From Boardman RV Park and Marina March 25th 2013

From  Boardman RV Park and Marina March 25th 2013

 (N45 50.731 W119 42.457) El – 228’)

Meanwhile, back in Vegas:

I had thought that a three-day stay at a Casino should merit at least an effort to gamble, so, having an afternoon to waste, I went in to do battle with Sam’s phalanx of people and machines. First I checked out the Craps table but it was moving far too quickly for me to understand the protocol, then a quick look at the Blackjack tables showed me that minimum  bets were too high ($3.00), so I settled for the Blackjack slots. Thinking to get in and get out fast, I put in $20, played for a dollar a game and came out with $21, half an hour later. This made me a winner so, head high, I quit and went home to the trailer to watch TV – such was my gambling experience in Las Vegas.

Even though my departure was next day, I thought it politically correct to try and bring the Doberman next door into my camp. To this end, I invested one of my few remaining Costco dog cookies from the truck door to see if it would respond. Evidently, this dog had never experienced a Costco dog cookie and ignored it for a while. Its owner-lady explained to me that they didn’t have a Costco where they lived so I guess that made sense?

 

From Vegas, it was north along Highway 95  to Tamarack Beach BLM (free) at Walker Lake (N38 44.813 W118 45.805) near Hawthorne in Nevada, an easy trip of about 525 Kms with only moderate headwinds and reasonable fuel mileage on the truck. I stayed 3 nights at Walker because there were reports of very cool nights (18 degrees at Klamath Falls) further north. Not much happens at Walker Lake other than that the odd car came in to use the pit toilet. One night very windy – the weather forecast issued a warning especially for Walker Lake, threatening wind gusts up to 60 mph. This happened and the trailer was rocking and rolling that particular night. Luckily, I wasn’t quite broadside to the wind, but it was still a little worrisome.

From Walker, I had thought to go slowly in easy installments north to the Columbia. However, Klamath Falls still promised temps in the teens, so I kept moving. In the end, 1200 kms later, I arrived at the Columbia River at Biggs Junction. Here I had a little disaster as I whacked a bollard (concrete post) that had been placed about 2 feet out from the fuel island at a Pilot Station, presumably to prevent people like me from hitting the fuel pumps themselves. Whether darkness or just tired eyes from staring at the road for 15 hours contributed, I don’t really know but I heard the crunch and found that I had cut the corner too sharply. The small driver’s side hatch and latch were caved in and there is a dent in the undercarriage, things that I will have to get repaired at some opportune time this summer. For the time being, the trailer was still mobile, so I exited the Pilot and went next door to a different station where they didn’t know me, acting as if nothing had happened. Boardman is about 65 miles east of Biggs on I-84 following the Columbia River upstream along Umatilla Lake, a reservoir created by the John Day Dam lower down the Columbia. The river in this region is actually a series of lakes between dams and never appears to have much current.

 

Being about 11.30 at night when I got to Boardman, I decided not to waken all the campers, so spent the night next door to the RV Park in a large paved lot used by the marina, anglers for their boat trailers and other day-use visitors. There were no signs prohibiting camping, so any of you travelling this path and looking for a cheap overnighter, should feel free to stop at Boardman. The next morning, I checked in to Boardman RV Park and Marina, which doesn’t seem to appear on any maps but is quite an extensive complex of recreational facilities operated by the county.

  Boardman is a favourite stop from previous years with RV sites nestled in amongst large trees and grassy lawns with flocks of geese making riverside walking a slippery proposition. The park offers free WiFi but my own signal was better, so I used that. As most of you know, free camping is my “addiction”, so if one goes to a place where one pays ($19 per night), it needs to be agreeable. Despite the low elevation, nights at Boardman were still cool – in fact, my hose froze at the connection to the trailer one morning, so I had to lay it out on the lawn to thaw.

I shall leave Boardman on Tuesday; stop overnight at the Omak Walmart and get home (with luck) on Wednesday. The plan is to get a few things organized there, and then go out to visit my mother in the 2nd week of April. She will be moving from her house into a residential complex sometime this Spring, whenever a vacancy crops up, so there will be a number of things to help organize.