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September 5, 2017

Mt. Hood National Forest to Ochoco National Forest

via Maupin and Prineville

100 miles

7.7 mpg

We decide to take "the scenic route" east then south through Maupin even though it is 20 miles further. We are glad we did. It was a beautiful drive. We stopped in Madras for fuel. I put 36.5 gallons of diesel into our 38 gallon tank - whew! Also filled up the RV gas tank. We then stopped in Prineville at the Ranger Station to ask about dispersed camping near the Painted Hills National Park. She pointed out lots of BLM land and also gave us a list of campgrounds available in the Ochoco National Forest.

Cherrie asked the ranger where she liked to eat in town. She recommended "The Dawg House", so we tried it. I had the tri-tip sandwich, tots, and a cookies-n-cream shake. Cherrie had a burger. It was pretty darn tasty - a keeper. Then we headed towards the Painted Hills. Cherrie read up about the various campgrounds and we decided to look at the one at the top of the summit, at about 5,000 feet elevation. It's hot right now, so maybe it will be cool there. It's a gorgeous campground and we got the best site! Plus, with Cherrie's pass, we get it for $6.00/night - awesome!

After setting up camp, at around 3:00 we decided to drive to the Painted Hills and have a look around. It was pretty smokey from the fires. We decided to come back in the morning. The lighting will be from a better direction and maybe the smoke won't be as bad. Looks cool though.

Came back to camp and ran the generator with the electric water heater and the air conditioning on. I think that was a bit too much for it. It didn't trip any breakers, but the engine stopped! Scared me. I dragged out the manual and looked at the trouble shooting section. It didn't show any error messages, and the manual didn't say anything pertinent besides keep up the maintenance, keep it clean, and adjust the carburetor for altitude. It started back up no problem and I ran it for another 1/2 hour - hmmm.

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