Timberville, VA to Harper's Ferry, WV & Return

Sabbath, October 22
Photos coming...

Sabbath morning I awoke to the smell of French breakfast puffs and was immediately transported to my youth. On very rare occasions, my mother would bake these delectable treats. Shelley has the recipe (I suppose I do also...but what good does it do me?) Not the least bit healthy but sometimes a person has to live a little!





We drove on secondary roads to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, a trip of about 2 hours. We passed through some great little towns, who's names usually ended in "ville" or "burg".  We spent a few pleasant hours in this small burg of Harper's Ferry at the confluence of the Potomac River & the Shenandoah River. Also, three states come together near there, Virginia, West Virginia, & Maryland. Harper's Ferry is a National Historical site for two main reasons: John Brown's raid on the arsenal in 1859 and the fact that during the Civil War, it changed sides 8 times depending on which force was strongest at the moment.

Timberville, VA to Harper's Ferry, WV & Return

Sabbath, October 22
Photos coming...

Sabbath morning I awoke to the smell of French breakfast puffs and was immediately transported to my youth. On very rare occasions, my mother would bake these delectable treats. Shelley has the recipe (I suppose I do also...but what good does it do me?) Not the least bit healthy but sometimes a person has to live a little!





We drove on secondary roads to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, a trip of about 2 hours. We passed through some great little towns, who's names usually ended in "ville" or "burg".  We spent a few pleasant hours in this small burg of Harper's Ferry at the confluence of the Potomac River & the Shenandoah River. Also, three states come together near there, Virginia, West Virginia, & Maryland. Harper's Ferry is a National Historical site for two main reasons: John Brown's raid on the arsenal in 1859 and the fact that during the Civil War, it changed sides 8 times depending on which force was strongest at the moment.

Fairfax, VA to Alexandria, VA to Timberville, VA

Friday, October 21

I left my great breakfast at my favorite Best Western in Fairfax (it is the only one) and rushed slowly over the the National Gun Museum, which turned out to excellent.

 I did not spend as much time there as I would like to have done. I especially enjoyed the displays on how early craftsmen fashioned guns, one at a time, Two hundred years ago, a gun was just a tool that nearly everyone owned. It was very interesting to see how guns have evolved over the past several hundred years.

When my dad was a teenager he purchased a Colt Woodsman similar to this example, minus the engraving. He owned it for well over 60 years until it was stolen, along with about twenty other guns. Several years ago, my brother found one that the three of us purchased for him. He was very pleased but, being in his late 80's, never had a chance to shoot.






After enjoying my time at the museum, I drove over to Alexandria, VA, a trip of about 45 minutes. Traffic can be brutal in the D.C. area so I never am sure what to expect. Some local people have told me that it is among the worst in the country--worse that LA & the San Francisco Bay area that I'm more familiar with. Alexandria is a suburb of DC and is located just south of the city, on the Potomac River. I wanted to experience the "Old Towne" section of it, so I did.

 This town is known for Captain's Row.

These houses are an examples found on Capitan's Row of homes built in the 1700's & 1800's. I saw a couple for sale but they had no visible price. That's OK as I'm not really in the market for another home.

The paving of the alley on the right left much to be desired as it was difficult to walk on. I guess it beats walking in the mud, especially as much of this area flooded due to it's proximity to the river. I enjoyed the brick work of many of the houses.

Elkridge, MD to Washington DC

Having trouble posting photos...check back tomorrow if you'd like to.

Thursday, October 20

I was on the road by 9:00 AM headed towards Washington DC. I drove to Fairfax, VA, only about 25

miles away and spent a pleasant hour on the highway. I parked at a metro stop in Fairfax, boarded a train & proceeded to wait 45 minutes before it left. After two stops we were told to get off & change trains. They've been working on that section of line hence the delay. Returning to ground level at L'Enfant plaza required a very long escalator ride. It sure beats stairs but it would have given most of my needed steps all at once if it hadn't been working.

I arrived in DC just before noon and found myself  in a great food court at L'Enfant plaza. I love food courts but this one was a cut above any I've seen before. I counted nearly 25 different places to eat, as well as stores, dental office, a Doc in the Box, PT, etc. I chose to eat Middle Eastern food and had a tasty salad with falafels & hummus. It was great fun to sit among hundreds & hundreds of men & women dressed up for work in a city. I felt quite the country rube as I was dressed in shorts & tee shirt anticipating a day outside in mid 80's weather.

Food court

Lunch in the food court

Learning to "roll"

I'd scheduled a tour of the monuments by Segway. It was a great experience and a lot of fun. There were 10 of us in the group and with the wide sidewalks & paths we had no trouble getting around. It took about 20 minutes to feel comfortable rolling. Too bad they're so expensive & near useless in real life because the technology is awesome.

Modern Art museum

Part of Viet Nam memorial

I was actually part of this tour. Here is the proof.

The two girls in the background were from Finland. Their English was quite good & they also spoke Swedish. The weather was in the low 80's & more humid than at home, but not too bad. The tour lasted almost three hours. The next day my calf muscles still hurt from rolling on my Segway!

After the tour I rented a bike from a bike share stand (like I did in Paris a few years ago) and rode around for about an hour. Cycling remains my favorite way to get around a city. I rode till about 6:30 by which time it was getting quite dark. By the way, Segway tours & bike tours also are offered in the evening so one can enjoy the illuminated monuments.

 These photos were taken on my bike ride as the sun was going down.

Fairfax, VA to Elkridge, MD

Wednesday, October 19

Wednesday morning dawned but I was asleep and missed it. When I did get up I had possibly the best breakfast ever in a hotel. In addition to 6 kinds of cereals, they had eggs, potatoes, grits (yum), donuts & muffins, 3 kinds of juices, bagels, toast, waffles, etc. I may not have sampled everything.

I tried to make a reservation for a tour in Washington D. C. but they had no more space. Instead I decided to go Arlington National Cemetery since it's been 25-30 years since I was last there. I took a tour on a tram that allowed me to get off & back on anytime I chose.

Actually when I rode this there were really people on it.

I visited John Kennedy's grave which took me back to speech class in 8th grade. I still remember someone calling our teacher out of class. When she returned a few minutes later, she announced that the president had been shot. That is seared into my brain. The eternal flame (which isn't always eternal) is just behind the graves.

The President's marker is on the right side of the photo.

I arrived early to the changing of the guard and so I had a chance to visit the memorial to the USS Maine from the Spanish American War. This is the mast of the warship that was sunk in Cuba.

This is one of the few times that I've been around crowds of people, American & others, when it was silent. No smoking or gum chewing is allowed...kind of like at school. One little boy did move under the fence just a small amount. The guard, who was at the other end of his post noticed it & with a very commanding voice, told him immediately to move back. The process of changing the guard, done once per hour in fall & winter, is amazing in it's precision. It was as impressive as I'd remembered. I've yet to figure out how to post  video to this blog. At least tonight the Wifi is fast enough to accomplish something.

The precision of the headstones is amazing from all angles.

Tonight I'm in Elkridge, MD with plans to return to Washington D. C. in the morning. The weather has been in the mid to upper 80's but is expected to drop to the 60's with a strong chance of rain on Friday.

Trip to Virginia--Sonora to Washington DC Dulles

Monday, October 17

I drove from Twain Harte to Sacramento where I stayed with a cousin. She took me to the airport on Tuesday morning even though I needed to be there by 6:30 AM for an 8:30 flight to Denver. We had a pleasant time chatting and catching up since we rarely see each other over the years. She's also retired but, even though she's a couple of years younger than me, she's been retired for abut five years.

Tuesday, October 18

I arrived at the Sacramento Airport at 6:30 AM with plenty of time to clear security & get something for breakfast. The Southwest flight left on time, I had an aisle seat, and the flight was uneventful...just the way I prefer them. We landed in Denver 15-20 minutes early.

• This photo is of an interesting atrium at the Denver airport.

The flight from Denver to Washington Dulles was even better. I had an aisle seat with no one sitting next to me!!! Great to have elbow room & an empty seat to set things down on. In addition to decent seating, the plane left 5 minutes late while we waited for a late arriving passenger. In spite of that, we arrived about 30 minutes early. A couple of interesting comments I heard on the plane. "No smoking in the restroom...don't be naughty in our potty." Another, "No smoking on this flight. We ask you to not smoke...ever again."

I picked up my rental car and then drove to my hotel in Fairfax, VA. It is always a challenge to find a decent hotel near a major city that is both affordable & in a decent neighborhood. Reading reviews from customers seems to shed some light on this challenge.

Tuesday nights hotel had a great looking pool but I'm glad that I had no interest in it. With that fountain in the middle,  person might have ended up getting wet!!

Bend & Beyond

Details to follow...

Sabbath-Bend & Sunriver

Sunday-Bend

Monday-Bend to Weed,  CA

Tuesday-Weed to Chico

Wednesday-Chico to Sacramento

Thursday-Sacramento to Twain Harte

More Bend

Friday, September 30

I explored some dirt trails as I was looking for a paved trail that follows the Deschutes River.

I tried to follow this trail for a while hoping to gain access to the river but it seemed to end. My tires are not suited to this kind of riding so I was forced to retrace my steps and take a road down to the river. I did find it and enjoyed riding around & down to the main part of town.








The Deschutes River. After messing this river up for the last 100 years, they are now in the process of restoring it. In part, this involves placing over 100 trees in the water to change the flow & modify the silting that is happening.

I also observed some rapids with people on boards and others on Standup paddle boards.

Bend, OR for several days

Thursday, September 29

Another exciting day as I cycled over to the "other" RV park in town. I arranged to be parked in the overflow lot which means I'm parked on gravel and no nice lawn. Since it was less than half the price & it's too cool to be out on the lawn most of the time, it didn't seem to be too much of a hardship. I still have access to the nicest facilities I've come across yet. The most expensive parking place here is $89 per night! You can also spend up to $1800 per month to park here. I'm not going to do that!!!

Here is a photo of the space between sites. This room is unseen in the kind of places I frequent.

This is the kind of rig that one finds at this RV park. It is 8-12 longer than mine and costs from 10-25 times more (no exaggeration). I'm betting that I sleep as well or better than they do.

Here is the guest lounge. Wifi actually works here as opposed to at my site. It seems very difficult to get Wifi that is pushed out to all areas of an RV park & can handle the load that dozens of people may be trying to use at the same time.

I did some laundry and rode my bike around some of the areas to explore. I also enjoyed a quick trip to Costco but ended up not purchasing anything. Space is always a premium and Costco likes to deliver huge quantities.

Burns, OR to Bend, OR

Wednesday, September 28

Burns didn't have much to offer as far as I could see & there were no towns to speak of until Bend, so I got on the road & hardly stopped till I got to Bend about 135 miles later.

This is a view of the countryside from an overlook & is typical of the terrain all the way to Bend. It is high desert so it gets warm in the day time & cool at night. It was a comfortable 80º or so as I drove along. I did stop at a rest stop for a break but noticed a school bus pull in moments after I arrived. I hustled to the bathroom & they smiled to myself as about 30 7-8th grade girls got off the bus. They were a volleyball team headed to a  tournament near Bend, a 2-3 hour drive. I did comment to one of the coaches that I was glad it was them & not me on the bus.

I went to the cheaper of two RV parks I could locate in town & was given the last spot & only for Wednesday night. Slept as if I'd done something during the day that would have resulted in me being tired.

Riggins, ID to Burns, OR

September 27

261 miles

Today was a lot of driving today with few stops & few opportunities to talk to anyone. Scenery is ranch land & farmland with mostly rolling hills and open valleys. I filled up with fuel in Idaho just a couple of miles before crossing back into Oregon. I paid $2.33/gallon today and that was nice since I put about 65 gallons in! I spent more than 20 minutes this morning washing my windshield—twice with bucket and squeegee & once with paper towel & Windex. I’m sure that there was not one square inch of windshield that didn’t have one or more bugs on it. Do you have any idea how big my windshield is?? When I fueled up, I washed it again for at least 10 minutes & it still looked terrible when I was done. In the morning, I will have to wash it yet again.

When I entered Oregon, the landscape became more & more dry as it seems to be high desert getting less than 10” per year of precipitation.

Tonight I'm staying in a very overpriced, old RV park in Burns, OR. I know, I can hardly find it on the map either. I pulled in just about 6:40 PM with no reservation so I couldn't be too picky. I asked the owner what winters were like & he had no idea. They've only lived here for 4 months! He may be in for a surprise.

Garfield, WA to Riggins, ID

Monday, September 26

185 miles

I drove about 185 miles into Idaho and down to Riggins, ID, which is located on the Salmon River next to Highway 95. I went near Lewiston which is a city located on the Snake River. 

The view is from the beginning of a 7-mile descent down to the town & river. Much of my driving was uphill at 40 MPH with flashers blinking in a 65 MPH zone and then down the other side with a 6-8% grade, transmission in 3^rd gear, at 35 MPH, flashers blinking. It would not be wise to loose your brakes on one of these hills. I’ve yet to tire looking at the terrain. Much of it is wheat farms until I arrived at the river canyons. 

I stopped in the community of Winchester. It was the center of a feud between farmers & ranchers. They finally came together to get a post office. The name was decided by counting the guns that the farmers had ordered to see which brand they had purchased the most of. I talked to an older character (come to think of it, he might have been about my age) that was walking by. He happened to mention that it often gets to -20º in the winter. I decided to continue driving south.

A little later I entered Nez Perce country. That Indian tribe has quite a history with American settlers. Their most famous leader was Chief Joseph who after many victories, realized that he was never going to be able to stop the flow of immigrants & signed a peace treaty.

I could just picture the Americans arriving from the left, coming down the hill, to be ambushed by the Indians who were hiding behind some low hills at the bottom.

I spent Monday night in Riggins, barely a wide spot on the Highway 95. My RV park is unique since it’s located in the middle of nowhere at the bottom of a canyon with the Salmon River. I have cell phone coverage, often non-existent the past couple of days, the best Wifi I’ve had in a RV park (the all advertise they have it but often it’s so bad I can’t even check email), and good cable TV. I have connected a couple of times before only to be disappointed by the quality of reception (I’m not even talking about what’s on TV) but last night was an exception. I got set up just in time to watch the last third of the debate. I’m so glad I got here in time to watch it…I guess.

Walla Walla to Garfield, WA

September 25

100 miles

Sunday afternoon (I’m not known for getting away early. As I write this on Tuesday morning, it is 10:15 AM) I drove about a hundred miles north & east to see a couple of my favorite people, Larry & Linda. Linda is my brother-in-law Bob’s sister. They live within a few miles of where Larry grew up on a farm. Larry has recently retired but is still involved in the family's 3000 acres that they farm—wheat & lentils. I’ve seen them at some graduations & a wedding but haven’t been to their place in 25 years or so. I spent an evening talking and eating, which we continued on Monday morning. Plans to leave by about 10:00 turned into something after noon. I always love to talk to an expert about things that I know nothing about.

Walla Walla by bike

Sabbath, Sept 24 (Sorry for the delay. I have a terrible time finding decent internet out of cities.)

I took it easy all morning but was able to stream Loma Linda Church on my iPad. In mid afternoon, I set out by bike to explore the town of Walla Walla. Main St. is the main drag in town & is 10 blocks long. The town is bustling with tourists (think wine) and college students. With a Jr. College, Whitman College, & Walla Walla University all located in the same vicinity there are many young people about. Add to the fact that one or more of the colleges was beginning their fall semester on Monday, & you can see why there were kids everywhere. This photo of a Macy’s store on Main St doesn’t look very imposing. As I slowly cycled past, I overheard a woman telling a friend that often this location is the top grossing Macy’s in the chain of stores! 

Whitman looks like a typical college but surprised me a bit. Having gone to Pacific Union College, which is quite isolated from surrounding town & homes, Whitman is right in the middle of a residential area. Notice this beautiful house a few blocks from the campus. 

Should be an hysterical landmark or something.

On the right is a photo of the most famous building in town, Walla Walla General Hospital. I was born here a few years ago! Years ago I was up in Walla Walla with my parents & we tried to find this building. Even though it’d been 50+ years since my parents had seen the hospital, & many changes had occurred in town, my mom directed us to the general area. We asked a local person who directed us across town to the new Walla Walla General (an SDA hospital). Knowing that was not correct, we asked an older person who pointed out the structure that is now a dorm for Whitman.

Later I rode over to College Place and around the campus of Walla Walla University. 

Returning to my RV, I rode past a recreation area that had the following facilities on the edge of old Fort Walla Walla.

• Museum
• Remote car track
• Airport for remote controlled planes & quadcopters
• Disc golf course
• BMX track
• Skateboard area
• Dog park
• Picnic area

It was the most complete recreation area I’ve ever come across & I wonder why we don’t have some more of these facilities for kids (and adults) to enjoy.

My RV park was full of 50 or so animals such as this. 

Why???

Walla Walla while sick

Friday, September 23

I spent most of the day resting in my motor home. I was in a great RV park so was quite comfortable. Here are a few observations about life since I didn't really go anywhere or do anything.

• Got a pizza so I could burn it in my oven. And I did. I bought a thermoeter but placed pizza in before waiting for final temperature to stabilize. They say charcoal can be good for you...      
• No single people RVing. The only one I've seen was the drunk guy from earlier this week. Maybe that's why he was drunk.
• Have never leveled rig. Sites are mostly level & I never seem to care enough to make it even better.
• Never got out folding chair/lounge. I'm inside or out doing something.
• Wifi is terrible—often can’t even connect but always advertised in RV parks. One time could stream video! It's the pits not being able to blog, check email, etc. Phone always works but their is a limit to my data.
• TV is not clear. I did have the news on a few times this week but otherwise I could care less. Many people carry a sattelite dish with them & "have to hook up".
•  I like to get people talking about something they’re passionate about. Today, I talked to a guy with Harley in custom trailer.
• Haven’t washed a plate or bowl or cup—thank you Costco.
• Biking in an area is an awesome to really see it.
• Hesitant to stop at point of historical interest when driving motor home pulling my car for fear I’m too long & won't be able to turn around.
• Everyone has a dog or two or three!!!

Walla Walla & surrounding areas

Thursday, Sept 22

I had a very slow start to my day as I felt terrible. Turns out I also had a fever but hadn't quite figured that out yet. I met my nephew, Sean, for lunch & we had a very pleasant time catching up. I'd seen him about a year ago but when other family is involved, it is very hard to actually sit & talk one on one.

When we returned to my motor home, a friend whom I'd met online, was waiting to show me around the area. This lady loves history & was anxious to share her knowledge with me. We drove about an hour away to the location of one of Lewis & Clark's overnight encampments as they made the return trip to the east

This depiction shows all the members of the party and what they might typically do to set up camp. They are silhouettes made of iron & are identified by a signboard.

Perhaps one of the most important members of the Corps of Discovery, Sacagawea. 

Thanks to the superb notes taken, this is on the exact route the Corps followed in 1806.

The next stop was to the Whitman Mission established in 1836. This is a view from a nearby hill of the original buildings erected over the first few years of the mission's existence.

This mission site was excavated in the 1940's & my dad used to tell about how he helped to locate the building sites. He was a history student at Walla Walla College in the late 1940's. He & a friend went out to the location at dawn & with me dad on the hill top, was able to direct his friend to mark some building foundations that could be seen with the sun at such a low angle. Now, they have marked the buildings with cement markers. The Whitman's were helpful to the Native Americans & the arriving Americans until some disgruntled Native Americans killed them along with 11 others in 1947.

Burial site.

This is a replica of a typical wagon following the Oregon Trail. It is smaller than later pioneers used because they were some of the very first wagons to enter the territories. This is also part of the original Oregon Trail as many settlers had to divert to the Whitman Mission to resupply.

We then returned to Walla Walla and drove downtown & over to College Place to see the buildings of Walla Walla University. Nothing like having a local to drive me around. I experienced the same thing when I was in Vancouver when a dear friend, who knows the area very well, drove me around for three days. I could get spoiled!!

Walla Walla

Wednesday, September 21

I'm being very low key today as I have a miserable cold. Can't figure out which student to blame this time...

I potted around, fixed a few things on the motor home, rode my bike around a bit & now need to go back and do laundry.

Again, no photos...

Hood River to Walla Walla, WA

Tuesday, September 20

I'd planned to take two days to drive to Walla Walla but I needed to have a little work done on my Honda so drove it in one day. There are many places that I'd have liked to pull off to check out the view but when the sign says "No trucks" I get nervous. I'm always on the lookout for ways to get out and/or turn around. My motor home & car are very long so I just kept on driving. The river was very picturesque & the highway was in great shape. I'd called ahead & lined up an expensive place to park but since I wanted to be in town, I had little choice. As I arrived my Low fuel light came on, a first for me. I dropped the car at the RV park & found a Safeway to fill up my tank. I put in about 80 gallons of fuel. That is the first time I've filled it up since I purchased it in March. My theory is that I hate to carry around so much extra weight but I was getting tired of looking for cheap fuel with a station I could get into & out of again. I also carry very little water for the same reason. My brother is the opposite as he always felt best when he had a full tank of fuel & water. He likes to camp out in the woods for several days at a time. My travel style is to go from a small town to another small town & try to find a reasonable RV park with water & power. Internet is nice but is usually so slow as to be near useless. My current park offers Wifi but I'm down at the local Starbucks with slightly faster Wifi.

As I left the park on Tuesday morning, I noticed this sign:

I found two things humorous. First, there is camping about 100' away. Second, no smoking. Apparently, that only applies to tobacco as I noticed a very STRONG order of marijuana coming from the camp host's RV. It's a new world.

Boring to Hood River

Monday, September 19

Today I got up even earlier beating my alarm. It seems that I needed to meet another friend for breakfast. When I returned to my motor home I decided to try to leave today for points east. As I started unhooking things, I realized how filthy my motor home was with California dirt (think Soquel for 10 days). Anytime I had a heavy dew or light rain, if the motor home wasn’t perfectly level, water & mud would run down the sides. A wash job seemed in order. I pulled from my gravel pad to some grass (yes they have grass here & people often drive on it) and spent more than an hour washing it. I’d brought a long handled brush, bucket & car wash but I didn’t realize how small the brush was & how big the motor home is. I now have a better concept but at least I did help water the lawn. I climbed up on the roof & scrubbed away. I finally blasted out of Boring at about 4:00 pm, a bit late for a long day’s drive.

I drove about 12 miles and visited another cousin, brother to the two I’d seen last week. I finally got on the road about 5:30 and drove 48 miles to Hood River. The freeway follows the Columbia River and is very scenic. I’m camped in a crummy little county campground that is over priced for what they offer. For my first time I have no water, no power & no sewer but I’m self contained so not too big a problem. I believe there is 1 tent across the way and a falling down drunk guy in a motor home closer to me. When I first tried to talk to him, it took him about 15 tries (I’m not exaggerating) to reach over to his boom box and turn it down so he could hear me. At that point I no longer wanted to talk to him but he weaved his way over & proceeded to give me drunk suggestions. I’m hoping he doesn’t decide to come over to be sociable tonight. If he got into my motor home & I had my stove on, he’d probably explode.

Hood River area

Not a bad place to camp if you like the sound of a river 30' away, lots of trees & two other campers in the park. The shower even had lots of hot water.