Spoffords Travel

Day 3 July 4, 2024 Vancouver Washington 20.2 miles

Today family and friends arrive for the Fourth of July activities. We ate breakfast at the hotel but the others had breakfast at Tim and Deb’s house. They had a delicious spread of fruit, yoghurt, granola and cinnamon rolls.

Several of us ladies went on a garden tour in the back yard. Debbie has planted lots of flowers and vegetables. The sweet peas smelled wonderful and the regular peas tasted incredible right off the plant. The other flowers were varied and beautiful.

Then it was time to decorate the cars for the Spofford neighborhood parade. Granddaughter Madeleine and her boyfriend Jake arrived just in time to ride in the car. Connie stayed behind because she rides in the car often enough. At the house everything except the water fountain was quiet. It was so peaceful. The gang returned and a few more showed up. All of a sudden it was lunch time. We had terrific sandwich materials, chips, peas and watermelon.

Time for visiting and relaxing before more friends arrived and dinner got underway. We had wonderful salads and a low country boil which consists of shrimp, kielsaba, potatoes, corn on the cob and onions boiled and then covered in seasoned butter. Dessert is Hagen Das ice cream bars or drumsticks. No one went away hungry.

More conversation and eventually a fire and s’mores if you wanted. Firecrackers and fireworks started shortly after dusk and were going off all around.

Rob and Connie returned to the hotel to find the elevator broken and we are on the third floor. That means bringing the bags down three flights of stairs in the morning. Combine that with lots of noise from the fireworks and you have the ingredients for a potentially bad dream.

Day 2 July 3, 2024 Hermiston Oregon to Vancouver Washington 210 miles

We stayed at the Best Western last night and had a great breakfast. Lots of choices. While loading the car Rob discovered the pump used to get gas out of the cans and into the tank had accidentally got turned on. The batteries were dead and so was the pump. Luckily on the way out of town we spotted a Harbor Freight so Rob bought a new one.

We decided to take the road on the Washington side of the Columbia River. We did have to get on the freeway long enough to cross the river. Once we were on the Washington side we encountered very little traffic for about 100 miles. Luckily that is also when the first gas station appeared. The mileage was under 16 mpg this time. From there the traffic and wind increased.

The river was nice and smooth for the first part. However we didn’t see any barges nor many fishing vessels. We did see a paddle wheel tour boat. Connie was ready to take a picture when a train blocked the view. We saw several trains on each side of the river. One train was full of coal. Does Washington state have any coal powered electrical plants? We saw lots of wind turbines today.

The first part of the trip took us past several large wineries. Lots of grape vines and big houses. Also some fields of grain, corn and potatoes. A couple of orchards but didn’t see an fruit on the trees. The rest of the land was dry and desert looking.

We go up and down more hills on this side as well as several small tunnels. Traffic warning signs are posted that the Hood River Bridge is restricted to passenger cars only. We didn’t need to use that bridge so all is good.

We ate lunch at a rest stop by the river. The wind was really blowing so we put the window down on the river side. That was much better.

Then a police officer pulled us over and said we were holding up traffic. Of course there are no passing lanes and no large pullouts. We said we would try to do better. No ticket thank goodness. We noticed that several vehicles going the other way had ten or more cars following. Our lucky day. The young patrolman never checked the vehicle registration but did check out our car and trailer.

We told the GPS no highways to the hotel. We saw some beautiful houses. We also came to a detour and had to figure out how to tell the GPS to reroute us. The journey seemed incredibly long. A few farms had u-pick raspberries.

We made it to the hotel about 3:30 and then on to nephew Tim’s by about 4:00. Several family members were there which was good. We all ate pizza in the backyard and caught up on the latest news. S’mores were on the menu but everyone was tired from their travels. All of us called it an early night about 9:00 PM.

Day 1 July 2, 2024 Boise ID to Hermiston OR 256 miles

We got a later than desired start at 9:00 am. Too many last minute things to do. First stop was Costco for gas. We filled the new gas cans as well. These are new two gallon cans that attach to the side of the trailer and are locked there with a bicycle lock.

We took Highway 20 to Caldwell Idaho where we planned to get on the freeway. New feature – the freeway entrance is under construction so we had to detour through town to the next entrance. Traffic is pretty heavy especially with semi trucks of all sizes and colors. By the way we have passed two quilt shops so far. Lucky for Rob they were still closed.

All the windows are open so sometimes it seems a little cool. That should change before long. The sun is out in full force. At Ontario Oregon we left the freeway for a few miles and drove through farmland and along the Snake River. The water is still rather high. The grain has turned golden in color. Harvest for that should not be far off.

Then it was back on the freeway. The road was narrowed to one lane while crews were clearing up what had been serious truck accident. The cab was missing but most of the trailer had burned and some of the median strip too. At least some of the contents were spilled in the median. Hopefully the driver got out.

Several semi loads of onions were headed east. We think they must be Walla Walla sweet onions. Seems early to have harvested them. We stopped in Baker City for gas. A small fruit and vegetable stand was advertising those onions. We ate lunch in the city park at a table in the sun. That was just right with the breeze. Squirrels kept visiting us to look for hand outs.

Numerous large horse trailers were also headed east. Best guess is rodeo folks. Lots of rodeos around this time of year.

The rest stop just before Cabbage Patch Hill looked like a good stop. We both needed to stretch our legs. The ladies room actually had warm water at the sink. The mens did not.

We made our usual fuel stop at the Pilot near Stanfield. That is always a busy stop. All self serve now which really speeds things up. Then on to our hotel in Hermiston. We got to the hotel before we got to the grocery store so we continued into town to buy frozen dinners to fix in the microwave. They have a nice Safeway there that was very busy. Glad for the self check.

The trailer is heavier now that we packed for the long trip. Gas mileage is down about one mile per gallon to 17. Rob used 15 MPG as a planning factor. So, we should have enough gas cans for the Dalton Highway.

Day Four June 20, 2024 Prineville Oregon to home 297 miles

The day started out with a bump. When we took the bags to the car we found that the gas cap was missing. Nothing else just the gas cap. That is one part we don’t carry a spare. The solution was get aluminum foil, rubber band it to the tank, and slit a small hole so that it won’t vapor lock. Worked all the way home. When we filled with gas the mileage was really low. We think someone put the cap in their pocket and began siphoning gas when they got interrupted. They took off with the gas and the cap. Amazingly they didn’t take the full gas can from inside the car.

Today is going to be much warmer so it should be a good test if the car overheats. We have at least four major hills to get over. The car got hot but never too hot. Of course we were only going about 23 miles per hour. That is both up and down the hill. The electric brakes on the trailer aren’t working so we don’t want to go too fast and lose control. We are thankful for the frequent passing lanes.

We stopped for lunch at the Austin House which is a small cafe near the junction to go to Sumpter. We split a smoked tri tip sandwich that was incredibly delicious. Glad we split because the sandwich had lots of meat. Then we had huckleberry pie ala mode that was also delicious. Well worth the stop. They are closed Tuesday and Wednesday so plan accordingly. Across the road we saw Big Foot.

We got close to Boise in time for rush hour traffic. Sure glad we don’t have to deal with that daily. We arrived home about 6:30. Overall the test drive with the trailer was very good. The average MPG turned out to be 18.46 with plenty of hills. We certainly enjoyed traveling down the the road with Chuck and Marilyn Nelson.

Day Four Coos Bay Oregon to Prineville Oregon 251 miles

The grab and go breakfast this morning was a can of juice, a small yogurt and an apple. Pretty light meal. Patches of fog are around the area. Sometimes fairly thick. It was interesting around the bridge. We drove out of it before too long,

.As soon as we turned away from the coast the temperature began to rise. Little by little we opened windows and removed jackets and opened the air conditioning. Now air conditioning on the woodie means opening the windshield a couple of inches so air blows down on your feet. It really does help.

We followed the McKenzie River for quite a ways. It has lots of water currently. Lots of cars are parked at trail heads and other recreational places.

We only had two minor delays for road construction. That’s quite good for this time of year. We encountered several other places that could use some help.

The first wildlife sighting was today when a deer went bouncing through the field next to the road. It was going about the same speed as we were.

Traffic today was heavier than it has been. Luckily the road had frequent passing lanes. As many as twenty cars would pass and another twenty were ready to go.

The town of Sisters Oregon was very busy. Every parking place was taken and the main street was bumper to bumper. Nothing special going on that we knew of.

We got to Prineville about 4:30. Tonight is opening night of the rodeo. Luckily we got a room. As we were leaving for supper we saw two deer near the hotel.

Day Three Medford Oregon to Coos Bay Oregon 246 miles

We drove from Medford Oregon to Crescent City California on Highway 99. The drive was beautiful. Mostly pine trees until we got to the redwoods. Occasionally we passed ranches with beef cattle. Also in and out of a few small towns. We did have to wait about twenty minutes for the pilot car to escort us passed where they were chip sealing the road.

Shortly after reaching California we entered the Redwood National and State Park. Then the trees got huge! Connie had never seen redwoods before so they were a real treat. We stopped at one of the turnouts to take pictures.

On to Crescent City where we found a wonderful little restaurant called Crescent Seafood. They had an incredible menu that made the decision very difficult. Our waitress had on an interesting sweatshirt with an octopus on the back. She told us it came from the Rogue Gift Store in Gold Beach. So when we got there both Marilyn and Connie bought one. We spent the remainder of the day on Highway 101.

Driving along the coast was beautiful as usual. Very windy however so Rob really had to concentrate on his driving. The teardrop trailer is small but you can feel it especially when there is a crosswind.

Day Two Prineville Oregon to Medford Oregon 248 miles

After breakfast we worked on our plan for the day. We decided on Crater Lake and then stay in Medford Oregon. Connie had never been to Crater Lake. We happened to check the park’s web page and discovered that the north entrance is still closed for snow removal. Therefore we must go further south and then go north.

The closer we got to Bend the worse the traffic got. The road did have multiple lanes so cars and trucks could pass. We took a short stop at Walmart in Bend to pick up a few items.

The drive is beautiful. Some farms and some forest. More hills so we should get some good mileage numbers. One stretch going toward the park we actually got down into first gear to get up the hill. We also had a downhill portion with a 6% grade. Some in Alaska will be 12%. It was very interesting with no trailer brakes.

When we got to the turn to the park there was a long line. It took us 45 minutes to the actual entrance. Thankfully we all had passes so we got in quickly. We continued to climb and eventually reached an altitude of over 7,000 feet. Patches of snow are still visible among the trees. When we reached the observation area the parking lot was full. It took us awhile for someone to leave with a large enough spot for the car and trailer. The lake was a beautiful shade of blue. The weather was good too.

After leaving the park we drove through a forest of huge trees. They were tall and big around. Some kind of pine tree. We stopped at a small gas station where gas was over $5.00 per gallon. We arrived at the hotel about 6:30. We ate our picnic lunches in the room. Rob and Chuck worked on Chuck’s car door. The solution for this trip is a small bungee cord.