Our Journey begins!

Grab a map of the US and follow our journey!

Denis and Mary Umstot

1 October 2011, Bill’s first day of retirement.  Rise and shine early to start our road trip, leaving Richland WA we head to the western portion of the state. Bill opted to drive I-90 and planned to take I-405 North, but as luck would have it the exit was closed.   No choice but to continue on I-90, we head for Seattle and are rewarded with stop and go traffic until we were North of Everett.   Our first stop is Marysville (Port Susan campground) to visit our friends Denis and Mary Umstot .  Our gracious host’s gave us the windshield tour of their campground, provided excellent meals, and an afternoon trip to
La Conner.  On the return trip to
the campground we stopped at a couple roadside produce stands to pick up some fresh vegetables and a couple of pumpkins for Mary.  We plan to meet up with them in January to enjoy the Florida Keys.

A unique bicycle - La Conner Washington

3 October 2011 we head south back through Seattle.  This time we were early enough to utilize the express lanes.  The remainder of the week we stayed on our lot at Lost Lake Resort. The video is of an Eagle catching a fish at our "Lost Lake".

We must make time to sort and store more of our (my) stuff to make space in the coach.  As expected we had gray skies and some rain.  We picked up the CR-V from the body shop Wednesday evening, and Thursday morning we dropped it off tTo have the tow-bar, invisible break, rear hitch and cargo carrier with roof mounts installed.  This turned out to be an all day job and we had to take the coach to complete the wiring connections.  Unfortunately the cargo carrier we had selected was too long for our car.  So, order a different one and return Friday to have it installed.  Friday evening was spent with our good friends Dave and Jacquie Owens in Lacey, WA.  We initially met the Owens’ at Alconbury Royal Air Base, United Kingdom where Dave was Bill’s First Sergeant and later my First Sergeant while stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.  

Jay and Blanche Severns

8 October 2011 final walk around our Lost Lake Unit (considered an open air condominium - a private RV Resort), secure trash cans and cover the Lexus. Attach tow vehicle to the  motorhome, stop for one final Latte at S&T, more farewells and we head South to Oregon where we enjoy a very short lunch break with daughter in-law (Chris) and granddaughters (Madyson and Alissa).  Farewells are exchanged and we once again turn the engine over and head East on I-84.  Next stop is Stanfield, OR where we stay three nights with Jay and Blanche Severns.  We parked in their very long driveway next to their coach.  While in Stanfield we were given a windshield tour of the area to include McNary Dam where we watched fish make their way through turbulent waters, buffalo and Jay and Blanche’s hometown of Echo, OR.  A side trip back to Richland and Kennewick to pick up the fifth set of lenses for Sandie’s new glasses and for Bill a recheck of the retina that had been reattached prior to our departure from the area. Unfortunately we are now crunched for time to reach our first destination at Heber Springs Arkansas.   We had hoped to head East on the first of October…a good lesson on patience.  We realize that we have passed through areas and will continue to pass through areas where our friends have made their home.  Sorry we can’t stop for leisure visits this trip.

Snake River - OR/IDA border

11 October 2011 our full time journey gets underway once again. Continuing East on I-84 we head for Idaho and stop for the evening at a Wal-Mart in Burley, ID.  This was a day of crossing the Snake River.  I lost count of how many times we crossed the river or drove along its banks – at least a half dozen if not more. Even our overnight stay was close to the river - two blocks.

Orem Utah

12 October 2011 we head south on I-15 through Ogden, Salt Lake City and Orem Utah.  We were expecting to experience heavy traffic in Salt Lake City, but were pleasantly surprised as we sailed right through.  That is until we reach the area of an accident.  Still traffic slugged along until we were clear of the accident site – motorcycle to our far right and a couple banged up cars to our far left.  We do not know if this was one accident or possibly two.  As for the back-up of traffic, I have to say it was nothing compared to what we have been accustomed to in Seattle and the extremely heavy morning and evening  traffic  since the build-up of military personnel at  Fort Lewis – now named Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) located South of Tacoma and North of Olympia Washington.  Our home and home RV Park are in this general area.  Continuing South on I-15 we stop for lunch, dog walk and a good stretch in Orem Utah.  Sandie has a classmate from her primary and secondary school days that lives in Orem, so,  Jerry (Gerald) Cliff here is thanking of you!  After lunch we departed the Interstate at Nephi and hopped on HWY 28 to Salina where we stayed overnight at the Butch Cassidy Campground.  More pictures are available at:  https://picasaweb.google,,key=Gv1sRgCIG23qvdrfqfdg

Salt Wash

13 October 2011 we rise and shine early with a specific destination in mind.  From Salina we jump on I-70 East.  We quickly discovered that we absolutely had to do some sightseeing as the topography was breath taking!  If you view our photo collection for this leg of our journey you will note that we went camera crazy – got to love digital technology. More pictures (including bugs on the windshield) encompassing 128 miles on I-70 East through Utah:   
https://picasaweb.google...ey=Gv1sRgCPe0y8-dnr2KogE

Windows of the world

 We leave I-70 and head South on HWY 191 and as we approach the entrance to the Arches National Park we decide to stop.  We were told a drive through the entire park (round trip) would take two hours – without stopping at viewpoints. .  We left our coach at the Visitors Center and disconnected the Honda to take this marvelous detour in our journey. Bill and I wanted a closer look so we stopped several times.  We spent four hours and ran low on fuel so we skipped the Devil’s Garden portion of the park..  In our opinion this is a must see again area.  When we do, we will spend the day so we can hike the primitive trails.  We left the park late afternoon and decided to call it a day.  We found a campground in nearby Moab, OK Campground, and recuperated from the days adventures.  Obviously we did not get to our pre-planned destination for the day. Click on the link below to view our collection of photos taken at Arches National Park. https://picasaweb.google....key=Gv1sRgCKqun5ralbDyWQ

14 October 2011 we continue South on Hwy 191 and then East in Monticello on HWY 491 taking us into Southwest Colorado.  As we travel along the 491 we shift direction south into New Mexico. Not much for scenery today so maybe we can make up some of the lost time – then again, we are still on track to arrive on time in Arkansas.  We continue south to Gallup New Mexico where we once again enter the interstate – this time it is I-40 East to Albuquerque New Mexico. We look forward to returning to Albuquerque another time so we can partake in the Hot Air Balloon Festival in early October.  We just missed it this year by a week - bummer.  Diesel prices are significantly lower in New Mexico @ $3.55 vs. Oregon and Washington @ $3.99 per gallon.  Our overnight accommodation is at the FamCamp at Kirkland Air Force Base.

15 October 2011 we head further east on I-40...will write again in a few days.