Weather, or not

When we are moving we watch not only the local weather (where we are departing), but the weather forecast along our route that day.  There are three things I would rather not do.....1) drive in the rain, 2) drive with a side, or cross wind over 15 mph, and 3) drive at night.  The third I have almost total control over barring an unforeseen circumstance (mechanical issue, or the place I wanted to stop for the night is not available, etc), but the first two I have no control over whatsoever.  We do have control over whether we roll our wheels, or not, so we react accordingly based on the forecast......if it is forecast to rain, or be windy we often choose to wait out the weather where we are.  We are not in a hurry 99.9% of the time, so there is no point in driving in less than optimal, and possibly dangerous conditions.  Although I do occasionally make fun of the 'weather guessers', I do rely upon their guesses since theirs are more likely than not to be better ones than mine......we use both weather.com and noaa.gov......they don't always agree, so I take a look at both of them and make a decision based on the most pessimistic of the two. 

So, I say that to say this......the forecast along our route showed winds ranging from 10-15 mph all morning, but escalating to the mid 20's by noon time.  Of course the winds could possibly not materialize, so we checked our maps to see where we could get to comfortably before noon if we left by 0900.....the obvious 'bailout' point was Riley, OR.....just 106 miles south of John Day.

As we woke up Saturday morning we could hear the wind in the trees, so we knew that part of the forecast was accurate......we were ready to roll by 0830 so we rolled.  As you head southward on US 395 out of John Day you make a run through a canyon for about 10 miles and that canyon was magnifying the still moderate wind making it feel worse than it was.  Once we got to the south end of that canyon and began to climb the wind became a non-factor.

About 30 minutes into our drive while 'grinding' up our first climb of the day to over 5,200'  elevation we rounded a switchback to see traffic stopped in front of us, and a bunch of large rocks in the road.  Apparently there had been a rock slide so the road crew had stopped traffic in both directions for about 30 minutes while they made sure there would be no further rocks coming down.....we're not in a hurry, so we just shut the Detroit down and took a break.......

Courtesy TLE....waiting for the 'all clear sign'

.....we were on our way once again by 0920.  Eventually we began to descend into a long valley by the the name of Silvies Valley.....we rarely saw any vehicles coming or going along this stretch of US 395.....just beautiful......I could see us living in a place like this......

Silvies Valley

.....by the time we hit the larger than expected towns of Burns and Hines the WSW wind was noticeably stronger, and by the time we arrived at the Sage Hen Rest Area about 9 miles east of Riley the wind speeds were getting into the 20's.  I had checked ahead and found that there was a free dump station at Sage Hen so we pulled into evacuate our gray water tank in anticipation of stopping in Riley (no sewer hookups available, and no dump) for 2 days to wait out the forecast winds and/or rain......

The lovely Sage Hen Rest Area

......this is a very nice rest area in a quite isolated area....other than one passenger vehicle which left shortly after we arrived we were the only ones there for the 20, or so minutes it took to dump.

As we approached Riley about 1100, which is really just a Post Office, a store/gas station with a 10 site RV park attached, the wind was really picking up, and I also noticed that all 10 RV sites appeared to be occupied.  We pulled in, parked and I went into the store to inquire about a site for a couple of days.  The owner advised they were full, but he said "If you're interested, and don't need water I can put you behind the garage and run your cord into the garage for 30 amp"......I answered that I would like to take a look at it, so walked out back to see.....as it turns out the spot he offered me was completely separate from the 10 RV sites, which are all pretty close together, and only have a view of US 395 and the fuel pumps......this site faces towards the south and has not only a great view, but we are right next to a pond......serendipity avails herself once again!

 If they hadn't been full we would have been parked 'cheek by jowl' with all other RV's as TLE likes to say.....

 .....instead this is our view....

I tentavely accepted his offer advising I would need to get TLE's approval, so I took her out back and she quickly saw the value of the auxilary site........we went inside paid, and then drove out back to park.....we were hooked up and set up by 1130, and I settled in to watch some great college football instead of fighting head, and side winds the rest of the day.  And, as it turns out, he was able to offer us water, also.

There were several close, well played games including the USC vs. Cal game, which was won by USC 27-20.....USC's defense has improved significantly over the past 3 weeks!  The 4th game of the World Series came on at 1700......the Royals won a hard fought game 5-3, and now only need one more win.....today maybe.....to become world champions.

During all this TLE noticed the sun was setting and suggested I go out and see if I could capture its magic.....I think I was successful....

......we'll hang out in Riley until Monday waiting out the wind and rain, and continue our journey southward then.  TLE made chicken soup for dinner....I think this picture says it all for me........perfect dinner on a windy, cold evening....

Of course, it being October 31st means that on November 1st we must adjust our clocks back one hour meaning I will have about a week of readjusting my 'body clock', but it also means the sun will be coming up an hour earlier......it has not been getting light until close to 0730 lately, and I prefer to wake up when it is light, not pitch black still....I guess that's a good thing.

Thanks for stopping by!