Travel from Bend to Lebanon, Oregon

We drove our coach 131 miles, about 3 hours of driving, from Bend, Oregon to Lebanon, Oregon.

The map route, heading northwest:

Map route

Jenn had lunch while waiting for the dump station at the Thousand Trails park, and I had mine on the way out of the park:

Lunch

Paladin sitting on the step cover:

Paladin

Passing through Bend, Oregon:

Bend

An old van:

Old van

Sisters, Oregon:

Sisters

Sisters

Sisters

Sisters

Rainy forest:

Rain

Rainy forest

Rainy forest

Third warning sign of 11 miles of 6% downgrade:

Warning sign

Curves:

Curves

Roadworks:

Roadworks

Rough road:

Rough road

River:

River

Rain:

Rain

After getting out of the hills, we pulled over to let people past:

Pause

Foster Lake:

Foster Lake

Sweet Home, Oregon:

Sweet Home

Sweet Home

Water tower:

Water tower

Some people consider it a sign of civilization if there is a Walmart present (though that is not our metric):

Walmart

Our destination, Gill’s Landing RV Park:

Gill's Landing RV Park

Rail bridge:

Rail bridge

Thousand Trails Bend-Sunriver RV Campground

We stayed at Thousand Trails Bend-Sunriver RV Campground in Bend, Oregon. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Dates:

  • Check in: 2022-06-29
  • Check out: 2022-07-05
  • 6 nights

Weather:

  • Partly sunny, drizzle
  • High temps ranging between 66-84°F, lows around 44-53°F
  • A little afternoon wind
  • A couple of afternoon thunderstorms

Noise:

  • No road or train noise
  • Some neighbor noise (kids and dogs)

Site:

  • #A4, back in, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
  • Somewhat level
  • Very large site: about 65 feet long by about 60 feet wide
  • Partial hookups:
    • 50 amp power somewhat conveniently located
    • 65 PSI water pressure; not very conveniently located
    • No sewer connection
  • Picnic table, fire pit

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 18-25 Mbps down, 9-14 Mbps up, 80 ms ping
  • AT&T: 8 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 32 ms ping
  • Verizon: 27 Mbps down, 15 Mbps up, 29 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpster
  • Two pools, closed
  • River
  • Various games

Here’s the review Jenn wrote on Campground Reviews:

Sites: Good, Amenities: Bad

The amenities are definitely tired and in need of upgrades and refurbishment, but the campsites are all nestled amongst the pines which is nice. We were able to snag one of the very limited 50 amp sites, which was a bonus. Our site was also quite large. After I cleaned up all the trash left by previous campers, it was quite a nice spot. Not having a sewer connection is the main limiting factor for us, so rather than stay two weeks, we only stayed six days. Even still, the next time we want to visit Central Oregon, we’ll be back. We camped at Bend-Sunriver RV Campground in a Motorhome.

The RV park map; it’s a little hard to tell the blue 50 amp sites from the green 30 amp sites, but the 50 amp ones are limited to the lower-right corner of the map:

Map

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Fire pit:

Fire pit

We got a harness for Paladin, and have been getting him used to wearing it. During this stay, we briefly took him outside for the first time. Unsurprisingly, he was somewhat freaked out by the experience. We’ll do more practice later:

David and Paladin

David and Paladin

David and Paladin

We added another National Park sticker for Crater Lake:

National Park stickers

Burger and chips:

Burger and chips

Toasting marshmallows:

Toasting marshmallows

S’mores:

S'mores

A squirrel visiting our site:

Squirrel

Squirrel

Also a rabbit:

Rabbit

Let’s look around. The entrance:

Entrance

A little lending library:

Library

Town marshal decoration:

Town marshal

Lightfingers Lew:

Lightfingers Lew

Blacksmith:

Blacksmith

Seating area:

Seating area

Country store:

Country store

Store

Store

They have a propane tank, but no longer fill propane for guests:

Propane

Wild rabbits:

Rabbits

Horseshoe pits:

Horseshoes

Pond:

Pond

Mini golf:

Mini golf

There are a couple of swimming pools, but both are empty (and have been for some time, by the sounds of things):

Empty swimming pool

Closed swimming pool

Other RVs, yurts, and cabins:

Other RVs

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Neighboring site

Rabbits:

Rabbit

Rabbit

Little Deschutes River snakes by the park:

Little Deschutes River

Little Deschutes River

Little Deschutes River

Mountain

Little Deschutes River

Little Deschutes River

Me following our coach when leaving:

Our coach

A line for the dump station; since there was no sewer connection, we (and others) wanted to dump our waste tanks before leaving:

Dump station line

The dump station:

Dump station

Exiting:

Exit

Travel from Dayville to Bend, Oregon

We drove our coach 140 miles, about 3 hours of driving, from Dayville, Oregon to Bend, Oregon.

The map route, heading southwest:

Map route

When departing we toaded up (i.e. hooked up our truck to our coach) on a road outside the park:

Departing

We had an issue where the airbag suspension wasn’t reaching travel height; in the end we decided to start forward anyway, and suddenly it reached the right level. My theory was that since we were heading downhill, there was too much weight on the front, until we leveled out. An important lesson to always get to travel height before moving (which we almost always do; this was an unusual situation).

Dayville Cafe:

Dayville Cafe

Mesa:

Mesa

Picture Gorge; scenic, but a little nerve-wracking in a 40-foot coach:

Picture Gorge

Picture Gorge

A nice meadow and barn:

Meadow

Paladin:

Paladin

Hills:

Hills

Trees

Another nice meadow and barn, the kind of place we might like to have as a home base one day:

Meadow and barn

Lake:

Lake

Tastee Treet:

Tastee Treet

Horse sculptures:

Horse sculptures

Mountains:

Mountains

Mountains

Redmond sculpture:

Redmond sculpture

Thousand Trails entrance:

Thousand Trails entrance

Thousand Trails entrance

They were replacing the entrance barriers:

Thousand Trails entrance

Fish House Inn & RV Park

We stayed at Fish House Inn & RV Park in Dayville, Oregon. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Dates:

  • Check in: 2022-06-25
  • Check out: 2022-06-29
  • 4 nights

Weather:

  • Mosty sunny
  • High temps ranging between 85-100°F, lows around 49-60°F
  • A little afternoon wind, only gusting to 21 MPH (not very much)

Noise:

  • No road or train noise
  • A little neighbor noise (kids)

Site:

  • #7, back in, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
  • Not very level
  • Somewhat large site: about 70 feet long by about 28 feet wide
  • Full hookups:
    • 50 amp power conveniently located
    • 90 PSI water pressure; conveniently located
    • Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10 foot hoses used)
  • Picnic table

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 100 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
  • Verizon: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used
  • AT&T: no service
  • T-Mobile: no service

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpster
  • No pool

Here’s the review Jenn wrote on Campground Reviews:

Fantastic boutique campground

This campground truly is a gem. It’s a small park tucked away in a small town, with all the charm that conjures in the imagination. All the sites are back-in and surrounded by well-manicured lawns and many big trees. Reservation and check-in were all done online and were very efficient. No phone service, but we were able to find enough sky through the trees to get a decent Starlink connection. We camped at Fish House Inn and RV Park in a Motorhome.

The RV park map:

Fish House map

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

A cat visited our site:

Cat

Dinner:

Dinner

A convenience store by the park:

Store

With a single gas pump:

Gas pump

Pony Express:

Pony Express

Fish House Inn sign:

Fish House Inn sign

Fish House Inn:

Fish House Inn

Fish House Inn

Fish House

Gather sign:

Gather sign

Bathroom:

Bathroom

Dry camping and tent sites:

Dry camping and tent sites

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Rainbow:

Rainbow

Travel from Caldwell, ID to Dayville, OR

We drove our coach 196 miles, about 4 hours of driving (plus a couple of hours of waiting), from Caldwell, Idaho to Dayville, Oregon. It felt really good to be back in Oregon!

The map route, heading northwest:

Map route

Leaving the RV park:

Leaving the RV park

Roadworks:

Roadworks

Paladin’s expression seems to say “a travel day AGAIN?!”; we feel that; three days in a row was a bit much; we plan to avoid that in the future:

Paladin

Happy enough sitting on the back of my chair:

Paladin and David

Crossing Snake River from Idaho into Oregon:

Snake River

Welcome to Oregon:

Welcome to Oregon

We stopped at the rest area just after entering Oregon:

Rest area

Check out time of the RV park was 11:00 MDT, check in time at the next destination was 16:00 PDT (unusually late), and travel time was about 4 hours, so we needed to wait a couple of hours. So we hung out at the rest area:

Rest area

We had a super-classy lunch of hotdog buns with bologna and American cheese:

Lunch

Our coach and truck:

Our coach

We also visited the welcome center and wandered around the rather nice grounds:

Welcome center

Wagon

Flowering prickly pear cacti; probably the last we’ll see of those for a few months (other than the one we have in our coach):

Flowering prickly pear cacti

Oregon Trail info:

Oregon Trail info

Oregon Trail info

Then back on the road; nice Oregon bridge artwork:

Oregon bridge artwork

Love’s diesel and DEF stop; $6.419 for diesel is rather a lot, though we paid less, thanks to a fuel discount card:

Love's fuel stop

Love's fuel stop

Love's fuel stop

Turn to Bend:

Turn to Bend

Barn:

Barn

We followed this haymaker for a while:

Farm equipment

And discovered a new dash indicator: after following that farm equipment with our hazard lights on, a “Check Info” light came on the dash, with a message on the display saying “Turn Signal On”. Apparently that appears if you drive more than a mile with a turn signal on, as a reminder for people who (somehow?!) don’t notice leaving it on. The message can be dismissing by hitting a button:

Check info light

Hills:

Hills

Hills

Old building:

Old building

Fun fact: there is a portion of Oregon that uses Mountain time. So we entered the Pacific time zone further into the state:

Entering Pacific time zone

A pleasant lakeside stop:

Stop

Lakeside stop

Our coach and truck:

Our coach and truck

A picturesque lake (actually Murray Reservoir):

Lake

Lake

Lake

Our truck and coach:

Our truck and coach

Back on the highway:

Rocks

Sleepy Paladin:

Sleepy Paladin

Nice hills:

Hills

An idyllic meadow; this is the kind of place we could see ourselves settling down one day (for at least half the year):

Meadow

Log building:

Log building

Mountains:

Mountains

A wagon by a viewpoint:

Mountains and wagon

Prairie City:

Prairie City

Cute little purple flowers:

Flowers

I seemed to be a barn-pics mood:

Barn

The town of John Day:

John Day

Hills and John Day River:

Hills and John Day River

Welcome to Dayville, “our fossils are friendly”:

Welcome to Dayville

Our destination, Fish House Inn and RV Park:

Fish House Inn and RV Park

RV park

Travel from Declo to Caldwell, ID

We drove our coach 188 miles, about 3 hours, from Declo, Idaho to Caldwell, Idaho.

The map route, heading northwest:

Map route to Caldwell

Leaving the RV park:

Leaving RV park

Paladin:

Paladin

I-84:

I-84

My devices: iPad with RV gauges, tire pressure monitor, Mac with map, and iPhone with navigation:

Devices

Rest area stop:

Rest area

Rest area

Paladin:

Paladin

Snake River:

Snake River

We saw several wind turbine blades on trucks, plus these ones on the side of the road:

Wind turbine blade

Another rest area stop:

Rest area

Rest area

Paladin:

Paladin

Triple trailer truck:

Triple trailer truck

Our destination:

Destination

Travel Heber City, UT to Declo, ID

We drove our coach 219 miles, about 4 hours, from Heber City, Utah to Declo, Idaho.

The map route, heading northwest:

Map route

Leaving Heber City:

Heber City

Heber City

Heber City

We planned to stop for fuel in Salt Lake City, so I left the step cover open. Paladin took advantage of that to look out the lower window:

Paladin

Roadworks:

Roadworks

US-40 freeway:

US-40 freeway

Paladin in his safe space:

Paladin

I-80:

i-80

i-80

Paladin on the steps again:

Paladin

Exit to Love’s for fuel:

Exit to Love's

Love's

Love's

Onto I-215:

i-215

And I-15 (with a triple trailer truck merging):

i-15

Paladin again:

Paladin

Paladin

One nice thing about interstate freeway travel is rest areas. We stopped at one for lunch:

Rest area

Lunch

Rest area

Paladin on the back of my chair:

Paladin and David

Scenic hills by I-84:

i-84

I-84

Goodbye Utah, welcome to Idaho:

Welcome to Idaho

Another rest area stop:

Rest area

Rest area

Continuing on I-84:

I-84

Sleepy Paladin; he’s definitely getting more comfortable with travel days:

Paladin

Exit to Declo:

Exit to Declo

Our destination RV park was right off the freeway:

C Store

RV park

Travel from Rock Springs, WY to Heber City, UT

We drove our coach 176 miles, about 3 hours, from Rock Springs, Wyoming to Heber City, Utah.

The map route, heading southwest:

Map route

Our coach at the Tiffin rally, after neighboring coaches had departed:

Tiffin rally site

Leaving the rally grounds:

Leaving rally grounds

Tiffins:

Tiffins

I-80:

i-80

Tunnels:

Tunnels

Tunnel

Tunnel

Rocks

Paladin in his safe space next to my chair:

Paladin

Paladin

Passing another Tiffin:

Tiffin

Billboards for Little America, a place Jenn said she wanted to visit as a kid:

Little America

I have a number of devices: my iPad showing diagnostic gauges (more on this in the future), my Mac showing the map of our route so I can provide info about stopping places, and the tire pressure monitor; not pictured, my iPhone with the navigation directions:

Devices

A lake:

Lake

The exit to Heber City:

Heber City exit

Road works:

Road works

Interesting buildings in Heber City:

Heber City

Heber City

Heber City

Heber City

Our destination:

Destination

Arrival area (with another Tiffin):

Arrival area

Arrival area

Travel from Vernal, UT to Rock Springs, WY

We drove our coach 111 miles, about 2 hours, from Vernal, Utah to Rock Springs, Wyoming for the 50th anniversary Tiffin rally in June.

The map route, heading north:

Map route to rally

A view while heading downhill:

View

And uphill:

Highway

Big downhill:

8% downgrade

Lake

A bridge:

Bridge

Bridge

After the bridge we drove over the top of a dam:

Dam

Dam

Dam

Dam

Dam

Dam

Dam

A satellite view of the entire route: 

Route

The early portion had some switchbacks, which aren’t the most fun in a 40-foot coach (or 60 feet with the truck):

Route portion 1

The bridge and dam portion:

Route portion 2

A closer view of the Flaming Gorge dam:

Route portion 3

Onward:

Highway

An interesting ridge:

Hill

Highway

Paladin sitting on the back of my chair:

Paladin and David

We really liked the look of this area:

Highway

Snow barriers:

Snow barriers

Highway

Highway

Arriving at the Tiffin rally:

Tiffin rally

Tiffin rally

We unhooked the truck, and I drove it following our coach to the campground:

Tiffin rally

Tiffin rally

Dusty:

Tiffin rally

Tiffin rally

Getting parked in our site:

Tiffin rally

Tiffin rally

More from the rally tomorrow.

Travel from Montrose, CO to Vernal, UT

We drove our coach 209 miles, about 4 hours, from Montrose, Colorado to Vernal, Utah.

The map route, heading north:

Map route

Leaving the Montrose KOA Journey RV park:

Leaving RV park

Leaving RV park

Leaving RV park

“Gateway to the canyons”:

Gateway to the canyons

“Tribute to agriculture”:

Tribute to agriculture

US-50 freeway:

Freeway

We were planning to stop for fuel in Grand Junction along the way, so I left the step cover open. Paladin enjoyed sitting on a step and looking out the lower window (which is typically called the “dog window”, but in our case is the “cat window”):

Paladin

Highway:

Highway

Hey hay:

Hay hey

Highway

There wasn’t a good place to stop at lunchtime, so I got up and made lunch while Jenn was driving — a nice option for a motorhome (but don’t worry, I sit down again as quickly as possible, and keep my seatbelt on when in my seat):

Driving

PB&J is quick and easy:

Lunch

Lunch

Very curvy road:

Highway

Switchbacks on the map:

Map

Highway

Highway

Steep grade, sharp curves, yay:

Steep grade, sharp curves

Curve

Curve

After all that, we found a spot on side of road for a break:

Break on side of road

Rough road:

Rough road

Maybe they should have workshopped that name a bit?

Kum & Go

Oil well:

Oil well

Train:

Train

Highway

Dinosaur city limit:

Dinosaur

Dinosaurs in Dinosaur:

Dinosaurs in Dinosaur

Dinosaurs in Dinosaur

I see what they did there:

Bedrock in Dinosaur

Welcome to Utah:

Welcome to Utah

Crossing another part of Green River again:

Green River

Vernal had more dinosaurs than Dinosaur:

Dinosaurs in Vernal

Dinosaurs in Vernal

Cycle shop

Mural

Our destination, a KOA Holiday park:

KOA

KOA office