The next morning we got up and around about 7:00 and headed to a restaurant a short ways down the road. After breakfast we continued our trip west driving through several small towns and taking some of the side streets that fed off of 36 to explore. We found a few more city parks for camping and noted them for future trips. We drifted across the rolling hills of western Kansas and eastern Colorado, spending a little time exploring Greeley, Colorado, and then headed toward Denver. We stopped at a campground that was noted in Don Wright’s book, ‘Free Campgrounds of the West’. Since the book had been written though the state of Colorado had taken it over and were in the process of putting in a lot of improvements, thus it ended up costing me about $20 for the night. We really prefer dry camping and spending nothing but it was late and I knew of no other campgrounds in the area. Since it was Saturday night the campground was crowded with a lot of families from Denver who apparently came up here to fish at the lake that we were camped next to.
After a breakfast of bacon, eggs, and biscuits, we headed to Shelby’s place. They were packed and ready, so we headed out after throwing their gear in the back of the truck. We have and extended cab pickup and the youngsters had the privilege of riding in the back seat. This was going to be togetherness for sure. Luckily the kids had brought a tent to sleep in. We drove up into the mountains, passing through Kremmling, with a brief stop at Florissant Fossil Bed National Monument to tour the visitor center. We found a large mountain meadow to stop and eat lunch and enjoyed the scent of sage and pine. We passed through Steamboat Springs and had to stop for a little window shopping. When passing through Craig, Colorado I noticed what appeared to be a city park a couple of blocks off the main highway so I circled around to explore the possibilities of camping there. There was no camping available but the city holds a chainsaw carving contest each year and the results of that contest are displayed in the park. We had fun going around the park and looking at the wonderful work some of these artists did. It was about 4:00 when we left and we still had a couple of hours before we got to a free BLM campground I wanted to stay at this evening. On the way to the campground we passed a display of Indian petrolyphs that the BLM had a marker at. It was fascinating to see these pictographs completed by a person several hundred years ago. It was even more fun watching a lizard scurry around the rock, trying to stay out of our reach.
We arrived at the campground around 6:00. It was a very small campground with no services, and it was obviously intended for tent campers primarily since the road through it was very narrow and the pullins were even narrower and unlevel. It is not the sort of place you would want to bring a motorhome or fifth-wheel. Luckily it was just fine for us with our truck camper though. We set up camp and grilled some hamburgers for supper. The moon was almost full that night and it shone bright over the hills adjacent to the campground.
During the night a couple of guys had pulled into a campsite not far from us and they had a couple of llamas that they were taking up to the Bob Marshall Wilderness for some backpacking. We spent some time visiting with them and found that they lived in New Mexico and raised llamas. It was fascinating learning from them the pros and cons of dealing with the llamas, costs, etc.
After exploring around the campground a little more and having some breakfast we headed cross country on gravel roads up toward Rock Springs, Wyoming. I found the country beautiful and there were a number of side roads I would have loved to explore given more time. We filled up with gas at Rock Springs and made our way over toward Pocatello, Idaho. I knew this was going to be a long driving day and I got a lot of static from the other three in the group who wanted to stop earlier and find a place to camp. I had my heart set on getting back up into the Sawtooth Mountains near Hailey, Idaho though so I pressed on and took the verbal abuse hurled at me. We finally made it to Hailey and stopped for pizza before heading north a ways to a Forest Service campground. We ended up camping right next to a cool mountain creek and fell asleep to the sound of rushing water. The rest of the group conceded that it was good we trudged on to a lovely spot like this rather than have camped in the desert area we had driven through all afternoon.
The morning dawned clear, but crisp and cool, so Carol and I donned our fleece jackets for a morning walk of the campground, while we waited for Shelby and Rob to wake up. We stopped and visited with the camphost and found out that he and his wife live in Jerome about 50 miles south on the edge of the desert area. This was their second year of hosting at this campground. They enjoyed coming up for the summer to get into the mountains and away from the heat. They had a couple of days off a week and could run home on those days and take care of business. He was doing an excellent job of keeping the campground neat and appealing. On the way through Hailey the night before we had seen a sign that said ‘Ernest Hemingway Grave’, and since Rob is a fan and we needed to pick up a few supplies anyway we headed back to Hailey after breakfast. We found the grave and took some photos, and picked up our supplies. I also made a discovery. Cemetaries tend to have water available. If one is ever in dire need of water for the camper that would be a good place to grab some. Carol and I had been to Hailey about 13 years ago on our 25th anniversary. It had really grown a lot in the intervening 13 years.
We headed north to Stanley, Idaho and Carol and I again reminisced about our anniversary several years ago. Stanley had changed considerably also. It is still a beautiful little town, but the population is creeping in. We found a building that was a restaurant that we had eaten breakfast at back in 1992 and taken a photo of the Sawtooths through a big picture window. A couple of fellows were sitting on the front porch chatting so we asked and found out that the building had been turned into apartments. We snapped a couple of photos.
From Stanley we headed up to Redfish Lake which had a lodge and some forest service campgrounds. In 1992 we had stayed at the lodge. This trip we hoped to find a campsite in the campground. All of the campsites were full in the first two campgrounds we drove through but we lucked out in the third and found a place overlooking the lake itself. That evening we went over to the Redfish Lake Lodge and had a delicious supper. This was a very enjoyable day with very little driving. I was trying to make up for the previous day.
Carol and I were again early risers so we donned our jackets and began our routine of walking through the campgrounds. It was another beautiful day and after everyone was awake and full we packed into the truck and headed for Oregon. We took all blue highways until we got nearly to the border and caught I-84 and crossed near Payette. We found a nice state park to camp at. Since we were no longer in the mountains it was hot and even though we had water and electric we were out of luck since our camper doesn’t have air conditioning. We did have a fan that managed to keep us cool enough. We pulled our TV outdoors that evening and watched ‘The Aviator’. It was a pleasant evening.
We decided to head to the nearest town and have breakfast out the next morning so everyone was up and ready fairly early. We found a nice little dinner for breakfast and then headed up to the Columbia River Valley and followed the river over to the Mount Hood area. We turned south toward Mt. Hood and camped in a forest service camp ground on the east side of the mountain. Again a nice swift creek lulled us to sleep.
The next day we had the main mishap of the trip. I had not emptied the holding tanks in a couple of days and while the Shelby and Rob were getting cleaned up and ready to go gray water seeped up through the shower drain. Needless to say, even though it is gray water it did not smell pleasant. Shelby was afraid I would get mad at her for not monitoring the water level. I figured I was the one that fell down on the job. The first order of business that morning was to find a dump station. Once this was done we headed on into the Portland area. We had reservations at a county park campground that I had found in a forum discussion. When we got there we were put next to a family with at least a dozen kids, or so it seemed, I guess it was only about four. This was by far the worse campground we would stay at on the whole trip. The campsites were close together and it was extremely crowded. The word ‘zoo’ comes to mind.
Luckily, we did not have to spend much time here except to sleep. Most of our time was spent at Carol’s brother’s (Steve) house enjoying good company, good food, and catching up on each other’s lives. Our oldest daughter (Rebecca), her husband (Rob), and our granddaughter (Annabelle) had flown in from Kansas City for the reunion so our whole family was there. Some notable side trips of the weekend included a great trip to a Columbia sportswear factory outlet, and to a lumberjack show that was quite entertaining and enlightening. I don’t know how some of these guys keep all their toes.
Sunday afternoon we dropped Shelby and Rob off at the Portland airport for their flight back to Denver. They had to get back to work. We were to drop off their gear on our way back through Denver the next week. It had been crowded traveling 4 in the truck but we would miss their banter and jibes. They were fun to have along.
We had checked out of the campground that morning. I had called a contact (Kurt ‘Net Boy’) I had made in the RV Net truck camper forum who had said we could stay at his place, so we were going to take him up on it. Were we ever pleasantly surprised when we found his place. He had a nice level grassy spot to park and he even had a stand alone outhouse with sink, toilet, and shower for his camping friends. I was truly impressed with his setup. He was a great host and we combined our efforts for a potluck supper that night. After supper he took us around his yard and showed us his landscaping, which is Carol’s number one interest. He also took us next door to a neighbors who had a lovely home that could be showcased in a magazine. Overall, we had a great time visiting with Kurt and his neighbors and said our good byes that evening as we intended on getting an early start the next morning.
Leaving Portland Monday morning we caught Highway 18 southwest toward Lincoln City and the coast. Quite a stretch of this is farming and Carol happen to notice a sign about picking your own blackberries. We followed the sign and came to a farm house where we paid to pick some berries and were pointed in the direction of the area for picking. I would have preferred to have just bought some already picked but not Carol. Oh well, it was fun, and we enjoyed the walk around the farm. It gave us an excuse for hiking. Near Lincoln City we stopped for lunch at a very small little dinner that Kurt and his neighbor had mentioned. It was just a hole in the wall place but the food was excellent although a bit pricey for us, but then what isn’t. We continued south along the coast stopping occasionally at beaches and one light house for a tour. We ended up making it all the way to the Dunes area by evening. We explored a few campgrounds along the way and finally found a national forest campground overlooking a bay like area.
The next morning we packed up and headed south toward California. We continued to note and explore various campgrounds along the way for future reference. I stopped and talked to one camp host at an Oregon State Park campground. He said the state park campgrounds were good places to workamp. We finally made it to California and stopped for a mid afternoon early supper at Crescent City, on the wharf. We both wanted to try some seafood. It was okay, but not memorable. We toured the Redwood state park and probably would have stayed at one of their campgrounds but we wanted to get a little more distance in. The redwoods were indeed impressive. We turned east at Arcata onto Highway 299. It looked like a likely scenic route. Around 8:00 we found another national forest campground right beside the Trinity River to camp at. It was a pleasant campsite and a pretty setting.
Wednesday morning we got away around 8:30 and just took our time driving along 299 since it was hilly and windy. We stopped occasionally to enjoy the scenery. Just before lunch Carol saw some huge pinecones laying by the roadside. We debated whether or not to turn around and go back or watch ahead. We went a few miles further and saw no more so Carol made me turn around and drive back. We picked up a big garbage bag full of them. I’ve never seen pinecones that big. We were two days getting all the pine sap off our hands. We needed to dump our holding tanks so we pulled into Lassen Volcanic National Park around 12:30 and found a dump station and checked out the campground. This looks like a very pretty national park that is under utilized, a pleasant change. Again we didn’t have the time to check it out thoroughly but we did stop and have lunch in a parking area near a very pretty lake.
One of our objectives for the day was to get close to Highway 50 in Nevada. This is billed as ‘the loneliest highway’. We got pretty close. We watched for campgrounds as we passed through Reno and Sparks and finally ran across the Desert Rose RV Park in Fernley, NV. We did not have a campground directory so we were just lucky to happen onto it. It lacked shade but it was close to dusk anyway and we were just going to spend the night. We very seldom stay in what would be termed RV parks. We were delighted with this one. The restrooms, instead of just being regular male and female restrooms were each a large roomy bathroom with sink, toilet and shower made just for couples to use. It was very comfortable and clean. I would stay there again.
Thursday we headed east on ‘the loneliest highway’. What a treat. We stopped and looked at the ruins of an old pony express station and spent about an hour exploring the small town of Eureka, which probably hasn’t changed much in the last hundred years. About mid afternoon we reached Ely. In Ely we found a great old railroad station and a train that could be ridden for short trips. We didn’t ride it but I did take a lot of photos thinking of my brother and his interest in trains. Just up the street we found a small bakery with some baked goods that just screamed ‘take me with you’, so we did. From her we headed on over to Great Basin National Park. This is a real treat out in the middle of a lot of desert like terrain are these mountains complete with pines and deciduous trees. We found a camp site at one of the campgrounds,.and set up. This national park had three campgrounds at varying altitudes. The lowest campground loans itself well to larger RVs, the second campground where we stayed was suited better for tents, small campers, and truck campers like ours. After we got set up we drove up the mountain to see the other campground. It is also best suited for smaller units. We saw a lot of wild life in this park. After visiting the other campground we had supper and went to an evening program on bats, put on by one of the park rangers. I never knew there were so many different types of bats in the world. We liked Great Basin National Park. It wasn’t crowded and had a lot of potential for hiking and just relaxing.
Friday morning after breakfast we broke camp and drove over to the park headquarters where we found a National Park Monopoly game that we though my brothers family would enjoy so we bought that along with some postcards to mail. Then we hit the road again making our way over to I-70 in Utah and headed toward Colorado. The drive across Utah was beautiful. I still think Utah is one of the prettiest states. I love the rock formations, canyons, and colors. I wanted so badly to head south and so some canyon hiking instead of go home. Unfortunately that was not to be. We had to cover some miles. Just past Glenwood Springs, Colorado, I had read about a canyon that was national forest and though I could find somewhere to boondock. We headed up the road to the canyon passing a state park on a reservoir shortly after turning off of I-70. We probably drove at least 10 miles up that road and there were a mix of county park campgrounds and some national forest land but everyplace we drove said no camping. All of the county campground spots were taken, I guess because it was Friday night. We finally ended up having to drive back to the state park where they did have a few sites left, and got a site overlooking the reservoir.
The rest of the trip was just driving. We got back on I-70 Saturday morning and were in Denver at Shelby’s in time for lunch. We made it to Salina by dark and stayed in the Walmart parking lot along with about a dozen other RVs. Sunday morning we got up and bought some donuts at Walmart for breakfast and were home by early afternoon. Just in time to cut grass before heading back to work.
It was a great trip and we got to see a lot. My only regret is that it was so rushed. We’ll be traveling this same section late this summer or early fall and this time I plan on taking my time. I’ll be retired.
