Our Little Guy Goes Where He's Towed To
About 7 miles east of ely, this was a beautiful stop for the night. Clean, large sites, plenty of water and showers albeit not very warm but plenty of pressure. Probably the quietest place we’ve stayed in. A little pricey at $17 but still recommend it. On our way hoping to make it to the Colorado National Monument tonight.
Took a break here at one of the nicest “free” camping spots we know. Stayed here last year – if you ever find yourself on highway 50 near Austin be sure to stop. We’re planning to go to ely and the cave lake state park. We hear they have showers there!
We were sleeping in a Target parking lot, in Susanville, CA.
It was all good until about 5 am when we realized we had parked where commuters leave their cars for the day. Two large buses waited while 50 or more workers loaded up. Clearly not happy that we were in their spaces. So we left that spot and found Safeway and Starbucks and were on our way to highway 50 by 6:10. Lesson here is to try and anticipate what it’s going to be like in the morning. Gonna be a great day.
Tip: What’s it going to be like in the morning?
We’re stopped in Susanville, CA for the evening. Walmart closes at 10 but they said we can park overnight. There is a do it yourself dog wash very nearby in the Safeway shopping center next door. We took advantage and gave Simon a much needed bath. We can tell he feels much better. Now in our parking spot at the end of Walmart’s lot he’s enjoying mowed grass. He hasn’t felt that in over two weeks. We’re finding Susanville to be a pleasant little town. At over 5000 feet the weather here is cooler and the air is a little thinner. Much more like what we’re used to in Salida Colorado. Enjoying it for now. Tomorrow night we will be in the desert somewhere along hwy 50. The loneliest highway.
We decided to leave the redwoods after doing our laundry and checking the map. It’s gonna be a long drive home!
We found this site at the east fork campground on CA 299 near Willow Creek. Just $4 with senior discount.
We plan to be out early anticipating road construction as we head east towards Redding and points beyond.
Finally found a camp site deep in bear country (lots of warnings). Landed about 1 o’clock. Registered for two nights. Dropped off Little Guy trailer and doing some sight seeing along the beaches of Northern California.
We’re stopped near Crescent city California in a part of the redwood forest. Amazing how dark it is in the trees. We’re lucky to find this site. It seems all the campgrounds are filled. We should have known because it’s the weekend. We probably should have stayed one more night at our spot at Crater Lake. Luckily we got the last spot in this campground. Unfortunately our new neighbors have had their old noisy generator running non-stop since we got here about 3 o’clock. We think the adolescent boy needs the power to play video games inside their motorhome. That was four hours ago. Hopefully they’ll follow camp rules that say quiet time after 10pm. For now we just have our music turned up loud enough to make tolerable.
After we left Klamath falls we were getting very excited to set up home at crater lake. Our spirits dropped upon arrival when the “campground full” sign was posted. So disappointed! The nice lady at the visitor center told us about Annie’s Snopark 10 miles away. Set up camp but too many bugs and dirt for us. We stayed in the parking lot. Up at 6 am to register for a site when the opened at 7.
We are finally home and set up for a few days. Relaxing and enjoying the sites.
Internet and cell service is spotty and unreliable so it may be a few days before we write again.
Spent the night in Elko, Nevada. We were on our way to Winnimucca but decided to stop here instead. We were getting tired and must have misjudged the distance. The Walmart Super Center in Elko seemed quiet and safe. They lock the doors of their Auto Center, Garden Center, and Pharmacy entrances at night which ends up making a huge section of their parking lot vacant. They don’t allow trucks to idle after 9 pm and so it gets quiet. We restocked on some food, grilled up some steaks, had some pie and rested for the night.
During the night it rained pretty hard with lightning and thunder so sleeping in the Little Guy was nice and cozy. We did learn one thing about leaving things on the ground in the rain. Even though our plastic bins keep stuff nice and dry, the rain drops splattered dirt all over the sides, even on the pavement. Not really a big problem, just wiped things off with rag. Something to consider though before going in for the night.
Tip: Rain will splatter dirt on things if they are on the ground.
This park is midway between Lake Tahoe and crater lake. It’s $12 for a campsite and free entry with seniors access card otherwise it’s $20 to get in and $24 for the campsite. Lassen has been devastated by fires and drought so lots of dead vegetation.
We were nearly out of gas and the campground ran out. But rather than wait till 11:00 we took the risk and went to Old Station where we paid $3.69 for gas. Yikes!
We were going to head to lava beds national monument but after looking at the map thought we would push on to Klamath falls to re supply.
Tip: Get gas when you can.
We left Lake Tahoe heading to Lassen Volcanic National Park. Along the way we stopped for ice cream in Graeagle. Graeagle seems like a resort stop along highway 89. All the building are painted the same color and look like camp cabins. Turns out it was built just for that reason. The ice cream at Buckaroo’s was awesome. There is an open park right next door to it that you can sit in the grass in the shade.
Looking at the map the other day, we realized that with just a little detour we could visit Lake Tahoe and Susan’s sister. We arrived mid afternoon and joined Rosemary at kings beach where her son Frank was there with his family and several friends he grew up with. They had a great barbecue going on, live music and of course the fabulous view of the lake. It’s always so nice to be here and relax in her beautiful home. Glad we stopped!
We needed a stop so pulled over at this rest area. No signage that this was the bonneville salt flats until we parked. Pretty cool to walk out in it – Simon thought it was snow and started rolling it it. Good thing there was a foot wash area so we could rinse off his paws and face!
Heading west on I-80 but not sure how far we will get. Lake Tahoe area tomorrow for a visit with my sister Rosemary.
It was like Christmas at Brown’s cycle! Got a new helmet, gloves, socks, handle bar tape and a much needed floor pump. Oh yeah and it was two fer Tuesday so got 4 bike tubes and socks for Rick too. Still have some money left over for the next time (when my mountain bike sells). We camped at the Colorado national monument that night and I got to use my new stuff on a ride there.
If you’re going through here, stop in and say hi to Chris Brown the proprietor and old friend. Tell ’em Rick sent ya.
Tip: Stop at Brown’s Cycles if it’s Tuesday to buy tubes.
Love our umbrella. We move it around as needed.
State campgrounds aren’t really our thing, but national forests tend to be fairly off the beaten path and harder to find. The official U.S. Government website is almost useless when traveling down the road and looking for a place to camp for an evening. There’s just too much info to wade through. There ought to be an app for that but have not looked for it yet.
We took Simon for a run this morning on on our road bikes. He totally enjoyed it. 😀
We’ll be on our way to Winnamucca, NV right after we use the park shower facilities and pack up what little needs to be. We’re pretty settled in where all the stuff is where it belongs and easy to find. Not having to set up a canopy is a huge time saver.
Tip: If using an umbrella it helps to bungie it to the handles of the galley lid. The umbrella is not very tolerable in the wind.
We were pleasantly surprised to find almost all the camp sites open in the Colorado National Monument. It was about 4 o’clock when we arrived. Again setting up with the umbrella is sooooo much easier than a canopy. Great view from our site, number 38, loop B, of the valley.
We picked up a bundle of firewood in Montrose, but can’t use it here. No fires allowed. We have some charcoal, but probably won’t cook with it tonight.
Tip: Forget the firewood. No open fires here.
We got out of Salida around 1:30 after a morning of reorganizing and packing. We realized that carrying the bikes on top of the truck would free up alot of room inside so Rick modified his ladder rack to hold the bikes. Nice job! We got to Gunnison to stop at our favorite camping store, Gene Taylor, and found our stadium chairs and a replacement skillet for the one we forgot. Back on the road we ended up at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park campground and set up in Loop C. A beautiful rainbow and yummy grilled veggies for dinner was all we needed. It rained off and on and our new umbrella worked really well – just moved it wherever we needed it to be. Simon is dealing with his new environment and will most likely get more comfortable as the days go by.
Today we are on our way to Grand Junction and Brown’s Cyclery to consign my Trek mountain bike and shop with the credit I have there for selling my Pinarello. Should be a fun day! Not sure where we will be tonight. Stay tuned.
Tips:
Slight rain when we arrived, but we were treated with a pretty cool rainbow.
We’re finding our new umbrella to be pretty handy. I don’t think I’ll be setting up the square canopies again until we’re planning on staying in one spot for more than one night. Pulling out the umbrella and base is fast and set up only takes seconds. We were looking for one of those hitch umbrella stands, but now it seems like it would be too limiting.
Finally starting to get things organized where everything has it’s own spot and we know where everything is. I had way too much stuff that didn’t belong in the “garage” and it was a pain to get stuff out. Now that I’ve moved things around to where they are needed, it won’t be such a panic to set up in the rain.
We’re getting ready for a little trip north north west of here. We will hopefully visit Crater Lake National park for a little while then maybe Bend for a little. Not sure what direction after that. I bet we end up going down the Cali coast. I’m just testing this site before we leave.
It’s been a busy few months finishing some work to free up this time. Last couple days getting gear ready. Got new tires on the trailer. They are radials this time. The last ones seemed to wear out too fast.
Thought I’d walk around the yard and shoot the current stage of packing.
In the house we’ve got three new plastic boxes that were using to help organize. We jokingly say one is mine, one Susan’s and one is Simons. I insisted on having one to keep outside my door in the night. It’s a way to keep space open inside and keep things near at hand and dry. Last trip I kept one outside my door and really noticed how handy it was. So this time I’m planning on it.
There’ll be more pics later. I’d like to keep our trip updated here. We talked about giving it (this trip) a special name so we can name pics and folders to find pics and info in the future. We find it makes a pretty good travel log.
More to come!
Tips:
Soaking up some sun this morning in the Colorado National Monument, Saddle-horn campground loop A. It was a little chilly last night but a down comforter for each of us kept the cold out. This is our first trip of 2015. Some lessons: don’t move boundaries in national forest campgrounds, choose your site carefully, if you plan on eating out find a campground closer to town, don’t forget the boombox. However this was intended to be a shakedown cruise, so all is good. Learning to chillax.
Tip: Don’t move USFS campground boundaries because the man in uniform gets upset.
The cover we used this past winter seems to have paid off. We uncovered our Little Guy yesterday and believe the cover saved the surface and plastic parts from sun wind and general weathering over the winter.
Tip: Covers work well to protect during off season. Custom made ones are not necessary. Go with the automotive kind.
This is the CG up the road from Parry Peak on CO82 west of Twin Lakes. I forget the name. I do remember that it’s closer to the road and noisier.
Welcome relief at Green River State Park. Just back up open the galley cook our steaks and relax. We’ve been traveling since 8 this morning. We’re ready for a good nights sleep.
On hwy 50 at the border of Nevada and Utah is a place called the Border Inn. On the NV side they got gambling. On the UT side we found this little spot of shade where we stopped for a break to eat from our own supplies in the back of our Little Guy.
This is a nice site in Nevada just east of Austin called Bob Scott campground. It’s higher elevation so it’s nice and cool. Looks well maintained and quiet. Not setting up to much tonight. Don’t want have a lot to pack in the morning. Just backed in, started a fire, cooked dinner, cleaned up and now relaxing. There is decent cellular service here too.
Got supplies at the grocery store and had a relaxing, quiet lunch in this shady spot. Probably the only one at high noon in this town.
After two restful nights at Schoolhouse Canyon Campground (highly recommend) we packed up and are heading toward Lake Tahoe to see Susan’s sister Rosemary. Here’s a few observations for future trips:
I think I figured out why they have an “Adults Only” section in the Schoolhouse Canyon Campground. We learned that sounds carries quite well in this little box canyon. I bet they created the adults only section to maybe be a little quieter if there are kids noisily playing. Last night however, there was a group of “adults” still talking and “playing” loudly two tent sites away from us. Finally after about 12 midnight I asked them if they could please try to keep it down. They did maybe a little bit, but they were still loud. Luckily our ceiling fan sort of drowns out external noises.
This campground, Schoolhouse Canyon, is pretty much out of cell phone range. Maybe others services might be here, but ATT is not. Curious if this post will make it to the website.
It’s very peaceful here in the trees. There are steep slopes on all sides of our camp site except for the entrance of this little box canyon.
I think the sun has a hard time penetrating the trees to the ground in here. A welcome thing during these hot days. As a rest spot after the hectic trip for Cristin and Lachlan’s wedding this is ideal for us right now.
We drove into Armstrong Redwood area to see the trees and maybe camp there. We dropped the trailer and started up the road to the campground. After about 1/4 mile of the 3 mile road, we realized why no trailers were allowed up there. Turned around and headed for Schoolhouse Canyon where we are now in a sweet site deep in the redwoods. There’s even an area where it’s adults only – imagine that!! The owners even put redwood chips all around this site do it smells so good!
We’ll probably go back to Armstrong park and see more trees. We are planning to cook in our site tonight after a swim in the Russian river. Life is good
After 4 days at a hotel in Santa Rosa and attending the wedding of Lachlan and Cristin, we are ready for some casual camping. Heading towards Armstrong Redwood Recreation area today. Hopefully we will get a site and see some big trees!
Susan heard a “clicking” noise when we started the car this morning from the engine. I took a look and listen under the hood and sure enough there was a very clear clicking noise that wasn’t supposed to be. We needed to decide to have it looked at before heading out on interstate 80. Turns out the power steering belt was shredding and slapping a radiator hose. Lucky for us to find it. It could have made a hole in the hose and caused us to over heat. We’re also lucky the mechanic could help us out right away. We have a wedding to get to after all. It plus it would probably really suck to break down on the side of I80 in 100 degree heat.
Tip: Keep the tow vehicle in good running condition. Pay attention to little noises.
Dusty dry but easy. It was getting late and we were getting tired. Found this US Forest Service campground called Hikison Petroglyphs. There was no water, but we carry at least 5 gallons in our Coleman jug. We didn’t even unhook the Little Guy. Just cooked our dinner, cleaned up and crawled in for some welcome sleep. We found the air was so dry that condensation inside was not an issue at all. Even though we turned the ceiling fan on a few times during the night, I don’t think we really needed it.
I think we were a little anxious when we chose to stop here. If we’d gone another hour we’d have reached Bob Scott US Forest Service campground. We stopped to take a look on the way by it this morning and discovered it was higher in elevation, had more vegetation, and seemed way less dusty. Oh well, next time through there we’ll know. In other words, I’d recommend Bob Scott over Hikison Petroglyphs campground.
Not a bad spot for a quick nite. Green River state campground. Some sort of unexplained smell this morning sort of like a sewer. Camp guy says it’s high water.
We stopped at a “View Break” right after we got into Utah. Walked up a short path to the top of a hill. Looking back toward the east were the dark clouds we’d experienced high winds in earlier.
Whee here we go. !!
We left about 11:30 this morning. Stopped in Grand Junction to do a little last minute shopping and gas. Now we’re stopped for the evening in Green River, Utah. With the bikes, trailer, wind and high speed limits (75 along I70) we’re getting about 18 mpg. The winds have been high. When we were leaving GJ we thought we were heading into a tornado or something. It was bad. Dust, debris and really strong winds. We were a little afraid the bikes were going to blow off the top!
I installed the AC prep kit from Little Guy to use as ventilation instead of opening the windows a crack. Simon has a tendency to stick his nose in the crack and I was afraid he’d eventually make a hole in the screen. These vents worked great last night. They provided enough ventilation with the ceiling fan open even without the fan turned on.
Also installed black poster board “sliders” in the window slots of the Star Gazer window. Should help with privacy and looky loos. Also can make inside dark enough to sleep during the day if needed.
Simon seems to be as in awe as I was this morning at the Arkansas river running through Brown’s canyon.
Our Little Guy Travels 