Traveling the West, Part One

I've sorted through the first few photos from our August road trip -- my favorite kind of travel where we have only a general idea of where we're going so we've made no reservations or schedules.  We left our home on the Oregon coast...

Headed south into California where we traveled along the Trinity River...

Lots of stopping along the way for walks, lunch, coffee, photos.  In the early evening we kept an eye out for a suitable RV park.   Full hook ups for air conditioning and showers were our only criteria, but every night we were lucky enough to find a place we could enjoy.  First stop... Del Loma RV Park along the Trinity.

Most importantly, Wally and LuLu could enjoy this place, too.

Pretty, quiet, not at all crowded on a weekday.

The next day we made it only as far as the small, rural town of Standish, which is almost to the Nevada border.  All my photos of the area in between are similar to the previous photos.  We enjoyed the Trinity River most of the day, knowing we'd soon be leaving the tree-covered mountains of northern California behind.  Pictured below is the pretty little park where we spent the night in Standish.

They had a very nice dog park, all clean and graveled.  We sat quite a while and visited with a retired rodeo fella.  Notice how the hills in the background are no longer covered with trees.

I know... not the most interesting photos in Standish, but it was just a stopover.  They had good satellite TV, so Rich took full advantage of that -- reclining in the bedroom, snacking on cheese, Wally and LuLu in attendance.  We don't have a TV in our bedroom at home, so this was a treat for him.

The next day we crossed over into Nevada.  Honestly, we didn't get very far, but we weren't in a hurry.   These last few photos were taken after we stopped for the evening outside of Fallon, Nevada.  We got lucky again, finding an RV park surrounded by BLM land where we could walk far off into the distance with the dogs.  I just love this golden field with the beautifully sculpted and shadowed hills in the background.

Turn around and see a little more green to my left.  We're sure not on the Oregon Coast anymore!

Because it was evening it had cooled down enough to get out and enjoy it.  Actually, we'd not yet had a blistering day... except for Baker, California -- 108 degrees.  We stopped there for gas and then got out in a hurry!

Gold on gold:

Layers and swathes of color, texture, and form:

Time to wrap up the day.

So many photos to chronicle the trip.  Always take the scenic route and you might be surprised what you find in a desert.  I'll be back with more as soon as possible.  Have a wonderful day!