Trip Out West 2010 (Week 10)

Week 10 began with us still in Oregon. We spent most of 1 day driving the Historic Columbia River Gorge Road. On that road were several waterfalls and some awesome river overlooks along with several historic bridges. The second day of the week we left Oregon behind and camped in Yakima Sportsman CG in Washington. The next day we drove up to Mt. Rainer NP and it was so foggy and overcast all day that we never did see the top of the mountain. Luckily, in spite of the fog and quite a bit of snow on the ground, we were still able to see lots of other sights and a couple of waterfalls and we had seen the mountain several years ago. We left Washington and drove through Idaho (stopping only for gas and dinner!) and into Montana late at night where we found a free place to park the camper at the back of a casino. We spent the next 2 nights at West Shore SP on the shores of Flathead Lake in MT. During the day we drove up to Glacier NP where we were blessed to learn we could drive quite a bit more of the Going to the Sun Rd. than we had expected. A small portion was still snowed over. It was an awesome park and again, there were tons of waterfalls! The last day of week 10 we drove south to Lewis and Clark Caverns SP and visited Grant-Kohrs Ranch NHS on the way.

See the map below to follow our adventures.
Zoom in and click on an icon to see where we have been.

Pictures of Week 10 are at this link

http://community.webshots.com/user/rvburroughs5

Trip Out West 2010 (Week 9)

We started week 9 by continuing up Rt. 1 along the CA coast. We picked up "ocean glass" along Glass Beach, drove the Avenue of Giants and saw the lovely redwood trees, visited Eureka and Humboldt Bay and marveled at the mixture of beaches and cliffs. We saw elk at Stone Lagoon, drove through Redwoods National Park and then, from Crescent City, we turned NE and followed the beautiful Smith River into Oregon.
We camped in the Valley of the Rogue SP and really enjoyed it. The second day we were there we drove the scenic route up the wild and beautiful Rogue River to Crater Lake NP. Along the way we saw Rogue Gorge, Mill Creek Falls and Natural Bridge. Crater lake it self was so beautiful and pristine and we were blessed because they had just opened the West Rim Road a couple of hours before we arrived from a recent snowfall. On our way back we took the scenic route along the equally wild and beautiful Umpqua River and stopped at 5 or 6 awesome waterfalls, a spot called Colliding Rivers and then had dinner in Roseburg. The next day we left for the coast of Oregon and started our trip up Rt. 101 in Brandon at the Coquille Lighthouse and camped at the Coquille Lighthouse SP. We spent the last 2 days of the week stopping at 6 more lighthouses, the Oregon Dunes, the Sea Lion Caves, the Devil's Punch Bowl and more scenic vistas than we could count.
We then turned inland and camped at Ainsworth SP. One thing we both agreed on at the end of the week was that we loved the Oregon SP campgrounds!

See the map below to follow our adventures.
Zoom in and click on an icon to see where we have been.

Pictures of Week 9 are at this link

http://community.webshots.com/user/rvburroughs5

Trip Out West 2010 (Week 8)

On the first day of week eight we moved the camper to Oakhurst,CA. We spent the next 3 days in Yosemite NP and had a wonderful time. We visited the Wawona section and the Valley section. We stood in awe at El Capitan and the Half Dome, viewed Yosemite falls from at least 20 different points, visited the Ahwahnee Lodge, ate lunch in the valley clearing, hiked to Vernal falls, got soaked by Bridal Veil falls and saw several waterfalls that only run in the spring. We hiked/walked about 12 miles but still had time to just sit a couple of times and enjoy the mountains, river, valley and waterfalls. It was such an awesome visit. From there we headed for the Coast Guard campground in Petaluma, CA with a stop in route to visit RV Pics.com friends Don and Carol in Turlock. The next day we headed for San Francisco where we walked Fisherman's Wharf, ate clam chowder from a sourdough bread bowl, strolled and watched miniature boats in Golden Gate Park, saw lots of lovely old row houses, sampled freebies at Ghiradelli's and Carl took tons of pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge trying to get the perfect combination of bridge, sun and fog! The next day we relaxed and then drove south to Tomales Bay and sampled fresh barbecued oysters. On the last day of the week we headed north on Rt. 1 along the coast and stopped every few minutes to see the cliffs and beaches and smell the fresh sea air. We camped that night in Ft. Bragg.

See the map below to follow our adventures.
Zoom in and click on an icon to see where we have been.

Pictures of Week 8 are at this link

http://community.webshots.com/user/rvburroughs5

Trip Out West 2010 (Week 7)

Our seventh week ended as the month of May ended. We began the week with 3 nights at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas and used some of the time to catch up with laundry and cleaning. We did get down to the Vegas strip one evening but cut the visit short and found a QUIET Taco Bell and had dinner! We second day we drove to Hoover Dam and along the way stopped several times at Lake Mead. We also visited Red Rock Canyon one evening to watch the sunset. On Friday of that week we pulled our little trailer up the mountains and down into Death Valley NP. The colors of the mountains and canyons surrounding the valley were really beautiful and walking nearly a mile out onto the salt lake was interesting. We camped that night in Ridgecrest, CA and the next day we drove to Isabel Lake and then drove north along the Kern River. There were so many people out swimming, rafting, fishing, etc. that it was hard at times to see the awesome river. We camped that night all by ourselves in a secluded spot in Sequoia NF and then moved to Oakhurst, CA from where we visited Sequoia NP and King's Canyon NP. The trees and mountains of Sequoia were awe inspiring as were the great canyons, panoramic views, water falls and rushing waters in King's Canyon. An extra bonus this week was when we saw a
California Black Bear in Sequoia NP. All in all it was another great week.

See the map below to follow our adventures.
Zoom in and click on an icon to see where we have been.

Pictures of Week 7 are at this link

http://community.webshots.com/user/rvburroughs5