Roughing It Gently - Our Travel Adventures in our 2015 Discovery 40E

Diary of our RV travels and life as full-timers in retirement. Check out where we've been to see where you would like to go. We write about the area, campgrounds with commentary as to pros and cons, and show lots of photo of the interesting places to visit. If you want information as to any given place, type its name in the SEARCH field near the top right of the opening page. IF we have been there and posted about it, the 'Search' feature will take you to the post that talks about that area.

Monday, September 26, 2016

September 19, 2016 - Oh my! Time just flies by and we're now back in Texas.

Since leaving Eagle Lake we moved on to the Wonderland MH and RV Park in Redding, California, a so-so but economical campground with full hook up in Redding, California. The park itself was not too bad but the spaces were very cramped and due to the trees in between the sites, satellite was a chore to connect. Our left slide was about 1 foot away from the neighbor’s awning and sitting area. Luckily there was no one on our right. Bill was sick with a bronchial congestion (probably in part from the high altitudes) so this was a welcome change from our previous 5,000 – 6,000 feet, at just 500 feet. Also there was another VA outpatient clinic there so he got attention and meds for it there (2 visits). We spent 8 nights in Redding at the Wonderland RV Park ($150 for the 8 nights) with full hook up, it was hard to complain about the close proximity even with the short spaces and hard maneuverability for a 41 foot coach. We didn’t do too much in this area, other than go to the V.A., and shop at Costco, but did manage a trip to the Lassen Volcanic National Park and a visit to explore some lava tubes.

Toward the end of our stay there we managed to get an appointment with Fleetwood Warranty at the factory in Decatur IN for October 17^th until ALL our new coach issues were taken care of (including a crack in the right outer wall at a corner of the bedroom slide). Then we found out that we still had an issue to deal with back in Texas, so since we already had an appointment to be in Decatur IN on October 17^th, we decided to get there via Texas, so we made a 14-nightreservation at the Thousand Trails Lake Conroe Campground & RV Park on Lake Conroe, which is beautiful and FREE.

We decided to drive down IH-5 to IH-15 to IH-40East, which is when one realizes just how BIG California really is. On our way to Texas we stayed one night at a small campground in Williams AZ, 3 nights at a campground in Grants NM and 2 nights at rest stops. Though we had taken care of our issue in Texas, we also considered future camping savings and purchased a Thousand Trails Elite membership upgrade. Our 2-Zone Camping Pass membership allowed us a 14-night stay FREE with a required 7-night stay out of the Thousand Trails system (i.e. at other non TT campgrounds or dry camping somewhere else AND it only allowed us Thousand Trails campgrounds in the South EAST and South WEST zones, which include campgrounds as follows: Florida (3), Georgia (1), South Carolina (2), Alabama (0), Mississippi (0), Louisiana (0), Texas (7), Arizona (1), Nevada (1), California (15),Oregon (4), and Washington (12) for a total of 46 eligible campgrounds. Under our upgraded plan we can stay up to 21 consecutive nights absolutely FREE (no $3 daily charge after the first 30 days) at ANY of ALL of the Thousand Trails WORLD/NATIONWIDE (US plus Canada and Mexico) AND there is no longer any time period that we need to be out of the Thousand Trails system, so we can go from one TT campground that we just stayed 21 nights at, directly into ANY other TT campground and stay there for up to another 21 nights, and so on, at over 730 campgrounds. Additionally, we can also stay at any ENCORE campground for only $0 - $20 per night, depending on the level of luxury of the each campground. For example, there’s one on the beach just outside of Key West. Try getting a $20 rate anywhere near Key West. Also reservations can be made up to 210 days in advance vs. 60 days under the previous membership.

So we have been at this campground for the original 14 nights, and upon upgrading extended our stay for 21-nights more… ALL FREE. Therefore we shall be here until September 30^th, when we will go North and East towards Decatur IN for our October 17^th appointment, though arriving there on the 16^th, as Fleetwood will put us in their own campground for FREE; then pick up the coach by 06:00am and return it to us by 02:00pm every day until we are satisfied that all issues are resolved to our satisfaction. At that point our plan (so far) is to start heading back home, although we may stop in at Gaffney, SC to visit the main Freightliner Service Facility to have the coach serviced for its first maintenance service and go over the owner maintenance requirements with them.

The photos are not as many as in previous posts because we have been doing less outings around here, but we did not want y’all to think we had gotten lost or something

08/14 - Shasta Dam, Redding CA

Since Shasta Dam was so close to where we were staying, we thought we would check it out. It was HOT!! Not a day to really enjoy the beautiful park-like area around the dam. But, from inside the Visitors Center we had an opportunity to watch the raptors soaring above the dam area. One stopped mid-flight and dove straight for the river below. Since the river was out of sight at that particular point, we didn’t get to see if the dive was successful. It was an awesome sight. The other striking scene was in the forest across the lake. The leaves on the trees were bright red, but it area. We learned that the fire retardant dropped on the fire to put it out was the cause of the bright red color. Check the attached pictures.

08/15 – Lassen Volcanic National Park, CA

We heard about this park while we were staying at Eagle Lake. It is very small by National Park Standards at only 106,452 acres and just over 400,000 visitors a year. However, it shares many of the most famous features with Yellowstone. The last time Lassen erupted was in 1921, but that was merely the end of a series of eruptions of varying severity that began in 1914. Mt. Lassen, the peak from which the park receives its name, reaches a height of 10,463 feet and highest point of the road through the park reaches an altitude of 8,512 feet. Yep, it was much cooler than down in Redding! About 25 degrees cooler. And yes, Bill got to play in snow again. We had intended to visit Bumpass Hell, which is an area of thermal features. The area includes steaming sulphur vents, mud pots, boiling springs and fumaroles. Unfortunately, it was a 1.5 mile hike each way and with Bill’s bronchial issue and the 8,000’ it was not to be.

To make up for not seeing Bumpass Hell, we stopped instead at a lava tube. We climbed down a stairway built where the ceiling of the lava tube collapsed and entered a very eerie place. The Park Service has not installed any lighting in the lava tube, so it is completely dark once one leaves the area immediately below the opening. It is also quite cool, particularly by Florida standards. The temperature is a constant 46 degrees year around, fortunately, we had followed the advice in the brochure and had flashlights and jackets with us. The tube varied in height from about 6.5 feet to 12 or more and in width from 12 or so to over 20 feet.

The floor was not very even, so I paid a lot of attention to my feet to maintain my footing. There were some pretty deep cracks in the floor, hinting at another lava tube below. In all, the tube was probably more than a quarter of a mile long, before we came to a second stairway that took us back to the surface. More than once we both thought about the earth tremors we had felt in the Eagle Lake area. All we could do was hope that there would not be any while we were underground.

On our way through California to pick up Interstate 40 to head back toward Texas, the effect of the drought was very evident as we drove through the San Joaquin Valley. There seems to be a war of sorts going on between the farmers in the valley and the folks in the city. We noted numerous signs indicating that farmers use the water to grow food for the nation. All along our trip we have seen windmill farms, but the one we saw as we were traveling toward Arizona was the McDaddy of them all, as you will probably be able to tell by the photos.

08/19 - Dry Camping on IH-40

The real interesting event of this portion of the trip was after we stopped at a wide spot at an exit to spend the night. (NOTE: we ended up staying on the side of exit ramps a couple of times because about every other Rest Area that we have come across has been closed and sometimes there has been more than 200 miles between open rest areas.) But back to why this stop was more interesting than others. We had been having some issues with the battery in the Explorer not holding the charge while being towed, so Bill went out to check on the situation while Mary worked on fixing some dinner. It was nearly dark outside. When Bill came back into the coach, he was not alone. He had found a young (20s) woman walking along the road. Keep in mind, this exit is MILES from anything. It seems she had just been released from the local jail, which was on the other side of the highway, and quite a distance away from it at that. It was so far away, that it did not show up on Google Maps when we were trying to identify a place to park for a few hours. According to her story, she had been in jail on a misdemeanor charge and was looking for the person coming to pick her up and the battery had died in her iPhone. We couldn’t help her with charging the phone, as Bill’s phone is an iPhone 5 and her phone was a 4 so the charging tips were different. If she had had an Android, we could have helped her and even given her a charger. So she left and walked back toward where she had arranged to meet her friend, hoping he was going to be there. Bill went out again about midnight to make sure she had found a ride or at least offer her some food/soda or possibly a safe haven for the night, but she was no where around so hopefully she was picked up by her friend, or obtained a ride in to where she wanted to go.

08/20 – Canyon Motel & RV Park, Williams AZ

When doing our original trip planning in February and March, we had identified this park as a reasonable place to stay while visiting the Grand Canyon area, so nothing fancy, but gave us full hookups and a place to relax after spending a couple of nights on the road. (Unfortunately the photos were corrupted.)

08/21 – En route to Grants, NM

Travel on this section of road was relatively uneventful. The scenery is ever changing, from pasture with small low trees to red rock cliffs and scrub sage for vegetation. As we got closer to Grants, the volcanic origin of the landscape became more apparent.

NEXT POST: 08/22-24 -

Saturday, August 6, 2016

August 3 - 10, 2016 - We couldn't stand Thousand Trails Snowflower any longer so we relocated up to Eagle Lake RV Park (private) near Susanville, Ca.

Totally fed up with Thousand Trails' lies, misrepresentation and deplorable living conditions, while living in another parking lot and without sewer, satellite or cell phone service, no Wi-Fi and unable to cook on our charcoal grill outside (all billed as amenities of the campground) we opted to forfeit 8 of the 14 days we already had on reservation there and moved our motor home about 175 miles north to Eagle Lake RV Park, just 26 miles north of Susanville in California. Susanville is a small but quite commercial town of 15,000 and change, but it has just about everything that most larger cities have; all the stores, restaurants, hospital, a community college and even the High Desert State Prison nearby. To Eagle Lake about 26 miles to the north there are two ways to get there and each takes you through two different ecosystems: the flatter and more desert-like with rock-laden hills and dry, parched yellow valleys with few trees, and the mountainous, pine-filled forest environments with steep climbs, deep descents and narrow roads with snake curves from point A to point B. Eagle Lake (the part where this campground is located is actually the western part of the Eagle Lake area, which due to the vast draught that California is suffering from has left at least 1/2 of this lake area low and dry. Even the wet part where water still stands is only 6" to 2 feet deep. Thus the draw that this location. And campground cater to, namely camping and fishing, is vastly reduced. As such, this campground is very empty of campers. Out of 90 total campsites (65 for RVs and 25 for tents) we counted only about 10 campers here (no tents), as campers who come for the fishing and active lake environment go to the southern part of Eagle Lake as that area is still up to 75 feet deep. However, even there the tourism is suffering due to an abundance of plankton (natural fish food) this year which has stuffed the fish's diet and thus keeps them less willing to bite at lures. Sad as it is for those that depend on the tourism, we have really enjoyed the peace and quiet here. We came for 3 days with our Passport America membership at 50% of the $36.00 daily rate for the first 3 days, and decided to extend our stay an additional 4 days. There are some things to do and go see but we are in no hurry to leave the park, as it is so beautiful and calm here, with full hookups (50Amp electric, water, sewer) plus cable, Wi-Fi, game lodge, clean restrooms and showers, and the most complete and organized convenience store we have ever seen in a campground. Also we can cook on our charcoal grill outside, and have a fire in our fire ring, neither which was allowed at the TT Snowflower CG in Emigrant Gap.

We were luckily given the best campsite in the park, towards the back so it's shady, yet allows the satellite dish to hit the satellites. There are trees for shade, but not so many and so close together that one can't see through them. Actually, from our campsite we can even see the watery part of the lake, the rest of the campground and the abundant wildlife of this area.

Funny story... Our first night we are tucked in for the night watching TV at about 11:30pm when we feel the motor home rocking a bit as if something was pushing on it. Immediately we figured on a bear who may have smelled food in the coach, but Bill went outside to check and no wildlife around (beside himself). Then, when going to bed it hit us... Could it have been an earthquake? Checked it on www.earthquaketrack.com and sure enough by the time felt... a 4.5 and a 4.0 a few hours later, about 5-6kms depth in Janesville, which is about 13 miles south of Susanville. Researching it here are the statistics:

13 earthquakes today
114 earthquakes in the past 7 days
339 earthquakes in the past month
3511 earthquakes in the past year
With the strongest being a 4.7 magnitude, in Bayside California.
The largest earthquake in Northern California this week was 4.5 Magnitude, in Janesville, California.

So apparently earthquakes are a part of daily life here, most of which are barely noticeable. At least we don't have to worry about the roof falling in on us.

We have not seen any large wildlife here yet, (except about 10 deer under a tree, on our way to shop in Susanville). What was exciting about that is that among them there was 1 big BUCK. You can see his antlers in the photo. Bucks are seldom seen out and about in the middle of the day. Yet we are told that there are mountain lions (Cougars... NOT the human kind, though they may be around here too), black bears, deer, and smaller mammals to be found in the area. The only grizzly bear in California now resides on their flag. Of the smaller mammals we have many Chipmunks (Chippers, as Mary calls them) which are all over the campground and all around our campsite, are not the least bit shy about our presence. So much so that we have even hand fed them (they are very gentle and take the food gently from the fingers) and we taught them to take a malted milk ball off of a Coke can without tipping over the can. The jury is still out as to which they like better... 'Whoppers' or Yogurt covered malted balls. Actually, this trick came about when Bill left a malted milk ball on top of his Coke can (on the table) with our German Shepard dog "Rex" standing guard next to it when we walked to the office to extend our stay and when we came back the malted milk ball was gone with the Coke can and Rex undisturbed. So we put the can with a malted milk ball on top of it on the ground and got the camera ready to see if they would do it again... and they did. Another funny story as to these crafty devils: The camp owners told us that they no longer have food items on the lower shelves of the store because the Chipmunks like to sneak into the store when customers walk in and dart to the candy on the lower shelves, grab one and dart right back out before the door closes again. I guess they are not aware that if a table does not stop them from getting their treat, a second shelf won't hinder them either. We were warned not to leave our coach door open as they have been known to let themselves into it looking for food, now that they know who the patsies are.

As this was the campsite where the owners stayed at while building this campground, our campsite is the only one with a little grass garden and a birdbath and a bird house, which were visited by various birds finding it empty. So we filled the bird bath up with fresh water and suddenly the news spread and we had all species of birds coming for a drink and a bath. Even the bees seemed to like it and they played nice with the birds (and us) so we all loved it. The camp owners were so nice that they even separated Campsite #17 (we are in #16) for us to park Edith, keeping her in the shade without giving up any of our campsite which is wonderful, in the shade under our awning. Unfortunately this morning another large motor home came by and wanted Mary to move her car from the site next to us (#17) where Edith has been parked. Imagine that! Of all the spaces available to use in this very vacant campground, they wanted to park next to us. Being as nice as Mary is, she agreed to move Edith, until... Bill pointed out that in doing so they were going to block our view of the lake completely, so she went out again and politely explained that such a plan would not work out for us and asked then to go elsewhere away from us, which they did.

We plan to stay here until Wednesday August 10th and are currently planning our next place to visit and stay at. IF we have Wi-Fi availability there as well, we shall update our blog with a new post. Otherwise we shall do so the next time we get Wi-Fi to get another post into the blog. Here are some photos (and a video of the Chipmunk) of our stay at Eagle Lake RV Park and the Susanville area.