Wednesday, September 23, 2015

2015 Western Trip – Days 53-55 – Driving East

I try not to drive more than two days in a row, but after we revised our trip to shorten it a little, we needed to get from Sisters, OR to Grand Junction, CO (960 miles) and there was no where we wanted to spend an extra day so it was three straight behind the wheel.

We took route US-20 from Sisters to Caldwell, ID and I think it may have been the longest 313 mile drive I’ve taken.  We went through desert, agricultural areas and curvy mountains.  By the time we got into the Ambassador RV Park, I was pretty whipped but check in was a breeze and the park was very nice with concrete patios and river rock parking spots – first time I’d seen that and I’d definitely stay there again.



This area of eastern OR and ID refers to itself as Onion Country USA and after passing some huge fields of Spanish onions laying in the fields with their tops drying, I believe it.


From Caldwell, we headed down to Salt Lake City and after a seven hour drive we settled into our very tight site at the SLC KOA – I would not stay there again in our big rig.

The third day was the shortest but it may have been the most tiring as we drove in rain for about an hour then the curvy road through the mountains and per Wikipedia – “the 120 miles (190 km) section of US-6 between Spanish Fork and Price is considered one of the deadliest stretches of highway in the United States. A high volume of trucks and automobiles travel that stretch at interstate speeds, along hairpin turns, through narrow canyons.”  During the trip to Price and from there to I-70 we encountered a pretty high wind situation until we got into CO so I was constantly adjusting the steering to compensate for it – remember it’s like driving a sail when there’s a crosswind.

We finally settled into a very nice site at the Grand Junction KOA and we were lucky to get it as this is the weekend for the Colorado Mountain Winefest in Grand Junction and nearby Palisade.  While the campground was pretty much all gravel, it was nicely done and I liked that we had a little grass and a gas grill at our site.


Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

9/14-9/16/15 event date

9 comments:

  1. You did get some miles under your belt, now maybe take it easy for a bit?

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  2. That's a lot of driving Larry. I bet by the end of day three you were glad to put your head on the pillow that night and have that long drive come to an end.
    Sam

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  3. Time to rest for a bit. Be careful out there.

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  4. The gas grill at the last KOA is a great touch! Looks like you have had great fortune with your RV sites this trip.

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  5. Good that you had a safe trip after the grueling drive, rest up!

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  6. I just can't handle those long travel days anymore. We drove 245 miles from Helena to Billings and it felt like we were on the road forever. Thank goodness when we leave here we can slow back down again. Glad you made it safely through the winding and windy road.

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  7. Three long days! Glad you liked two of the rv parks along the way.Safe travels.

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  8. That is a long three days to be driving! Hope you can rest up before hitting the road again.

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  9. Larry, Having driven a school bus much earlier in life, I understand the 'wind effect' on a high sided vehicle. I'm glad that I only had to drive the bus around a city area and not out in the mountains and canyons of the west! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

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