Cathy & Jan's Travels: Western States Travels in 2014

Crater Lake National Park in Oregon

As we continue our 12th year of fulltime RVing, we are traveling in the western United States and have been visiting lots of relatives and friends in New Mexico, Arizona, and in southern and middle California. We are now in Oregon and plan to go to Washington state and then meander thru Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and then to Iowa and Kansas before arriving back in Texas in November.

Three years ago we started visiting National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) and collecting the passport stamp at each one visited. As time went by, we have set a goal of visiting at least one NWR in each state. As this year started we had completed visiting an NWR in all states east of Colorado, so this year our travel plans take us to all of the western states to complete the rest of the lower 48 states. Fortunately, on one our trips to Alaska, we had visited an NWR there and took a photo of the NWR sign there. So we have sent a letter to get the stamp and won’t have to drive all the way up there just to get a stamp. Not only are we collecting stamps, but we have learned a lot about birds, migrating patterns, and wetlands management. And we have taken auto tours thru many of the NWRs to view the wildlife.

Since we take photos of lighthouses, we couldn’t miss visiting Lake Havasu City (which is on the border between Arizona and California). The Bill Williams River runs along the border between the states and Lake Havasu was formed when Parker Dam was built in the 1930’s. This dam is known as the “deepest dam in the world” since they had to excavate so deep to reach bedrock (73 percent of the dam is not visible).The main tourist attraction in Lake Havasu City is the London Bridge which was brought from London and reconstructed between the mainland and an island in the lake. One little known attraction is that over 20 working small lighthouse replicas have been built and scattered around the lake and on the island. These lighthouses are replicas of existing ones around the US and Canada. We managed to take photos of 19 of the lighthouses (a couple of these are included in the included photos). Note: We counted these as only one lighthouse in our master list since they did not have the “mystique” of real ones.

We also visited the Cesar Chavez National Memorial in Keene, CA (close to Fresno). This is where his last office was (and has been preserved) and where his grave is. The memorial was well done and worth the visit. This was also our last National Park Service site left to visit in the western US.

Right now we are in Eugene, Oregon waiting to have our solar system upgraded. We are not planning on adding any more solar panels, but are going to upgrade our 4 batteries to larger ones, replace our inverter, and upgrade our solar charge controller. We have really enjoyed for the last almost 10 years not having to check our 4 AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) batteries. These batteries differ from flooded lead acid batteries in that the electrolyte is held in the glass mats, as opposed to freely flooding the plates. These batteries do not have any battery acid and never have to be checked/filled. They are more expensive, but well worth it to us.

While here in Oregon and since Crater Lake is one of our 3 favorite National Parks in the US, we just had to make one more trip to see it. The weather was perfect and the lake was just the wonderful deep blue as it could be. Note: Crater Lake gets an average of 44 feet of snow each year, but this last winter was one of the driest when only 30 feet fell. By the way, our other 2 favorite National Parks are Glacier (in Montana), and Bryce Canyon (in Utah). There are numerous other beautiful National Parks that are also very close to the top of our list.

Next year we are planning to slow down in our extensive traveling around Canada and the USA. We have been privileged to photo most of the lighthouses in the US and Canada that are relatively easy to get for a total of over 1,250 (Note: this number includes lighthouses in New Zealand and Australia). We have also managed to visit 372 out of a total of 401 National Park Service sites in the US (including all in the lower 48 states – except the 3 that were added last year in Ohio and in the northeast). Some of the remaining ones are just too far away for us to visit (such as American Samoa and Guam) or too remote (like some of the ones in Alaska). In addition we have also visited over two-thirds of the National Parks in Canada. So as you can see, it is time for us to slow down a bit.

We have been considering volunteering for a number of years, but didn’t want to be committed for long periods of time in one place. But next year we are going to try volunteering. Right now we are currently considering working in a visitor center, improving trails, or being an interpreter (but not being a campground host) at a National Park Service site or a National Wildlife Refuge.

The only other plan that we have for next year is to visit Hawaii (a place that neither one of us has been to). So, next spring we are planning a month trip to our 50th and last state to visit all 6 of the main islands. Taking our 5th wheel is not practical, so we will rely on rented vehicles and hotels or B&Bs. Of course, we are planning to visit all of the lighthouses, National Park Service Sites, and NWRs that we can.

And way in the future we are leaving open a possible return trip to Alaska/Yukon/Northwest Territories and one to the Canadian Maritimes (including Newfoundland).

Hope that all of you are doing well.