Kastle's Journey: On the road finally! Travelling through Washington, Oregon, Idaho to Utah. September 26

Yeah! On the road down the I-90 heading east.

Made it as far as Yakima and stayed at the Yakima Sportsman State Park for our overnight. We did stop at the rest area outside of town, but found it really hot and not too comfortable with the lack of room for the slides and all the traffic, so moved on to a pay site. Here's a couple of pictures Ray took from the Rest Area.

Fred G. Redmon Memorial Bridge

Selah Creek looking the other direction from the bridge.

Glad we decided to move to somewhere else, as it was hot outside and in the coach so 2 heat pumps running it took an hour to cool of the inside. Fortunately at night it cools off, so 8pm I turned off the last heat pump running and just open the windows for the night. We only hooked up power as Ray tried the water and it looked gross. We have a full tank anyways.

I had a great sleep but not so Ray. After all this bending and twisting over the past few days trying to repair things, the pain in his back woke him up at 3:30. Hopefully he has a better day today.

We were on our way at 7:45 this morning to get to Les Schwab Tire Shop to have the lug nuts checked on the front tires. P&R Truck Centre in Duncan installed new brakes last month and we needed to make sure they were tight. Back on the road at 8:15am with no charge. Thanks guys. Just after Pendleton we stopped for fuel for $4.97 a gallon. Cheaper than Washington but not by much. Back on the road to Hilgard State Park where we ate our lunch. This park was Freya's favourite with the creek right there. Miss her. We've stayed here overnight a couple of times. $10 per night with no services other than garbage. After lunch we took a bit of a walk to stretch our legs, then back in the coach to carry on.

Hilgard State Park, La Grande, OR

Back on the road toward Farewell Bend State Park. Quite a bit of paving going on, so took a little longer. Boy did we hit some big bugs. The windshield was cleaned only an hour ago. lol Definitely high desert landscape. It was so hot that at 1 pm I started the generator and turn on the heat pump while we were driving as the dash a/c could not keep up at 88F outside with the big glass windshield. This happened yesterday afternoon as well. Glad we have options. :)

Arrived at Farewell Bend by 2:30 in site #42. The drive today is easier on Ray with minimal packing up in the morning and minimal set up upon arrival. As we have a full tank of water, empty waste tanks so we are only hooking up power.

Last time we were at this park was our first trip south with our fifth wheel October 20th 2012. Freya kept barking at the cows next door. It was also cold then sitting outside, with me all bundled up. With the dog after travelling she just wanted to be outside. This time, 9 years later and 3 weeks earlier it's 88F and I'm inside with the A/C on until it cools down later this evening.

Sitting behind the 5th wheel out of the wind!

Glad we got here when we did as by 3:30 more rigs started to arrive.

Farewell Bend State Recreation Area is named after Farewell Bend, the last location where emigrants camped and watered along the banks of the Snake River after following the river for over 300 miles. The next morning they would turn northwest and head into the desolate Burnt River country.

Not too far from the recreation area is the location of an 1860 battle between Snake River Shoshone Indians and emigrant travelers. The site is marked by a small, iron cross that is visible from Highway 30. Follow the short path from the highway to reach the site. Interpretive exhibits tell the story.

At 4 Ray headed out in the car to "see what there is to see" in regards to pictures. I am making dinner for the first time since we left :) Spaghetti with my frozen sauce I made earlier. He headed out at 6 pm to get the "golden light".

This was the first opportunity for him to wander around with his camera.

We enjoyed a quiet night even though A/C ran most of the night, as it did not cool off that quickly. Ready to hit the road to Utah today.

Tuesday morning we were on the road by 8:45, heading further south. Stopped in Boise Idaho at the Walmart for fresh produce to hold us for the next week while exploring the Flaming Gorge. Long day as we planned to get into Utah today and stay at the Earp and James Hitching Post RV in Snowville, UT. This will be the last chance for a full-hookup to get all my laundry done and empty and fill our tanks ready for our next adventure.

We lost an hour with the time change and arrived at 4:15 pm Mountain Time. After setting up, I started work on our laundry. Sure love having it in the motorhome. Another reason to stay at this out of the way RV Park is that they have a great diner, 2 minutes away by car to eat at. The Ranch House Diner is smack dab in the middle of cow country so we figured the steaks should be good and we were not disappointed. With travelling so much, we've not been eating very much or very well as no time to cook.

Steak and potatoes with a lovely green garden salad, all for $21.99 each. That was our breakfast, lunch and dinner today., :)

This one got enough points for you Jim??

After dinner, I kept up with the laundry. No sitting outside, those darn biting +Black Flies were terrible and tiny damselflies that get through your screens on the windows. Needless to say I ran A/C instead of opening windows!

Ray stepped out to take some sunset shots, beautiful.