Earl and I left Prince George and traveled 179 miles to Crystal Springs Resort in Lac La Hache, B.C. This is a Good Neighbor Park which is not really set up for big rigs, but we did find a place to squeeze in and spend the night. A couple parked below us in a truck camper came up and talked to us about our trip to Alaska. They are planning on going next year and wanted to know what to expect.
Tuesday, September 4
We drove 194 miles to Cottonwood Campsite in Chase, B.C., one of our Coast to Coast parks. The first spot we chose looked like it had a plugged sewer as there was "stuff" all around the connection (yuk!), so we moved to another spot.
Wednesday, September 5
We were going to stop in Armstrong to tour the Bigfoot factory; however, when I called to find out when they had tours, I found that the person who conducts the tours was on vacation and wouldn't be back until next week. There are other truck camper manufacturers in the Okanagan valley that we were going to stop and see, but since the Bigfoot was the one we were most interested in, we decided to continue on and perhaps come back up sometime next year.
We drove 113 miles to Bear Creek Provincial Park near Kelowna, B.C. On our way through Kelowna, we stopped at a tire store and had one of the rear tires on our truck repaired as it had a slow leak in it. After unhooking, we went back into town to do grocery shopping and fill up the truck with diesel.
The couple who are the hosts in the park noticed our Escapees sticker as we were driving around looking for a spot and flagged us down as they are Escapees, too. Later, they came over and we had a nice talk with them.
Thursday, September 6
We traveled 132 miles to Omak RV Park in Omak, Washington. This is a very nice small park that is part of the fairgrounds and is below "Suicide Hill" where the Omak Stampede is held each year.
Friday, September 7
We drove 162 miles to Yogi Bear's Camp Resort in Spokane, Washington. When we crossed the border, we had to pay duty on the two four-liter boxes of wine we bought in Kelowna -- a whole $1.50!
We stay at this park each time we come to Spokane because it's convenient to our friends' houses and it has "instant" phone hookups. However, I think we'll look for a new place to stay next time since they keep jacking up their prices and it's becoming too expensive. There is an RPI park in Nine Mile Falls and the local Elks Club has about 20 spaces with water and electric.
On our way to Spokane, we stopped at Grand Coulee Dam. In the picture below is the dam and the city of Coulee Dam -- the people who live here below the dam certainly must have faith that the dam will never break!
Grand Coulee Dam:
Saturday, September 8
We had a delicious dinner at George and Mary Doran's home together with Emily Ritzman and Don McInnis, all friends from when we lived in Spokane (Mary and I actually went to high school together in Phoenix). It was great fun getting together again and catching up on each other's lives.
Monday, September 10
Earl went golfing at the golf course next to the RV park -- The Fairways. On Monday the course offers all day golfing for just $11.00. I stayed behind and caught up on my web surfing.
Tuesday, September 11
I turned on the TV this morning to watch "Regis and Kelly" and was greeted with the image of one of the World Trade Center towers on fire (the first tower had already collapsed). We watched in horror as the second tower collapsed, too. As I'm sure many millions of people around the country did, we spent the rest of the day glued to the TV watching the images (since Earl had an appointment at the Freightliner dealer to have the oil changed, he did go ahead and take the truck in).
As much as we didn't want to see repeated images of the planes slamming into the World Trade Center, I think we needed to see it in order to try and wrap our minds around the events and realize that it was really happening -- that it wasn't special effects of some Hollywood movie. It's difficult to grasp the fact that there are people in this world so filled with hate that they're willing to kill not only themselves, but also thousands of innocent men and women.
Wednesday, September 12
Spent most of the day watching the news reports of the terrorist attacks of the previous day. There is talk that Osama Bin Laden is the person behind the attacks -- the same person who was behind several other attacks against Americans around the world. While reading the Escapees' discussion forums, I came across one entry where someone expressed their opinion that "the Islamic Nation is the enemy...". That, of course, is a bunch of crap! Osama Bin Laden and his ilk no more represent the Islamic religion than the Aryan Nation represents Christianity. Each wraps their rhetoric in religious terms, but the truth is, they simply hate some particular group of people because of some perceived wrong they've done or just because they're different. Fortunately, I think most Americans can separate the terrorists from the religion they claim to represent. Sadly, there are people who cannot -- thus the attacks on Muslim citizens in this country.
In the evening, we went to dinner at a Thai restaurant with Mary, George, Emily, and Don. It was nice to get out away from the TV for awhile and enjoy the company of good friends and good food.
Friday, September 14
Earl and I went out for breakfast and then ran errands -- filled up the truck with fuel and stopped by an RV service center to pick up a new jack handle (the piece of equipment we use to crank out the big slide by hand -- we'd ruined our first one attempting to get our slide out after going through some really muddy road construction in Yukon). We also went grocery shopping and then rushed Maxx to the vet in the afternoon after Earl had noticed blood in his stool. The vet just thought it was some gastric disturbance and gave us some pills to give him.
Saturday, September 15
We left Spokane and started making our way to Kansas for the New Horizons Owners Group rally. We drove 259 miles to the Drummond City Park in (where else?) Drummond, Montana ("Home of the World Famous Bull Shippers"). Electric and water hookups for $12 per night. We were going to stop at Rock Creek Lodge in Clinton, Montana (a freebie), but when we drove by we saw that something was going on there as every square inch of the place was taken up with RVs, tents, and motorcycles.
Sunday, September 16
We drove 167 miles to Bear Canyon Campground in Bozeman, Montana. We stayed here last year when we visited Montana. This campground sits up on a hill at the eastern side of Bozeman and has an almost 360 degree view of beautiful mountains and valleys. Before checking in at the campground, we stopped at the Costco to do some shopping...including purchasing a combination DVD/VCR player.
Monday, September 17
Drove 197 miles to a camping spot north of Hardin, Montana in the Grant Marsh Fish & Wildlife area on the Big Horn River. We were the only ones here with the exception of some young people who came out later in the evening, but didn't bother us. It sure was nice and quiet here! We stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Billings to have a late lunch/early dinner (this is one of our favorite restaurants when we are traveling as they not only have good food, but they are conveniently located and have RV parking).
Rig at Grant Marsh:
Big Horn River:
Tuesday & Wednesday, September 18 & 19
We drove 246 miles to the Fort Caspar Campground in Caper, Wyoming (this is another campground at which we stayed earlier this year). We took it easy for the two days we were here, doing grocery shopping and picking up a new headlight at the local Freightliner dealer. We heard from Bill and Gisela and found out that they were going to be staying at Johnson Lake south of Lexington, Nebraska for a few days...just long enough for us to catch up with them...so we made arrangements to meet them there.
Thursday, September 20
We traveled 245 miles to the Oliver Reservoir State Recreation Area just east of Bushnell, Nebraska. This is a very nice park...no hookups and no designated spots, just tables and fire rings scattered around. The price was right...just $3 per night...but with the distinct disadvantage of being across the road from two "very busy" railroad tracks (one east-bound and one west-bound). The trains came through about every 10 minutes all night long and there must have been a road that crossed the tracks nearby, because they always blew their whistles! Even though the park itself is nice, I don't think we'll be staying here again.
Rig at Oliver Reservoir:
Friday & Saturday, September 21 & 22
We drove 240 miles to the Johnson Lake State Recreation Area south of Lexington, Nebraska where we met up with Bill and Gisela. It was great getting together again, although it had only been a little less than 3 weeks since we'd last seen them in Prince George, B.C. The four of us drove into Lexington Saturday night and had dinner at a Chinese restaurant that had surprisingly good food.
Sunday, September 23
We left Johnson Lake and drove 202 miles to a COE (Corp of Engineers) park on Wilson Lake northeast of Russell, Kansas (home of Bob Dole). This is another nice park with water and electric hookups for $16 per night (we paid $8 because Earl has the Golden Age passport).
Monday thru Tuesday, September 24 thru October 2
We traveled 135 miles to Tuttle Creek State Park north of Manhattan, Kansas. This is where the 3rd annual New Horizons Owners Group rally is being held later this week. Since we (Earl, Bill, Gisela, and I) are on the rally committee, together with another couple, Kirk and Gen, we had to arrive early to make sure everything was set up.
Before arriving at the campground, we stopped in Junction City and had our rig washed...truck and fifth wheel...so that we'd arrive at the campground brand new, spanking clean. While we were waiting for the rig to be washed, we all had lunch at the A&W next door. That evening, the four of us drove into Manhattan and had dinner at the Amarillo Mesquite Grill.
When Earl picked up the headlight in Casper, Wyoming, he was thinking that he should pick up two. Well, he should have since the other headlight went out, so he had to drive into town to pick up another one! We also went to Staples where I purchased the Mail Station...a device that does only e-mail. When we were in Bozeman, Montana, the battery on my laptop went kaput and, since many areas where I take the computer to download e-mail have only a telephone jack and not an electrical outlet (like here at the campground...one of the pay phones has a telephone jack), I needed some other way to get e-mail.
On Wednesday evening, a group of us went to the Chinese Buffet in Manhattan. We've been to other Chinese buffets before, but this was the best one we've ever been to!
Putting up the tents:
Thursday was the start of the rally; actually, the day when people arrive, although many people were already here when we arrived on Monday and more trickled in each day. At 4 PM, we had Happy Hour with snacks that were provided by the rally committee. Then we all left for the buffet at the Sirloin Stockade. We'd done this last year and it was a big hit, so we decided to keep it in the program for this year.
Friday morning, coffee and donuts were provided courtesy of Horizons. At 8:45 AM, the rally committee gave opening remarks and an overview of the rally activities and then Todd Lovin, the manager of Tuttle Creek State Park, gave remarks about the park. Harold Johnson, owner of Horizons, Inc., then welcomed us. We had speakers from Atwood and Dexter Axles giving us information about their products and Paul Bernhagen gave a seminar on boondocking. Then in the afternoon, the Manhattan Fire Marshall gave a seminar on fire safety tips. 4:30 PM was Happy Hour and then the hog roast and door prizes courtesy of Horizons. This is always a hit at the rallies...it's a catered even with a whole hog! Wonderful food! After dinner, we had a bluegrass band, the North Forty, entertain us.
Rally pictures:
Saturday morning, the rally committee provided the coffee and donuts and then Kirk and Gen led a discussion on RV gadgets. Then Bill and Gisela led a discussion about favorite RV destinations. These two "seminars" were really well received. I gave a talk on traveling to Alaska. Later, Stephanie Bernhagen (author of Take Back Your Life -- Travel Fulltime in an RV) led a question and answer session on fulltiming. We also had a session on using a ham radio to receive e-mail and one on Iridium Flares which turned out to be quite interesting.
There were no seminars on Sunday. This was a time for people to go to church, if they so desired, and for the open houses where those who wish to, open up their RVs for other people to come see. Since New Horizons are custom built units, and Horizons produces only about 1-1/2 rigs per week (Horizons says they put more time into doing the wiring than most manufacturers put into making the whole rig!), there aren't a lot of us out on the road, so this is a perfect time for "wannabees" to come and check out the rigs and see what people have done to customize their rigs. Earl had arrange a golf outing, so several of the men went golfing in the morning.
Bill and Gisela left Sunday afternoon since they had an appointment at the factory Monday morning. We followed them over to Junction City and we all had dinner at the Cracker Barrel. I don't know when the next time will be that we will see them. Hopefully, we'll be able to get together in March for a few days after they leave Phoenix and start heading east.
Monday was the day for goodbyes as most of the people left for various parts of the country. We decided to stay on an additional couple of days since we didn't have to be at our next stop until Wednesday and Earl had made an appointment at the Freightliner dealer in Salina to have a loose U-Joint replaced.
On Tuesday, we drove into town to do laundry. Since Tuttle Creek State Park has only water and electric hookups, but no sewer, we weren't able to do laundry using our own washer and dryer.
