Our View From The Road

Day 18: June 6 – Pendleton, OR to Fort Stevens State Park, OR

Last evening a small thunderstorm rolled through shortly after we had setup at the campground. This morning it is dry and we awoke early to use the showers, they were clean and the hot water was plentiful. Ahhh.

We ‘treated’ ourselves to a McDonald’s breakfast (our first fast food on the trip) and then we topped off on provisions at the Walmart before getting back onto the I-84 towards Portland,OR.

Leaving Pendleton the highway takes one last drop down into the Columbia river valley. For the next few hours we drive alongside this majestic river passing several large hydro-electric dams. Our route is shared with the railroads that also recognized this as a good route up from the ocean and into the heartland of the continent.

As we get closer to Portland we notice that the grasslands of the higher elevations have given way to more arable lands and then forests of tall cedars and firs. A clear indication that we are now on the West cost of the continent.

Along with these forests we witnessed a significant increase in the number of logging trucks on the road.

At Portland, we turn North and join I-5 into the state of Washington for a short drive to Longview, WA where we once again turn west and back into Oregon towards the coast. Longview is clearly a lumber town as we saw huge yards of logs being stored and awaiting shipping overseas where they will be turned into finished goods for shipping back to North America.

As we head towards Astoria, OR we realize that for the past two weeks we had been watching our elevation on the GPS rise from a few hundred meters to several thousand and now that we are near the coast, it is reading less than 50 meters. Before long this should be close to 0 meters as our target for the day is Fort Stevens State Park, OR.

Arriving in Astoria, we notice on Google maps that the primary bridge to the park is closed for maintenance and so Barb re-routes us across the town toward and alternate bridge. This new route through town turns out to be a 40% road upwards over the ridge and down the other side. I want you to think about San Francisco but in an RV. I head toward the hill now staring me in face and ask Barb, “are you sure?” To which the answer is “Yes” and so upwards we go, past the sign for ‘No trucks allowed’, up, up, up and over the top. Of course, the van made it and we were reminded of not blindly trusting what a map might suggest. We laughed at what the folks living on the street might have been thinking.

Arriving at Fort Stevens State Park we get ourselves settled as we are staying here for 3 nights to wind down and enjoy some time off-grid. Internet is not very reliable here and so a few days might go by before further posts are made. Back soon!

Day 17: June 5 – Glenn’s Ferry, ID to Pendleton, OR

A dry morning awaited us as we looked out across the vineyard, today we are driving into Oregon.

We’ve learned that the Oregon trail passed through Glenn’s Ferry, so named because of the ferry service that once existed here. The Snake river at his point is fairly fast flowing and wide, and during the 1800’s many wagons and animals were lost attempting to cross the river at a point where three islands exist. This prompted the creation of a ferry service which existed for many years assisting those wagon trains heading westward to the coast. Although the ferry service no longer exists, it is remembered in the town name as does the 3 Islands crossing as many businesses use this name.

Our first stop of the day is in Boise, ID at an Oregon trail historical site. The area is now a park where many walk their dogs; but back in the 1800’s it was a crossing point of several trails and a location from which settlers would have had their first glimpses of the fertile Boise river plain. Many would call this far enough and today Boise is a prosperous city surrounded by lush farmland. Yes, they grow a lot of potatoes in this valley.

Leaving the Boise river valley, we climbed again into the hills and the land became more grassland and rolling. Stopping at a rest stop in one of these valleys, we enjoyed lunch in the van as we watched a variety of travelers exercise their dogs.

After lunch, we continued westward and the fauna changed again to coniferous forests. By mid-afternoon we were back at about 1500m and approaching Deadman Pass, a 6 mile 6% downhill grade that twists and turns it’s way out of the Oregon hills. We stopped at a viewing sight at the top where we could see the vehicles descend and appear to shrink into Tonka toys as they drove down the hill.

Once at the bottom of the pass, we only had a few miles to drive before we arrived at Pendleton, OR. Tonight we are staying at the KOA in town and it is full, I think we got one of the last sites, but the full hookups and hot showers will be welcomed. Tomorrow we head to the coast.

Day 16: June 4 – Santaquin, UT to Glenn’s Ferry, ID

Turns out that the I-15 was a little too close for Barb to get a good nights sleep. Tony, heard nothing…. Typical.

A fairly early start to today as we’re off to Idaho (5 1/2 hours). A quick top off on fuel and then to Walmart for a few provisions before jumping back onto the freeway.

The Salt Lake City area is a lot like Toronto in that all the nearby communities have now just blurred into one enormous metroplex. From Santaquin the 75km North to where we turned West on I-80 was all built-up urban landscape.

Turning West onto I-80 took us out across the Salt Lake valley at the Southern edge of Salt Lake, here there is nothing, and I mean nothing but the road and a railway track. Eventually we came to the Western edge of the Salt flats and one of the most famous places in the world for those trying to set land speed records, the Bonneville Speedway.

Of course there’s also nothing there, but the salt. Each year USAC marks out a new 10mile long “track” along which the speed demons will run their cars, motorcycles and other equipment. The picture below shows the area in which this happens, the mountains in the photo are evidently more than 10miles away. The vastness of this space is overwhelming as there are no reference points against which to measure distances.

Above you can see a few hardy brave souls who have taken their vehicles out onto the salt flats. We hope that they all immediately go to a car wash after leaving as the cars are covered with salt ‘dust’ after simply driving about.

Returning to the I-80 we quickly cross the state line into Nevada where we continued westward for about 45min before turning North towards Twin Falls, ID.

Rolling grasslands reminded me a little of the Scottish highlands at times with some epic vistas. The picture below shows an area where it appears all of the smaller boulders that were in a glacier were just dropped leaving this hillside strewn with them.

Arriving in Twin Falls we cross the Snake River canyon just West of the site where in 1974, Evel Knievel attempted to jump a steam powered rocket bike across the canyon. Evidently the ramp on which he built the launch structure still survives.

Turning again toward the West we drive to Glenn’s Ferry, ID where we would be staying at the Y Knot Winery. We enjoyed a prime rib dinner and sampled some of their wines before retiring to the van where we watched a movie before settling down for the night.

Day 15: June 3 – Moab, UT to Santaquin, UT

A warm and sunny morning awaited us in Moab. This was the view from our campsite looking West as the sun lit up the rocks.

After enjoying a breakfast outside at the campsite we packed up and headed out to Ken’s Lake Campground (BLM) just South of town where we hopped on our bikes and rode to a scenic waterfall.

We also saw lots of these cacti in bloom. something that neither of us had ever seen before.

Having enjoyed a small amount of outdoors time we reloaded the bikes onto the rack and resumed our travels. This time towards Salt Lake City. Our journey today saw us say ‘so long’ to I-70 for after several days of it carrying us Westward, we would now turn Northerly and take US 191 through the mountains. The drive was spectacular as was the scenery. Even the sky offered up its beauty as can be seen in the following picture.

We stopped in Green River, UT for gas and Barb had to take a picture of the Sinclair company mascot. They at least understand the source of the petroleum we consume.

Woody, Buzz, isn’t that a great looking van?

A few hours after setting out we came down out of the mountains and into the Salt Lake valley. We stayed at the South end of the valley in Santaquin. Rowley’s Red Barn were our hosts. This is a ‘farm shoppe’ that sells homemade fruit pies made from the fruit grown on the farm; however, they also sell other items such as ice cream, preserves, cheese, fresh produce and as shown in the picture below, a large variety of classic soda pop. I enjoyed an old style lemonade and Barb had Butter Beer.

Unfortunately the camping location is adjacent to I-15 and we’re both hoping the traffic noise does not make for a restless night.

Day 14: June 2 – Central City, CO to Moab, UT

We awake with the temperature having dropped to zero Celsius early this morning. We ran the electric cube heater all night and it appears to have warded off any freezing issues with our water lines. Phew! I did however have a restless night thinking about what might have happened. Hopefully I shall sleep better tonight in Moab, UT.

Today I ran out of superlatives for the views and scenery through which we drove in Colorado. Stunning, Incredible, Amazing, Wow. We’ve already decided to come back and spend far more time exploring this amazing state.

Eisenhower tunnel, elevation 3,401m (11,158ft) and 2.72km long under continental divide

We climbed upwards for the first part of the morning until we reached the Eisenhower tunnel (above). It took under the continental divide, meaning that after we exit all rivers will lead to the Pacific Ocean.

Exiting the tunnel we descended down a 7% grade for 13km (8miles). A good test of nerves and equipment and then onto Vail, CO and the driving was easier (not so quick Tony).

Another long uphill and then a tunnel led to another (albeit shorter) 8km (5miles) 6% downhill section. This would be the last of the big downhills, but there was still many more smaller sections to negotiate.

Eventually the scenery changed and the mountains became shorter and more grass and scrub covered instead of tree covered as they were earlier in the day. We approached Grand Junction and yet again the scenery had changed to be much more desert-like. All around us now we’re flat topped Mesa’s.

Soon we had crossed into Utah and the temperature was 32 degrees C. Not much grows here. Turning down Hwy 191 into Moab, the rocks turned red and the number of campers increased significantly. Moab as a town was not really to our liking, overly commercial and too busy. We passed through on our way to the KOA that would once again be our home for the night. A nice site in a well kept campground. We’d recommend both this and the previous nights stay.

Day 13: June 1 – WaKeeney, KS to Central City, CO

A gorgeous sky awaited us this morning, the light was painting in various blues and greys and as the sun rose it changed almost by the second.

The morning routine is becoming more natural for us now as we each ‘dance’ around each other in the van doing the things we do to prepare for the day. Pulling out of the Winery we both were still in awe of this beautiful place set unassumingly in the prairie grasslands. As we drove away, we captured this picture in an effort to show the isolation.

Today we are driving towards Denver and the Rocky Mountains; however, we took a quick detour into Oakley, KS to see the monument to Buffalo Bill. A huge bronze statue of the rifleman chasing and shooting at a buffalo during one of the ‘hunts’ held in the 1800’s paints a stark reminder of life in the Wild West.

Light showers accompanied us for most of the morning as the elevation slowly climbed first above 1000m and then 1500m. We arrived in Denver and rains had subsided allowing us to see how the mountains spring from the plains with the city right at the base acting as a gateway into the Rocky Mountains.

We took a detour to Red Rocks Ampitheatre and park. This incredible live performance venue has been built into a natural sandstone ampitheatre that is nestled within the foothills just outside of Denver. It is open to the public for exploring between events, and so we took a chance and luckily we’re able to go in and explore.

In the panoramic shot above you can see how the seating and stage have been built into these incredible red rocks (thus the name). You can also in the distance see the city of Denver.

Tonight we are camping at a KOA in Central City, CO just West of Denver at an elevation of 2594m (8510ft). There are still some piles of snow around and the overnight temperature will get perilously close to 0 degrees.

Dorothy, we’re definitely not in Kansas anymore!

Day 12: May 31 – Higginsville, MO to WaKeeney, KS

A hot and muggy night leads to gentle showers falling as we awake. A quick breakfast and we’re ready to go. West towards Kansas is todays itinerary.

30 minutes into the drive and the skies opened as heavy rain fell and lightning lit the morning skies. The interstate was awash with water and the traffic slowed to a manageable speed, but did not stop. An hour into the drive and we arrived in Kansas City still amid the storm. We passed the Kansas City ballpark and went through downtown. Once on the other side the rains began to let up and before long we were on the Kansas Turnpike headed toward Topeka. The toll was $4 for the entire I-70 portion and then we were back onto the I-70 as a freeway.

The scenery changed throughout the drive from tree-lined pastures until we arrived on the true grasslands that define the great western plains where one can see for miles in any direction. Communities are defined on the horizon simply by the presence of a grain elevator and the train tracks and roads that connect each together.

The road today was uphill. We started at an elevation of 250m and ended at 750m. Tomorrow will be quite a bit higher than this.

Our stop tonight is another Harvest Host, Shiloh Vineyard and Winery just outside of WalKeeney, KS. I’ve included a link to their website below. This place is amazing, tranquil, friendly and just what we were looking for. If ever you’re out this way, look them up.

https://www.shilohvineyard.com

Day 11: May 30 – Terre Haute, IN to Higginsville, MO

A quiet night. I awake early in the hopes of having the shower to myself, Yay! It works. It’s also COLD … freezing actually. It takes almost my entire shower before any warmth is felt. The shower gets a 6 / 10. It loses points for lack of immediate hot water, no shower curtain and standing water inside and outside of shower pan. It is however clean and there are hooks and a bench.

We enjoyed a light breakfast of yogurt, banana, hard boiled egg, coffee and a danish before topping off the water tank, packing up and heading out.

Today was a day of driving westward. We’d bypass St. Louis and head towards a winery just short of Kansas City. This takes us across both the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and onto the great central plains.

We came across one traffic backup (unknown cause) which happened to be just as we came upon a rest stop. So being in an RV, we simply pulled in, parked up, and laid down for a short nap while the traffic sorted itself out. When we rejoined the highway, traffic was moving slowly but we felt refreshed and ready for the remainder of our trip.

Pulling off of I-70 in Higginsville, MO we managed to get gasoline for $4.169 / gallon ($1.394 CAD / litre) the best price we’ve seen.

We are staying tonight at the Arcadian Winery & Brewery, a Harvest Hosts location for which the only cost is that you purchase something from their business. If you’re a camper and have not heard of Harvest Hosts or Boondockers Welcome, check them out as there are thousands of places to stay across North America for almost no cost.

Lastly, here is our map with stickers added for the Provinces and States through which we have driven our campervan. Look for an update further along the road.

Day 10: May 29 – Indy500, Race day

The 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 was today, May 29th, 2022 and 30years after attending my first Indy500, I’m back and this time Barb and I will both enjoy the race and the spectacle that this event is.

A light breakfast and we’re off to the track at 8:30am. The crowds are already building and the organizers are expecting 330,000 people here for the race (plus those that come just to camp and party).

Our seats are on the inside of the oval immediately behind the pits on the front straight. This puts them in the shade until noon when the racing starts. Just by complete coincidence, our seats this year are within 50 feet of the seats where Dean and I sat in 1992.

This is a classic US of A spectacle. All major sponsors get time at the microphone, including the folks that supply the milk to the winner on the podium. Lots of speeches and a flyby later and we’re ready to start a race.

As races go, the 2022 Indy500 was a good one with no major incidents or injuries. It appeared that Scott Dixon had the fastest car all day, but a speeding infraction while entering the pits caused him to be penalized by dropping him to the back of the lead lap and that essentially put him out of contention. Each in our group had picked a driver to win, and as the afternoon wore on all had either crashed or dropped back in the field. Only J-P, who had picked Pato O’Ward, had a driver that could win this race. Pato had run strong all afternoon and was running 2nd near the end; however, better tyre and fuel conservation meant that the race near the end was being led by Marcus Erickson of Sweden (ex F1 driver). Marcus was able to hold off a late push by Pato to win the race! It was an exciting conclusion to the afternoon and not one that most expected, but that is the nature of such a long race.

Leaving the track after the race is not an experience for the claustrophobic, the worst being the limited tunnels that lead from the track infield out to Georgetown Road. However, after 30 minutes of shuffling we were out! Another 30 minutes and we were back at the campground sitting in the shade of the van and enjoying yet another bottle of water all while recounting the racing event that just occurred.

Barb and I sat around for about an hour before saying our goodbyes and heading out at about 5:30pm towards a campground in Terre Haute, IN that we had booked. It was a chance to get away from the crowds and to dump our tanks and replenish our onboard water supply.

The campground is nice and very quiet compared to the racetrack camping field. I’m sure the shower in the morning will be equally as welcome. A long day, a fun day, a tiring day. Good night.

Day 9: May 28 – Indy500, Relaxing

Saturday at the Indy500 is generally quiet from an ‘on-track activities’ perspective as drivers completed their last practice yesterday. Today there is a parade in downtown Indianapolis but as we’re in RVs there’s no way for us to easily get there to watch. As such, today is a day to relax and finally soak up some sunshine.

Yes, it has stopped raining. The camping field is sodden and squelch’s with every step. We can only hope that the predicted 2 days of sunshine will dry the ground enough to allow us to drive out when ready.

Our newest arrivals, Dean took Brian and Aiden for a walk along Georgetown Road past the track to look around as it’s their first time in Indy. The rest of us relaxed and did some cleaning and organizing…. Camp day.

USAF Thunderbirds practicing for tomorrow

In the afternoon, we played some ‘Cornhole’ while enjoying a few beverages. Cornhole is almost a national sport in these parts with many many sites having setup boards and bags.

We ended the afternoon with a steak dinner accompanied with some very nice red wine all followed by strawberry shortcake. Hey, I never said we wouldn’t be enjoying ourselves on this trip. It’s not all about rain and mud. 😎