Nevada to Oregon

Driving North towards Wells, Nevada

We took a new road from Las Vegas up the back side of Nevada to Ely where we spent the night at the Prospector Casino which had about 20 spaces for $15 a night.  The drive was very interesting with a wildlife reserve in the high valley filled with rushes, birds, and of course, water.  We were not aware that the eastern side of Nevada was so verdant.  As we drove further into the high desert plateau, the area around us was green with irrigated fields and high mountain rivers.  But after we left Ely, we began to climb higher, over 7000 feet and we could see the snow on the mountains that surrounded the plateau.  It was beautiful scenery, especially since the ambient air temps were still around 65-70 where we were.  We spent the next night at Anderson Camp RV in Twin Falls, Idaho and it was a special place for the dogs as they had a huge field where we went with Elsie, Murray, and the BALL which they chased all over the field, off leash.  Elsie let Murray have the ball for the first few throws, then got the ball and took off in giant circles with Murray on her heels, running, running, panting, running, panting, falling over on his back with his tongue hanging out, and literally giving up on catching her.  It was a hoot.  She is one fast dog.  Wednesday we headed for Eagles Hot Springs RV in LaGrande, Oregon.  This was a great park, off the highway by a couple of miles, next to an old hot springs hotel which used to be the Mayo Clinic of the West.  Good experiences for the dogs here too.  Elsie found her first frogs and it was all Allan could do to keep her from jumping in the pond after them.  Murray found a gopher hole and stuck his head down into it so far that only the back of his ears were showing.   All around us were wetlands, with ducks and birds flying in and out of the reeds and waterways. 

Looking North towards Pendleton, Oregon

And finally on Thursday we headed out on I-84 for Portland where we arrived at the Columbia River RV Park a little after noon.  This park is across the street from the river itself and also the Yacht Club and several marinas.  It is just down the road from the I-5 onramp and one exit from Janzen Beach. 

Stopover....Las Vegas

Usually when we head towards the northwest, we plan to stop in Las Vegas for a couple of nights just to settle in to the new routine and rest up after the long seven hour journey from Apache Junction.  The Oasis RV Resort is perfect for us with its pools and hot tub, close proximity to the freeway for easy access and departure, and also it is located at the very south end of the strip in case we want to take in a buffet while we are here.  This year we decided to try Mr. Wynn's buffet which got very good reviews and appeared to be competing with the Bellagio for the top marks.  Inside the tall, cloud reflecting glass exterior is a small garden court with balls of fresh flowers that hang down into the trees.   

The buffet area has similar displays of fresh flowers in an atrium setting that leads to the various food serving areas.  In addition to the usual Italian, Seafood, and Carving stations, they have a large middle eastern selection and also a fair selection of Asian entrees.  I thought the creme of asparagus soup was pretty good, not as good as mine, but good.  The salad bar had some unusual selections such as grilled carrot and turmeric couscous, grilled cauliflower and pecans on greens with balsamic dressing, plus the usual caesar salad mixed just for you.  The pizza's and other Italian food looked uninspiring and so I passed those up for the more exotic curries and stir fries of the East.  But the desserts were the best we have come across at a buffet.  The warm, fresh bread pudding was served with a creme anglaise sauce, very nice.  The mojito cream cheesecake was inspired with a mint topping.  And the carrot cake was excellent as well. 

We passed up the candy apples and the thirty other selections for your sweet tooth.  But over all, was the price worth what we got?  No, I am sorry to say it was not.  Mostly because they were advertising one price for the buffet, and after we had waited an hour in line to get in, the price turned out to be an additional $15 per person extra for the Memorial Holiday.  And yes, we could have walked away at that point, but we had just invested an hour of our time in line and now we were really hungry, so we went in anyway.  Live and learn, I guess.  But you would think at our ages we would have learned long ago.   
Tomorrow we take off for Ely, Nevada where the temperatures will be dropping into the 70's.  But for now we are enjoying the 80's and 90's of Las Vegas at the pool with our books.        

Walking Saddlebag Lake

Labor Day we arrived at the Carson Valley Inn RV Park where we spent two nights waiting for our arrival date down in Mono Lake. http://www.cvinn.com/ This park turned out to be just the ticket for a short term stay. It is located in Minden, NV which is just down the road from the Trader Joe's. The RV Park residents can use all of the facilities at the Inn including the pool and spa. Plus there are a couple of restaurants and a casino if you are so inclined. We happened to be there on a Tuesday which is the evening of the Minden farmers market. It was a small market but we were able to get fresh mixed lettuces, plums, and peaches. There were several vendors selling Hot Dogs, Brats, and even Chicken Pies. So we ordered a dog with a beer and listened to the music for a short spell.
On Wednesday we spent the morning doing the laundry and cleaning the inside of the rig before we started the 90 mile drive down to Lee Vining.

The Mono Vista RV Park http://www.leevining.com/ has a strict check-in time of 1:00 p.m. and we did not want to arrive too early. The drive down 395 was absolutely beautiful with some of the trees turning colors already. We checked in and were pleasantly overwhelmed with the scent of the sage and the junipers. It had been too long since we had been here. We spent the afternoon and evening reminiscing about all the great times when we had camped here in the past number of years. Today we headed up Tioga Road to Saddlebag Lake with a picnic lunch and our cameras. Hwy 120 is a steep grade and we travelled up over 2000 ft in about 15 minutes turning off just before the entrance to the Yosemite National Park. The road is gravel and/or paved all the way to the lake as it parallels Lee Vining Creek. There were fishermen stationed all along the creek trying their luck. The weather was warm and sunny and we found a place along the creek to eat our lunch.

When we traveled further up the road we were treated to spectacular views of Saddlebag Lake. Fishermen and women were heading back to their vehicles with strings of trout. Yes, the sign at the right says that we are at 10,087 feet. This is one of the most accessible lakes in the Sierras and there are more lakes just beyond Saddlebag as well. There is a small cafe here at the lake which offers a water taxi service to get to the far side of Saddlebag. From there, you can walk on a series of trails around the other lakes, all easy walking and then you catch the water taxi back in the afternoon. The photo to the right shows some of the boats you can rent and the water taxi at the end of the dock. We are looking forward to coming back and taking the taxi and walking the lake loop trail.

As we headed back down the Tioga Road to Lee Vining we could see the Lee Vining Creek Canyon way down below us. Many years ago we used to camp in the forest service campground along that creek in a tent. Those were great memories but I do not think that I would want to give up our Montana for a tent any longer. What a great day and tonight will be the Steelers vs. the Titans, the football season opener.

RV Parks from Albuquerque to Las Vegas

We headed out from Albuquerque on Monday, 6/1 and made it to Gallup, NM early in the afternoon. This view is from the front of our rv looking out into the desert while we were parked at the USA RV Park. http://www.usarvpark.com/ We always seem to use this park when we are traveling to and from Arizona/New Mexico. It is just 16 miles from the Arizona border and has nice pull throughs with reliable FHU's.
The following morning we headed off to the J&H RV Park in Flagstaff, AZ. Once again we arrived early, so we headed downtown for some lunch and grocery shopping. Also we stopped in where our crv was stored and payed them some more money to keep it until December. The J&H RV Park is really a well run park and has a wonderful off leash dog area and a dog wash station near the office. http://www.flagstaffrvparks.com/
On Wednesday we had a very long drive to Las Vegas caused by the fact that we did not take the rig over the dam, but went through Bullhead City and up the Nevada side of I-95. The grade up and then down to Bullhead City was hard on the truck and I doubt that we will go that way again. But we finally arrived at one of our favorite parks, the Oasis RV Resort with their pool and spa surrounded by palms. Really it is an Oasis in the desert for us. http://www.oasislasvegasrvresort.com/ We spent a couple of days washing clothes, rugs, and sheets. We also managed to visit Trader Joes to stock up on dog food for the boys as we will not be near another Trader Joes for months. We went to the strip one evening and had the buffet at the Bellagio and later thought that it was not as good as it had been in the past. Is this a function of old age or maybe it really was not very good. Anyway we took the cameras with us and got some interesting photos of people and buildings and interior spaces for later paintings.
On Saturday we headed off for Tonopah and only made it as far as Beatty when we discovered we had a flat tire on the rig. Oops. Lucky for us we had just arrived in Beatty, so we found an old run down tire shop where the owner put on our spare for $10.00. Allan gave him twice that we were so grateful he was there to help. He suggested we get some better tires on the rv as the ones we had were not up to the job. We have been intending to do that but we were trying to wait until we got to the NW. We stayed in Tonopah for the night at the Ramada Tonopah Station & RV Park. This is 30 amp E and water. Just a place to park and not much else.
But we were glad we stayed there as the weather turned nasty with high winds and rain in the afternoon and evening.

Today we headed out for Verdi, NV....just 2 miles from the CA border on I-80. All went well until we pulled into the rv park and looked at our tires. The spare was now going flat. Uh-oh. Not much to do on a Sunday so we unhooked again, pulled in our slides and went in search of air for the tire. Now we are back in Terribles Gold Ranch Casino & RV Park http://www.goldranchrvcasino.com/ and hooked back up. This is a beautiful park, but a little more expensive. There are walking trails which we took advantage of right away to work off some of the stress of the tire. Ginger was so thrilled to be out walking that she was leading the pack most of the time. Tomorrow we check our tire before we leave and hopefully it still has its air. And for those of you who are wondering about the Groovin' part of the title, it refers to the new ipod that we have hooked up to the truck speakers so we can listen to our music. Yep, singing to Joe Tex down the highway. Or a little Lyle Lovett. And yes, even a little Dolly Parton.