FORT STEVENS

We have our mail bundled and forwarded to us about every 2 weeks, and our second batch since leaving AZ, arrived here in Seaside yesterday. Some have wondered why we don't receive mail at our home. The reason is that since 2002, our mail has gone to a private mailbox, at a business called Havasu Mail & Package. Over the years, we have gotten to know the family that runs this business, and they do a great job forwarding our mail when we're on the road. Thanks Bill, Betty, & Linda.

We drove the jeep north about 15 miles to the mouth of the Columbia River, and Fort Stevens State Park. Fort Stevens was one of 3 military installations that protected the ocean entrance to the Columbia River. From the civil war until after WWII, huge guns were aimed at potential enemies, but never fired at any. The pictures of the rock barriers are what now forms the south jetty, and protects the entrance to the Columbia River. Looking closely, you will see wooden posts sticking out of the rock. When I mentioned yesterday, that I can find a railroad if there's one close by, I failed to mention that I can often find evidence of railroads that have long disappeared. After I took these pictures, I found out that in the 1890's, a wooden RR Trestle was built about a mile out into the ocean. They used the trains to dump the rock that now forms the south jetty, and some of that trestle system is still visible.

After leaving Fort Stevens, we were driving through Warrenton, and stumbled upon another Fultanos Pizza. We decided to stop and see if this was the business that was still in the family of our friends Bob & Jeanette Fulton. Sure enough, we met their son Robert, had a short visit, and a pretty darned good pizza for lunch. Today, I think we'll be checking out Fort Clatsop, which is where the Lewis & Clark expedition spent the winter of 1805-06.

SEASIDE

This community on the north Oregon Coast, has been one of the main ocean playgrounds in the North West for many years. Its' proximity to the metro Portland area makes it an easy drive from a major population center, and the downtown area where I took the photo of the mural, is adjacent to the beach. The many trinket shops, multiple food establishments, bumper cars, tilt-a-whirl, and even a carousel, reminded me a little of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in CA, near where I grew up and went to high school. As we were walking, we came upon a pizza business called Fultanos. We knew our friends Bob & Jeanette Fulton were originally from this area, and had previously owned a pizza restaurant before moving to Lake Havasu City. The name being similar, we inquired inside, and sure enough, this was one of the pizza businesses that Bob & Jeanette used to own. Before leaving the beach area, and heading over to the outlet mall, I found another train! This little kiddie ride was putting smiles on a few small faces, not to mention the big kid, who took the picture. If there's a train close by, big or small, I can find it! No, I didn't ride it.

We ended the afternoon at the Outlet Mall where there was a Black and Decker Store, that kept me occupied for about an hour, while Patty checked out some of the other stores. Of course, there were a couple of things that I couldn't live without, so, my toolbox continues to get smaller and smaller. Not sure what's on the agenda today.

CHANCE'S ON A CHO CHO

We arrived at the Seaside Thousand Trails yesterday afternoon, and our Internet connection here is much faster. I would have posted some of these pictures last week, but due to the very slow connection, I was barely able to keep the blog going.

The Oregon Coast Scenic Railway runs between Garibaldi and Rockway Beach, on the Tillamook Bay R.R. Except for this 6 mile stretch, the rail line is basically closed, due to a severe washout a few years ago. This tourist railroad was on my list of things to do, so we stopped in Garibaldi on our way to Seaside. The 6 mile stretch of track is along the ocean, so the scenery was excellent, but, the best part of this adventure was the locomotive that pulled the 3 cars. The 1910 Heisler, geared, steam engine is rare, and I was glad they were using it instead of a diesel. During the era of logging railroads, there were 3 geared locomotives manufactured for pulling heavy loads, often on steep grades. The most popular was the Shay, followed by the Climax and Heisler, and I can now say that I have ridden on trains pulled by all 3 engines. Not sure where our next train encounter will be, but I do know there will be one, somewhere.

We are parked a few blocks from town, and as we turned off Hwy 101, we passed a large outlet mall that's within walking distance. Hmm, I think I know where my wife may want to go today.

TILLAMOOK MUSEUM

The one thing on our list of things to do, before we left the Tillamook area, was the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum. We needed a few things from the Safeway in Tillamook anyway, so we drove into town (about 20 miles from Pacific City), and toured the museum. If you haven't already guessed, we like area history, and museums are usually the best place to learn about an areas past. The Tillamook museum is housed in the old courthouse, and there are 3 floors of displays. As museums go, this is one of the better ones we've visited. Their web address is
http://www.tcpm.org/.
I got word from our Beagle Sami, this morning, that she doesn't want to leave this Pacific City Thousand Trails (TT). Almost every time that we take her out for a walk, there's either a rabbit or chipmunk that crosses our path. This distraction doesn't help with the necessary business that needs to be done, but, it sure does highlight what a beagle does best.
Today, we have about a 50 mile drive up the coast to our last Oregon Thousand Trails in Seaside. After about a week in Seaside, we'll cross over into Washington, stay at 2 more TT's on the coast, then start our trek toward the New England States and Canadian Maritime Provinces.

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?

After an early morning rain yesterday, surprisingly, the skies quickly cleared. Instead of hanging out at the motor home, as I thought we might do because of the weather, we ventured into nearby Pacific City. This is a small town on the coast with a tiny airport right in the middle of town. Very near to the town center is a state beach that we had not checked out, so we drove to the parking lot and began a short trek over the dunes to the beach. About half way to the ocean, we met two ladies who came up another trail from the parking lot. After walking in front of us for a short distance, the younger girl (20's), stopped, turned around and asked us if we were from CA? After Patty replied that we used to live in Central CA, the older lady (40's) raised her sunglasses and said "remember me, I'm Malory Barendregt". Malory (spelling?) & her family are long time Jamestown residents, and she worked in her family grocery store for years, and now owns the Jamestown Emporium on main street. Malory's daughter lives in Salem, and they had driven to the beach at exactly the same time we decided to check out this state park. What are the odds? It is indeed a small world sometimes.
Today is our last day at the Pacific City Thousand Trails. Tomorrow we drive north to the Seaside Preserve, where hopefully, our Internet connection will be a little better.

A BIG AIRPLANE

Two days ago we visited the world's largest wooden building. Yesterday, we drove about an hour inland, and visited the world's largest wooden airplane. Howard Hughes completed his "Spruce Goose" in 1947, flying it for about a mile, before storing it out of the public eye for 33 years. It was put on display in 1983, next to the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA, where it stayed until it was purchased by the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, OR, and displayed at the museum in 2001. To say that this airplane is impressive, would be an understatement. Even today, it has the longest wingspan (319' 11") of any airplane ever built, including some of the modern, massive jet airplanes. The museum includes 3 large, modern buildings, and due to time, we only toured the one where Hughes' flying boat was parked. More information and pictures can be found at www.sprucegoose.org.
This morning we were awakened by a good rain, which always makes for a dirty and somewhat muddy dog, after our morning stroll. Oh well, we are in the Pacific Northwest where supposedly, some of the natives have webbed feet. Not sure what we'll do today. Might just be a popcorn and movie day.

A BIG BUILDING

Like many military installations that existed during World War II, the Tillamook Naval Air Station, and it's two huge blimp hangars, sprouted almost overnight. Yesterday, we visited the one remaining blimp hanger and the 30 aircraft housed inside. The building and war birds are now the Tillamook Air Museum, and this was our second visit to this impressive building. The former blimp hangar, is the largest, clear span wooden structure in the world. The length is over 1,000 feet and the width is 296 feet, which is approx. 7 acres of floor space! Just to stand inside this massive hangar, is worth the price of admission. I tried to download a photo, but as I said previously, our Internet connection here at Pacific City isn't very good. More information and photos can be found at www.tillamookair.com.
This Thousand Trails park is within walking distance to the ocean, and Patty has taken the trail a couple of times to the beach. Today, I think we will head inland to another air museum in Mckinnville, where Howard Hughes' "Spruce Goose" is now on display.

PERAGRINE FALCONS AT CAPE MEARES

We took a drive yesterday afternoon, on a nice sunny day, that took us north to Cape Meares along the 3 capes road, then over to Tillamook, before returning to Pacific City. So far, one of the best things about this trip, is the fact that we're trying to explore areas and roads where we have never been. Yesterday was a good example of that. The 3 capes road along the coast is very scenic, with small communities like Tierra del Mar, Netarts and Oceanside, along the way. At Cape Meares, almost due west from Tillamook, we stumbled upon the Cape Meares Lighthouse, and a viewing platform, across an inlet, where a pair of breeding Peregrine Falcons were raising 4 chicks. The nest was about 400 feet up on a vertical cliff, and a volunteer with a spotting scope was on the platform, answering questions about the falcons, and other birds within view. This volunteer and his wife were workampers, who donated 20 hours a week, in exchange for their RV spot in a nearby state park. They were enjoying the sharing of their knowledge of the falcons with us, and others. I'm most certainly not a birdwatcher, but it was really interesting to hear about the Peregrine Falcon, and it's comeback from being perilously close to extinction.
Today, I think we'll drive back to Tillamook, (about 15-20 miles), and check out the air museum, which is housed in a WWII blimp hanger.

BACK ON THE COAST

We left the FMCA Rally in Albany yesterday, and drove west on Hwy 20 to Newport, then north on Hwy 101 to the Pacific City Thousand Trails (TT). This park is similar to the South Jetty TT, in that it is heavily wooded, with lots of room between spaces. Our Internet connection is very slow, but at least I'll be able to do the basic stuff while we are parked here for the rest of the week. I think that trying to post any photos will be almost impossible.
Our 7 days in the Eugene/Albany area went by extremely fast because we got a lot of stuff done to the motor home. It started with an engine and generator service at Cummins Coach Care, then a new leather sofa. At the FMCA Rally, we upgraded the TV system from Analog to Digital high definition with a Winegard Trav'ler HD satellite dish antenna and a new HD Dish Network receiver. Lastly, I finally got a pressure pro, tire air pressure monitor system for the motor home and jeep. All systems seem to be working as they should, and Sami told me that she really loves the new sofa!
I should have a bunch of pictures to post when we get to a better Internet connection.

ALBANY'S CAROUSEL

Since arriving in Albany at the Family Motor Coach Ass'n Rally, we've been hearing about Albany's carousel restoration project, that started about 5 years ago. Well, our curiosity got the better of us, and yesterday, we ventured downtown in search of the building where all of this work is taking place. When our GPS in the jeep said "arriving at destination", we looked around, and saw nothing that resembled what we were looking for. Thinking that our faithful GPS (aka Missy) had failed us, we walked across the street to the visitors information center. It was while there, we learned that the address of the visitor bureau was mistakenly printed, instead of the address of the carousel project. Armed with the correct address, we drove to where the restoration was taking place. There were approx. 15-20 volunteers working, as we were given a tour, and some history of the project. The mechanism which was built in 1909, was donated to Albany, but the rest of the carousel (I used to call them merry-go-rounds), is being rebuilt by hand, including 52 animals. This is probably a 10 year project, and it was fascinating to witness the progress at about the half way point. As a younger lad, I remember the carousel at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, and the many attempts I made at grabbing the brass ring. Not too many of these original carousels still in existence. Today, we're back on the road for a couple of hours, as we leave the FMCA Rally, and drive to Pacific City on the Oregon coast. I never know what kind of coverage we will have with our Sprint air card, so if there's no activity on the blog for a few days, it's because we won't have internet connectivity at a future location.

RALLY WINDS DOWN

The FMCA rally ends tomorrow, and we'll be going back over to the coast for a stay at the next thousand trails in Pacific City. We have enjoyed our time here in Albany, particularly the visit with Bob & Diana and Bob & Brenda. The 2 Bobs dropped by the rally yesterday, while the new Winegard satellite antenna was being installed. Even though there is a tree that is partially blocking the southern sky, this new system quickly found and locked onto the 3 dish network satellites at twice the signal strength of the previous dome. Yahoo!, we now have high definition and an antenna that will hopefully work every time. Incidentally, the tech who installed the system, was a prior 15 year Monaco employee, and he has been called back to work starting this Monday. Monaco is emerging from chapter 11, with Navistar as the new owners. It will be interesting to see what products they keep building, and which ones go away.
I mentioned previously that there would probably be something else for sale at this rally, that I couldn't live without, and I was right. I've been thinking about a tire pressure monitoring system for a couple of years, but just haven't pulled the trigger. Well, I did yesterday, purchasing a Pressure Pro, 10 wheel system. We've been lucky, but over the years, I've heard lots of horror stories, about damaged RV's and towed vehicles from blowouts and flats. Most of those incidents would have resulted in less damage with one of these systems. I know I'll feel better as we head down the road, and put several thousand miles behind us this summer.
The weather has been cloudy and raining the past few days, with more of the same today.

A SEA OF MOTOR HOMES

We met Bob & Diana Rush yesterday, at Bob & Brenda Nelson's beautiful home in Albany, where Brenda served us a delicious dinner. A homemade cherry pie (my favorite), topped off the evening. It's a good thing I don't live closer to Brenda's cooking, because there's no doubt, I would soon wear out my welcome. This was the first time we had visited Bob & Brenda in Albany, and they should be proud of the gorgeous home that they built themselves. They used to live across the street from Bob & Diana in Enterprise, and that's where we got to know them a few years ago.

Lots of stuff going on here at the Family Motor Coach Ass'n (FMCA) rally here in Albany, OR. They just announced at the opening ceremonies this evening, that there are 555 coaches registered, so that should be a little over 1,000 folks. I took the photo from the roof of our motor home, and this is one parking lot of three. We checked out the vendors this morning, got our generator serviced, and finalized the switch over to our new high definition satellite antenna, which will be installed tomorrow. Also, I found out that Roadmaster, the manufacturer of our tow hitch is here, and will be able to repair a minor problem that I thought we were going to have to take care of at their headquarters in Portland. A small rock chip in the motor home windshield is scheduled to be fixed tomorrow, so, along with seminars, another catered dinner and a comedian/juggler in the evening, it will be a busy day.

SAMI'S NEW SOFA

Our appointment at Countryside Interiors yesterday was at 8:30 am, so we drove from Coburg to Junction City (about 15 miles), arriving a little after 8 am. The bottom of the new leather recliner sofa that we purchased, had to be modified in order to fit the raised kitchen slide out. When Monaco built the coach, and installed the old couch, they just sat it on the raised slide, so it was about 3 inches higher than it should have been. I better not get started on Monaco. Let's just say that I wasn't at all surprised when they filed Chapter 11.

We returned in the early afternoon, just as they were about to install the sofa, and I helped them squeeze it into place. It was a tight fit, but once in place, it looks like it belongs. We left Junction City about 2:30, and drove about 30 miles north to the Linn County Fairgrounds in Albany, where we got parked for the FMCA Northwest Rally which begins tomorrow.

This afternoon, we'll be driving into Albany to have dinner with our friends, Bob & Brenda Nelson. Bob & Diana Rush are driving to Albany from Enterprise, so it will be good to see our friends, and sample some of Brenda's delicious cooking. As Patty says, Brenda can make corn flakes taste wonderful!

STIMULATING THE ECONOMY

This morning, at 8am, our motor home went in the shop, here at Cummins Coach Care. Routine
maintenance stuff like oil and filters = $378. Next stop, the local satellite store for a dish network receiver upgrade = $75. Then it was off to Camping World in Junction City for an appointment to install a High Definition satellite antenna = $1,545.35. "Are we done yet?", the shop at thrift stores, budget minded wife says. Heck no says the spender husband! "I think we can out do the last stop, lets go look for a new couch, to replace the one, only the dog likes". Our last stop for the day was at an RV furniture store which had the perfect leather couch = $2,425. "Now, are we done, pleads the saver wife?" After careful consideration, I figured that we had done our part in helping our (spend till the cows come home) federal government get us out of this recession. After our new couch is installed tomorrow morning, we're headed for Albany, OR and the Family Motor Coach Ass'n rally, where there just might be a vendor or two, with bargains that we won't be able to live without!

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!