2009 WA to AZ

DAY 1

We had a great summer this year, up here in the great Northwest. But now is the time of year when the leaves begin to turn from green into blankets of reds, yellows and different hues of orange. As we walk through the neighborhood some of the trees were even draped in white; white images of Casper the Ghost that is. Halloween is just a couple of weeks away, and people are getting ready for an onslaught of spooks and goblins. Me, I’m getting ready for our annual return to a warmer clime. The temps here in Gig Harbor have slid from a balmy 65 to 75 degree days to chilly, overcast and rainy 55 degree days. Now it’s not that I can’t take the cold; oh no, I’m used to cold weather, it can get down to 45, even 35 degrees back at our home in MountainBrook Village in Arizona. Sometimes you will even see a light dusting of snow high on the tops of the Superstition Mountain. But when I get up in the morning, I can pretty well count on it being a sunny day; now that’s something to look forward to.
For our trip back to Arizona this year I have decided to go down through central Oregon, stop in at our friend June’s place in Bend, then stop for a few days in Yosemite National Park, travel down through southeastern California to Death Valley, over to Lake Havasu, Arizona and the London Bridge, with the final leg being a straight shot to our home in Gold Canyon, Arizona.
Todays plan was to leave Gig Harbor, drive to Bend Oregon and spend a day visiting with our friend June. June had been our neighbor in MountainBrook Village before she moved to Bend and it would be great seeing her again, but two days before the epoch journey was to begin, Sharon informed me that she was coming down with a cold, the flue, or possibly something worse. There was no way she would be able to leave on the day planned. Discouraged, but not defeated I called and cancelled our campground reservations in Bend. The next day, our planned departure date, she asked me if we were all packed because she was now ready to go. “It’s 12:30 PM and it is 310 miles to Bend” I exclaimed! “We can make it” she said; so we left.
It may have been late in the day, but it was 54 degrees and raining. That was enough reason for me to get going, and surely the weather would moderate by the time we got to Oregon, so I called the campgrounds back and reinstated our reservations.
We have two Shiz-Tsu dogs that accompany us on all of our travels; Pippin, our seven year old, and Jasper, our 3 year old. They delight in going with us and are eager for any excuse to hop in the car or truck to go out for a jaunt. They had been watching us pack and were all too ready to hop into the truck. Pippin does have a bit trouble crossing over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge though. There are expansion joints installed at each end of the bridge. These are built just like a cattle crossing, and the tires make a “Brrrrupt” sound as you drive over them. This sound immediately sends Pippin scurrying to the floor, looking up at us with that “Why must I be subjected to this abuse” look, while Jasper takes it all in stride. This trip was no exception and The Pip took a dive down to the floor and stayed there for the next 300 miles. Jasper, on the other hand, made himself comfortable in his doggy seat which we have set up in the back seat.
Being mid-October, all along the highway we were treated to a wide array of fall colors, and even though it was raining, we would occasionally experience wonderful breaks of sunshine, which would make the maple trees along the sides of the road explode into brilliant bursts of color. The highway department has planted fir trees alongside the road to form a greenbelt but every so often they would stick in a deciduous tree such as a maple to provide a little color. With this greenbelt and the groves of maple along the hillsides there was no lack of color this year.
This would be a new route we were taking, going south on I-5 to Portland, then turning southwest on highway 20. This takes us through Gresham, Boring, yes there is such a town; Sandy, Rhododendron and Government Camp. All along the way we were traveling through nurseries of tree farms with all kinds of ornamental trees; maple, birch, Christmas trees and various types of shrubs and bushes. This area is one of the largest producers of Christmas trees in the nation.
Once we got into the mountains, we could see Mt. Hood, Oregon’s tallest mountain at11238 ft. looming off in the distance. It is almost a perfect cone in shape and very striking when you can see it. Today however, we could only see about one-third of the base; the rest was obscured by clouds. While there were still small amounts if drizzle coming down, the temperature was 54 degrees and no snow or ice, which was a blessing. There had been snow in these higher elevations just two weeks prior.
The rest of the trip was pretty much uneventful until we were within one-half hour from Bend. The time was 6:30 PM and the sun was beginning to set. The western sky was colored with clouds of orange red, fading into purple and magenta. This was the most beautiful sunset I had seen in a long while. Unfortunately once this display of color was finished, darkness was upon us and it is no fun trying to jockey a 5th wheel trailer into an unfamiliar campsite.
We travel using a Garmin GPS Navigation System. This is an invaluable tool when venturing into the unknown. It’s easy enough to take a wrong turn, but it can be a real nightmare trying to turn one of the big rigs around and get back on the right road. More than once this little device, with the kind gentle voice of its guidance system, has steered us clear of disaster and gently guided us on to a more safe and sane road. Tonight would be no different. The uncertainty of darkness and unfamiliar roads melt away as her gentle command instructs to “turn right in three-tenths of a mile”
And so it was. Through the darkness of night she guided us on until she uttered those comforting words “arriving at destination on right”. How cool is this? But wait! This wasn’t Sundance Meadows, it was some kind of a horse ranch. Not only that, but we had come into a driveway with very little room to turn around. We stopped the truck and I got out, taking my 1,000,000 Candle Power Rechargeable Spotlight which my son had given me for my birthday. I shined it down the driveway to an old barn and hen shined it back the other way towards the road. There seemed to be a small parking area where I thought I could turn around, but then what? I walked back to the road to check out the address; 60445, not the 60335 which it should have been. “Thank you very much Ms. Garmin” I scowled under my breath. Jumping back into the truck, I sent Sharon out behind the rig to guide me back, armed with the 1,000,000 candle power light and a walkie-talkie- device so she could communicate with me. It took about ten minutes, but I finally got the rig turned around and we headed off down the road to the 60335 address. Once we arrived we found a large sign which read “Sundance Meadows”. Easy to find once you have the right directions.
Turning into the drive, we proceeded about one-quarter mile along a narrow dirt road. I always get nervous in situations like this, but soon enough we arrived at the office. They had left me a note on the message board giving me the keypad numbers to the gate and instructions to take any spot in the campground. The night was pitch black with no moon, but as we approached the camping area I could see that some of the sights backed up to a small lake. Once again Sharon jumped out of the truck, armed with the light and walkie-talkie, and guided me back into the campsite. Well it was almost like that. In reality it took me over fifteen minutes to back that sucker in. In the darkness with no reference point I was trying to back in sideways, then crosswise until I finally managed to get close enough to the water and power outlets that my longer hoses and electrical cord would reach the connections. The sight was uneven and the rig was far from level, but it would have to do for tonight. Tired and frazzled I hooked everything up, opened up the sliders of the 5th wheel and we were ready to stay the night.
Before retiring I looked up into the night sky; it was magnificent. We were about ten miles from the town of Bend, and there was very little light pollution, so the stars stood out like sparkling diamonds. I found the Big Dipper and followed it’s pointing stars up to the North Star. From there I followed the handle down to the Little Dipper. Not far from there was Cassiopeia with the Queen of Ethiopia chained upside down in her heavenly chair. The Pleiades was low on the eastern horizon sparkling like a diamond broach, and in the ecliptic I could see the planet Jupiter. Wow! This was indeed the end to a perfect day.