Back in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake

Saturday, May 17, 2014

We are enjoying perfect weather here in Utah.  After a leisurely morning we headed over to Camping World.  We had a very productive visit.  For one we finally scored the doormat style step cover like Penny has that we've been coveting for a year.

AND it's coordinating door mat!

We also got a new shower head that will save us gallons of water (according to the labeling).  But perhaps our biggest score was a new camp chair for Simon.

We brought it inside for him to get used to it.  Of course the addition of his Bath & Body fluffy throw didn't hurt.  We put him in it several times and he would just step off it and go lay in his regular bed.  But after we stopped watching him and started minding our own business we looked up and he had climbed in and settled into it.  Since then he hasn't gone back to his regular bed.  

Success!!!!

Afterwards we took a drive to see what the old homestead looks like.  We moved to Oregon in 1988 and this valley has grown beyond belief.  So we weren't optimistic about the survival of the little cottage where Dave and I started our life together.  However it looks about the same as it did when we left except for a little fence around the front yard.

When we lived in this little two bedroom house it was a rental and the owners had a nice newer ranch home next door.  We had a nice corral and hay shed for our horses out back and bought hay from the landlord.  We learned from several folks in the area that it was one of the original houses built out in that far southwest corner of the valley and the farmer who lived there raised ten children in that house.

Yikes!

Well it was a perfect little spot for Dave & I to start out.  Across the street was a good sized horse operation where they bred race horses.  We learned a lot from Wayne & Janina who lived there.  And we would watch the place when they took their horses out of town.  We could also ride our horses across the street, up our neighbors driveway and be up in the bluffs within minutes with endless space for riding.  But mostly we rode the horses - and walked the dogs - along the tree line next to the house.

The tree line is also as it was.  These alfalfa fields are owned by the LDS church, so it's not a surprise that they have survived the encroachment of suburbia.  There are miles to walk along these tracks.  It was great to see this part of our past still intact.

We also got to meet up with Alena and her husband Andy and daughters Janessa and Ashley.  What a cool family.  Those girls are nice AND funny.  And just plain lovely.  Which is no surprise given that's exactly what their mom Alena is like.  They introduced us to Famous Dave's BBQ.  I was sitting next to Andy who gave me good info on the offerings.  It was a good experience and let's just say I have some ideas for mixing things up next time I make mac-n-cheese.

Today we are meeting up with all three kids and all their kids for a bbq at Travis and Bridget's place.  Sure to be a good time.  

Adventures with technology

Friday, May 16, 2014

Today we arrived in Salt Lake City after a not-too-long drive across the Salt Flats.  Once we reached the western edge of the Salt Lake Valley the adventure really began.  Our destination was Mountain Shadows RV Park in Draper.  Draper is in the southeast corner of the valley and we were entering from the opposite corner.  No worries, we have "Gypsy" our state of the art Rand McNally Good Sam GPS. It seemed to have us routed on a western belt route that would bypass the melee of I-15 and skirt around on the west side then sweep east at the south end of the valley and deposit us right where we need to be.  But then things started getting a bit off kilter.  First Gypsy had us heading way west to avoid some road construction.  I mean WAY west.  Like we thought we may end up in the Kennecott Copper Mine.  It seems Gypsy really dislikes crowds and had us taking quite the circuitous path around the valley.  Between us making our decisions and Gypsy's directions we did end up on the aforementioned belt route that took us neatly into Draper.  Then things got REAL wiggy as Gypsy directed us into a condo complex.  You know the kind that has one lane roads winding through a maze of condo's with metal parking covers interspersed throughout?  At first we thought it might be the access as we could see RV's just on the other side.  But no, we were caught in an RVer's nightmare.  And we weren't the first, almost every parking cover we passed had a scar from a tall vehicle colliding with it.  I was sweating like some kind of farm animal - and I wasn't driving!  Dave piloted us safely and calmly until we found a maintenance guy who gave us directions out.  And added, " I can't believe you've gotten this far with that thing." Nice.  We made it out and the 100 feet to the entrance to Mt. Shadows.  This is a nice park - clean, lots of grass (Simon gives it a tail up and a wag).  Which is a good thing because as far as we can tell it is one of TWO RV parks in Salt Lake Valley.  It does have kind of a strange feature though.  They have the pull-through spots aligned so two rigs share a common utility strip which means you pull in from opposite directions.  Seems to make sense, except it means your front door is facing your next door neighbors front door across a grassy lawn area.  And in our case that's a pretty skinny strip.  And our front doors end up aligned directly across from each other.  The good news is we have a really pleasant couple next door who just left Zion Nat'l Park and gave us some helpful info.  Thankfully we don't have Cousin Eddie (National Lampoon Christmas Vacation) parked there.

Needless to say we were ready for a beer after our harrowing arrival.  Once we got set up we headed out in search of a suitable spot for lunner and happened upon a place with wings and microbrews.  What luck!  And there was a Smith's (where we can use our Fred Meyer points card!) right close by.  And to top things off there is a Camping World about a block away from where we are staying.  Life if good!  Even in Utah!

Ya gotta love the Wasatch Front.

(Sorry for so few pictures.  It wasn't a picture-taking kind of day.)

Day Three, Post Two

Thursday, May 15th, 2014

Since my last post we left our spacious, albeit sparse, accommodations in Lakeview and headed east on highwy 140.  Those of you who have driven this route know it's nothing to write home about.  Thus no post yesterday.  The road from Lakeview, OR to Winnemucca, NV really goes through no other cities, towns or villages.  Unless you count Denio, but then you are surely living in denio/denial.  However it does sport some darn impressive passes.  Not all that fun when your home is behind you and you have a well equipped kitchen on board.  Here's a little bit of nostalgia for those who have passed this way

Yep, that's a long way down looking out the passenger side when you're at the top.  Did I mention the lack of shoulders on this highway?  We had quite a little excitement when we apparently got whacked by a dust devil.  Fortunately it was on a flat section.

Anyway that long, long, long day of driving brought us to Winnemucca, Nevada.  I have a very early memory of Winnemucca that involves a family vacation in the very early 60's in a Ford Falcon station wagon when cars had vinyl upholstery.

It was the middle of the night and it was over 80 degrees and my mother wasn't happy.  Despite that I loved those family vacations when we'd hit the road and I would have this wonderful "nest" in the back of the station wagon.  I'm sure it's what planted the seed for this whole RVing thing I love to do.

Okay, back to the present.  We checked in at the Hi Desert RV Park which was just fine.  However Simon gave it a tails-down because he couldn't find any grass, which for him is like a good wifi connection.  We found a good spot to eat.  If you find yourself in Winnemucca check out The Pig BBQ and Pub. I really enjoyed the Pulled Pork tacos and Dave & Simon (tails-up and wagging) enjoyed the house special Pulled Pork sandwich.  And a big advantage of being in Winnemucca was a wide open horizon to watch the full moon rise.  

This morning we hit the road, Interstate 80 specifically.  And I took the wheel to give Dave a break.  I can't express how much I appreciate his great driving skills.  But a gal's gotta do her part.  So I took the wheel for the straight, flat leg ahead of us.  Well, actually there's several grades to pull, but more annoying there was construction.  I'm not good with constricted lanes.  But I got through it for about three hours.  Meanwhile Dave was able to take this picture as we drove through Battle Mountain.

I'd like to have been at the city council meeting where they decided to put a big "BM" up on the hill.

Just so I could say-

 "Really?"

In their defense all towns and cities in Nevada do this.  It's just Battle Mountain's bad luck that their initials are what they are.

Tonight finds us in Wendover, NV.  Mind you we drove across town and bought fuel in Utah earlier.  But we were sure to drive back to NV to buy beer.

We of course were welcomed to town by Wendover Will.

Will is the far more evolved version of the cowboy we saw in Lakeview.  But can anyone tell me what the heck are the white things hanging from the corners of his mouth?  Are they feathers?  Did he just eat a chicken? 

Now we are enjoying a nice breeze under the awning with mediocre Nevada brewed beer as we look over the Salt Flats.

Tomorrow we will drive out across this famous proving ground for fast vehicles.

At 65 mph.

On Our Way

After an extra long tax season that saw me working up until 3:30 Monday, we are finally off on our adventure.  Dave, Simon and I are taking a leisurely tour of Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce National Parks.  But first we are stopping in Salt Lake City to visit Dave's beautiful kids and grandkids.  So today we headed out on Highway 140.

We waved good bye to Mt. Mick (McLoughlon) and headed east to our first stop

in Lakeview, OR.  I always love a town that beautifies it's water storage devices.

To be specific, we are over-nighting at the county fairgrounds rv park.

This guy is all over Lakeview.

We ran into him at Safeway too.

Turns out he's got a dark side....

We sampled the local fare.  In this case we were craving burgers and beer.
Apparently that left us with Papa Dan's at the bowling alley.
An excellent bowling burger I must say.  Simon enjoyed his immensely.

We found a very cool rock outside of Booner.

Dave of course had to have fun with it....

Definitely a no-frills park here.  But after being in the usual close quarters
at most rv parks, the wide-open space was kinda nice.  We put out the awning,
set out the chairs, popped the tops on a couple of coldies, turned on some tunes
and waited for some armadillos to walk by.  Not that there are any armadillos in Lakeview,
but the whole scene reminded us a bit of Tin Cup.

And there's a cool exhibit of old farming and mining equipment right next to the park.

We had fun checking that stuff out.

All in all a good start to our adventure and excellent first day of vacation.

Now what?

Dave and I have been campers most of our lives.  Separately and together.  We've camped in all kinds of ways - backpacking, with tents, without tents, snow caves, teepees, with small camp trailers and these days in our home, a 34' fifth wheel.  So it didn't take long for us to switch gears from sailboat to rv.  Once we made the decision to sell the boat we moved out within one week.  And we moved into our beloved Booner.  As I mentioned in my last post, Simon was more comfortable immediately.  But so were we.

Dave and Simon getting reaquainted with reclining.

We spent a week at Pioneer Trails RV Park in Anacortes.  We had things to wrap up with getting the boat cleaned out and cleaned up, getting it listed with West Yachts and just taking a deep breath.  Pioneer Trails was the perfect spot to do that from.  And it's a nice park!  One of the nicest RV park-type-places we've been in.  For the non-RVer's out there - there are campgrounds and there are RV parks.  RV parks are generally privately owned parks that maybe geared toward a camp-type experience, or they may be located close to some kind of attraction, or they may just be a place to stop as you travel through an area, but they tend to have smaller sites situated close together.  They do offer full hook ups usually, so you enjoy everything from running water, electricity and sewer to cable tv and wifi.  They also typically have a laundromat.  Pioneer Trails had all of that in a really pleasant wooded setting.  It even had a short nature trail.

Simon approved.

We enjoyed the week there stretching out in the luxury of Booner.  To top it off we had a visit from our friends Art and MaryJo who took us out to lunch.  It was so good to see old friends and it just reaffirmed our decision to get back among the folks we know and love.  

So after a week, we were ready to start moving south!  We had excellent weather by Anacortes standards while we were there.  It was sunnier and warmer longer than usual.  That being said, it's still a tad cooler than our bodies expect in the summer.  So on Monday the 5th of August we slid onto I-5 and drove to Portland.  Which of course means we stayed at the Jantzen Beach RV Park.  This would be one of those RV parks you stay at as an overnighter.  Small close sites.  But it's not far from the interstate.  Or the airport. Or the railroad.  Or the Columbia River and the drawbridge.  All of which make noise.  But after staying here on numerous trips we are immune.  We can actually sleep through it all now.  Not so with the 6am garbage truck though.  That's okay, we wanted to get back on the road early any way.  And yes, we did get to go to the Island Cafe.  And by the way, it was 80 degrees.  Wonderful.

It was so nice to be back in the land of no sales tax and no self-serve fuel.  

However we do love Anacortes and hope to spend more time there in the future.  

Well that's enough for today.  I need to get out and smell some pine trees.  Tune in soon for the "No Reservations Tour" report.

Plan B

First, forgive me for not posting for so long.  There are a few reasons, but at the top of the list is poor internet connections.  I've had to rely on our cellular mobile hotspot and it's been a struggle.  Once we entered the month of August we noticed an increase in population, and not just on the weekends.  Reminds us of the campgrounds in Oregon.  All I can figure is that there are lots of folks "using up" the cellular signal.

When I last posted we were in Friday Harbor in late July.   Before I take you away from this lovely island, I should mention the showers at the marina.  I won't go into great detail, let's just say if you find yourself needing to take a shower there, remember a couple of pointers - 1) Arrange all of your dry items as far away from the shower curtain as possible, like on the outer door 2) Bring lots of quarters.  Although I've never been to prision, I imagine the showers to be quite similar to these.  After a couple of days in Friday Harbor we took off for another Washington State Park, Jones Island.  However there was "no room at the inn".  Jones Island has a real pretty little inlet which is popular for anchoring.  We pulled in but too many folks had beat us to the punch.  So we headed south and east.  Which means we traveled through the Wasp Islands.  This is a group of small islands that have a bit of a reputation for being a bit prickly to pass through.  Lots of rocks and such.  We made it through safely though and enjoyed some nice views.

Our fallback position was to return to Blind Bay.  We dropped the anchor farther back in the bay this time.  That means we took Simon for his walks on the beach on Shaw Island instead of tiny Blind Island.

It's a rocky beach rather than a sandy one.

But it's got a cool appearance

I'm thinking this might be a good wallpaper...

The next day was a long slog back to Anacortes, about five hours.  Kind of like driving to Portland.  On water.  Can't beat the scenery though.  And no pesky lines to keep the vehicle between.  

Meanwhile the eagles and gulls were still at odds with each other, our dock neighbor was still painting his boat and the usual crowd was at the Brown.

So what's "Plan B"?

Dave and I have decided to sell the boat.

WHAT????????

Yep.  There are several reasons but it can be summarized as - the rewards didn't warrant the prices we were paying in effort, discomfort, anxiety, money and time away from loved ones.  So we have listed the boat and moved it to the sales dock where it is highly visible.  We moved back into "Booner", our fifth wheel.  We spent a week in Anacortes at the Pioneer Trails RV park while we moved off of the boat and tied up loose ends.  Then last Monday, the 5th, we headed south.  I'll write more about the land based adventure soon.  But for now, know that the Chapples are happy and dry and back in Southern Oregon as of yesterday afternoon.  Simon is much happier, which as most of you know, is what rules the day.  

Thanks for all of your interest in our antics.  I'm not sure if our adventures going forward will seem as interesting, but we'll give it a try.  

Out in the islands

I apologize for not posting for a few days, but we've been out cruising in the islands.  I could say that we just didn't have the ability to post because we were in remote places, but in truth the cell signals have been at least as good as Anacortes.  And sometimes much better.  But gee, it's been hard to sit inside and look at a computer with such lovely scenery all around.

We left Anacortes on Tuesday at about 11:15 and headed over to Spencer Spit on Lopez Island. Here, let's look at the map.

Spencer Spit is that little point on Lopez Island that is just down from the upper right hand corner, pointing toward the lower part of Blakely Island.  It took us a couple of hours to get there from Anacortes.

We dropped our anchor in about 14 feet of water there.  This is part of the Washington State Parks system and has several campsites on shore.  It's part of the Cascadia Marine Trail. Which is a trail system that was developed for non-motorized, beachable watercraft users to travel and camp throughout the islands.  Pretty cool deal.  We loved the views there and walking on the island.

There's a lagoon in the center of the triangular spit.  It's kind of more like a marsh area.

Simon being a beach bum.

We were enjoying our stay there, but it got a tad rolly the next day from the traffic out in the channel.  So we pulled up the anchor and motored up to Blind Bay on Shaw Island.  If you look at the map again you'll see Shaw Island has a big notch on it's north shore.  That's Blind Bay.  And right in the middle of the opening of the bay is Blind Island, which doesn't really show up on the map.  Blind Island is also part of the Cascadia Marine Trail and a Washington State Park.  It has several campsites

as well as a vault toilet.  It also has mooring buoys, which is where we camped.

What a pretty boat.

These buoys are $12/night.  We would have preferred to anchor here, but it was a little deeper and we haven't installed our windlass yet.  Translated:  The anchor weighs 35lbs and the chain weighs 1.1lbs/ft.  This was 37 feet deep = 75.7lbs to be hauled up by hand.  Not doing that was worth the $12.  This little island is sweet!  You can walk up to the top and look up and down Harney Channel.  Orcas Island is on the other side of the channel and a ferry runs back and forth between the two islands all day it seems.  But we didn't suffer from any roll off of those wakes.  Probably because this ferry doesn't get up much speed between the two points.  

All this beauty and fresh air awakened my cooking mojo!  I made us a parmesan crusted cod dinner with green salad and bread for dinner

As you know, our space on the boat is limited.  That means everything on board should be able to do at least two things.  The more uses a thing has, the better chance it has of staying on board (I remind Dave of this daily).  Case in point, I needed to crush the crackers to mix with the grated cheese for the fish.  Obviously a rolling pin takes up a lot of space for a single purpose tool.  Hence we improvise.

Two uses for one bottle of wine.

The mornings have been foggy here lately.  

This is looking from out boat out into Harney Channel.

Not a problem as I needed to run a payroll for a client Thursday morning anyway.  We were ready to leave at noon and the fog had burned off.  We left Blind Bay as we had entered it and headed east in Harney Channel as we wanted to check out an anchorage on the southeast side of Shaw Island called Indian Cove.  So we traveled down the east side of Shaw to Upright Channel and pulled into Indian Cove.  We found it to be a tad shallow closer to shore and there's a few rocky spots, but otherwise it looks like a good spot for us some time when we come back this way.  We picked our way through the crab trap floats and back out into Upright Channel and pointed our bow across San Juan Channel to Friday Harbor.  And that's where we are now.  We treated ourselves to a couple of nights in the marina.  Here we can refill the water tanks, empty the holding tank and buy more hamburger for Simon.  He's been on a mild burger and rice diet since he had the lower intestinal "event" a couple of weeks ago and is thriving on it.  Of course I spend a lot of time cooking rice and burger, but I'm glad to do it to see him perky again.  

So, Friday Harbor...

This is a happenin' place!  We have never been here during the high season before.  We called from Blind Bay for a reservation for two nights and they could only guarantee us one night in a slip and then they told us they may have to move us.  Wha????  They told us to check in again in the morning and they would see what was available.  Fortunately they are able to leave us in this spot for one more night.  Whew.  And a lovely spot it is.  We have a nice couple in a motor yacht next to us.  They were headed out in their dinghy for a cocktail cruise and we asked them where we could buy ice.  The next thing we knew they had brought us back a bag of ice and wouldn't take any money for it.  

If you haven't been to Friday Harbor, it's the largest town in the islands and the county seat of San Juan County, which is comprised of most of the islands.  On our little map Friday Harbor is the black dot on San Juan Island.  You can take a Washington State Ferry from Anacortes out to Friday Harbor and then have your car to drive around the island.  It's a beautiful drive that we did last spring.  Again, the interior of the island is agricultural.  There are a couple of wineries along the way.  But this time we're here on our own boat and it's a great spot for that as well. It's got good restaurants, art and all kinds of services for boaters.  There's Kings Market just a few blocks up the main drag which is a well stocked grocery store.  And prices were better than I expected.  They even had a very patient assistant in the wine department explaining to a woman that there is no locally produced Pinot Noir, she should buy an Oregon one. Multiple times.  sigh

We docked, got plugged in and settled and then went up the dock with Si.  Poor guy couldn't make it all the way up the dock as it's at least a quarter mile.  But no worries, he's apparently not the only one who couldn't wait as they have doggy clean up bags along the way on the docks.  We found a place to eat between the marina and the ferry dock where Simon could sit with us.

Si chillin at the Blue Water Bar & Grill after a cool drink.

He had his own water dish under the table.

And a perfect breeze.

Kobe beef sliders and Irish Nachos! And Mack and Jack.

Of course.

Did I mention these folks start Happy Hour at 2 o'clock?

We had a relaxing evening back on the boat and then a very restful, quiet night's sleep.  This morning I took Si for a walk up in the lovely little park at the top of the marina.

We had a nice stroll around the ferry parking area where a whole crowd of folks were waiting for the 7:30 ferry.  We even found another little park called Sunken Park.  The coffee shops were all full of ferry waiting folks.  This town reminds me a bit of Ashland.  With boats.  

Well those water tanks aren't going to fill themselves, so I guess I better get after it.  

Maybe I'll take Simon for a walk first....