Utah to Iowa

July 22, 2018

RV mileage 56418

          Sherry woke up at 3 am I hadn’t slept as I was having trouble breathing, phlegm in my throat. Anyway we decided to travel on down the road. We left the Coalville, Utah RV park at 4:45 and drove separate. After 2 hours we pulled into a truck stop and I got about an hours sleep. I felt better as I had taken some sinus meds. Refueled two times and pulled into a roadside park for lunch. Found a place to stay in Chappell, Nebraska at Creekside RV Park. We had driven about 600 miles and I went to bed early and slept all night.

July 23, 2018

       

         Left the campground at 7:45 and hooked up Jeep to RV and then drove about 150 miles. Decided to drive separate again as it was extremely windy and crosswind was causing swaying. When we reached Iowa we stopped at the Visitor center and it was recommended we stop at Winterset and get a site at the city park. We found out the movie “Bridges of Madison County” was filmed here. This is also the home to John Wayne’s birthplace.

     

          We stayed 2 nights at the City Park as it was very nice and only $20 for full hookup. The city of Winterset is very beautiful with lots of hanging baskets lining the streets. There was shopping for Sherry with a Fons and Porter quilt shop and a fiber shop.

 John Wayne birthplace

 Castle at city park

July 23, 2018

    

        Toured the John Wayne museum, after a short film we walked to the house and museum where the actor was born. They had restored the inside to look like it would have when he was here. His father was a Pharmacist and moved the family to California when the actor was still a young boy. This whole town gets a thumbs up from us as a place to visit.

 Relocated bridge of Madison County to Winterset city park

 This tower structure is in the Winterset city park

Our campsite at Winterset IA

Drive across the salt flats.

Coalville UT

Saturday July 21, 2018

RV Mileage 56026

       We had the oil changed in the RV when we left the New Frontier RV park at PDQ oil change. I had called another quick change but they couldn’t take a RV. After fueling up we drove separate until the Utah state line. We could see for miles when we hit Utah and the salt flats were unique. 

        We saw the Morton salt operation as we passed on I-80. Our stop for the night was at Holiday Hills RV park along a little stream. 

This was in Coalville, Utah and after set up we headed into town for Brisket and Mac and cheese. 

 Salt Flats

Morton Salt facility

Decision time

July 20, 2018

491 miles today
RV mileage 55,634

          Well it’s decision time we are leaving the Redwoods and which way will we be going. We have decided to head home. There are forest fires south and north east of our location. We had talked about heading south to Sacramento and taking Highway 50 east to Lake Tahoe. There was a larger fire in the south, when I checked our other route to Grants Pass it looked possible. We left the Klamath River RV park and headed north on 101 to highway 199 and took it east to Grants Pass.

          We drove separate because it was a winding road with steep grades. The scenic views along this route were awesome and we both enjoyed the drive. We filled up with fuel at Grants Pass and the smoke from fires on three sides of the town made it uncomfortable. However the locals said it was much worse last year when everyone was wearing masks when outside.

          We then took highway 140 east across Oregon and were awe struck by the isolation and desert conditions. Having no cell service I stopped along the road and talked to Sherry to see if her vehicle had sufficient gas. She was fine but asked if I had seen the sign at the last town that no fuel would be available for 100 miles. I hadn’t and now was concerned about fuel for the RV. Anyway we made it to Denio Junction in Nevada. When checking the fuel pump I found they were charging $4.32 per gallon. While finding this outrageous I put $75 in and was happy to have the opportunity to add fuel.

Highway 140 Oregon

Mountain range north of Winnemucca

 We then hooked up the Jeep and headed down to Winnemucca Nevada to New Frontier Park to our campsite for the night.

 Sunset in Winnemucca

Frontier RV Park 

Redwood National Park, Klamath, California

Klamath River RV Park

July 18, 2018

RV mileage 55143

          Went Whale watching this morning with no sightings at Umpqua Lighthouse. We left the campground at 10am and drove 176 miles down 101 to Klamath River RV Park in the country along the river. We are here at this campground for the next two nights.

We stopped several times and enjoyed the ocean views at the pull-offs.

We stopped at Crescent city California and picked up medallions and information about the Redwoods. Visited the Battery Point Lighthouse and enjoyed the views.

 Battery Point Lighthouse 

 Love this picture of Sherry's shadow looking toward the

 lighthouse

Highway 101 South Oregon view

       

 Highway 101 South Oregon view

         After setup at the campground we drove the loop with the Big Tree and also the ELK Reserve. We didn’t see any Elk in the reserve but did see a one along the road as we drove back to the RV for the night.

Redwood Trees are HUGE

July 19, 2018

          This morning we had breakfast at the RV then drove to the Jedidiah Smith National Forrest. We stopped at the visitor center and received directions to the Stout Recreation area. There we walked among the Redwoods. This was AWESOME to be able to be with these giants. It is along a river so there was no undergrowth and the trail was just over one half mile and only had slight grades.

On the way to Winchester Bay

Three Rivers Casino

July 14, 2018

RV Mileage 54967

Three Rivers Casino

          Moving day, hope to get a site at the casino near Florence, OR. We parked in the RV lot and checked in, registered and checked through security. Then we had the buffet lunch at the casino it ok but not great. We then tried the slot machines as the casino supplied some money on the plastic playing card you wear around your neck on a leash. No luck couldn’t even figure out how to play. Finally stopped and we were up $1.78 back to the RV for the night.

July 15, 2016

RV Mileage 54995

Winchester Bay RV resort

          When we left the casino we washed the RV it was covered in sea salt and road dust.  Just 27 miles down to Winchester Bay RV resort.  This is a very nice RV park with paved pads and well cared for grass and nice view over the water at the marina. We spent most of the day at the park then later drove around the area. Next day we had to move RV to another site, I moved while Sherry was doing laundry. After lunch at the RV, we then drove back up to Florence for a dune buggy ride at Sandland Adventures. The ride was just over an hour long and the driver gave a running dialog about the sand dunes and how they were formed. Then we headed to Florence to the Mo’s diner and had steamed clams and chowder. After supper we walked and went into several shops, a couple had local art and one had wooden clocks that were unique. Back to the RV by 7pm and spent the evening enjoying the quiet.

Winchester Bay RV Marina view

Winchester Bay RV Resort

Sandland Dune buggy

 Dune Buggy Ride

Dune Buggy Ride

July 17, 2018

Mileage 54997

Umpqua Bay S.P.

          Moved to Umpqua Lighthouse Park just down the road 2 miles and got right in set up and left to see the Elk Reserve by 11:20. This was a great place to see Elk there were lots of Bull Elk that were grazing about 30 feet from the fencing. We spent about an hour here then headed back to the RV. Later in the afternoon we went to the Lighthouse and got our walking stick medallions.  Next morning we went whale watching at the Lighthouse this was moving day so we didn’t stay long.

View from Umpqua Lighthouse

Umpqua Lighthouse