Back To Where It All Began...La Grande, Oregon

"I have been and still am a seeker, but I have ceased to question stars and books; 

I have begun to listen to the teaching my blood whispers to me" 

Hermann Hesse

Our brief visit with Melinda and Dick came to an end and it was time to move on toward La Grande and Thunder RV. While enroute, our love for Oregon State Parks guided us to Clyde Holliday State Park.

This state park turned out to be a little oasis decorated with thick carpets of vibrant and healthy green lawns (Sydney loved the feel of them), trash free walkways, paved roads and pads, immaculate restrooms and showers and an easy in/out dump station. Our back-in site was over 50’ deep, so we had plenty of room to “stretch” out. Water and electric were at site. A quiet nature trail that skirted along the John Day River, lower than normal due to the drought, offered us some outdoor exploring and exercise for the afternoon. We highly recommend this waypoint for a brief rest stop to recharge and relax or as a base if you decide to explore John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, which is definitely a place we want to visit in depth on another trip.

Prior to arriving in La Grande, we made a slight detour to acquaint ourselves with more Oregon history. The National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center is a 12,000 square foot interpretive center that will transport you on the 2,000 mile Oregon Trail. The center features exhibits, living history demonstrations, interpretive programs and multi-media presentations. There are also over 4 miles of interpretive trails. The "Prairie Schooner" was home to settlers for up to 6 months, an early day RV that was also capable of floating across many rivers. A very impressive facility and worth making the time for…free admission with my awesome Senior Pass.

Four and a half months to the day, we returned to Eagles Hot Lake RV Park for the evening, as the next day we had an early appointment at Thunder RV for some minor warranty work. As each site is a level pull through, stopping for the night was a snap. There was no rain, wind or freezing temperatures this visit, but the bald eagles are still here, calling to the wind, as they soared over the valley.

Thunder RV is truly the best dealer we have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. Wayne was expecting us and started working on our rig before our scheduled appointment. He also offered to check everything else on the rig to make sure all is well for our extended travel. And Mike made sure we had all the information needed to be entertained while Wayne serviced our trailer. Directions, eateries, hot spots…etc. Even offered his car to use around town and a parking spot at his ranch to spend the night if needed. They are the best! The work was completed by noontime, we bid our farewells and headed east to the land of the Wallowas.

At Waypoint 45.245714°-117.969070°

What Day Is It? It's Finally That Someday!

"A Cambrian Sea breeze had arrived...bringing with it the lure of new adventures yet to come and whispering of those uncharted shores, peaks, forests and rivers I will get to explore. "

Words of Sydney 2015

Turning the pages on a new calendar, we now allow the universe to unfold our next adventure toward those open spaces and draw us yet again to a few unique storytellers and life long mentors.

The countdown is now and we are on the tarmac with our checklist preparing for take off.

Notified that our new Arctic Fox was ready for delivery, we scheduled our pick up date and walk through on March 30th. As we have been outfitting our new trailer for many weeks, the last step was just to do a double check of all our inventory and load up the truck. We were quite surprised of how much space our "treasures" took up in the bed of our truck, but the Ram did not even flinch or sag under the added weight. Awesome truck!

We chose to take three full days to reach La Grande, Oregon, allowing us just a bit of time to check out a few points of interest. Although our set course was not the most scenic route, it was the most direct. We did treat ourselves by spending our first night in one of our favorite Eastern Sierra hangouts...Lone Pine, CA and them Alabama Hills. We drove out to Tuttle Creek Campground and made note of a few remote sites in Alabama Hills. A return visit to "them hills" will be with our new trailer.

Another quick stop we made while enroute on Nevada's Highway 95 was Sportsman Beach Campground at Walker Lake. Fellow wanderers have written reviews of their camping experience there and almost all were positive. The campground offered some large pull-through gravel sites with a shade shelter, fire pit, picnic table and a great lake view.

We reached La Grande, Oregon as planned and could not wait to catch a glimpse of our new trailer, so we drove out to Thunder RV. Unfortunately, it was not featured on the lot...but probably garaged...snug and clean awaiting our pre-delivery inspection the next morning. No doubt we will probably be waiting in front of their gates before they open...a big event for us!

At Waypoint 45.336438°-118.056408°