Red Barns, Grass Lands and A Whole Lot of Nothin'

Bend/SunRiver, Oregon

May 24, 2016

Leaving Dunsmuir and traveling North on the I-5....Arrived in SunRiver (community right outside of Bend) the Foodie/Brewery Capitol of Central Oregon!  Played along the Little Deschuttes river with Bodie, took a lovely hike and found a yucky TICK embedded in my stomach.  So gross.

Did you know that Bend has its own app for the BEND BEER TRAIL!  snazzy stuff. Lots and lots of microbreweries.  Interesting.  I also love the fact that Bend is so Dog Friendly.  We visited a book shop where the ladies were so into Bodie, I think they must have gave him 20 dog treats.  He had no tricks left up his sleeve.

Coming out of Dunsmuir we had a great shot of Mt. Shasta right smack in front of us with a trail of Airstreams. Beautiful shot for sure.  Passed the exit for the PCT where I resupplied Kevin a few years back, had to go check that out again.  Shasta Lake was so great to see full of water.

After leaving the I-5 at Weed, we head north on the 97.  Now we start the Red Barns, grasslands, and big, huge nothing lands.  97 leads us through dry grasslands traveling through the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs (many tribes together).  Then there is the whole “John Day” area, which according to Kevin, he didn’t do that much compared to other early settlers.  He was a trapper for the Astoria expedition, but a whole lot of land is named after him?

Hung out at a nice Brewery in Sun River. Crossed into Washington over the breezy Columbia River.  At Ellensburg we veered off on the scenic 97.  Key word here is SCENIC.  WOW.  This will be a road trip I will never forget.  Somehow we were dropped in Switzerland and no one mentioned it to us.  After driving through a valley of my dreams, we saw the Polk’s (Stream 1) entering the highway.  What a lovely drive with us in tandem through big tree forests and winding roads with very few cars around us.  Got a lot of “rear end” shots of their silver wagon.  We left them as they headed back east to Lake Chelan and us west to Leavenworth.  Spent the evening freaking out about my stupid tick in the Belly. I did get a new "call name" out of it from Jim Polk - TickGirl :(

SunRiver B

YAK!

May 23, 2016
Dunsmuir, California

keeps me busy

Our drive today continued on the I-5, but much better road conditions.  Drove through the many rice fields of the Sacramento Valley.  We did notice that some of the older fields are gone and betcha they are selling their water? 

We love this drive as it brings back many memories of visiting my parents when they lived up near Etna.  Taking the kids up on the train and driving the long drive, visiting again when I resupplied Kevin on the PCT.  It's really a beautiful part of Northern California. And to make it even better, there is water everywhere. 

Stayed in Dunsmuir with most of the 7, missing the Murphy’s :(  Went for a great hike with Barb and the dogs through some BIG TREES on an old FS timber road.  It was beautiful and right out our back door. 

Haven’t been to Yak yet?  Gotta go.  Top 100 of Yelp for eating places in America.  Sensory Nirvana at its finest. The burgers are amazing and the garlic fries, oh my...also had quite a selection of brews on tap.  Good times were had by all.  other than the indigestion .

 Who knew, little Dunsmuir.

OH Lord, Stuck in Lodi again?! (Thanks Creedance Clearwater Revival)

May 22, 2016 

Interstate 5.  1 word - YUCK.  I suppose its our primer for some of the Alaska Highway.  Shame on California.  Slow lane was so bad we popped two interior rivets from the trailer.

We did have a great discussion about the water rights of the Central Valley.  You can’t miss all their signs.  Aside from the acres and acres of almond trees, new trees also were being planted (really?  in a drought) so I googled this whole affair and must of these almonds don’t even stay in the US.  Check it all out.  Many of these farms have Senior Water Rights, so no matter what congress does, they will still have water.  

It’s really not good.  We NEED RAIN. Wondering if many of these grapes are still being used for Raisins or is everything going to wine?  Apparently, Lodi boasts that they are the new Zin capital of California (what happened to Paso Robles??)

Oh the joys of driving down the I-5.T What's up with the constant chasing going on from the little ballsy blackbirds.  Why do the Red Tails put up with this?  They are big hawks. Also, wasn’t really keen on the cow calves in the cages and the cows lined up in stalls.  ick. 

So Lodi, was just that.  A quick stop overnight to lessen our drive to Dunsmuir the following day.  We enjoyed a wonderful happy hour with most of our lil' group and this park did have the BEST DOG park ever.  At least 1 acre in size, it was originally a collection pond.

Vintage Trailers, Good Wine, Windy Beaches, Friends and Food and Joey!

May 19-22, 2016 

We started off with a mere 2 hour drive, unhooked in 10 minutes at Pismo State Park (North Beach Campground), and rushed to meet friends at Tally Vineyards before it closed.  Nice start to our adventures ahead.  Great Petit Syrah which went down very nicely with Rich and Kathleen’s lovely dinner. 

our evening wine spot outside 

We have a nice site with lots of Airstream friends all around us.  The Vintage Trailer show is easily accessible with a short beach walk.  Kevin has been very disciplined these last few days in making sure he gets his 20 mile bike rides in.  He doesn’t want to be disappointed and “bonk” on Day1 of his September ride from Canada to Mexico.

Michael and Kevin

It is really nice to be able to come to these Airstream functions and have so many ‘instant’ friends, plus you can’t beat the amazing Happy Hours and Potluck dinners.  We have been so fortunate to meet so many great people.  Except for Jeannette and Barb, the Magnificent 7 are all here and ready to go North.  We are looking forward in meeting up with them in a few days.  

Then there's Joey.  He arrived at our trailer around 10pm asking if he could charge his phone as he and his mom were “camping” and he didn’t have any electricity.  Well, Joey stayed until 11 and chatted it up with us.  Joey recently graduated from high school in the Pismo area, hoping to go to CalPoly next fall, loves to surf and is currently working as a horse hauler. He wants to become a paramedic.  I’m glad that we were able to meet him and help him out, even if it was just a cell phone charge.  Wish him well.  Joey is homeless.

Our journey will now continue through Northern California, Oregon and Washington.  We will be traveling along the I-5 towards Hwy. 97 and continuing to the border crossing at Ossoyos, BC.

bodie's spot

 

83 miles, 3 days off (Kevin could walk faster than this, and he did!)

Jim and Lynda

Dennis and Pam

us

Ready as Ready can be????

Okay...31 years ago we were planning our big Alaska trip.  The arrangement was to fly with my dad to Anchorage, rent an RV and hit the road. Since my family had lived in the Kenai Peninsula when I was young, my father had been telling Kevin tales of grand fishing expeditions, wildlife stories and amazing scenery.....it all had to be seen firsthand.  So our planning continued until I was routinely sick every "morning."  Trip cancelled and our beautiful Erin was born 9 months later.

Here we are now with Erin celebrating her 31st birthday this summer and we are off!  Our dream adventure is really going to happen.

We are very fortunate to be able to travel with 6 other Airstreams...our own lil' caravan.  We all have similar interests, lots of dogs, and enjoy each others company.  We are a lucky group.  We have some designated "meet up" spots, but itineraries are somewhat different for each of us.  We have had some great planning meetings, looking at maps, deciding how we want to travel, etc., etc.

Kevin and I have been busy getting our Airstream ready.  Our propane lines are all wrapped with pipe insulation, I made new curtains with black-out lining to help us sleep with the endless summer light, yoga mats were customized to fit street-side windows, front of trailer and propane tank.  Worked on uber organization within the trailer to keep us from going crazy.

We have our reservations for the high ticket items - Denali being the top item, but also some of the campgrounds around holiday weekends. We are planning to be 'off the grid' for the majority of this trip.  We are equipped with solar and very self-sufficient in our airstream. Hopeful that we can pull off the road in some of these amazing scenic locations we have heard and read about.

We have studied maps, looked at numerous blogs, researched various highways (those to avoid!) and read about as much as I can possibly handle from things to “make sure you don’t miss.”  

We are excited to see this beautiful and remote part of our country.  Many people that know how much we enjoy backpacking and hiking, continue to ask about that.  WELL…my answer to that is BEARS.  I’m not good with Bears.  I don’t do Bears.  So, we will take lots of day hikes and we shall see? Our backpacks are all packed, just in case????

Now its off, ready or not, May 19 to explore British Columbia, the Yukon Territory, and then our 49th state, ALASKA.  

Hoping to return early August so Kevin can get back on the road with his bike to ride from Canada to Mexico.
                                    The Road goes on forever and The Party never ends......