Onwards
and upwards as they say, and we drove North first to Weed CA and the
area around Mount Shasta then on to Klamath Falls and Crater Lake
which has been on our “Bucket List” for a long long time.
Why
Weed California? Well it was about as far as we wanted to drive from
Reno and there was a CG associated with the Elks Lodge in the town of
Mount Shasta. Mount Shasta has a part to play in my shipbuilding
career.
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| Mount Shasta across the lake |
I
worked for 49 years in design and engineering. Mainly the design of
ships. My last 25 years I spent doing upgrades for Military Sealift
Command vessels that were converted for civilian manning. We
converted 2 classes of vessels early on. The AFS class of supply
ships and the AE class of ammunition carriers.
All
classes of ships in the Navy generally are named in a pattern. Some
classes named after rivers, some after mountains. The AE class were
mainly named after mountains and one was the Mount Shasta. The
mountain itself is volcanic and part of the Pacific Rim of Fire
that stretches from California up through Oregon, Washington, Canada
, Alaska and around the Pacific to Japan.
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| My watercolor painting of Shasta |
I
worked on the redesign of the Mount Shasta for several months and
visited the ship several times.
The
Trailer Lane RV Park was a cozy and comfortable place with wide pull
thru full hookup sites. The owners were extremely welcoming.
Unfortunately the Elks Lodge in Nearby Mount Shasta was closed due to
roof leak so we didn't get a pin for our collection.
We
took a day trip up to Lake Sisikyou and I spent the morning painting
Mount Shasta and it's reflection in the lake. A very nice park with
RV facilities. On the way back we naturally stopped at the Weed
Brewery to sample their wares!
After
our incident in Reno an the fuel issues we filled up before heading
out with the intent of stopping somewhere near Crater Lake. After
some phone calls we picked the Motel 8 and RV Park just north of
Klamath Falls which was convenient but hardly picturesque. An old and
narrow CG which in theory were “Pull Thru” meaning you could
drive in one side and out the other. Unfortunately there was a camper
on the far side from us who had his pickup truck parked next to the
rig which cut down our turning room. A low slung tree was close to
the right side of our rig which threatened to drag down the side if
we cut it too fine so instead we chickened out and backed out when we
left.
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| Crater Lake |
Our
“Rough Plan” was to drive the remaining 60 miles to the Crater
Lake National Park and get there early so we could get one of the
campsites in the park which are “First Come, First Served”.
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| Half the park closed due to snow |
Unfortunately 2/3rds of the CG is closed for construction
and even though we were there at 11am and the desk for camping didn't
open until 12, there was already a long line. We decided to leave the
rig in the parking lot and see the park in the Miata. By the time
we'd driven around the ½ of the park that was open (The Eastern half
closed due to snow) and got back to the parking there was still a
line at the camp desk. We hooked up the car again and drove to a
random park picked because we were close. Casey's Riverside RV Park
in Westfir was a perfect place.
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| Casey's Riverside CG |
Right
along the river with fly fishermen casting from the bank, Wide long
spaces and full hookups. Good Sam Club discounts and soft serve ice
cream for $1. Hard to beat that,and a nice friendly place. We would
definitely return to for a longer stay if we are back this way.
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| Pretty river |
This
was a stark contrast to the next place we stayed at, the Thousand
Trails South Jetty Park in Florence Oregon.
For
those not familiar with Thousand Trails they are a Membership
organization with the buy in up to $10,000 depending on what “Level”
you buy in at. If I had paid that and still had to pay $700 a year
for annual dues I would be IRATE at the poor condition of this place.
Dark and gloomy, untrimmed trees and undergrowth, rough gravel roads,
uneven sites with partial hookups, the dump station out of
commission. They should hang their heads in shame.
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| Od Town Florence. |
We
moved on to the Florence Elks Lodge where you can either camp outside
the lodge downtown or in their campground 6 miles north of town. We
chose the campground and it was GREAT!
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| Fishing boats |
July
4th we spent at the Elks who had a great Pot Luck BBQ going and the
rest of the week we spent exploring lighthouses. sea lion caves and a
Wings and Wheels event at the local airport. (We also managed to try
some craft beer in old town Florence of course!)
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| Oregon Lighthouses |
The
traffic on 101 was horrible being the 4th of July and we
bailed out of our plan to drive North to Pacific City. We were due to
stay at another Thousand Trails park there but when we read the
reviews of the park they horrified us, and we canceled that and drove
to Bend via Eugene, which was a very nice drive thru the Cascade
Mountains.
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| The Sea Lion Caves |
THE
KEY INCIDENT
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| The key fob and "Valet Key" are both programmed to the car. |
We
arrived at the Elks Lodge and unhooked the Miata which promptly
refused to start. For some reason the immobilizer system wasn't
recognizing the key! We called the Mazda dealer but they told us:
- It would be up to 3 weeks before they could look at it and
- The system could only be diagnosed by Mazda's specific analyzer!!
We
had it towed in and rented a car for a week as they said they would
try and get it done between other jobs. The very next morning they
called and said it was done! We returned the rental car and picked up
the Miata.
Conclusion:
The
“electronic” key fob was bad but the “Valet Key” that is part
of it worked after reprogramming. They couldn't tell how it had gone
bad but apparently this isn't an uncommon occurrence. Just more
electronic gadgets to go wrong in my opinion.
When
I asked how much a new electronic key fob would cost I nearly fell
thru the floor!! $850!!!! Thanks but we'll use
the key from now on!
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| Wings and Wheels |
We
got back to exploring the Bend area. For us the biggest attraction
was the Craft Breweries that abound here! The scenery was nice too.
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| Rush hour for Quail! |
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| Barbara and Sue |
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| Bruce |
