2026 One Particular Unity Trip to LTV Rally and Beyond

From the Pacific to the Prairies to the Appalachians and Back: A 2026 One Particular Unity Trip Once again we are on the road!!!  Andiamo (Italian for Let's Go).  

Most of you are familiar with our Blog and some of the initials we use.  But to review and for new folks here are a few key terms:

OPH:  One Particular House

OPB:  One Particular Blog

HH:  Harvest Hosts, which is a membership program (harvest host.com) that has numerous locations where campers can stay for "free" overnight and some offer extra days.  WE have used it MANY times.  

Unity:  Is our current RV by LTV (Leisure Travel Vans).  No more Alto camper.

This adventure starts on Saturday August 29th and will last for about 2 months total.   It will be in stages and this first stage will end on Monday October the 5th.   The Blog will run continuously with subtitles along the way. 

And so we set out to start this segment on Saturday 8/29/26 and plan to leave OPH by 8am.  But this turns out to be 9am.  Start Mileage is 10844.  Finally at 9:45am we make it to the Toll Road N 241 at Chapman.

At 10am on the Tollroad we are flagged down by a passerby who tells us that our rear storage locker's (the garage) top lid is OPEN!!!!  Nothing flew out fortunately and we pulled over and used Canelo's long leash  to tie it down.  The lid was in locked position but it had not actually engaged.  As of this writing we are in Oregon and have not been able to fix it properly.  So we will continue tying it up.  All part of the adventure!

We continued on the 91 FWY but 10 minutes later  Eldon asks a simple question "You do have your Passport Book??  Uh ... NO, so we turn around and head back to OPH from Corona to pick up the National Park Passport book.  After all, one of the main highlights of these trips is to go to as many Parks as possible and get the book stamped.  So we go home and start again. 

TAKE TWO.  By now it's 10:50am.  Passport book in hand and a better rope to secure the storage trunk.  We finally left OPH at 10:55am.  55 to 91 to 15 to 395 at Hesperia.  This trip will be US 395 all the way to Canada.  The good thing is there is not too much traffic, maybe because all those people who decided to get an early start are WAY ahead of us.  

At Noon we finally got onto HWY 395 at Hesperia, followed by Adelanto.  Not much of a city but we always enjoy reading their Motto:

"The City with unlimited possibilities. " They do seem to be making progress as we saw a lot of new tract homes and businesses this time.  

From there (which is actually going west, we finally turned north had the Sierra Nevada Mountains on our left (west) side. 

We actually discovered by accident during our Oregon trip in April that US 395 goes from Mexico to Canada.  So we decided to take it from stem to stern, so to speak.

Of course, there is not always a lot of "services = gas" there and Eldon likes to push it so here we are on "Reserve" and not much in sight.

Nice lava flow coming from a Cinder Cone on the easter side of the Sierra Nevadas because of ripping apart of the western US from here to the Wasatch Mountains in Utah.  As the crust pulls apart, faults facilitate the dropping of the Basins and the rising of the Ranges, and here along the Sierras, it is so dramatic that the molten rock of very very deep gets to rise to the surface (lava lamps).  

The eastern Sierras, somewhere in here is Mt Whitney, the highest mountain in the continental US at 14,505 ft.

Dramatic sky but no rain.  No lessening of the temperatures either (90+).

We made it to our first campground at 5pm.  Pine Cliff RV Resort in June Lake, CA.  The weather was clear, sunny and 63 degrees which felt like 57 degrees.  That was a welcomed change from our 100 degree heat at OPH.   Lots of beautiful pine trees and clear skies.

This was also our first "Bear Sign."

Eldon went out to walk Canelo and saw this deer pop its head up.  Look closely, right in the middle.  Canelo was clueless having his nose pressed to the ground.  All new smells.

Little did it matter, as 10 minutes back to camp ... he definitely noticed this one.  Fortunately he was indoors and respects the sanctity (and fragility) of our screen door.

And then Clara showed up in her camping finest to comfort Canelo.  Takes a village.

Eldon prepared a delicious dinner from left over Friday night pasta and at 9ish pm he took Canelo for his night walk.  I did dishes and then we settled down to watch a movie he had downloaded.  A Star is Born.  The original with Judy Garland and I forget the guys name.  It was great.  There seems to be 4 versions made so we will plan to watch all four along the way.  He has not been able to get the tv channels to come on so I have not had my normal fix of Star Trek, the Chase, Law and Order, Perry Mason, etc.   Of course Eldon says he has all of them recorded on a hard drive already plugged into the TV but that seems too much like cheating.

Canelo is his own entertainer / entertainment as he toots his Cinnamon Whisky squeeze toy every morning, night, and in between.  Sorry but this Blog does not "entertain" videos."

But he (and we) eventually conk out.

Sunday August 30th, we awaken at 9am in June Lake, CA and left at 10am.  Clear, Sunny, 56 degrees.  It was time to instill some DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid - another new thing) at 11230 miles. This will be a new part of our RV maintenance for this Mercedes vehicle.  Also having to use Diesel instead of gasoline.  Things never get less expensive it seems.  Oh well, you can't take it with you.

Here is Canelo guarding the homestead as Eldon comes back from taking out the trash.  He is a good dog.

And here is Canelo with his work cut out for him as his solitary deer from yesterday brought reinforcements.

Mom, pop, and some babies.  He was telling them what he thought of them and then he started shaking as they ran away.  After that he needed some TLC as we hit the road for Janesville.

So off we went on our merry way and at 10:45am by Mono Lake, Eldon avoided hitting a BIG sheep that had decided to go for a gentle walk down the middle of our lane on the highway.   Eldon is an excellent driver.  Sheep is still alive.

Mono Lake, once much larger than it is today before the City of LA captured all of the input streams and sent it to LA.  The tufa mounds (sticking out of the water) were formed by freshwater springs supporting algae forming calcium carbonate towers built up from the lake bottom, which sadly has dropped significantly as you can see.

Giant bridge in the distance which is the new 395 but we stayed on the old 395, which as you can tell is about 10 lanes wide so maybe not so new either.  

Slide Mountain.  The white scars are the result of a catastrophic failure sometime in the later 1990's.  Eldon was on a field trip that filled in all the details but he (sadly) remembers very few, as follows; the slide was generated by a huge amount of rain, which catastrophically caused the mountain to collapse, which fell into a dammed reservoir which instantly blew out, and brought a debris flow all the way down to and across 395.  Dozens of homes were destroyed.

We had plans to camp at a HH on 395 but it was not to be.  The property was gated up and we just kept going and ended up at The Woodsmith which is Norman Allan's shop (Clara's ex-brother in law) at Allen's Corner in Janesville..  It was a fun time chatting and catching up with life.  Norman, Kristie and us went to Susanville to the Mexican restaurant and had a yummy meal.  Now we have more leftovers for more dinners on the road.  

No TV, just to bed.  Everyone was tired.

Monday August 31st in Janesville, CA, up at 7am.  Clear, Crisp, Sunny and 55 degrees.  Eldon took Canelo for his morning walk.  Only pee and no poop.  I managed to make the bed, even lift the whole thing back into the wall.  

Our campsite at Allen's Corner in Janesville.  Ours is the only vehicle that can move without assistance.

Canelo had another close encounter with a deer family last night that almost cost Eldon his leg all tangled up in the leash and a branch as Canelo was negotiating with them.  They were totally unimpressed with his communication skills and basically left.  Next morning he was a serious student of the outside as soon as the sun came up.  No deer.  Squirrels though.

Allan's Corner at sunrise. Anything you need.  We got it at Alice's Restaurant, or Allen's Corner.

Eldon and Canelo ready to go.

We hit the road at 8am and at 8:30 we stopped at the Blue Ox in Susanville (a repeat from last year) for some pastries, hot chocolate and coffee.  Heading back to 395 (it does not go through Susanville) we made a little sightseeing detour to see Peter Lassen's gravesite.  He was a Danish explorer and blacksmith who was killed by the Indians at the age of 66.  Got the County and volcano and National Park named for him though.

It is an interesting place, obviously important but equally unused (or maintained) because it was very overgrown.  Impressive entrance.  

Lassen's monument.  Killed by Indians in April 26, 1859.

It does not look like anyone has come here recently to picnic with Lassen.

And he did not die alone, though likely Edward Clapper probably wished that he had.

Canelo standing on the recliners so he can look out the front window.  VERY studious dog.

We entered into Oregon at 11:45am, 71 degrees, sunny.  Mileage was 11648.  

Stopped for some groceries.  

We had some challenges trying to find the HH spot but we did and the owner was very nice.  Older widow living on her own.  2 cute little dogs that Canelo had to give them his opinions.  We retired to the Unity so Eldon could catch up on ECI "stuff."  And ... we both caught up on some sleep.

There were horses ... what are those?  This photo has the image of my computer screen saver peacock.  I took the photo of Eldon and Canelo from my chair.

Careful. There are horses out there.

I will fight those horses for you.  Pretty tough looking dog, eh?

But it all worked out and later they were nose to nose friends.

10 seconds earlier Canelo was in there too, he is th brown smudge in the lower left, but iPhones in one's pocket do not always produce that perfect result.

And another perfect night on the trip comes to an end.  Tomorrow to the James Day Fossil Beds.

Tuesday 9/1/26, Eldon up at 7:15am and me at 8am.  Crispy, sunny, 55 degrees in Lakeview, OR.  We were not able to say goodbye and thank you to our gracious Host.  She is a widow with her 2 little dogs.  

We headed out for breakfast and saw this deer waiting to cross the street.  Very intelligent.  Once we got to town we found a local eatery Downtown Cafe and Bakery) that had this bathroom sign.  I just had to take a photo.  It was like Cheers where everyone knew everyone and we were the youngest people in there.  Good find.

The locals, this was actually a Yelp photo but the same people were there when we were.

The non-perpetual geyser.

We found the site for the Old Perpetual Geyser but only found cute little birds trying to find their breakfast.  The one by itself is head in the water.  So cute.  We waited for 15 minutes for the 90 second geyser and decided to head off north.

Highway 395 took us along the Abert fault, a major normal fault within the Basin and Range wherein the faults drop one side (the Basin) and lift the other (the Range) forming a major part of the North American west.  The Basin and Range (geological) province stretches from the eastern Sierra frontal fault to the western Wasatch fault in Utah.  Within this province the crust of the earth has stretched about 50% resulting in northerly trending mountain ranges and interior valleys.  Here along the Abert fault the western side is a very steep escarpment while the basin is filled with a lake.  However, and I am sure frustratingly for the early settlers, it is highly salty because it has no exit and so the salts accumulate as the water evaporates leaving behind pretty salt rims along the lake.  Birds love it though because of the lake's brine shrimp.  But, who was Abert?

The geological story.

The Abert fault.

Lake Abert.

The salt shorelines.

The photographer blowing away.

Canelo NOT going out in that.

Finally a picture.  

Good shot of the Abert fault escarpment.

And another of the Unity.

Highway 395 is amazingly empty through Oregon.  We almost never got passed, and rarely even met another vehicle.  

We managed to find an unattended weigh station which we took advantage to weigh the Unity.  Total weight was 11, 500. 

Loneliest road today from Lakeview, OR to John Day, OR.  

And then we started seeing turquoise roofed barns and houses and other buildings.  We had entered the Silvie's Valley Ranch.  Only 150,000 acres, stretching from here to there, think of the Dutton Ranch in the TV series Yellowstone, only for real.  

Our Harvest Host for the evening was the John Day Golf Club where we camped just below the clubhouse (and bar).  Arrived at 2:40pm, 82 degrees, partly cloudy.  Today we averaged 21.6 miles per gallon.  And Oregon's diesel is $1.50 cheaper than California.  We're in the clover.

They no longer serve anything but alcohol so after a couple beers, and Clara's nap, we went into town in search of food where Canelo got into it with a wooden bear.  Sadly this platform does not support videos (or if it does we do not know how) but he was growling and "barking" and ready to get into it.  Kind of like his horse encounter last night.

Sorry, hard to record and yank the leash at the same time.  

And so ends another day of this epic trip.  Sorry, no sunsets.  Probably no sunrises tomorrow either.  We only have to go about 125 miles to get to Pendleton for our mill tour at 3.