Santa Fe, NM

Sunday - Cochiti Lake is under an hour from San Antonio so we took advantage of this to visit a former colleague from the university. On other visits through NM, we didn’t have the opportunity to meet up but since we are in the area for a couple of weeks, there were no excuses. 

Monday - We spent the day exploring the plaza area of Santa Fe with the Marx’s. Very touristy area with expensive stores and lots of jewelry shops. Lunch was another tasty Hatch green chili burger for me. 

There were quite a number of street vendors selling mostly jewelry. It has been quite a while since I’ve been in Santa Fe. I think the last time was around 2005 for a Joint Tech meeting in Albuquerque. A couple of us visited Santa Fe between events. 

Cochiti Lake - CoE

Friday - Just past Santa Fe, is a Corp of Engineers campground located about 12 miles west of the I-25. Being a CoE campground, we got a 50% discount with the senior pass. Water and electric for $10/night. This is the view from our site.

Saturday - It was a beautiful morning. Clear skies and temperatures in the 60s (°F). This is the reservoir. We can’t see it from our site but I’m not complaining. Maybe I’ll dig out my e-bike and ride around the huge campground. 

I set up the sunshade and awning for the first time in a long time. The ground is pretty rocky so the stakes aren't very secure. If the wind picks up, the awning will need to be put away. I the picture, I’m set up for a test session. I recorded the test session and the video uploaded in about 15sec. StarLink is working well…

Cold Beer, NM - HH

Thursday - We made it out of Colorado into New Mexico. We were planning to just overnight in a rest area but they are kind of small. There was only 3 truck/RV parking spaces. It didn’t feel right to take one. So we moved on to a Harvest Host. It is a tavern in the “town” of Cold Beer. 

The “site” was not level so we only put out one bedroom slide. Less volume for the A/C to cool as it was in the upper 80s for most of the drive. And the RV overheated on every grade. I discovered that the auxiliary fan that installed a couple of years ago wasn’t running. I need to take a look at that to see why it’s not getting power. 

Tomorrow, we have about 180 miles to a CoE park where we will be staying for about 5 days before moving on to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. 

Aurora, CO - State Park

Wednesday - We arrived yesterday at Cherry Creek State Park in the early afternoon after a crowded drive through Denver. Friends of ours are staying here as well and it was wonderful to meet up with them again. It is a beautiful, green campground with full hookups. The first time we’ve had a 50amp connection since mid-May. Which is a good thing as it is in the 80s (°F) today so both AC units are running. 

StarLink is pretty fast though not as fast as in Wyoming where we were seeing over 450Mbps downloads. Fewer users in that particular area using the service. We head out tomorrow heading south into New Mexico. 

Cheyenne, WY

Monday - Last night, we stayed in the parking lot at Wyoming Machinery which is the Caterpillar shop that replaced the engine last year. They said that the valve adjustment after engine break-in was critical for long engine life. If you look carefully, there is someone lying underneath the engine.

Initially, they are doing the regular annual maintenance and the valve adjustment. They will be looking into the hydraulic fluid leak which is small but annoying. The hydraulic fluid was low and that could contribute to overheating. 

Tuesday - The RV was back in the shop this morning for the valve adjustment. I’m glad that I wasn’t the guy crawling in from the back working on the top of the engine. 

I mentioned to the shop supervisor that I could open up the slides to allow some access through the bedroom floor but he said that it should be fine. The generator got a bit of use making sure the batteries were charged to be able to run the refrigerator while the RV is in the shop. 

Rawlins, WY - KOA

Friday - We made it to Rawlings, WY, and plan on staying here for a couple of days. After several one-night stops a couple is welcome. I had stayed at this campground before and it isn’t fancy but we have full hookups so we are able to do laundry. And we can get some potable water. We were planning to get water at the CoE campground in OR but their water wasn’t drinkable. So the water we picked up in Chehalis has lasted us a week and we still haven’t emptied the tank. 

Saturday - This morning, we drove to Saratoga and tried out the Hobo Hot Springs. There are other hot springs in the area but they are for resort guests. Hobo is free. They had changing rooms with showers and three pools. A very hot, medium, and cooler. The medium one was the best. My sore knee and ankle feels much better now. 

Some groceries and RV chores. Other than that, it was a pretty slow day…

Burley, ID - HH and Park City, UT

Wednesday - Today’s drive was to another Harvest Host. In this case, a restaurant on the Snake River in Burley, ID. They have plans to open an RV park at some point but for now, it’s just a gravel lot with a couple of restaurants. 

Thursday - Today’s drive we headed into Utah and are in a state park near Park City. In Ogden, I stopped at a rest area and added oil to the engine. The last time I needed to add oil was in Texas. I guess I should check it more often. The engine temperature also climbed up to 222°F on the last climb up to the campground on I-80 west. Rather disconcerting. No heavy oil on the Jeep so I think it’s not a serious problem. I picked up another gallon of oil at Walmart this afternoon just in case.

Tomorrow, we are heading to Rawlings for a couple of days. This travel everyday is not what we like doing. StarLink is still working good. We are now on the “Roam” plan which is the RV plan. De-prioritized service but still as fast as it was in Fairbanks. The weird formatting of this section of the post is Blogger acting strange. 

Le Page Park, OR - CoE and Payette, ID

Monday - We are still at Le Page Park on the banks of the John Day River in north-central Oregon. It is peaceful even with the Interstate and train tracks a short distance away. 

Tuesday - We drove about 270 miles to just past the Idaho border. We are staying at a golf course using our Harvest Host membership. A nice, flat spot in their parking lot and the grill is open until 7pm. We arrived just before 3pm so it’ll be a relaxing afternoon.

We filled up in Boardman, OR, using our OpenRoads card and it was a 25% savings. Over $51 on a $200 fill-up. Not too shabby.

Rufus, OR - Boondocking

Saturday - We are staying at the boondocking location in Rufus, OR, for another day. It is pretty nice here with some windsurfer activity in the Columbia River including some that look like hydrofoils. The main part of the board is about 20" above the water. Kind of cool. 

This afternoon, we visited the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center in The Dalles, OR. It was a nice museum with most of the emphasis on the Lewis & Clark expedition and the building of the dams. There is a fair amount of shipping going on and I hadn’t known about all the canals and locks.

As we were leaving, they were setting up for a wedding so it was starting to get a bit crowded. Speaking of crowds, this boondocking area is getting busy with all the people playing on the water. 

By this morning, our batteries were down to 45%. I think the StarLink may draw almost as much power as the refrigerator. We ran the generator for 3 hours this morning to get it back to 80%. The solar barely kept up through the middle of the day. 

Sunday - A very quiet day. Most of the people didn’t stay the night. Maybe because it was pretty windy. I adjusted the pressure in two of the rear tires. The 12V air compressor takes a long time with the RV tires. I saw a Dewalt compressor that uses the 20V batteries but it is hard to find. I kept checking at all of the Home Depot and Lowe’s but only found one in a demolished box (no discount offered). 

This morning, there was only one wind surfer on the water. Maybe it’s not windy enough today. The CoE park we are headed to this afternoon says that their water needs to be boiled before drinking. So we are looking at getting some water before arriving. The Sinclair gas station wants $5/10 gal for water. We have essentially four days of dry camping ahead of us so it may be worth it. 

Our new spot at the CoE park near the mouth of the John Day River. Pretty nice and we are sheltered from the wind. 

Heading Into Seattle and On The Road

Thursday - This morning, we headed into Seattle to visit family. A wonderful neighborhood that felt quiet and secluded even though it was a short distance to downtown. But the drive back to Centralia was brutal.

Friday - We left the Thousand Trails park this morning early to make our appointment at Dave & LJs RV furniture in Woodland. We had purchased a new jackknife sofa last July and got it installed today. 

It looks pretty good and not only is it more comfortable than the old couch, but it has a huge drawer for storage. 

After the install, we drove to the same boondocking location I had stopped at in May. It was only a couple of hours away and it’s hard to beat the view. Plus, zero obstructions for StarLink. 

Getting Ready for Travel

Monday - We are finally back in the RV. A huge thank you to Dave and Ginny for letting us store the RV for four months but also for putting us up on the trips through the area this summer. We just drove to the Chehalis Thousand Trails. I set up the StarLink on a portable table until I choose a better solution. A pole mount that works on both the ladder and somewhere up front would be ideal. 

Tuesday - We unloaded most of the stuff in the basement and under the bed. We made a Goodwill run and now have most things sorted. I reorganized one of the bays and was able to fit my bicycle all the way in the middle so there was room for the second e-bike. I am thinking of a hitch mounted rack but those designed to handle the weight of an e-bike are pretty pricey. 

Wednesday - More sorting and cleaning. We have dinner guests this evening so we are trying to get the rig presentable. When we left it last May and again in July, we were kind of rushed. And when I returned last week, I just sort of unloaded the Jeep into anywhere things fit. 

We leave this campground on Friday morning for an appointment in Woodland a bit over an hours drive south.

Short Driving Day to Centralia

Thursday - Only 300 miles today but there was a lot of traffic as the GPS route entered the I-5 corridor just south of SEATAC. Lots of cars and stop-and-go driving. I made it back to the RV around 2pm. After a short break, I started to transfer stuff from the Jeep into the RV. The basement compartments are now full and some stuff will need to ride in the Jeep while we are traveling. 

I started and ran the RV engine (no issues!!) and started the refrigerator. And eventually got the back seat into the Jeep.

Friday - By this morning, the RV refrigerator was back to operational temperature so I can start to fill it back up. Sometime over the last month, the portable fridge/freezer turned off so now there is a cleanup task needed. I think it was all freezer items which included meat…

The project of the day was replacing a shower. Bridget commented that I couldn’t escape working on a house…

Omak, WA

Wednesday - At 450 miles, it was another long-ish driving day. But I made it across the border into Washington. It’s 91°F! A bit too hot to camp out. Plus, all the campgrounds I passed today looked packed. I was thinking of stopping in Canada but putting a few more miles in today made tomorrow trip under 300 miles. That’s good because I’m feeling pretty tired. Two additional days than the drive north back in July, but still long days back to back.

No pictures as my only stops were for gas in Cache Creek, BC, and a quick stop north of Osoyoos to find a cheap hotel. 

Quesnel, BC

Tuesday - A relatively modest 389 mile drive day. Tonight’s stop is a campground/RV park/motel in Quesnel, BC. I must be a creature of habit as I’ve stopped here numerous times over the years. It’s cheap for dry camping with a tent. The tent is finally dry after the dew this morning as it was 72°F when I pulled in. Nice showers though it did cost two loonies. 

Tomorrow, I’m going to head towards Osoyoos, BC, which is about 400 miles according to Google. 

Down the Cassiar

Sunday - Today’s destination was Nugget City at the northern end of the Cassiar Hwy. Rain was also in the forecast as well as lows in the mid-30s (°F) so I stayed in one of their Atco rooms. About 8’x8’ or thereabouts. Bathrooms were in a separate building. 

Monday  - It was cool and clear in the morning. I had breakfast at the restaurant and headed south towards today’s destination, Kitwanga, BC, at the southern end of the Cassiar Hwy after Hwy. So far, 1300 miles which is a bit more than halfway. Yesterday and today were long drive days since camping really wasn’t an option. The next couple of days will be shorter as I’m already getting kind of tired. 

My tent is in TX so I’m using an old tent that I haven’t used since the mid-80s. Tent stakes were missing so it’s attached to the picnic table and the Jeep wheels. The zipper pulls are really worn out so I spent a little time trying to fix them. This is a tent that I made in around 46 years ago and it’s been on a lot of trips. It is a copy of the Stephenson Warmlite which was an ultralight, 4-season tent. It only weighs 1.9 lbs not including the stakes as I opted for a lighter inner tent material so it’s not 5-season. So far, I noticed one rip. I guess I’ll see how it’s aged…

I stopped at Bell 2 for coffee and Dease Lake for gas. Otherwise, no other stops.