Friday, October 6 to Sunday, October 8, 2017 (Travel days to Jerome, Idaho)

The day has come...time to hit the road and start our winter travels south! We pulled out of Fort Camping shortly after 9:00 and headed to Kal-Tire. Our first stop today would be there to have the 'balancing beads' removed from the trailer tires. When we had the warranty replacement wheels from Trailer Tires and Wheels installed at Love's Truck Stop in Quartzsite 2 years ago, they recommended these beads. Apparently the beads self balance the wheel when it rotates. Well, they have turned out to be more of pain because three of the valve stems blow air when Steve removes the tire pressure sensors. Steve even tried tightening the schrader valves in the valve stem to no avail.

We were finished and out of there shortly after noon...and made our way out to the Aldergrove/Lynden border crossing. There are other crossings closer but they are much busier, especially as Canadians head across for the Thanksgiving long weekend.

Crossing was a breeze...only two RV's ahead of us and we were through in no time! That has never happened before. Our experience has been if they say it's a 15 minute wait it's usually 45 minutes.

After our usual stop at the Ferndale Pilot Travel Center, we were  on our way south down I-5. Our destination for  tonight...
Tulalip Resort Casino, a spot we usually stop at on our way either south or north. They have lots of RV parking...and our concern being a Friday and the start of a long weekend, it would be full. But, nope...lots of room for us. It did fill up by nightfall, though.

As we pulled into our spot, we noticed a Momentum fifth-wheel...and as we got out of the truck, there was Bob Wild to greet us! It was their Momentum. Bob is a fellow ATV'er whom we seem to run into ALL of the time...Tunkwa Lake this last summer and even at the Walmart in Cabo, Mx!!

We chatted for a bit, and then levelled off and did a minimum set up inside. About all we did that evening was take a nice long walk to Walmart. We were both bushed as we had a restless night and were wide awake at 4, so had a light dinner and were in bed by 8:30 reading for a bit before lights were out.

Saturday morning, after a good night's sleep, we were up early. No coffee for me right away, though...instead, we got ourselves cleaned up and headed over to the casino and had a delicious breakfast with plenty of wonderful coffee!

On our way back to the trailer, we had a chat with Bob and his wife, Cory and then said our goodbyes. They are headed in the same direction as us but will be meeting friends in Yuma and will continue down to their favourite winter spot just north of Cabo San Lucas, Mx. We're very intrigued by the idea of spending the winter down there...but not sure about taking our rig down. They've done it 12 years and usually have a "convoy" of rigs that go down with them...maybe one day we'll tag along.

It was a rather cool, dreary day as we headed south on I-5. Checking the weather it said it was snowing up here but we never saw any...

We took I-5 to I-90 (Snoqualmie Pass) East to I-82 South to I-84 East. Our destination today is Wildhorse Resort and Casino near Pendleton, OR.
Here is what we saw along the way...

Yay! Blue sky and sunshine once we got to the other side of the pass!

Fishers...

Such a change in the landscape...

We stopped at a rest area on the other side of this gorge...

...to torque the wheels...

The bridge we came over...

We came across a fire in the meridian between the highways...

There is a grey Volkswagen just off the highway and may have been the cause of the fire...

That hillside is also blackened from fire. We passed many burned areas along the highways that were obviously caused by thoughtless smokers...

Crossing the Columbia River into Oregon...

Almost in Pendleton...

We stopped at the Walmart in Pendleton to pick up a few things and then continued the last few miles to the casino. Guess who we parked beside? Bob and Cory had also decided to stop here for the night. Their original plan was to continue on to a casino in Jackpot. After a brief set up, we stood outside chatting but it was cold and windy out, so...

...we moved inside to continue our 'happy hour'.

We enjoyed great conversation and spending time with Bob and Cory. We had only chatted briefly in passing before, so it was really nice getting to know them better! Our plan had been to check out the buffet and casino but decided to be good and stay home for dinner.

Sunday morning, without really trying, we were ready to hit the road at 7:30! Steve got out and took a couple of pictures before we left. That's Bob and Cory's Momentum on the left with us beside them. It was very busy here last night...

After fuelling up at the Travel Plaza next door, we were on our way. Buster has a big climb right off the bat as we head to Cabbage Hill. From down here the pass doesn't look like much, but it is a long  steep climb, and from down here you can't see the top...

Fabulous views...

Looking back from where we came...

It's really no worse than any of the mountain passes back home. Steve thinks it just feels intimidating because with the lack of trees you can see forever...

Almost at the top and now into the tree line...

We're on the other side of the pass and there is a snow storm in the distance...

Train tunnels...

Snake River...lots of views of the river today!

We continued east on I-84...our destination today is Jerome, ID...

We arrived at the Jerome County Fairgrounds around 4:00. Only one other RV there taking advantage of water and power for $10/night.

The parking lot here wasn't empty for long...at about 8:00 vehicles started arriving for a music concert tonight. Apparently a Mexican group....Los Rieleros Del Norte is performing tonight...and obviously they are very popular with the local folks. We were watching TV when the trailer was jolted...a pick-up truck parking had backed into us even though nobody was in front of him and the lot was still half empty!! Steve went out...couldn't really see any damage to our bikes in the fading daylight. So he grabbed a flashlight and we both went back out and found where we had been hit...at the very bottom of the bike rack. It had put a small tear in our new bike bag. Hopefully, that is the only damage! I have already needed a new wheel on my bike from someone backing into us!

It was well after 9:00 when the band really got into full swing...and it wasn't until about 12:30 when folks started streaming out and leaving. Of course, we were not going to  go to bed until all vehicles around us had left. So it was going on 1:00 by the time Steve followed me into bed.

Not a very peaceful night for us! We've stayed here before so it's our fault for not checking to see if there were any events scheduled for the long weekend.

We have decided to stay here an extra night and take a day trip to Craters of the Moon National Monument...stay tuned!