Great Basin Spring ~ May 23-24, 2012

We head east over the Santiam Pass (a must see in the fall) on Hwy 20 to Burns then turn south onto Hwy 205, another of Oregon's Scenic Byways.

Our destination is the Narrows at Malheur and Harney Lakes in the northwestern corner of the Great Basin. Malheur Lake is freshwater, while Harney Lake is saline-alkaline. Both cycle between open water in wetter years and marshes in drier years. It is a wetlands oasis providing a habitat for many migratory bird species each year.

We stayed at The Narrows RV Park for two nights, the perfect base camp for exploring Harney County and the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. In the morning we went out to Visitors Center to get the scoop on the best places for birding. We got so much good information from staff and visiting birders we have to save some areas of exploration for our next trip. 

We took along a "sightings checklist" and head down Pilot Road (gravel)towards the town of French Glen with binoculars and camera at the ready. Spring in the high desert (about 4,100') does not disappoint: the colors, shadows and wildlife provide surprises at every turn. The road is virtually empty so we frequently just pull over, get out and walk. The weather is perfect, warm and partly cloudy.

American Avocets

Pheasant

White Faced Ibis

Buena Vista Overlook

After a full day of exploring we have an excellent dinner at the little cafe at the park. A storm rolls through after midnight and I wake up to the sound of dripping water. I just got up and threw a towel under it for the night. It turns out that one of the small ventilation skylights was cracked and the wind was forcing the rain in. No worries, Mr. Duct Tape to the rescue at sunrise.  

We just add it to the NWTF list with a smile. My mom and dad were on the road in their motorhome for a decade. They loved every minute of it, but Daddy did warn me "Honey, they are money pits". I now get that. We look at it as all part of the journey and we become a little more self sufficient and savvy as we go. After breakfast at the Cafe we head north to Burns, fill up and are on our way to Boise for a few days.

Omne Trium Perfectum IV ~ May 19-20, 2012

We're off and by the end of the first 36 hours we have a new understanding of the concept of adventure. We have the rig set up now to tow the Honda CRV. It will give us more flexibility to anchor somewhere and explore. Rod has hauled a trailer with the rig on his annual trek to Las Vegas for the NASCAR races, but towing a vehicle has a whole new set of ground rules.

It has something called a proportional brake that senses when the motorhome brakes are engaged and applies the Road Master brakes to Honda. Just outside of Laytonville a car in front of us decides to make an unannounced left turn ~ you know the kind: stop, start turn, signal, tail in your lane. Rod applied the brakes; the message to the Honda was slow down, but instead of that the brakes locked making it a momentary 4,500 pound anchor. We must have left a 100' of rubber on Highway 101 and a cloud of blue smoke that swallowed the car behind us. The parameters and settings were supposedly checked before we left Johnny Franklin's in Santa Rosa. Me thinks they muffed it. We pulled over at the next rest stop and re-adjusted the unit which sits on the floor of the driver side in the Honda with an arm attached to brake pedal. From there on no problems.

We pulled into our campsite at Emerald Forest north of McKinleyville and unhitched the Honda to drive down to our friends house for the evening. The minute we got on the Freeway it was "Houston we have a problem". Major vibration, sounded like a freight train. Being NASCAR fans we understand the concept of "flat spotted tires" when a car skids it scrapes off the rubber. Oh boy!

Fortunately Tom and Linda are good friends with Pat, the manager of the Les Schwab Store in McKinleyville. Linda called his house (this is Friday night) and left a message with this wife explaining the situation. On his day off he met us at the shop at 8am and had his guys to get us in first. Four new Honda tires $1,000 ~ friends and customer service ~ priceless.

On the road again by nine, destination Sublimity, near Salem, OR for Rod's Pop's 94th birthday party. We had expected to get in by mid afternoon, but that was not in the cards! We're just south of Cottage Grove, OR on Interstate 5 when we hear a loud rattle-clank, thwappa, thwappa. We pulled as far off the road as possible on the paved verge, which left about 2 feet to the slow lane. Scary! Big Rig drivers are the best, if they had room they moved over to the fast lane to pass us.

Problem: the inside dually tire had lost its tread, which was wrapped up in the wheel assembly and ripped the mud flap loose from it's outside mooring. Fortunately the core remained inflated. We called Good Sam, and it took about an hour before they could get a tow truck to us to change the tire. Nice kid did a great job and we were back on the road in a couple of hours. We pull into Sublimity about 11pm, set up and call it a day.

I went to get something out of the closet and everything spilled out onto the floor like a waterfall. The clothes rod brackets had given up the ghost somewhere along the way. Omne Trium Perfectum. At this point there was nothing to do but laugh and get a good night's sleep!

There's a Les Schwab Store just down the road from Pop's. They got us in first thing Monday morning and replaced two tires, rotated fronts to back and replaced the spare. $400 for 2 new rig tires ~ again customer service priceless.

Next stop the Narrows for a couple of days at Malheur and Harlan Lakes south of Burns, OR. We are enjoying being unplugged and using each day to the fullest. That said you may need to wait for the rest of the story, but I'm taking good notes and lots of photos. Stay tuned.