Well, here we go again. This time heading West to Oregon on a slightly different route after SLC. The blog title for this trip indicates our main two states to visit in Summer 2021. I almost named this year’s story the Moore journey or the Dinner Tree dinner trip, both being a play on words. More about that later. Another thing different this go around with the blog, is that instead of me trying to keep up with posting daily, I will do what I can, when I can. The other way was hard to do timely because I drive and I cook, so this presents a logistical problem. Plus, you never know when you’ll have a good cell connection or internet.
We left our Magnolia, TX home May 31 with a clean RV and pickup truck, by the time we arrived in Wichita Falls we had driven through two and a half hours of rain storms ! Yay me. Nasty road grime and mud all over both vehicles, needless to say I was NOT a happy camper. (yes, I said that) Anyone reading this ever try the 72oz. steak in Amarillo? Just wondering. So it goes the following day with another couple of hours of rain on our way to Tucumcari. What was funny at this small KOA park was we were placed in the exact same space as we stayed in 2014. On the way, at a stop light in a small town we spotted this lonely little cow on his way to… well… you know.
After leaving Tucumcari we headed to Cortez, CO and stayed in a familiar park in town named Sundance RV. Our dane Eleanore, who is generally quiet and unassuming, met another dog to say hello but then let out a big WOOF and scared the poop out of him….. literally ! Needless to say, the other dog owner was not amused. Just to be clear, no harm done. So far, we have only stayed a single night in each location, next stop Salt Lake City for a two night stay.
When we first arrived and I took Eleanore to go potty, she headed straight to the back gate to go on the trail. She remembered this park from two years ago! Unfortunately the gate was locked and trails were closed due to some local socioeconomic issues. We enjoyed visiting with other camper neighbors over a glass of wine and with some joke telling. This KOA has a surprising number of trees considering it is right in town. We ate out one night at the Red Iguana. Really good Mexican food considering we were not in Texas. This statement was not meant to offend you if you live in another part of the country and have your own incredible Mexican food establishment. It’s just a “thing” with Texans… we critique Tex-Mex food and BBQ because we think it is best in Texas.
On the road today leaving SLC we head West across the Salt Flats and are humored by the varied attempts at art left behind on the side of the roadway by motorists. Today there was an extra bit of entertainment as some guy thought he could drive off onto the white salt like in the movies. But little did he know this is just white mud, unlike the Bonneville Salt Flat Racetrack just a few miles down the road. After a wide array of changing scenery and elevations, we find ourselves in Winnemucca, NV for a couple days rest. The dog run here is all gravel, Eleanore didn’t know what to make of this. Although after a long walk she knew what to do on the couch. LOL
Heading out Monday morning to Summer Lake, OR. Our first major destination is to meet up with my wife’s cousins and camp for a week in Ana Reservoir RV Park. They are the Moores. While staying here, the plan is to go to dinner at the Cowboy Dinner Tree Restaurant. More to come… Stay tuned.
Arrived at our first one week stay location, Ana Reservoir RV Park on Tuesday. This a cute little park with level gravel spots and an awesome view. Westward mountain gives a unique early sunset (so to speak). We took our older cousins along and went on a drive up the mountain and along the park roads to a very cool viewpoint. Along the way we experienced different types of terrain and foliage, from rocky cliffs and boulder filled fields to sparse forest of pines and as elevation changed, a more lush array of growth. It also snowed on us a couple of times. There were several large pine trees that had broken over as if high winds twisted them just before snapping. The birch trees seemed to be only in a specific range of altitude at least along the interior paths we were traveling. The viewpoint along the ridge where these pics were taken was approximately 7,100 ft. Our campground is at about 4,300 ft and the lake in the distance is around 4,100 ft., so we had quite the journey on our day trip to the ridge. The little cabin in the far left of one of these pics can be rented from the National Forest… very cool. This was about a 28 mile drive just along the interior roads of the mountain, then another 20 miles on the highway back to camp. Of course with some silly pics there was an abundance of caution. I was upset with myself because I forgot to bring my drone along for exploring these roads. I might have been able to get some really cool pics but we’ll have to wait and take some later. Hopefully a day trip to Crater Lake before we leave next week, if so I’ll post photos from there. Thanks for taking the time to read my unprofessional blog. Enjoy the pictures, we always take WAY more than get posted LOL.
