Arrived yesterday after a 300 mile 5.5 hour run from Indio, CA. Rain most of the way.Since our reservation actually starts the 20th they put us in a temp site behind and a couple down from our regular one. Will move into that site on Saturday after the people leave and then totally setup for the winter.Saturday Betty will be displaying ornaments at a craft show in the park so I'll do the move...no big deal but I will leave some things for her to do inside. :)Xmas decorations will go up and planning the menu for next Thursday. Xmas eve there is a potluck in the clubhouse.Weather getting better today as the rain has moved on. Plenty of sun coming and temps in the low to high 60's.Happy Holidays everyone.More with picks later.
Dec. 25th,2014.Xmas Day in Casa Grande. More photos added.
Left Bakersfield for Indio about 9:30am and only went about 10 miles when the right front tire blew on the truck. We were on the side of the road (HWY 58) for 2 hours before Les Schwaub could get to us with new tire and get us going again.Arrived at Indian Waters RV Resort, which is a sister Resort to Casa Grande RV Resort which is our destination, around 4:30pm. Long day to say the least.We are here until Wednesday.More later.
Arrived at the Orange Grove RV Resort in Bakersfield around 3:30pm after about a 4 hour drive.A favorite stop of hours on the way to AZ and the orange trees are full and ready for plucking. No disappointment as they are large, juicy and delicious and picked a couple bags to take along.Next stop Indio, CA.
On our way to AZ and had a great weather day for going over the Sierra's into CA to get warm. About a 3.5 hour drive to Lodi.We were planning on staying 1 night at Flag City RV Resort but the big weather system forcasted arrived overnight with heavy rain and a lot of wind...60-70 mph gusts. With that we decided to stay another night before heading to Bakersfield, CA on Friday.More later.
Returned to Reno after a nice stay in Lodi, CA visiting wineries and more.We will be home now until December 10th then heading to Casa Grande, AZ for the winter.
Headed to Lodi (3 hour run over the Sierra's) with Greg & Ginny (2 rigs) and stayed at Flag City RV Resort. Very nice CG to HQ while visiting some wineries and enjoying some tasting in the area. Friends Don & Lucienne from Reno joined us on Saturday staying with G&G in their rig.We also did some dining and visited specialty shops in the downtown area. Found a great Cheese Shop that carried some Wisconsin product which we enjoyed.Time flies and we all headed back to Reno on Monday.***********************************************************Lodi California WineriesWith 85+ Lodi wineries, Lodi Wine Country offers an amazing variety of tasting opportunities. Visitors will find Lodi wine tasting rooms large and small, brand new and decades old. Although variety is abundant, one constant remains: the Lodi wine experience. Visitors to Lodi wineries will often find themselves sipping Lodi wine with a fourth-or-fifth generation winemaker, who is passionate about his product.Lodi Wine AppellationIt is hard to talk about Lodi wineries without talking history. Lodi has been growing winegrapes since the mid 1800’s and today is the largest appellation in California with over 190,000 acres in production. Although known for our hearty Lodi zinfandels, the Lodi appellation is also the leading producer of viognier, chardonnay, merlot, and cabernet winegrapes.Lodi Wine EventsMost weekends, Lodi wineries offer visitors opportunities to taste their award winning wines at unique events. Live music, barrel-tasting, Lodi wine dinners, food and wine pairings, and educational opportunities are abundant. Whether you are a wine connoisseur or new to the grape, you will find many fun and exciting things to do in Lodi Wine Country.***********************************************************Next trip will be in early December as we travel to Casa Grande, AZ for the winter. We'll have more then.
Back home in Reno after a great trip that started May 7 heading to Wisconsin.October 8th we go to Lodi, CA with friends Ginny & Greg and their rig and will visit some wineries during the wine harvest time of the year. We'll be staying at Flag City RV Resort."Flag City RV Resort is ideally situated to explore 75,000 acres of Lodi vineyards and enjoy the fine wine-tasting opportunities at 50 unique wineries!"We'll come back home on the 13th.Not sure if we'll go out again before heading out in early December for Casa Grand, AZ for the winter...but you never know!
Lots of smoke from the forest fire about 50 miles N. of Weed so...
Yesterday morning, Monday, we moved from the Mt. Shasta area to one of our most favorite places...Merrill Campground on Eagle Lake just North of Susanville, Ca.
The CG was full over the Labor Day holiday but the camp host at Merrill, who we talked to on Sunday, said there would be a mass exodus of campers Monday...and there was.
We were able to get into the site we were hoping for (satelite friendly) and will be here probably for 2 weeks.
Pups get to go swimming today which they always enjoy here.
Yesterday we left the ocean at Brookings, OR and 4 hours later arrived at Weed, CA at the base of Mt. Shasta. We are staying at Friendly RV Park.Mt. Shasta Fast FactsElevation: 14,179 feet (4,322 meters)
Prominence: 9,822 feet (2,994 meters). 96th Most Prominent Mountain in the World.
Location: Cascade Range, California.
Coordinates: 41°24′33.11″ N / 122°11′41.60″ W
First Ascent: Captain Elias D. Pearce and a party of eight on August 14, 1854.
Mount Shasta is the fifth highest mountain in California, the second highest mountain in the Cascade Range (Mount Rainier is 249 feet higher), and the 46th highest mountain in the United States. Mount Shasta is an ultra-prominence peak with 9,822 feet (2,994 meters) of prominence, making it the 96th most prominent mountain in the world and the 11th most prominent mountain in the United States.
Mount Shasta is located 40 miles (65 kilometers) south of the Oregon-California border and midway between the Nevada border and the Pacific Ocean. This huge mountain rises 11,500 feet (3,500 meters) above its base; has a base diameter larger than 17 miles; can be seen from 150 miles away on a clear day; and has a mass of 350 cubic kilometers, comparable in volume to other stratovolcanos like Mount Fuji and Cotopaxi.Big change as we left 60 degree temps and now are back in the heat...90's here. Also ran into smoke as we got closer to Weed from the Happy Camp Complex fire near Klamath Falls, OR. that has burned over 44,000 acres. Expected containment September 8th so we are hoping for a South wind. Our A/C in the rig filters out the smoke so we are comfortable when inside.Will have more updates and pics during our stay before moving on to Merrill CG on Eagle Lake North of Susanville, CA next Tuesday and only 154 miles away.
UPDATE 8-31-2014: Very Smokey here and will now leave tomorrow, Monday, for Eagle Lake.
After a nice stay in Gold Beach we moved South Wednesday down the coast to Brookings and the Beachfront RV Park.No stranger here as we visited last year. Decided to stop again as we are right on the Pacific and the views are gorgeous.No new photos as they would mostly be repetitious so here is what we took on our last stay on May 21, 2013.We will be here until Thursday then move to the Mt. Shasta area for a week over Labor Day.
Yesterday, Wednesday, we headed South down the 101 highway and a short 75 mile 1.5 hour run to Gold Beach.
We did run into some coastal fog (marine layer) as we approched the area so not much of a view of the Pacific. Tomorrow should be better.
Very nice campground with great features for their guests including direct access to the beach (under the highway) only a 5 minute walk.
We will be here until the 20th
Honey Bear Campground and RV Resort
Honey Bear Campground and RV Resort is located approximately 9 miles north of Gold Beach, OR, just off of Highway 101. We are located about 60 miles north of the California border in what has been nicknamed the 'Banana Belt' of the Oregon Coast.
Gold Beach, a small coastal town of about 2,000 people, is located at the intersection of the Pacific Ocean and the Rogue River, and is very beautiful and picturesque. Closer to us is the small community of Nesika Beach which has gasoline and a community store.
Rainfall in our area averages about 80 inches a year, almost all of which falls between December and March.
Located on the sunny Southern Oregon coast near Gold Beach, this well-established full service 100 acre Campground and RV Resort offers many ammenities.
Enjoy secluded sites with ocean views (year round), live entertainment 5 nights a week (during the season), and family style evening meals Wednesday thru Saturday (during the season).
At Honey Bear Campground you have an opportunity to eat freshly prepared German food. Dinner is served in a large dining room. Guests need to be seated by 6 p.m. and then will each serve themselves at the buffet. The menu varies each night. Meals will usually cost between $13.95 and $15.95. Great German food in an invigorating community atmosphere! Live music is performed each evening. Beer and wine are available.
At the campground lodge they have a miniature deli that shows off well the little bit of Deutschland that they have recreated from their Black Forest Kitchen.
All meats in the deli are made in their Black Forest Kitchen. The meats include jagdwurst, knackwurst, bratwurst, Black Forest ham, honey cured bacon, pepper sticks, German wieners, braunschweiger and hard salami, polish sausage, Westphalia ham, blutwurst, and head cheese.
They also make their own sauerkraut, breads and import German mustards, breads, and desserts.
You will also find German Chocolates, and Jams, and Cakes.
After a little over a 5 hour drive we arrived in Charleston/Coos Bay and Oceanside RV Park around 1:30pm. Beautifull drive through the mountains coming down to the coast.
Went to Fishermen's Wharf at the harbor to pick up some Dungenous Crab for dinner but were disappointed to find out that the commercial season for trapping them ends on the 15th and what they are catching are soft and really marketable. So we bought some Cod and fresh oysters which are wonderfull. Next year we'll have to plan our trip here (love the area) during the time when the crabs are plentifull...probably June/July.
We'll be here until Wednesday moving down the coast to Gold Beach for a week.
After about a 3.5 hour drive arrived at Scandia RV Park in Bend around 2pm.
Not a destination RV Park where we were but OK for an overnight.Tomorrow will be the longest drive (hours) on this leg as we will arrive on the Oregon Coast and Coos Bay.
Made another 3+ hour drive to Burns today. Got into the smoke enroute from forest fire about 60 miles North but not bad once reaching the Burns RV Park.Very nice Park and would stay here again if in the area but this time it was an overnight.Sorry...no pics.Tomorrow back on the road again heading to the coast.
This morning we left Arco, ID for Oregon and Vale Trails RV Park in Vale. After a little over 4 hour drive we arrived about 3:15pm.Nice place for another overnight....sorry no pics for this one.Friday we leave for Burns, OR.
Today we left the Yellowstone area for about a 3 hour drive to Arco, ID. and Mountain View RV Park. Nice place for an overnight with a nice restaurant on site.We unhooked here even though an overnight stop so we could visit Craters of the Moon, another National Monument.Craters of the MoonCraters of the Moon formed during eight major eruptive periods between 15,000 and 2000 years ago. Lava erupted from the Great Rift, a series of deep cracks that start near the visitor center and stretch 52 miles (84 km.) to the southeast. During this time the Craters of the Moon lava field grew to cover 618 square miles (1600 square km.).The smaller Wapi and Kings Bowl lava fields also formed along the Great Rift during the most recent eruptive period (approximately 2000 years ago).Arco and Atomic CityIn 1955, tiny Arco won fame as the world’s first nuclear-powered city. Today, it mainly serves as a jumping-off point for excursions into the nearby Craters of the Moon National Monument. Arco is one of Idaho’s strangest little towns, although nearby Atomic City manages to be even stranger. And littler.
Besides the lava-scorched earth to the south and a range of mountains to the north which include both Idaho’s highest peak (Mt. Borah) and its most awesomely-named (Appendicitis Hill) the most striking feature of Arco is its “Hill of Numbers”. For decades, the senior classes of the local high school have been decorating the nearest mountain with the last two digits of their graduation year. Graffiti on a grand scale.
Arco’s story has been tied to nuclear power ever since our country started experimenting with it. The reason that the government chose this corner of eastern Idaho as one of its nuclear sandboxes is fairly self-evident. Remote and sparsely-populated, Arco is the kind of place that a nuclear accident might go unnoticed. Or at least under-reported. Case in point: did you know that the USA’s only fatal nuclear accident occurred in Arco, Idaho? In 1961, there was a core meltdown in the National Reactor Testing Station which killed three servicemen. [Uncle Sam clutches his chest in mock concern... "Oh, you didn't know about that?"]
Thirty miles to the southeast, Atomic City is even more closely associated to nuclear power than Arco. A ghost-town for all intents and purposes, Atomic City still clings to life with a bustling population of 29. We cruised slowly down the town’s only street and were vaguely creeped out. Although we didn’t see a soul, I was certain that radiation-scarred monsters were watching us hungrily from behind curtained windows, and refused to get out of the car. Jürgen chanced it, for a picture of a trailer that had been designed to look like a boombox. Tomorrow we continue West to Vale, Oregon.
Today we made about a 20 min. drive (traveling in the States of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana) to West Yellowstone and stopped at the Mountain Man Rendevous just outside of town. Love the history!
Smoking Waters Mountain Man Rendezvous brings life to the history of West Yellowstone for visitors coming to see how the mountain men lived, worked and traded in the old days.
Step into the experience of 1800s life at the Smoking Waters Mountain Man Rendezvous. The encampment, complete with Trader's Row, fires the imagination of what it must have been like to live in that era. Entertainment, demonstrations and seminars on a variety of 'life as it was skills' will give a deeper appreciation of the challenges and dangers that were faced and overcome. Tomahawk and knife demonstrations, black powder shoots, Mountain-man storytelling, musicians and open fire cooking are all a part of this annual Smoking Waters Mountain Main Rendezvous.
Then it was on to Yellowstone. We only went about 40 miles into the Park with the first day objective...Old Faithfull!
Yellowstone National Park
It's a wonderland. Old Faithful and the majority of the world's geysers are preserved here. They are the main reason the park was established in 1872 as America's first national park—an idea that spread worldwide. A mountain wildland, home to grizzly bears, wolves, and herds of bison and elk, the park is the core of one of the last, nearly intact, natural ecosystems in the Earth’s temperate zone.
Old Faithful was named by the first official expedition to Yellowstone, the Washburn Expedition of 1870. They were impressed by its size and frequency. Old Faithful erupts every 35 to 120 minutes for 1 1/2 to 5 minutes. Its maximum height ranges from 90 to 184 feet.
Sorry if we took photos that look similar...but we did!
More updates coming as we will be here in the area until Wednesday morning.
UPDATE 8-5-14 with new photos.
Yesterday (Monday) we went back to Yellowstone for our final visit on this trip. Decided to take the 'lower loop' drive (click to see map) which started at Madison to Norris Junction to Canyon Village to Fishing Bridge then along Yellowstone Lake to West Thumb then past Old Faithful back to Madison then out the West Entrance where we came in. Gorgeous!!!
Gibbon Falls
The Falls is located on the Gibbon River about midway between Norris Geyser Basin and Madison Junction. The falls are situated where the Gibbon River falls off the Northern escarpment into the Yellowstone Caldera. The falls tumble about 80 feet in a gradual descent.
Yellowstone Lake
With a surface area of 132 square miles, Yellowstone Lake is the largest lake at high elevation (i.e., more than 7,000 ft.) in North America. It is a natural lake, situated at 7,733 ft. above sea level. It is roughly 20 miles long and 14 miles wide with 141 miles of shoreline. It is frozen nearly half the year. It freezes in late December or early January and thaws in late May or early June.
The fishes of Yellowstone National Park, in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming (U.S.), include 13 native fish species and six introduced or non-native species. Angling for trout has been a pastime in the park since its creation and trout species dominate the fish inhabiting the park. When Yellowstone National Park was created in 1872, 40% of the park's waters were barren of fish, including most alpine lakes and rivers above major waterfalls. Only 17 of 150 lakes held fish. Yellowstone Lake has an excellent population of native cutthroat trout. Strict fishing regulations have steadily improved the size and numbers of these feisty trout, although the recent discovery of lake trout in Yellowstone Lake is like to pose some long-term management problems. Currently, an angler is required to kill any lake trout that are caught - as these fish are predatory and do pose a major threat to the native cutthroat trout.
In 1889 the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries began a 60-year program of stocking and hatchery operations that significantly altered the ranges of native and non-native species within the park. By 1955, all stocking and hatchery operations in the park had been stopped. Several introduced species never established viable populations, and at least one introduced species was successfully eradicated from the park
Recent research by Dr. Val Klump of the Center for Great Lakes Research and the University of Wisconsin has revolutionized the way we look at Yellowstone Lake. Figuratively, if one could pour all the water out of Yellowstone Lake, what would be found on the bottom is similar to what is found on land in Yellowstone; geysers, hot springs, and deep canyons. With a small submersible robot, the researchers found a canyon just east of Stevenson Island which was 390 ft. deep. Prior to this finding, the deepest spot in the lake was thought to be 320 ft., at West Thumb.
Underwater geysers, hot springs, and fumaroles were found at West Thumb and Mary and Sedge Bays. The hottest spot in the lake was found at Mary Bay where the temperature was recorded at 252° F (122° C). Hollow pipes, or chimneys of silica, several feet in height, were found rising up from the lake bottom at Mary Bay. It is thought that these are the old plumbing systems of now dormant geysers. Rock spires up to 20-feet tall were found underwater near Bridge Bay. Samples of this rock are being analyzed, though it is believed that these features are probably related to underwater thermal activity.
This group of researchers also found that the conditions in Yellowstone Lake are similar to those that occur near the famous hydrothermal vents on the Pacific Ocean's mid-ocean ridge. Nutrient- and mineral-rich submarine fountains support incredible plant and animal communities, including bacterial mats, sponges, and earthworms.
Yellowstone Bison
Yellowstone is the only place in the United States where bison (Bison bison) have lived continuously since prehistoric times. Yellowstone bison are exceptional because they comprise the nation’s largest bison population on public land and are among the few bison herds that have not been hybridized through interbreeding with cattle. Unlike most other herds, this population has thousands of individuals that are allowed to roam relatively freely over the expansive landscape of Yellowstone National Park and some nearby areas of Montana. They also exhibit wild behavior like their ancient ancestors, congregating during the breeding season to compete for mates, as well as migration and exploration that result in the use of new habitat areas. These behaviors have enabled the successful restoration of a population that was on the brink of extinction just over a century ago.
