Our RV Adventures

By the time we waited in line to get diesel this morning, got the toad hooked up, and finally got on the road it was about 11am, but since we only had about 170 miles to go today, that wasn’t a problem.

And we got free coffee. Since we bought about $350 of diesel, the manager didn’t charge me when I got Jan and I coffee/cappuccinos right before we left.

But once again we got hung up trying to get filled up. The station was very busy, but with 10 pumps (8 gas, 2 diesel), they only had one lady trying to get everyone taken care of. In addition, the placards on the pumps say it is against the law to leave the area of the pump while you’re filling up. But the lady would be 60-70 feet away at times taking care of someone at the other end of the station.

Finally getting on US97 N, we headed into Bend where we would pick up US20E. We did make a small detour through the weigh station along the way. I had noticed that pretty much every time we went past, it was closed. But like most of these, the digital scale was still operational, with a large outside display. In fact last week, I’d driven the truck though the scale to weigh it.

Finding it closed again, I drove the RV through and recorded the front and rear weights. Because of the way the station is laid out, there was no way to go around again so I could get the side to side weights, just the front and rear. But it showed that as usual, we’re running right at, or a hair over our gross weight.

But it’s always good to double-check.

After a couple of very nice rest area stops, we turned south at Burns, OR onto SR205 for the last 12 miles down to Princeton, OR and The Narrows RV Park.

SR205 was a good road, except for the cows.

We saw several of the ‘livestock on road’ signs, and they really mean it. Later at dinner our waitress mentioned that she ‘hit six cows last year’.

I then ask “You hit cows six times last year?” She said “No, I hit six cows all at once. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM . . . I was driving on a dark night, came over a hill, and there was a herd of black cows, so it was BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!”

Ouch!

We got into the park about 3pm, and after being led to our site, we got plugged in and set up. With Passport America it was $14.14 for 50 FHU, a great price for a really nice little park.

About 4:30 we walked over to the small restaurant located in the office to have dinner. We both got the Chicken Fried Steak and it was a great choice. We were both amazed at how good everything was. This is just a small place with 4 tables and 4 stools at the counter, but it was easy to see that the cook really knew her way around a kitchen.

While we were eating, she came out front to get a drink and we complemented her on the food. And by then we’d already decided to come back tomorrow morning for breakfast before we leave.

Tomorrow we’ve got a 200 mile trip to Nampa, ID, just south of Boise, and it looks like we’ve got a lot of curvy road between here and there.

Oh good. Cat barf.

———————————————————————————————————————–

Thought for the Day:

"An intelligent victor will, when possible, present his demands to the vanquished in installments." – Adolf Hitler

dfadsadsf

Well, we had our first so-so weather here today with a light rain most of the morning. Luckily it’s supposed to be clear when we leave tomorrow.

I went outside just as it started sprinkling and put the canvas chairs up so I won’t have to put them away wet tomorrow. I also added some air to a couple of coach tires and plugged in the coach engine’s block heater since it will be in the high 20’s/low 30’s tonight. It went down to 29 degrees last night. With the block heater on, my engine oil won’t be the consistency of Jello when I crank up tomorrow.

————————————————————–

Several readers have asked for more info about the park files that I mentioned yesterday, the ones that show every park we’ve visited, TT park, places to see, etc.

Actually they start out as CSV (comma separated variable) database files
that I compile by hand.

Alyeska Resort,Arlberg Ave,Girdwood,AK,99587,US,N60.97058,W149.10495
Amarillo Ranch RV Park,1414 Sunrise Dr,Amarillo,TX,79104,US,N35.193021,W101.770971
American Sunset RV Park,N Montesano St,Westport,WA,98595,US,N46 53.973′,W1246.352
Antelope Valley Fairgrounds RV Park,,Lancaster,CA,93536,US,N34.72599,W118.1756

The form is shown below. Note that each item is separated by a comma.

Park Name,Park Address,Park City,Park State,Park Zip, Park Country, Park Lat, Park Long

They’re just text files saved with a .csv extension instead of .txt.

I then use the XData function on my Delorme Street Atlas GPS program to pull
them in and convert them into Delorme database files.

Whenever I need to, I just add the new park to the CSV file and then
re-import it to Delorme. Since I only do one or two new parks at a time, it’s not very time consuming.

Microsoft Streets & Trips will let you do the same thing with a slightly
different procedure.

Hope this helps. If anyone has any more question, just let me know.

————————————————————–

About 3pm Jan and I headed end for our last afternoon in Bend for this trip. First up, we decided to take a run at the summit drive up Pilot Butte, and this time we lucked out. The gates were open. In fact, Jan spotted a car on the climb from many blocks away so we figured it would be open.

The drive to the top was a little bit dicey a couple of times. The road is really narrow, and meeting oncoming cars is interesting to say the least. Then throw in the walkers and joggers along the road’s edge, and you’ve got your hands full. But the drive was worth it.

The view was great, but a little uncomfortable. It had started raining, and with the wind up there, it got kind of cold, so we didn’t stay long. But it was certainly worth the trip.

Leaving the Butte, we drove a few miles away to have our last meal here at Baldy’s BBQ. Jan had her usual ribs, with au gratin potatoes, and beans, while I went back to what I had the very first time we ate here. The Beef, Chicken, Pork Combo with a side salad. And of course, a side of their great beans.

After another great meal, we headed back toward home, with a couple of stops along the way. First up, we stopped and got gas. Oregon is one of two states, along with New Jersey, that will not let you pump your own gas. I can only assume that Oregon authorities figure that their residents are too stupid to be allowed to pump their own gas without setting themselves on fire.

The other problem I see is that large gas stations like the Fred Meyer’s with 16 pumps, is that there always seems to be a line of cars, because they don’t have 16 attendants, only about 4. So instead of 16 cars filling up at once, the 4 guys can only handle about 8 at a time, at most. Dumb.

Our last stop was at Wal-Mart for a few things before we hit the road tomorrow. Jan also wanted to get some more cherries at the fruit stand out in the parking lot, but they had already closed for the day. Jan’s hoping the lady will be out at the front of the park before we leave tomorrow.

We plan on leaving tomorrow between 9 and 10, getting diesel and hooking up the toad at the Shell station a few miles down the road. Then we’ll have about 170 mile trip down to Princeton, OR to stay at The Narrows RV Park for one night. Should be a nice trip.

————————————————————————————————————————-

Thought for the Day:

"If one would give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest man, I would find something in them to have him hanged." – Cardinal Richelieu

fsdgdfg