We can check off another item on our bucket list. When we first started traveling and RVing, we visited a lighthouse on the Pacific and had a conversation with the State Park volunteers who were giving tours there. We thought that would be an interesting thing for us to do.
Last year, while spending time along the Oregon Coast, we visited state parks to see which ones would be fun for us. Our visit to Cape Meares Lighthouse seemed to be the perfect place. It’s a short lighthouse – only 37 feet tall so that means less stairs to tease our knees. And the history, the story, was one we could get into. So, we met with the Volunteer Supervisor, checked out the potential sites we could be living in, and walked along the beautiful beach. We applied and were accepted and scheduled to work August and September 2024.
We are here – now almost a month into this – and we are enjoying this beachy life. Our campsite is just on the other side of the dunes, so it is a short walk to the beach, and we are not dealing with the usual strong winds because of the dunes sheltering us. The site itself is right next to a busy bathroom/shower house and our neighbors are mostly tent campers in no hook up sites. We weren’t sure how this would work for us. But after experiencing a few campers walking through the back of our campsite to the restroom, we chose to not stress out over it. For those of you non-camping folks, it is considered bad campground etiquette to walk through someone else’s site. Some people get outraged over that. It doesn’t happen as much as we thought it would – so we adjusted our attitude and now we just ignore it. And it has brought us a few good conversations.
In spite of large groups camping near us, there is little to no noise at night. And, all the people walking back and forth on the road just gives us something to watch. We’ve met some great folks – a family from Maryland, two guys in a meticulously renovated VW Wagon, and lots more who make life in this campground pleasant.
The beach – it is huge – the flat sand means low tide goes way, way out. The only shells are sand dollars – mostly in small broken pieces, some with just their crown cracked and then the rare perfect ones that somehow Doug finds. Sometimes we see Dungenous crab shells, an occasional mussel shell, almost no rocks and a sprinkling of seaweed. There are small Moon Jellies and larger more colorful Vilella jellyfish. The best part is during most parts of the day, the sand is deserted. I’ve been out there in the early evenings, and I am ALONE! What a feeling. Like the whole world is just mine!
Our job is giving tours of the lighthouse and running the gift shop. We do overt 20 tours a day – 12 to 15 minutes long – and we take turns. The lighthouse is only open from 11 to 4 with a half hour break at 2 pm for our lunch. The tours can comfortably accommodate up to 8 people at a time. We often have to turn people away. So we have a color system to control the groups which seems to be working just fine. Whichever one of us is not giving tours handles sales and organizing these tours. It is very fast paced. The days whiz by.
The view out the front door of the lighthouse!
It is a long day. We are working Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays and every other Wednesday. We met the other couple who alternate with us, and they were great – very helpful. To be at the lighthouse ready to open the door, we leave our campsite at about 9:30 to pick up our loaner car (the rangers call it Blueberry) and our bank for the day. We also often transport inventory for the gift shop.
It is a slow half hour drive up the coast about 10 miles on the winding road. We do have a convenient parking spot near the lighthouse but we have to unlock two set of bollards to get there.
We keep the lighthouse clean by dusting and sweeping and we restock the merch. We close promptly at 4 pm, count the bank, lock up and drive to the ranger station where we turn in our bank. So far, with a few tiny mishaps, our money has been perfect.
The visitors are thrilled to actually get into the lighthouse. Many lighthouses are in disrepair and are not safe for tours. They seem to enjoy the history and story we tell them while standing in the close quarters of the mechanical room. Our second floor is closed due to some damage. That means we walk up and down only 15 steps – a metal circular staircase.
We have a free washer and dryer for our use in another campground loop. Groceries are a half hour away in Tillamook, so we try to do that just once a week. This week we chose The Tillamook Creamery for lunch – we have already done the factory tour so it was just lunch for us – a perfect wedge salad for me and an excellent grilled cheese for Doug. It was insanely busy there so that may be our only visit this summer.
We are happy here – we both love our long beach walks, either together or separately. The weather starts out overcast in the mornings and often turns sunny. The winds have been relatively mild, and we are not complaining about the cool temperatures – 60s and 70s.
This bucket list item is happily checked off!
This gull was waiting for us on the drive home from the lighthouse almost every day!
Although sometimes it may seem that our whole lives are a vacation, we took most of the month of July to take time off to relax in the pretty Oregon harbor town of Florence.
The marina on the Siuslaw River is quiet most days and then there are the days when it is busy with fishing boats launching. For us the pleasant walk along the marina boardwalk and then along Bay Street is a perfect blend of scenery and window-shopping. The shops along the way hold treasures to gaze at and we have tried a few of the wonderful restaurants. Getting out every day (except one all-day much needed rainy day) and taking this walk two or three times a day gives us some good exercise. And the SPCA Thrift Store at the other end of town provided several new items for our wardrobes.
Florence has activities – Tuesday Farmer’s Market with fresh local produce and a Saturday/Sunday Craft Market. We went to the Bay Street Bash – an old-fashioned block party with a good band, dancing in the street, free ice cream and popcorn and tons of games and crafts.
Our favorite days this year was a visit from our family. Jake drove 7 hours plus to get him, Julie and our three amazing grandchildren to Florence. We ate meals together and ice cream from B.J.’s almost every day. We had a full sunny warm (70’s) day at Heceta Head Beach and we explored the Sea Lion Caves another day. Great and happy memories!
We like Florence for many reasons. One is the weather – when we stayed last June I complained because it was often cold and windy. This July was warmer and still windy but I can’t complain when temperatures elsewhere are extreme highs or there are catastrophic weather events, or the wildfire smoke makes breathing difficult. So now weather in Florence is a plus.
The Oregon Coast is a good place of relief from weather worries. And we don’t worry much about tsunamis.
We like Florence enough to think about it as a potential semi-permanent home – maybe a summer get-away in a condo or retirement community. We are making plans for a stay in the campground next summer and we plan to check out what’s available in housing in the area then.
So, happy August 1st! We traveled a few hours up the coast to our next volunteer assignment – Cape Meares Lighthouse and a new adventure for us.
After one pleasant and relaxing night in a pretty RV park with splashing water fountains in sparkling ponds, we left Red Bluff, CA and drove on I-5 through mountains along the Sacramento River and past Shasta Lake with snow-capped Mount Shasta in front of us most of the way.
Sacramento River next to campground in Red Bluff, CA
Our destination for the start of the busy Fourth of July week is Valley of the Rogue State Park in Oregon. Last time we stayed there we attended a Pow-Wow but we don’t see any activities posted during this stay. After weeks of desert scrub, it was refreshing to see the tall pine forests. Valley of the Rogue is a nature-filled campground cut into a forest of huge evergreens. The air is pine-scented and it’s nice to see every kind of camper – from small tents to RVs like ours. The loop we stayed in had full hook-ups so we had the rustic while enjoying our comforts.
The weather was perfect – light breezes and enough shade that the high temperatures were not a hindrance to sitting outside. I had time to sew outside while listening to an audiobook. My idea of perfect.
After Valley of the Rogue, we backtracked a few miles to Southern Oregon Campground – a nicely landscaped cement pad in a pretty park. We never backtrack, but getting reservations is always difficult during holiday time. Thanks to Doug’s diligence, we had great accommodations.
More pleasant days of just relaxing. We spent the Fourth of July just hanging out. Traveling days can be stressful and we will be working at a new job in August and September. So we are practicing relaxing when we have the opportunity – and this is our plan for our almost-a-month stay in Florence, Oregon. We love Old Town Florence and have been looking forward to our “vacation” there.
Fireworks in Central Point, OR
We just confirmed that our daughter Julie and family will visit us in Florence, so I am happily planning meals together and walks through Old Town with them. There definitely will be special treats for the children and maybe a night or two of babysitting so Julie and Jake can take a break. Whatever we wind up doing will be fun with this wonderful family.
It’s been a long time since I wrote our blog. Life, for the most part, was peaceful and easy and somewhat repetitive so I let the blog go. We have just finished our sixth season at Kartchner Caverns in Southeastern Arizona. Last summer we spent three lovely months in the pretty Willamette Valley in Oregon at a day-use state park. There we did tours of a 150-year-old grist mill while we lived in a flower-filled wheat field.
We are heading back to Oregon for this summer and yes, our lives are governed by the weather. We are leaving Kartchner Caverns a few days later than planned due to temperatures of 110 degrees. Our air conditioners have done a great job keeping us comfortable but driving in extreme conditions is usually not a good idea and we are headed to parts of the country that are even hotter than 110. But we know when we do hit the Oregon Coast we will miss this warmth.
So a brief recap of our last few years as we go On the Road Again:
Sadly we have suffered losses, but we carry our loved ones with us in our hearts when we so those who have recently left us join our journey as we go on down the highway.
Our volunteer work continues to enhance our lives. Learning new histories, stretching ourselves to try new things, and meeting new people along the way keeps us young and engaged. Our time at Thompson’s Mills Grist Mill last summer gave us unique opportunities. Doug used his expertise to correct and improve some ancient electrical issues while I helped with a redesign of Junior Ranger programs. It was challenging and amusing to take care of ducks and chickens. We left there feeling appreciated and valued and we asked to return in Summer 2025. That’s a change for us, since we like to try different things during our summers because Kartchner seems to be the right place for us every winter.
Gears and shafts to transfer power from turbine to millMillstone piecesFeeding the chickens and ducks!
This winter season at Kartchner Caverns started out with me being in an accident but I recovered and both of us found our rhythm again in the cave with tour after tour, some exciting and enervating, some not so good. But that’s the pleasure and dismay of working with the public. What never fails is working with the great rangers and volunteers there.
Some of the season’s excitement included Star Parties, Junior Ranger Experiences, a Bat Walk and a once in a lifetime Eclipse Party. We had many wonderful Flamingoes – our outdoor evening get-togethers around the firepit. The food has definitely gotten better, the conversations kept us going and with more and more rangers attending, the camaraderie is warm and lively.
We did make two trips to Philadelphia – both to bury the ashes and memorialize our loved ones. Both trips were filled with the warmth and comfort of family.
Last April, our daughter Becky, her wife Paola and our grandsons Benjo and Mati stayed at our park. We shared our beautiful caves and local attractions. A special day of Cowboy Fun was had in Tombstone. This year, our NJ friends, Genni and Sal, visited us and we had a great time with them – rekindling our long friendship and showing them some of the best of Southeast AZ.
At the Benson Visitor’s CenterSan Xavier Mission
So now our next adventure to Oregon begins. We’ll revisit some reliable and convenient RV parks and add a few new places to our itinerary. Follow along with us as we travel north, leaving the desert in our rearview mirror and pointing the motorhome towards the Pacific.
Our first two stops after leaving Kartchner Caverns were Gila Bend and Needles. Both of these RV parks are familiar to us and have been frequent stops coming and going from Arizona. Our one-night stays there were happily uneventful.
We spent two nights in St. George, Utah at Hurricane KOA. KOAs are usually easy for us – close to the highway we are traveling on, usually pull-thrus so we don’t have to unhitch our toad and have stores and laundries if we need them. This one was a little odd. At check in we were told we had to unhitch because it would be too tight to pull into our site while pulling our car. That was true. The sites were barely long enough, and our car had to be parked diagonally in front of the RV. With our four slides out we were very close to our tiny neighbors in their R-Pod. And these were “buddy” sites – our door faced our neighbor on the other side. They were nice people but it’s not always a comfortable set-up.
We happened to be there during the International Ironman Competition in nearby St. George which presented a massive traffic problem so on our second day we just relaxed until later in the day when we drove into Hurricane (pronounced “Hurricun”) to explore. We visited the small but very interesting Pioneer Museum and talked to the friendly docent there. We learned about the history of the Hurricane Canal which made the city possible. It took a daunting 50 years to hand dig the canal. It doesn’t exist now because of an earthquake. This is the kind of tourist stop we enjoy – local history and strange artifacts. I even got to see two dolls that I loved – Honey Baby and a pretty Ginny doll. We added a stop for a Mother’s Day dinner at Mekong Kitchen for great Thai food (Red Curry for Doug and Spicey Drunken Noodles for me). We ended our day stopping for essentials at Walmart.
As with the rest of Utah, St. George and the other smaller cities near there are spotlessly clean, beautifully landscaped and, of course, have the advantage of spectacular red mountains in the background.
FILLMORE, UT
We left early to get ahead of the wind on Sunday, May 8th. The drive was short and easy with a short rest stop to stretch our legs. The owner at this perfectly manicured KOA was nice enough to not charge us for an early check in. The cottonwood trees were barely moving in the gentle cool breeze when we arrived. We had time for a nap after lunch, some phone calls from the kids and then the wind hit. The gusts are ferociously moving the cottonwoods and making lots of noise. We are facing in a good direction, so we haven’t had to bring in our slides or worry too much. Hopefully, things will quiet down before we leave tomorrow for our last stop in Utah.
Well, the wind shifted directions and one of the cottonwood branches started hitting our slide, so we brought that one in. A little cozier but still our comfy home. Then the rain came and lasted most of the night. And it got cold! We woke up to snow on the nearby Cedar Mountains.
Just a short ride today but we have to figure out the logistics of leaving at check out – 11 am and arriving at the State Park at check in – 3 pm when we don’t have far to go.
WILLARD BAY STATE PARK
This is such a pretty park. Each site is huge with its own covered ramada over the picnic table. We got here just a few minutes early and drove right to our site. Still haven’t met the hosts. It’s really chilly here – and overcast.
The drive today was beautiful. For many miles we drove along the San Pitch Mountains in the Wasatch Range. The largest and highest spot is Salt Creek Peak. Our highway alternated by aiming right at it or positioned this magnificent peak just to our right. The Wasatch were covered with snow and sparkling in the sun. We even had a few snowflakes hit our windshield.
Those flakes were pleasant unlike the aluminum cans that were flying out of an un-tarped recycling truck ahead of us. A flying can hitting our rig sounded like a gun shot. Hope it didn’t live a dent!
Safely and warmly tucked away in this quiet park for our last night in Utah.
The beach at Willard Bay
TWIN FALLS, IDAHO
We have made numerous visits to Twin Falls and love it here. Our past blogs relate some of our Twin Falls adventures. The Perrine Memorial Bridge gave us a look at those brave souls who jump and parachute into the river. The waterfalls are spectacular: Twin Falls, of course, and Shoshone Falls, deemed to be the “most dazzling waterfall in the state.” There are also the Perrine Coulee Falls.
Looking into the Snake River Canyon explains why I have so many photos of it. This steep canyon with its winding green river is famous with stunning views. Anyone remember Evel Knievel?
I had a strange adventure doing the laundry. I was happy to see a spotlessly clean laundry room. Everything was shiny and bright but there was a small puddle on the floor around the drain. It was a narrow room, but I easily skirted the puddle and took two of the 4 washers to do my clothes. I sat outside reading and when I went back in the puddle was a bit larger. I put my clean clothes into two large dryers and left to go back to the RV. Upon returning, the puddle was considerably larger but not near my dryers. I put my dry clothes from the top dryer on the immaculate stainless steel folding table. I went to get the second load and that dryer was icy cold and the clothes were wet. I transferred them to a different dryer but that one refused to let me put quarters in. So, I went back to the good dryer and used that one again.
Another woman came in with 4 loads of laundry. I directed her to watch out for the growing puddle, showed her the two dryers that were malfunctioning and left to report the problems to the office.
As I started folding my clothes, a manager came in – she was surprised that the washer that seemed to be leaking was the one marked “out of order”. She opened the front door – out gushed an entire tub of water. The flow hit the opposite wall. I had just moved two steps in the right direction so only a few drops hit my legs but now the floor had about 2 inches of water and the drain was obviously not working. The other woman was trapped but dry on the other side of the puddle.
This manager was asking me about the dryer problems when another manager came in the back door with a string mop and bucket – so inadequate for this mess! The first manager had her back turned talking to me and trying to mess with the bad dryers when the second manager opens the broken washer and another onslaught of water rushes out. He got soaked.
My clothes are still dry on the table, so I get my first load out of there and back to the RV. When I returned for the second load in the dryer, the water is now rippling along the floor in little waves.
In spite of the problems, both managers exhibited excellent customer service – helping us get our clothes out without the clothes or us getting wet. They managed to disconnect the evil washer (finally!) and were valiantly attempting to soak up gallons of water with the pathetic mop.
I left with clean dry clothes, and I guess that’s all I can ask for. But it certainly was not the usual time in the laundry.
CALDWELL, IDAHO
Just a one night stay at the perfectly manicured Ambassador RV Park. We’ve been there before also, and it proved to be an easy site to shelter in during the evening’s rain.
PENDLETON, OREGON
We have driven through Pendleton, but never explored it. With a 3 night stay we had a little time to check it out. Pendleton is famous for its Wool Mill, producing beautiful wool blankets with Native American motifs, and the Pendleton Round-Up – one of the best- known rodeos in North America. We weren’t there for Round-Up days and the Mill was closed for tours.
We found an even better place to check out – the Museum at Tamastslikt Cultural Institute. The main exhibits take you through 10,000 years of native culture. The Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla tribes have a rich history in this area and are currently thriving with agricultural and casino enterprises.
The temporary exhibit was my favorite. Native women re-created their childhoods, their traumas, their dreams using mixed media inside antique metal doll houses. Each display takes you into the mind and heart of the creator and by using the iconic houses of our youth, they etched their histories in small, contained rooms that exposed their souls. It was eerie, real and touching. One house, done in mostly white designs, showed the devastation diabetes has had on tribal lives. The structures in the house were all done with sugar crystals – the stark and sharp evidence of this deadly disease. Other houses had many small beds representing the awful history of the Indian Training Schools where young Natives were sent to learn English and American ways but were indoctrinated in ways that were intended to destroy their culture. An eye-opening experience for us. It was the last day of that exhibit, and we are grateful to have had the luck to see it.,
Artwork outside Tamastslikt
We stayed the extra day here to avoid the rain, thunder and wind that had been forecast. This meant that we arrived a day late to our new job but our supervisor, Jeff, agreed that it was better to arrive safely.
HELLS GATE STATE PARK, LEWISTON, IDAHO
So, on Monday, May 16th we got to Hells Gate State Park. We met up with Jeff at the Discovery Center. He has given us carte blanche to develop our own interpretive programs. He gave us a broad outline of expectations and offered his support and the support of the staff and other volunteers. We have a few programs already done, but we have to re-design them a bit to work here. It’s a challenge that I think we are up to.
Swallow’s Nest Rock across the Snake River from Hells Gate State Park
After dinner our first night, we took advantage of the late-setting sun here and strolled along the Snake River path. It’s about a half mile walk from out site in the Volunteer Village to the Discovery Center and depending on what we do with our programming, that might be a nice commute. We will spend the next few days getting acquainted with this beautiful park and the people we will be spending our summer with.
Sometimes you just have to be flexible, and the last few months have brought busy times, family times and some problems with our RV. Consequently, we let our blog go unattended. This is an attempt to catch up with a relatively brief summary of June through October 2021.
When I was last writing this blog, we were about to leave Jim and Mary’s RV Park near Missoula, MT. From there we spent 2 nights at Liberty Lake RV Park near Spokane, WA. We stopped there to spend some time with Jodi and Ken, our son in law’s parents. A great dinner and conversation were enjoyed, and we spoke about the grandchildren we share and love.
It is primarily because of those grandchildren that we went on to our next stop: Hells Gate State Park, ID. We met with Jeff, the volunteer coordinator, to discuss us spending a few months there next summer. It’s the closest park to Jake and Julie and the kids. Jeff showed us around and talked about the interpretive work done at Hells Gate. We loved the Visitor Center, the view of the Snake River and decided this would be a good new opportunity for us. After a few emails, we agreed to be there in May 2022 and to stay until that August. Looking forward to learning some new insights into Lewis and Clark and doing some evening programming.
We did a quick trip to Plymouth Park, WA and then Cascade Locks, OR and finally on to McMinnville’s Olde Stone Village where we have often stayed. The Plan had been to spend lots of time with our kids. But things changed and we had to be flexible – Jake took a great job about 6 hours away. He is the Principal of Colfax Elementary School. Colfax is a small Eastern Washington town snuggled into the Palouse Hills. It is a great position, and they bought a house there. So instead of playing with our darlings, we spent most of our 6 days together, packing and then we saw them off to their new home.
July 1st came, and it was time to start at our volunteer position at Champoeg State Park. Our site there was large and beautiful. We looked out at a lovely view and had great neighbors there. We met with our Supervisor Dan who oriented us to the Visitor Center where we would be working. Our schedule was great – two days on and 4 days off – giving us plenty of time to see Doug’s dad, Creighton. We loved hanging out with him, bringing him lunches and sitting around talking to him. We also took advantage of using his laundry.
My job was mostly inside the Visitor Center which had great displays of the history of the area from the Kalapuya Indians, the fur trade, the development of the first provisional government, and finally the epic flood that destroyed the city of Champoeg. I loved the history and sharing it with our visitors. We showed videos and sold items from the gift shop. The only annoying and stressful part of the job was the stupid register which had connectivity problems, often leaving our customers stuck at that register way too long. But other than that, I loved my job.
Champoeg Visitor Center
Doug’s job was much harder – the Visitor Center is famous for its historic 1860’s Kitchen Garden. Doug (or Farmer Doug, as we called him) spend many hours watering, mowing, hoeing, weeding, and harvesting this beautiful garden. Typical of that era’s gardens, we grew plants to eat, plants for medicinal purposes and plants for beauty. I am not a gardener, but even I loved to walk past the bright pink 4 O’clocks, through the hops arbor and down the neatly trimmed pathways to see the vegetables and flowers.
Farmer Doug’s Kitchen Garden
Doug and I also took on another job – we did a weekly Bat Talk in the campground amphitheater. We enjoyed meeting the campers, talking to the kids who knew so much about bats already and answering their questions. Most nights, a few Little Brown Bats swooped down on us to be the featured stars of the program.
Weekly Bat TalkThey are hanging on every word!
We had a small family birthday party for Creighton who turned 99. With Doug’s brother Nelson and wife Lydia, Bev and Barry we celebrated by eating Dad’s favorite hoagies. We kept it small because of the virus but we had a great time and now are planning the big bash for his 100th!
Celebrating Dad’s 99th birthday
During this time, we got to see friends from Kartchner – Jim and Randa joined us for a long, wonderful dinner at a local restaurant. Then Rocky and Chris visited us in Champoeg and brought a delicious quiche for dinner. One of the best parts of our travels is spending time with our wonderful friends. We also took a day trip to nearby Silver Falls State Park.
Hiking near the Lower South Falls
Our July and August went well until one morning we heard chewing that sounded like it was coming from our bedroom closet. Doug discovered that a squirrel had chewed through the wires to our back-up camera! We had been worried about all those squirrels and this repair was costly and took Doug 3 days to fix.
We decided to leave our pretty (and free) campsite and escape any further damage from squirrels. We went nearby to a campground in Woodburn. From there it was a short commute to Champoeg.
On August 27th we took our motorhome to McCoy’s Freightliner for routine repair. During the day-long wait, we hung out at Riverfront Park on the Willamette River in Salem. After a quiet nap in our car, we walked into town, had a really nice lunch and then toured the capital building. We spent the afternoon in our chairs gazing at the pretty river.
Oregon Capitol in Salem
We went to pick up the motorhome and were totally shocked when the transmission light went on as Doug tested it in the parking lot. It obviously wasn’t driving well. The techs took it back into the bay, and then without any warning, we were homeless! It seemed right from that beginning that this wasn’t going to be an easy fix.
We had to leave Meriwether at the repair shop.
So, we went to Bev and Barry’s house that night. We had grabbed a few things from the motorhome – just our medicine and a few clothes. We expected to be leaving with a repaired home the next day. Well, that didn’t happen. Here’s where we had to be flexible again!
It was a transmission failure even though it is a fairly new transmission with low-mileage and regular maintenance. Nothing happens quickly in these situations – you have to get answers, and no one works on the same schedule. You have to wait until the right “experts” are on duty. Then you have to wait while the ordering is done. We needed a rebuilt transmission. Parts are scarce now. Technicians are even scarcer. One of our delays occurred while our newly rebuilt transmission sat in St. Louis. Then the transmission is on site and COVID swept through the Freightliner facility – 8 technicians were out of commission.
Our total time without our motorhome was 45 days. We spent about half of them at Bev and Barry’s beautiful new home where we had a private bedroom with a full wonderful bathroom. But best of all we had them to keep us sane and be great company for us. Our time there was peaceful, and we are totally grateful to them and their warm hospitality.
Most of this time it was impossible to know how much longer our homelessness would go on. But during one period we knew there was nothing for us to do so drove our car to see the kids in Washington. We’ve done this 6 hour drive a few times now and although the Columbia River Gorge is breathtaking, I mostly just wanted to get there and see the kids. Julie and Jake welcomed us and offered to let us live there forever. It was a special time with the kids, and we loved every minute of it. Sharing their lives, their meals, their playtime is precious to us.
Visiting Jake and the kids in WashingtonSomeone lost their first tooth!
But our health took a hit. The long drive caused a blood clot in Doug’s left leg which meant a trip to first Urgent Care and then the ER and medication and compression socks. Also, our darlings had a bad cold which, of course, we caught. By the end of our week there, we knew we were getting sick. But we were okay for a wonderful First Birthday party for Beckham and got to see Jake’s family.
We sadly left them, drove back to be near the motorhome. We had made arrangements to stay at an Airbnb in Sherwood. By the time we carried in our many bags, we were coughing badly and felt awful. We were happy to be isolated in a beautiful place, but we were really sick while we were there.
After that place we had reserved another place in Newberg – not quite as pretty but again all we did was binge watch TV and cough. It turned out that I had pneumonia and Doug’s cough lasted another month.
We recuperated and didn’t feel like we had any germs left, so we went back to Bev and Barry’s still “patiently” waiting to hear we could get back into our home. We got some good news with an actual date of repair. We took a few days off and went to Cape Disappointment, Lewis and Clark National Historic Park and Astoria. Our little cottage on Long Beach was just a short walk to the beach. The weather was cool and rainy, but I got to walk on the huge empty beach. We wandered around the little town of Long Beach, did some sightseeing; I ate a Dungeness crab cake, and learned more about Lewis and Clark. It was a good break for us.
Fort Clatsop replica at Lewis and Clark National Historical ParkCrossing the Columbia on the Astoria-Megler BridgeView of Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and Cape Disappointment LighthouseLong BeachOur Bungalow in Long Beach, WAThe Astoria ColumnGreat views of the surrounding area from the Astoria Column parking lot
We still had to kill a few days and we didn’t want to impose on Bev and Barry who were getting ready for their camping trip, so we went to a Travelodge for a few days. It was a peaceful quiet stay there, with decent breakfasts and some simple stuff we brought to eat. Doug had another medical issue – because of the pain in his leg, he seemed to have thrown out his knee so now he has a knee brace but that seems to be something that is getting better.
One of the worst parts of all this was being unable to meet our commitment to Valley of the Rogue State Park, where we were supposed to spend the month of September working with Junior Rangers and doing interpretive and maintenance work. Although we could have driven there, we had no place to live so had to renege on that. We are very disappointed – we hate to not meet our promises and we were looking forward to exploring that beautiful part of Oregon.
Then the day came to pick our home up. Our rig, Meriwether, drove fine and we only drove him a short distance to the Emerald RV Park on October 14th. While there we got a bonus day with Dad and then went to get brand new tires put on this wonderful motorhome.
Finally back in our home!
The rest of our trip was mostly one-night stays to get south to Kartchner Caverns. We stopped in Canyonville, Redding, Lodi, Coalinga, Boron, Needles, and Gila Bend. So very glad to pull into our winter home!
Now we are firmly ensconced in our site in the Lower Volunteer Village. We pulled in on Tuesday, October 26th and happily went to our first gathering – a Flamingo – with old and new friends. We will be working three full days with a nice long four-day weekend. After our long homeless escapade, it was a relief and a pleasure to just be in our motorhome, enjoying all that we love about it, but also now camping in the familiar, beautiful state park.
Looking forward to working hard, meeting up with family and friends, getting to see more of the wonders of this area and enjoying the beautiful weather. Our gratitude to everyone who got us through this debacle is immense. We are very lucky in so many ways.
I would like to mention right here our gratitude and appreciation to Bob Tiffin, the CEO of Tiffin Motorhomes. Doug called him to tell him what happened. Bob immediately agreed to pay a third of our cost for the transmission replacement. And he did. We sent him a copy of the bill and a check was in the mail to us a few days later. Now this is amazing customer service! It was one of the reasons we chose Tiffin because we heard about this kind of remarkable service and now, we are happy to be recipients of it.
Eleven weeks spent near Portland, Oregon. Two weeks of quarantine and nine weeks being joyously close to our sweet grandchildren. It’s hard to leave. This is what we are going to miss:
Hanging out with Jake and Julie
Admiring their parenting skills and glad we are the grandparents
Eating meals together (and all the ups and downs that entails)
Watching millions of jumps on the trampoline
Going on neighborhood walks
Junior Ranger adventures
Endless games of Candyland and Twister!
Cuddles on the couch with breakfast cookies
Sleepovers
Backyard fun
The enthusiastic greetings we received EVERY DAY!
Preschool in the Playroom
Learning new songs that will NEVER leave our head (Hi, Ho, the Merry-o, to Rhyming Land we go!)
Paisley singing and dancing non-stop
Griffin moving non-stop
Griffin’s messy face (messy, mischievous and so beautiful)
Paisley playing with her teeny tiny toys
Griffin racing his cars and building space shooters
Coloring, painting, green and pink sandcastles, playdoh…
Peas on the floor
The cheesy smell of Goldfish we go home at night with
Rosie (the dog) hiding from all the commotion next to us
Easy peasy laundry
Backyard poop patrols
Paisley and Griffin bestowing so much love on us!
And then the incredible pleasure of holding our darling Beckham – his adorable little body snuggled tight against our shoulders. Those big soulful brown eyes staring into our hearts. His chill relaxed outlook on life. The awe you never get over of a new life entering the world and being a part of you.
And…
We’ll miss spending time with Doug’s 98-year-old father, Creighton and his sister Bev and brother-in-law Barry. We love being with them.
But…
We had good news that makes leaving a little easier this time. We have a volunteer position at Champoeg State Park, which is close by all of our Pacific Northwest family. We will be working as Volunteer Hosts in the Visitor Center/Museum/Garden next July and August! Our first job with Oregon State Parks and one we are very excited about. This means we are putting off our volunteer gig in the Black Hills of South Dakota for another year, but we think that is best while the virus is still so prevalent.
This new job at Champoeg will give us plenty of time to see everyone since we will be working 2 days on and then 4 days off. Champoeg is a beautiful park with a fascinating history that we can’t wait to explore further. It’s nice to have a plan for part of next summer.
For now, we are on the road – staying at the same sites we hit on the way from Arizona to Oregon. These days of travel are simple: breakfast; prepare the RV to get on the road; ride for a few hours; lunch – usually at a rest stop in our RV; ride some more; get to new site by around 3 pm; set up RV; rest; dinner; tv; projects; sleep. It will be about 8 days of this. All one-night stays except for once when we will spend 2 nights. No rush. Keeping safe. Wearing masks. Staying to ourselves.
We will be at Kartchner Caverns on October 13th and will quickly settle into our home there in the beautiful Whetstones. Muffin Top here we come!
Doug and I feel profoundly lucky to have been able to experience the joy of another grandchild. Grandparents out there – you know. You know the joy and excitement; the wonder of a new life that is connected to you; the sharing of more love; watching your children grow and expand to handle their new responsibility. You know. But you also know the worry that creeps in. The fear. This tiny life is so fragile. And the world has so many pitfalls and dangers.
So, we opened our hearts and tightly tucked in the love of our new Beckham Daniel Tucker. He was born at 10:15 pm on Friday, September 11, 2020. Julie’s water broke before 6 am that morning. Her previous births were fast so we moved quickly after we got the call, jumped out of bed, threw on our clothes, grabbed our already packed bags and drove carefully but as fast as possible the 40 minutes to her house. Julie and Jake were calmly waiting. No contractions – but they left for the hospital anyway. With fires everywhere, we were all concerned about detours and strange traffic patterns.
Beckham and his mom
Paisley and Griffin got up about an hour later and greeted us with smiles and no worries that their parents were gone. Jake and Julie had prepared them well. We went through their usual routine: a few hours of pre-school, playtime, meals, a nice nap and then bedtime – a little too much playing and talking before they finally fell asleep but no tears, so it was good.
Big Sister Paisley made a card for her new brother while waiting for himSo did Big Brother Griffin!
Beckham was taking a long time to arrive, but all seemed well. Finally, he was born. It took another hour or more for photos. Skin time with Mommy and Baby was much more important. And then the photo of the sweetest butt we have ever seen.
A few more hours and we heard that Julie and Beckham had had their final test, and both had good blood sugars. Julie could eat normally again; and Beckham was a very healthy 8 pounds 1 ounce and about 21 inches long. They settled in for hours of much interrupted hospital “non-sleep” and convinced the nursing staff to let them go home as soon as possible. They left the hospital a little before 10 pm on Saturday night.
Proud Mom and DadNana was holding Beckham seconds after he came home
Beckham has round chubby cheeks; a little bit of dark hair; a perfect baby face and body. Oh, he is adorable and very chill. But, you know, they are always chill in the hospital. They are chill for a day or two when they come home and then they get all charged up and start to really be the babies they are going to be for months to come. We don’t know yet the personality, the quirks of this baby. We just know how cute and cuddly he is.
Beckham at 1 week
Paisley and Griffin greeted him the next morning. They were both a little shy at first but warmed up after a few hours. Rosie, their neurotic dog, who had been wandering around the house for two days looking for Julie, saw them come in with another baby! Oh no, she thought, more trouble! Paisley is sweet with Rosie. Griffin loves her – a little too hard. And now another little guy. Poor Rosie.
Rosie – “not another one”!
So here we are with our seventh grandchild. Our fifth grandson. Our lucky number seven.
This child needs to be lucky. He needs to get all the blessings we can pile on him. He is blessed to be welcomed into a loving home with two wonderful parents, a sweet older sister, an active fun older brother. Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Friends – a whole bunch of very loving people surrounding him. But this child, all children born now, need more than the usual amount of blessings.
Family of 5 now (plus Rosie)
A LOVE LETTER TO BECKHAM FROM HIS NANA:
This child was born on September 11th. A day of remembrance, of sadness, of the memories of fear. He comes on this day, but he represents the world after 9/11. For him, please, let the horror of that day be some foggy knowledge that is the underpinnings of the spirit of America that lived in the days that followed – patriotism and pride and hope.
This child was born during the worst pandemic this world has seen. Even his hospital experience was unique. He won’t be meeting most of his family for a long time. Photos taken during the days before and after his birth will feature masked people. Headlines on the day he was born speak of death by COVID. For him, please, let his life be about health.
This child was born while we gather and protest so that Black Lives Matter. And WHEN Black Lives Matter, we will make sure all lives matter. For him, please, let this unrest bring the equality our country has always professed to have. For him, let it be.
This child was born during the most divisive period in our nation’s history. Our nation is suffering under the worst leadership crisis it has ever had. We are seeing the evil side of humanity on the news every day. Beckham will only be about 7 weeks old on Election Day. For him, get out and vote for love, not hate. Vote for all those little children who will have to live with the consequences of OUR actions. VOTE!
This child was born during an economic downfall. Life ahead of him will be affected every day because of this mess. For him, let’s do what we can to bring strength back into our economy.
This child was born while our Home, Our Planet, Our Earth, is suffering from neglect and apathy. For him, and all his playmates and all the children of the world, let’s get off our asses, and work hard to fix the problems we have caused. For him, climate change will not be a future problem. For him, it’s now.
This child was born while the whole west coast was in flames. Wildfires are all over his home state of Oregon. We read that the air quality in the Portland, Oregon area is THE WORSE IT HAS EVER BEEN. This child cannot go outside. His new lungs are not allowed to breathe the ash-infused atmosphere. He won’t see or feel the sun or a breath of fresh air for a while. Nana can’t push him around the block in his stroller! He is lucky he lives in a comfortable, beautiful home with plenty of love and attention, but this tiny guy is missing out on the world! For him, please, let the rains come; let the fires die out; let the forests heal; let the air clear. For him, let him breathe.
Beckham is a blessing to all of us. To him, and all the little lives entering the world now: Hang in there! You are not alone. We love you. We will be your champions, your superheroes. We, your loving grandparents, and the whole collection of relatives and friends will be there for you. We have screwed things up but it’s not over yet and we are not done yet.
Your life is going to be wonderful. Your birth year of 2020 is already being denigrated as the worst year ever. Let it be your worst year. Get the worst over with right away.
Beckham, your tiny body is the promise to all of us that Love will keep us together and Love will overcome hate and Love is all there is.
For you, Beckham, all our love, our prayers and our hope. For you, little darling, Nana’s heart is overflowing with love!
Time has just flown by – Paisley and Griffin keep us hopping. They greet us every morning with incredible enthusiasm; jumping up and down and lots of noise – even though we usually were there the night before. Julie has started her home pre-school. Right now, it has just Paisley and Griffin for students, but after the baby comes, her friend’s children will be joining. I serve as Teacher Aide Nana while Doug does double duty as Grandpa Lunch Lady and Janitor. The children have already adjusted to their new routine. Learning and activities meld with some playtime. We all enjoy school!
Learning all about apples in pre-school home version
Jake thought the baby was coming on September 8th; I think maybe today September 10th. Doug says maybe tomorrow – Friday. Of course, the baby will come when he wants to. Julie has had a tough pregnancy primarily complicated by COVID and now the wildfires have made the air quality so bad the kids can’t play outside. Everything seems harder. So, in some manner she wants Beckham to come but there is still an underlying worry that she is bringing a newborn into a pandemic. How scary is that? But she and the baby are doing well, and we are confident that soon we will be cuddling another sweet one.
Smoky days from regional wildfires
We are keeping as safe as possible – doing grocery pick-up instead of going in the store. Wow, I am horrible at this. Apparently, I am a visual shopper. I need to see the items and touch them – I try but every trip I miss something. And because we are at Julie’s most days, I find that even with the greatest effort on my part whatever I’m trying to make for a meal is lacking an important ingredient that is at the RV or vice versa. My confidence in being able to produce meals for my family is waning.
We did manage to have a small socially distant, mask-wearing family gathering in Julie’s backyard. To keep everyone safe, I made everything in individual portions in cups. We gave everyone an aluminum tray and they went around the table and picked up their food – little tacos, tiny pizzas, deli wraps, cream cheese swirls, and s’mores, brownies, pineapple cake and strawberry short cakes. It was great to see everyone and the food turned out to be a bit hit. Jake and Julie have decided not to have their usual welcoming party for the new baby so this will be the last family interaction for a while.
Julie’s friends hosted a “Sprinkle” for her – a small, intimate “baby shower” with six attendees. I felt lucky to be with her and meeting her friends was wonderful. What amazing young women, coping with raising children during this difficult time. Their struggles are hard, but they manage to come up with creative solutions to give their children a good life even in a weird time.
We had a small 98th birthday party for Doug’s dad. We stopped by in the afternoon and Doug’s sister stopped by later. We spent some precious time with him. We also celebrated our 33rd anniversary COVID style with a car picnic!
98 today!Celebrating our anniversary in style!
We have been getting out on some adventures about once a week – walks in the woods, a morning at the river beach, picnic lunches at Champoeg State Park and a few other places. Lots of neighborhood walks and scootering. Jake works from home most of the time with occasional meetings at school so we can mostly all be together. We are all enjoying this time and know that we are lucky to be able to do this.
Swimming at a river beachJunior Rangers on a trash pickup hike
Griffin eats a lot of goldfish crackers and Paisley loves unicorns and tutus. We play with kinetic sand and magnatiles. We paint, color and create with play-doh. It’s a beautiful life!
Our next post will announce the birth of the baby!
We are in a 14-day quarantine to make sure we are not carrying coronavirus to our daughter Julie’s family. We were careful traveling here, but we expect to be integrating with them until after her baby is born in September, so we are taking no chances.
Our campsite at Olde Stone Village
This is going to be a short blog. Our daily routines are boring. We sleep as long as we want, we eventually get up, shower and dress. I usually make breakfast but sometimes Doug comes up with something special. Lunch is a sandwich of some kind. I try to devise good dinners but more often than not, it’s just something I pull out of the freezer and heat up. Our newest innovation is that when I cook dinner, Doug has to pick out something for dessert. We buy a lot of pudding cups and other things that are portioned-controlled so Doug just has to make a decision between a couple of pre-packaged choices. There are usually moments of snacking and we reach for something simple – sweet or salty does the trick.
I wash clothes by hand about every other day in order to keep up – the loads are tiny. We both clean up the RV when we see a mess. This is such a clean site that we don’t track in much dirt or grass so our floor is pretty clean.
Doug fixes things. As I am writing this, Doug is once again blasting out a clog in our kitchen sink. No matter how careful we are with washing dishes, we seem to get clogs on a regular basis. Doug also fixes things like my OverDrive Account, his old phone, the lift over the RV engine, and all the things that happen in our everyday life.
I have lots of crafts projects to keep me busy. I just finished a christening outfit for Beckham and I am working on matching vests for the other two grandchildren. I have starting crafting textile blocks for the Violet Project – an art project designed to show bipartisanship. Look it up – it’s really cool.
We are both working on projects for Kartchner Caverns. We are collaborating on an information/newsletter for staff and volunteers and are just waiting for final approval. Doug has some computer projects and I am helping with the Adopt-A-Bat program.
There is still plenty of empty time which we fill with tv, naps, and checking our phones. One day we watched a sappy Christmas-in-July Hallmark movie, The Birds, and some shark attack videos because it’s Shark Month.
It’s a quiet time for us. We are trying to embrace the serenity of this simple life. We know that once our two weeks are over, we jump right into the chaos of busy family life. Paisley and Griffin are already planning things for us to do and adventures for us to go on. Julie and Jake have a few house projects for us. By September, we will be exhausted. But we can’t wait to hug them all and see our new grandchild!
