August 3, 2017- Day One

RENO TO JUNIPERS RESERVOIR RV RESORT

Our butts are definitely not accustomed to long travel. After all we haven’t traveled long distances since November of last year. We got up early (0500 hours) and started our pre-launch routine. You know, the last minute items- Vacuum the carpets, clean the wood floor, strip the bed and put on fresh sheets, wash the soiled sheets, load the last of the refer items into the coach, clean the toilets and bathroom floors……. whew! Oh yes, hitch up the trailer, load the portable generator, walk the dog…… I’m sure I’ve forgotten to mention a few things. Hopefully we will travel out of the wildfire smoke that has lingered in the Washoe Valley for a couple of month now.

By 0900 we are ready to roll. Our destination is just west of Lakeview, OR. We head out to I-80 and head east to US 395. Traffic is light as we’ve missed the Reno rush hour- such as it is. We turn north on US 395 and head towards Susanville about 100 miles north of Reno. Susanville used to be a thriving community based on timber and mining. Today its main industry is the High Desert State Prison. We pass lake beds that were previously dry. This winter has been and exceptional winter. All the lake beds have lots of water and Honey Lake is not exception.

In contrast to the cold and snowy winter this spring has transitioned directly into summer. The record number of consecutive days that exceed 90 degrees have been exceeded- our trip is a hot one. And no,  we have not outrun the lingering smoke from multiple wildfires. It’s very smokey no matter where we travel.

When does the smoke end?

It can’t get any smokier, can it! Or can it?

Anyway, we bypass Susanville via a country road cutoff and rejoin US 395 east of town. We love the beauty of this country, the Sierra Front, as we closely parallel the Sierras to the west and the sage dominant rolling hills to the east. We pass more lake beds filled with water, Goose Lake is brimming with aqua. After what seemed like a short day of travel and a longer morning cleaning the house we arrive at Lakeview, OR. I look for Highway 140 and somehow wind up on that highway to Klamath Falls, which is the way we want to go. Ten minutes down the road we come upon the turnoff to Juniper Reservoir RV Resort.

Morning at the ranch

The RV “resort” is located on a working 5000 acre cattle ranch. We drive about a mile down a dusty dirt road (past some of the bovine residents mind you, who are so close we could reach out of and touch some of them) to the RV area. It is quite nice, with views of Junipers Reservoir and the cattle pastures. Man, this is livin’! We set up, turn on the electricity to the water heater- and it doesn’t work. OK, propane it is. Set up the portable satellite dish- and it doesn’t work. Crap! No matter what I do it won’t work. The park does not offer cable TV so we watch one year old recordings on the DVD after the sun goes down.

Tomorrow we travel about 280 miles to Vale, OR. Hope we outrun this smoke! Moooo!