Saturday, July 20, 2013

Heat Wave and it ain't tropical

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What's the proper response to one or more motorcycle riders with their tires just inside the yellow line, and their left handle bar over the line? I have started to put my outside rear tire close to the line. This leaves several inches of the rig on or over the line. Just want to make sure I am doing right with these picket riders.

We note, with pleasure, that our friend Jim now has clean bill of health. We were worried about him. I mean all he gets to eat is vegan food and IPA. Plus forced high altitude hikes. Dorothy's brother is also vegan and his health is on the skids. I am telling you guys, the only way is processed pork for breakie and prime rib for dinner. Sure you can eat rabbit food for lunch if that will make you think you are eating right. Me? I would rather have a greasy pork chop.



Saturday, July 13 - We continued driving east on US26 this morning. This is a great highway because it is semi-scenic through the high desert and has very little traffic. It could compete with US50 in Nevada for low traffic. We camped at Bully Creek Park near Vale, OR.  Oregon has many city & country parks, which is one of the reasons we love this state. This is one of the best. The sites are very large, level, grassy with lots of shade trees - what more can could you want in a campground. Oh yes, we have a view of the reservoir. This is the desert and in the current heatwave the daytime temperatures are hot, but it cools off in the evenings.  You can sit outside in the shade and be very comfortable.

Sunday, July 14 - Since we are not in a hurry and this is a nice spot, we decided to stay another night. Almost every one was gone by noon, so we moved to a site with more shade.  Very nice sitting outside in the shade with a little breeze.  Our last night in Oregon. Just haven't spent enough time here this trip, so we will have to return. I am finally feeling much better.

Monday, July 15 - We said goodbye to Oregon and hello to Idaho once again. We are again camping in a county RV park. This one is on the Snake (everything in Idaho is either on the Snake or named Lewis & Clark) and has full hookups for $21. A deal.  It's hot and going to get hotter, 95+ for the next week or ten days.  Very few people here so it is extremely quiet. I feel so much better that I drove for 2 full hours so that Don could rest. I find it much easier to drive on the interstates because I can use the cruise control. We think Don is coming down with the cold stuff that I had. We did a big shopping trip at Walmart and got lots of veggies which we really need.  

Tuesday, July 16 - Today we resumed our usual method of camping - boondoocking or dry camping. That means that we do not have hookups.  You can do this when the weather is not hot!  We are in a Forest Service CG 18 miles from Heber City, UT at 7,800 feet.  We are situated in a lodgepole pine and spruce tree forest.  We had "Happy Hour" outside yesterday afternoon and the temperature was around 78 degrees.  Slept great!  

How did lodgepole pines get their name?  Indians used the tall straight pine trees to build their lodges - clever name, right.  More tree trivia - how do you tell the difference between a fir tree and a spruce tree - spruce tree needles will Stick you and the fir trees are Friendly.  Now you know that our trips are educational.

When we go to Oregon and Utah,  I feel such a sense of peace.  I don't know what it is, maybe it's the scenery but it certainly makes us happy - it's like coming home again.

Wednesday, July 17 - I won't say that the day was wasted but we didn't do anything fun.  We went into Heber City and made an appointment the Heber Valley Clinic because I was not getting any better.  The appointment was for 2:00 so we had time to kill.  We found a beauty shop and I got a much needed hair cut, then went to the library and to Tony's Mexican Restaurant, where we had a good meal.  It's so good to see people still using libraries.  Finally got to the clinic where I saw Dr. Tullis.  He's a young man and very pleasant.  We started talking about traveling and I told him we like Moab and we did some jeeping there.  He told me about going in March and leaving at 5:00 am in 10 degree weather to go on a 100 mile bike ride.  He said it got up to 20 degrees during the ride - I told you he was young.  I have a sinus infection - haven't had one in years, so I have medicine and should be better in two or three days.  And to top it off, Don is not feeling very well either - runny nose, sneezing, etc.  We got medicine for him also.  We MUST get well and soon.

Thursday, July 18 - This is not the day we are getting well.  The camp host said that they have been getting afternoon rain each day for about a week.  Had a light rain Tuesday, just enough to mess up the windshields.  Yesterday, we had very light rain, thunder and lightning.  But it is keeping the temperature down so that it's comfortable.  We stayed in our sick bed almost all day. Bleah!

Friday, July 18 - We were not in top form, but felt good enough to take a drive. First to Cascade Springs. Not worth our time, but the views along the way were OK. Then Mount Timpanogos Cave. We knew we could do the cave tour as you have to hike up 1,000 feet to the entrance. When we pulled into the parking lot around noon, there were teenagers laying down all over the place that had made the hike and survived - just. That confirmed to us that it was way beyond our best effort on a good day.

Saturday, July 20 - I will once again say that this has been a most unusual trip.  We have spent more time in cities and shopping than ever before.  Today was no exception.  We went into Orem to shop at Costco.  Then we had to buy a new phone.  My phone is in the throes of death and would not hold a charge.  I did not want a new phone and certainly not a smart one.  I just want to be able to talk on the phone, like in the old days. We had the great luck of getting a very knowledge sales lady that was most helpful and did not try to get us to buy any upgrades.  We rounded out the day with Walmart and laundry.

Our park host has a little dog that seems to suffer separation anxiety and has never been disciplined, so there has been a lot of yipping going on.  It was pretty bad yesterday.  The host site is fairly close to us and his family is camping here also.  Tonight the family had a cookout and they did not want the dog to bother them while they were eating, so they tied him up at the vacant site next to us.  We were sitting outside trying to read when we heard this dog crying.  Don went to see what was going on and came back and told me about the dog's situation.  It was breaking my heart, so we took our chairs over to the site and sat with the dog trying to keep him calm.  He's a cute little dog and very sweet, even let me hold him several times.  If you aren't going to take care of your dog, why have one.  

Moving to cooler Colorado tomorrow.


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