The Long Journey Home  November 2004

Vacations are wonderful, exiting to look forward to, necessary to recharge your systems and a lot of work to prepare for.  There are details of the trip to arrange, tours to choose, and accounts at home to put up to date, bills to pay in advance and mail to put on hold.

Then it’s over.  And with a few regrets and a lot of memories, you begin the long journey home.  We looked forward to seeing our new home again; we had only been in it two months.  And we tried to be patient during the long waits ahead. 

On November 14^th, we stood in line waiting to board the bus at the Sheraton in Rio de Janeiro.  Our luggage had been already loaded and would be waiting for us at the airport.  We had our last glimpse of Rio and the crowded city as we whisked by on the elevated freeway.

Security at the airport was extensive and during the two hours we inched forward slowly down the snaky line, we bought a bag of cashews to fortify ourselves; we were used to eating every two hours on the MS Amsterdam.  Security requires you to take off your shoes, empty your pockets, take out and start your computers, then stuff everything back into place.  Finally, on board the plane at 8:30pm, we settled in and tried to slip into sleep mode while the plane headed for Sao Paulo to reload passengers; dinner would not be served until 10:00pm.  Ten hours after departure from Rio, we landed in Houston; 3:00am Houston time; 6:00am Rio time.  We thought the 3 hour layover would be excessive; however, with customs and security, we barely made it in time to catch our flight.

Still dark and still trying to sleep, we winged our way west, with the sun.  Our plane landed in San Francisco at 11:00 am; 5:00pm Rio time.  And again, we shuffled through security to board a plane to Seattle.  In Seattle, we remained on board while the plane emptied, was cleaned and a new group of co-passengers settled in and tried to stuff their oversized hand baggage in the compartments overhead.

Seattle to Spokane was above the clouds and we landed in rain.  While I gathered our big bags, Dan went to check on limo service to Usk.  No luck, so he rented a car.  And at 6:00pm, Spokane time, 12 midnight Rio time, we drove, in the dark, in the rain to Usk.  We arrived home at 8:00pm, 36 hours after leaving Rio.  At 8:30pm we were in bed.

Now we had just one day to wash clothes and pack our 5^th wheel and head south to Sacramento for our favorite of all festivals, the Ragtime Festival.  We made it in two days, 9 hours of driving each day.

It was worth it.  The Ragtime Festival was the best ever and we enjoyed three days of dancing, listening to music and greeting old friends.

Our next leg was to Gold Ranch, NV to be close to our house in Truckee, check on it and visit with Truckee friends.  Here we spent a week and experienced our first snow storm in Ida Mae; a foot of snow covered us and temperatures in the teens threatened to freeze our water pipes.  Three times, we climbed on top of the 13’ high roof and pushed snow off.  Finally, with the sliders sufficiently clear of snow and ice, we slid them in, and pulled out in a temperature of 4 deg. F.  Hoping that the pipes would not freeze during transit, we stopped often to check them.

It was November 28 and we were heading home!  But it was snowing in northern Oregon and Washington was expecting big time snow on Fri. and continuing all week.  Our decision to take I395 was based on a belief that the passes would be at lower elevations.  It would take us through Burns, then on to Pendleton, or Boardman and continue to Usk whenever the weather looked favorable. 

The road was mostly clear, but patches of ice and packed snow caught us holding our breath; we put on our 4x4 whenever the passage looked too slippery.  And, only one time, when we wanted to trade drivers, I drove down the off ramp of a rest stop and realized I had no braking power, the snow was too slippery and by pumping the brakes, I got it to slow down to a stop, right next to a car that was in a ditch and had done a 180 degree spin.  We quickly traded seats and rolled on.

Where the road was covered with snow and sanded, we accumulated brown frozen snow on the trailer and water pipes.

We made it to Burns and pulled into a snow-covered parking space; the only coach in the park.  Next morning it started to snow, just flurries, but Dan climbed on the roof to again sweep off the snow so we could pull in the sliders.  The locals warned us to not continue on I395; it was too narrow and windy.  We took I20 eastbound to connect with a large freeway, I84.  The plan was to travel as far north as we could, Boardman was clear and Pendleton looked good; if necessary, we would stop in La Grande, 55 miles south of Pendleton.  Near Pendleton was a pass, 3800 feet, called Deadman’s Pass.  44 miles south of La Grande, it started to snow. 

We exited the freeway in Baker City to check on the weather and the pass.  The people in the service station just laughed.  Two semis had jackknifed and it was snowing heavily, chains were mandatory in the deep packed snow.  We looked for an RV park.  Boardman was clear and sunny.  So close, yet so far away.  It was Tues.  We still had Wednesday and Thursday to reach Usk before the next storm.

Wed. still snowing and the pass is not an option.  Dan discovers that the pipe that offloads the galley water is frozen, or the valve to open the pipe has broken.  He borrows a hair dryer and lies in the snow under the trailer to try to thaw the pipe.  No luck.  I start plotting a more southerly route.  Maybe Yuma, AZ.  We could visit friends there.  I check into Page, AZ to see if we could store Ida Mae there for the winter.  Would we ever get home?

The locals don’t try to predict the weather.  With the mountain passes, even the weather persons are never sure; are they ever?  I wash clothes and clean the coach.  We are thankful that we are warm and safe.  The outside temperature is 22 deg. with light snow.  I scan the sky for breaks in the clouds.

Thur. roads are reported clear and the passes are open.  We will try again to head north.  Our spirits are high.

I84 is in good condition; however, wide loads and trucks towing mobile homes are prohibited.  We see why.  The left lane has not been plowed and trying to pass another vehicle is scary.  We roll along cautiously, following a line of trucks.  And hold our breath.  Near Meachum is a bad pass and we approach it with apprehension.  Sure enough, traffic slows as we pass a small truck with a hauling trailer, empty, that had spun out into the snow bank on the right.  He is trying to detach the trailer so he can get his truck out and regroup.  Dan feels our rig fishtail and we understand why he spun.  That section of the road had been bladed, but not sanded.  We both resume breathing as we reach a sanded area.  Close call.  After that pass we still have Deadman’s Pass; sounds more ominous than it is.  It reminds us of the Grapevine between L.A. and Bakersfield; a long steep climb, in our case a downgrade of 6%.  Trucks are warned 3 times of the steep descent and we slow down to be prepared.  No problem, our F350 has wonderful braking power.

Finally, in blue sky and sunny weather, we relax and start thinking that we really are homeward bound.  The temperature rises to 31 deg.  Near Boardman we find fog, probably from the Columbia River.  It is extensive and follows us all the way to Pasco.  In Pasco we look for and find a truck and RV wash.  Our trailer is brown and large chunks of brown ice are still stuck solid.  We proudly roll into Spokane with a clean trailer, still in a frozen fog, but the roads are clear.  Here we have made arrangements to leave our trailer with an RV repair station to have a new overhead vent replaced.  And the still frozen valve fixed.  But first we will spend the night in an RV park and unload clothes and food into the truck.  The park is, to my dismay, covered with snow but it is settled in a pine setting.

As we set up the trailer, the truck will remain hooked up, Dan tries the galley valve again, and voila, it works.  The pipe has thawed out and that solves one major problem.  Heavy snow is expected the next day, but we sleep in peace, knowing that we are almost home.

Next morning, while I begin to pack things to take home, Dan checks the rig.  He comes in to report that it’s not over yet.  The truck has a flat tire.  He calls AAA and while we wait, we load the truck, to save time.  Mistake!

The AAA man arrives an hour later and tells us he needs access to the back seat where the crank is to lower the spare tire.  Now, hopelessly buried in clothes, ice chest, etc.  His next suggestion sounds better; he will put air in the tire, and follow Dan to the nearest tire repair station.  I remain in the coach to wrap it up and finish cleaning.

When Dan arrives at the tire place, there is a 3-hour wait.  It is Friday and that night a major snowstorm is expected, the first of the season.  And everyone in town wants their snow tires on now.  Dan pleads and they give him special treatment and an hour later he returns.  We hook up the trailer and head to the RV repair place.  Here we are happy to find that Ida Mae will remain indoors until we return for her.  We finish unloading and head toward home, but first, lunch.  We haven’t had time for breakfast and are suddenly starving.

An hour and a half later, we are close to home, stop to retrieve three weeks of mail and rejoice at our homecoming.  We are happy to be home, happy to be safe and happy that we didn’t have to travel to Arizona to thaw out.  Later we learned that Arizona and even Baja was also having a severe cold snap.    Snow place like home!