Sanchez

Planned a 2-day camping trip to christen our little Northstar.  Judd had the packing up chores and picked me up after work Friday.  We dined on some big meaty sandwiches from Andre's Kitchen (of Diners, Drive-in and Dives' fame, right here in Walla Walla.  We only wanted to travel an hour or so and chose a nearby State Park in Oregon.  When we arrived about 6:00ish we found the campground open, but only about 12 camping spaces had been plowed out from the snow.  Three feet-deep snow blanketed the forest and was piled up to 4 feet on the edges of the camp road and camp sites. We decided to drive 25 more minutes to the next State park, hoping for less snow.  Unfortunately, that one was still closed for the season-- no way to drive through the big locked gate.  So back we went to Emigrant State Park and snow camped for the night.  We were toasty and warm in our little camper and practiced setting up the outdoor  camp stove for a bacon and eggs breakfast the next morning.  The coffee sure cools off fast. The worst part of the experience was the noises of the 6 lane highway just .25 miles off the park entrance.

Judd appreciating the Oregon Trail history

new folding table works

We broke camp and decided to go back 30 min down the hill to Pendleton where the green grass was already high and the sun was not obscured by dense trees.   The evening before, we had driven by a big RV resort abutting a gigantic casino, stating how terrible it looked with all the big rigs lines up like a parking lot. We visited the Tamastslikt Cultural Museum to get us til noon.  The center was beautifully arranged and the story of the indigenous people and how they respect and use the land is always hard to hear with all the things "Europeans brought" to improve life.

spring not quite sprung in the mountains

headed down from the Blue Mountains

the vistas are greening up in the valley

 At noon we begrudgingly checked into the RV resort and were immediately  impressed with the lack of traffic noises. We were slotted on the periphery and had a beautiful view of the fields with the snow streaked mountains in the back drop.  We decided we could find merit in a big RV park every few days during our upcoming roadtrips, if we slept highway-noise-free and had need of the laundromat, showers or pool.

can't even see any of those big rigs!

On our evening walk, we circumnavigated the park and I noted the names of the 40 foot big rigs.  Must be someone's full time job to pick inspirational names. We were assuredly the tiniest. We dubbed our little Northstar: Sanchez--named for the frolicking, happy black Lab across the street who routinely greets us on our neighborhood walks. 

That's Judd on the far left

Avalanche

Montana x3

Pinnacle 

No Bo

Mountainx3

Cougar x2

Patriot 

Outback 

Reflection

Jayco x3

Fox mountain 

Bullet

Outbackx2

Pegasus

La Palma

Landmark 

Salemx2

Crusader

Imagine

Island trail

Passport 

Allegro busx2

Winnebagox2

Rockwood x 2

Terry

Hideout

Bounder

Wildcat

Alumascape 

Trailsport

Creekside 

Subside

Reflection

Open range

 Bighorn

Volante 

Artic Fox

Dutch starx2

Via

Terry

Flagstaffx2

Pace arrow 

Cedar creek 

Okanagan

And our tiny Northstar: Sanchez