ADIOS WHALERS REST

Today, we put the Whalers Rest, Thousand Trails (TT) in the rear view mirror, and head inland, for an appointment at Cummins Coach Care in Coburg tomorrow. Back in September, after we left Montana, we stayed at this park for almost 2 weeks.

One of the great things about traveling around the country, is you just never know who, or what you might stumble across. When we were here last year, I needed to find a machine shop to retrieve a bolt from my hitch clamp that had broken, because of my super human, unregulated strength. I remembered seeing a shop & welding sign, on the way into town before crossing the big bridge. When I walked into the shop, I recognized one of my first employees, when we opened Jamestown Harley-Davidson in 1995. Larry had a small motorcycle business in San Andreas, CA that he closed before coming to work for us. After leaving CA, I never heard from or about Larry, until I walked into his business. It is indeed a small world sometimes.

It happened again! While watching the NASCAR Truck race yesterday, the TV went blank, and the satellite disappeared from my Dish Network point screen. I still haven't diagnosed the problem as the King Dome antenna, or the Dish receiver. I do know one thing, this problem will soon go away. When we are in the Coburg/Albany area this coming week, there's some sort of change in the wind, and I think it will be a different antenna and a new HD receiver.

SMALL FRIEND, SMALL HARBOR

These two photos were taken at Depoe Bay, with the Hwy 101 bridge in the background. Our little friend was very humanized, and with a few almonds in my pocket, this little guy just about crawled up our legs. Good thing we didn't have Sami along, or the howls would have been heard miles away! Under the bridge, is the entrance to Depoe Bay, billed as the smallest harbor in the world. It was low tide, and we watched several boats make their way through the small channel, which doesn't allow much room for error. At the back of the harbor, just under the arch in the photo, top left, is the U.S. Coast guard station which is nicknamed "the hole in the wall gang". When we spent over a week here last September, I rode my KLR650 up here and happened to catch the "Coasties" maneuvering their two small boats in and out of the harbor. This is really a cool place, and the entrance to the very small harbor (3 docks), is very unique.

We drove back south to Newport on Hwy229, which is an inland road that wound it's way along the Selitz river. Even though it was only about 30 miles from Depoe Bay back to Newport, it took about an hour, and was really a pretty drive.

This morning, the fog has finally rolled in, and this is the first morning in about 2 weeks that we have not awakened to sunshine. Tomorrow we head inland for a motor home appointment at Coach Care in Coburg, then up to Albany for the Family Motor Coach Ass'n (FMCA) Northwest Rally in Albany, which starts on June 4th.

WHAT A VIEW

I took this picture yesterday, at the Cape Perpetua view point, about 20 miles south of Newport. When we were on the Oregon Coast last September, Jeanette had taken Patty to this location, which you almost have to know about, or you would never find it. At the end of a 2 mile road off Hwy 101 is this look out, facing mostly south toward Florence. We must be living right, because this was another beautiful day, with the temps in the 60's. We're told, this is one of the best, if not the best place, anywhere on the Oregon Coast, to watch for whales. It was truly a spectacular view!

We spent a couple of hours in this area before heading back to Newport, where we drove inland about 10 miles, along the Yaquina Bay to the town of Toledo. A couple of days ago, we had stopped at the local museum to inquire about the railroad that once came all the way to Newport. This is a different railroad than the one near Florence and Coos Bay. We were told that some of the old trestles between Newport and Toledo were still standing, so that was all the motivation I needed to go and check them out. Indeed, about 3 low trestles were still sticking out of the mud near the bay, but it was obvious that many years have passed since a train made it all the way to Newport. The railroad still serves a large mill in the town of Toledo, and when we leave here on Sunday, we will travel inland on Hwy 20, which parallels part of this railroad. If you haven't guessed by know, yea, I have a fascination with trains. Can't help it, I even have my Lionel Train Set, given to me for XMAS when I was 10 years old.

Today, we're driving up to Depoe Bay, to check out the worlds smallest harbor, and whatever else we might happen to stumble across.

YAQUINA HEAD LIGHTHOUSE

Only about 4 miles north of Newport, Yaquina Head is the tallest lighthouse, (93 feet) on the Oregon Coast. Despite the windy conditions, it was another beautiful day to be out and about. This lighthouse was first illuminated in 1873, and the area is administered by the Bureau of Land Management, (BLM), including a nice visitors center. Admission to Yaquina Head is $7 per car, but, if you're old, as in 62 or older, and have a Federal Senior Pass costing a one time $10, which we do, then admission is free! There aren't many perks to being a senior, but admission to most federal sites, such as this one, and national parks is free with the senior pass. Hey, right now, $7 will buy about 3 gallons of diesel, and if we have a tailwind, that will get us down the road about another 20-25 miles.
Speaking of saving money. Yesterday morning, I drove the car to the local Les Schwab tire store, because, about once a week, the jeep tire monitoring system would flash that the right rear tire had low air pressure. After removing the tire, repairing the leak caused by a small nail in the tire, and dropping the spare to check its' air pressure, they said "no charge". What! Did I hear you correctly? You said no charge? "That's right, there's no charge". I didn't inquire if they had a one hour special, or if that's their policy of no charge to fix a leaking tire. I thanked them and left with the thought that it must have been my pleasant personality, or something like that. Whatever the case, that's good customer service, and when looking for tires, the name Les Schwab will be imprinted in my brain forever.

A MOVE UP THE COAST

We are now parked at the Whalers Rest Thousand Trails Preserve, about 5 miles south of Newport, OR. It was only about an hours drive from Florence, but incredibly scenic, as Hwy 101 meanders along next to the Pacific Ocean. Our Sprint wireless connection is very poor here, so it's doubtful that I will be able to post many photos in the next few days. We leave on the 31st, and have an appointment at Coach Care in Coburg on the 1st, for some routine maintenance on the motor home.

My story on Ray Robinson's railroad has picked up a little steam. One of the few blogs that I read religiously is by Nick Russell, editor of the gypsy journal RV monthly newspaper, which we are longtime subscribers. At www.gypsyjournal.net/blog , Nick references my blog post on the Robinson's battle with Lane County, OR. At this point, it's a long shot, but perhaps, if enough people get involved, maybe the County will get back to a common sense approach.

On the list today is to find a Wells Fargo Bank in Newport. Our mail caught up with us here, and there was a reimbursement check from our Monaco Extended Care Warranty. Before we left Havasu, we had our power water hose reel & water pump replaced. This is our second stay here at Whalers Rest, and so in the coming days, we will be searching for some new adventures on this part of the central Oregon Coast.

GOODBYE TO SOUTH JETTY

Today, we leave the South Jetty Thousand Trails, and will travel about an hour up the coast to the next Thousand Trails, which is near Newport, OR. We have enjoyed our week here at South Jetty. This particular preserve is heavily wooded and more like a real forest service type campground. Due to all the trees, we had to search a little bit for a site where we could get our satellite TV antenna to work (sort of), and we didn't get a spot with a sewer connection, but that's not really a big deal with our large holding tanks. Even with the Memorial Weekend, it wasn't overly crowded, and is definitely a Thousand Trails we will use again.

Speaking of satellite TV, after locking my King Dome antenna onto the satellite, and turning it off, I have been losing the connection, which is to say the least, a bit frustrating, when your favorite TV show is on. I called our friends, Len & Ellie, to inquire about their Winegard, high definition dish antenna that they acquired over the winter. They say it works great, and we may be headed for an upgrade to HD when we get over to Coburg for our appointment at Coach Care next week. We will be attending an FMCA rally in Albany, starting on the 2nd, and I think I might wait to see if there are any vender's at the rally with a deal on HD, satellite antennas.

LAST CHANCE AT A RAILROAD

These are just a few of the photos I took yesterday, while visiting with Ray & Kathleen Robinson, proprietors of the Meadows & Lake Kathleen Railroad, in Deadwood, OR. Ray (pictured), along with many volunteers, built this marvelous little railroad on his 40 acres, over about a 10 year period. There is about a mile of main line, with 2 trestle crossings of the creek that meanders through their beautiful, park like valley. Patty & I first became aware of Ray and his railroad, through an article by Nick Russell, in his Gypsy Journal Blog, about a year ago. At that time, Ray was in the middle of a dispute with Lane County, regarding permits, fees, etc. I won't get into details, but you know the old saying, "you can't fight city hall". Unfortunately, it looks like "city hall" has won, and Ray will be forced to remove his railroad. It's a sad commentary on the powers of government, over the individuals right to improve his or her private property. All the details about this case of government intrusion into what should be our private property and life, can be found in the link to the lower right of my blog, entitled "Big Brother vs. Private Property".

This was the 3rd time we had an invitation from Ray, to visit his truly spectacular hobby railroad, and indescribably scenic property. Most summer Sunday afternoons, Ray allows a few people to experience his railroad and beautiful valley. This railroad is not open to the public, and if you try to find it without and invitation and directions, good luck! Yesterday, there were about 20 people, including one family, whose grade school son was doing a school project on the railroad. Ray allowed he and his brother to ride on the engine, which had to be quite a thrill. As in the previous 2 visits, we are appreciative of Ray and Kathleen's gracious hospitality, and look forward to our next visit to their little piece of heaven.
No plans for today, other than some housecleaning in preparation for our move up the coast tomorrow, to the next Thousand Trails near Newport, OR. This weekend is not so much about the Indy 500, or hot dogs & hamburgers, it's about the thousands of vets who paid the ultimate price for our ability to enjoy car races and cookouts. I'm proud of my service in the Army during the Viet Nam War, and I'm proud of my sons, Mike and Marc who also served their country in the U.S. Army. Today is the day that we should remember, and honor those heroes, who gave their lives for our freedoms.

A WORLD OF SAND

Florence, OR is at the north end of about 45 miles of coastal sand dunes. Most of this entire area is open to off highway vehicles, and we saw a bunch of them yesterday. Within a mile of the Thousand Trails RV Park where we are parked, we drove to a large parking area where I took this picture. We watched motorcycles, ATV's, sand buggies, jeeps, and even a couple of Pickups climb this hill adjacent to the parking area. It brought back memories of the time spent at Dumont Dunes near Death Valley, during the annual XMAS vacation pilgrimage. Today, we visit Railroad Ray, and his hobby railroad in Deadwood, OR, about 25 miles from here. Tomorrow, I'll have more on his story, and some pictures. This weekend is the Memorial kickoff to summer and should be a reminder for all of us to honor our fallen heroes.

HECETA HEAD LIGHTHOUSE

This particular lighthouse is one of many along the Oregon Coast. We have driven past this location, about 13 miles north of Florence, on many occasions, but never stopped. This summer is not only about seeing, but experiencing the many attractions that we run across in our travels. To get to the actual lighthouse, there is a 1/2 mile trail from the parking lot at sea level, that winds up to a location on the point, 205 feet above the ocean. Construction was completed in 1893, and the 2.5 million candlepower light still shines a beacon to mariners about the potential dangers along this part of the coast line. Speaking of dangers, I commented to Patty, can you imagine the lighthouse keeper raising a family with small children in this environment? There are barrier fences at the edge of the cliff now, but 100 years ago, there was nothing to keep a small child from tumbling 200 feet to the ocean below. Maybe they used leashes?
We had lunch at a local bay side restaurant, (still haven't found clam chowder as good as the Willow in Jamestown), and scored some Sharps non-alcoholic beer at Bi-Mart, for only $6.67 a twelve pack! I think it's safe to say, my supply of Sharps is now sufficient for quite a spell, I just don't know if the motor home will make it up the next steep hill we have to climb.
Today, we're heading down to the dunes, to watch some of the sand fanatics play with their toys, then into town to see what else we can stumble across.

FLORENCE, OREGON

Yesterday was one of those days where we weren't in much of a hurry to do anything. About noon, we drove the mile or so into town, and walked around the old town area near the harbor. There's always a few things of interest in these tourist areas, but rarely do Patty and I find anything that screams "take me home with you". We did spot a couple sitting at an outside cafe with a beagle, so, of course I had to start a conversation with the folks, in order to get my hands on the dog.

We next stopped at the local museum, which is one of our favorite things to do as we explore different areas. After paying the volunteer $6, he gave us an introduction, and we started to look at the exhibits. This older gentleman was trying to be helpful by following us around and pointing out what he thought were the points of interest. Maybe it's just me, but when I'm at a museum, I like to set my own pace and read about the things that I find interesting. When it looked like this guided tour was unending, I quickly devised a plan to alter his focus, by asking - When did the railroad arrive here in Florence? He didn't know the answer because the railroad never made it all the way into town. In his eagerness to please, he said, "I'll go check to see if I can find the answer". Perfect! We then lost him for about 20 minutes, double perfect! When he returned, he had indeed found that construction on the railroad started in the 1880's, and it never reached the town of Florence, which I already knew.

After the museum, Patty found some books at the Vincent De Paul store, we got some groceries, and headed back to the motor home. Today, I think we'll drive a few miles north, and check out the Heceta Lighthouse, set in one of the most scenic locations on the Oregon Coast.

A CHANCE ON THE COAST

The Oregon Coast is one of our favorite parts of the country, especially when we are able to visit scenic locations as shown above. When we decided not to look for workamping jobs this summer, and instead, just travel around the U.S., the Pacific Northwest was going to be our first destination. Even though I don't particularly like to have rigid travel plans, we have booked reservations at 6 Thousand Trails (TT) Preserves, all of which are either on the Oregon or Washington Coast. We checked into the first TT yesterday, after a short drive from Coos Bay. This preserve is called South Jetty, and is located south of Florence, OR., about a mile from the ocean. When we checked in, the ranger advised they have what they call the 3 "S's" at this TT. The 3 S's are Sun, Satellite & Sewer. Many TT locations allow you to pick out the site you want, and we were told that the few sites that all 3 S's were present, were already taken. We found a spot that had 2 S's (Sun & a good Satellite view), and got the rig parked. We'll be here for the next 5 nights which will give us some time to explore this part of the Oregon Coast.

SPOILED BY THE CHEF

Everybody knows, that when it comes to food, I'm pretty much a meat & potatoes kind of guy. Occasionally, I'll try some seafood, or if I'm really adventurous, I might eat a Mexican or Italian meal, but, give me a big juicy steak or a cheeseburger, and I'm a happy camper. Well, this neanderthal appetite of mine faced an abrupt about face in the last two days. My cousin Karen's husband Dan is an executive chef, trained at the highly prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. He has worked at places like the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, and feed dignitaries and Presidents. So, lets just say, this guy knows how to cook, and currently is the executive chef at the Mill Casino here in Coos Bay. When we arrived on Monday, Dan & Karen arranged for Patty and I to attend a demonstration dinner at the culinary school, in the local community college. This was a fundraiser for the local Boys & Girls club, and we sat in a theater type setting, watching Dan and his associates prepare our gourmet dinner. The menu consisted of a Dungeness Crab & Black Cod appetizer, a salad topped with warm Duck, a main entree of Quail, and a sponge cake/Lemon Curd dessert. Not only was the meal out of this world delicious, we got to watch exactly how it was prepared.

Yesterday, Karen had to work, but Dan had the day off, and gave us a tour of the area. We had a nice seafood lunch at one of the local restaurants by the bay, and had the opportunity to visit with Dan most of the afternoon. When Karen got off work, we headed over to their house for another totally unique culinary experience. Dan tutored Patty, while she prepared a shrimp and chicken pasta with lots of other ingredients that were absolutely mouthwatering! It's not hard to see (and taste), why Dan is a true professional at his craft. It was great having the time to visit with Karen and Dan, and many thanks for the wonderful culinary delights, and their hospitality. This morning, we're northbound on Hwy 101, destination the Thousand Trails Preserve in Florence, OR.

A CHANCE TO BE WILD

Well, not exactly. The animals at this park/zoo, particularly the large cats, are in cages or enclosures, and generally, don't have large habitats. In spite of the less than ideal conditions for these animals, Patty and I have visited this park on Hwy 101, south of Bandon, OR on several occassions. Every time we have stopped, they have always had one or more baby cats that you can actually touch and get close up. There are many things that Patty will take a pass on, but given the opportunity to touch a baby tiger or lion, you better get out of the way! This time, they had a 9 month old Siberian Lynx that you see in the picture. At stops here over the years, we have touched baby tigers, a leopard, a lion, and a couple of Lynx. We didn't arrive at the park till late in the afternoon, so, with their permission, we spent the night in their parking lot, and checked out the animals yesterday morning.

From the Game Park, we drove a short distance north on Hwy 101, to The Mill Casino RV park in Coos Bay, where we checked in for a couple of nights. While checking in, my cousin Karen surprised us because she had taken the afternoon off from work. We spent the afternoon at her and husband Dan's house, catching up on family, and had a nice visit. We didn't see Dan until the evening, where he and several other local chef's, prepared a meal at the community college culinary school, as a fund raiser for the local boys & girls club. More on that tomorrow.
Almost forgot, the state of Maine saw the light. Due to thousands of letters, emails, and phone calls, the legislature killed the bill that would have banned parking in any parking lot. One more for the good guys!

LAST WEEK

As mentioned yesterday, we were parked almost a week in Jamestown without an Internet connection. I don't want these entries to be too long, so I'll catch up on a few of the other things we did while in CA. Last Thursday, the 14TH, Patty, Lori & I drove up to Yosemite, which is a little over an hour from Jamestown. This is the perfect time to visit Yosemite Valley because the snow is melting like crazy, and all of the many waterfalls are spectacular. Lori took the picture of Patty and I with Yosemite Falls in the background. The photo at the top shows our motor home parked at Everett & Lori's, and the other photo shows Patty & Lori in our motor home. When we visited my aunt Martha & cousin Diane in Stockton, I took this picture of them with Patty.

We were hoping that Everett & Lori were going to be able to travel to OR with us in their motor home, but it just wasn't meant to be. The old saying "too many irons in the fire" kind of fits with them. The emergency call to Everett last Saturday from the Sanitary District is just one example of why they can't just fire up the RV, and hit the road. Maybe next year.

Today, we will check out the animal park, where they have a 9 month old Siberian Lynx that we should be able to get our hands on. Patty can't wait! Then, it will be a short travel day, up to Coos Bay and the Mill Casino RV park. My cousin Karen and her husband Dan live in Coos Bay, and we look forward to seeing them this evening.

TAKE A CHANCE ON THE INTERNET

Yes, we're still here, and continuing our travels. We arrived at Everett & Lori's in Jamestown on Monday, the 11Th. That's when we began a week of no Internet access and almost no cell phone coverage. As well as Sprint has worked for us around the country, it just does not work in our old hometown in the Sierra Nevada Foothills. While in Jamestown we took care of routine medical stuff for us and the dog, and it looks like we're all good for at least another year or so. We were able to visit with, or say hi to many friends, including Karen & Allen, John, A.J., Jeff, Troy, Bruce, and had a nice dinner with Lori, Art & Linda. We missed Everett at dinner because he was called by the Sanitary District to help them repair a break in the main line with his back hoe. We have some wonderful friends in CA. and always look forward to seeing them. On Friday, we drove to Stockton and visited with my aunt Martha and cousin Diane. Martha recently lost her husband Harry, and was recovering from a bout with pneumonia. It was nice to visit with them and Martha gave me some old pictures of my mother that I had never seen.
Just before leaving Jamestown, Lori did some research of my family on the genealogy web sites, and found information about my ancestors that I did not know. Thanks Lori!

We said good bye yesterday morning, and drove north on I5 to Redding, where we took SR299 west toward the CA coast. This road follows a lot of the Trinity River, and is a beautiful drive. The temperatures in the Sacramento Valley had been around 100 all day, so when we had the cooler weather just in front of us, I kept driving until we got almost to Eureka. We stopped at an Indian Casino just west of Eureka on Hwy 299, and yea, even though it's very slow, we have Sprint coverage once again. Today we'll drive up the coast to Bandon, OR, and stop at the West Coast Animal Park. This is a place we have visited several times, and they almost always have baby cats such as Leopards, Lynx, Tigers, etc. I tried to download some pictures, but our connection is so slow here, it just didn't happen.

THE JOURNEY BEGINS

Yesterday, we left Lake Havasu on our journey around the country. The motor home and jeep are pictured at the high school where we usually hook up before leaving town. The picture to the left was taken at a local steakhouse with our next door neighbors, Tony & Michelle. They recently purchased a new Fleetwood Revolution,

and we're looking forward to doing a trip with them when we return in the fall. Since losing our 18 year old cat last year, Patty gets her "cat fix" on the other side of our neighbors fence. Michelle has rescued several cats from the humane society, and those cats have literally gone from the outhouse to the penthouse. We will miss our neighbors, but always look forward to seeing them when we return from our travels. Except for one dramatic incident yesterday, our trip ended in yep, you guessed it, a WalMart parking lot off Hwy 99 in Selma, CA. North of Bakersfield, I watched a helicopter pass us, then circle the freeway. As we approached, it came down and landed right in the middle of the totally blocked S/B lanes of Hwy 99. There was a major traffic collision, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for the victims, and also the folks stuck in traffic, waiting for the helicopter to load the injured and take off. Today, we'll be stopping in Merced to visit with Patty's son, David, then on to Jamestown, where we'll be spending a few days with our friends, Everett & Lori.

MAINE BANS RV PARKING

This one slipped in under the radar, and it looks like the last place to stop it, is at the governors office. This was tried in two other states, Montana and Nevada. The negative public outcry caused those two states to back off, and the bills were defeated. I called the Maine State Tourism Office this morning, and the gal I spoke with said she came in this morning, and there were 120 emails protesting this legislation. The legislator who sponsored this bill is attempting to protect RV Park owners by prohibiting parking in any public parking lot to include Wal-Mart, Truck Stops, even private businesses with parking lots open to the public. The unintended consequences are that thousands of RVers, Patty & I included, will not do any business in a state that has discriminatory laws like this on their books. If this becomes law, it unfortunately will set a precedent that may be duplicated in other states. If you are interested in more info on this, the Escapees website is the place to go, www.escapees.com/hot.asp.

TROUBLE IN 3's

We all know the saying, trouble usually comes in 3's. Well, I just exceeded that number with a 4th! The first of 3 on the motor home was the hose reel began leaking when we were at the thousand trails in Verde Valley. When I called the manufacturer, shoreline reel, they said if it's leaking where you say (inside the reel) & it's not a connection, the fix is a new reel. OK, so a new reel was ordered last week. I previously mentioned the awning problem, and the new parts should arrive today. Yesterday, after installing the new hose reel, (4 hr job), I could hear water running while the motor home was hooked up to city water. After checking all of the inside faucets, and that nothing was leaking on the ground, I finally determined that water was leaking past the water pump, and going into the fresh water tank. Diagnosis - faulty water pump that was ordered for over night delivery. That's 3 on the motor home, and with a little luck, should all be fixed before we leave this Sunday. The 4th thing that went south was the house air conditioner. Fortunately, this malfunction occurred while we were here, and I was able to get a repairman out to fix it before we leave. When we go for the summer, we set the A/C at 90, and at that temperature, everything in the house seems to do OK. With no A/C all summer, I hate to think how hot it would get inside this house. If there is such a thing, the silver lining with the motor home issues, is that they are all covered by the Monaco extended care warranty that we purchased with the new coach. Even though Monaco is in Chapter 11, the extended warranty is administered by a 3rd party, and Monaco's bankruptcy doesn't affect the coverage. I'm not normally a big fan of extended warranty's, but in this case, I have a feeling that we will get our moneys worth, during the next 4+ years that the warranty is valid. These 3 repairs alone are almost $1,500! For those friends that have RV's, if you're in the Lake Havasu area, I have found a mobile RV tech. who is as good as they come. Steve Jones (928) 680-1415 made me a believer when previously, Monaco could not fix a problem with my refrigerator at their service center in OR, that Steve was able to correctly diagnose and repair. So, now that I've exceeded the normal trouble that comes in 3's, I think it's time to hit the road.

A 2nd AND 3rd CHANCE

Over the past few days, we have had visitors from Tucson. My youngest son, Marc and our granddaughter, Laila drove up to pick up their boat. So, for a short time, there were 3 generations of the Chance Clan in Lake Havasu. Our daughter-in-law, Chandra decided to stay home and take advantage of the peace and quiet. Laila is 3 1/2 and at a wonderful age, mostly beyond diapers, and full of curiosity. When a child is learning the very complex English language, you just never know what the next question might be. Art Linkletter wrote that "kids say the darnedest things", and he was right. At the breakfast table this morning, and totally out of the blue, Laila said to me "you know Grandpa, Uncle Marty is losing his hair". I couldn't help but chuckle, when I told her that Grandpa had probably lost a little more hair than Uncle Marty. You just never know what's coming next. This visit was a pleasant surprise, because we hadn't planned on seeing Laila until the fall, when we will be on the last leg of our trip around the U.S.

On Sunday, we put the boat into Lake Havasu, and headed up the river, where we found a nice sandy beach and had a picnic. The water temperature was a bit chilly, but the air temperature was in the mid 90's. Except for Laila, who got a good coat of sun block, the rest of us were a little sun burned by the end of the day. It was a fun time, and reminded me of the many boating days back in the 70's, when Marc first learned to water ski. We had a Hondo Jet boat with a big block Ford that was perfect for the kids when they started to ski. On Monday, I helped Marc do some maintenance on the boat, and he helped me with an awning problem on the motor home. It's not good when your electric awning is out, the wind comes up, and when you push the button to bring the awning in, nothing happens! It was definitely a 2 man operation to manually roll the awning up, and secure it with tie downs. I was grateful that Marc was here when it decided to break. New parts are on the way, and the awning should be fixed before we leave this Sunday.

The temperature today is supposed to hit 104. I think it's time to hit the road!