RV Odyssey Recap

 I've compiled some statistics about our first big RV trip. It was actually 2 trips back to back with about 36 hours at home between them.

We left home on 9/19/2022 and traveled to Florida where we camped at Walt Disney World until hurricane Ian chased us out. We returned home just long enough to swap our Florida attire for Northwest attire, then headed west to join Jennifer and Eric on a Northwest adventure. On 10/21 we finally arrived back home after our 33 day journey.

We traveled over 8,600 miles through 16 states. We spent 2 nights at home, 6 nights at hotels, and 24 nights camped in our Thor Sequence RV. Most of our campsites had full hookups or water and electric. A few were electric only and we spent 4 nights of full dry camping.  We visited Austin, Roland, and Christian. We enjoyed campfires, some tasty campground meals prepared by Eric, and traveling with Jennifer and Eric.

Points of interest visited on this trip include:

Florida Visitor Center, Walt Disney World, Falls Park at Sioux Falls, Porter Sculpture Park, Corn Palace, 1880 Town, Wall Drug, Crazy Horse Memorial, Mount Rushmore, Devil's Tower, Glacier National Park, Seattle Arboretum, Pike Place, Museum of Flight, Leavenworth Bavarian Village, Point Wilson Lighthouse, Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge, Olympic National Park, Devil's Punchbowl, Sol Duc Falls, Cape Flattery, Hobuck Beach, Ruby Beach, Tree of Life at Kalaloch Beach, Peter Iredale Shipwreck, Cannon Beach, Y Knot Winery, Snake River Canyon, Shoshone Falls

Cheapest gas: $2.999 in Smyrna, Tennessee

Most expensive gas: $5.899 in Preston, Washington

Average miles per gallon in the RV: 15.2

Average gas price by state:

FL	$3.476		GA	$3.166		IA	$3.649		ID	$4.419
IL	$3.939		KY	$3.139		MN	$3.559		MT	$4.164
NE	$3.794		OR	$5.059		SD	$3.696		TN	$2.999
UT	$4.099		WA	$5.469		WI	$3.899		WY	$3.949

Hey It's Good, To Be Back Home Again

 Friday was the home stretch. We slept a little later this morning, and we got delayed for a bit talking to some fellow campers interested in our Class B RV, so we didn't get on the road until 11:15 am. We anticipated a little over 3 hour drive, but took a short detour when we got to La Salle IL. We took a nostalgic drive through the town where Janet often spent summers visiting her cousins, aunt, and uncle. Her aunt and uncle have passed, and the cousins moved away, but the house is still there and the neighborhood is mostly unchanged. We stopped at their parish church where her cousin was married, then resumed our drive home, arriving by 3:30 pm.

After unloading the RV, we drove to Janet's sister's to pick up our cat Dusty who has been living under her care since we began the trip more than a month ago.  Dusty took a little time to warm up, but I think he's happy to be home in his familiar surroundings.

Our RV Odyssey has been a great adventure. We saw many wonderful places and learned a lot about living in an RV for an extended time. I will certainly do it again.

Watch for a final recap in a day or three.

Racine Family House in La Salle

St. Patrick Parish Church

St Patrick Church

Crossing the Finish Line

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

Thursday morning we left the Horse Motel about 10 am. It seems to consistently take about 2.5 hours to get on our way in the morning. I get up around 7:30, start the coffee pot, get dressed and get out breakfast items. Janet gets up around 8:00 and we have breakfast, and drink a couple of cups of coffee while browsing our iPads. Then Janet usually cleans up breakfast dishes while I start disconnecting the hookups and emptying the tanks. You’d think all that wouldn’t take more than an hour and a half, but somehow it does. Maybe we could trim the time spent lingering over coffee but it probably wouldn’t gain more than a half hour, and we both enjoy a relaxed morning before hitting the road so I think we have to accept that we need 2.5 hours before we’re ready to go. 

We didn’t have any agenda for Thursday except to make more progress towards home. Initially we planned to stop west of Iowa City, but we went a bit farther and stayed east of it. We’re in a campground right off I-80. There’s only about 200 miles to go so we should be home in a little over 3 hours.

Plus 2.5 hours to get going in the morning. 😉

Horse Motel

 Our travel Wednesday took us through a little more of Wyoming and a lot of Nebraska. The scenery changed from wilderness to cultivated farm fields. More trees began to appear. We finally crossed back into the Central Time Zone. We had a tentative plan to stop at a campground near Kearny, but continued to investigate other options as we drove. Our RV has a Winegard device on the roof that (for a price) provides internet access as long as there is ATT cell service.

Janet found an interesting Harvest Host site in York, NE and we decided to stay there for the night. Most HH locations don't offer any hookups but this one had 30A electric available.  

The host site is the Diamond B Horse Motel, and provides safe, comfortable, overnight stabling for horses or other animals that are being trailered for multi day travel. As a Harvest Host site, they also allow RVers to park overnight.

When we arrived a trailer was unloading several horses, and another pulled in while we watched. There was also a big Class A RV already there, and another Class B like ours pulled in just after sunset.

When we got out on arrival were were first greeted by a friendly tabby cat begging for attention.  There were a number of other animals on the grounds including another cat, a dog, a pen of mules, and some additional horses. There were also quite a few mosquitoes, so we didn't stay outside too long.

Ranch Entrance

Horse Motel

Annabelle - greeter

Horse being led to the stable

Waiting to be stabled

Stables with another cat

Resident Horse

Sunset

Miles To Go Before I Sleep

 No pictures today. We had one stop planned to take pictures of the Devil’s Slide, a geological formation alongside I-84 that resembles a giant chute or playground slide. But there was construction on I-84 and the entrance to the viewing turnout was closed. This is what it looks like from Google Street View.

Shortly after the Devil’s Slide we joined I-80 where we will stay all the way back home. The drive through Idaho and Wyoming was unremarkable, with a lot of long rises and long descents that were mostly straight. There were some pretty cliffs and rock formations that occasionally broke up the view of horizon to horizon high desert tundra. We stopped for a late lunch and gas in Rawlins WY, and then continued to Cheyenne WY where we stopped for the night. We had a light dinner of sub sandwiches from  Silver Mine Subs. 

Homeward Bound

 We left the Oregon coast Sunday morning, heading inland and towards home.  Our propane gauge was showing 3/4 empty so we figured it was time to refill. Fortunately the campground we stayed at had a propane filling station so we topped it off. Even though we've been using the furnace and water heater daily since leaving home on this trip, this is the first time we needed to add propane.

The drive towards Portland was long and winding, but the drive along the Columbia river was scenic. We stopped for gas a couple of times, and for lunch and dinner. We made it almost to Boise before stopping for the night at a Fairfield Inn at Nampa, ID.

It was nice staying at a hotel for a night. We each took a roomy shower, and the bed was comfy. Just being able to walk around the room without bumping into each other was a plus.

Scenic Drive

Scenic Drive

Scenic Drive

Monday morning we set out eastbound on I-84. About an hour and a half out we stopped at the Y-Knot Vineyard and Winery.  We had seen it as a Harvest Host location and would have liked to stay there a night, but it was too far to go Sunday and too close Monday, so we just stopped by to see it and share a wine flight and lunch in their restaurant. 

Y Knot Winery

Winery Entrance

Restaurant and Tasting Room

Vineyards

After lunch we resumed our travel on I-84 until reaching Twin Falls, Idaho. We stopped there to see the falls, but stopped first at the Visitor Center for an overlook of the Snake River Canyon. The canyon is vast and splendid to observe from the lookout.  The Perrine Bridge spans the canyon carrying US Hwy 93 traffic across.  The bridge is also a popular location for BASE jumpers who are permitted to use the bridge without permits.  We saw a couple of jumpers meticulously preparing their equipment on the grass in front of the visitor center. We didn't stay to watch them jump because we needed to continue our drive and wanted to see the falls first.

Snake River Canyon

Perrine Bridge

BASE jumper working on his parachute

So today we learned that while the falls in Sioux Falls, SD are called Sioux Falls, and the falls in Niagara Falls, NY are called Niagara Falls; the falls in Twin Falls, ID are NOT called Twin Falls. Telling Waze to take you to Twin Falls puts you in the town center of Twin Falls.  We figured out that we actually wanted to go to Shoshone Falls and finally found our way there. The road to the falls overlook was one of those winding, too narrow, switchbacks that make you pray you won't meet an oncoming car. Fortunately it was short and we survived.  

The falls are nice. Sometimes called the Niagara of the West, they are higher than Niagara, but can't compare with the volume of water. Their setting within the Snake River Canyon make them pretty though.  We were there at the right time of day to catch a rainbow in the mist.

We originally planned to stop for the night somewhere beyond Salt Lake City, but our sightseeing adventures delayed our progress so we stopped at a KOA near Brigham City, UT.

Shoshone Falls with Rainbow

Snake River Canyon Below The Falls

Requisite Selfie

The Oregon Trail

 After 17 days on the road for this part of the trip, we finally reached Oregon. We didn't follow the original Oregon Trail, and fortunately no one died of dysentery, but it did seem like a really long voyage.

The misty fog had cleared by morning so we took a walk on Kalaloch beach. The beach appears to stretch on forever, and is littered with huge driftwood.  There were also numerous crab remnants scattered on the beach, left by predator birds I assume.

Giant Driftwood

Driftwood Logs

Crab Shells

One of the points of interest on Kalaloch beach is the Tree of Life, an unbelievably living tree whose root system has been completely exposed by erosion. We marveled at it and climbed up to the cave below.

Tree of Life

Tree of Life

Since yesterday's misty fog had cleared, we backtracked to Ruby Beach for another look. It was worth the trip because we got a nice morning view.

Ruby Beach

Ruby Beach

This was where we parted with Jennifer and Eric, since they had plans to return to the Seattle area to do some boat shopping, and we were continuing to Oregon before beginning our return trip home. There were some emotional goodbyes, but we were grateful for the time we spent traveling together.

Happy Campers

Jan and I drove south on Hwy 101, crossing the amazing Astoria-Megler bridge that connects Washington to Oregon. We stopped at the Fort Stevens State Park to see the remaining 116 year old wreckage of the ship Peter Iredale that ran aground there in 1906.

Astoria-Megler Bridge

Shipwreck

We continued south to Cannon Beach where we got a view of the iconic Haystack Rock from the beach. This concluded our sightseeing for the day and we camped at an RV park near the town of Cannon Beach.

Cannon Beach

Haystack Rock

Foggy Beaches

 Our second morning on Hobuck beach we woke to hazy skies and a fog covered beach. Our plan for the day was to travel independently and meet Jennifer and Eric at the next point of interest, Ruby Beach. We left before them and drove to Forks where we gassed up and stopped at a grocery store. There was a coffee shop near the grocery so we grabbed coffee and pastries and ate them in the parking lot. As we were leaving we saw Jennifer and Eric pull into a laundry where they planned to do some washing. We told them we’d continue to Ruby Beach and wait for them there. 

Foggy Hobuck Beach

It had been sunny and warm in Forks but Ruby Beach had the same fog cover and cool temperatures that we woke to in Hobuck. You could see the shore, but could barely make out the geological features the beach is known for. We hoped it would clear but was still foggy when Jennifer and Eric arrived. We might have seen more if we hiked down to the beach but it was late afternoon and we needed to get to our next campsite to nab a couple of first come first serve campsites before dark, so we left Ruby and headed to Kalaloch beach campground. Kalaloch also was fog draped but even so, all the prime beach view sites were taken when we arrived. However there were still many other sites to choose. We set up next to each other and shared dinner and a bottle of wine next to the campfire.

Foggy Ruby Beach

Kalaloch Campsite

Kalaloch Campers

Northwest Washington

Monday morning Jennifer and Eric decided to forego hiking down to the spit so instead we drove to Lake Crescent and hiked to the Devil's Punchbowl. We had lunch there, then hiked back to the parking lot. We drove to our next campsite in Bear Creek and discovered our coach batteries were not charging while we drove. The Bear Creek campground did not have electric hookups so we spent the night conserving our power to ensure we had enough for the refrigerator and water pump.

Hike to Devil's Punchbowl

Hike to Devil's Punchbowl

Devil's Punchbowl

Devil's Punchbowl Bridge

Jennifer

Bear Creek Campsite

Bear Creek Campsite

We made it through the night without depleting our batteries, only dropping to about 40%.  When we started up the RV Tuesday the engine charge appeared to be working again. The previous night I had tried several remedial actions recommended in the Thor Facebook group we follow, but I wasn't sure any of them helped. Eric theorized that maybe letting the battery get below a certain level allowed the charging system to reset and begin working again. Whatever it was, we were glad to see our batteries climbing back to 100%. We still worried that the charge problem might return so Jan and I moved to a different campground with electric hookups, while Jen & Eric continued to stay at Bear Creek.

Jan and I drove to the new campground to secure our site while Jennifer and Eric started out for Sol Duc Falls. We caught up to them without much time lost. Along the drive we stopped at the Salmon Cascade where in the summer salmon can be seen leaping to make their way to the spawning pools upstream.  There weren't any leaping salmon in October however.  We continued to the falls parking area and hiked about 3/4 miles to the falls and back. Afterward, we stopped to eat at the Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort but the restaurant wasn't open for a couple of hours yet so we changed the plan and drove back to Bear Creek campground where I made some hamburger patties and Eric cooked them. After dinner I got my guitar out and played for a while. Finally we left Jennifer and Eric at Bear Creek and drove to our campground about 6 miles away.

Salmon Cascade

Sol Duc Falls

Jennifer

Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort

Wednesday we left the campsite around 9:15 and headed to Neah Bay.  The drive took us along the coast of the northwest tip of Washington state and offered some beautiful views of the Salish Sea and Canada's Vancouver Island. We stopped a couple of times and at one of the stops we were fortunate enough to see a whale. We met up with Jen and Eric in Neah Bay and stopped at a small restaurant for a lunch including fish & chips and chicken fingers.  We continued on to the planned campground and were pleased to find it was beachfront with a beautiful view looking west over the ocean.  We decided to just enjoy the campground and spend the afternoon relaxing and watching the ocean. Jan & I drove to town and back for some supplies. In the evening I took out my guitar again and gave Eric some introductory guitar lessons. We watched the sunset and I played a few tunes on my guitar again. Some friendly nearby campers came over and brought out a guitar to entertain us some more.  We sat around the campsite until way past dark.

Salish Sea & Vancouver Island

Humpback Whale

Humpback Whale

Whale Tail

Neah Bay Restaurant

Campground Beach

Beachfront Campground

Chillin' in a Chair

Thursday morning we made the coffee and Eric made pancakes & eggs for breakfast. After breakfast we drove to Cape Flattery and hiked the trail to the point lookout at the Northwesternmost Point of the United States.  The views there were awesome, but we were a little disappointed there were no whales. We hiked back and drove to town for lunch and firewood, then back to camp to enjoy another afternoon watching the waves on the shore from our RV. Eric made a campfire and cooked dinner on their grill. We sat around the campfire until it burned down to coals, then called it a night.

Cape Flattery Trail

Jen & Eric

Cape Flattery View

Cape Flattery Lighthouse

Cape Flattery View

Cape Flattery

Campfire & Sunset