Tag: AirstreamTravel

Adventures in Iowa

~ Wandering Cindi ~ 1 Comment

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.

Family is the Best!

~ Wandering Cindi ~ Leave a comment

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!

Iowa, I was coming for you!

Crater Lake National Park, Prairie Campground and Newberry Volcanic National Monument in Oregon

~ Wandering Cindi ~ 1 Comment

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.

Out of California and Into Oregon (again)

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We had spent a lot of time in the Central California Valley. It was dry and hot and dusty everywhere we had been for most of June and it seemed to be staying that way for July. Our truck was dirty, our camper was dirty, and it was driving us crazy. While we were at Hidden View Aaron decided to hand wash the truck and Airstream with the campground water. That was a mistake. The water was very hard, it was very hot and the truck and camper became covered in hard water spots. The water at Lake of the Springs was no better and made the spots worse. And now, we were at a campground that had no hookups, so washing them again was not an option.

Christie Campground was to be our last California campground for about a month. It had a great paved bike trail around Eagle Lake. We were there for about 5 days dry camping (no hookups). It was a peaceful and quiet campground in the Lassen Volcanic National Forest. We really enjoyed our stay. One thing I regret not getting pictures of is the wildfire damage that we saw as we were leaving the national forest. California wildfires are on the news quite often, especially in the summer. It is sad to see the aftermath of burnt trees, blackened hills and and the remains of what now can only be imagined as once beautiful.

Our next stop was in Grant’s Pass, Oregon on the Rogue River. We were staying at a county park with full hookups again. While we were at the grocery store we picked up some vinegar. We had researched and learned that a vinegar/water mixture would remove all the hard water spots. We also picked up some car wax to apply to the Airstream and the truck. We set to work again and hand washed the camper and the truck each morning. We did small sections at a time so we could wash, dry and wax before the sun would dry it and leave spots everywhere again.

The Airstream and truck were shiny again. The Rogue River was beautiful. We really enjoyed the campground. The sites were a bit close together for our liking, but had trees and shrubbery which made our site feel private. One night, we sat outside and listened to our neighbor sing and play his guitar. We watched small kids riding their bikes. We were close to town, so we did some shopping and treated ourselves to Dairy Queen. It was a good week. And then, it was time to head further north and closer to Wenatchee (again).

Lions, Tires and Trees, OH MY!

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The 4th of July was approaching and we had 2 reservations at Hidden View Campground. The first site we had for 5 days and this site had electricity and water. The site we would have to move to after those days had no hookups at all. It was hot! Our AC was struggling to keep up and the upcoming weekend was forecast to get even hotter. We decided to see if we could find somewhere else to stay that had hookups available and was, hopefully, a bit cooler.

Hidden View really is a great place, but even the ranger we spoke with agreed that the 4th of July holiday was going to be hot and miserable.

We searched and searched. The holiday was almost here, and we didn’t think we would find anything. We decided to check Thousand Trails and see if there was anything available. Why not give it a second chance? We weren’t impressed with the first campground we stayed at but, maybe there were others that are better. We found availability at their Lake of the Springs over the holiday week and decided to give it a try.

We packed it up and hit the road again. As we were cruising up the interstate we heard a loud BOOM! Of course, this BOOM happened right around Stockton, CA. Not the ideal area to be stranded or stuck.

Again, I think someone was looking out for us. It happened just before an exit, and there was a paint store with a large parking lot just off of the exit ramp. Since the camper has duel axels, we were able to limp into the parking lot and get the spare put on the trailer. Then, we were back on our way. Our anniversary was coming up in 9 days, and we decided that new tires for the Airstream would be our gift to each other. The gift for a 24th anniversary is supposed to be opals, but we decided rubber would do the trick.

We made it to Lake of the Springs and set out to pick a campsite. Of course it was a holiday weekend/week and all the best spots were taken. We finally found a pretty secluded spot, parked the camper and strategized how we were going to go about getting the tires replaced without having to haul the camper and hour each way into town. We decided to take in two at a time. We could use the other two tires and the spare to keep the camper stabilized. We did the first 2 on a Saturday and the last two on the following Monday.

Lake of the Springs had no lake! Well, it had a lake that had been drained due to dam repair. There was a severe fire danger, so NO campfires and NO fireworks allowed. Happy 4th of July…there was an onsite laundromat.

These trees mesmerized me…very cool and unique looking.

A few of the campgrounds we have stayed at had cats that would roam around, and as a running joke we called them mountain lions. Well, the ones that visited us at this site were not campground kitties pretending to be mountain lions…they were real mountain lions! I haven’t uploaded a video before, so hopefully this one plays!

If you look, there are 3 that walk behind our camper! The last one seems like it was scoping it out, or just couldn’t figure out the sound of our snoring. Aaron and I slept through this and didn’t know it had happened until we saw the video the next morning. I am so glad we have the cameras because that is the only way I want to view that type of wildlife.

We saw a few deer and a few baby deer, and I will always wonder how many of the babies mafe it to adulthood and how many became a meal for the mountain lions. After our stay at the no lake, Lake of the Springs, it was time to start slowly heading north. We had about 3 weeks or so to get back to Wenatchee, WA for Aaron’s job. We packed it up on the 5th of July and started heading north again.