Spring Western Trip 2017: Oregon to Fort Collins, Colorado

Monday, 4/24:  81 miles and camped at Armitage Park Campground, Eugene, Oregon

Roseburg to Eugene

Armitage County Park, site #30

It was a short, cold and rainy 80 mile drive today, but we wanted to spend a night at Armitage County Park in Eugene.  We had the same site, #30 where we were married two years ago.  Armitage Park will always be a special place for us.

Tuesday, 4/25:  268 miles and parked at Boardman Marina Park, Boardman, Oregon

Eugene to Boardman

Boardman Marina and RV Park, site #2

We were all set to hook up the camper when we discovered a flat tire on the RV.  It is the same tire that has been giving us trouble off and on the entire trip.  I kept thinking the problem was a leaky valve stem core.  This time I took the tire off and took it to a nearby Les Schwab Tire center.  Good thing I did.  They found an inch long, thin nail in the tread.  An hour later it was all fixed, and on top of that, since I was from out of state and in a bind, they waived the charges.  Amazing customer service!!!  We finally got on the road about 11:30 and had a beautiful drive along the Columbia River.  We made a stop at Multomah Falls, and at 620 feet, it is the highest waterfall in Oregon.  The weather was cool and misty, but the falls were beautiful and well worth the stop.

Multomah Falls

We arrived at Boardman about 4:00 to a nearly empty park and quickly set up.  Our site, #2, was so level, we didn’t even have to unhook the truck.  The Boardman Marina Park is right on the Columbia River, and is a beautiful campground with large, paved sites.  We have stayed here before, and I’m sure we will again.

Wednesday, 4/26:  257 miles and camped at the Meridian/Boise KOA.

Boardman to Boise

Boise KOA

This KOA was a very nice park with a small manicured lawn at each site.  The sites were close, but very neat and organized.  The Boise/Meridian metro area has really expanded and traffic was busy.  We met Mike and Lyndsay Belt Elles for dinner at Sockeye Grill and Brewery.  Lyndsay is a former student of mine at Potsdam High School.  Both Mike and Lyndsay work in forest fire control, headquartered out of Boise.  I had salmon for dinner, but Judy’s trout dinner was absolutely phenomenal. As always, it is a treat catching up with Lyndsay and Mike.  We were back to the camper before dark.

Thursday, 4/27:   294 miles and camped at Willard Bay State Park, just north of Salt Lake City.

Boise to Willard Bay

Willard Bay State Park, Cottonwood Campground, site #78

Sunset on Willard Peak

We drove Interstate 84 the whole way.  It is a nice road with not too much traffic  We pulled into Willard Bay State Park about 3:00.  We did not have reservations, so we were free to pick our site.  It was self check in and we picked a spot in the Cottonwood section, site 78.  The park was nearly empty, but did notice that every site was reserved for the upcoming weekend.  The sites were large and paved.  Each site had a covered picnic table.  Interstate 84 runs right next to the park, so there is road noise, but it didn’t bother us.  We had a great view of the sunset on the Wasach Mountains.  Willard Bay is actually an extension of Great Salt Lake, but because of a manmade causeway, is a fresh water reservoir.

Friday, 4/28:   457 miles and parked at the Lakeside KOA in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Boise to Fort Collins

Fort Collins Lakeside KOA, in a snow storm

We originally planned to take two days to drive to Fort Collins, stopping in Rawlins as a half way point, but the weather forecast for Rawlins and Fort Collins didn’t sound good.   There was a winter snow storm moving up the Rockies and 4 plus inches of blowing snow was predicted for Friday night.  So we decided to make it a long day and drive straight through to Fort Collins and try to beat the storm.  We almost did.  For the most part, the drive was not stressful.  All of the road was either Interstate or divided highway.  Traffic was light, although we did hit light, wet snow most of the way.  We arrived at Lakeside to about an inch of heavy wet snow.  We quickly set up and hunkered down. 

Now for a four day layover in Fort Collins to catch up with friends.