Shopping

Bend had rain showers off and on today so I let the rain soak the bugs while I headed into town to do some shopping. I took a different road into town which turned out to be a gravel forest road. It was a very well maintained road and was a very pretty drive. I saw several trail heads along the way that I will need to check out later. 

Using my GPS, I went to several stores and had a quick tour of Bend. First, of course, I headed to REI where my dividend for this year paid for my Merrill shoes that I replace every year. I also found an awesome book called Bend, Overall by Scott Cook. It is primarily about hiking trails, but also touches on museums, lakes, caves and other things to see in the area. There is so much to do here that it may take me several years to see it all. 

After spending a lot of time at REI, I picked up some organic veggies at Whole Foods so I would have something to eat. My GPS really let me down at Whole Foods. It guided me there just fine and said I had arrived at my destination. WHERE!  I was on a major road with two lanes going in each direction and it couldn't tell me which side of the road it was on!  I couldn't see a Whole Foods looking building anywhere so I turned off into a parking lot and took a look around. Nothing. There was a mall on the other side of the road with lots of big stores so I thought that might be a good place to look. After a bit of maneuvering I got over there and started wandering around and eventually I found Whole Foods. Stupid GPS!

One thing I have noticed about Bend is that except for a few major roads, everything meanders around and they have lots of roundabouts. Makes me dizzy.  They also have lots of parks and trails though so overall, it looks like a neat place to hang out. 

Tomorrow I really should get at those bugs.

Life is good. 

My home for the summer

I arrived today at the campsite that I leased for the summer. It's awesome. I had picked it out last fall when I came through the area on my way to Arizona. I thought I might like to lease a site this summer to use as a base for exploring eastern Oregon. I can leave the motor home on the site while I take the car on day trips and longer camping trips. I have never spent much time on this side of the mountains and there is so much to see and do that I am sure I will not be able to go everywhere I want to. 

Here are pictures of the site:

Lots of room for a tent.

My site is down this dead end road with only one other site on my side of the road and 3 or 4 on the other side. 

It was nice settling in here after 4 long days of driving. Tomorrow I will spend getting the bugs off the Born Free then I will start exploring. 

I took this picture from highway 95 today. The snow covered hills looked closer than in this picture. 

Life is good. 

Walmart

The Walmart camping experience happens once or twice a year for me and it always leaves something to be desired. It is convenient when I need groceries while traveling and the price is right. It's noisy though. 

I appreciate that Walmart allows us to use their parking lot at night if we wish. 

I have been driving through nothing most of the day and I am still there.....

I will be in Oregon soon. I can't wait. 

Life is good. 

In California

Second night of my trip north and I find myself in the great state of California on highway 395. Decided to go in style tonight and checked in to an RV resort so I could have air conditioning. It was a long, hot day today. There are trees AND grass here. Truly a paradise resort. I haven't seen so much vegetation in one place for a long time. 

Here is where I landed.

My dog is watching me take a picture. 

Life is good.

Overnight in Quartzsite

Headed out today from Arizona for the trip north today. Getting too hot here and I was getting restless for a road trip. Stopped for the night near Quartzsite, Arizona a little after noon. Very windy for the last couple of hours before I stopped. The Born Free handled good but I needed to be very alert for strong gusts. Made for a tiring day even though I stopped early. I left Ken's place at 6:45 and drove almost non stop. 

Here is my campsite. Not too many people here. 

My Born Free looks rather bare. I removed the large grey stripes because they looked very dirty like there was mold or something under the surface. 

This is what they looked like after cleaning. 

So I took them off. It was pretty easy, I just let the hot Arizona sun cook them a bit and peeled them off. So long ugly stripes. The other stripes are glossy and don't have the dirty look. 

Life is good. 

Living dangerously

Sitting in my chair near a cholla cactus. 

KOFA

I am currently at KOFA wildlife refuge camping in my car. I have found a campsite off the beaten path that has been very quiet and solitary. 

I just barely have internet using my Sleek with my Verizon Jetpack so will keep this brief. 

Life is good.