On the Road Again

Well we are off again. We were home for nearly 2 months and we got rested and caught up and ready to travel again. This time we are taking our van "Pearl" for a trip camping and exploring the southwest. Our VW camper van is nearly 12 years old but she gets good gas mileage and is a very comfortable ride. We can hole up in her in inclement weather and be packed up and gone pretty quickly when we get the urge to move on and see more sights.


We planned on leaving on Monday the 29th but the weather reports were pretty dismal with high winds and snow all along our route. We waited and watched the weather carefully and waited for a path that would go through a weather hole and get us to some sun and heat. We left after a quick decision on Friday morning. Our first night was along the Columbia River at Plymouth. We thought it was a state park but it turned out to be a Army Corp of Engineers campground. We didn't even know that they had them, but it was a great deal. Beautiful grassy grounds, electric hook ups, free showers, even a washer and dryer. All that and my new
Federal Land Senior Discount card got us 1/2 price. It was windy there but a nice spot along the river adjacent to the Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge. We headed out early the next day and hit snow in the Blue Mountains. Luckily it was not sticking much, just a little slush on the road for a few miles. Our front wheel drive made for easy traveling.
Next stop was on the Snake River in southern Idaho at Three Island Crossing. Another nice grassy campground where the Oregon Trail crossed the Snake. Weather here was still breezy but sunny now. Cool at night but still comfortable.
The next morning we thought we should head through Salt Lake City to avoid weather and as we went in that direction we started seeing a lot of heavy clouds ahead. We made a few DOT phone calls and found out that it was snowing heavily in Salt Lake City and the basin so we changed course, backtracked about 30 miles, and headed back to our original route through Nevada on Hwy 93. So glad we did. The Great Basin huge and scenic and beautiful this time of year. Don't think we would like it in August at 110 degrees and all brown but it was really pretty now. Cold! We went over passes that were 7000-8000 feet. Weather was sunny and clear. We turned up the music and cruised at 75mph. We spent the night at Cave Lake State Park in Nevada just south of Ely. This is really cowboy country. We stopped in town for supplies and were the only ones not wearing cowboy boots and driving a big 4WD truck. Campgrounds were limited and we are at high elevation everywhere. Our stop for the night was at Cave Lake State Park. It was at 7500ft and we were the only ones there. The ranger came by just before dark and asked if we minded if they shot off fireworks that evening as a practice run for some big Memorial Day Weekend show they put on. What a great bonus. But so glad our little home has a propane heater! We knew it was going to be cold at night (note snow in photo) and it was 25 degrees when we got up. We just reach over and turn on the thermostat and snuggle back in for about 15 minutes and then life is good.