Oregon

$500 in gasoline will get you from Idaho to the coast of Oregon. We are a little short of the coast – about 2.5 hours away. We planed to be there Saturday, the 11th, but it will be a few more days. More on that later.

Catching up. We have been short hoping across Oregon the last week.

We left The Tetons Sunday and landed in a county park on the Snake River in American Falls, Idaho. Monday we over-nighted at Bruneau Dunes State Park. Tuesday it was a commercial RV park in Boise - it sucked, but we got our shopping done. Wednesday, an RV park near Burns, OR with hot springs. We soaked until we got sun burned.

The hot springs included Momma and her baby ducks. Go Ducks.

Thursday, we did the carnivore thing in Silver Lake – our third time there. Lots of red meat. We over-nighted across the road from the restaurant. It’s a dead end road a little past the end of nowhere. We woke in the morning to the sounds of a troupe of coyotes welcoming the new day. The first thing I saw was the soft morning light illuminating the cedar tree just outside the window. It was the first one we have seen after crossing the the empty quarter of Oregon that has little more than sagebrush and basalt. We were right on the dividing line between the high desert and the forests of central Oregon. Long eared jack rabbits were cavorting all around us. After a hearty breakfast of eggs, grits and muffins we drove west on rural forests roads at 30 mph until I finished my second cup of Joe. Then I cranked up the speed to 45. One car passed us over the 50 miles.

Carnivore Heaven – 30 ounce steaks

Now the not so good news. For the last three days, the engine had been running rough, especially when under heavy load. I figured it was a plug wire or a cracked plug. I was kinda right. Five of the ten plugs/coils are bad and three others fail under load. No wonder our gas mileage and hill climbing ability have been suffering. Of course, these things only happen on weekends, so we get to stay in Ashland, Oregon for the weekend until the dealer can tackle it Monday. The serpentine belt and the front brakes needs replacing. Other than changing fluids, this is the first replacement we have had to do. With 72,000 miles, it does not seem premature, but it’s going to hurt the wallet. And we get to stay in a commercial campground for four days. Oh well, both vehicles need cleaning bad, so we can do that and get laundry done.

KoKo has new spark plugs and coils. We leave for the coast in the morning.