Home to St. George, UT

Tuesday, December 22 - Today we left home and drove to Pendleton, Oregon.  If you have been following my blog, you know that, when we head southeast, Mom and Dad like to spend the first night at the Wildhorse Casino in Pendleton.  It's a nice day's drive and we can park free in the Casino parking lot.  There aren't any hook-ups, but it's a safe, level place to park, which is all we need.

 Dad and I with the Christmas Decorations in front of the Casino.

Wednesday, December 23 - Today we drove from Pendleton, Oregon to Twin Falls, Idaho.  

In the mountain passes, there was snow along the side of the road, but the road itself was clear and dry.  A perfect day for winter travel.

 

Me hanging out at Mom's feet.  It's warm here in front of the heat vent.  It's kinda cold back on my couch.

People sometimes ask me how we keep warm.  The motor home has dash heat, just like a car.  It does a pretty good job of keeping the front of the motor home warm, where Mom and Dad sit when we are going down the road.  At night when we park, we have a propane furnace and electric space heaters.  Mom and Dad also have an electric blanket.  We can use some or all of them to be just as toasty warm as we want to be. 

Thursday, December 24 - Today our plan is to drive from Twin Falls, Idaho to Provo, UT.   Mom and Dad got everything ready to hit the road and then we went out for a walk, so I could "take care of business".  While we were out, Dad looked up at the side of the motor home and noticed a "small" problem.

For those of you who aren't familiar with motor homes, the arrows point to the "slide toppers".  They are canvas type material which keep leaves and dirt from accumulating on top of the slide and coming inside the motor home when the slides are closed.  They should automatically wind around a roller (kind of like a window shade) when the slide is retracted, so you shouldn't be able to see the one under the blue arrow and the one under the yellow arrow should be tight, not billowing like that.  When we went for our walk, this side of the motor home was facing north and still in the shade.  Both slides were hanging in a flap on the outside of the motor home, like the one below the blue arrow.  That's a big problem because the wind will catch them, if we drive down the road.

It was 17 degrees last night and Dad thinks that the roller has probably frozen and that is why it won't roll up.  Dad is hoping that turning around, the sun will warm it and they will rewind on their own.  In this photo, we are turned around and Dad is bringing the slide out to see if the awning will retract when the slide comes back in. 

It didn't!😨  Mom stopped taking pictures to help Dad and it was too cold and windy for me to go out, so I'll just have to tell you what happened next.  Dad got out the ladder and started fiddling with the front slide topper.  After some fiddling and jiggling, it broke loose and wound up like it should.  Then, Mom brought in the rear slide and it was already thawed, so it wound up, just like it was supposed to.  I think it would have been OK if we'd just sat there a little, but Dad felt better trying to fix it.  Anyway, it was only an hour delay.  No damage.  No expense.  That's a good day RVing!

Once we were on the road, it was smooth sailing into Provo.  

Mom taking a turn at driving

More good weather.  Pretty snow along the road, but the road itself is clear and dry.

Friday, December 25 - After a good night at the Provo Elks Lodge, we were back on I-15, headed south.

Christmas morning at the Provo Elks Lodge.

Our spot for the next few nights at the Elks Lodge in St. George, Utah.

After we got parked, Mom and Dad took a short hike in Pioneer Park, here in St. George.

After their hike, they went to the Red Hills Desert Garden in Pioneer Park.  They have a special Christmas Light display.  Here are some of their photos.

We are staying in St. George for four nights.  This is just Day 1.  I'll tell you about the rest next time.

Love,

Doolin

 

Merry Christmas

Mom and Dad asked me to write our Christmas letter this year.  

Last Christmas seems like a long time ago.  We drove the motor home to Texas and spent several weeks in New Mexico and Arizona on the way home.  If you haven't been following my blog, you can look in the history and read what I had to say about that trip.  We got home in February, about a week before Seattle became the first US place for a Covid diagnosis.  

Since I'm a dog, I don't have to be worried about catching Covid.  My only real concern is that Mom and Dad stay healthy, so they are around to feed me and pet me.  Lucky for me, having them home with me is the best way for them to stay healthy.  As far as I'm concerned, 2020 has been the best year ever! 

At first, Mom and Dad stayed home all the time.  We went for almost daily walks in the neighborhood, but that was about it.  After a few weeks, Mom and Dad went to the grocery store and used Mom's All Trails app to find some new places to go hike, where they wouldn't run into crowds.  They found a great area that they never knew about.  It's only about 30 minutes from our house, has miles and miles of trails, and isn't very popular, so most of the times they are alone in the woods.  They sometimes go 5-7 miles and my old bones can't do that anymore, so I stay home and take a nap. 

After a couple months, they decided that "staying home" was getting kind of boring, but then they realized - we have a second home and it has wheels!!  Seems like it should be OK to stay there!  So, we packed up and spent a long weekend near Tillamook, Oregon (on the Oregon coast).  We all enjoyed something different to look at, so they decided to take the house on wheels to Cle Elum, Washington (in the Cascade Mountains) in June.  That became a pattern - about once a month, we'd move into the house on wheels and drive it somewhere for a few days.  Mom and Dad would go for a hike or a drive.  It was fun.

So much fun that in mid-September, we took the house on wheels to Idaho and were gone for just over a month.  It was our first trip to Northern Idaho and we all enjoyed it.  I wrote about it in this blog, so you can go back to my older posts to read about it, if you missed it.   

Mom and Dad decided that they wouldn't go to Texas this Christmas.  Granddaddy's Assisted Living isn't allowing visitors.  Instead, we've decided to "stay home" in the house on wheels.  We left the stationary house on Tuesday, December 22.  We have a campsite reserved at Lost Dutchman State Park near Phoenix, starting on January 2 for two weeks.  Not sure what happens after that, but I'll tell you more next time.

If you haven't been following my blog, you can sign up to get an email each time I post something new.  Just put your email address in the box near the top of the screen, on the right side.  It doesn't put you on a mailing list for anything else, just my blog. In fact, I don't even know that you signed up.  

Speaking of - I don't know who has signed up - I'd really like a little feedback.  I don't want to publish my email because data miners will send me junk, but if you copy this     abcdef06@gmail.com     into your email program and then delete the "abcdef" and replace with my name (upper or lower case), I'll get your message.  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to All!

Love, 

Doolin

Joseph, Oregon to Boardman, Oregon

We got home from our trip on October 17.  I just realized that I haven't told you about the end.  Here is what happened in the last week....

Saturday, October 10 - There has been rain forecast for today, so when Mom and Dad planned the week, they saved this drive on paved road for today.  

First they drove north of Enterprise to the Joseph Canyon Overlook. 
Chief Joseph was a leader of the Wallowa Band of Nez Perce Indians
that lived in this part of the Northwest.  There is a lot of stuff named
after him.  Today we are happy that the haze is rain and fog, which
is much easier on the lungs than the smoke we have been having.  

After the Joseph Canyon overlook,
they went to the ghost town of Flora.  I think
it's been a while since this car moved.  

The Flora School.  Must have been quite a town to
have a school this large!

Sunday, October 11 - Today we leave Joseph and travel to Boardman, Oregon.  Before we go, a few more photos from our Campground...

We can see these mountains from the Campground.  When we
arrived on Wednesday, there was no snow.  Here in Joseph, we
are at an elevation of 4,200', so we got rain yesterday.  On the
mountain peaks around us, that same precipitation
came down as snow at 7,000-9,000 feet. 

This is the same angel that I showed you in the last blog,
except now there is snow on the mountain over our motor home
and the owner of the campground has taken down the teepee in
preparation for closing the Campground on October 15.  A big
change in only a few days.

Joseph Mountain, taken from our Campground. 
The peak is over 9,600'

We have a nice view of the Columbia River from our campsite. 
Our picnic table is out of view behind the Jeep.

Monday, October 12 - Today we are mainly hanging out at our campsite at the Boardman Marina RV Park.  There is a nice walking path along the river and we've been making use of it!

Tomorrow, we will move to Cle Elum, Washington to meet up with our RV club.  We will be there for four nights and then home on Saturday.

Love,

Doolin

Joseph, Oregon

Thursday, October 8 - Today Mom and Dad drove from our Campground in Joseph, Oregon to the Hat Point Fire Lookout on the edge of Hells Canyon.   It was about 55 miles from here.  The first 30 was on paved road and then it turned to gravel.  

Looking back toward Joseph.  Smoke is worse today.

Did I mention that the road is basically one lane with
pullouts for meeting oncoming cars?

This pullout was larger and provided a good photo stop.

Hat Point Fire Lookout overlooking Hells Canyon.  The lookout is staffed
during fire season and normally you can climb to the top and see what is
happening.  Unfortunately, during Covid-19, the section above that mid-level
deck is closed to the public to protect the Forest Service workers from
exposure to the virus.  Mom and Dad climbed the stairs to the deck
that is a little more than 1/2 way up.  It's 93 stairs to get that far.

More smoke today.  You can barely see the Snake
River in the bottom of Hells Canyon.  It's just to the right of the
dead tree in the middle of the photo.

Speaking of dead trees, it's somewhat ironic that there was
a fire, caused by a lightning
strike, at the base of the Fire Lookout, a few years ago.

From here, you should be able to see the Seven Devils (mountains) in
Idaho, but today they are barely visible through the smoke.  The Seven
Devils are on the far side of Hells Canyon.  It's hard to say
where the smoke is coming from, but probably from the fires in California. 

The curves are a little scary, because you can't see what is coming
and not enough room to pass.  Fortunately, it's not a busy road.

Another view of the road ahead.

Did I mention that it was steep, as well as narrow?

Friday, October 9 - Today Mom and Dad left me and went for a hike in the Eagle Cap Wilderness.  It was a total of 6.2 miles with about 1000' of elevation gain.

The trail they chose mostly followed the Lostine River and was in
forest with understory trees and shrubs that are starting to show some
nice fall color.  The water in the river was incredibly clear.  The rocks
in the foreground are underwater.  The lighter gray on the left is a gravel
area that is above water.  Other than the change in color of the wet
gravel vs dry gravel, it was hard to tell them apart.

About 3 miles in, they came to this area where there had been an
avalanche.  It's been years since the avalanche, based on the trees
growing in the middle.  It made it possible to see mountain
peaks all around, except for the smoke.

Looking up from the trail, there were many small shrubs with nice
fall color, that have grown back, since the avalanche.

Another one of the nearby peaks.

Looking the opposite direction

More views of the Lostine River
on the way back to the Jeep

A waterfall on the Lostine River

We have one more night in Joseph, Oregon.  I'll tell you about that next time.

Love,

Doolin

Idaho - Part 4

Monday, October 5 - Today we drove to our new campsite in the Woodhead Campground in the Hells Canyon on the border of Idaho and Oregon.  I think it sounds ominous to plan to spend a couple days in a place called Hells Canyon, but I gotta go where Mom and Dad take me.

On the way there, we drove through an area burned by the Woodhead
Fire.  Wait a minute!  What's the name of that campground where
we are going?!?  Hells Canyon?!? This is starting to look BAD!!

Maybe Woodhead Park will be OK.  This is our campsite. 
What a view! 

Now that I've calmed down a little, let me tell you what I've learned about Hells Canyon.  It's a along a part of the Snake River, which separates Oregon and Idaho.  In the photo above, we are in Idaho, but the hills on the other side of the lake are in Oregon.  The Snake River actually starts in Yellowstone National Park at 9500' and winds across southern Idaho, before turning north to the point where we are staying.  The Snake joins the Columbia near Pasco, Washington.  It drains 109,000 square miles and ranks 6th in volume of all the US rivers.  Hells Canyon is the Deepest Canyon in the US - even deeper than the Grand Canyon.

Another view from the campground.  We are four miles upstream from
the Brownlee Dam on the Snake River.  The Brownlee Dam creates the
Brownlee Reservoir (the lake we are next to), which covers 13,000
acres and is over 50 miles long.

After we got settled, Mom and Dad took a drive in Hells Canyon.

There are three Dams in this part of Hells Canyon and they create
reservoirs with very calm water, almost a mirror.

Mom calls this shot - "First sign of Fall".  Odd that just one tree
was turning yellow and it was SO vivid.

Hells Canyon Dam on the Snake River

Move views of Hells Canyon

Dad hanging out with me and enjoying the view from our picnic table.

That's our motor home down there in the middle of the photo.  There
are lots of fishermen on the row below us, next to the water, but the 
upper part of the campground, where we are, is nearly empty. 
I didn't get a photo, but the night sky was also very dark.  We went
out and saw the Milky Way and more stars than I think I've ever seen before.

End of a beautiful day in the Hells Canyon.

Tuesday, October 6 - Today Mom and Dad took another drive.  They went to this overlook on the edge of Hells Canyon.

The view would be better, if there wasn't so much smoke 😭

They also drove along this nice stream.

I was glad that Mom and Dad came home and took me on this
hike up to the viewpoint above our campground.  It's not as high as
the one they drove to, but plenty high for my old bones.

Wednesday, October 7 - Today we left Woodhead Park on Hells Canyon and moved to Joseph, Oregon.  That's only 80 miles away, as the crow flies; unfortunately, we aren't crows.  Dad decided the Forest Service Road that we would need to take over the mountains was too steep, curvy, and narrow for the RV.  He and Mom were on part of it yesterday to drive to the viewpoint.  Since we aren't going over the Forest Service Road, we will be driving 235 miles around.

We made it.  Our campsite near Joseph, Oregon

Next time, I'll tell you about our stay in Joseph.

Love,

Doolin