Oct 15 -20 Look out America, the Albertans are coming!

Oct 15
I think I was awake at 5 a.m. today, stayed in bed until 7:00 but tossing around thinking about the trip. We had breakfast and by 8:00 we were packing up the last of our stuff and getting hitched up. Our neighbours at Wright's Beach came out to say good bye, which was nice of them. We pulled out of Wright's just after 9 a.m. headed for the border crossing at Oroville Washington on highway 97 south of Osoyoos. We ate everything out of the fridge and all the fresh fruit etc. We even timed it so Margaret had no food left.

Oroville border crossing.

Here we go!!

The crossing was really a non-event but they did ask us to pull over for an agriculture inspection. The fella checked the fridge and said "have a great trip". We're on our way!! Pretty excited. Our first stop is Toppenish Wa. at Legends Casino parking lot. Not exactly a glamour stop but it's free to park overnight and it's not far off the highway. We have been so lucky since leaving Alberta, seeing the leaves changing all the way down and Washington is great too.

Beautiful fall colours.

We stopped at a roadside stand selling fresh apples. OMG were they ever good! And cheap. So many orchards in Washington state and it was a beautiful day to drive, not a cloud and 23C/ 75F. We snapped a picture of a wind farm beside the highway. The turbines are huge and I think it's the first time they were so close to the road.

So huge but hardly any wind.

The first day went pretty well and our GPS brought us right to the casino parking lot. It took a bit of looking to find a level spot to park but we found one under a set of lights.

Only bringing out the bedroom slide, short stop.

Unfortunately a few semi trucks knew about the casino lot and one truck left his rig running all night beside us. We both used ear plugs so not a great night. We messed up the free parking idea too. Spent $40 on slots in less than 10 minutes. Plus we had supper in there, another $20. Could have stayed at a nice park for that price lol.

Oct 16

Not a great sleep but woke up to a beautiful morning. We grabbed fuel, coffee and breakfast at a station across from the casino. Gas station muffins for breakfast, mmmm. Our destination today is a short drive to Benton Oaks RV and fairgrounds in Corvallis, Oregon. Benton Oaks is across the road from Oregon State University and Leslie's buddy, Char, is getting her degree in nuclear physics and a minor in statistics and probability. Yeah, she's way smarter than me for sure. It's been 11 years since Leslie and Char worked together at Grey Nuns Hospital in Edmonton. Leslie is super excited to see her again. Char is way younger than us but her and Leslie got along great when they worked together.

The drive through the hills and valleys of Washington and Oregon was amazing. So cool to climb over a mountain and see the valley on the other side. We could easily see Mt Rainier, from the Ranier beer commercials. Remember.... Raaaaaiiinnnneeeer beeeer lol. (might need to be over 45 to get that one) We also saw a sign for Mt Hood far in the distance. 

Mt Ranier

Mt Hood

Crossing the Columbia River

Cool rock, wish I could remember the name, beside Columbia river

Absolutely amazing drive. We both just ran out of "wow" words to describe the drive. By 2:00 in the afternoon we arrived at Benton Oaks Fairground and RV Park. Full hookups on a paved back in site for $35 per night. John, the camp host, was a great guy. Sounded a little snarly on the phone but he was great in person. Our GPS was smart enough to avoid a train bridge that was labeled 13' 4". That would have "touched" our a/c I think!

Nice park in a great location for us.

We checked to make sure there wasn't some sort of event going on before we booked. The fairground is large with big barns and storage sheds. Could have been crazy with some sort agricultural event going on.

Some of the barns and sheds.

There was an old carriage house that was donated and relocated to the property. It's a meeting room or banquet room now but originally housed a carriage and had a loft for hay. Cool building.

Carriage house that is a meeting room now.

Char is in school until 4:00 so Leslie and I have time to do a grocery run before Char and her son come over for supper. We're grilling burgers and hot dogs. Of course Leslie is adding salads. Gotta have the green veggies and salad. I would have done potato salad and brown beans lol. About 4:30 Char and Darwin arrived and it was really cool to see Leslie and her greet each other after so many years. I got a hug too but just because.... lol. We visited for quite a while and I grilled while Leslie made salads. Darwin chilled on our bed with his books and the tv. Pretty boring stuff for a 9 year old. The conversation continued after supper until they had to call it a night because of school tomorrow. No staying up late on school nights ! Great day and so cool for Leslie to hook up with an old friend on our second day on the road over the border.

Oct 17

Another beautiful day! We're going for a run this morning. There is a great trail across the road that goes to OSU campus right past their cows, llamas and horse barns. Great run for me and Leslie took Margaret for a walk and then got some miles in for herself.

OSU campus

Field of solar panels

Cows, sorry no pics of llamas or horses.

Cool covered bridge on the trail.

We did some errands in the afternoon and around 5:00 we drove to Char's house for supper and more great conversation. We had a couple adult bevvies before supper and then Char cooked up a fantastic meal of Columbia River steelhead, brussel sprouts and mushrooms and a caprese salad. So good!

Leslie and her buddy Char

I had water while the girls enjoyed a couple more glasses of wine. We all talked and laughed until I had to be the downer and asked Les to head home. It was after 9 pm, come on that's a late night!

Still early!

After big hugs we drove back to the rig to call it a night. We might see Char in March on the way back north. Great seeing you Char!

Oct 18

Today is a short travel day to Grants Pass, Oregon. I booked an appointment to get the trailer suspension looked at at Henderson's Line-Up.

Henderson's in Grants Pass

I read online that they do great work on RV suspension and our Lifestyle needs an upgrade. It just bounces too much and needs an upgrade of some kind. I had talked to Cotey on the phone and we are looking at doing a Roadmaster Comfort Ride suspension with shocks. It's a few $$$ but making the trailer ride better will save money in the long run I think. Our appointment isn't until tomorrow morning but they backed me in to where they will be doing the work. The spot also has water and 30 amp electric, bonus!! I asked where we could go to wash the trailer and they said to just go ahead and wash in their lot. I love these guys! So Leslie and I got busy and washed the trailer and the truck. Really needed a good wash after this far.

Hard at it.

After getting everything cleaned up we walked over to a pub nearby for supper and a brew. We watched a little TV after supper and called it a day. Up early tomorrow so the guys can get busy on the upgrade.

Oct 19

We were out of the rig by 8:00 so the guys could get to work. We drove downtown and grabbed a lovely McD's breakfast mmmm. We're doing laundry which should take a little while at least. They need at least 4 hours to get the suspension done. Cotey from Henderson's called me at about 10:00 and said they had run into some problems. We were almost done anyway so back to Henderson's to talk about the problem. Long story short they would need to do some major cutting and welding to get the Comfort Ride system on. Also they would need to mount it as spring-over axle which I'm not a fan of. Tends to make the rig more top heavy. After much discussion with the techs and Cotey we decided to just add the shock kit to my stock suspension. It will take care of the bounce and they will order new rubber hangers that I can get installed later. Back to work, won't be ready until 5 pm so we are spending another night in their lot for free. Well free with the bill paid for the shocks, ouch.

Stock suspension before the upgrade

The new shocks custom installed.

We spent the day checking out some parks and did a short driving tour of the area. We drove to a state park 10 miles out of town but it was packed so we won't be staying here this weekend. We found a nice park in town and took Margaret for a nice long walk. 

More incredible fall colours.

For our buddies Scott and Leanne Morrison lol.

We made supper in the rig and watched a little TV. Amazing how many over the air channels we get down here. 24 different channels to choose from. Back on the road tomorrow heading south and east.

Oct 20

Back on I5 by 9 a.m. headed south towards Mt Shasta and then east over the Cascades to a destination of Susanville, California. Another beauty driving day! Didn't take long and we're in California and driving in view of Mt Shasta.

Lots of hills to drive up and down.

California border!

What a cool mountain and you can see it for a long time. Too bad it's still so smoky in California.

Mt Shasta

Another cool stop we had was at a place called Weed. I'm not making this up, it's a real place in California!

Not sure what Leslie means here?? Lol

Terrible picture quality but we stopped at the Weed Rest Area haha. Only in California, I thought it was funny. 

We turned east onto highway 89 and drove through some of the most awesome pine forest. The road is a little narrow with very little shoulder but it was spectacular. Lots of hills and our suspension upgrade is making a huge difference for the better. Way less trailer bounce and a much smoother ride. The truck is doing great as well, pulling all these hills like a champ and I love the engine brake on the downhill.We stopped for lunch at a small town called Burney, Ca. Great little town but we only hit the Subway and kept going. Not a great review. We got back on the highway and soon arrived at our destination for today, Standish, California and the Days End Rv Park. We got set up in our site and went for a short walk around the loop. They have a cool map that was hand painted that shows the area. Really good detail for being done by hand.

On our walk

How cool is this??

Our next door neighbours were having a small happy hour and invited us over. It turns out that the fella we met who is from Seattle probably went to grade school with Leslie's cousin in Prince Rupert BC. Small world right? They gave us their card if we are in Yuma this winter so we can look them up. What a great bunch you meet in RV parks. 

Our site at Days End RV, Standish California.

We had a couple drinks and headed back to our rig for supper. We watched a little tv and called it a day. I know I'm tired from driving through the mountains today. It takes more concentration than just cruising around Alberta that's for sure. So far we're loving being on the road. Sure there are stressful times and it gets weird trying to find places to stay but the sights we are seeing are incredible. We are staying here in Standish for a few days to relax and enjoy some trails in the area. This is what we came for. Cheers!