RV Resort & Bruneau Dunes State Park, Idaho

Friday, June 2nd, dawned and it was time to move on from the Olympic Peninsula. Sherrie came out to say goodbye, our retired navy neighbor. We took pictures of each other and exchanged addresses. She should be in New England next summer and we hope to see her then. (She and Mom, the two navy gals, have already corresponded with each other via email.) Peter wished us bon voyage and we were on our way. Rainbow’s End Campground grew on us. It had a certain charm. If we were in the area again, we would definitely stay there again.

Had a beautiful ride heading to Eastern Washington… gorgeous mountainous terrain through National Forest areas. We stopped for lunch at a rest stop and realized that the troublesome right front landing gear had fallen down to about 2.5” from the ground. Uh oh. This isn’t good. Let’s have lunch. When all else fails, eat. During lunch we discuss our options. I’m in favor of getting towed so the thing doesn’t come down in transit… cuz that really wouldn’t be pretty. Gary is in favor of moving on and checking it at the next rest stop…. we had 93 miles to go to get to our night’s accommodations but who’s counting. He wins. We move on, and we don’t stop at any other rest stops but make a beeline to the campground. We limp in to the campground with the landing gear maintaining it’s 2.5” above ground. But, as Gary says now we have to “take a stand” and fix the blasted thing because it won’t go back up at all.

We were only supposed to be at Columbia Sun RV Resort for one night in Kennewick, WA then move on. But, now, we have to get the landing gear fixed and it’s Friday night. Luckily they had a “premium” spot available for additional nights. More money… naturally. We take it, and get the name of a few mobile RV repair guys. Gary immediately goes to work to try and figure out EXACTLY what the problem is with the landing gear. Neither mobile repair guy could help… one was away for the weekend and booked until the 14th and the other didn’t have the necessary parts. However, one of the reasons why Gary wanted to wait until we got to Kennewick to address this problem is because there is a huge RV dealership here. And, praise God, their Parts Dept. is open on a Saturday. Hallelujah. Nothing more we can do tonight. Might as well enjoy a Friday night in a 5 Star Campground. The place is amazing… it’s like an RV city. Pool, jacuzzi, plush lawns that are golf course quality… amazing. We’re walking Kya and we get called over by the foursome two sites down from us. They wanted to meet Kya. Lovely people, we chat for quite awhile.

Luckily I married a smart and handy guy. Gary did some ciphering and thinks he knows what the problem is now with the landing gear. After breakfast on Saturday we leave Kya in the rig and head off to the Part’s Dept. at the RV place for a new gear box. The Part’s guy and Gary discuss the issue, the guy hunts around a few times and finally finds the right gear. Yay! We leave with it. Then head to Home Depot for a few other trinkets. Then had back to camp. Gary replaces the gear box, which was helpful since he’d stripped the thingies off the old one at the weigh station the other day. But, this still doesn’t fix the problem. With all other components working, the problem is the leg assembly of the right front landing gear. We go back to the Part’s Dept. We’re their new best friends now. They take pity on us being all the way from NH with a bum RV leg assembly. The Part’s guy goes in search of the new “leg assembly” and after a few tries and chatting with the head Service guy, they find one. Yay! We head back to camp once again. Gary installs the new leg assembly and fingers crossed/knocking on wood he thinks he’s solved the problem. Ok then. Now, we can just relax and enjoy the evening. We’ll be heading out in the morning. Once again I’m walking Kya and get waylaid by a couple who want to meet her. We chat for a long while until I have to break away because my dinner will be ready. Gary is cooking. Chicken on the grill, wine, music outside, and a glorious sunset. A perfect ending to the day.

Sunday, June 5th, we pack up with the intention that we can actually leave. Gary starts the hitching process. Yay! It’s working! It’s fixed. He does a happy dance. We depart for Bruneau Dunes State Park in Idaho. Another gorgeous ride through mountainous areas, wide vistas, just incredible views. I got behind the wheel and drove for a couple of hours… roads were tame in regards to traffic but there was some construction, and going up and down some mountainous roads with curves so I definitely got my feet wet. Only one hiccup. At one point I went over a fairly large pothole in the road and off flies the driver’s side extension mirror. Oops. That’s why we also have a back-up camera on this puppy. We can use that until we can get a new side extension mirror. And, no, nobody was behind me so no one got hit with anything.

Bruneau Dunes State Park’s claim to fame is that it has the largest single structured sand dune in North America rising 470 ft above the desert floor. Flat, flat land… desolate really, but beautiful in it’s own stark way. They have an observatory for stargazing. The day started out in Washington in the 50s and even dropped into the 40s at the higher elevations in the mountains and now is 96 @ 4:00 in the afternoon here at Bruneau Dunes. Brutally hot. The dunes are the attraction here and a couple of small lakes. People use sand boards to go down the sand dunes… like snowboards. I don’t think I’ll be doing that. You can also walk up the sand dune, but at 96 degrees, I think I’ll pass on that, too. And, since it’s Sunday, we’re not so sure the observatory is actually open… But, it’s supposed to cool down in the evening and we can always sit outside at our campsite and just stargaze with a glass of wine in hand. That works! Best laid plans…

Gary says “is that rain in the distance?” Holy cow! Not rain, a windstorm! Never seen anything like it Lasted a couple of hours… you could feel the RV swaying. Sent everyone scurrying to put chairs, awnings, and anything else not bolted down, away. First time I’ve ever actually seen tumbleweed. The sand looked like water the way it was coming off the dunes. We were buffeted about in the RV but no damage…. although the campground did lose power… might as well be in Nottingham. Haha. Another pretty sunset once we were actually able to get outside when the wind died down a bit. But alas too many clouds for stargazing. An interesting evening for sure! A bit unnerving but all part of the adventure.

Tomorrow we head to the KOA outside West Yellowstone.