Two mistakes

When we left Capitol Reef National Park we planned one night on the road to get to our winter park in Mesa, AZ.  We thought we could drive east thru Capitol Reef then head south and spend one night in a Walmart parking lot near Flagstaff then get to Mesa the next day.  But while in the park we notice that Rt. 9 thru the park said no vehicles over 27 feet were allowed on the road.  We are 56 feet when towing.  OK we'll head west out of the area and go thru/by Las Vegas.  No problem and really not much farther but no where near Flagstaff.  We found a couple of possible campgrounds we could use if we needed one but they were  not very far along the way and we wanted day 2 to be shorter.  You can't go directly from Cap Reef to Mesa because there is this huge hole in the ground called the Grand Canyon and you must drive around said hole.

So mistake 1 was we drove past these campground opportunities and continued on since it was early in the day.  When we got near Wickenburg, AZ we were hungry and decided to stop for dinner.  We took a right hand turn off Rt. 93 only to find nowhere to park the RV and nowhere to eat and nowhere to turn around.  That right turn was mistake 2.  But now we are committed to a road that we are not sure where it goes and offers nowhere to turn around to get back on the road we want.  So back roads it is while GPS guides us to I-10.  This cost us about a hour and a half.  No big deal but but now it is 4 in the afternoon and well beyond our usual driving time.  The next place we can see on the map to eat is West Phoenix.  That is only about an hour from Mesa.  So we continued on I-10 and stopped at a truck stop for dinner.  Truck stops always have plenty of room park and turn around.  We had a nice dinner at Denny's...yes you read that right.. a nice dinner at Denny's.  By now it is about 6:30 so rush hour thru Phoenix is over and we should have a smooth ride in.  Which we did and got parked easily even though it was dark.

On top of our 2 mistakes we had one more issue.  In hot weather we drive with the generator on and use it to power the house air conditioning.  There is some debate in the RV world if this uses more or less gasoline than running the engine ac.  But it does reduce the draw on the engine especially in hilly country.  It was 104 outside based on the vehicles thermometer.  Turns out with both ac units running full blast all afternoon the generator continued to run but stopped producing power.  Luckily we were beyond most of the hill climbing and descending so felt OK using the engine ac.  So we turned off the generator and turned on the engine ac.  By the time we got to Mesa the generator had been off for several hours and the air temperature had cooled to a crisp 98.  While we were disconnecting the Jeep from the RV we ran the generator and it was fine.  So no worries there except to know it will overheat and stop producing power in high temps.

Just to review, mistake one was not leaving Capitol Reef early enough to just make a full out run for Mesa.  Then the right turn near Wickenburg cost us time and added frustration.  Plus the ac issue.  It was a long day but we were both glad to get in and it proved to be a benefit to be in a day early.

Glacier NP - East

 Sunrise

Beautiful even thru the smoke

His and Hers?

Elecrical issue

Getting RV repairs takes time, especially in the spring and summer when they are in use.  Usually it is a week or 2  to get an appointment then once the problem is diagnosed a follow up appointment to get the work done.  These repairs are also expensive.  Each time we hook up the Jeep to tow we go thru a safety check.  I'm in the RV and Diana stands behind the Jeep and we test brake lights, turn signals and emergency flashers.  Occasionally we have a problem but usually just reconnecting the electrical line fixes the issue.

The day we left Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park in Montana we had a problem. Nothing on the right side worked.  I reconnected but still nothing.  One other time when we had this problem a mechanic simply spread the slotted pins in the connection and we were fine.  So I decided to try that.  I slipped the screw driver in the slot and twisted slightly and SNAP!  The pin broke off on the RV.  Now I have no hope of getting the lights working.  We were going to be passing thru Bozeman, MT and thought we might be able to get help there.

Most campgrounds have a flyer when you come in with a map of the campground and advertisements of local businesses.  Usually there is one ad for on site RV repair.  So we called the campground and asked if they could recommend someone in the area.  No, but they had a number of a place in Bozeman.  We called and they said they do not do electrical work but call this other place.  We did they said come on in.  They replaced the broken electrical connection on the RV, rewired it so now it charges the Jeep battery while in tow sand had us in and out in 45 minutes and charged us $60.  We are thrilled!

As we are hooking up to leave West Yellowstone the same problem, no lights.  Great!  But we find that the pin in the connection on the Jeep is now broken.  It was a short day to Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone so we decided to go there.  When we got in there was a service station within walking distance of the campground.  We asked if they could fix it.  They said they could but the part would be in the next day.  We ordered the part, had it fixed and spent only a few bucks more than before.  Hopefully this will not be a problem again.

Glacier NP - West

What a great park!  So many amazing views and vistas, tons of hiking trails, just fantastic.  But not a lot of glaciers.  They are melting and it is expected by 2030 the glaciers will be gone.  We started on the west side of the park and spent one week in Hungry Horse.  From there we headed to the eastern side and spent a week in St. Mary.  This post is from the west side.  We took over 100 pictures on the est side but I've selected only a few.  And I'll let these few do the talking.

'Nuff said!

Reynlods Creek Fire - Glacier NP

About the time we got to Hungry Horse on the west side the park the Reynolds Creek fire had been burning a few days.  It started on July 21st. It was about 3,600 acres and working its way eastward. The Going to the Sun road had been closed at Logan Pass because the fire (on the eastern side of the park) was burning close to and across the road.  All activities and trails were open on the west side we just could not take Going to the sun road all the way across.  We could see smoke but other than the road closure everything was normal.

We had actually planned to not take the road all the way as we were scheduled to be on the east side in St. Mary the next week.  So the road closure did not hurt our plans.  We drove to Logan Pass did some great hiking and went back to Hungry Horse.  By the time we got to the east side of the park in the town of St. Mary we could see smoke and as the wind shifted the entire area we were in filled with smoke.  At times we could not see the mountain on the other side of the lake.

Here are just a few pics...

Smoke as seem from our campground in the evening.

A tent city sprung up where all the fire fighters slept.  It was interesting to see 10 - 15 truck loads of fire fighters coming out of the park each night.  There were over 600 personnel fighting the fire.
This is a very small portion of the tent city.  By the time we left there were still 300+ personnel working the fire

We had little hope of the Going to the sun Road opening before we were to leave St. Mary.  On our last day the road opened and we took the drive from St. Mary to Logan Pass.  It was amazing to see the burned out forest.  The fire burned down to and across the road in several places and burned down to the lake several more places.

 These pictures of the burn were all taken from our car as we drove thru.  There was no stopping on the road way. But the fire burned down to the road and across it then burned on down to the lake.

Each morning our campground got a report on the previous day's fire activity and a plan for that day.  The report included lots of information.  For one it seems that this fire was started by an illegal campfire that some one had left unattended.  Over all close to 4,000 acres burned.  The fire was not out when we left and most locals said it would smolder and burn until the first good snow fall in early winter.  The report also indicated that up to the day we left the fire had cost $10.4 million.

In the scheme of things this was a very small fire compared to all the fires in California, Oregon and Washington, but as minor as it was nationally, it really hurt the local economy because so many tourists did not come.

Missoula, Montana

Missoula was just a stop over but we did plan to stay for a week.  Diana has a relative who attended The University of Montana, which is in Missoula.  So after many texts back and for we had an idea of things to do.

We hit one of the local breweries (of course) and found a great beer.  Then we found a Greek Festival that just happened to be going on about 2 blocks away then discovered a great ice cream shop near by.  Stopped back at the brewery and got a growler filled.  Day one was great!

On the campus of the U is a large hill/mountain.  The students have placed a large M on the side of the hill that faces the campus.  One of the things to to was to "hike the M".  It was a great hike with great views of the valley.

We attended a baseball game.  The Missoula Osprey hosting the Helena Brewers.  This is a summer league of the advanced rookies.  A fun night but not great baseball.  We had some rain during the 4th inning and then a great rainbow came out and lasted a long time.

China - the wedding

The wedding was fantastic.  A lot of symbolism and ritual and wonderful to see.  The couple had to serve tea to the parents, cut a lock of each others hair and a few other things that are not part of an American wedding. Fanny, the bride wore 3 different dresses.  A western style white gown,

Then a traditional red for the actual ceremony.  Red is the color of happiness in China, white is the color for sadness and mourning.

Ben even wore the traditional wedding attire.

Love the head gear!

And finally a dress for the reception.  Don't ask about Ben's hat.  I'll just say it has a Polish tradition, not Chinese.

After all that she changed again and went out to party with Ben, family and friends.

It was a beautiful ceremony and we are glad we were there.

An RVers dream day

We stopped in Mosses Lake, Washington for one or two nights, we weren't sure.  We were staying at an Elks lodge and really had a few days to kill.  The first evening I went into the lodge to chat with the local members.  I learned that instead of continuing east on I-90 to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, there was another way.

So we left the next morning and headed north on 17 to Soap Lake not really knowing what to expect.  Soap Lake is a small community built around the lake.  The lake is very high in mineral content and is nick named the "Healing Water".  Native Americans used to come here for the healing effects of the water.  The lake has since been diluted with irrigation run off and other "modern" issues.  But people still come to enjoy the water, pack themselves with mud and enjoy the day.  We were in the RV and pulling the Jeep so we were not sure what we might be able to do because of parking restrictions.  But we got to Soap Lake and found a huge parking lot right by the lake.  We took a quick walk to the water and said "lets go in".

Here we sat for about an hour getting mineralized...is that a word?

From there we continued along a beautiful drive beside the lake and river.  Then we came across Dry Falls.  This is the largest water fall in the world except it is dry.  As glaciers formed melted and reformed they blocked water fro the Columbia River valley and it was forced to this area.  There was so much water and such great force that massive area were flooded, and great cliffs were carved.

We continued the drive on Hwy 155 toward Grand Coulee Dam.  Again the scenery was fantastic, the drive easy and the day beautiful.  We toured Grand Coulee Dam and learned it is about 3 times bigger than Hover dam.  It is wider, produces more electricity, controls more water and except for being slightly shorter is much bigger in every category.

On the drive to the dam we had seen several campgrounds and lots of boon docking spots along Bank Lake.  So after the the dam tour, we drove back and camped by the lake for the night.

This is the sun set.

This, to us, was a perfect day.  Easy drive, beautiful scenery,  plenty of time and places to stop, topped off by boon docking by a lake.  All this because of a few beers with the Moses Lake Elks!

Chian part 3

We are back!  What a great time we had.  We took over 1200 pictures and I promise to not post all of them. I'm not sure how I'm going to structure this but I see a series of posts on various parts of our trip.  These will take some time as we need to edit the pics first. 

We did have a great time.  The first part of the tour was with a tour company and we had 8 other folks with us.  Our guide was amazing in many ways.  The next part we spent 4 days in Shanghai on our own then we flew to Shenyang to meet up with the Beatty family and participate in the wedding.

An odd thing about the international date line.  We left Beijing at 4 in the afternoon and arrived in Seattle at 1 in the afternoon of the same day.  So we arrived before we left!  Awesome!

I'll post China info as pictures become available.

Going to China Part 2

After a few minor delays we got our passports and visa for China.  They came by FedEx while we were in Dayton, Oregon.  Yesterday, June 5, we got our travel documents from Alexander and Roberts, the tour company we are booked with.  We are now in Kent, Washington about 30 minutes from the airport.  So at this point we have all our documents and our airline tickets. 

We are parked in an RV park and will leave both the RV and the Jeep here while we are gone.  We will have electricity to the RV so we don't have to clear out the refrigerator and shut everything down.  Even better the cost of the RV park per day is actually less than if we parked the car at the airport even in lots off property.This is working out so well it is scary.

Looks like China is a GO!

Home cooked turkey

We had never cooked a meal while driving.  So on the drive from Dayton, Oregon to the Kent, Washington (near Seattle) we decided to try it.  After we had been on the road awhile we found a rest stop.  We had prepped an 8 pound turkey breast earlier so all we needed to do was turned on the generator, fired up the convection microwave and pop it in!  The convection microwave creates a lot of heat so we also had to run the AC to keep the place cool.  This is actually great for the generator to get that kind of a workout.  And it does not really consume much gasoline.  By the time we got to our destination and settled the turkey was done to perfection. We had a great dinner with lots of planned overs(leftovers we planned on).  Can't believe we had not done this before and we will definitely be doing this again.

Silver Falls State Park

We had a few days to kill before we needed to be in Seattle for our China trip.  We were not sure what to do with the days when Diana picked up the AAA tour book for Oregon.  She found what AAA called a gem.  So we tried to get into Silver Falls State park for a week.  No dice, but we could get in starting Memorial Day but we had to be out by Friday.  We took it.  What a great park!

The main attraction is there are 10 waterfalls that can be viewed on an 8 mile hike.  We took 2 days to see the falls.  Day one we hiked about 6 miles and saw 7 falls.  Each one beautiful but different from the others.  On day 2 we had to double back some but finished off the last 3 falls in about 4 miles.  Also beautiful.

A bonus was that there were wild flowers and bushes in bloom everywhere.  So there were times it was difficult to decide if you wanted to look at the flowers, the falls or just the general beauty of the park.  If you ever get to Oregon, try o spend a day or two hiking in Silver Falls State Park.

From behind the falls

 You are correct if you counted only 9 pics.  Twin Falls was not visible due to some downed trees.  But, shoot, 9 out of 10 falls in 2 days...not bad.  By the way, Silver Falls SP is about 25 east of Salem in the heart of wine country and Christmas tree farms.

Going to China Part 1

We have a nephew, Ben, who lives and teaches in Shenyang, China.  He has been there several years now.  While there he met a woman, fell in love and is getting married on June 27th.  She is Chinese and her name is Fanny.  We met her in Midlothian when she came with Ben for Christmas in 2013.  She is wonderful and she and Ben are great together.  I've never figured out how Beatty men seem to find beautiful women who are way out of our class, myself included.  We are going to the wedding, but not taking the RV!  Imagine that.

Now the original plan for the summer of '15 was to take a ferry from Bellingham, Washington to Wittier, Alaska, spent 3 months touring Alaska then drive back to the lower 48 thru British Columbia and Alberta Canada.  A great plan that we are happy to postpone.  Rather than take time out of the Alaska trip we have decided to take a tour of China, then go to the wedding, then hang out with my (Bob's) brother and his family.  'll be gone about just under 4 weeks.

There are some logistic items that need to be addressed for anyone going to China.  First you need a Visa.  But before you can get a visa you need an invitation to go to China and a detail itinerary including cities, hotels, and airline info.  This took some work.  The invitation was easy as Ben emailed us one.  Diana worked long and hard to determine what tour, if any, we wanted.  There were spread sheets, emails and phone calls among several possibilities.  She work hard on this while I sat back and just agreed to do whatever she decided.

Once that was figured out came time for the visa application.  Based on our mailing address in South Dakota, we were expected to appear in person at the Chinese embassy in Washington D.C.  What, What!?  But we found thru our tour company that they use a company that will do this for us.  Nice!  One issue is that once we filled out the forms we had to mail our passports and all the documents to this company.  Once they get the visas, they FedEx it all back to us.  Even though we have a mail service in SD it takes a long time for us to get mail.  The current arrangement is that when the documents are ready to ship the company will call us and we will give them an address so it can be shipped directly to us.  No problem except we are not sure when the documents will be ready or where we will be at that time.  Fun stuff.

Now another item that needs to be addressed is different than for most people traveling.  When most folks go on a trip they leave their house and then come back to it.  We have to figure out what to do with our home, the RV.  It would also be convenient if the RV were in the same city we fly from and back to.  Huh!  We are flying from Seattle for a variety of reasons.  After some work, (not as much as Diana's work) I found a place near the Seattle airport for a great price.  We will be able to leave the RV at the campground and plugged into electrical power.  This means we don't have to empty the refrigerator and shut the RV down completely.  A big help.  Additionally we can leave the Jeep with the RV and take a cab to and from the airport.  This saves a boat load of $ on parking fees.  Happy time!

We'll try to keep you updated  with addition posts as needed.

Snow day

We got back from Yosemite on Wednesday evening after a great day.  The weather indicated that there was a good chance of snow beginning Thursday afternoon and in to Friday.  Lee Vining was expected to get 1 - 2 inches.  This was no problem as we had plenty of food and we had full hookups, so no worries.  Thursday afternoon it started snowing...hard.

By the time it was done we got 15.5 inches!  There were lots of broken tree branches, some across our RV.  But luckily they were small and we had no damage.

We had a fun day getting snow off the RV and just enjoying the beauty.  By the next day we were on the road again with no issues.