Dean & Linda Stock
Well-known member
This is Part II of our Alaska trip, which never happened. Instead, we had exciting adventures in Portland?s wonderful hospital and 4 days later arrived home. Dean spent 4 days at Long Beach Memorial and 6 weeks on IV antibiotics at home. The good news is that Dean still has all his toes and hopefully a little more sense. He may realize that he?s not Superman and that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound (or 2 months) or cure. The great news is that for a $36,000 hospitalization, we paid $235. Thank you, Medicare, and his Aetna supplement. The bad news is that it is far too late to go to Alaska, so we?ll have to go next year. However, we will get to see glaciers in Glacier National Park (and maybe a bull moose?).
August 21, 2012 Day 4 Lakeview, OR
We left for Glacier NP and spent Night 1 in the Merced Walmart parking lot?super noisy with train whistles A LOT during the night punctuated with police and ambulance sirens blaring.
Nights 2 & 3 were in South Lake Tahoe with the coach parked behind Harrah?s and with us enjoying lovely weather and all the amenities of the hotel. Tahoe has never been lovelier. They have taken down the trees that were infested with pine bark beetle, and the new small trees are loving the sunlight and growing as we watch. I think the water of Emerald Bay should be in the Top 10 Bays of the World.
Today we encountered lots of smoke from the Berry Hill Fire which was/is huge, and we are camped right down the road from the Fire Base Camp. Hundreds of little individual dome tents were all over a field, and I watched a bright red water-dropping helicopter land. I always wondered how they did it, and I assumed there was some sort of hydraulic crank that let them bring the bucket inside. NOPE. They set down the bucket and land next to it.
I recently found the website ?rvpark reviews?, and I find it very helpful. Unfortunately, as I looked up town after town that we were approaching, the reviews for all the parks showed druggies, criminal activity, dilapidated facilities, tight spots, erratic power, creepy people, and there are no large parking lots (think Walmart), so we drove until 7:30. I love the park I found in Lakeview, and I?d like to stay another day and see the birds at the reservoir and just relax. However, Dean hears the call of the glaciers, so I imagine we?ll be leaving. This is like an oasis in a huge desert.
Staying at Junipers Reservoir RV Resort?FHU, shade, spacious sites, 50 amps, hiking trails, free fishing with rainbow trout 2? long, birdwatching, wildlife on a large working cattle ranch. No bad smells or flies. It?s 11 miles off US 395, but well worth the drive. We were escorted by the host, and I?d rate this 9/10. It doesn?t have a pool, but I didn?t bring a swimsuit anyway. $16.25 (Passport America) or $30 for all others
August 22, 2012 Day 5 Hermiston, OR
We fell asleep to a soft lullaby mooed by the resident cows, and woke up to a bullfight! I love this place! Two macho bulls had literally ?locked horns? and were pushing each other around a large grassy field while all the other cows watched. It reminded me of a combination of wrestlers trying to get the other guy out of the ring and junior high kids watching an after-school fight. Occasionally they would disengage, then lower their heads, and go at it again. They ended up on the other side of the cows who blocked my view, so I never got to see the winner.
The drive was long, almost 400 miles, with quite a few curves, some of which weren?t marked with a ?reduced speed? sign, but they were marked with lots of rubber on the pavement. We found a good park close to the highway, and it was early?only 6:15.
Staying at Pioneer RV Park?50 amps, FHU, grass & asphalt, nice managers, well-maintained, $16 with Passport America (50% off), but the best at any price in the Pendleton area. Superb for a travel-through, but not scenic. No trees, and they have excellent WIFI. They also have cable, but Dean doesn?t remember how to connect it, so we will have to read.
August 21, 2012 Day 4 Lakeview, OR
We left for Glacier NP and spent Night 1 in the Merced Walmart parking lot?super noisy with train whistles A LOT during the night punctuated with police and ambulance sirens blaring.
Nights 2 & 3 were in South Lake Tahoe with the coach parked behind Harrah?s and with us enjoying lovely weather and all the amenities of the hotel. Tahoe has never been lovelier. They have taken down the trees that were infested with pine bark beetle, and the new small trees are loving the sunlight and growing as we watch. I think the water of Emerald Bay should be in the Top 10 Bays of the World.
Today we encountered lots of smoke from the Berry Hill Fire which was/is huge, and we are camped right down the road from the Fire Base Camp. Hundreds of little individual dome tents were all over a field, and I watched a bright red water-dropping helicopter land. I always wondered how they did it, and I assumed there was some sort of hydraulic crank that let them bring the bucket inside. NOPE. They set down the bucket and land next to it.
I recently found the website ?rvpark reviews?, and I find it very helpful. Unfortunately, as I looked up town after town that we were approaching, the reviews for all the parks showed druggies, criminal activity, dilapidated facilities, tight spots, erratic power, creepy people, and there are no large parking lots (think Walmart), so we drove until 7:30. I love the park I found in Lakeview, and I?d like to stay another day and see the birds at the reservoir and just relax. However, Dean hears the call of the glaciers, so I imagine we?ll be leaving. This is like an oasis in a huge desert.
Staying at Junipers Reservoir RV Resort?FHU, shade, spacious sites, 50 amps, hiking trails, free fishing with rainbow trout 2? long, birdwatching, wildlife on a large working cattle ranch. No bad smells or flies. It?s 11 miles off US 395, but well worth the drive. We were escorted by the host, and I?d rate this 9/10. It doesn?t have a pool, but I didn?t bring a swimsuit anyway. $16.25 (Passport America) or $30 for all others
August 22, 2012 Day 5 Hermiston, OR
We fell asleep to a soft lullaby mooed by the resident cows, and woke up to a bullfight! I love this place! Two macho bulls had literally ?locked horns? and were pushing each other around a large grassy field while all the other cows watched. It reminded me of a combination of wrestlers trying to get the other guy out of the ring and junior high kids watching an after-school fight. Occasionally they would disengage, then lower their heads, and go at it again. They ended up on the other side of the cows who blocked my view, so I never got to see the winner.
The drive was long, almost 400 miles, with quite a few curves, some of which weren?t marked with a ?reduced speed? sign, but they were marked with lots of rubber on the pavement. We found a good park close to the highway, and it was early?only 6:15.
Staying at Pioneer RV Park?50 amps, FHU, grass & asphalt, nice managers, well-maintained, $16 with Passport America (50% off), but the best at any price in the Pendleton area. Superb for a travel-through, but not scenic. No trees, and they have excellent WIFI. They also have cable, but Dean doesn?t remember how to connect it, so we will have to read.
Where are you going after Glacier?
