Our route was set to go to Washington State first to visit friends and family, and then go east to Glacier National Park, then east through Montana, going into North Dakota, then into South Dakota. From South Dakota we would continue east into Minnesota and then south into Iowa with a stop at the birthplace of our Motor Home - Winnebago Industries, in Forest City, IA. From Forest City we would continue south through central Missouri and into Kansas. From there it was south west into Oklahoma and finally Texas. This trip covered about 5,400 miles. and we were on the road for 45 days. This was not the longest trip that we have been on, but long enough.
I will break this down by date, as it will be easier for me to deal with. Some of the days will not have much information as they will be strictly driving days with little adventure.
Leaving Lubbock on Sunday, May 15, 2022 we headed north on I-27. Going north through Amarillo, TX we stayed on US287, going through the various small towns such as Cactus, Dumas, Stratford and the like. We arrived at our destination, the Wild Bill RV Park in Boise City, Oklahoma in the early afternoon. We normally only travel about 200 to 250 miles per day, however there are some days that we did 300-400 miles in a day. I'll explain those as we go along.
Wild Bill RV Park is a small unattended, "Mom & Pop" location that is adjacent to the Cimarron County Heritage Center. The first time we stayed here was 2019 on our way to Alaska. The park has changed little in that time, except that this time there was no rain and temperatures in the 90's. We got parked and connected to water and power, then Annie, our terrier mix dog and I went for a walk, well many walks. We crossed to the Cimarron Heritage Center and took a few pictures. One of their displays is a giant Dinosaur named "Cimmy." The size of the Apatosaurus was calculated from 80% of the bones excavated in western Cimarron County.
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| Cimmy |
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| Informational Plaque |
Monday, May 16, 2022 we got up early for some reason. Maybe "first night on the road" syndrome, or maybe we blame it on Annie needing to to outside. Regardless, we were on the road by 8:30A and again headed north on US287.
US287 through most of the panhandle is a four lane undivided road. Nice pavement and pretty good shoulders. Once you cross into Oklahoma and then Colorado, it is a good wide two lane road. We had some wind, coming from behind us, that helped our travels as we arrived at our next stop, KOA (Kampgrounds of America) in Limon, CO shortly after 12 noon.
This is a KOA Journey Park, which means it has limited entertainment for kids. We have stayed in Limon before, but at a different RV Park. As with a lot of the RV Parks we found on our trip, this one had it's fair share of "long Term" guests. In talking to the owner, who had recently purchased the KOA and some surrounding property, housing was at a premium. He stated that during the pandemic, people were moving from Denver, 70 miles to the west, and moving to Limon as there were reasonably priced homes and good Internet service. He felt that a large number of the new residents were working from home and did not need to go to their offices in Denver. He stated that housing was so bad that he was considering taking some of the property around the KOA and creating a tiny home community.
Tuesday, May 17, 2022 -Left RV Park at about 8:00A. Stopped at Travel America and fueled the Motor
Home. Crossed back over freeway and had breakfast at IHOP. We travelled I70 west to just east of Denver, CO where we took the 470 toll road north around Denver. This put us back on I25 north, until we got to State 14 which took us west into Fort Collins, CO. At Fort Collins we got back on to US 287 and went north. This is mostly four lane going up through a pass that drops you down into Wyoming at Laramie. Here we turned west onto I80 for the remainder of the drive into Rawlins, WY. We arrived at the Western Hills RV Park in Rawlins, WY about 4PM. This is a large RV park that is all gravel base. The sites are fairly large and they have full hookup sites as well as electric only and water and electric sites. We have been through Rawlins many times on our way to Washington state, and the wind is always blowing. The clerk that checked us in, told me that when her kids were little and they were on I80, she would see the wind turbines moving and then tell the kids where the wind was coming from. After getting connected at our site, we had a little bit of
excitement as a grass fire started in vacant property west of the RV Park.
Lots of smoke, but no danger.
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| Smoke from a distant fire |
Wednesday, May 18, 2022 - Getting on the road by about 9AM we continued our journey west on I80. Along the way, while still in Wyoming, we stopped at a rest area which gave a nice view of the Rocky Mountains.
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| from Rest Area west of Rawlins |
One of the things that we have found with Annie is that she does not like to go out in Rest Areas. They are apparently too noisy for her. Since we drive a Motor Home, the Rest Areas give the driver a break and let him use the restroom. The passengers can go anytime they want, as long as they hold on. Following I80 into Utah, we transferred onto I84 to continue our way west. Of course there was the mandatory stop at Little America, WY which is about 60 miles east of Evanston, WY. Little America is a large truck stop with a restaurant, store, hotel, fuel station, vehicle repair and some of the nicest cleanest restrooms you will ever find at a truck stop, unless you are at a Buc-ee's. Deb and her family always stopped here when they made journeys across the country to visit relatives. We have continued the tradition, using the restroom and getting an ice cream cone.
We arrived at the day's destination, the Earp and James RV Park in Snowville, UT. Snowville is about 15 miles southeast of the Idaho border. This is another gravel base, unattended "Mom and Pop" RV Park with about 20 sites. We stayed here in 2019 on our way back from Alaska. It is taken care of, but a lot of the grass around the sites was tall. With the rain that they have had, I am sure it is hard to keep up with it. The two RVs next to us were on their way to Alaska, not for the first time, based on our conversation with them.
Thursday, May 19, 2022 - We continued west on I84, crossing into Idaho shortly after leaving Snowville. We arrived at the KOA in Boise Idaho by mid-afternoon. This KOA is paved with gravel sites. We disconnected the Jeep at this location as Deb needed to go to a Labcorp location to get some lab work done for her cardiologist. Having to have lab work done while your on the road is not something that we had thought about previously. Along with locating the lab, you have to make sure that the lab you choose can provide the tests that your doctor has requested. More on that later.
This RV Park like the others has a large number of long term residents. This park is also located not far off the freeway, but it is in a business residential area where travel in the Motor Home can be....interesting.
Friday, May 20, 2022 - Up early this morning to take Deb to Labcorp for lab work. We located the Labcorp location inside a Walgreens. After being inside for several minutes Deb came out and stated that Labcorp could not complete the lab work required by the doctor. They recommended that Deb go to Quest Diagnostics. Upon arriving at that location, Deb found that the earliest appointment was at 1:30p that day. Much too late for us to make the drive from Boise to Pendleton, OR. We found a nearby IHOP and had breakfast. While there, we did some Internet searches and located a Quest Lab location in the Seattle area, inside a Safeway Store. We returned to the Motor Home, connected the Jeep and headed for the KOA in Pendleton, OR. Again this trip took us west on I84. After dropping down the steep long Cabbage Hill grade (6% for 4 miles) into Pendleton, we located the KOA and checked into the last site in the Park. Apparently there was a big softball tournament as well as a golf tournament in Pendleton that weekend. This accounted for the full park.
This is a fully paved park with the majority of the sites being concrete. The site we were assigned was a back-in which meant disconnecting the jeep.
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| A site at the Pendleton KOA |
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| The view from the KOA |
While we were in Boise we found that the propane furnace would not work. I suspected that the Sail Switch was the culprit, based on a similar experience in our previous Motor Home. I looked on-line and tried to locate a mobile RV Technician that could meet us in Monroe, WA where we would be for several days. No such luck. Thankfully we have a Heat Pump and a heating strip in the roof top AC.
Saturday, May 21, 2022 - Today we took I84 west to I82 which took us north across the Columbia River. We followed I82 to I90 and the Ellensburg, WA KOA. Located on the banks of the Yakima River, this is a gravel base park with lots of towering Cottonwood trees. A peaceful setting. Arriving about 4P, we got hooked up and I decided to take a look at the furnace situation. I removed the external vent and exhaust ports on the side of the Motor Home and then removed the exterior side panel of the furnace. A task that was made easier by the rechargeable drill driver that I carry. Once that panel was removed, the Sail Switch was exposed. Worked it a few times and found that it functioned properly. I sprayed it with some electronics cleaner, tested it and the furnace worked just fine. After I put it back together, we went to Fred Meyer to restock. The rain started during the night, it got cold and the furnace worked just fine.
Sunday, May 21, 2022 - Off to Monroe, WA and the Evergreen State Fairgrounds. We travelled US97 north from Ellensburg to just east of Leavenworth, WA. Here we turned west on US2. The section of US97 from Ellensburg to US2 reminded Deb and I of our travels in Canada and Alaska three years prior. It is a two lane, winding road that climbs up over Blewett Pass. After turning west on US2, we passed through the Bavarian town of Leavenworth. It has been a number of years since we were last in Leavenworth and we had trouble recognizing it. Once through Leavenworth, US2 becomes a narrow two lane road with little or no shoulders, as it passes Jolanda Lake and follows the Wenatchee River. The road passes through the Wenatchee National Forest, through small towns like Chiwaukum, Winton, Merritt and Berne as it climbs to the top of Stevens Pass. Though the road is narrow, it is a nice scenic drive. If I had my druthers, I might not go this way again in the Motor Home.
We reached the Evergreen State Fairgrounds about 3.5 hours after leaving Ellensburg. We found our name on a Power Panel at a site in the RV Parking area. This is a gravel parking area, but it is inexpensive and convenient to where we plan to be in the Seattle area.
We spent three nights at this location. Visiting family, getting the dog groomed, getting lab work done and doing laundry.
Wednesday, May 25, 2022 - we lifted the jacks, disconnected the power and water and headed for Ridgefield, WA. We headed south on State 522, then south on I405 to I5. Traffic was not bad and we were able to make good time, We stopped south of Olympia, WA at a Flying J to fuel and to dump the holding tanks. Back on the way, the sky was overcast and likely to rain. We arrived at Deb's nephew's house in Ridgefield about 3 in the afternoon. Deb's nephew, Jason, had a 30A RV outlet installed outside his garage, as his wife's (Wendy) father has an RV and often comes to spend time in the summer.
We got parked along the garage, connected the water and power, then went inside to visit with Wendy as Jason was not home from work. Jason and Wendy have three boys ranging from first grade to 5th grade and they are all athletes. This time of year it is baseball. So, that evening we went to the first of several Little League Games.
While we were there, I helped Jason replace the carburetor on his lawn tractor so that he could mow the lawn. We also went to Deb's great-nephew's pre-school graduation.
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| Jake - in the center. |
And, typical Washington weather, it rained....a lot.
Saturday, May 28, 2022 Today, we moved five miles south down I5 to the Clark County Fair and Exhibition Grounds. There is a nice fully paved RV Park at that location. We pulled into our assigned spot, got connected and then stayed inside as the rains came.
During our stay, we visited with my older brother (Bill) and his wife (Sonja) and my sister (Margaret). We drove up the Columbia River Gorge one day to Stevenson, WA where we lived a lifetime ago and had lunch with an old friend before returning to Vancouver. We were also able to attend Deb's great-niece's (McKinley) first birthday party. Deb got to see her sister (Janet) and her husband (Don) and her niece (Shelby) and nephew (Bryce).
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| McKinley on the right, her mother Shelby on the left. |
During one day of our stay, I was able to wash a couple thousand miles of grime off the Motor Home.
Early Wednesday, June 1, 2022 we were on the road headed for Spokane, WA.
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