon to get them, and tried to make an appointment, but the lady told me we didn’t have to make an appointment. It is first come, first served, and our wait would likely be about 40 minutes.
Well, as you can imagine, we spent a lot more time at the museum than we thought, but it was time well worth spending. We really enjoyed the exhibits – tons of different types of airplanes, including old biplanes, rockets, space craft, military jets of all sorts, passenger planes both old and newer, and of course, the “Spruce Goose”. We didn’t leave until 5:00, and I figured we wouldn’t be back before the tire store was closed. So, I planned for the next morning.
Mah Johng that evening, but I am not a great fan of this game – too much thinking and strange rules for me.
Fri. June 22
Up somewhat early so we could go and get the tires put on. Got to Les Schwab’s at about 9:00 am and ordered the tires. They had internet access for customers, so once I got the password, I was able to do some banking and move some money around. I uploaded some pictures to SugarSync and gave Michael access to them. They were photos from the reception, so hopefully they will enjoy them.
Once we paid for the tires, we left, looking for a place to eat breakfast and for Camping World, an RV place. Well, we headed in the direction of Camping World and came upon a restaurant named The Homestead. We decided to give it a try and went in. It was a fairly nice place and we had a good breakfast.
Next, we had to find Camping World, but I couldn’t find it on the GPS. We knew we were in the vicinity, but were not too sure of the location. We got back on I-5 and headed north. Nothing within 5 miles, so we exited the freeway to turn the other direction. After about 7 miles, we found it just off the freeway. Then we had to get to it, but that wasn’t too hard.
Went in and did some shopping. There is a lot of “stuff” in the store, and I was quite happy to walk around and look. Many things could have been purchased, but I didn’t want to put more money into the trailer, so held off. I did have to see if we could find a latch for our big window in the kitchen area, but they didn’t have anything what I needed.
Then I noticed the time, and figured we needed to get back to Champoeg. It was 12:15 and check-out time was 1:00. We hurried back and met Bailey’s pulling out, just as we pulled in. We told them we would be to Silver Spur RV Park in Silverton, as quickly as we could.
We were pretty quick, but a little late leaving. We were out by 1:20 pm, and after visiting the sani-dump, we were off. Well, GPS Jill took us directly there, but it was by a back route with lots of twists and turns. Interesting, but I couldn’t re-trace the route if I had a map.
Silverton RV Park is a great place, and we are parked right beside the Bailey’s. There is internet access here, but the signal is so weak at our trailer, I can’t get online. However, I’m sure if I go to the office area, the signal will be plenty strong enough. That means I can put this up on the internet tomorrow.
Bailey’s went out shopping in the afternoon, and after we set up, we sat back and relaxed. For supper we had appies at the Bailey’s trailer. We took a couple and they made a couple and we visited, ate, and played $1.35. An enjoyable time.
Well, we began our trip on June 14, leaving Kamloops for Edmonton. We didn’t plan on leaving home very early, and we didn’t. We left about noon, and our plan was to travel as far as Valemount, north on the Yellowhead Highway. Things started out well, but before long we ran into rain. It rained in various amounts, but pretty much it poured until after Blue River.
We stopped at a gas station at Valemount and filled up, before going another kilometre or so, until we came to IRVin’s RV Park. We’ve stayed here before, so knew what we were getting. It is a great place with level, pull-through parking spots. We didn’t even have to unhitch the trailer, it was so level.
On getting things organized, I was looking at the shower in the trailer, and wouldn’t you know it, the part that goes from the tap up to the shower head, broke off. So, no showers in the trailer until we were able to find a place to get it fixed.
Fortunately, the showers at IRVin’s are very clean and comfortable, and I was able to shower there the next morning. After that, it was pack up and take off for Wetaskiwin (the closest spot we were able to get to Leduc.
Fri. June 15
Off we went to Wetaskiwin, leaving Valemount at about 9:00 am. We drove a lot, and things went well. We stopped at a pullout in Jasper National Park and had lunch, and then carried on. We seemed to be going well, and didn’t have to fuel up, even by Edson. I thought I could make it farther, and we aimed for Entwistle. Just made it, but it was cheaper to fill up there than anywhere in BC, so it was worth it.
 |
| Lion's Campground in Wetaskiwin |
We finally found the Lion’s Club campground in Wetaskiwin, after missing the turn-off and going too far south. However, when we found it, it was a real nice place – grassy fields and level spots for the trailers. It was a back in site, but that isn’t too much of a problem (except one of the mirrors on the truck became loose on the trip and I couldn’t see as well as I would have liked.
Christie Sue had already contacted us through a text message, saying she was at Michael and Christie’s place. They invited us to come over for supper, so once we got settled, we thought we should get going. It is a long drive to their place in Edmonton, but GPS Jill got us there quite easily. Pizza was there, and we sat back and ate and visited. We were tired from the driving, so left somewhat early to go to our trailer and get to bed. It took about 40 minutes to get there.
Sat. June 16
I had noticed an RV place when we drove down the highway in Wetaskiwin, so the next morning, we got up, had some coffee, and went looking for parts to fix the shower. Strangely (for us), they had the part we needed, so we purchased it. Then I had to find an easy-out to get the broken part out of the tap. That cost almost 4 times as much as the shower part, and I already have a set at home, but they weren’t doing us much good while we were in Alberta.
I had to take the tap off the wall and to get the broken part out, but once I managed that, it was a piece of cake. The connection leaked a bit, but I realized I had left the washer on the broken part, and once I saw that and put it in the right place, the leak stopped. Nice to be able to shower again.
We had been invited over to Michael and Christie’s place, so off we went. Christie Sue had borrowed Michael’s car, and Christie Lee had gone out to the hair dresser, so when we got there, we sat around and talked. Then Michael got a phone call. It was Christie Lee asking me to move our truck from in front of her parking spot. I had guessed wrong.
They had to leave early to get the hall set up for the reception, so we were gone back to the trailer by 3:00. We drove around a bit, and found where the hall was located (Rollyview), so we knew where to go and how to get there. GPS Jill is fantastic.
We aimed to get to the hall at about 7:00 pm, and were fashionably late arriving. I got a text from Michael, just as we got out of the truck in the parking lot. There was a good crowd there already, and by the time we were introduced to many of the folks, there were at least 100 people there (likely more). We did a lot of visiting, taking of pictures, and generally enjoying ourselves as Michael and Christie got to celebrate their wedding at this reception.
A dinner was set out, of salads, cold cuts, vegetables and dip, and desserts, and we ate. It was great. I ate so much potato and Caesar salad that I couldn’t eat dessert. I also couldn’t eat any of the wedding cake that had been made and decorated by a friend of theirs. It was beautiful.
After the dinner, there was some thank you’s from Christie and Michael, and more mingling. As they began to clear some of the table out of the way, Dawn and I said our good byes and left for the trailer. We were tired, and had to get back to the trailer before the gate was locked. We also planned to leave early the next morning for south of Portland, and I already knew it was going to be 3 full days of driving in order to get there on time.
Back to the campsite and into bed by 11:00. I think we were asleep by 11:05, or at least I was.
Sun. June 17
 |
| A Rain Wall in Southern Alberta |
The US customs official was quite friendly. We didn’t have to take a tour through the trailer, or put up with any unfriendly attitude, and off we went.
Things were pretty flat and boring, but we hadn’t been there before so it was nice to have a look. There was a lot of wind, and at one time, a car passed us and the lady in the passenger seat was pointing at our roof. I pulled over, and it appears that the wind was unrolling our awning (I told you it was blowing. The wind was from the west and directly onto the side of the trailer). We made for the nearest exit off the freeway (about 10 more minutes) and pulled off so we could point the other direction and get the awning rolled back in.
I wrapped a bungee cord around the end, hoping it would stop it from unrolling. It didn’t, and about 40 minutes later, Dawn noticed it unrolling again. I looked again for another exit from the freeway, and one showed up about 10 minutes later. We pulled off and again turned facing the other direction so the wind was on the other side of the trailer. I was stumped, and we had a tough time getting it to loosed up so we could re-roll it. A fellow stopped and offered help, but I didn’t know what was wrong, although I suspected that the clutch for locking the roller up or down had been stripped. So I thanked him for the offer, but couldn’t figure out how he could help. Finally we were able to get it loosened and back in. I bungeed it again, and put one on the other side, too. Thank goodness I take our short step stool with us when we travel, so I could reach the top of the awning roller. After that, things went well, and it didn’t unroll again.
 | |
| Dick's RV Park, Great Falls |
Our goal was to make it to Great Falls, Montana, and we pulled in at about 7:00. We found a very nice RV park, Dick’s RV Park, they had room for us for the night – didn’t even have to unhook the trailer.
Mon. June 18
This morning, I called a mobile RV repair person recommended by the park, but he couldn’t even look at it before the late afternoon. So, we tried an RV dealer in Great Falls. He agreed with my assessment about the roller, but wouldn’t be able to look at it that day, and likely that week. He indicated that lots of people did exactly what I had done and either used bungees or Velcro straps to hold the roller closed.
 | |
| One part of a prop for a wind turbine. |
Tues. June 19
 |
| Lunch at a Rest Area |
 |
| Similar to Kamloops |
However, things changed when we began the Columbia Gorge. First the wind started to blow directly in our face, and then later, the vegetation became more lush and thick. It became similar to Blue River or Salmon Arm. The wind continued, which again, sucked the gas out of our tanks and we went through a lot this day, too.
GPS Jill finally recognized where we could find Champoeg Heritage area, and then took us there. We did end up having to drive south on I-5 for a ways, around the end of rush hour in Portland. It was quite busy, and there must have been an accident going the other way as traffic was at a standstill on the freeway, heading north.
 |
| Our Site at Champoeg |
Well, finally she got us to Champoeg, and when we pulled in, we found the Bailey’s. Faith had made the reservations, and our place was basically across the road from their site. This was a very nice park; paved roads, paved, level sites, power and water. There are bathrooms there with showers, so we didn’t have to use the trailer shower to get clean. We visited with Baileys that evening for a while, but we were tired, and didn’t stay up too late.
Wed. June 20
We thought a day sitting around and resting would be good for us, so we generally stayed at the site. Bailey’s went off on a bike ride for a few hours, and we had to find a store to do some shopping as we had basically used up all our food.
Later on in the afternoon, we played a game that Baily’s had brought. It was called bolaball, and you had to throw bolo balls and try to wrap them around horizontal bars to get point. It was the boys against the girls, and it was a spirited contest. The weather was great, and we were pretty hot.
Then back to our trailer for supper, and then we played $1.35 after supper. Dawn and I basically lost our money to Faith. Al says that she is too lucky, but she says that she has too much skill. We played a couple games, but Dawn and I mostly lost.
Then off to our place so we could get some sleep.
Thur. June 21
 |
| "Spruce Goose" |
 |
| In Front of a Plane Used in VietNam |
 |
| X-15 Spy Plane |
Mah Johng that evening, but I am not a great fan of this game – too much thinking and strange rules for me.
Fri. June 22
Up somewhat early so we could go and get the tires put on. Got to Les Schwab’s at about 9:00 am and ordered the tires. They had internet access for customers, so once I got the password, I was able to do some banking and move some money around. I uploaded some pictures to SugarSync and gave Michael access to them. They were photos from the reception, so hopefully they will enjoy them.
Once we paid for the tires, we left, looking for a place to eat breakfast and for Camping World, an RV place. Well, we headed in the direction of Camping World and came upon a restaurant named The Homestead. We decided to give it a try and went in. It was a fairly nice place and we had a good breakfast.
Next, we had to find Camping World, but I couldn’t find it on the GPS. We knew we were in the vicinity, but were not too sure of the location. We got back on I-5 and headed north. Nothing within 5 miles, so we exited the freeway to turn the other direction. After about 7 miles, we found it just off the freeway. Then we had to get to it, but that wasn’t too hard.
Went in and did some shopping. There is a lot of “stuff” in the store, and I was quite happy to walk around and look. Many things could have been purchased, but I didn’t want to put more money into the trailer, so held off. I did have to see if we could find a latch for our big window in the kitchen area, but they didn’t have anything what I needed.
Then I noticed the time, and figured we needed to get back to Champoeg. It was 12:15 and check-out time was 1:00. We hurried back and met Bailey’s pulling out, just as we pulled in. We told them we would be to Silver Spur RV Park in Silverton, as quickly as we could.
We were pretty quick, but a little late leaving. We were out by 1:20 pm, and after visiting the sani-dump, we were off. Well, GPS Jill took us directly there, but it was by a back route with lots of twists and turns. Interesting, but I couldn’t re-trace the route if I had a map.
Silverton RV Park is a great place, and we are parked right beside the Bailey’s. There is internet access here, but the signal is so weak at our trailer, I can’t get online. However, I’m sure if I go to the office area, the signal will be plenty strong enough. That means I can put this up on the internet tomorrow.
Bailey’s went out shopping in the afternoon, and after we set up, we sat back and relaxed. For supper we had appies at the Bailey’s trailer. We took a couple and they made a couple and we visited, ate, and played $1.35. An enjoyable time.