Fall Western Trip 2015: Eugene, Oregon to Fort Collins, Colorado

Monday, 10/12:  189 miles and camped at  Emigrant Lake County Park, Ashland, Oregon

We said "Good Bye" to Cory, Molly and Molly's mom, Kathy over coffee and donuts at the camper Monday morning.

Then we moved on to Emigrant Lake County Park in Ashland.  It was a short, three hour drive on I-5 to get there, and the park was less than half full.  It was self check in since it was considered off season.

Emigrant Lake Reservoir was only 11% full.

We met Katie Leuthauser, a Potsdam High School alum, at 6:30 for dinner at the Caldera Brewing Company.  It was great catching up with her.  Her dad, Mark, was a teaching buddy of mine at Potsdam High School.

Tuesday, 10/13:  312 miles and camped at Burns RV Park, Burns, Oregon

It was a nice drive today along routes 97 and 20.  Rt 20 is a beautiful drive, good road and very light traffic.  The only snafu was that after we left Ashland, we went over 100 miles with no diesel station in sight.  We finally had to detour to find fuel, which added 45 minutes to the day's drive.  The Burns RV Park was nearly empty.

Wednesday, 10/14:  185 miles and camped at Mountain View RV Park, Boise, Idaho.

The park was crowded, but very clean and nice with paved pull through sites and lots of trees.

As we passed through Ontario in eastern Oregon, sugar beet harvesting was in full bore.  According to Wikipedia, "The region's primary industry is the cultivation of russet potatoes, sugar beets, and onions. The Heinz Frozen Food Company (formerly Ore-Ida), a subsidiary of H. J. Heinz Company, processes locally grown potatoes, and annually produces over 600,000,000 pounds  of 75 different potato products, while employing approximately 1,000."

Our main reason for stopping in Boise is to visit with a former student, Lyndsay Belt Elles.  Lyndsay has a really cool job and works for the National Interagency Fire Center.  Located at the fire center is the Wildland Firefighters Memorial.  After a great tour, we took Lyndsay out for dinner at a local brew pub, the Bittercreek Alehouse. All the while we were in Boise, smoke filled the air from a nearby forest fire.

Thursday, 10/15:  240 miles and camped at the Pocatello, Idaho KOA

Today was a smooth drive with Interstate highway all the way.  It was actually a relaxing drive.  We arrived early and relaxed.  We had purchased a "States Map" some time ago and finally put it up.  We can mark the states we have been to with our camper.  The truck was due for an oil change, so I scheduled one at Courtesy Ford for Friday morning.

Friday, 10/16:  251 miles and camped at the Rock Springs KOA, Rock Springs, Wyoming

Courtesy Ford was amazing.  Not only did they do the normal service, but they washed the truck as well as vacuumed the interior.  While in Pocatello, I also stopped at Lowe's and bought a portable air compressor to carry with us. 

After a late start because of the oil change, we traveled the Interstate all the way today.  We saw lots of gas, oil, and mining industry.  The Rock Springs KOA is at least half longterm (workers in mining) but we found it very pleasant.  Because we opted for no sewer hook up, we were the only ones in our section. There were no trees or grass, but the sites were clean and reasonably spacious, and there was lots of room to walk the dogs.  We would stay here again.

Saturday 10/17:  Lakeside KOA, Fort Collins, Colorado

The drive today was I-80 to Laramie, then 287 south.  It was a nice drive with very light traffic.  This KOA is very, very nice.  It is huge, but the sites are nice, and there is a large lake with a walkway around it.  We're going to stay here for a couple nights and catch up with friends.