My time in Iowa was up and I was ready to get back to our wandering life. After a flight cancelation and a scrambled rebooking, I made it back to California. We had one more (for Aaron) night at Orland Buttes and then we packed up and headed north to Lake Shasta.
About half way there, Aaron realized that we had left one of our Ring cameras behind. This is a frequent mistake, but we usually remember in time to turn around and go get it. This time, we were too far to justify going back. We set up camp and ordered a new one to pick up in Redding in a day or two. And I am really, really glad we did! We had a visitor the very next night.
A bear decided to check out the Airstream
When I woke up the next morning, there was an alert that a person was spotted on one of the cameras. Of course, I looked to see who was lurking around our campsite at 3 or 4 in the morning. Ummm, not a person, and I’m pretty sure it was a grizzly bear. Needless to say, we stayed very alert, and the bear spray was never far from reach.
The campground started filling up Friday and was completely full by Saturday night. It was Labor Day weekend, and people were having a great, noisy time. Monday came around, and we had the place almost to ourselves.
We were also able to enjoy a few quiet, rainy days.
The rest of our week was quiet. Murphy swam a lot, Aaron worked, I piddled around. Then, I got a call from my younger brother. It was time to move our dad from assisted living to a skilled nursing facility. He had been on a wait list for one, and there was finally an available room. I began to book my flights back to Iowa to meet up with my brothers and get him settled into his new home.
Murphy decided that he really liked swimming
Aaron and I loaded up and moved to our next destination, Bidwell Canyon State Park. On the way, we did laundry and grabbed groceries. We got there, got set up, and settled in. The next day, I packed my bags, watched deer wander by, and then after a good night’s sleep, it was time to head back to the Sacramento Airport and back to Iowa.
More family time! I got to spend almost two weeks at my mom’s house. I was able to visit with my dad every day. I got to see my niece before she went off to college at Syracuse, I was able to get some time with my nephew. A couple of days with my younger brother and sister-in-law before and after they took my niece to NY. I hadn’t seen my dad in over a year, same for my brother and his family, and I hadn’t seen my mom since January.
Murphy and Aaron were on their own while I was gone.
Aaron sent me Murphy pictures every day. When we talked each evening, I got to hear about their adventures (lots of walks, bird chasing, and bone finding), and I shared my adventures with him.
Mom and I did have some fun adventures! Mom may be retired, but she is a busy lady!
We joined members of her church filling meals to assist an international group in fighting starvation in third world countries. It was very special to be able to do something meaningful and helpful with mom.
Monday seemed like a really good day to do some tourist type stuff. It was also a really good day to visit the cemetery where my grandparents are interred. I was grateful to be able to pay them my respects. Eldon, Iowa was not too far from there and I had never been to the Gothic House. This house is featured in a world famous painting by Grant Wood titled American Gothic.
1930 painting by Grant Wood
There is a museum on the property that I was excited to see. There is also a restaurant there that has wonderful (so I was told) tenderloin sandwiches. I don’t think anyone can ever make a tenderloin as good as my grandpa made, but I really wanted one! To me, that sandwich is an Iowa classic.
We made it to Eldon and the Gothic House, and the museum was closed. We were both a bit disappointed, but, I got to see the house and get a selfie or two. Since the museum wasn’t open, it was early for dinner. Mom mentioned an Amish store in a nearby town, so we headed over to see what that was about. The best description I can think of is an Amish Walmart. Groceries, clothes, furniture, sundries, shoes, material for sewing, and all sorts of other things were in abundance. It was a great place to stop.
After our shopping, it was time to go back to Eldon to get that tenderloin sandwich! Well, it was Monday, and the restaurant was closed. Mom and I just giggled and headed back towards Burlington. Mom knew that in Fairfield, where she grew up, there were a couple of restaurants that would suit our needs. One option was family style and the other was a cider pub that served food as well…
Both of those options were closed on Mondays as well.
I had told mom that I really missed pizza delivery. So, after option 2 and 3 were closed, she mentioned a pizza place back in Burlington that had really good pizza. As we got closer to town, I called to place a pick-up order.
DANG MONDAY!! I just wanted to eat!
We ended up ordering 1 sausage and pepperoni pizza from a Casey’s gas station. When we got there to pick it up, they had made 1 sausage pizza and 1 pepperoni pizza. At that point, I was happy to have food, so I didn’t complain. We made it back to mom’s house and enjoyed our 5th choice of a meal.
Another evening, we want to Salem, IA to enjoy a reputedly great prime rib dinner. There was a festival in town, and the restaurant had a limited menu. No prime rib for me, but I was able to get that tenderloin sandwich. We just laughed and laughed.
My brother was planning on visiting Gettysburg on his truck to NY. Most of the national park was closed for maintenance. It must have not been our family’s week.
Overall, it was a great 2 week trip and some special time with my family. We went to high tea, unboxed my mom’s wedding dress for the first time since she was married,and I had a surprise visit with my Uncle Darrell! He had a few cancelations happening in his world and was able to make it down to Burlington for a day to spend with mom and myself. I hadn’t seen him in far too many years. It made my special visit even more wonderful. Mom and I checked out a few campgrounds in the area and kicked up dust on quite a few gravel roads.
My time was up, and I was ready to get back to my Airstream, my husband, and the dog. The day after I got back to California, we were going to head to Shasta Lake near Mt. Shasta. It was time to get back to the house on wheels and start rolling again.
After time with Gage, a few days with Murphy getting acquainted with camper life and camper life getting acquainted with Murphy , it was time to head south into northern California and meet up with Aaron’s cousin, Ethan, his wife Lara, and their dog Tango. They live in California and recently purchased an RV! We had not seen each other in quite a few years and this was the perfect way to meet up and get to know each other all over again. Aaron and Ethan grew up together and all four of us had spent time hanging out at family functions. But, we had not really spent time together just the four of us. We made up for that very quickly.
Photos by Lara (thank you Lara!!!!!)
Lara and I had both looked for a dog friendly campground, and Lara found Lighthouse Cove in Crescent City, CA. We thought it ironic that our Louisiana guys would reunite in a different Crescent City than New Orleans. It was the perfect find! There were beachs and bikes paths, a cool town, and redwoods.
(photo by Lara-if it wasn’t for her, there wouldn’t be very many pictures of this great week!)
We had amazing Thai food with some delicious sake to drink, found a cool bay side sushi place with surprisingly well priced drinks, a micro brewery with excellent beer and food, and a hotel restaurant with good drinks and appetizers overlooking the Pacific. The best part of it all was the company. Aaron and I have enjoyed our wanderings and time with each other, but being able to socialize with other people has not happened often. Ethan and Lara were perfect people to spend time with.
Tango, Murphy, Lara and I spent a lot of time walking this beach. Murphy was learning from Tango and I was learning from Lara. She was key to helping us start Murphy’s training. He is a better behaved dog, and we are better dog owners due to her knowledge and skill. Tango is an older dog and Murphy just a year old. Tango put him in his place a few times. It was good for Murphy. I’m not sure how good it was for Tango, but, he tolerated the hyper young pup. I’m pretty sure Murph misses Tango more than Tango misses him…
We hiked through some redwoods at the Jebediah Smith State Park, rode our bikes around town, and had some fun, slightly heated card games (and Lara was right about the rules to Spades-we owe her more games so she can kick our butts like we deserve lol).
As much as we did, the best part of the week was time with family. Aaron and I are really enjoy our life on the road and the seclusion that comes with it. That is in part what makes weeks like the one we spent with Ethan and Lara even more special. We appreciate the special times more now than ever.
Our week together was ending. Ethan and Lara needed to make their way home, and Aaron and I needed to make our way to Sacramento. I had a flight out of Sacramento to Iowa to spend more time with family! Aaron and Murphy were going to be on their own for almost two weeks while I was visiting my parents, brother, sister-in-law and my niece and nephew.
We said our goodbyes and hit the road with smiles on our faces, memories in our hearts and promises of future camping plans. We are looking forward to seeing Ethan and Lara again in the next few months!
We headed north to the Oregon/Washington border to spend one more week in Boardman, OR before heading up to Wenatchee, WA and our oldest son, Gage. The week was uneventful in Boardman. The Columbia River was beautiful as always and we took a bike ride down their really nice bike path. Then, it was time to head north to Wenatchee.
Aaron and Gage spent the week working together, and I spent the week trying my best to ignore our very rude neighbors. The camp sites were small and narrow. Our neighbors did not care about our space and infringed on it whenever they so desired.
Saturday rolled around, and Aaron and I were leaving Sunday, so we decided to meet up with Gage in Leavenworth, WA for a fun little side trip. Leavenworth is a Bavarian style town nestled in the mountains. It is VERY dog friendly. We saw people with their dogs everywhere. Gage and I knew that Aaron had been missing having a dog. Gage and I, being the people that we are, pointed out every cute dog and relentlessly teased Aaron about not having one, and continuously asked him how much he missed having a pup. In two weeks, I was to fly to Iowa to spend some time with my family and Aaron was going to be left alone, or so we thought….
As we were enjoying lunch, Gage and I had figured out that Aaron was most likely planning on getting a dog as soon as he dropped me off at the airport. Aaron finally fessed up that he had been looking at dogs at an animal shelter in Sacramento (where I was to fly out). Gage thought that was a bad idea and that I should be involved in choosing our new travel companion. After lunch, it was time to head back to Gage’s truck. We had met him at a park and ride and then rode into Leavenworth together.
Gage asked Aaron where he would like to go; Aaron was very vague in his answer. He would only say “to Wenatchee.” Gage then took it upon himself to drive right past our truck and on to the Wenatchee Humane Society. He had seen his dad looking at their website when we had gotten into Gage’s truck. Long story short, we now have Murphy the camper dog. It was love at first sight for Aaron and Murphy. He is a sweet and smart puppy. He is about a year old and still VERY puppy. Luckily, he was already house trained and knew a few commands.
After an eventful trip to the pet store, we said goodbye to Gage and headed back to the camper to get ready to move south the next day and introduce Murphy to the nomadic life. We had one more stop in Oregon for a few days before heading to Crescent City, CA to meet up with Aaron’s cousin, Ethan and his wife, Lara to spend a week on the northern California coast and have even more family time.
The pup settled into the camper life immediately. We stayed a few day at McKay Falls campground and then back on the road south.
It was time to get to the coast and have some fun with more family!
Our route north was going to take us around Crater Lake National Park. Aaron and I looked at the map, decided we were not in a rush, and we should drive through the national park instead of around it. Why would we waste an opportunity to see something beautiful? Detour time!
This lake was once the peak of Mount Mazma Volcano which collapsed and became the deepest lake in the United States and the 7th deepest lake in the world. According to the National Park service it is the cleanest and clearest body of water in the world. It was beautiful! And in July there was still snow! To Aaron and I (southern as we are) snow existing in July is crazy. We both knew that snow exists, especially in high altitudes, but seeing snow in July was a novelty to both of us.
We drove the western half of Crater Lake NP and then we kept heading north to our next destination, Prairie Campground near the Newberry Volcanic National Monument. The campsite was so dusty and dry! Down a hill, behind our site was a creek. It was a nice distrqaction from the dry, dusty site we had chosen. In the evenings, with the windows open we would fall asleep hearing the distant babbling of the creek.
We decided to head on up to the volcanic monument. We saw lava flows that had turned into obsidian, and a beautiful waterfall. We took some dirt roads and learned that there are a lot more volcanos in the US than we had ever imagined. This was an educational and beautiful excursion.
All of those black rocks were lava that turned into obsidian glass rocks. They are shiny and sharp and beautiful. The lava field was so impressive in size.
We really enjoyed exploring the national park, our campsite and the Newberry Volcano, but it was time to head north again for one more stop in Oregon. Our truck needed another wash. We were headed back to Boardman for a bit (Amazon packages, our mail from Florida and full hookups) before finally going into Washington and getting to see our oldest son, Gage.
Wandering Cindi 