We left the Wenatchee Forest on Tuesday, Sept 23. I drove south to the Columbia River then west along the Columbia River Gorge to Portland. The Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area extends from the Sandy River, all the way to the Deschutes River, nearly 80 miles east. The gorge holds some of the region's most scenic vistas and leads to hundreds of wilderness areas and recreation destinations, such as Bonneville Dam and Cascade Locks. In Portland, I found a nice RV park south of the city, got settled and called a friend whom I dated when I lived here. She was available for dinner so we dined at a nice Mexican restaurant, and had a nice time reflecting on the time since I left Oregon. I took the next day, while she was working, and toured around the city. As one would expect things changed considerably since the 80's. I went over to her house the next day and did a few repairs that were needed, we had dinner and another time sharing tales.
From Portland the girls and I headed south to Salem where, after getting settled in another RV park, I went over to see Herb and Norma. Her son was there and after running a few errands we dined on a fabulous meal that Norma prepared. I had called my old friend from high school, and the next day I went over to their home for a visit. It was sure nice to see Larry, his wife Barbara, and even his mother, aged 91, came over to join us for dinner. It was a very good time of sharing and catching up.
Sunday we drove south to Eugene. I did a load of laundry and we all relaxed at the RV park close to my next destination. Monday I drove over to AM Solar to get another solar panel installed. I had only 2 panels installed at first, foolish me, and being in the desert it worked great. However, in the forest with the trees, I only got about 3 hours of direct sun, so it wasn't getting enough sun to cover my needs. With the 3rd panel it seems to work just fine.
After about 2 hours we headed over the mountains to Bend. I took the McKenzie Pass Scenic Byway route. We made a few stops to look at the mountains and especially the wonderful water falls. My the town of Bend has sure changed since I was last there in 1989. We stopped close to town in a RV park and rested a bit then I made a quick tour of downtown. I found the house I had lived in, well actually the place where the house once was, which is an apartment complex. Funny what 9 years can do. Tuesday the girls and I made the scenic tour of the Cascade Lakes around Mt. Bachelor and back into Bend. I dropped off the girls and went on a trip to the Lava Cast Forest.
Wednesday we headed south to Crater Lake. Spectacular! The lake is 5 miles wide and ringed by cliffs almost 2,000 feet above the water. The shattered remnants of a volcano called Mt. Mazama, which erupted and collapsed into itself 7,700 years ago. The mountain first began to grow half a million years ago.
There were no RV camping available so we continued south and spent the night at a rest stop. The next morning we drove through Reno, went west and stopped at Stampede Lake where I was to work next summer. I saw my site and was disappointed. I went further south through the town of Tahoe City and found a Tahoe National Forest campground that was open. This place was managed by the same company as Stampede Lake and whom I worked for in Wenatchee. I met the local area manager and after some discussion I took a job with him at the next campground down the road 2 miles. This will be much better. I little more work than Stampede, but I will have 2 real days off during the week, my site has a great view of Lake Tahoe across the street and it has water and power. A real bonus!
I called my old college fraternity brother, Gene, otherwise known as 'Gassy', and joined him and his lady friend for dinner. Again, this was a good time getting caught up on old times and what's been happening over the past 40 years. Gassy has been involved with drag racing for that many years and more. In fact he was working at Famosa Raceway in Bakersfield at the drag racing I went to last March. Had I known we could have connected there. He is an official for the dragsters and funny cars. (Bill, he's buddies with Garlits, Force and Purdohme.) There is the fall meet on Oct 12-14, 2008. I am in Albuquerque at this time.
I was going to spend a couple of days here, but the weather was getting cold and ugly in Tahoe. Snow was forecast for the weekend, so we left on Friday and drove to Bishop. I got a RV park in the center of town and walking distance to the fairgrounds. I tried to call our former neighbor Wayne Sayer, but got his machine. I watched a little college football and relaxed that night. In the morning I walked to the annual Bishop car show at the fairgrounds. I saw some really nice cars and several Corvettes and hot rods. (Julie - how is Pete's Vette coming along?) We left town around noon and drove straight to Laughlin, NV. We were about 100 miles east when Wayne returned my call. He and Paula were at the Car Show too.
We spent 2 nights at the RiversideCasino RV park. It was very nice and reasonably priced. That night I walked through a casino, but didn't play anything, not even Keno. I did visit the 2 showrooms of old restored cars, however. Sunday I watched the NASCAR race in the morning and then took the girls for a swim in the Colorado River. They were very happy.
Monday morning we drove east and picked up I-40 heading to Albuquerque. I stopped in Seligman, which is about 120 miles east of Laughlin, to give the dogs a walk. Our only other stop was at the Petrified Forest National Park. We didn't drive all the way to the petroglyphs or the ancient Pueblo of Puerco, maybe next trip. But we did see some of the petrified trees and the colorful layers of earth in the Painted Desert. As is with most National Parks, this is a sight to behold. We continued east to Gallup, New Mexico where we got a nice RV park for the night.
Below are a few photos of some of the sites we've enjoyed during trip to Albuquerque.
Tuesday afternoon we stopped for a late lunch at the Route 66 Casino's Roadrunner Diner just west of Albuquerque. This was a really cool place inside with decor and food. Since I had done a little research, I knew that the RV parks close to the city were booked and that they charge an arm and a leg during this week of the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. So I drove north on I-25 toward Santa Fe and pulled off where I saw a KOA sign. It is located in a partly industrial area about 15 miles from city center, but only about 7 miles from the balloon grounds. How fortunate, and the rates are cheap, but this is for a dry camp - NO power, water or sewer. It's OK, for a while. As it turns out this location is within about 15 miles of Karen's new home.
Wednesday morning, after breakfast and a walk with the girls, I headed back toward the city in hope of seeing some of the hot air balloons. This year from October 4 thru 12th is the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Sure enough, I was able to follow some of them and get a few good photos. I had an opportunity to go up in a hot air balloon when I lived in Portland. What a thrill!
This is the end of this part of our recent adventure from Washington State to Albuquerque, New Mexico. The next addition will include more photos of the area, including Santa Fe, and a few surrounding landmarks. I hope to get action shots of the reunion of Digit and Karen.
We will leave Albuquerque on the 14th and head south and west to Sierra Vista which will be my winter home until April, 2009. And so the saga continues.
Bye for now.
Bruce, Molly and Digit
Link back to my "Bruce The Nomad" page.