July 2014–To WA, the scenic route - Part 2

NEVADA
Serendipity!  What a great stop in a historic old town.  The Dayton RV Park was spotless with the best WiFi of any park.  Nevada is known as the Silver State, but here gold was discovered.


Many of the original buildings have been restored, some are still waiting.  It was a great bike ride around the town, with a guide map provided by our host.


The extensive Historical Museum was closed Sunday morning.  Quite a bit of history could be seen decaying from outside their fence. 


While packing up and chatting with the host (she lived in San Diego – La Mesa), mentioned Winnemucca was the next stop.  “Winnemucca, WHY?” 
So I mentioned the song … “… along a dusty Winnemucca road … came a semi … with a canvas covered load …” 
“If you’re only going to Winnemucca because of that silly song – well, I can’t let you do that!”
HA! Even if it wasn’t Lori’s hometown, it would be on the way now!

On the way to Winnemucca stopped for gas in Lovelock and ended staying at the city park for lunch.  Another nice find.


But she was right, at least as far as  a Sunday in Winnemucca was concerned.  Only found the casinos and a few restaurants open.  The old town area had a face lift, not much history to walk through.
 
OK I get the Black Rock Desert, but the Pacific Northwest?  The early founders had a sense of humor!  Again the historical museum was closed.


Heading north out of town, was again reminded of the song “… ever seen a road with so much dust and sand?”  Johnny Cash should have mentioned that it was boringly straight!

I’d like to buy curve!  This goes on for hours straight past the Oregon border before a curve in the road.

Called it a night at Jordan Valley, in the worst RV park ever!  If this route comes up again stop at the Rome River and hike the Pillars, or press on to Idaho!
Up next Idaho!

July 2014–To WA, the scenic route - Part 1

CALIFORNIA
I like to leave after work the day before the first day of vacation, then wake up already vacationing.  Going north this usually means 395 with an overnight at Fossil Falls.  And this trip is no different, but the traffic is!  Reduced lanes on Cajon Pass had traffic doing the ‘Cajon Crawl’ it was backed up miles, then  construction on 395 held speeds down to 35.  UGH – added a couple hours to the evening adventure, but woke up ON VACATION!


The night sky is usually quite clear.  The campground is far enough away from 395 and lights it’s a great place to relax under the stars, although the moon was a bit bright this trip.  Michael and I did have some heavy winds on one stop and another time I had snow!  But only a couple times in 20 years of stopping here was there ever another camper in the campground.
It’s a short morning hike to Fossil Falls


Take time on the hike, there’s no reason to arrive in Bishop before Erick Schat’s opens the Deli 10.  Best turkey sandwich on the planet! and home of the Sheepherders Bread.


The climb up from Bishop is awe inspiring.  Many of memories made along the trails, lakes, hot springs and campgrounds of this diverse land.  As John Muir said:


A nice tour with a bike ride thru Mammoth Lakes on to Mono Lake and it was time to get going.  More road construction and a detour off 395 near Bridgeport and it was time to starting looking for a spot for the night. Why not Dayton, NV?

A most excellent choice …

About Rufus

A Lynx Rufus is a Bobcat.  On the first trip to Anza Borrego a dog toy was discovered behind/under the kitchen cabinets.  Although more of a squeaky tiger than a bobcat, there are not many tigers in the Laguna Mountains, but a fair number of Bobcats.   So we decided to name the new RV Rufus (it also provides a 'roof for us', something we have not had before).

Rufus is a 2009 Fleetwood Pulse 24A

powered by a 6 cylinder Mercedes diesel on a Sprinter frame.  It’s a great touring/traveling unit with reasonable mileage (15+ mpg overall) with fairly well supported and reliable components.  But it can only be serviced at a Mercedes dealer, or a specialty shop.  In San Diego we have a selection of both.

The floor plan allows for a large living space and bathroom and big windows (having big windows on the passenger’s side was required and not all that common) and there is no need for us to have a permanent bed.  Obviously a place to sleep is needed, but why waste living space with bedroom space?

With a full slide on the drivers side living space is greatly increased, the entire galley is included in the slide out.  The bathroom is huge even bigger than some Class A units.

The RV will sleep 1 to 6, but the grandkids are just about right.  The grandgirls call the overhead bunk the 'Girls Loft'.  When they are not along we use it for storage, and always sleep on the jack-knife sofa.

The large sliding windows on both sides allow for ample ventilation.




For Rufus to earn a state sticker, something unique to the state must be done.  Just driving thru, spending the night, etc. does not count - it must be an adventure that can only be done in that state.

States where Rufus has found a unique adventure:

and a few Canadian Provinces:

Here's a link to the factory specs for Rufus.

The factory brochure is a pdf file that really shows off Rufus.  Our interior is identical, but we have the Pearl White full body paint scheme.