More Trips

The main reason for returning to the Valley of the Sun while it was still smoking hot was because BJ has a trip planned with her gal friends. This time it's the better part of a week camping, hiking, and snorkeling at Channel Islands National Park. She's not leaving until Saturday but she's already packing.

She went to the grocery store but not much made it to the fridge or cupboards. It's planned for the trip. That way I can do my own grocery shopping and get it eaten before she gets back. As long as the garbage man comes on schedule there will be no evidence.

Meanwhile, I stopped by to see Kathy and see if she wanted to move forward with one possible mod to her kayak. The short answer was no, but she made it clear she's counting days, and hours, and minutes until we launch on this year's Green River trip.

And she's already working on taste testing for her menu which encouraged me to stop at the store on the way home. Carb count is higher than I'd like, but I can already vouch for the "Kickin Crab and Sweet Corn Chowder" and the "Creamy Thai Style Chicken with Rice." Both are very flavorful and a bit spicy, with packaging that works well for a river trip.

With eleven nights on the river for this trip and no rafts with monster sized ice chests, we'll need to get more creative than usual. Late September can't come soon enough for me!

Home Again

We left our moochdocking spot in Newberg, Oregon with two goals in mind. The first was to get positioned for a Monday morning appointment. Our home for that night was just 100 miles down the road at Valley River Center in Eugene, Oregon. The mall allows two nights parking in each 30 day period.

On Monday we stopped by AM Solar in Springfield to talk with them about possible installation locations on our Scamp. It was very nearly noon when we finally hit the road looking for the most direct route home. Nearly 350 miles later we were parked in the shade at the Walmart in Susanville, CA. for the night.

On Tuesday, I wanted to drive through Virginia City, just to see if it would be worth coming back sometime. Lots of historic buildings, activity, and ongoing mining. It seems like the sort of place I would enjoy except for the 15% (yup, that's right) grade when you're headed south out of town.

Our 275 mile day ended in Mina, Nevada qt the Sunrise Valley RV Park which had huge sites. BJ was standing at the end of our site when she took this picture. They weren't very busy - two other RVs came in after we arrived. They're apparently popular as a base for ATV travel to old mines in the area during the spring and fall.

Our third day got us through Las Vegas ahead of rush hour. We stayed at Boulder Beach at the Lake Mead RV Village in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area because they had full hookups with power to run the AC. It was HOT but going to get hotter. It was a 310 mile day and anywhere closer to home was going to be hotter yet. We did have an opportunity to get together with friends for dinner and had a wonderful time.

On Thursday we continued south and by 4 p.m. had another 300 miles done and the trailer in the garage. I have a list of projects we want to do on it, but those will wait until the garage temperatures are more hospitable.

All told we drove 7835 miles in 79 days averaging over 14 miles per gallon. Seventy-six percent of our miles were towing, and all of them included the canoe and kayak on the truck. The next Scamp trip isn't planned yet but I have a couple ideas.

Great Oregon Steam-Up: Wrap-Up

Antique Powerland hosts 16 other independent museums on their grounds. We were so overwhelmed with things outside that we only visited the inside displays at one of the museums. The trolley was circling the grounds regularly during the Great Oregon Steam-Up.

In addition to the full sized trolley, there was a large collection of miniature trains that were pulling carloads full of people.

Tractors were everywhere, generally grouped by brand. Sometimes, a collection would represent many models of a single brand.

Allis-Chalmers was the featured brand this year. Apparently they chose a different featured brand each year.

Condition of the equipment varied greatly with a small handful of tractors finished to a quality far beyond what was stock from the factory. Check out the reflections in the paint! This one also had a sign asking people to not rub the paint.

I loved the Caterpillar lineup. Some had been repainted and restored while others showed the rust and character from years of use.

I was really impressed with this gas powered Holt Caterpillar from 1913. It was designed and built for use in Central California and was the predecessor of the modern Caterpillar company. It was still operating and took part in the daily parade.

This Bacyrus-Erie steam powered railroad crane from Southern Pacific was operating. Lots of steam and noise!

A potato cannon on steroids. This rig is owned by a pumpkin farmer and looks like it would do a very impressive job of chucking pumpkins. Seems like something Ellen might need.

Here's a few of the brands that were seen at the show.

Some of the brands were integral castings

while others were separate plates, castings, decals, or hand painted logos.

I got a picture of the Porsche tractor, but the camera battery was dead before I spotted the Lamborghini tractor.

Lots and lots of fun crammed into a few hours. Next time I'll plan on a whole weekend.