#86 – November 2021 – OR, NV, CA (briefly), UT

#86 – November 2021 – OR, NV, CA (briefly), UT

Eugene turned into a study of extremes. We really enjoyed spending time with Sharon and Gary. We ate good food together, went to interesting places, and had a great time. They have been in Eugene long enough to get to know it pretty well. I especially enjoyed walking with Gary one morning at Dorris Ranch, a working filbert nut farm that is also a national historic site and public park. Miles of trails wind through nut orchards separated by stands of mature forest. The property is immaculate, a testament to how it is valued by the many people who use it. The setting along the Willamette River is really worth making time to see. We had such a good time with them that we added four more days to our stay, and would have stayed even longer but couldn’t get space. When Oregon State plays football at home, every RV park is sold out months in advance.

We went to the Farmers Market one morning. At Gary’s urging, I bought a loaf of  sourdough bread at the Creswell Bakery booth. It was so good that we stopped at the bakery in Creswell to get more when we headed south a week later. Creswell is about 35 miles from Eugene. If you are in the area, be sure to stop, it’s well-worth the calories.

We also went to the Day of the Dead exhibit at the Maude Kerns Art Center. It took some pushing and tugging to get me to go, but once I got there I found it pretty fascinating. We caught the last day of that exhibit, but be sure to check the Kerns’ schedule. They put on similar short programs all year.

The other reason to visit Eugene was to get some work done on the coach. I think I mentioned that we had developed a diesel leak in the generator that I suspected was in the fuel return hose. We also hadn’t had the chassis inspected and lubricated in two years, because we missed our annual visit to Kaiser Brake and Alignment last year due to Covid closures.

We went to Kaiser first, and everything seemed fine, until they pointed out that we had unusual tire wear issues. A blow out on a 26 ton coach will be expensive, and can also be quite dangerous. Coach tires are usually replaced every seven years. We were in the sixth year on this set, so I wasn’t budgeting for them this year. But, I don’t skimp on tires or brakes, so we now have new tires, a $4,800 surprise.

Fall in Eugene

A couple of days later we took Ripley to Cummins Coach Care in Coburg. It turned out that I was right, the fuel return line had simply worn out where it passed through the frame that the generator is mounted on.  You can’t see where it is routed, you have to make the repair by feel. It took one of the techs less than an hour to replace it, so practice clearly counts

Cummins had a late cancellation, so we were able to get the 120,000 mile engine service done that day, too. The first service beyond fluid changes on our Cummins ISM engine is called “running the rack”, where the valve, injector and Jake brake clearances in the cylinder head are checked and adjusted. That service costs about $300 in a truck, but $500 in our coach because the access to half of the cylinder head is through a hatch in the closet floor. I haven’t noticed any change in how the engine runs, but the Jake brake performance is noticeably better.

Schroeder was mesmerized. Geese were
everywhere at VotR

With real regret we left Gary and Sharon and started the first leg of the trip to spend Thanksgiving with Liesa and Cory in Salt Lake. The first stop was Valley of the Rogue State Park, just south of Grant's Pass. I think this is our third visit to VotR. We were able to reserve the best spot in the park, F27, a huge site on the back row as far as possible from the noise of I5. Schroeder clearly remembered the park, too. He headed right for the field where the cows were grazing the last time we were here.

We like this park, but this year it was our second choice. We prefer to stay in Ashland at Emigrant Lake County Park, but the whole park was reserved for forest fire evacuees. Either park is an easy drive from Eugene, and there is nothing second-rate about VotR. We’d spent enough time in Grant's Pass and Medford that we didn’t feel like we needed to see more so we went wine tasting instead. 

The park is about as close to the center of the Southern Oregon Wine Region as you can get. There must be more than a hundred wineries in four districts within fifty miles. After some research on Google, we picked the Applegate Valley, and Devitt Winery and Augustino Estate and Vineyard in particular.

Devitt is a very small, rustic, family operation. The founders’ grandson took over the business a few years ago. He does everything from planting and harvesting grapes, carpentry and wine making, to manning the tasting room. We had a nice time talking to him and the other visitors  while tasting a few of his wines. Schroeder was also welcome in the tasting room and quickly made himself at home. The wines were drinkable but not noteworthy, but we bought a couple of bottles to support his hard work. That said, we’d go again for the ambiance and company, if not the wine.

Augustino is on the other end of the spectrum. It’s a big operation with two tasting rooms, event spaces, a kitchen, outdoor patios with heaters, servers, and relentless sales pressure. The woman running the place shouldn’t be. Despite her vocal claims otherwise, I thought the wines were pretty lousy and overpriced, so we didn’t buy any. The food was good, though. It was just overpriced.

I don't like traveling. I am not happy

Like the past couple of years, cold weather and early snow forecasts dictated that we take the southern route to Salt Lake. We prefer to cross Oregon on US 20 or US 26, but boondocking at this time of year risks running the batteries flat to keep the heat on all night. That means we need to find RV parks with electric hookups at reasonable mileage intervals. Several RV parks in central Oregon are closed for the season by now, so route planning is a challenge. Heading south to Reno and crossing Nevada on I80 adds about 100 miles to the trip, but it avoids the coldest weather and we can find parks with hookups where we need them.

Our first stop was Days End RV Park on US 395 in Standish California. This is a small, family owned park about 10 miles north of Susanville. Most of the spaces are taken by long term residents, but they have a dozen or so large pull thru sites reserved for folks traveling through. “Large pull thru sites” are exactly what we look for so we don’t have to take the car off the dolly. The park was spotless, the price was reasonable and we just fit in the site.

Day two ended in Fernley Nevada at the Desert Rose RV Park. This is a much bigger park, but the spaces weren’t long enough to leave the car connected, so we took the opportunity to do a little shopping. The showers at this park are terrific.

The third day was a bit of a grind, as we decide to push harder and get to Salt Lake a day early. We stayed the night at Valley View RV Park in Elko last November and decided to try it again. This place is pretty run down and most of the residents are clearly long term. The pull thru spaces for transients are narrow and much too short, but the roads are wide and no one has a problem with us sticking way out. The price is certainly right, too: $15 a night for 50 amp power is great.

We are always happy to pull into the Pony Express RV Resort in North Salt Lake, about 8 miles from Liesa’s apartment in downtown Salt Lake City. The place is very well kept and the staff is always pleasant and helpful. The facilities are all you could ask for, there is plenty of space to walk Schroeder and all the services we need are close by. Unfortunately, it is quite expensive and the limited options are equally pricey.

We had one more coach service to complete, so one morning we disconnected and went across town to Smith Power, the regional service center for Allison Transmissions. It was time to change 36 quarts of oil and a couple of filters in the transmission. The service itself was straightforward, but the whole experience was very frustrating. They don’t make appointments for routine services, so when we arrived we were put in the queue. We came early and were told we were second in line. Four hours later, after some prodding, we finally got pulled into the service bay. The whole service took 45 minutes, but then I had to wait over a half an hour to get a bill! Needless to say, I was not a happy customer, and they knew it  The service people seem to know what they are doing, but the front office is truly screwed up. We won’t be back.

We were very happy to see Liesa and Cory. Even though she joined us for a few days in June in New Hampshire it still seemed like it had been a long time. We hadn’t seen Cory in a year. Cory’s family graciously invited us to Thanksgiving dinner in Clearfield, about 30 miles north of the city. We had a great time and just stuffed ourselves on really good food. His mother knows no restraint when it comes to side dishes. Her corn casserole and mac ‘n cheese were especially good.

Cory and Liesa work non-traditional schedules, so when they both have the same day off, we make plans. We met at their place in downtown Salt Lake one afternoon for lunch and a walk. We set out for Mexican food, and decided to try a new place that turned out a bit sub-par. The food notwithstanding, we had a great time. Trying to decipher Cory’s very Southern jargon is fun. 

Liesa strongly suggested that we see the “From Monet to Kandinsky” exhibit at The Leonardo Museum.  I’m not sure how to describe this, but think of 40 computer controlled HD projectors showing moving images of fabulous art across every wall and floor in a space that has square walls, mirrored walls and not-square walls. The visuals and the music were just amazing. If this comes anywhere near you, be sure to go. 

Liesa also suggested that we visit the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium in Draper Utah. No one is going to confuse it with SeaWorld, but we had fun. Lots of fish, some penguins, colorful birds, a sloth (?) and a hodgepodge of tropical plants, reptiles and a few spiders made it a somewhat confusing but pleasant experience. I’m glad we went midweek, because the number of kids there on weekends must be overwhelming.

Did I mention how cold it was in Salt Lake? Brilliantly clear, sunny skies and starry nights meant chilly days and nighttime temperatures that usually fell into the 20’s. When we arrived at Pony Express and plugged in the utilities, I broke out the heated water hose and I’m glad I did; we needed it. We both agreed that we are wusses; we were sorry to leave Liesa, but couldn’t wait to head south. 

On the first of December we started our flight to warmer climes.

We will spend December in California, then on to Arizona.

Trader Joe’s and Costco in Eugene really excel in their wine offerings, and we took full advantage. Here are three that I really liked:
    Trader Joe's Reserve Shiraz 2018 - Barossa - Australia
    Paso A Paso Tempranillo 2018 – Spain - Costco
    iLauri Bajo Montepulciano D'Abruzzo – Italy -Trader Joe’s

Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the making of Microsoft by James Wallace & Jim Erickson is an older book, covering Gates and his company from inception through 1992. You probably need to have been in the computer business in that period to find it interesting.

More soon,

Bob

 

Gary, Sharon and Kayeanne at DotD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sloth was bashful, this guy wasn't