TravelStream™ news feed for member shipling on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/shipling en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:42:25 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shipling/2/1233324000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shipling/2/1233324000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shipling/2/1233324000/tpod.html Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:42:25 -0400 310 to Yuma

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Yuma, Arizona, United States

Today we say goodbye to our friends as we move onto Yuma and they to Quartzsite and then to Tuscon. We have not made our mind up whether or not we will go to Tuscon after Yuma but that will be a decision for later on in the month of February. The drive today is only about 130 miles.I know it is boring to repeat but the weather again is sunny and warm. Still somewhat cool overnight and we do need the electric heater on in the evening.
Our drive was good and we traveled highway 95 all the way into Yuma. We passed through Quartzsite on our way and then through the Arizona Proving Ground( an area for the Air force) and finally arriving at Yuma. With the help of the best navigator in the land (that being my wife) and not our stupid GPS we get to our destination for the next month.
This resort is still very much under construction and we got off to a somewhat auspicious start. The woman I had been dealing with from home, Jamie was first going to put us in a site right next to a construction area with all the accompanying dust and noise. No this would not work. She then said we could be placed in a site across from all the facilities which was perfect, however we could not get in there until Saturday the 31st. This meant setting up in one place and then moving the next day. We agreed and finally on Saturday we "moved in" to our site. I should mention that I had to post a $250.00 deposit on my Visa which was processed before we could get on site. this was to cover and costs if I should damage the pad or electrical pedestal. I don't have a problem with this but I was some ticked that they put the charge through and I might add when we left they returned same without any interest.
The facilities at this place are beautiful. It has a lap pool and a splash pool as well as two hot tubs. It also had pool and billiards room, computer room and library, great laundry, pottery room, woodworking room, craft room and a little non denominational church.
We spent the first week there and we both thought we had made a mistake. The location of the park is east of the downtown core of Yuma and quite a drive to go anywhere. We thought this was quite inconvenient but nothing like when we were in Tuscon(I will take about that later)
This town is quite small in population (approx 30,000) which swells to about 200,000 with all the snowbirds from the cooler northern climates coming down to spend their winters. It is quite interesting when you are driving around to see all the plates from BC,AB,Sask,Ont. It is nothing to stop at a light and be surrounded buy cars all with plates from everywhere other than Arizona.
We make it through the first week and the area starts to grown on us. We spend a lot of time exploring the area. We also connect with our friends Joe and Elsie who are in another park about 15 minutes from us and who have committed to being in Yuma for 3 months. We learn some things from them and we continue to explore this city.
One of the highlights for me was the fact that the road our RV park was on dead ended and you could then go straight into a large desert area without the catus or prickly bushes. This great for the dogs as they could be off leash and run to their hearts content. It is still early enough to allow them to do this as it is not warm enough for the snakes or scorpions to be out. However this area is covered with multitudes of rabbit dens and coyotes. The rabbits provided endless amounts of fun for Brigitte. We had one incident in our evening run where Bridge chased a lone coyote. This was a bit unsettling but she came back. For the whole month it was a great place for them both and they were able to get lots of exercise.
We had our dear friends Graham and Licette drop in a see us at the beginning of the month. They were in Yuma for the night and we had them over for dinner. It was great seeing them but they were pushing on back to California and then making there way home so our visit was short.
We also had our friends Joe, Elsie and Gary and Kathy over for lunch one day. Imagine we can still manage to entertain even on the road. This life is great. This lunch was served outside as the weather was in the mid seventies. I know that you people at home were probably doing the same thing.
We also found a Casino that also provided us with amusing entertainment. That reminds me, once we had been in this city for a couple of weeks you become pretty confident on being able to get around. Well one night we decide to go out to the casino ( about a 20 min drive) and we get lost, ends up taking about an hour and twenty minutes to get there. It was quite scenic with us going past the state penitentiary and just about going into Mexico. Oh well just one of our many adventures and again thanks to Patsy and her great skills we finally got there.
We also visited historic Yuma Territorial Prison located right on the Colorado River. This is where the expression "3:10 to Yuma" came from as it was due to deliver the outlaw Ben Wade to this prison. It housed some of the Old West's most notorious outlaws from 1876 to 1908. This park also gives you a great view of the Gila Valley and wetlands.
We also explored downtown and went to the local farmer's market which is held every Tuesday on the Main street in historic downtown Yuma. This is where we went to an old saloon called "Lutes Casino" for burgers and beers with our friends Joe and Elsie. Very quaint inside and extremely popular with both locals and tourists. Lots of fun and reasonably priced good food.
Remember in my last entry when we were in Parker and I spoke about the swap meet in Quartzsite, well they have the exact same thing in Yuma only the area is paved and there are fans and the prices are cheaper. Patsy and I made a couple trips there and found all sorts of interesting things. Most enjoyable way to while away 2 or 3 hours.
In my past entries I have often talked about food. Well Yuma has its share of eating establishments some better than others. One place of note is the "Brown Bag Burger Diner" They have the best hamburgers in town. The burgers come in three sizes 6oz, 10oz, and for the hungry a 12oz patty made fresh daily. You can get anything you want on them along with fries and very large milkshakes. Great place and very popular. Only operates during the snowbird season.
Another fascinating(to me) pastime for some of these intrepid travelers is taking advantage of the deals available at the various buffets. If one goes to dinner at 3:45 you can get charged for the lunch buffet price and wait as they convert from lunch to a dinner buffet! Interesting what some will do to save a $1.50!!
Another of our jaunts from this location was the trip across the border into Mexico at Los Algodonas. I approached this outing with some intrepidation as you walk into Mexico. This is the Drug Store capital of the world. Any type of medication that you have prescribed to you they can fill without a prescription and for a fraction of the cost. Also you can get new glasses, have you teeth fixed, get your RV repainted all for considerably less money. It was most interesting and Pat and I took advantage of the drug bargains and also had a very enjoyable late breakfast in an open air plaza in town. After we had made our purchases we proceeded back across the border picked up our car from the paved parking lot (run by the local first nations band) and proceeded home with a stop at the casino before getting back onto the freeway. Lots of fun and yet again another experience to put under of belt of travels.
Our good friends Joe and Elsie took us to the town of Felicity in order that we could go to the official Center of the World. Felicity in just across the border in California. Once there you go to this little Pyramid go inside and you can stand on a spot that is designated the "center of the World" You also get a certificate that confirms that you were there and you a logged into a register.
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Parker, Arizona, United States

I will preface this entry and the following ones with the fact that my computer had a major malfunction and had to be serviced in Yuma and hence no entries to the travel pod. We all prepare to leave for our journey to Parker Arizona. Todays drive will be about 110 miles. We will going through the towns of Needles and Lake Havasu City on our way to Parker. Drive is quite uneventful with yet another day of sunny skys and light winds. We stop right off the bat at the Safeway on the outskirts of Bullhead City as gas is the cheapest there. We get some coffee and push on with a stop in Lake Havasu City to let the dogs get some exercise. Interesting place and looks very trendy. We understand that this is the getaway for the people from the LA area and can get quite crowded in the summer and on Spring Break. It is also the home to London Bridge which has been made into some type of tourist attraction. (no we did not in to see it).
We continue on and get to our new RV resort. An interesting term since the whole park is nothing but gravel and the rigs are parked close together not only side by side but front to back. It is on the Colorado River but to get there one has quite a walk. Oh well we are only here for two days.
Patsy and I do some exploring and find a beautiful state park called Buckskin State park which has sites with full hookups as well as some with just water and electricity. We have put this on our list for future travels.
I managed to get nine holes of golf in at a course called Emerald greens which was a beautiful course carved out of the rocks and desert. Played with my two friends traveling with us. Also found that there was a casino down the road and we had to visit that as well. One of our traveling companions is a member of the Elks and he found out that the Lodge located in Parker was having a Mexican night on Thursday and we decided to go. This was an absolute blast. Imagine a large room with big round tables that seat at least eight or ten people. In you go (we had a reservation) and you get your own drinks and your order is taken from the very limited menu. Our waitress was a great lady with tons of makeup and a hairdo from the mid fifties. ( Remember the back combed and teased hair in a mound so high birds could nest in it) Our order is placed and while we are waiting the desert lady comes by, we politely say we are waiting for our main course, to which she replies chose your desert now or there won't be any left by the time we are served.( she was pushing her homemade cheesecake which was so good) Of course we take her advice take our desert and wait for the main course. It was great and a fun atmosphere. You can only get these types of experiences in small towns and Pat and I just love these types of opportunities.
Our friends are going to stay at Quartzsite for a period of time before they push onto Tuscon. Both Pat and I have absolutely no desire to stay in this place. We agree that we have to see it and we do a partial day trip to this very interesting city. This is a town that may have a population of 5000 in it's off season but at this time of the year it swells to about 250,000. Most of these people have motor homes and they all park in various locations in the desert around this town. As we were driving into Quartzsite you start to see these rigs sprinkled all across the desert. It is the most amazing site we have seen. I can't imagine why anyone would want to put there coach in the middle of a sandy desert for a couple of months only to have winds sandblast your paint job. Certainly not my idea of a fun time. In the town proper there is this huge( I mean really big) tent and the largest swap market you can imagine. It was tough to get around as the ground is covered with gravel and not great for the scooter.
There is nothing I don't think you could not buy there. Pat and I do a small trip around some booths but this is not for us. We leave after grabbing a hot dog from a vendor set up in a London double decker bus and make our way home. We both are very glad with our decision that we are not going to be staying there.
We have contacted the RV park in Yuma and we are able to get in early so we will pulling in on Jan 30th and we will be there for the month on February.

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Laughlin, Nevada, United States

So here we are in Laughlin. Interesting city. It is located on the Colorado River and BullHead City is across the river in a different time zone. On our first day we get set up and once back in the coach Pat and I look at each other and think that this is not for us and we will have to move out by the weekend. I go and check at the registration desk to see if we can leave early and I am informed that there is no refund on a week booking! Oh great I think but we are prepared to walk away from that money as I think we will go crazy. This is of course are the thoughts we have been here for a grand total of 4 hours. We think that we will hold on until after the weekend as our traveling companions are excited for us to be here and want to show us around. They really do try to make it fun for us and we are most appreciative.
We have been told that one of the days we are going to the town of Oatman. This little place is famous for the wild burro's that walk all over town as well as the gunfights in the main street. toilet seat tossing and bed-races. Hmm I think, what fun an adventure. We put that trip on the back burner as we have to deal with taking advantage of the breakfast buffet. Now this would be something that yours truly would relish however on the previous day I became quite ill. ( I suspect some type of food poisoning) Suffice to say I don't care what type of motor home you have the bathrooms are not big enough!!! Enough said on that subject. I was laid low for a couple of days which was making going to the breakfast buffet a bit difficult. I rallied on day 3 and off we went. I do not understand what the fascination these people have with buffets. Unless of course it is the price. Imagine all you can eat for a mere $3.99!!! Go figure. Anyway we did that and then moved onto the casino where yet again Patsy and I draw all sorts of peculiar looks as we kill ourselves with laughter on the penny machines. Some of the animations when you hit a bonus are so funny. I of course found a machine called "Cops and Donuts". I will let you imagine what type of things came up!
We are finding that the time passes quickly and we are having a good time so we will be staying the week. I get to play a couple rounds of golf which was fun. On one round I managed to knock the hubcap off my partners golf cart with a somewhat errant shot. On the second round I managed to bounce a ball off the roof of a home that was beside the fairway. (I thought it was a stupid place to put a home but what do I know)
Patsy and did some exploring around the area and found some nice state and National Parks which we explored. Great place up at Katherine's Landing where the dogs could run off leash.
Now for our road trip to Oatman. We push off from Laughlin and drive for about and hour. We climb up into the hills getting to an elevation of 2700 feet. The town is crowded with tourists, burros in the street, mock gunfights in the street, an Irishman pulling a cart singing songs in the street, a stagecoach in the street, and by the way people and cars in the street. Are you getting the picture here. Just a tad crowded with various merchants trying to sell you overpriced souvenirs. Both Patsy's and my idea of a fun time. Not!! We did not stay on for the ever popular toilet seat toss nor the bed-races. I did see however that the winning team did make the front page of the Laughlin Times the next day. We left there to make are way home and got some great photos of the countryside as well as some burros that were blocking the roadway. After getting them off the road we pushed on home to try our luck at some different casinos in the area. Alas we held our own but again got a lot of entertainment from a different variety of penny machines.
The only other interesting thing to happen was the early morning dog walk and the meeting with the homeless man who became quite agitated that I was walking my dogs on what he perceived to be his property. We had some words or rather he shouted and I did not respond(although Shae spoke to him quite forcefully). We parted ways and that was the last I saw of him. Felt sorry for the man as I think he may have needed some meds which obviously he could not afford.
Wednesday arrives and we are pushing off to the thriving city of Parker for two nights and then our friends go onto Quartzite for two days while we push onto Yuma.
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Laughlin, Nevada, United States

Wednesday Jan 21/09 and we pull out of Outdoor Resorts early as we make our way to Laughlin, Nevada. We are going to reconnect with our friends from the Pac Nats who left us to go to Las Vegas while we moved onto Palm Springs. The day is sunny with some wind. We decide to have breakfast on the road. We travel out on Hwy. 10 and when we hit Desert Station we pull off the road for breakfast. It is great, a typical American diner in the middle of nowhere which served a great breakfast. Also the patrons are all friendly and talkative and we find out that if we take Hwy 177 it is a short cut to Laughlin and it is a good road. We let the dogs out for a run and then with full stomachs we push off on the new route. Great road through desert and mountains. Very pretty and Pat as usual got some good road pictures. ( I will be inserting pictures once I get my computer running properly again). We eventually intersect with Hwy 95 and proceed northbound to Laughlin via Bull Head City (BHC). Arrive about 2:30 and we are directed to our new site. Well let me tell you this looked liked our idea of hell. The three coaches were backed into their respective stalls with about 4 feet between each of us. Zero privacy with a view of the Casino Hotel complete with all the trappings and neon lights. Our first reaction was, oh no we will not be staying here for seven days!
On the positive side our friends were glad to see us and could not wait to show us around. I will go into those details in my entry dealing with seven days in Laughlin!
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Cathedral City, California, United States

As I detailed in my last entry this is a very upscale Resort. To walk around the perimeter is just over 3 miles. it has a 18 hole Par 3 golf course within it's boundaries and has 1207 sites. Some are available for rent on a short term basis and a lot have been purchased. We arrived here on Wednesday Jan 14th and we are pulling out on the 21st on our way to Laughlin.
Wednesday afternoon we get in and settled. I check out the resort and find our friends and where they are located. We also find out that we have been invited to a bar-b-que on Thursday night. Thursday is spent shopping and getting supplies for the coach as well as some cleaning. We have dinner that night with our friends all who are members of our motorhome club. It was nice to get together and catch up on all that everyone is doing.
Friday came along and another day of glorious sun and temperatures in the low 80's. Played golf in the afternoon at the course located inside this complex with my friend Bob. Home and made an new chicken dish from my new cookbook that I got from Patsy for Christmas.
Saturday came with another day of sun. I know how boring but it is great. We join another couple for a trip to the Palm Springs Tram and a ride up the mountain. You travel a distance of 12,708 feet. It is the largest one in the Western Hemisphere. Also the floor rotates 360 degrees twice on the ascent and descent. There was snow at the top and quite cool compared with the temp at the base which was in the seventies. Got some great pictures and then back to our rig. Did some exploring around the area and found some other locations that we could stay at on the way home.
On Monday we met up with some friends from North Vancouver, he used to be a teacher with Pat at Argyle. They insisted that we come over for lunch and they took us to the Pak Inn Buffet. Imagine if you can a very large Chinese buffet with a smattering of other things like pizza slices, fish and chips, a salad bar, etc etc. Lots of food not particularly great but the price was right. We spent the afternoon with them and then back home just in time to get ready to go out to dinner with the gang from Outdoor Resorts.
Tuesday another sunny day and we start to get ourselves ready for our departure to Laughlin the next day. It is time to move on. This resort is nice but it is very high end.
I was able to find an area for the dogs to run off leash which was right next door. It did however involve me meeting the owner who was quite upset with the fact that I was trespassing on his property. It was an old abandoned motel and overgrown golf driving range. He stated that he had been having a lot of problems with homeless people and to that extent he showed me his loaded browning 9mm handgun. To say I was a little concerned would be somewhat of an under statement. However we got off on the right foot and as he liked dogs
I was able to walk them there everyday.
The weather for the week we were there was great. Looking forward to new adventures down the road.
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Cathedral City, California, United States

Start the day with goodbyes and we push off at around 10:00. Another beautiful day with temps in the high seventies. We travel together as far as Kramer Junction on Hwy 58 at which time we start south on Hwy 395 heading for Adelanto and then joining I-15 which eventually runs into Hwy 215 and then on to Hwy 10. Then last part of this trip you are on a descent into the valley and the Palm Springs area. I only mention this as at small town of Cabazon you are exposed to the winds which are coming down off the mountains and through this small gorge. They were quite strong and required us to pay a lot of attention to the driving of Abby. This did not last for long and we found our way to the Sands RV and Golf Resort at approximately 2:00.
This was an interesting experience. We had made reservations to stay a week. We duly check in and we are led to our site by "Jeff". Imagine our dismay when the site we are presented with is all gravel, very narrow and quite short in length. On top of that it was not level. This resort has 580 sites and only one smallish pool. Our site was right at the back of the resort and for us to use the pool we would have to use the car. I unhooked our car and attempted to put Abby in this site a get her level. This did not work and I went back to the office to see what else was available. They gave us a list of other sites which Pat and I toured with no success. We sit down on the coach and decide that this is not for us and we look for alternate accommodation. We know that 3 other couples who are also members of our RV club are staying at Outdoor Resorts in Cathedral City. We give Outdoor Resorts a call and find we can get in. Back I go to this office and get a refund, then back to the coach, hook up the car and we leave. Good decision as we checked into Outdoor resorts and we are very happy. We have a large site that is right across from a large swimming pool and hot tub. Site is concrete with grass on both sides. It is a very nice resort.
We are going to be staying here for the next seven days.
I will place an entry about our stay in Palm Springs next.
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Mojave, California, United States

Todays drive not to tough as far as distance goes. Basically we continue down Hwy. 99 through Fresno and on towards Bakersfield at which point we start going east on Hwy 58. The first major town is Tehachapi and our first of many sitings of the large areas of the large windmills used for collecting electricity We do however have to climb into the high desert. The countryside is quite barren with lots of scrub bushes some catus and sand and dirt.I am amazed at the amount of garbage that is just left in these deserts.
We finally arrive at our destination and our three coaches are put side by side in the back lot of this resort. Imagine a large dirt lot with some stations placed in it to provide you with water and electricity. It was just perfect. Cost for this place was $13.25 and another $2.00 for cable! Great deal! A big place for the dogs to play and it was warm enough for the six of us to have our lasagna dinner outside! Bet you can't be doing that in North Van or Toronto!
We are very close to the west border of Edwards Air force Base which we will pass by on our travels tomorrow.
As the sun sets we retired to our coach and enjoyed coffee and some card games. Tomorrow we will be leaving our traveling companions. They are going to Las Vegas and we onto Palm Springs.
As I take the dogs out for their last evening walk you can hear the calls of the coyotes in the still night air and the vision of the vast array of stars are only slightly diminished by the twinkling of lights from California City some 20 miles to the east. It is very beautiful.
Tomorrow we push off to Palm Springs.

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Corning, California, United States

Wake up to a sunny day and we depart at 9:30 with our sites set for Corning. We navigate through the mountain passes with no problem. Roads are clear with some snow on the sides at the highest of elevation. (I think something like 4500 feet, which is the highest point on the whole I-5 system). We are now traveling in this caravan formation. Quite good for us as this is the first time we have done this part of I-5 in the winter. Our first rest stop is at Edgewood where we stop for sandwiches and let the dogs have a run. We are all out of our coaches and we have a picturesque view of Mt. Shasta. Road travel is good with minimal traffic and a sunny day. We press on to Corning getting in at about 4:00. We are at the back of the casino with full hookups but no cable. Very clean however strong winds. Quite evening and I make a stir fry for Pat and myself. As this the third fairly long day we take it easy in the evening. The others head off to the casino. Prior to this we picked up two jars of olives as Corning is the olive capital of North America. They have this store called the Pit Stop which has every type of olive stuffed with virtually anything. Of course we picked up some martini olives as well as some that were stuffed with Romano and Parmesan cheese.
As usual we have discussions of our next destination and we decide that we want a shorter day and we think we shall make it as far as Chowchilla. One couple who have a fifth wheel trailer in Cathedral City and are driving their car have to decided to leave us to make better time and will leaving earlier than us tomorrow.
I check the tires on the coach and find I am low on one tire so in the morning I will get some air before we push on.
Again a early night. Weather still warm and sunny but with some wind. We are having a good time and the dogs are traveling well.
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Chowchilla, California, United States

Drive today did not start out to well. Remember the note about the tire pressure. Well I tried to get air into the tie without success. I was in such a state that I started the trip with my TV antenna up and my stairs still out. Not the greatest of starts to the day. Got everything under control and we made a stop in Williams where I located a Napa dealer who fixed the air pressure issue and we carried on. We stopped again for gas just north of Woodland and also had lunch and exercised the dogs. This place had really high winds but it was sunny. We have decided that when we reach Sacramento we are going over to Hwy. 99 and continuing south. Again not much to talk about. Traffic busy around Sacramento but after that okay.
We did notice a lot of fields covered in water and found out that this area produces rice and these areas that we thought were either flooded or some type of reservoirs were in fact rice paddys. Most interesting.
Stopped again for dog break in Merced and picked up some groceries. Made reservations for the RV Resort which turned out to be quite a find. Included in your fee for the night is two rounds of golf for free. We will have to remember this for future trips and make sure we arrive earlier that 4:15 in order to take advantage of this. This RV park also had a large pond that is stocked with fish so I spent some time fly casting. I thought this to be quite cool as it is Jan 12 and the temp is about 72 degrees and no wind. Not a bad way to end your day.
We spent the evening together and will be pushing off tomorrow for Tehachapi.
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Castle Rock, Washington, United States

Well can you imagine, this is our first trip in our motor home going south for the winter months. We were excited about this trip and had done lots of planning and we were expecting to leave on the 7th of Jan. That did not happen and we decided to leave a day later. BIG MISTAKE as we had a huge rain storm both in Vancouver and more importantly in Washington State. This of course produced massive flooding finally resulting in the closure of I-5 as well as all mountain passes. This effectively changed our original departure date. We lucked out and on Friday we heard that the I-5 was opening at noon. We pushed off with the intention of getting passed the area of Centralia/Chehalis (area of highway flooding). Now for the fun part. Hit the border at 1:00 at the truck crossing, wait an hour in line and then get sent for an agriculture inspection. This goes okay until they find some firewood and we are told that it cannot come into the US. At this point we have two options: pay a fine of $350.00 or turn around and get rid of the wood in Canada (customs has no way of disposing of firewood) and come back across the border. We chose option two. So off we go back into Canada, found an RV park, gave them the wood and then got back into the line. Crossed the border AGAIN and back through the same process, complete with another full inspection. We finally get a yellow sticker with the letter "S" on it which meant we could now go south. The time now is 3:15. Great now we are so late that we are going to hit the Everett-Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia section of I-5 right smack in rush hour. The weather has turned and it begins to rain and we are now driving in the dark. Not a big deal in a car, but in a large motor home and a first time for me with night driving along with bumper to bumper rush traffic was not the best time I have had. However we press on undaunted make it through this particular corridor and continue to Castle Rock. We did not see much of the flooding as it was dark but it was apparent that the flooding still was high and water was right up to the side of the freeway in some parts. We finally make it to our RV park pulling in at 8:45. You can imagine how tired both of us were as well as the dogs. I must say that all of my passengers traveled well with little complaining.
Set up very quickly, had some dinner and then to bed. By this time it had stopped raining, clear but cold. Ground had lots of frost. We contacted our friends who we are going to be traveling with and we will be meeting them in Canyonville tomorrow.
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