Mt. Bachelor: Parking, RVs, and Dogs

Bend! Oregon! We’re here! We love it. Hiking, skiing, backpacking, camping, rafting, paddle boarding; the town is a base camp for just about anything outdoors. We spent a week camping here last summer and couldn’t wait to come back to explore the town and ski.

Our first stop was Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort. When we looked on the website, there is a page explicitly titled “Parking, RVs, and Dogs“, which are all the things we’ve had trouble with at other ski resorts rolled up into one neat, informational page. Naturally, we were really excited to go there because we knew we would be welcome.

And it was even better than we expected.

We rolled in to what could be best described as an RV tailgate/ dog park/ sledding hill extravaganza. Dogs were playing in the parking lot. Multiple fire pits were going. Kids were sledding down the snow bank. A videographer was filming for a Mt. Bachelor promo video. Someone was blasting country music.

There was a mix of all types of campers from Class A motorhomes to a VW bus camper, but we were truly excited about seeing ANOTHER BURRO! Woo hoo!

We ended up chatting with our Burro-owning-brethern for the rest of the evening, sharing Burro stories and maintenance tips (their Burro is in much better condition than ours). The next morning, we hosted them for pancakes and coffee, but totally forgot to get a picture of our Burros together before they headed back home. We only got pictures of our dogs.

We hung out in the trailer on Sunday, choosing to wait for a storm to come in and ski Monday on fresh powder (because we can). And it indeed did storm, which made for a restless night of howling winds, pelting snow, and the constant drone of snowplows. We woke up to a windy arctic tundra being cleared by monstrous snow-moving machines. Luckily it cleared up enough for another great day of skiing.

And that’s only the first two days! More to come! We’re currently in the Mazda dealership in Bend getting our car its much needed 22,000 mile service.

RV tailgate/ dog park/ sledding hill extravaganza.

Kids sled on the snowbank while Argus joyously romps

Argus and Jersey, his doggie Burro buddy, holding hands, watching us eat pancakes.

Miso, another Burro dog, giving Argus a back rub.

We survived another stormy windy night

Monstrous snow moving machine

View of the lodge and lift from the other side of the parking lot

Mini snow bank that formed around our Burro

Arctic tundra

Argus digging for his ball in the fresh powder

Got it! Off to bury it again…

Jared hittin’ the pow

Ice-blasted trees on Mt. Bachelor

Getting ready for some powder-filled face plants

View of the South Sister from the lift

The Dog’s View

I take back everything I said about Argus not appreciating the scenery. He absolutely absorbs what he sees outside the window. He’s just picky about what he likes.

Red rock mesas and deserts don’t appeal to him, but as we drove out of Basalt today through the mountain roads, Argus had his head right to the window. He LOVES the snow and LOVES water, and he was constantly straining to look at the snowy river banks and rolling hills we were passing by.

We actually observed him get up and change his sitting position so he could look out the other window when his current view turned into a boring rock wall. Twice.

It can be hard for us to comprehend a dog’s intelligence and understanding of his world, but little observations give us a glimpse. I find it  simpler to accept that they are every bit as discerning, observant, and opinionated as we are.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that if Argus ducks his head to avoid you when you try to pet him, we are so sorry and very embarrassed; he’s picky at first, but will warm up to you quickly. However, if he cozies up to you immediately and tries to give you kisses, know that his affection is genuine (and we apologize for his stinky breath).

Argus looking out the window

 

Snowmass is a Mass of Fun

First ski days!

We spent the past 4 days at the Aspen-Basalt RV park, and skied on the Snowmass mountain of Aspen-Snowmass.

It was GREAT. No lift lines. No crowds. Practically no people. Tahoe was a zoo compared to this.

We parked down at the Two Creek parking lot for $10 a day (free if you enter after noon), so we could ski in and out of the parking lot to hang out with Argus. The first day we skied, we made the mistake of not bringing the Burro, which meant we spent $15 on a measly soup, cookie, and coffee. The other two days when we brought the trailer we had free hot chocolate, freshly toasted sandwiches, hot pasta, and a homely place to eat.

One morning, we skinned up the mountain with Argus before the runs opened; Snowmass has a great uphill policy that allows dogs. It was a short hike, but Argus had a blast and got some practice skiing with us.

Parked at Two Creeks parking lot

Getting ready to ski

On the lift up. No one around!

Aspens!

View from the top!

Really sunny. Not complaining though!

Jared!

Jared’s selfie at the top of Long Shot, a 5 mile long run!

Awesome, open run. Just for us. Also getting ready to snow!

Epic sunset in Aspen

We also took a day off from skiing to hang out in the trailer and chill (and let our legs rest). Argus and I went for a local hike on the Arbaney Kittle trail that a ranger recommended. He said it was 45 min up to an overlook, which I guess is how long it takes a local’s fit, acclimated legs to power up. Took me more like 1.5 hrs… Argus kept looking back at me with a quizzical look that said “why so slow?”

Argus finding some pow

Purveying the land

Trail head. Really popular!

Basalt was a fantastic place to stay, and it was awesome having full amenities at the RV park. Our neighbors even taught at the ski school, and were living in their trailer for the season. Not a bad set-up!

New toys for a new floor

We bought a router today! It is awesome. We love new tools. Especially when they are the correct tool for the task.

We also rented a larger chop saw from Home Depot, because our little guy couldn’t make a clean cut through the 6″ flooring boards. Which makes me want a kick-ass 12″ compound sliding miter saw with a laser. Or a table saw. Or even just a table. (We’re still cutting things on the floor. When do we get to be real adults and cut things on a workbench?)

Anyway…

We installed our hardwood floor today and it looks sweet. The flooring is bamboo from Cali Bamboo and is eco-friendly and dog-friendly. Apparently it’s so tough it won’t scratch even with a big dog running on it. However, Argus hates slippery surfaces and walks like a dainty dancer on hardwood floors. So I guess it’s a little over-spec’ed in that regard.

To “custom” fit the floor for our trailer, we first planned out how we would cut the boards and place the seams. After cutting the boards to length (following another alpha-numeric labeling system), we dry-fit them in place, marking out all the spots where we needed to route the underside to avoid a flange, nut, washer, carriage bolt, or particularly aggressive blob of epoxy. Made for a couple crazy looking boards.

Big thanks to Christian for helping us install the floor and giving us some pro tips! It’s all locked together and glued now, and will set-up over the next 24 hrs.

Rented chop saw from Home Depot. Our little guy is in the background.

Jared with our new toy

All the routing makes for some crazy looking boards!

Dry-fitting the boards

Almost finished floor!

Alpha-numeric flooring plan

Laying down the glue

Yesterday, we also finished up wiring the trailer brakes and the battery. With the battery wired up, we hooked up the pump and after some troubleshooting (involving lots of wet rags), we got the pump and faucet working. Pretty awesome!

Finishing up the wiring

Pump troubleshooting. Lots of wet rags.

Working pump and faucet!

Time: 32 person-hours (over 2 days)

Dollars: $335

• Cali Bamboo flooring (1 box + stair edge) $150
• PL heavy-duty construction adhesive $25
• router $100
• router bits $20
• Irwin clamps $40