The Libators go Corner to Corner: Returning to the Home Corner

I'm filled with excitement when we are on the way home. It's similar to the first day on the road as we leave for a new adventure, but it has the added longing of a heart that is tired and ready for comfort and familiarity. Our route this time is familiar, we are taking roads that we have traversed many times. I took pictures of landmarks that I have seen and photographed for many years. It's so interesting to me to have this record of deterioration and new construction. I think that I made this drive for the first time in 1989, and some of the things that I found striking on that first trip still catch my attention.

Shiprock.

Long views and distant mountains.

Adobe Milling. We usually stop, but it was closed the day after Thanksgiving.

The beehive.

Wilson Arch.

It's tacky, but a good landmark.

The San Rafael Reef.

Sunset at Utah Lake.

Snow in Southern Idaho.

Hoarfrost.

Sentinels.

Snow in Baker City, Oregon.

R-Pod Glamour Shot.

Fog covers the valley as we descend into Pendleton.

Fort Henrietta Park.

The Columbia River Gorge.

Sign of the times. This famous sign is now owned by the Chehalis Tribe.

Home.

Our first night out of Aztec is spent, as usual, at the Sun Outdoors Moab Downtown RV Park. We usually choose it for the full hookups and the shade trees. It's very hot here typically, but of course we had winter weather this time. It's also well located across the highway from Moab Brewing, a favorite dinner spot. This time, however, we decided to try something new to us, The Trailhead Public House and Eatery. We actually had to drive further into town, but it was worth it. It felt like a cozy neighborhood place, with fantastic geology state maps decorating the walls (Russ priced them later thinking to buy one, but wow-too expensive). After dinner, I was able to use the strong campground wifi signal to work on blog posts; I'm always late and feeling behind when I post these.

 

Our best view of Shiprock on this road.

Driving north.

Goodbye, New Mexico.

Welcome to Colorado.

This is cattle country.

The La Platas with snow.

Adobe Milling in Dove Creek, Colorado.

The infrastructure of agriculture.

More views of the snow-topped La Platas.

Wind farming.

This image is used on Utah's highway markers.

Wilson Arch (two people inside for scale).

Sagebrush and snow.

I've only been inside once. It's a tourist trap.

Fall again for us at Sun Outdoors Moab Downtown.

Loved this sign in Moab, Utah.

The Trailhead Public House.

I loved the classic adobe architecture.

Look up!

It was a holiday-themed Cosmopolitan.

Note the Utah Geology Map behind Russ.

A classic, and well done.

The ravens have such big personalities.

Crossing the Colorado River for the last time on this trip.

The Arches National Park Visitor's Center is always busy.

Approaching the San Rafael Reef.

Russ loves both Geology and Photography.

It was a very expensive stretch of road to build.

The Reef is a solid wall that extends for miles.

The road is blasted through.

At the top of the San Rafael Formation.

The R-Pod as viewed through a twisted tree.

Roadside Table with stickers.

It's a long way down.

Snow fence.

A mural in Salina, Utah.

Salina Lumber is closed.

I70 still has great views of the mountains.

 

I love driving through this part of New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. This part of the Colorado Plateau transitions into the red sandstone of southern Utah. It makes me feel nostalgic. We passed so many landmarks. We usually drive over Soldier Summit through the Price River Canyon, but with the winter weather, we decided to take I70 this time. It gave us the chance to see the San Rafael Reef again. What a spectacular feature! We stopped for lunch at one of the viewpoints at the top of the San Rafael Formation, too. We like to stop for the night and driveway surf with friends just north of Salt Lake City, but with the slightly longer route around the pass, we decided to stay at Utah Lake this time. We've stayed here before, at this point, many of the stops along this route are familiar, but I'm glad to return to Utah Lake. The campground is just a quarter mile walk away from Utah Lake State Park. We took some amazing photos of the sunset this time. It's so nice to get out and walk a bit after we set up in the campground. I also did another round of laundry here.

Storage with style.

The storage facility is on both sides of the road.

Signs.

Reflections of the river.

There is a $5 walk in fee.

The marina at Utah Lake.

Sunset.

Reflection.

Water, sun and sky. 

Winter tree.

Ripples.

Buoy.

Russ takes another picture.

The light turns the mountains red.

Reflected glory.

The last light on the mountains.

River reflections.

A final burst of color.

We woke up to snow on the surrounding hills that we so happily photographed at sunset the night before. The day's drive was snowy, slushy and cold. It was especially beautiful to see the frost covered trees and bushes; as though a filter desaturated the world. Usually my least favorite part of the drive is through southern Idaho, but this time it was magical. We stayed the night at the KOA in Jerome, Idaho, which was open, close to the highway, and less expensive. Our choices for stays are more limited in the winter, and we prefer to be able to plug in to shore power and run our electric heater. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to keep our water from freezing. We woke up to no water and had to use the campground bathrooms instead of our own. I made a breakfast that didn't require washing dishes afterwards, and Russ picked up a gas station coffee. We also stopped at an RV sales and repair place to see if they had anything that could help us not freeze up again. They didn't have anything, and the heat tape for pipes is too hot for our plastic freshwater tank, but the guy there suggested a seedling heat-mat from Home Depot. It was a good suggestion, and we stopped for some lunch and Home Depot shopping in Ontario, Oregon. There aren't too many places big enough to have a big box home improvement store in this part of Idaho and Oregon.

Hot breakfast on a cold morning.

Snow on the mountains.

Wet and slushy.

Poor visibility.

Pretty.

North of Salt Lake City.

I love these old farm structures.

Clear skies and fresh hay.

New silos.

Welcome to Idaho.

I love the contrast between the dry grass and snowy peaks.

Cloud layer.

Driving into the storm.

Irrigation pipes on the snowy field.

Cozy inside.

Sunrise on the morning that we we froze up.

Cold ground.

Frost on the trees.

Frost on the trees and the grass.

Layers of cold.

The Snake River... again. The water is warmer than the air.

Wind turbines.

Welcome to Oregon.

I loved the name of this restaurant.

Their hot sauce selection was excellent.

The Burrito was good, too.

We stayed for two nights in Baker City, Oregon as we waited for another storm to pass through the mountains. The most difficult stretch on our chosen route was the section from Baker City to Pendleton, Oregon. The seedling heat mat worked well, we didn't freeze up again, even though we were below freezing for both nights in Baker City. I took advantage of the extra night to soak some dried beans and make a bean soup for dinner on the second night. We usually drive past Baker City and into Pendleton to stay, so it was neat to stay in a new place on an old route. It would have been better if the museum was open, but it was closed for the season. This is one of the places with a lot of Oregon Trail history, so I was hoping to be a tourist, but alas, we had to be content with getting our morning coffee and breakfast at a wonderful, local coffee roaster and hanging out in the R-Pod.

I'm glad we waited for the storm to pass before going through the Blue Mountains; it was an easy day of driving as we left Baker City and drove into the Columbia River Gorge. There was still some golden leaves on the trees, so we got to reverse our seasons and experience fall again (for like the fourth time on this trip). The rain started as we drove along the river, like a wet welcome home.

The Burnt River.

The icicles are real.

The RV Park stayed on theme.

A snowy Baker City.

It was a cute city, decorated for Christmas.

A nice surprise. I love a local coffee house.

Treats.

Inside/Outside fireplace.

Cozy.

It was nice to just sit and enjoy the snow outside the windows.

Avocado toast and a muffin.

The outside fireplace.

No one wants to use the outside tables.

Cold, but the heat mat worked.

There aren't many people in the RV park.

Bean soup with corn muffins.

We splurged with a Gin and Tonic, too.

Golden sunrise.

Turn right.

I made sure to make the next day a short one, part of me thought that the road would be in bad condition, and we might have needed to wait until later for the ice and snow to melt off. Turns out, this was unnecessary, but our stop at Fort Henrietta State Park was lovely. I really liked the small town, Echo, Oregon, and we got to eat at two local restaurants and even go wine tasting. We did have to leave town to go to the slightly larger town across the freeway to buy more Kleenex for the R-Pod, but that was fun, too. The next night was spent in the Gorge proper, just east of Portland at the Sandy Riverfront RV Resort in Troutdale, Oregon. It really rained on us as we approached Troutdale, and we hunkered down inside and stayed warm and dry. It would have been nice to do a quick hike or walk on our last night on the road, but the rain dampened my enthusiasm.

Glamour shot.

Lovely Oregon.

Train in the Blue Mountains.

Low clouds blanketing Pendleton.

The Umatilla River (next to our campsite).

Fort Henrietta Park.

There was a tiny wagon museum.

The Umatilla River.

Putting up Christmas decorations in the town square.

Public art on a business facade.

Advertising for a holiday market.

Fair weather seating at the winery.

Downtown Stanfield, Oregon

Main St. Market. They had everything.

Stanfield holiday decorations.

They REALLY had everything.

A surprise winery outside of Echo, Oregon.

A nice selection.

We bought two bottles.

The moon over downtown Echo.

Nic's Corner Bistro.

Simply good food.

Cheers.

A table for two by the window.

Holiday cheer.

Breakfast at the H&P Cafe.

Mike's Classy Red was a delicious house made hot sauce.

The local place. It felt welcoming.

Right on Main Street.

I love taking pictures of the local post office.

The last rose blooming.

Rain in the gorge.

It's a National Scenic Highway.

The Washington side of the Columbia is less developed.

The John Day Dam.

River traffic.

More wind turbines where the wind always blows.

Glassy water.

Bridge over the Columbia.

The Dalles Dam.

Exposed basalt.

Sunbreaks lit the gorge beautifully.

Whitecaps and sunshine.

The rail tunnel.

More low clouds and rain.

Approaching Troutdale, Oregon.

Still a bit of fall color.

Our last day of driving was northwest typical: wet. We stopped at the rest area south of Olympia to empty our tanks one final time. I enjoyed seeing the familiar landmarks, especially in the rain. It felt like home.

Last day.

Final leg of the trip.

Leaving Troutdale.

I love the graffiti as you enter Portland.

Yucky driving with poor visibility.  

Our last trip over the Columbia.

No welcome sign at this crossing.

Feels like home.

Lingering fall color.

Temporary waterfall (it has been raining for days).

A quick lunch in Chehalis.

This sign was notorious, now owned by the Chehalis Tribe.

The rest area with the best RV dump station close to home.

Emptying the tanks for the last time.

Entering Pierce County.

The Nisqually River.

Home.

He is so happy.

Unloading the R-Pod.

It's nice to arrive home early enough to unload the R-Pod and get it re-parked before dark. Sunset is near 4:30 pm, so that doesn't always happen at this time of year, but our last day was a very short one. My mom thoughtfully made a lasagna for us and put it in our refrigerator, so we had a nice meal waiting for us when we were ready to eat. Cedar was glad to be home, too. He knows as we approach the driveway, and he races out of his carrier as soon as we unzip it. It will take me a few weeks to decompress and really process all that we saw and did on this trip, but I jumped into my home routines immediately, with a Pilates class the next morning. It will be a while before we do another extended R-Pod trip like this. I will have plenty of time to reflect on this one and understand how it changed me. One thing that stands out is how well we adapted and handled unforeseen circumstances. Russ and I made a good team, and it made the experience a delight.

Corner to Corner in Numbers:

• 66 Days
• 8,601 miles
• $2,447.74 gas purchased 
• 20 States
• 30 Camping spots
• 6 Friend visits
• 2 Family visits
• 3 National Parks
• 5 Museums
• 1 Aquarium
• 1 Botanical Garden
• 1 Boat tour
• 1 Dulcimer purchase
• 1 Truck oil change
• Fall
• Summer
• Winter
• Mountains
• Deserts
• Plains
• Tropics
• Islands
• Cities
• Farmland
• Parks 
• 1 Ocean
• 1 Gulf
• 4 Time Zones
• 1 Time Change
• Wine
• Beer
• Cocktails
• Food Glorious Food 
• 1 Festival (Fantasy Fest)
• 2 Holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving) 
• 11 Blog Posts