Bend or bust!

[67caravel]

I rode in the trailer yesterday at highway speeds for about 5 - 10 miles. I had one of my pooches with me (the Peke) in the pic at the left. She was absolutely fine with it but, frankly, if you've not ridden in a trailer before, it's worth the experience. It's pretty wild and noisy as Shari predicted. I can now understand why it is illegal to travel in a trailer. It is quite different than traveling in an RV. I did not discern any exhaust smell during that length of trip which was one of my concerns... The other was heat. Bob, I checked out the 12v heaters. Thanks for the link.

Bottom-line? We'll have to find another solution. We're out of room in our TV with 3 adults and 3 dogs. 2 cats couldn't wedge in for ~1,500 miles of relaxed sightseeing (right!)... We'll probably rent an SUV for the trip and double drive it. Not exactly ideal, but a solution nonetheless. If anyone has any great ideas, chime in. I can't believe the resourcefulness of this group. One of you will probably have some magic solution that I've completely overlooked!

Now, for choosing the route. I think we're going to wait on that one until we're a bit closer to blast off so we can weigh in the weather patterns developing. Everything you all provided will be factored in.

BTW, your help is greatly appreciated.

[Barbara Peerenboom]

Was just reading the Nugget News from Sister, OR - just down the road from Bend- "The McKenzie Highway, which usually sees 300 cars a day, is now closed for the winter."

[67caravel]

Originally Posted by Barbara Peerenboom

Was just reading the Nugget News from Sister, OR - just down the road from Bend- "The McKenzie Highway, which usually sees 300 cars a day, is now closed for the winter."

Ahhh, winter has arrived! Can't wait!

I grew up in northern MN where my folks used to shoo us kids out the door to play at 40 below and we thought nothing of it.

[Karen R]

Hello All,
I'm new to the AS Forums - and a brand new Caravel owner! This thread is fascinating for a couple of reasons. We just wieghed all the factors for driving to Lyman WY to bring the Caravel home to Eastern WA (60 miles SW of Spokane.) This last week was the first opportunity we had in our schedule. Wouldn't you know it - a major early winter storm was predicted. Lyman's el. is 6,700 ft.! We lucked out! Kept an eye on the weather reports and rushed the trip for two reasons. Didn't want to get stuck on a pass . . . and we left our two cats home in the house with plenty of food, water and kitty litter . . . but no laps. Have a feeling I'll have to see if Sam & Sammy can learn to travel if I want my husband along for trips lasting more than a couple of days. So I appreciated the hints about travel with the cats. Hadn't thought about how scary the bouncing and noise would be for them in the trailer.

Anyway - other than a few wet snow flakes, the worst weather we encountered was rain and moderate wind. We did leave Lyman without much of a chance to visit and chose to stay in Ogden and then La Grande overnight - just in case the Blue Mountain Pass at over 4,000 ft. was icy. I think we skirted the north edge of the storm and missed the worst of it. For more details: http://www.cougs.net/karenr/Airstream_10-04.htm

Bonus of trip was that my husband, who is a "home-body" got fascinated with some of the scenic possibilities in OR (including a narrow gage steam train near La Grande http://www.svry.com/ .) He now has incentive to help with the restoration project and seems to be favorably inclined to try some short excursions after the winter season.

Next time we plan a trip it will be for FUN! I'll check with you all for suggestions!

[71_safari]

Originally Posted by Barbara Peerenboom

Was just reading the Nugget News from Sister, OR - just down the road from Bend- "The McKenzie Highway, which usually sees 300 cars a day, is now closed for the winter."

Hwy 242, the shortcut into Sisters, closes every winter about this time. You can still take 126 from Eugene and continue on past the 242 cutoff to 26 and over the Santiam Pass, so technically the MacKenzie River Hwy is still a viable, and actually quite nice option. You come into Sisters the long way, but its a much better road anyway.

Just an fyi.

john