2021/07/08 - Thursday - Vacation - Day 21 - Monuments

 We got moving later then normal - 10

We finally get to do the Walnut Canyon National Monument Rim Trail.  Mom M stayed at the visitor center while the rest of us (J,C,A,E) did the hike.  The most brutal part is the steps back up.  So many steps!

We headed to the Chapel of the Holy Cross, but the parking lot was FULL and it was more hilly then we expected so we did not stop.  

We stopped for lunch at Hideaway House.

We visited both Tuzigot National Monument and the Montezuma Castle National Monument. 

Dinner at The Crown Railroad Cafe

Back at the RV to relax.

2021/06/26 - Saturday - Vacation - Day 09 - Natchez Trace Pkwy - Next Section

 Well, again my back is not 100%, so we will go in the afternoon, so we planned to do more of the Trace.

Before getting to the Trace were we left of yesterday we stopped at Starbuck for our morning drinks.

The first stop on the trace today was at the Cowles Mead Cemetery, Next was the Clinton Welcome Center.  We did several stops along the trace - Osburn Stand, a Old Trace location, Overlook at the Trace, Cypress Swamp,  River Bend Picnic Area and then Kosciusko Information Center.  We went into town to grab some lunch (McDonald's) before doing more of the trace north.  We did some time Little Mountain to enjoy the views.  

It took about 2 hours to get back to the RV.

I was checking things, I noticed that the bike rack cups is broken so did some moving of the cups to we don't loose the bikes.

We went to the convention center to check on the square dancing.  We went ahead and picked up our packets and registered for the next few convention.  Was able to talk to several people.  The turnout was very low for this convention.

We headed out for dinner at Babalu - it was good.

Back at the RV to relax.

2021/06/25 - Friday - Vacation - Day 08 - Natchez Trace Pkwy

Because we got delayed, we went ahead and did the Natchez Trace Pkwy instead of going to square dance today.  And I am still not 100% with my back so we want to do the sight seeing instead.

First stop was to get our morning fix - Starbucks.

We headed south to the start of the Trace, We stopped all the different pullout on the right-side (west side) of the road.  We stopped Owens Creek Waterfalls, A sunken trace location, Mount Locust Information Center, and Elizabeth Female Academy.

We got to Natchez about 1:30 and we were hungry for lunch.  We stopped at a small place - The Little Easy - truly southern food.

We stopped at the Natchez Visitor Reception Center and Melrose Estate.  On the way north, just north of Mount Locust Information Center, I did some off-roading on what looks like the very old layout of the trace.

We needed gas for the car, so a stop was necessary.

Still heading north we stopped to find the Rocky Springs Cemetery.  

Back at the RV, it is now dinner time, so out we go again.

Our first choice, the parking lot was FULL and it looked packed.  So we went to our second pick - Logan's Roadhouse.

After dinner the Car needed more go go juice.

Back at the RV to relax.

2021/06/21 - Monday - Vacation - Day 04 - Moving On

We got moving at 9 to see if we can get out of the very hot area.

Next stop a couple of hours later for gas and lunch.

I could not wait until the next gas stop, so I stopped at an overlook over Las Cruces. 

Next stop - gas.

Now it is time to stop for the night - Mission RV Park

Once the 4Runner was unloaded, we headed out for dinner at Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen.  After dinner they wanted something from Kohl's so we spend some more money. 

Stopped for gas for the car.

Back at the RV to relax for the night.

2021/06/20 - Sunday - Vacation - Day 03 - Recovery Day

 Got a good wake-up call from Mom M.  She sound normal and wanted to get out there.  They never transferred her to the hospital because they did not have any rooms available for her.  So I headed on over to pick her up.  The doctor wanted us not to travel today and take it easy.

First stop was at a pharmacy to get her new meds.....

Back at the RV, it is still to warm for her so we are going to do some driving in the car where we can keep Mom M cool.

Next stop was for some cool fluids. - Starbucks...

We did the Saguaro National Park East driving loop, 

Lunch we stopped at Coyote Pause Cafe and had a good meal.

Next stop was at Saguaro National Park Tucson Mountain District (West) Visitor Center,  I drove several of the dirt roads.

Back at the RV, now we head out for dinner - Chef Alisah's Restaurant

Back to the RV for the night.  The heat of the day has not been nice to the fridge, we lost all the food in the fridge because the heat was to high.

J&C did go to the pool for a nice swim.

Mom M appears to be good showing no signs of having heatstroke!

2021/06/19 - Saturday - Vacation - Day 02 - Interuption - Trip to Hospital

We found a Discount Tire so our first stop was to get 4 new tires for the trailer and two new tires for the RV.  While we waited we went next door for lunch.

 While I was getting new tires, C went and got a portable a/c so we can be cooler in the RV.

We finally got on the road a little after 2:00pm.

 Next stop was at a Flying J's for necessary gas.  I finished up and pulled into a parking area.  I noticed Mom M was not responding.  We had to call 911 because she was in the middle of having heatstroke.

I followed the ambulance.  A few hours later she was recovering slowly and we need to determine what to do next.  The Urgent Care stated that they will need to transfer her to a hospital.

We found a campground relatively close to the hospital for tonight and tomorrow night.

We are staying at Prince of Tucson RV Park.  I unloaded the 4Runner and headed back to the Urgent Care.

Headed back to the RV for some sleep.

2020/07/01 - Wednesday - Vacation - Day 20 - Cool into Warm

We got moving almost on time, but I had to hook the tow-dolly backup and then load the van.

We stopped in Chester to get fuel for the RV.

Some where along the North Fork of the Feather River we stopped for lunch

We are at E's place were it is warm, so glad that we can plug in and have the AC working to keep us cool.

We ordered dinner and goofed around before calling it a night.

2020/06/30 - Tuesday - Vacation - Day 19 - Hot Lake

We slept in a little bit today.

We went back onto the park and got lunch to go from the park store.  We then headed out and stopped in several places along the route through the park.

Going to a different section of the park, we stopped in Chester for necessary gas for the van.

We all started the walk toward Boiling Springs Lake, Mom M made it a little past the bridge, Cheryl made it to the lake and A and I did the loop around the Lake.  You could smell the sulfur in different parts walking around the lake.

It was a long day,  once back at the RV, Cheryl had dinner cooking in the slow cooker all day, we ate dinner and watched a video and went to bed.

2020/06/29 - Monday - Vacation - Day 18 - No data

We left camp spot at 9, but we stopped to dump the tanks.

We stopped for gas for the RV.

We made it to our destination, and they did have availability for us for the two nights.  I did unhook the tow-dolly so I could be closer to the utilities.

Before leaving we had lunch.  We went into Lassen National Park and look at the campground and went to the highest point along the route.  Almost near the top, we did see a bear and its cub down in a meadow.

Back at the RV Cheryl made dinner. 

We played two rounds of 5 Crowns.

2020/06/28 - Sunday - Vacation - Day 17 - Exploring

We left shortly after 9.

We got gas for the RV about an hour later.

Stopped in Eugene at one of the places that Cheryl like for tea stuff and got a few things.

We stopped at a rest area for lunch

We made it to KOA in Central Point for the day

We went for a drive to find out any information or a visitor center for the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.  At the top of the pass on SR66 we found a very small building that was open but nobody inside, but it did have information regarding the Monument.

We had dinner Ashland and then went back to the RV to relax.

2020/06/27 - Saturday - Vacation - Day 16 - Full and Exploring

We got moving at 9, so right on time.  For some reason Turquoise would not setting down, so the next town (Ilwaco) we stopped to let him out.

We head south over the Astoria - Megler Bridge and headed in land on US26.  I could not believe the amount of vehicles heading to the beach, almost a constant stream with very little breaks between the very large groups.

We stopped early so we could do some more water falls.  When we finally made it to the Silver Falls State Park, but when we tried the different parking lots, they were all full and we tried to circle some of them but nobody was leaving when we were passing through.  We were able to stop at an overlook and see one of the falls.

So we went exploring.  We headed to Detroit Lake.  We noticed that people were allowed to drive over the dam, so we drove about 7 miles up the road until it turned to gravel.  We found a couple of water falls.

We went back into town to have dinner and picked up our order of items from Walmart.

Back at the RV we put things away and I did laundry.

2020/06/25 - Thursday - Vacation - Day 14 - Long Drive, Falls, Water, Beach, and T???

We got moving shortly after 9.

First stop was at Starbucks to get drinks and my food.

Next stop was gas for the Van

Now our long drive to the southwest corner of the park.  We stopped at Ruby Beach but it was overcast/foggy

We stopped at Quinault lodge for lunch. 

We backtracked a little bit and we walked a nature loop (the falls was not really viewable from the trail).  We drove all the way to the end of road stopping several times along the way to view water falls.

On the way back we crossed over and did the north side of the lake.

Now that we were heading back, the tire sensor light went off and I determined that it was the back driver tire was bad so I drove further to find a safer stop to change the tire.  Once changed, we drove to Ruby Beach and A and I went down to the beach and walked it.  The fog was still covering the area.

Next stop was dinner at a place in Forks.

We stopped again for gas.

Back at the RV, I loaded up the Van on the tow-dolly and took Turquoise for a long walk.

2020/06/24 - Wednesday - Vacation - Day 13 - Animals, Fort, & Fall

We finally got moving around 10.

Our first stop was at Starbucks to get our drinks and food items.

Next stop was at the Olympic Game Farm.  We got a loaf of bread and started the driving around the park.  I went through all the bread just with the yaks and bears, so we stopped at the entrance and got two more loafs. The Roosevelt elk, Sika deer and American bison got another loaf and then returned to the bears to feed them the last loaf of bread.

We got lunch in Sequim.

We explored Fort Flagler Historical State Park, brought back a lot of memories from about 40 years ago when I was there on a week long school trip.

Next stop was the Ludlow Falls.

Back at the RV to relax and have leftovers for dinner.

2020/06/23 - Tuesday - Vacation - Day 12 - Views, Drive, and Falls

I got up about 7:30, we finally got out of camp about 10.

1st stop was at Starbucks,  but the wrong one, so off to the one that we put our order to.

We stopped at the visitor center and was able to get our stamps for National Park Pass book and A was able to get her JR Range book and she also got the badge for it ahead of time. 

Next stop was at the very end of the road going to Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center.  We then stop at the center and did a little bit of shopping. 

I went ahead and drove the dirt road to Obstruction Point Trailhead.  That was an interesting road and views were cool!  Two different ranges were saying make sure we don't get a flat tire... we were good this time. 

On our way back down, we stopped at the park sign really quick and then headed to go get lunch.

Next stop was at Madison Falls, very short walk to it.

Next we drove to Sol Duc Trailhead, but we didn't do the walk/hike. We drove around the hot springs resort area and we stopped at Salmon Cascades area.

Heading back to the RV we determined we still had plenty of sun,  so we stopped and did the hike to Marymere Falls.  Most of the hike has a very slow rise, but the last section is interesting.   You have to cross a one log bridge,  then climb several steps to get to the first viewing area, then several more steps to the other viewing area and head back down to cross that one log bridge again.

On the way back to the RV the van needed more juice.

We ate leftover for dinner.  Turquoise is definitely feeling better, but not 100% yet.

I am doing laundry tonight and while I am waiting I decide I might as well do the blog....

2020/06/19 - Friday - Vacation - Day 08 - Shopping

We slept in, nothing was really planned for today. 

We finally got moving,  headed towards L's business, but before getting there we stopped for lunch that Cheryl could get fried gluten free chicken. We had to order and eat in our car.

We did our shopping,  and stopped at a barbershop so I could get my hair cut.

We stopped at L's place and got the windshield wipers replaced on the van.

Back at the house, Cheryl started the laundry and than they started to work on dinner.

After dinner we played Five Crowns.

2020/06/18 - Thursday - Vacation - Day 07 - Falls

We went ahead and slept in.

Finally we got moving and our first stop was at a Starbucks to get our drinks.  Then we headed to Snoqualmie Falls.

We stopped for lunch in Fall City.

We then drove up US2 and stopped at several water features.

Back at the house enjoying talking.

2020/06/17 - Wednesday - Vacation - Day 06 - Drive and Family

We got going after A did her conference call.

Our next stop was for gas and lunch.  Trying to get in and out of the new station is not very easy.  And the truck parking is all back-in so I had to park in a location that really not a parking spot.

We pulled into the family location and got all setup for the next few days.

We stayed up to late playing the games...

2020/06/16 - Tuesday - Vacation - Day 05 - Wet and Water

We got moving a little head of time.  But as soon as we got moving the SmartTire system squawked at me saying a tire was low. So I finally found a spot to pull into and checked the tires.  What my gauge says and what the system says is off by 10 lbs.  So I guess I will have to deal with the alarm for now.  That only delayed us about 15 minutes.  So this does not count as a flat!!!

I missed a Pilot, so when we got to Redmond I pulled in to get gas.  And then pulled behind the location to have lunch.

We pulled into a very small campground in Grass Valley this was about halfway between last night stop and getting to L&G.

I did jump on to work and took care of a few things.

We did go for a drive and stopped at White River Falls State Park.  We continued on and headed toward the Columbia River.  We crossed it and headed east before crossing back over and stopping for dinner.

Back at the RV, I did more work and next thing it was time for bed.

2020/06/15 - Monday - Vacation - Day 04 - Snow

We left on our usual time of 9.  Our first stop was at a DMV, but they wanted me to wait in a long line just to use the kiosk, so I left and headed over to a different kiosk to get the necessary tags for the RV.

Next stop was at a Walmart at the next town up the road.  We then stopped at a Costco Gas to fill up the RV.

Once we reached I-5, the next rest area we stopped for lunch.

We stopped in Weed to get more gas for the RV.

Once we stopped for the night, we unload the van and headed further north to Crater Lake.  By the time we got to the top it was foggy and snow/ice was blowing around.  We could not see the lake and the East Rim Drive was also closed, so no going all the way around.  After taking several photo shots, we headed back to the south entrance area and had dinner.

Back to RV to relax and get ready for the next day of driving...

2020/06/14 - Sunday - Vaction - Day 03 - Steps Issue and Family

Got up shortly after 7 and we did the normal morning routine.  About the time to leave at 9 and the steps would not go back in.  I tried a few things but nothing was working to get the steps in.  So go find the owners manual in our big folder of RV stuff.  Found the manual and quickly looked at the instructions.  Instead of trying to go through each of the steps, I got some wire out and powered the motor to get it to move the steps up.  All of this took about 45 minutes.

Next stop was for gas and have lunch.  This flying J's did not like my card so I complained to the attendant that was out and about, but I will have to call the card company tomorrow (because they are closed on Sundays)

Next stop is for the night at E's place.  We had to trim some branches from the tree so they were not rubbing the RV.

Cheryl started a load of laundry.

I spent about an hour trying to find the problem with the steps. I finally found it, it was a wire that broke at a connector for the magnet that indicates when the door is shut or not.   And because I had thing out to help me find the issue, I went ahead an unloaded everything out of the front passenger storage area.  It needed some organization. By the time I finished putting things back, it was time to leave for dinner.

Dinner was at Cool Hand Luke's.

Back at E's place to relax.