Welcome Riley, Totality, and a "We’re Baaaaaack BBQ" Invite

Ending our journey and returning home has been both easier and harder than anticipated. There has been plenty to do around the house and yard to keep us busy and it was easy to fall into familiar routines of housework, laundry, home maintenance, etc. Other things are proving more difficult. We’re having trouble sleeping in our bed at home. I haven’t even begun to pull out the clothes and household items we packed away before leaving. Who needs all this stuff, anyway? Rog commented that it seemed weird that the RV felt more like home than the house we’ve lived in for 34 years. How can one year make such a difference?!  Guess it shows we are more adaptable than we thought and we old dogs can learn new tricks! Now the trick will be unlearning some of them! Lol.

Randi and Ryan successfully closed on their new house, but won’t take possession until August 25^th. They are beginning to pack up and are excited and still a little apprehensive about the move. It’s a huge milestone. Randi often says “adulting” is hard, just wait until they start making those monthly mortgage payments. Lol.

Randi & Ryan's new home - August 25th move in day!

On the upside, we are beyond thrilled to introduce Riley Logan Edington. He is a total joy and already has both Mom and Dad wrapped around his (not so little) paw. The girls have a new puppy-brother and we are back to standing outside at 3am trying to persuade a playful puppy to pleeeese “go potty” so Mommy can go back to bed and “baby” proofing the house and yard.

So happy to be bringing Riley home! 💖

Riley Logan Edington.

We brought Riley home on Sunday, 8/6 and he is already growing like a weed. We weighed him at 8 weeks (19 lbs) and again at 9 weeks (24.5 lbs). He gained 5.2 pounds in ONE WEEK. If my math is correct, he gained 27% of his body weight – that would be like me gaining 37 pounds in a week! How is that possible?! I could eat ALL the ice cream and still not do that. Lol. We’re having way too much fun, it looks like a pet toy store exploded in our house, and after only a week Riley has starting sleeping through the night (sometimes anyway!). Lol.

How cute is that face!

He loves his pool!

He is such a cutie (ok, we may be a bit biased. Naaaah.) and we are working on his socialization. He starts Puppy Kindergarten in September and in the meantime he goes for walks (or is that rides?) on Soos Creek Trail in his stroller.

Riley ridin' in style. Lol. 

On Friday, 8/18, Riley joined us for his first RV trip. We scored a spot at the Beckenridge Vineyard in Dallas, OR for their Eclipse Weekend event. The Beckenridge Vineyard is a lovely property and they have been fantastic hosts. We signed up for the meals/entertainment package which included several delicious catered meals, music, dancing and an Astronomy lecture. The owners, Becky and Ken, love dogs and Riley got lots of pets and attention. His favorite playmate was a visiting Golden Retriever puppy just two days older than him, but not even half as big. 😊  I wish I had video of Riley learning to use his weight, WWF style, for the take down. Lol.

Riley in the RV. He's a little short to see out the windows, but that won't last long. :)  

Beckenridge Vineyard  in Dallas, OR - our destination for the Solar Eclipse.

Settled in for the weekend.

Riley chillin' with his personal fan. Spoiled?? No way! Lol.

As for the eclipse….OMG, it was truly awe inspiring. It was such an incredibly unique experience and I am so glad we made the trip. Rog did some internet research and all the sources agreed that seeing the total eclipse of the sun was worthwhile. Now there’s an understatement. I had no idea how extraordinary it would be. Since we left the decision to come to the last minute I had no special filter for my camera (sold out everywhere I looked), so I got creative and just taped one of the lenses from a pair of “eclipse glasses” over my camera lens. Worked fine and cost $1.99. Lol. The pictures aren’t super sharp, but since most of them were taken free hand I’ve no room to complain. I set up my super zoom camera on a tripod, but only got three shots of the totality with it – the rest I used my trusty compact with its taped on filter. Lol.  

 

Set up and ready for the show.

Rog watching as the eclipse begins.

A collage of the phases of the eclipse.
(I was doing this free hand so the zoom varied quite a bit.)

It wasn’t just looking up either, it was looking around. As the sun was obscured the temperature dropped noticeably, the birds headed for the trees to roost, and there was deep twilight instead of high sun. Just before and after totality there are several cool phenomena to watch for including wavy shadows. As the shadow passed and the sun came back out the neighbor’s rooster went all out heralding the “morning.”  I wonder if he was thinking, “Hey, didn’t I do this already??”

Totality. 10:16:57 AM

Just past totality.

We had perfect weather, clear blue skies and a beautiful landscape. Totality lasted 1 min 57 sec and it seemed to go by in an eye blink. But it was remarkable!! You don’t need any special filters or glasses during totality and it was so cool to look at the corona of the sun with your naked eye and see the red prominences through the binoculars. If you ever get a chance to see a total eclipse of the sun – do it! (Next one in the US is in 7 years starting in Texas, see you there?! Lol.)

Totality. So cool!!

Just a second after totality. Love this shot! :) 

So now for the important part of this post… BBQ!!!  We’ll be hosting a “We’re Baaaaaack BBQ” at our house on Saturday, September 9^th starting at 2pm and you all are invited!  If you have my phone number or email give me a holler and let me know by Tuesday, 9/5, if you can make it. If you don’t already have my contact info, please give me a shout out in the comments and we’ll get in touch. If you’ve followed along for even a part of our journey we’d love to get together and say, “Hey” in person.  

Our next RV trip is tentatively planned for late September and we’ll be back in moochdock heaven visiting family in California. Not sure what other adventures may come our way, but you may continue to hear from us if (when!) we decide to hit the road again. 😊

On the Homestretch, PUPPIES, and the 12-Month Wrap Up

Since we’d stayed longer at Diamond Lake than planned, we decided to skip Maupin near the Deschutes River and find a campground closer to our route along Hwy 97. There are definite advantages to jello planning. 😊  We snagged a spot at the Sherman County RV Park in Mono, OR for Tuesday, 7/18. It was convenient and the sunset view of Mt. Adams was a bonus!

Mt. Adams in a rosy light.

We have reservations for our final three stops. The first was another old favorite – Wanapum State Park in Vantage, WA.  Yes, we are back in Washington State!!! We usually stop here for just one night as we’re coming or going along I90. We opted for two nights this time through so we could spend a little more time exploring the area. The campground is right on the Columbia River and it’s a green gem surrounded by miles of barren, brown hills. Even those glow in the evening light and have their own spartan appeal. What else we have here is WIND! It was been blowing like crazy. Once we’re parked and set up, I kind of like listening to it howl outside. The tenters on the other hand were not enjoying it so much. Lol.

We call these "wind generators" and they were working overtime! Lol. 

The hills turn golden in the evening light.

The Columbia River.

Very cool clouds!

We visited Gingko State Park just a couple miles down the road. The Gingko Petrified Forest Interpretive Center is great – and you know how I love petrified wood! This area is unique in the sheer variety of species that have been found. There is a 3-mile trail with the different types of petrified wood identified along the way. It was my turn to do the highland two-step, when I leaned over to look at one of the exhibits and Rog yells, “Snake!”  There was a Western Pacific Rattlesnake snugged up under the front of the exhibit about two feet from my two feet. Lol. He wasn’t interested in us and we let him have that particular exhibit all to himself.

Gorgeous chunks of petrified wood at the Visitor's Center.

Happy to leave this exhibit to Mr. Slytherin. :)  

Our second stop was a place we’d visited many years ago – Pearrygin Lake State Park near Winthrop, WA. Rog recalled that the last time we were here the Blue Jays won the world series with a walk-off home run, that would have been 1993. Been awhile, eh? Lol. We arrived on Friday, 7/21 for a three-night stay.  We had a nice time, although Pearrygin Lake is open to power boats so we opted not to take the kayak out. We did hit the farmer’s market in Twisp and visited Winthrop, which is a cowboy themed touristy town. Rog got in one day of mountain biking on the trail around the lake.

Pearrygin Lake. 

Abandoned farm buildings along the trail.

New ride?? Lol.

Golden Marmot - campground clowns.

Pano of the mountain bike trail around Pearrygin Lake.

Lots of barren, brown hills to ride.

We took Hwy 20 across the mountains and through North Cascades National Park. We stopped off at the visitor’s center and enjoyed a short film about bears, specifically grizzly bears!, in the North Cascades. While there have been only a few documented sightings, who knows, maybe someday we won’t need to travel to Yellowstone or Alaska to see a grizzly. While not everyone agrees, I would love that! 😊

Stunning views of the North Cascades.

Hwy 20 earns its designation as a Scenic Highway.

Views into the North Cascades National Park.

Our final stop, purely coincidence I’m sure, was a Whatcom County park on Silver Lake about 30 miles from Bellingham (puppy!!). The Maple Creek campground we’re in is just gorgeous – the quintessential western Washington campground. Situated in a towering forest of moss draped cedar and fir, with vine maples and sword ferns filling the understory. Not a single yucca or pine in sight. Lol. It is so green and calm – just looking out the window is a meditation.    

This looks like home! :)

Missed the green moss and shady forests.

The lake is lovely and we enjoyed taking the kayak out for a long paddle. Rog was also excited about the number and quality of the mountain bike trails in this area. He stopped at a bike shop to get the skinny on the best areas to ride and spent Wednesday on the trails. It’s been a while since Rog did any riding in the Pacific Northwest and he got quickly reacquainted with that horticultural demon bent on ripping the flesh off unsuspecting bicyclists – the Himalayan blackberry. Ouch.

Silver Lake from the kayak.

Happy mountain biker on the trail with Bellingham in the distance.

The Galbraith trail system near Bellingham. 

While Rog rode, I camped at Starbucks to take advantage of the Wi-Fi, unfortunately we have NO cell service at the campground. Randi and Ryan have been house hunting and made an offer on a house in Covington, which was accepted. They are equal parts thrilled and terrified.  It has been especially nerve wracking to be completely out of touch during this time.  I’m stressed out and it’s not even my loan! Lol. The whole process has sure changed since we bought our house in 1983, it took us 4 months to close and they have a closing date only 2 weeks out and everything is rush, rush, rush. Our fingers are crossed that it all works out.

The real reason we’re here, as if you haven’t guessed 😊, is a chance to see the puppy. We’ve been in contact with Cheryl at Mountainview Mastiffs and set an appointment for 1pm on Thursday, 7/27. Cuteness overload coming up! He won’t be ready to come home until August 5^th, so this is just a “getting to know you” visit and a chance to steal a few puppy kisses. We had a wonderful time and, of the two boys in the litter, we really liked our guy's temperament the best. He was friendly and laid back, playful but not as determined as his brother to devour my sandals and a few tasty toes too. Lol. We haven't decided on a name yet, but made a list of about 20 possibilities. The two top contenders are Logan and Riley. We'll wait to see if his personality is more X-men Wolverine (Logan) or carefree and happy, as in "the life of Riley" or something totally different. Lol. 

Proud puppy parents. Do we look smitten?? We are!!

Hey, leave the toes alone! :)

Our boy with his pooky. Awwwww. :)

Nap time!

I’ve been stressing out about ending our trip and feeling overwhelmed with the long list of chores and deferred maintenance, both on the house and RV, awaiting us. Yes, I’m already making to-do lists! As some of you have commented on the blog, it is hard to see it end. We are thinking about a short trip to Oregon in August (total solar eclipse!) so, if you’re game, I may continue posting if we do anything remotely blog-worthy. Lol.  We’ll see. 

I do want to thank every one of you for coming along for the ride. Sharing our adventures was so much fun and I found it made me pay more attention and take greater care to capture and document our year on the road. I never would have done it without your comments and words of encouragement! Thank you so much! Safe travels to you all until our next adventure. 😊

12-Month Wrap-Up: We pulled into home on Friday, 7/28. So where are we at the end of one year on the road? Our final tally was 370 days to be exact. We added 1254 miles this month, so we put a total of 14,879 miles on the RV, pumped 1774 gallons of diesel, and stayed at 101 different places. That’s a lot of moving and if we ever do this again we would want to set a slower pace – maybe cover less territory and stay in each area longer. I think some of our favorite camping was free, we either boondocked or moochdocked a total of 58 nights and we’d try to do more of that. While reservations for certain places at certain times are important, I think we’d also do much more jello planning on the fly.

Ok, so this part of home we did NOT miss! Lol.

It was an utterly fantastic year, but it's good to be home again too.

We did see a lot on this trip though! In our final month, we added two National Parks (Crater Lake and North Cascades) bringing our final total to 34 National Parks/Monuments, more state/local parks than I care to count, plus Disney and Universal Studios. Since we covered old territory this month the total number of states we’ve visited remains at 35. 

Wow! We covered a lot of the US. You can see we missed the middle and a few states in the Northeast.
Alaska will be a trip all its own and Hawaii - well that isn't happening in the RV. Lol. 

We stayed remarkably busy. During our Fitbit challenge we walked 10K+ steps every day for over 90 consecutive days. Yeah, I’ve fallen hard off that band wagon. Lol. We hiked, biked, kayaked, and challenging ourselves to get out of our comfort zones. We spoiled each other too and I’ll pass on any count of the number of times we indulged in our favorite vices (ice cream and craft beer, anyone? Lol).

Most of all we had fun together. Yeah, there were times we were a little crabby with each other. But, ya know, that happens in the “big house” too. Considering we occupied less than 300 sq ft together for an entire year and no blood was shed, that’s pretty darn amazing. (Feel free to recommend Rog for canonization, it’s well deserved. Lol.) We also met some kindred spirits on the road and made wonderful new friends. That was an unexpected bonus and we look forward to crossing paths again in the future.

We loved visiting the national and state parks and found beauty everywhere we went. As we crossed the country, we did find some of the regional differences hilarious. Did you know the type of road kill you see varies by region, makes sense when you think about it, but I never had. No smooshed armadillos in the PNW. Lol.  And then there were areas in the Midwest where even the most modest home had a huge, elaborate front door and a whole state where nearly everyone had one of those Rubbermaid mailboxes. Some things just cracked us up and others were kind of creepy – like the white crosses planted for traffic fatalities in Montana by the American Legion, over 2000 of them. In a few places, there were 10-15 crosses. Hello?! How about you sign the curves and reduce the dang speed limit and plant fewer crosses!

We live in a fantastically diverse, fabulous country. Yeah, we have lots to work on – might I point out that our parks need more funding and our roads and infrastructure are in desperate need of attention in many areas – wait, I’ve already mentioned that? Then pay attention! Lol. There were some hard times too. Losing Callie was the worst and the presidential primary and election was frustrating and frightening. But those things would have happened anyway and maybe being on the road wasn’t a bad way to spend the year. While the frequent lack of internet connectivity could be maddening it certainly reduced our exposure to the insanity and staying active in the parks was a great distraction from both personal and political grief. 😊

We don’t have any plans (right now) for another trip this long, although we did joke about stopping by home and making another lap. I’m sure it won’t take any time at all for us to slip back into our routines at home. We’ll have a puppy to raise, lend a hand to get Randi and Ryan settled in their new house, work on getting rid of those extra pounds we’ve managed to acquire (less ice cream and craft beer in our future, sigh) and most importantly reconnect with families and friends. We’ll send a shout out for a “We’re Baaaaack BBQ” once we get settled in. Looking forward to seeing you all then!

Back to the Beginning and a Trip to Crater Lake

We spent a good deal of time debating routes and timelines for the final leg of our journey. I wouldn’t say the prospect of some puppy time entirely drove our decisions, but, yeah it did. Lol. We opted to make our last stop a campground within easy driving distance of Bellingham (puppies!!!). We worked backwards from there and everything fell into place. We’re visiting several old favorites on the way home. After going so far for so long, it feels a little weird to be back on our old stomping grounds.

We’ve camped at Collier Memorial State Park in Chiloquin, OR before and really liked the area. It’s a perfect distance from Redding for an easy day’s drive. This time we decided to try out the Williamson River National Forest campground right next door. It was a great choice. The NFS campground doesn’t have hookups, but it does have huge spaces, lots of trees and privacy, and it was nearly deserted when we arrived on Monday, 7/10. We could access the same trail system and river as from Collier, but from a more secluded, quieter setting. We enjoyed the solitude and the cooler weather!

Spring Creek feeds into the Williamson River.

Make a wish! 

The temps were in mid-80’s and after the brutal heat in Redding, that felt positively balmy. Lol. We hiked about 7 miles through the woods and along the river to the Logging Museum.  The museum is just across the road from the campground entrance and is well worth a visit. It covers the history of logging from the days of muscle powered saws and horse/ox-drawn wagons, through steam and early combustion engines, to modern logging equipment. It’s very interesting and they have several historic buildings and lots of early logging artifacts on site.

Logging Museum
Very interesting, but pictures of the lumberjacks taking down huge old trees always makes me sad.

Horse or ox drawn cradle for removing the downed trees.

Bear chair. :)

After two nights at Williamson, we headed back to Diamond Lake, OR. Those of you who’ve been with us from the beginning will know this is where we started our trip. We love this area and have been coming here for over 25 years. We have so many wonderful memories fishing, hiking, kayaking, and hanging out with family and friends. It’s also where Callie became ill last year and passed away, so the memories are bittersweet.  

We arrived on a Wednesday, 7/12, without reservations, but managed to snag an excellent lakeside spot (K-22). We have good shade and our space has three levels – just a few steps from the coach is the picnic/firepit area, down a short path to the shady “reading room,” and a little further down to the “launch area” where we can put in the kayak or fish right from our campsite. We’ve stayed in a lot of spaces here over the years, but Rog thinks this just might be his favorite and that is saying something! Lol.

Our lovely campsite with three levels. Lol.

Evening light on the chopping block.

Wildflowers carpet sunny areas of the campground.

Now if we could just do away with the mosquitoes!  Arrrrrrrrrrrgh! The blood-thirsty little beggars are making it hard to sit outside without a healthy (or maybe not-so-healthy) application of chemical defense. Throw in clouds of no-see-ums so dense they make the air look thick and it’s a buggy paradise. Of course, there are ways to escape the mosquitoes and one of our favorites is heading out onto the lake in the kayak. Get a little way away from the shore and with the lake breeze it is bug-free heaven.

Shields Up, Scotty! :)

No bugs on the water, but this family of duckies was adorable!

We’ve also found that we can mostly outrun the little buggers on the bikes, although that can have its downsides too. Note to self: Do not smile so much while biking, there are better ways to add protein to your diet. Lol. We’ve biked the loop around the lake three times. On one of our trips we were thrilled to see a family of three otters swimming and playing on the bank. We were far enough away that they paid us no mind at all. Of course, one of my favorite things about biking around the lake is stopping for a well-deserved ice cream cone. Yes, life is good. 😊

We love the paved trail around the lake!

Mt. Bailey

Mt. Thielsen

Loved watching the otter family!

The real reason I bike around the lake. Lol.

Yes, life is good. :)

Rog has managed to get in some fishing too. I reminded him to take the camera when he went out Friday morning for a few hours, but he had no luck at all. He tried again on Saturday, this time forgetting the camera, and caught (and released) eight trout! Coincidence??  I think not. I’ve always said the best defense I have against bears is having my camera ready, apparently the same holds true for fish. Lol. Rog was feeling bad when one of the trout he threw back went belly-up, then an osprey swooped down and snagged it. Awesome! 

On Sunday, 7/16, we visited Crater Lake National Park. Crater Lake is only about 20 miles from Diamond Lake and it’s an easy day trip. We’ve visited Crater Lake a couple times in the past, and we’d hoped to take the boat tour to Wizard Island. Unfortunately, the tour we wanted was canceled due to winter damage to the boat. There were other options available, but we decided to just wait until we could get the tour we wanted. Given how much we love the area, it’s a pretty fair bet that we’ll be back. 😊 

Crater Lake.

Snow bent Hemlocks - Crater Lake gets an average of 43 FEET of snow annually. 

We asked at the visitor center about trail closures and were told the Garfield Peak trail was open.  We hit the trail and were disappointed to find it was closed about half way up due to snow. We debated going rogue and just crossing the snowfield, but Rog checked out the trial and it was very slippery. It was also impossible to see the conditions ahead and, although this obstacle was certainly surmountable, who knows what we’ve have faced around the corner. Discretion is the better part of valor. 😊 Reluctantly we turned around and headed back down the trail. On the up side, the views to that point were to die for gorgeous.

Closed for this?? Really?!

Crater Lake is just eye-meltingly beautiful, the steep sides of the caldera enclose a near perfect circle of water that is bluer than blue. There was still snow fringing the sides and highlighting the shady areas of the forest. The visitor’s center has a movie and exhibits detailing the cultural and geological history of the lake. It was fascinating to learn how it was formed. Mount Mazama was a 12,000 foot peak formed over 400,000 years by volcanic activity. During a climatic eruption about 7,700 years ago the entire top of the mountain collapsed into the emptied magma chamber in a matter of hours. Incredible.

The views are spectacular.

Rain and snow-melt filled the caldera over the next few centuries forming the deepest lake (1,943 feet!) in the United States. There are no streams or rivers flowing into or out of the caldera. The water level is maintained by a balance of seepage and evaporation (out) and precipitation (in). Because of that, Crater Lake has some of the most pristine water to be found anywhere. That is also the reason it appears so startlingly blue – the water is so clear the sunlight penetrates and other colors of the spectrum are absorbed leaving the blue wavelengths reflected.

Happy campers at Crater Lake.
The lake is blue, but we are not! Lol.

Huge dead pines dot the edge of the caldera like sculptures.

Wizard Island is a cinder cone rising 760 feet above the lake surface, indicating that the volcano remained active long after the big eruption which formed Crater Lake. The volcanic nature of the area is easy to see in the rocks around the lake. Devil’s Backbone is a spine of darker volcanic rock climbing up one side of the caldera. I love the moonscape look of the surrounding landscape juxtaposed against the brilliant blue water and evergreen trees. Truly a beautiful place.

Wizard Island.

Cool rocks, blue water and snow!

The sides of the caldera clearly show its volcanic origins.

We decided to extend our stay at Diamond Lake an extra day– one of the joys of jello planning! So our plan is to leave Tuesday, 7/18, and head for Maupin, OR near the Deschutes River. There are several BLM campgrounds in the area, so we’re going to wing it. 😊