Home Again

September 24, 2013 Tuesday

Our destination today was Sidney, Nebraska.  This is the headquarters for Cabella’s Sporting Goods.  They have a large store with an adjacent campground.  We arrived a bit after 4PM and found the campground pretty much full with no one at the check-in.  They wanted $30 per night to stay for self check-in.  There was a large parking lot with trucks and RVs adjacent to the campground, but could not find out if O/N camping was permitted there.  So we moved onto a nearby Wal-Mart.  Maybe if we pass through here again we will make reservations to stay at the campground.  As most of you know we generally would prefer to “dry camp” when we are just putting miles under us.

At Wal-Mart we parked over by the garden center and we were soon joined by a couple that were full timing in a larger Airstream trailer from Florida.  They were towing with an older diesel Ram truck.  Interestingly they are considering a new truck and asked many questions regarding going gas this time around.  The fella cited higher purchase and maintenance costs as a reason.  His fuel economy is better than ours, but the cost of fuel being at premium gas prices offsets much of the gain.  He was surprised that we target 400 miles/day as they are more in the 250 mile range.  It must take them forever to get anywhere, Geez.

September 25, 2013 – Wednesday

We arrived in Grand Island, Nebraska in early afternoon.  Our plan was to make an intermediate stop in Kearney to visit the Archway Museum, however we were observing the Platte River along the route as it parallels I-80.  It was very high due to the heavy rains in Colorado the previous week and we were concerned that Morman Island State Park, our destination for the night, could be flooded.  A part of the Platte runs through the park.  So we thought we may need to seek an alternative.

Our concerns were unfounded, the Park was fine.  In fact it was a very nice little park.  It got its name from Mormon Island which is one of the islands formed by the multi-channel Platte River.  During the 1884-1885 winter, several Mormon families camped on the tip of this island - the last of the Mormon migration to Salt Lake City.  They chose the site because of the open stream and abundance of timber to repair their covered wagons.  Three graves, a Mormon mother and two small children, remained on the island when the wagons rolled westward the following spring, although we did not see where they were.  The local people of the time named this place “Mormon Island,” the name it still carries today.
   
Our early arrival permitted some time to visit the Stuhr Pioneer Museum located very close to the campground.  In addition to a museum, there is an outdoor restored village with buildings of the late 1800s.  The web-site indicated there were supposed to be folks in period costumes doing activities of the period.  Unfortunately it was closed, so we only visited the museum.  It documented the migration west, although it was not very well organized.  The Platte River was the migration “highway” west, so Grand Island was a popular stopover.  This is the entrance to the museum.  One cool thing was an old steam locomotive on the grounds.  It included the tender car, caboose  and a couple of coach cars.

                   

September 26, 2013 – Thursday

Today we went west back to Keaney, about 30 miles, to visit the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument.  Impressive name, eh?  The structure itself is pretty interesting,  as you can see below it spans I-80.  It was lifted as a completed unit over the expressway, closing it down for several hours one night.



There were some mixed reviews on this place.  Like Stuhr, it also tracks the migration west covering the mid-1800s period and then into current day.  They use a combination of dioramas and video projections with audio provided through headphones.  Its all wireless and the audio changes as you move through the museum.  We thought it was interesting and well organized.

An interesting thing we learned about was the Lincoln Highway. Like Route 66, it was a two-lane thoroughfare labeled Highway 30 that was replaced by an interstate, I-80 in this case.  There appears to be quite a cult following with restored businesses, motels, restaurants, and entertainment along the old route.  


Outside they are restoring an old pioneer trail that runs about 3 miles between Kearny and the Archway Museum.  It is part of a longer trail that will connect to Fort Kearney.  There are several historic trails that intersect at Grand Island and Kearney; the Oregon and Morman Trails.  We did not allot enough time to walk it, or to explore some of these other trails.  They appear to be bike friendly, so maybe next time through.

Along the short portion we walked were gardens, a sod house, and Pawnee Lodge.  These are all historically accurate reproductions with local Pawnee participation.  The garden was actually planted with a few remaining white corn seeds that were held for several generations.  This variety of corn was nearly extinct.  The planting was a success with several plants produced.  Amazing! 

The lodge pictured here held four families and provided necessary protection from the harsh winters in the Plains.  Think about being cooped in here with 3 other families for several months.

Our next stop, a Dan stop, was to a Classic Car Collection located on the grounds of the Cabellas in Kearney.  This was a relatively small museum but had an amazing collection of cars.  It started from the donation of 130 cars from the Taulborgs of Omaha. 

All cars are in running condition and there are minimal barriers allowing you get up nice and close.  The collection contains many “orphans”, cars no longer produced.  Most are actually on loan, although the museum does buy some now and then.  It is staffed by volunteers and admission is by donation.  Here are a couple of our favorites.



Tomorrow we continue our journey home.  We are glad we made the stop here. There are a surprising array of things to see and visit in central Nebraska.  We always considered Nebraska as that place to get through on your way west.   A return trip to check out the area history and the Lincoln Highway is on the “to do” list. 
 
September 27, 2013 – Friday

We are hoping to make Davenport, Iowa tonight.  There are a couple of Wal-Marts we’re shooting for overnight.  The wind started blowing pretty good prior to getting to Grand Island.  Mostly westerly which is good if you are headed east.  But today it is still blowing 25 mph or better, but it has swung more to the south / southeast.  It is killing our mileage, 7.5 to 8 mpg.  It always seems we are always driving into the wind.

Fortunately, gas is in the $3.15 range, and the road is pretty smooth.  We arrived at Wal-Mart, south of Davenport about 5:30.  It is great that Wal-Mart permits overnight parking for travelling RVers.  Its actually good business practice as we usually find something, either groceries or merchandise, in the store to buy while we’re there.

September 28, 2013 – Saturday

We arrived home late in the day.  Our trip took us a total of 9225 miles over 63 days.  We travelled through 15 states.  We slept in 10.  We visited 9 National Parks and Monuments and many state parks; we actually lost count.  The experience was fantastic.  We saw ocean and sea life, volcanoes, glaciers, mountains, canyons, and really big trees.  This country is awesome!
 
Hope you have enjoyed following our journey, we certainly enjoyed sharing it with you.  We’ll be planning again for next year, stay tuned!

Heading Home

September 22, 2013 - Sunday
It got cold last night, in the 30s. The trailer was 51 degrees when we got up, thanks goodness for that electric blankie. We are having a strange electrical issue with our old electric heater. When running on high, 1500 watts, it partially kicks out the breaker. The strange thing is the breaker doesn’t trip, we just lose a couple of outlets, and the outlets that go out are not the ones the heater is plugged into. If we turn off the heater and reset the breaker, the outlets work okay. If we run the heater on low, 500 watts, or medium 1000 watts it doesn’t kick the outlets. We have a newer heater which we will try when we have electricity again. If you have any suggestion about what is going on, we’d love to hear.

We are at a Wal-Mart in Mountain Home, Idaho. The Wal-Marts in Boise no longer permit overnight parking. So we ran done the road another 45 miles. We covered close to 400 miles today. We came across US20 through Oregon which got pretty hilly east of Burns. Once we got past the mountains, it leveled and followed a river, though it was twisty. The scenery was awesome! Plateaus of gold, tan, green, and browns were everywhere. We had no idea eastern Oregon would look like this. At the eastern end is Ontario and I-84. We will follow I-84 to where it joins I-80 just east of Salt Lake City. Our next stop is Evanston, WY.

September 23, 2013 - Monday
Woke to sunny but cool morning, made good use of that cat heater. Headed for Evanston in eastern Wyoming today. Several stretches of road with no services for 30 to 50 miles at a crack, so we needed to do good fuel management. The scenery during the last portion of the drive in Utah around Salt Lake was beautiful. We decided it was more exciting to us than the coast. Hmm...

We arrived in Evanston about 4:30. The town has history in railroad and coal mining. There is a historic area, but we arrived too late to see it. We should have researched it some and got here earlier. Unfortunately we can't stay as we have a reservation at a park we want to visit in Nebraska. Oh well, next time.

This may be the last post until we get home as the remaining stops have no WiFi.

And More Volcanos

September 21, 2013 - Saturday
We visited three very unusual and unique features in this area today. The first was Lava Butte, a cinder cone. When the Newberry volcano area was active, this cinder cone blew up sending cinder bits all over and left a depression. There is a trail around the cone from which the following pictures were taken. At the highest spot on the cone they built a ranger lookout station for fire watch. Note that the cinders were red, due to the high iron content.

The second feature we explored was a Lava Forest. In this area, molten lava came into a forest of trees and encased the tree. Of course it incinerated the trees, but left these columns or tubes depending on whether the tree was standing or had fallen. The pattern inside these columns reflect the texture of the bark. The area is huge and looks so god forsaken, you wonder how things can be growing in here.

The first couple of pictures show the overall area.

This picture is where a tree was standing when the lava flowed in.

This is a tree that was down. Parts of the tube have cracked and fallen in.

The lava runs in excess of 2000F, so the trees are vaporized. The energy, devastation, and shear size of this area really put the earth's forces into perspective.

The third feature we visited was the Lava Cave. This is really a lava tube, like a paper roll tube. It was formed by a river of lava where the upper and side sections cooled while the lava inside remained hot enough to continue flowing. It left a hollow tube. They are not that uncommon in volcanic areas. There are over 500 of these tubes in the volcanic areas in central Oregon.

This one is essentially a cave that starts out about 50 feet in diameter and about a mile later is only about 4 feet in diameter. Over time there are areas where some of the ceiling has fallen to the floor. Water also runs through carrying sand that covers the bottom to several feet in depth. You cannot traverse this cave to the end of the tube because it is crawl space size at the end. The first picture shows the entrance, which was at the bottom of a sinkhole.

This picture is hard to figure out, but it is looking up at the top of the tube. The cave has no lights. Either you bring flashlights or rent a lantern. The inside of a cave defines darkness; you literally cannot see your hand in front of your face. So, it was tough getting pictures, however even with a flashlight that ceiling is black. The contour up there is round like the top of a tube.

This last picture shows the side of the tube. Note the difference in texture, it shows the flow marks of the river in the lower half and the rougher texture as the top of the tube cooled at a different rate. We found this whole thing pretty fascinating.

Tomorrow we leave Oregon heading east on our way home. We will probably make a stop or two along the way. If we have WiFi we'll keep you updated. We are hoping to make Boise tomorrow and camp Wal-Mart. It has been an interesting adventure and we have enjoyed sharing it with you.

More Volcanoes

September 20, 2013 - Friday
We are in Crescent, OR. If you are following along, with map in hand, you will find Crescent along US97 about 50 miles south of Bend. Wow did it get cold here last night, 32F. We now pack an electric blanket and we used it last night. It was 51 in the trailer this morning even with our little heater going on low. But we woke to sun and nearly clear sky.

Our journey today took us up the road to Newberry Volcanic National Monument. this area of Oregon had a bunch of volcanoes blasting away about 7-8000 years ago. Crater Lake was one and the area in Newberry had a bunch. The one we are going to see is younger than Mt. Mazama and Crater Lake. Originally it was a single blast forming a crater about the size of Crater Lake, but when it erupted again about a thousand years ago, it formed two smaller lakes.

They are only about 250 ft deep. In the first picture you can see the two lakes with the land mass created by the most recent eruption in the center.

The lakes are named Paulina Lake and East Lake. The caldera is not as high so there is access to the lakes. Note in this picture a grey mass in the lower right. That is an obsidian flow area. The following picture gives a better view.

That area was formed by molten lava. Pretty cool, eh? We have only seen this type of thing at Haleakala in Hawaii. Here they permit access to this flow area so we have some close-up shots of the rocks.

If you are into gemstones you will know how rare and costly obsidian is. It was here in huge sizes, by the truckload. But, it is protected, take some and there is a $500 fine & 90 days in jail. A volcano produces several types of rocks depending on the geological composition, temperatures, etc. Besides obsidian, which is basically glass with magnetite, there is pumice, cinder, and basalt. The pumice was lava that was full of air when it cooled, so it is light. So no, Lynn has not been lifting weights!

Unlike Crater Lake, Paulina Lake has an outfall in the form of a waterfall. As you can see in the next picture. Lynn took this hanging like a monkey on the side of a cliff. Geez, they construct overlooks with barriers, but no, she has to go get both falls. So appreciate the effort on this one.

Tomorrow we plan to go back up in this area to Lava Land, should be pretty interesting.

Cave and Volcano

September 18, 2013 - Wednesday
We left California this morning heading to Oregon Cave National Monument in Cave Junction, OR. The road up to the Cave was narrow and twisty, not recommended for trailers or RVs, so we made arrangements to drop the trailer in Cave Junction. Our stop for the night was another 30 miles up the road at Grants Pass. Although a bit nervous about doing it, we parked in a church parking lot that the visitor's center recommended. After securing it the best we could, we drove up to the cave.

This cave is unique in a couple ways, first it is one of only a few marble caves in the world. Also, it is relatively small and requires a tour guide. It is not as well known as other caves or visited by as many as Carlsbad or Mammoth and did not come under NPS control until 1909; although discovered in the 1860s. As a result, many stalactites and stalagmites were broken and stolen.

Not apparent to the public is the bio-sphere significance of the many species of plant and animals life supported in the cave. The hike through was pretty strenuous with all the steps and crouching required, but was interesting. The following pictures depict some of the formations we saw.

After the cave, we returned to the trailer, found all was well; hooked up and went on to Grants Pass. The park we selected was nice but noisy due to its close proximity to I-5. Tomorrow we head to Crescent, OR.

September 19, 2013 - Thursday
Today we are headed to Crater Lake. The route was confusing as there are several roads to choose from, with Lynn giving a different route than Mapquest and Garmin. We are not sure if we picked the best or shortest, but we got there around 1PM. We again dropped the trailer, with permission, so we could drive around the park.

Crater Lake is actually an old volcano, Mt Mazama, that erupted about 8000 years ago. The mountain was originally over 12,000 feet tall. When it erupted magma and ash spewed in all directions for hundreds of miles, then the dome fell into the crater that was formed when the magma chamber emptied. The crater then filled with water from rain and snow to a depth of 1200 feet. The rim is about 7500 feet tall, so the top 5000 feet either fell in or blew off.

Crater Lake has no out flow. No water leaves and no rivers can flow up the sides of the caldera. The result is a lake with the purest water there is. Its clarity is over 100 feet! Average water temperature is 38F. Due to this purity, the water is bluer than the sky. There is an island called Wizard Island, that was a mini-volcano that erupted shortly after the big blow. Since it pokes up out of the water, its total height is about 1500 feet. Check out the pictures below, which do not do this place justice.

These pictures are taken on the 33 mile Rim Road. Not much here for hiking as the only trail, the Cleetwood trail, takes you down to the lake. Ha, that sounds like fun doesn't it? No, we did not take it. In the summer there are boat rides out to Wizard Island departing at the bottom of this trail. We are convinced the intent of this trail is to weed out the weaker of our species!

Now,you might ask after seeing these pictures, "Wow, where does all that water come from?"  Well they get an average of 43 feet of snow per year. In most winter months (yes, starting in October) there is 10 feet on the ground. The place finally opens fully in late June. The next picture shows a stick they use to know where to plow.

Next is a self portrait...

Another interesting feature, actually outside of the rim, is a collection of spires formed by the molten lava. They are very unique to this area.

We returned to where we dropped the trailer, picked it up, and drove on to Crescent, OR to see more volcano related stuff.

More Redwoods and An Adventure

September 17, 2013 - Tuesday
Today we decided to explore Fern Canyon. The access road there was an adventure of its own. It runs 4 miles west off of highway 101 to the beach then north another 4 miles. Its all dirt, although today since it rained this morning, much of it was mud and wash board. It was also narrow, very narrow, with sharp curves, and hills, and 2 way. To increase the adventure aspect, you cross 3 streams, one fairly large, about 1½ foot deep. We made it without incident but ticked off everyone following because I went slowly. Amazing, we saw Toyotas, minivans, and even a Mustang in the parking lot. Most were rentals, so they didn’t care, whereas our truckie needs to get us home, so we were very careful.

Okay, after a restroom stop, we embarked on our hike to Fern Canyon. Talk about weird places. The canyon is about 50 feet high with a stream running along the floor. Much of the time you are walking in the stream, about ankle deep, or climbing over logs that are laying in the stream. There is evidence that you would not want to be here in the rainy season. Covering the walls were ferns of various types. They say Jurassic Park II was shot in here. It did look like a dinosaur might show up at any time. A fun day! Check out the pictures.

Tomorrow we head to Cave Junction, back in Oregon for a cave jaunt, then on to Grant’s Pass for the night.

September 16, 2013 – Monday
A little foggy this morning, but it burned off in short order as we drove about 100 miles down to Humboldt State Park and the Avenue of the Giants. Finding specific information about the park and the trails was impossible. No park ranger to be found and the first volunteers we encountered were, I hate to say, useless old farts that should have been home watching Phil Donahue. So we tried a ½ mile loop trail that was so poorly marked we lost our way and made a 1 mile plus hike out of it. We persevered and found some other interesting places to see. The big trees in here are 20 to 22 feet in diameter and there are lots. We were looking for that 50 footer, well we found that is the circumference, not the diameter that is being referred to. Those old trees are 1500 to 2000 years old. Some pictures follow.

Some additional information we have learned about the redwoods. There are three types of redwood trees, the Dawn Redwood, a tiny species that only grows in China. The Sequoia Redwood which is larger in girth but shorter than Coast Redwoods and grows only in central California. The Coast Redwoods that we are seeing grow only in the 4 mile wide 400 mile long region along the northern California coast. They used to extend into Oregon, but have been all logged out.

They do not reliably germinate from seed. So new growth starts in Park Service nurseries, then transplanted a couple times before ending up in a new forest. An old growth forest is too dark for seedlings to grow. So how do redwoods regenerate in the forest? At the base of most old trees are burls which contain the makings of a sprout, or offshoot. At some point they pop out and begin growing. The old parent eventually falls over and the young sprout continues to grow with the help of the parent’s root system and an opening in the canopy to get light.

Coast redwoods only live in this narrow coastal band because they rely on fog and the moisture in it to survive during the relatively dry summer months. Also, the tree produces seeds only every other year. The cones in the pictures have already opened and dropped their seeds. The diametric growth rate of the tree is unpredictable, as they will first try to grow height to get the sun and fog. We saw some trees that were maybe a foot in diameter, but 200 feet tall. It seems once they reach that height then they add girth. They are a very unique tree.

A few gripes about the California State Parks. Real Park Ranges are scarcer then hen’s teeth. The bathrooms have water to wash hands, but nothing to dry them; maybe they expect you to use toilet paper? No hand sanitizer in the outhouses. Roads and trails are poorly marked and their maps are nearly useless.

Klamath appears to be California redneck country. We heard two 3 shot bursts from a rifle last night after dark, maybe around 9. Maybe hunting elk, after dark? Really? There are bear in the park that hang out near the fish cleaning station about 100 yards from our site. The campground is very near the Klamath River and most in here come to fish for salmon and trout. Very nice facilities here and great location for jumping on and off 101.

Sunny California

September 15, 2013 - Sunday
Today we moved down the coast to Klamath, CA. We woke to guess what? Yep, rain and fog, but when we got into California the sun came out and it turned out sunny and clear; in the mid 60s. It was great to see the sun again!

We are at Klamath Camper Corral campground, a nice place and convenient to 101. After setting up, we continued our travels into the Redwood Park. We took a loop road that went out to a bluff overlooking the ocean. A surprise, no redwoods here, but very nice views of the coast and ocean as you can see in the following pictures. With binoculars we saw some seals swimming around.

Next we headed over to Newton B. Drury Scenic Highway. This is a 10 mile drive through an old growth redwood forest. We parked and took a short walk to The Big Tree. It is the second photo down. This tree is 22 ft in diameter and 304 ft tall. It is estimated at 1500 years old. Story has it some guy wanted to cut it down and use the trunk as a dance floor. It is one of the key events leading to the preservation of these trees.

Here in Klamath there is an entrepreneur charging 5 bucks to drive through the trunk of a redwood. Don't wait for that picture! Anyway, that tells you how big these things are. Tomorrow the plan is to run down the road a couple hours to the Avenue of The Giants in Humboldt State Park. There is supposed to be some really big trees, like giants, in that park. Stay tuned.