Category Archives: Oregon

by Carolyn | July 25, 2020 · 10:01 am

Traveling to McMinnville

We are a little nervous being on the road during this coronavirus pandemic. It is especially hard because we felt very safe while we were at Kartchner Caverns. It was just the two of us in our RV. The other volunteers and Rangers we were with were being as careful as we were. The only possible exposure was grocery shopping and even that was done with gloves and masks and as much social distancing we could make happen.

Our trek from Kartchner Caverns to McMinnville

GILA BEND

So we left with some trepidation. But it was comforting to see that our first stop in Gila Bend went well. When we arrived at Gila Bend KOA the gate was locked with lots of signs on it. Only self-contained RVs were welcome. To enter we called the posted phone number and the attendant was on his way. He came in his golf cart – masked – talked to us only through the driver’s side window. He was efficient with his information – and led us to an easy pull-through site. That was the last we saw of him. The restrooms were closed; no laundry; but the pool was open – just had to bring your own chairs. There was almost no one else there and it was too hot to walk around so we were happily isolated for the two-night stay.

NEEDLES

Needles KOA was pretty much the same. And we only stayed there one night. The heat was the highest we’ve ever seen it – 107 degrees at 7:35 am. It only got hotter. The weather forecast for Needles was 120. I guess it got that high but it’s probably a good idea not to actually see the thermometer when it gets up there. It just makes you feel hotter. Of course, it’s a dry heat – exactly like putting your head into an oven. This is not the first time we’ve stayed in Needles. Every time the lack of a breeze of any kind is memorable. Maybe it’s because we got so used to the constant wind in Arizona that the absolute stillness is just remarkable. The campground has huge cottonwoods and I looked up a few times and it’s eerie to see that not one of the thousands of leaves up there even wiggle a little.

SIERRA TRAILS

We just spent one uneventful night at Sierra Trails RV Park. We were starting to see less and less masks. But we just stayed on our site or in the RV. We wore masks and gloves to throw out the garbage. Yes, we are being careful.

COALINGA

Our next stop was a two night stay at Almond Tree Oasis in Coalinga, CA. We didn’t see much of Coalinga. Our campground is 0.3 miles from a truck plaza which really came in handy. We were running low on food and tired of the same old sandwiches and dinners every night. After we got set up, I walked over to the plaza because we didn’t want to unhitch our car. It was hot – searing hot – but actually cooler at 100 degrees than we had been living in. The plaza employees were all wearing masks and gloves and I was one of two customers in the whole building. I ordered dinner from Baja Fresh and foot-longs from Subway for lunch the next day (and the next day). The food was great and a nice treat. The following afternoon we both walked over for a lemon icee and a few snacky things.

Our air conditioners are holding up, but we are helping by keeping the shades drawn and tolerating higher than normal inside temperatures. We also are not really moving around much. It helps that the temps are going down – slowly, going down. There was a wildfire near us. Our car was covered with the evidence of ash.

Up to this point, the traveling situation was better than we thought. California was seeing a huge spike in virus numbers but we were in the Central Valley where we thought it was calmer.

LODI

Flag City RV in Lodi was our stop for the next two nights. Good site, better weather – even a little coolness. We unhitched and had breakfast takeout at Burger King where now Doug can get an Impossible “Sausage” Sandwich and I had a great bacon crescent. We did some food shopping and later went to Carl’s, Jr. where they now sell Beyond Beef so we both had burgers. It was nice not to do so much cooking. Lots of masks in sight.

Our confidence in our safety took a big hit when we watched the local news. The virus numbers were horrible in Lodi and in fact, federal medical personnel were flown in because the Lodi Medical Center was completely overwhelmed while we were there. We became even more vigilant!

REDDING

On Friday, July 17^th we got into our site at Redding Premier RV Resort. Just a one night stay. It was a nice concrete pad but very narrow. It was right next to a huge waterpark where unmasked people were frolicking in the pools and on the waterslides. We stayed inside our RV to make sure we weren’t exposed to the people who think being that close together in a raging pandemic was a good idea.

The trip itself, mostly along Route I-5 has been mostly uneventful. We stop for gas, DEF, and at rest stops to eat lunch in our RV. The scenery is beautiful! We love going through the Rogue Valley. Someday we will find time to travel and sightsee around Lassen Volcano and Mt. Shasta. The golden grass covering the rolling hills and the huge evergreens is always a serene sight. And then, we saw a metal sculpture of a cow and a calf, followed a few miles later by a dragon. We get a big kick out of public art appearing unannounced in the middle of nowhere.

CANYONVILLE

Two Feathers Casino and RV Resort in Canyonville, OR was our next two night stay. Although at registration we were offered all the perks of being next to a casino – players’ cards, discounts and a free shuttle that seemed to pass our RV every half hour – we almost never left the RV. Even sitting outside we wore a mask and tried to look unfriendly. The casino parking lot was filled; there was constant pedestrian traffic over to the resort pools; and lots of bike riding, dog walking and just people every where – NO MASKS! The signs say to wear a mask when you enter the buildings, but I guess social distancing doesn’t matter???!!

MCMINNVILLE

Last stop until October – Olde Stone Village in McMinnville. We’ve been here before. It’s one of the cleanest places we have ever stayed. There is beautiful landscaping all over and perfectly groomed grass between the concrete pads. Doug says the sites are large but it seems crowded here to me. Maybe I’m just not used to having so many neighbors! It is a very busy place – after check-out you might see a site or two open up but it is invariably filled by dinner time.

The landscapers are here about every other day – riding lawnmowers, followed by manual lawnmowers, followed by edging and then a huge street cleaner truck that doesn’t just wash the street once, but goes over it a second time. All the trees are nicely trimmed and it’s rare to see a stray leaf anywhere. The picnic tables are unique – they can either be in the form of a regular table with two benches or they can be split apart and form two park benches with backs. We know they have breed restrictions here so we don’t like that one of our favorite dogs is not welcome here. And I am sorely missing the clotheslines at Kartchner Caverns.

Our site at Olde Stone Village, McMinnville

We are planning to keep to ourselves in strict quarantine for 14 days. We want to be sure we are not bringing germs to our daughter’s family and we just don’t know if there was any exposure during our travels. Julie is having her third baby in September. It’s been a difficult pregnancy, complicated by being in isolation with Paisley who is 4 and Griffin who is 3 and Jake, her husband, who is the best husband and father, but whom, we are sure, just wants to do something fun.

We took our first full day to get all our errands done and stock up on food for 2 weeks. That’s it – we will be fine in our RV where we are totally self-contained. I am continuing to do our laundry by hand. It’s a bit of a challenge to dry it since I can’t hang clothes outside but if a do a little bit every day or so I can make this work. We have a tripod rack which I put down on top of plastic and towels in the bedroom and keep the ceiling fan on. It takes most of a day to dry the clothes but that works for us. The laundry facility here is actually top-notch. But I keep seeing folks returning to their RV with laundry baskets and they are not wearing masks. So for these two weeks, I’ll manage by hand and then I will have the use of Julie’s really big and efficient laundry machine. Of course, in order to use them for our laundry, I have to get her laundry done first.

We have plenty of food so we certainly are not going to starve. In fact, we try to go for walks because we are eating too well. Our interactions with fellow RVers here so far has been a few waves. This is not a good time to reach out and make friends.

So we are fine. Yes, fine. It’s Day 2 and Doug is bored.

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Filed under Arizona, California, Oregon

by Carolyn | December 2, 2019 · 7:19 pm

A Week in Las Vegas

The drive from Zion River RV Resort to Las Vegas, with a quick interlude in Arizona, was spectacularly scenic but a little scary. Driving through the gorge, along the mountain road, with lots of construction, was tense. Doug did fine; I white-knuckled it for a while.

Once we got into Nevada and near Las Vegas, we reminisced about our first drive here three years ago. That trip was Doug’s first time driving our RV. We took possession of our new home at Whiskey Pete’s Casino and suddenly it was ours and Doug had to figure out how to drive it. We took a few turns around the huge parking lot and Doug took a deep breath and went out on to the streets. Doug had carefully planned this first trip – with minimal turns and a well-thought-out route that avoided potential problems. But as we got into traffic, our GPS decided on another route – one that went through the airport, down busy rush-hour traffic streets with lots of lights and many more turns than he had anticipated. It was too crazy to fool around with the GPS unit to reset it, so we just went along with it. It is all a blur to me – but somehow Doug had the courage to keep going until we arrived at the Las Vegas RV Campground.

And here we are again! It’s a very nice park with a mix of transients like us and permanent residents. We are close to only two off-the-beaten-track casinos so it’s quiet around here. The facilities in this park are nice and a good place to get some laundry done and relax a bit.

LAS VEGAS STRIP

But we didn’t relax our first day! My phone pedometer shows over 7.5 miles walking. And that was all done on the famous Las Vegas Strip. We took advantage of the free parking at Circus Circus and walked down the Strip. It was very hot and very sunny, but we persevered. To cool off a little, we went in and out of a few of the big casinos: Circus Circus, Treasure Island, The Mirage, The Bellagio, The Venetian. We spent the whole long afternoon on the Strip and never bothered to gamble at all. This time we didn’t even sign up for a Players Card. We like to see the different themes in each of the casinos but the shops inside them are the same. And as far as restaurants go – like “Alice’s Restaurant” – “you can get anything you want”.

We keep remembering the time we were here with Amy and Julie. Poor Julie had just broken her arm and it was in a cast. We were in Las Vegas in July, camping in our pop-up trailer without air conditioning. Our campsite was in the asphalt parking lot of Circus Circus. It would have been nice to go in the casino pool, but with Julie’s cast keeping her out, the rest of us passed on the pool too. My memories of that trip were of long, hot days walking, walking along the Strip.

I did a little “gambling” on that trip. Before my father was too sick to travel, my brother Mike and his wife Theresa took Dad and Mom to MGM Grand in Las Vegas. My father was a gambler who knew “when to hold them and when to fold them”. He was always getting great comps in Atlantic City. I don’t remember how well the gambling went at MGM Grand, but I do remember how much he loved that trip. So, when Doug and Amy and Julie and I were in Vegas (my first time), we solemnly visited MGM Grand where I took a twenty-dollar bill, cashed it into quarters and sat at slot machine. I spoke to my Dad and asked him not to yell at me for playing the slots, which he had taught me have the worst odds. I told him I was too intimidated to play blackjack. Besides, I saw the whole adventure as donating the $20 to MGM Grand in his memory. I lost those quarters quickly, but it was a nice time feeling my Dad nearby.

FREMONT STREET EXPERIENCE

After a day off to hang out, do laundry and work on my sewing project, we went to the Fremont Street Experience. This is a whole different part of Las Vegas. Fremont Street is closed to cars and has an enormous arched ceiling over it – the world’s largest video screen. We started our evening with dinner at an all-you-can-eat buffet in the Main Street Casino. We ate and ate and then walked over to Fremont Street to see the light show on the arched ceiling and gawk at the other show – the people hanging out doing their thing – “nuns” swinging their breasts, body builders dancing, a guy playing drums on plastic buckets, a saxophonist, dancing girls in feathers and not much else, a “Red Cross Worker” with small red crosses on her breasts, plenty of people claiming to be veterans, or disabled firefighters, or homeless – who try to sell you sweet grass flowers – you get the picture. Anything goes on this street. We watched the light show complete with blaring music and folks ziplining the length of the ceiling. We stopped at Container Park and watched and listened to the Giant Mantis who blasts fire from her antennas. After we walked off some of our dinner, saw enough blinking lights and heard enough loud music, we walked back to our car and went home to crash. Las Vegas is fun but we like it in small doses.

We left the excitement of Las Vegas and drove across a desolate landscape of sage and sand to get to our next destination – Needles, California. We only spent two nights at a very quiet KOA. The air is so still there you rarely see the oleander leaves move even a tiny bit.

Then we drove to Blackrock, Arizona. Back in the desert and smelling the clear air of a desert night makes us feel right at home. We were in Blackrock for two nights. Then it was off to our favorite state park in the country: Picacho Peak!

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Filed under Oregon

by Carolyn | September 13, 2019 · 6:17 pm

Lots of Family Fun in Portland

Olde Stone Village in McMinnville is a beautiful RV community with a neighborhood of pretty manufactured homes surrounding the large transient rigs. We had stayed in this park two years ago and it proved to be a good base for us to visit our family in the Portland area. It still was a 45-minute drive to any and all of them but there are few campgrounds near Portland so this one works for us.

On our first night in Olde Stone Village, we were thrilled to have our daughter Julie and her husband Jake, and our two grandchildren, Paisley and Griffin come for dinner. Our little ones love our “bus” and get very comfortable, very quickly in our small home.

We spent lots of time with Julie and her family doing all kinds of special things – buying Griffin an Elephant at Build-A-Bear and Paisley a Unicorn Dress at Washington Square Mall; a morning of excitement at Oaks Park Amusement Park, a babysitting/sleepover, lots of visits to our RV and it’s toddler-friendly playground; lots of time at other playgrounds, a wet and sandy day at Road’s End Beach; a great time visiting the animals at the Portland Zoo, especially Samuda the Elephant in the pool; a trip to the library where we loaded up on more books to read – mostly with elephants or unicorns in them. In between we hung out at Julie’s playing with toys and trying to cuddle these active little ones.

Griffin watching his elephant Build-A-Bear getting stuffed

We all got to see Samuda at the Portland Zoo

We loved spending time with Doug’s Dad. We hosted a family birthday party for his 97^th birthday party – lots of good food from Olive Garden and cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes and best of all, plenty of loving family around to celebrate with.

We got to see almost all the family in a very busy three weeks. It is always nice for us to have folks visit our home, especially since I love cooking for them. Our nice site in Olde Stone Village made it easy to entertain more family members: Jenn, Trekker, Odyssey, Bev, Barry, Grace, Sammy, and Bekkah. There were lots of good meals in local restaurants too.

We even fit in a 2-night stay in Eugene where we had our damaged windshield replaced on our RV. Somewhere in Georgia we started to notice a tiny crack on the passenger side that grew to almost 12 inches over a few days. Doug tried to have it fixed in a few places along our route but their schedule and ours didn’t work out and we weren’t too happy about the repair techniques.

After much research, we went to RV Glass Solutions to replace our cracked windshield. There we received excellent customer service and most importantly the technical expertise we were looking for. Their service techs took great care of our rig and we stayed in a very convenient lounge during the day where we had a kitchen, comfy couches, TV, tables, patio, restrooms and friendly staff. The first night we slept in our motorhome outside the service bay – no slides out. That means it’s a little tight inside, but in our rig, we can still use everything – bathroom, galley, couch, dining table and bed – just in much smaller quarters. On the second night, we were in an electric site on the side of their parking lot – slides out this time. It turned out to be a pleasant interlude and we were glad to have a shiny new crack-free windshield.

It’s always great to be in this area to see these wonderful people and that makes it even harder to leave. But our journey continues. We left Olde Stone Village on September 1^st for a long but scenic ride to Umatilla Marina and RV Park. We will never tire of the Columbia River Gorge – and the spectacular views along the way. We got a little extra time with Julie and family as they stopped at our RV on their way back from their family reunion camping trip. One more lunch together and last kisses.

Time to move on. Missing them all already but looking forward to new and interesting travels.

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by Carolyn | September 5, 2019 · 7:46 pm

Back in Big Sky Montana, with a few stops in Washington and Oregon

This time we entered Montana at the Gateway City of Wibaux. This is Eastern Montana where the motto is “Good People Surrounded by Badlands.” On the way, we saw the oddest sight – a giant 16 foot 2-dimensional metal baby sculpture chasing a rhino, bison, and velociraptor. These are obviously public art but like the other large objects we see along the highways, this just appears along the highway, sitting in an enormous field, with no explanation or warning. This one was strange. According to Roadside America, it is titled ‘Creepy Crawler Giant Baby’ by John Cerney.

We spent just two nights in Miles City KOA Campground. We weren’t outside much in this campground even though the weather has been perfect. It is one of those campgrounds that has mostly cottonwood trees – and they were shedding. The white cotton was swirling everywhere and lay in clumps on the ground. It looked like a light snowstorm out our RV windows. We braved the white stuff to take a walk into the town of Miles City – just about a half mile walk. We went to the Post Office and then meandered down Main Street. This is not much of a town. It has lots of great history but the downtown area is pretty run down. No public art, but there are some benches. The houses are modest – some are well cared for with lots of flowers but others need paint and their weeds and trash are taking over their lots. But it was still a nice walk.

When we returned home we had an interview for a volunteer position that we have been excited about. The interview went well and we were offered the opportunity to volunteer at D.C. Booth Historic Fish Hatchery in Spearfish, SD. We visited the hatchery on our first trip through the Black Hills 2 ½ years ago and since then we have been thinking about what a great place this would be for a volunteer gig – and now we got it! We will be doing interpretive tours through the grounds and buildings. So we are learning as much as we can about trout – rainbow, brown, lake and cutthroat – and all about the history of fish hatcheries. We will be there from May through September 2020 which will give us time to feel like a part of the pretty town of Spearfish, to explore more thoroughly the canyon, and to visit the many attractions that are in that part of the country. Good news for us!

We stayed at the really nice but pretty expensive Billings KOA. Our site had a concrete pad, a nice concrete picnic table, a fire pit/grill and a two-seater swing. With our awning out, the swing was in the shade and was a great place to relax outside. We were still getting lots of cotton floating around but it didn’t seem as heavy there.

Wednesday was a hot (and a little humid) day but we drove the short distance to Pictograph Cave State Park. We saw the two caves – Pictograph Cave and Ghost Cave and were able to see the cave art painted on the walls as much as 9,000 years ago. Over 30,000 artifacts were recovered here starting in 1937 by the WPA workers. The paint applicator that was used on some of the red rock art was radio carbon dated as used between 1480 to 1650 BC – at about the same time Cleopatra was in Egypt and the Roman Legions sacked Carthage. The art and artifacts found in the Pictograph Cave set the sandstone cliffs apart and are a national treasure. During periods of heavy rainfall, three waterfalls flow down the walls continuing the erosion process. Quite a sight to see!

The next day we went to Chief Plenty Coups State Park. Chief Plenty Coups was a man of “many achievements”. He was chief of the Apsaalooke Tribe, also known as Crow. His Crow name is Aleek-chea-ahoosh. In 1884, he set up the homestead we saw as an example to his people of a good life of farming. We took the easy walk through the property along the edges of the hay field and over the sacred spring. Again, we had perfect weather so eating our lunch on a park bench was relaxing and pretty. Nice day.

On Friday, July 26^th, we left the Billings area and arrived at Bear Canyon Campground in Bozeman. We had been here before and this time we had a tree-shaded site for four nights. We just hung out on Saturday – the day started out rainy so we stayed home and relaxed. Then we went for a beautiful Sunday afternoon drive along the Gallatin River through the canyon all the way to the entrance to Yellowstone National Park. The sky was bright blue; there was a pleasant breeze; the river sparkled; and there was hardly any traffic. The scenery is amazing. Charles Kuralt said that the Bear Tooth Parkway is the most beautiful scenic road in America. We haven’t driven that yet, but this scenic drive gives it a lot of competition.

We made it to the northern entrance to Yellowstone

Monday we were scheduled for routine maintenance at Freightliner near us. So we planned our day to accommodate this appointment. We went to the nearby Headwaters of the Missouri River State Park. This site was near where Sacagawea, a Shoshone, was kidnapped. She later returned and met up with Lewis and Clark in 1805 and served as their guide. The Corps of Discovery set up camp in this area where the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin Rivers merge into the Missouri. In fact, they broke up camp on July 29^th, 214 years to the day that we were there. The three rivers are the source of the town’s name – Three Forks. Not only did we have a wonderful hike through the hills and prairies of the state park, but we also stopped in the town of Three Forks. It is another charming western town with all the pleasantries we like – murals, benches, no parking fees with plenty of parking on Main Street, and lots of interesting shops. In addition, Three Forks had some special amenities – we had a yummy lunch at Stageline Pizza and then we sampled the excellent pie and ice cream at Iron Horse Café and Pie Shop. We stopped in the extensive free Headwaters Heritage Museum to learn more about the history of the town and surrounding area. Everywhere we went we met friendly people, especially the woman who staffs the Three Forks Visitor Center – her office is a cozy, inviting old train caboose filled with many helpful brochures and she herself was a native with a wealth of knowledge and suggestions. The town also seems to really be into painted rocks. I like to paint rocks too so it was fun to see so many all along Main Street poking through the well-tended landscaping. This town rates really high on our list. We had to kill some time waiting for our rig to be done so went to a nearby recreation area on the river, set up our chairs and relaxed with the perfect weather and perfect view. Our rig was done early – no real problems just regular maintenance – so it was a great day all around.

On Tuesday, August 30^th, we left Bozeman for Fairmont RV Park in Butte. The next day we had a really wonderful visit to Virginia City and Nevada City. Virginia City is a genuine western town – the original buildings are still in their original locations and the renovations on them have been minimal. There are over 100 buildings – a whole city museum free to visitors – which you can walk into the entrance and see them the way they used to look. The wallpaper was faded and torn, the floorboards were worn and scuffed but the furniture and artifacts were authentic. We loved wandering down the boardwalk sidewalk and experiencing this western adventure.

Some of the original buildings in Virginia City

We watched ice cream being made and then had some!

Just down the road was Nevada City. This was a reconstructed town and the main area was sectioned off with admission fees. It was still interesting to walk around.

On August 1^st, we went to the Washoe Fish Hatchery – continuing to research and observe the fish industry in preparation for our upcoming volunteer position at the D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery. Washoe had some pretty trout in a pool for us to watch as well as an indoor viewing area.

The fish viewing window at the Washoe Hatchery

After seeing fish, we went to Copper Village and Art Center. We don’t have any need to buy “things” but we like to look around, especially at the local items.

We left Butte and pulled into Jim and Mary’s RV Park in Missoula. This is the fourth time we stopped there – always a beautiful park to be in. We got there in time for the First Friday Downtown in nearby Missoula, followed by the Saturday Farmer’s Market. We love Missoula and enjoy our repeated visits there.

We did do something different – on Sunday we visited the Garden of 1,000 Buddhas. A lovely place, filled with the peaceful, happy faces of Buddhas within a circular wall crowned with small white casts of Buddhas. The top of the hill housed a large circle of prayer flags. The pond was lovely, adding water sounds to the peacefulness. We are glad to have spent some of our life in this truly special place.

As much as we love Montana, our Travel Spirit had other plans for us and we got to Riverside State Park in Spokane. There we were met by Doug’s sister Bev and her husband Barry. They had been on the road for about a month, enjoying Glacier National Park and Montana. It’s always fun for us to camp together, catch up, share a few meals and just enjoy each other’s company.

We also had the pleasure of meeting up with Jodi and Ken, our daughter’s in-laws, and seeing how happy they are in their new home in Spokane Valley. The four of us enjoyed a nice dinner together.

Camping in the beautiful state park along the Spokane River gave us time for some short hikes and beautiful views of the river. It was really hot so we did spend extra time inside our rigs being thankful for air-conditioning.

We parted company with Bev and Barry – they went home to Tigard, OR and we spent a few more nights on the road. We stayed one night at Plymouth Park KOA and two nights in the Cascade Locks KOA. We walked around the park in Cascade Locks and saw a little of the small main street.

As much fun as we were having, travelling and sightseeing, we couldn’t wait to get to our next stop: Olde Stone Village, McMinnville, OR – near our Portland area family!

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Filed under Montana, Oregon, Washington

by Doug | February 1, 2019 · 8:36 am

Three Year Anniversary

On January 13th, we celebrated the three year anniversary of our full-timing lifestyle. We have seen an incredible amount of the country but there is so much more. Here’s our three years “by the numbers”.
How many different places have you stayed at? 151
How long did you stay at each location? An average of 1 week (shortest 1 night; longest just short of 5 months)
On a travel day, how far did you drive? An average of 143 miles (shortest 25 miles; longest 274 miles). We aren’t in a hurry!
How much did you pay for a campsite per night? An average of $22 (lowest $0 [when volunteering]; highest $101 [Florida Keys]). Without our volunteer stays, the average would have been $31/night.
How much did it cost to drive the motorhome? One dollar got us about 3.4 miles on down the road. If you include maintenance costs, one dollar got us 2.4 miles.
How fast did you drive the motorhome? On interstates we typically went about 60 mph. But the three year average is 40 mph (includes all types of roads, stoplights, etc.)
How many states have you stayed at least overnight in? 36
How many states have you driven through without staying overnight? 5
How many more states do you plan to put on your map in 2019? 5 (NC, MI, ND, ID, UT)
How many national parks have you visited over the three years? 11
Between the two of you, how much volunteer time have you contributed? 2250 hours (that’s equivalent to over 1 year of a full time job!)
How many places have you volunteered at? 3 – two state parks (AZ and FL) and an Army Corps of Engineers dam in WA
How many days have you regretted choosing this lifestyle? Zero!

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by Carolyn | June 4, 2018 · 5:21 pm

Portland – BABIES!

No doubt about it – the best part of our stay in the Portland area was being with our beautiful grandbabies. We spent lots of time with Paisley and Griffin and loved every cuddle, smile and gooey face. They are both happy and sweet little folk – easy to be with and now hard to be away from.

Paisley was two in December and she enthusiastically talks and sings and dances. She is rarely still. Griffin, who will be one in June, smiles and plays happily on the floor. He started to crawl just a few days after we left. Both of them are easy to entertain and never gave us any problems.

One day we took them to the Portland Zoo. We had a wonderful day – both of them smiled the whole day – not a whimper or cry out of them. Doug and I had much more fun watching them then watching the animals. We walked and walked through the whole zoo, exhausting us all, but left smiling after a perfect day.

We went to a few parks and took them to a Library Story Time. Our outings were fun but the best memories are just playing on the floor with them or sitting at the kitchen table for meals.

Jake works a lot so our time with him was limited but we love being with him. Julie works part time, juggling the two little ones at the same time, so we had lots of opportunities to be with her. We helped set up one of her church activities – Game Night – where we had lots of fun. We went out for meals with this sweet family a few times. Our favorite place to eat is Burgerville – this time we remembered to purchase a few jars of their special sauce to take on the road with us.

We had a long but lovely night of cuddling and not much sleep when we stayed overnight with the little ones and Jake and Julie had a long awaited night away. Little Griffin (Finny) is still nursing and neither of them have been away from Julie (except the one night Griffin was born). But Paisley was completely cooperative. We brought the air beds into their rooms so Paisley loved the idea of Nana having a sleepover in her room. She put her head down in her crib, let me rub her back for a few minutes, smiled and went to sleep. Finny settled down on Grandpa’s Magic Shoulder and slept for a few hours. We knew that wouldn’t last long and Grandpa snuggled with him on the couch for a while. I got up and kept them company. Finny slept on and off on our shoulders. Morning eventually came – sure, we were tired – but that special night of sweetness is a tender memory for us. And that darling little guy may not have slept through the night but he didn’t fuss or cry – just smiled at us.

As an added bonus, we had some time with two other adorable little ones. We saw Trekker, our nephew and niece’s 2 ½ year old and we met his new little brother Odyssey. They are adorable! We had a quick dinner (at Burgerville, of course) with their parents Josh and Jenn, which was a good time to catch up on each other’s lives.

We had a few days with Doug’s dad Creighton – helping him with his TV/computer/phone set up and eating a few meals together. Bev and Barry took us to Oregon Gardens one day where we wandered through some beautiful landscapes and then ate a great Thai lunch in Silverton. We are looking forward to camping with them when they get their new trailer.

We got to Orenco Church one Sunday morning – seeing our niece Rachel, her husband Brian and their amazing children – Grace, Beckah and Sam.

We spent our last night with Bev, Barry and Dad at Dad’s favorite seafood restaurant, McGrath’s. It was a great dinner and a special time together.

The three weeks flew by – it’s never enough time when you’re with your loved ones, but it was a wonderful visit.

Next Blog: Our first few weeks at Ice Harbor Lock and Dam.

Posted from Burbank, Washington, United States.

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by Carolyn | June 16, 2016 · 9:12 pm

Our Stay at Olde Stone Village

This RV park in McMinnville, Olde Stone Village, is about 45 minutes from any of our family’s homes in the area so we are doing a little bit of commuting to get to them. But this park is really nice. We have a corner site which is always nice because of the privacy it offers and the pretty view it gives us. We are across from a gazebo and the pool, laundry and office are close. The park is directly behind the Evergreen Aviation Museum, in fact, there is a walking path to the museum right behind our site. We went to this museum yesterday and really enjoyed it. The big (and I certainly mean BIG) attraction is the Spruce Goose, Howard Hughes’ gigantic wooden plane.

You can walk into it and see most of the inside. The size of it is staggering – it dwarfs all the other reconstructed planes exhibited around it. We saw an IMAX movie called The Hidden Universe. We would highly recommend this museum to anyone who is interested in aviation, history, and space travel. My favorite part was watching a video of President Kennedy giving his famous speech kicking off the space travel program in the early sixties. I remember sitting with my class in the auditorium of my school. It was very exciting for all of us kids to listen to his inspiring speech and to think about the future of flying through space and touching other planets. Other exhibits that were amazing to me were the Hot Shots and the equipment they used to battle forest fires, the scary spy plane, and all the helicopters, including the M*A*S*H helicopter.

We don’t expect to do a lot of sightseeing while we are here. Instead we are spending our time seeing family and entertaining them in our RV. So far Bev, Jenn and Trekker had lunch with us on a rainy day. Barry, Bev and Dad were also over for lunch and on that day we were able to enjoy our outdoor area. This site is large enough to put out our canopy and eat at the picnic table under it. And still have room for our 4 folding chairs. We can also park upto two cars. Some of our sites were so small and narrow that you have no room to extend the canopy or have only a little space for 2 chairs. But it always seems to work out for us that when we are expecting company we have the right site to entertain in.

We babysat for Paisley Jane last Friday.

After helping with a garage project at their house, Julie and Jake went out on a lunch and movie date (first time for leaving their baby). Our little darling was an angel and just smiled and played with us the whole time.

On Saturday, the whole family got together at Dad’s home to celebrate an early Father’s Day and also Brian’s birthday. We all brought yummy food over and enjoyed Barry’s grilling efforts. There were 16 of us, ranging in age from 6 months to almost 94 years old. All of us were on our best behavior and we all loved being together. Thanks go to Bev for getting us organized.

We did a few more things planned for this week and then we go on a pop-up camping trip with Julie and Jake to Ainsworth State Park. We’ll take those few days to help them get used to camping in the pop-up and give us some special time together.

The weather here has been mostly lovely – warm and sunny in between a few showers. So much different from the winter time we spent in the Portland area. I definitely enjoy it more when the pretty trees are set off by a sparkling blue sky.

Last weekend we dashed off to New Jersey for our nephew Jimmy’s wedding. It was wonderful to see him and Rebecca and their adorable daughter Jolene start their lives together.

We had a great time with all my family there and the wedding was absolutely beautiful and lots of fun. It may have been a quick trip but we squeezed in lots of family meals (Thanks, Lisa!) and good times. The temperature there was very similar to the Portland area – even a good rain storm – but Doug and I had a hard time with the humidity.

Now we are starting to plan the rest of the year of traveling. We are heading east but haven’t finalized anything else. We will definitely make reservations for the Fourth of July because it’s always hard to find the right place for a holiday weekend. This is pretty exciting for us because we are about to embark on a long journey, traveling through parts unknown (to us, anyway). This is the dream!

Posted from McMinnville, Oregon, United States.

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by Carolyn | May 29, 2016 · 6:12 pm

Highway 101

Our journey this month took us straight up Route 101. This highway mostly hugs the coast so as you drive north on the winding road you catch glimpses of the Pacific on the left as you hug the wooded cliff wall on the right. Sometimes it’s a harrowing drive but other times it’s just lovely. On other trips up to Portland we drove on Route I-5 which is beautiful but inland and you have to deal with the wind draft from passing trucks. So we took short hops along this coastal route, enjoying the sights along the ocean and through the Redwoods.

We just stayed 2 nights at Willits KOA and then landed in Eureka. We had some really nice day trips from our base at The Shoreline RV Park. This park was nice but the entrance was oddly situated between a Harley dealership and a gas station. We celebrated Cinco de Mayo with a rather disappointing Mexican dinner at Pichango’s. Of course, we are used to really great Mexican food in Tucson. On Friday,May 6th, we drove the 30 miles of The Avenue of the Giants. We stopped a few times to get out and walk on the trails, breathe in the redwood scent, and take in the serenity of the “peaceful Giants”. On the way home we stopped at the Loleta Creamery and indulged in some great cheese. Cheese has been a recurring theme in our travels.

The next day we wandered around the Victorian village of Ferndale – we missed all the big celebrations – Italian Day – Portugal Day and Danish Day – the three major ethnic groups that founded this town. But it was a fun day on its quaint streets. Then we explored our new adopted city of Eureka. We always stop at visitor centers so we can pick up literature and learn about the history of our current home. We had a really great lunch at Cafe Nooner which was featured on Diners, Drive-In and Dives. Guy Fieri grew up in Ferndale and Eureka so he has promoted many of the restaurants there.

After another few quiet days we drove 88 miles to Crecent City Redwoods KOA. We had a nice site that looked out into a grassy cow pasture but the really cool sites were right amidst the giant redwoods. From this campground we took lots of day trips. One of the best hikes was through Jedediah Smith State Park – a quiet awe inspiring trek through giant trees. We alternated our scenery with walks on beaches. We toured a few lighthouses, including Battery Point and Bullard’s Beach. On other days we drove along Bald Hill Drive, saw a coastal radar station, hiked the Lady Bird Johnson Redwood Grove Trail, saw Tolowa Dunes and checked out Crescent City itself which has a historic harbor and Boardwalk. We also visited Rumiano’s Creamery where we took advantage of their discounted prices and stocked up on more cheese. We also bought some European-style butter that they make there which we wish we had bought a lot more of.

On May 18th we drove 127 miles to Coos Bay and checked into Alder Acres RV Park. Another nice place to stay with convenient places to explore. From this home base we did even more beach drives and beach walks. We really liked the little town of Bandon and the beaches near there. One day we drove to the Umpqua Lighthouse. Most of the lighthouses are staffed by volunteers of the Oregon State Park system. We spent a bit of time talking to them and finding out how to volunteer . At Sunset Beach we became Plover Lovers by talking to the dedicated volunteers who save the nesting plovers from Hawks, dogs and people. They were inspiring and now we are excited about future volunteer opportunities. We want to spend our first year on the road just traveling but we definitely want to look into some of these wonderful volunteer positions.

After another short drive on May 26th, we arrived at Lincoln City KOA. The big excitement here was an overnight visit from Julie, Jake and Paisley. We spent the Saturday of our Memorial Day weekend at the Oceanlake area of Linoln City – just sitting on the beach, playing with pretty Paisley and beach combing. The weather was warm and not windy – just right! We even had an ice cream social at the campground.

Today we drove to Depoe Bay, did a little gift shopping and went to the whale watching station. And to my delight we saw a whale! We have spent lots of time staring out into the ocean hoping to see at least one grey whale mother and her calf who are migrating up the coast now. First Doug saw the spout of water and he showed me where to look. She came up out of the water enough to see her back. It was a wonderful sight!

Tomorrow we drive just 50 miles to McMinnville where we are staying at Olde Stone Village RV Park. We will be there until June 23rd which will give us plenty of time to play with Paisley, visit with our family there, introduce them to our new home and see some of the points of interest around that part of the Portland area. More fun awaits us!

Posted from Lincoln City, Oregon, United States.

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Category Archives: Oregon

Traveling to McMinnville

A Week in Las Vegas

Lots of Family Fun in Portland

Back in Big Sky Montana, with a few stops in Washington and Oregon

Three Year Anniversary

Portland – BABIES!

Our Stay at Olde Stone Village

Highway 101

Where are we now?

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