Heading South

We started Sept off by going to a new campground for us since we were unable to get reservations at Chehalis.  It is a fairly new campground that is lovely and has many amenities BUT it is located between I-5 on the east and a two track railroad on the west and the trains run about every hour at night and every half hour during the day.  Of course they blow their whistle just as they are passing the campground! 

This shows how close the train tracks are to the campground

Our site in Castle Rock, WA

The saving grace was the new public shooting range located just a mile away from the campground and we spent three afternoons there while Larry sighted in his new rifles.  The shooting range took three years to build and it was all volunteer.  It is very nice and each afternoon was very enjoyable.  While I did not shoot, I was the 'go-fer' to the target as it was at the 100 yd range.

Shooting range showing targets at 100 yd with 200 and 300 yd in the background

Larry at the shooting range

We were able to help friends in a nearby campground when he unexpectedly ended up in the hospital when they needed to leave.  It worked out well as we did not have anything planned, it was a drizzly day and it was a preview of where we needed to go two days later when we left for OR.

We arrived back at Cascade Meadows on Sept. 8.  We stopped for fuel in Bend to fill up before sitting for two plus weeks and the price was $2.35 which made me happy.

We took three wonderful bike rides while at Cascade Meadows.  The first was to Salt Creek Falls, the second highest waterfall in OR at 256 ft.  We have driven by it many times over the years and just didn’t realize it was only 200 yds from SR 58.  Next we went to Crater Lake National Park from the north and rode the 33 miles around the rim.  What a beautiful day!  We had a picnic lunch sitting on a ledge overlooking the lake with Wizard Island in front of us.  Then Saturday before we left we took a ride to Paulina and East Lake and put the bike away when we returned.

Salt Creek Falls, OR

Larry on the bike at Crater Lake National Park

Our view of Wizard Island in Crater Lake where we ate our picnic lunch

View at the overlook on Paulina Hwy

We left Cascade Meadows Monday Sept 26 and did the unthinkable and left with the big awning extended and hit a pole and ruined it. Fellow RVers were quick to help us get it rolled up and tied down so we could get on our way.   We overnighted near Gerlach, NV and it was a beautiful clear night so I was able to see millions of stars.  I tried to take a picture but nothing showed up as it was just too dark.  Tues., Sept 27 we arrived at Preferred RV in Pahrump, NV around 7 PM (after dark) because we had a tire issue with one of the trailer tires and Larry had to change it out with a spare.  Fortunately there was a nice wide shoulder and he put the trailer awning out so he could work in the shade.  Since his 'thermostat' doesn’t work properly he can get overheated quickly without realizing it so it was good he had the awning.

Thursday, Sept 29 we went to Las Vegas to the Amsoil warehouse and picked up some motorcycle oil and then visited our friends, Forrest and Rosie, at their new place.  We all went out to eat at Santa Fe Casino buffet and boy! do they have a feast!!  We were there about three hours and had a great time, arriving back in Pahrump around 7 PM.

Friday Larry put a new control board in our front A/C unit but it did not fix the problem so we are back to square one.   One nice thing about having three A/C units is in hot weather (like here in Pahrump where it is 90º ) we still have cooling in both the living area and bedroom area but we will need to figure out what is wrong with the front A/C unit as it keeps 'short cycling' and doesn’t cool.