Canyonero

(Can you name the truck with four wheel drive, smells like a steak and seats thirty-five? Canyonero! Canyonero!)

After nearly 2 months away from camping, we went camping last night in the Yakima River Canyon. And in our motorhome. Let us explain.

A few weeks ago, we finally (!) got our Winnebago EKKO motorhome back from the heater replacement. Before we take our big camping trips, we want to do some “shakedown” trips to test the vehicle in general and the new heater in particular. (Indeed, Greg already determined that it needs new front tires). For our first trip, we decided to take a short road trip to Yakima WA to visit Los Hernandez Tamales, famous for their James Beard award-winning asparagus tamales in the springtime. While we could do this as a day trip, we decided to stay the night before at a campground in the Yakima River Canyon. Greg ran the Yakima River Canyon Marathon four times, so he knows the area pretty well. But this is our first time staying the night.

There are several BLM campgrounds along the canyon. We decided to stay at the Umtanum campground since it has a footbridge across the Yakima River that leads to some hiking trails. Once we parked, we walked across the bridge and underneath the train tracks to the trail. (Of course there are train tracks at the campground!).

Greg forgot to bring our hiking poles, but another hiker told us which trail was flat, so we took that one. We heard there were rattlesnakes in the area. We hiked for about a mile, when Greg saw this snake adjacent to the path.

We “noped” back to the campground. We warned other hikers about the snake, and one confirmed it was a rattlesnake based on Greg’s photo. When we returned to the vehicle, it took Greg quite some effort to re-activate Starlink satellite internet, since it was in the low-bandwidth “standby” mode and there is no cell phone service in the canyon. Eventually, we got it fixed and were able to contact the outside world. Huzzah!

Since the canyon is not closed for the marathon, Amy decided we had to find somewhere safer for Greg's morning run. We drove the motorhome to Yakima, where Greg ran the Yakima Greenway. While Greg ran, Amy walked the path, which was paved and flat. The parking was not flat, so we moved the RV so that Greg could take a shower. We tried to explore the Yakima Arboretum, but the trees were underwhelming to those of us from west of the Cascades. However, it did take just the right amount of time so that Los Hernandez was open for lunch. In addition to lunch, we bought 4 dozen frozen tamales, which we took home via the RV freezer. Apart from the tires, the other major systems in the RV seem to be working correctly, so we should be ready for our June adventures.