Category: Trips

  • Portage, IN to Dundas, ON

    After a great sleep, we had 7 hours left to go on our drive home. We had an oatmeal breakfast at McDonalds and got on our way.

    The highways we took were quite rough and there was lots of construction.

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    For lunch we had our leftover ribs and Pepsi got to enjoy the left over bones.

    Customs was no problem and we declared our Tillamook cheese, souvenirs and clothes and were sent on our way.

    It was nice to be back in Ontario and we looked forward to finishing the final stretch and to be back home.  At 5:30PM the RV was parked and the unloading began.

  • Ashland, NE to Portage, IN

    After an 11 hour sleep, we departed for Des Moines, Iowa to visit Famous Dave’s for a rib lunch. We had visited this restaurant last year on our trip home and were looking forward to the best ribs anywhere.

    As soon as we walked in the door, the manager, Kevin, exclaimed “Hey, our Canadian friends are back!” and we knew we were in the right place. We had a three hour lunch with spare ribs and back ribs and lots of conversation.

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    We felt very welcome and took home some Famous Dave’s seasoning and received some Rich and Sassy BBQ sauce from Kevin. Around 3PM we departed and had a long way to go to make our 700-800km goal.

    Needless to say we were tired when we stopped at a Flying J truck stop in Gary, Indiana for the night.  This is a very large truck stop with 200-300 trucks and two parking spots for RVs. We got one of them next to the store. A speaker constantly announced “Shower customer number 201, your shower is now ready. Please proceed to shower number 6.”

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    There was no way we could sleep through this all night so we finished our last night of the trip as we began our first, at a Walmart parking lot. By now it was almost midnight.

  • Cheyenne, WY to Ashland, NE

     

     

     

    Today was a long highway driving day on I-80 which put even the dog to sleep.

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    We had a late lunch at Applebee’s where we each had a caesar salad, 7 oz steak with mashed potatoes and vegetables for a total of $25, including tip. Even at these prices, a table next to us was haggling for half-priced appetizers and drinks.

    We stopped at the lovely Mahoney State Park in Nebraska which has a water park, horseback riding, and convention centre amongst its facilities. There is an air and space museum next door as well. After a day of driving we were tired so we didn’t get to see any of these. We have a lakefront campsite.

  • Salt Lake City, UT to Cheyenne, WY

    The morning started with pancake breakfast at Denny’s followed by a short drive to Temple Square in Salt Lake City where we toured the visitors centre and learned about the construction of the temple. Next up was a fabulous 30 minute organ recital in the Tabernacle. The organ there is the 12th largest in the world with 206 ranks totalling 11,623 pipes.

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    The organist Richard L. Elliot showed the full range of this magnificent organ, playing pieces by Handel, Bach, Debussy and others. It was fascinating to see his footwork while playing but to hear the pieces played by this excellent organist was the real treat.

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    The rest of the day was mostly driving with only a quick stop for lunch and gas. Some of the landscape in Utah and Wyoming was very impressive but not as breathtaking as that in south-western Utah last year. The drive was a lot easier as the highway is straighter and the climbs and descents are less challenging than they are further south.

    We stopped at the A.B. Camping RV Park in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The internet connection here is great which makes updating the blog much easier.

  • Truckee, CA to Salt Lake City, UT

    After a lovely breakfast and a bit more conversation we set out towards Salt Lake City. It was a driving day and we were lucky that the speed limit allowed for up to 130km/h in places.

    We had a brief stop in half-forgotten Lovelock, NV for gas and lunch at a little pizzeria.

    Before leaving Nevada completely we stopped in West Wendover where a large sign above the casino suggested we try their penny slot machines. A quick check of our pockets revealed we had 4 pennies so we decided to take them up on their suggestion. Unfortunately, the penny slot machines only accepted bills so we had to insert the smallest one we had handy – a $5 bill. The two of us ganged up on the machine and alternately played our best but ultimately the machine won. So much for the hoped for early retirement.

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    As consolation we had a nice Mexican dinner at the casino restaurant.

    On approach to Salt Lake City we saw the Super Moon.

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    Note: No track data today either – also lost in the GPS hard reset.

  • Penryn, CA to Truckee, CA

    Today was Martin’s day. We visited Morteza, Mandi and family at their gorgeous “cabin” on 40 acres in the Tahoe area mountains. We hitched up the Hobie 16 sailboat, put the paddle board in the RV and headed towards Donner lake for some sailing, swimming and paddle boarding and a picnic lunch.

     

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    It was already dark when we headed back to the cabin for dinner, wine and good conversation until 1AM.

    Note: No track data is available as the GPS needed a hard reset to get it working again. This lost all track data that had not already been downloaded.

     

     

  • San Francisco, CA to Penryn, CA

    Today was Ruth’s day in San Francisco. We took the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) train from Millbrae, near the airport, to Powell street in downtown San Francisco. First stop was Bloomingdale’s. Serious shopping therapy was exercised.

    Next stop was Chinatown which looked really beautiful with its red lanterns decorating the streets since Chinese New Year back in February. We continued on our walk through Little Italy and then towards Fisherman’s Wharf. It was nice to see the well maintained buildings. We liked the humour in one shop window with the two frogs.

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    Fisherman’s Wharf was buzzing with tourists and a cruise shop towered over a good portion of the wharf. We stopped for coffee and tea and watched the ferries go by and had a great time at the market at the pier where we bought wine and cheese for our friends and hosts Mandi and Morteza whom we would visit the next day.

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    We left San Francisco around 7PM and crossed the Bay Bridge on I-80 which will be our path home for the next couple of days. The Bay Bridge is a “double decker” bridge and therefore seems low. About half way along one can still see the older bridge which is now being dismantled.

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    We made it to Penryn where we spent the night at a truck stop.

  • Fort Bragg, CA to San Francisco, CA

    It was a good thing that our campground was just across the street from the Ricochet Ranch where we wanted to go horseback riding.  We didn’t have a reservation so we walked over first thing in the morning and were lucky to get two spots for the 10AM ninety minute ride along the beach. After a quick breakfast we galloped to the stable where we had to sign our life away, were fitted with riding helmets, watched an 11 minute video on mounting and dismounting a horse correctly and basic “steering” instructions. We then got to meet our horses – “Cowboy” for Martin and “Cloud” for Ruth. Our ride took us across the highway, through some forest and then along the beach. We had a wonderful time!

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    After lunch at Denny’s we continued on twisty and turny Hwy 1. We arrived in Mendocino where we visited the Mendocino Arts Center with its fine art gallery, many studios and workshop spaces. We were guests at a glass bead making workshop for a while and got to know the instructor and participants.

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    Hwy 1 continued to twist and turn almost making us seasick. We had to stop at one point because Ruth had to walk in the ocean amidst the high waves. What a delight!

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    The other highlight of the day was the drive across the Golden Gate bridge and right through San Francisco with the RV. Campgrounds are sparse so we stayed at a hotel in Belmont, just south of San Francisco. Pepsi, unfortunately, wasn’t welcome at the hotel so she was on guard duty to make sure that the van and contents were safe.

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  • Brookings, OR to Fort Bragg, CA

    We slept in this morning and left without breakfast, driving to the town of Arcata in California. Here we had a fabulous Italian lunch at Mazzotti’s on the Plaza which won the reader’s choice award in 2014 for best Italian restaurant on the north coast. We think that they deserved it. After lunch we did a bit of shopping at Caravan of Dreams and several other stores.

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    Next up was Redwood park and the Avenue of the Giants. Here the road is lined with century old redwood trees that tower above you in this old growth forest. We did a short hike through the forest and to a nearby river.

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    We’ve now left Hwy 101 for Hwy 1 which runs along the coast and we will be following this highway for the remainder of our trip to San Francisco.

    Tonight we are staying at a small campground behind a grocery store just across from the Ricochet Ranch where we hope to go for a ride with Shirley’s friend tomorrow.

  • Gold Beach, OR to Brookings, OR

    Today was an exciting day of getting wet with a 104 mile whitewater thrill on Jerry’s Rogue River Jetboat. These jet boats are powered by three 8 cylinder Chevy engines, have a flat bottom and virtually no draft. We roared up the wild and scenic Rogue river following the routes established by the mail boats in 1895.

    Besides crossing a number of rapids and doing spins in river basins we saw beautifully rugged canyons and quite a bit of wildlife including bald eagles, turkey vultures, black bears and deer, just to name a few.

    We did not take a camera because of the expected water spray.

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    On the way to our campground we stopped and photographed beautiful rock and dune formations from the side of the road.

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    Our campground was right by the ocean and we arrived just in time for sunset.

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