We left Desoto Caverns Campground at 12:30 pm (GA Time... 11:30 am CT). The heaviest traffic was around Phenix City Alabama and Columbus Georgia. Heavy, but nothing at all like Denver :-D
The closer we got to Phenix City Alabama the more kudzu vines there were. Then south of Columbus Georgia... cotton, peanut and corn fields, peach, pecan and (lob lolly and slash) pine tree groves... even a grove of long-leaf pines. Georgia is beautiful!
We either arrived at home at 12:30 pm or 1:30 pm... it doesn't matter. We had a great trip and arrived home safely.
We unpacked clothing and most of the food. I started laundry. I still have the quilt and the rugs to wash... then time to start on the regular laundry again. Next is cleaning the trailer and truck inside and out.
There is lots of mail to go through. Frank picked up another batch at the post office. I think I threw away most of the junk... filled a kitchen garbage can almost full with it.
The car wouldn't start... the battery is dead. A new one will bought tomorrow.
It is strange to be home. The sinks are much BIGGER. The refrigerator is HUGE. The refrigerator makes ICE . There is a DIFFERENT WAY to get to the bathroom in the middle of the night. The bathroom door closes with a KNOB and doesn't slide. There are NO COINS needed for the washer and dryer.
We traveled 181 miles today.
Our total miles traveled over 78 days was 10,190 miles.
The bestest part of the trip was experiencing it together :-D
Monday, July 21, 2008
We left Tupelo Mississippi around 9 am (GA Time... 8 am CT)
We traveled through the rolling hills of Alabama for most of the day. Traffic was pretty heavy most of the way. Around Birmingham Alabama the traffic was horrible... made worse by all the red lights.... still nothing like Denver :-D
We got gas in Hamilton Alabama at $4.73 a gallon and Westover Alabama at $4.69 a gallon.
We arrived at Desoto Cavern Campground, Childersburg Alabama at about 12:30 pm (GA Time... 11:30 am CT).
We had our leftover hamburger steakettes in gravy, baked potato and mixed veggies for dinner. The tv station said the high today was 101 degrees. It felt much hotter. It was cooler in the trailer than outside, but still hot enough to sweat in the trailer.
After dinner we watched more of the Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin and Rex (a black arabian horse). I'm sure in its day it was a great series.
We then went over and took a look at the Desoto Caverns. It cost us $15.99 a piece to take a look... it was worth about $5 at the very most. It was cooler in there.
We came back and finished watching the Rin-Tin-Tin series. Then we took our showers... Frank organized his paperwork and I copied pictures to a dvd. Frank is watching snow on the tv... most of the picture is snow :-)
We traveled 181 miles today.
We traveled through the rolling hills of Alabama for most of the day. Traffic was pretty heavy most of the way. Around Birmingham Alabama the traffic was horrible... made worse by all the red lights.... still nothing like Denver :-D
We got gas in Hamilton Alabama at $4.73 a gallon and Westover Alabama at $4.69 a gallon.
We arrived at Desoto Cavern Campground, Childersburg Alabama at about 12:30 pm (GA Time... 11:30 am CT).
We had our leftover hamburger steakettes in gravy, baked potato and mixed veggies for dinner. The tv station said the high today was 101 degrees. It felt much hotter. It was cooler in the trailer than outside, but still hot enough to sweat in the trailer.
After dinner we watched more of the Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin and Rex (a black arabian horse). I'm sure in its day it was a great series.
We then went over and took a look at the Desoto Caverns. It cost us $15.99 a piece to take a look... it was worth about $5 at the very most. It was cooler in there.
We came back and finished watching the Rin-Tin-Tin series. Then we took our showers... Frank organized his paperwork and I copied pictures to a dvd. Frank is watching snow on the tv... most of the picture is snow :-)
We traveled 181 miles today.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
We left Bull Shoals at 9:51 am (GA Time... 8:51 am CT) this morning. We had to stop by and talk with the fishermen down at the Trout Dock before leaving, so a few minutes later leaving this morning... no one was having any luck with the fish .
We stopped at Mountain Home Arkansas at the Wal-Mart to exchange the Jack Benny dvd... don't know yet if the replacement works.
I've had a sinus headache most of the day. I took antihistimine and tylenol this morning, but all it did was make me sleepy. I slept off and on all day.
We left the Ozark Mountains and crossed into the land of Kudzu vines. We passed pastures and acres of corn, millet, rice, beans and cotton. There was a lot of traffic.... even more around Memphis Tennessee. It was nothing like Denver Colorado though.
We stopped at a Wal-Mart in Trumann Arkansas for gas at $4.60 a gallon with shopping card. We stopped somewhere after that for dinner at Wendy's. Neither one of us can remember the name of the town.
Our arrival time at Campground at Barnes Crossing, Tupelo Mississippi was 5:30 pm (GA Time... 4:30 pm CT).
We got set up and while the ac was cooling the trailer down we went to take our showers. The shower eased my headache. During my shower I thought I spotted a tick on my thigh, but without my glasses I couldn't tell for sure. Back at the trailer I got my glasses on and got the magnifying glass out... yep, a tiny tick. I thought all that itching with my legs might have been chiggers... but the culprits were tiny seed ticks. I had Frank inspect me and he found a few more ticks and I got a few off of him. Some of them were so tiny that you could only tell they were a tick with the magnifying glass.
A ham sandwich was eaten and we've watched a bit of cable tv.
We traveled 320 miles today.
We stopped at Mountain Home Arkansas at the Wal-Mart to exchange the Jack Benny dvd... don't know yet if the replacement works.
I've had a sinus headache most of the day. I took antihistimine and tylenol this morning, but all it did was make me sleepy. I slept off and on all day.
We left the Ozark Mountains and crossed into the land of Kudzu vines. We passed pastures and acres of corn, millet, rice, beans and cotton. There was a lot of traffic.... even more around Memphis Tennessee. It was nothing like Denver Colorado though.
We stopped at a Wal-Mart in Trumann Arkansas for gas at $4.60 a gallon with shopping card. We stopped somewhere after that for dinner at Wendy's. Neither one of us can remember the name of the town.
Our arrival time at Campground at Barnes Crossing, Tupelo Mississippi was 5:30 pm (GA Time... 4:30 pm CT).
We got set up and while the ac was cooling the trailer down we went to take our showers. The shower eased my headache. During my shower I thought I spotted a tick on my thigh, but without my glasses I couldn't tell for sure. Back at the trailer I got my glasses on and got the magnifying glass out... yep, a tiny tick. I thought all that itching with my legs might have been chiggers... but the culprits were tiny seed ticks. I had Frank inspect me and he found a few more ticks and I got a few off of him. Some of them were so tiny that you could only tell they were a tick with the magnifying glass.
A ham sandwich was eaten and we've watched a bit of cable tv.
We traveled 320 miles today.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
This morning I woke up.. grabbed a cup of coffee and went down to the Trout Dock. The young man.. of the cute couple ( I think he said his name was Lee Sterling... maybe Brown was his last name.. the III) was down there fishing. He said he and his wife, Amanda, didn't make the cruise last night. She fell and sprang her ankle before they boarded. He said they were tied at 5 fish each.. I think that was for there whole stay. They left for home, Houston Texas, today.
Slim.. the fishing guide was down there fishing too. He told me a bunch of stories.... it is hard to get a word in when he is talking. The man that works at the Trout Dock was knocking down the spider webs off the side of the building. So Slim had to tell me how his girlfriend, Nancy, takes spider webs and tranfers them to paper and then to gourds and vases and sells them. It sounds like a neat craft. I heard how terantulus lay eggs and such. He is a colorful character.
We fished a while with no luck. Then I cooked dinner of hamburger steakettes and rice.
We watched more of a Jack Benny dvd after dinner. I think the set has four disc... and only one of them worked.
After watching the show Frank straighten the truck up some and I swept the floors of the trailer and wiped over them.
Frank called his folks... I don't really know what they talked about. I had walked down to the dock area and there were some beautiful swallowtail butterflies down there. I came back to get my camera... when I got down to the dock I realized I didn't have a card in the camera... so back to the trailer. When I got back down to the dock only one of the male butterflies was there.. the female and other male had flown away. A smaller butterfly lit nearby and I took pictures of it too. I think it was a type of hairstreak. There was another butterfly species too, but I can't think of the species name.
It was very hot out and I almost got overheated going back and forth. I edited a few pictures when I came back to the trailer. Then Frank and I went for a drive video taping the park.
We tried to watch more Jack Benny, but the dvd didn't work. We watched a bit of Rin-Tin-Tin.... this one was a bit before our time. It was designed for the weekly series at the theater.
Frank then updated some of his paperwork and I transferred pictures to the computer and to a dvd.
At about 6:30 pm we went back over to the Trout Dock area and fished. I called Mama. She seemed to be doing okay. She said the therapist was working with her on getting up and down the steps of the house.
My line got tangled in with Frank's while I was talking with Mama, so Frank took my line out the water. The mist started covering the river while I was talking to Mama. It felt cool.
After talking with Mama I fished for a while. All we caught was more of the green, green weed. Frank had another fish given to him.
This trip I caught one fish and Frank got 4 fish given to him... hmm... seems like his way was a lot easier :-D
Showers are taken and we are tired. It will be a long day tomorrow, so time to say good night.
Slim.. the fishing guide was down there fishing too. He told me a bunch of stories.... it is hard to get a word in when he is talking. The man that works at the Trout Dock was knocking down the spider webs off the side of the building. So Slim had to tell me how his girlfriend, Nancy, takes spider webs and tranfers them to paper and then to gourds and vases and sells them. It sounds like a neat craft. I heard how terantulus lay eggs and such. He is a colorful character.
We fished a while with no luck. Then I cooked dinner of hamburger steakettes and rice.
We watched more of a Jack Benny dvd after dinner. I think the set has four disc... and only one of them worked.
After watching the show Frank straighten the truck up some and I swept the floors of the trailer and wiped over them.
Frank called his folks... I don't really know what they talked about. I had walked down to the dock area and there were some beautiful swallowtail butterflies down there. I came back to get my camera... when I got down to the dock I realized I didn't have a card in the camera... so back to the trailer. When I got back down to the dock only one of the male butterflies was there.. the female and other male had flown away. A smaller butterfly lit nearby and I took pictures of it too. I think it was a type of hairstreak. There was another butterfly species too, but I can't think of the species name.
It was very hot out and I almost got overheated going back and forth. I edited a few pictures when I came back to the trailer. Then Frank and I went for a drive video taping the park.
We tried to watch more Jack Benny, but the dvd didn't work. We watched a bit of Rin-Tin-Tin.... this one was a bit before our time. It was designed for the weekly series at the theater.
Frank then updated some of his paperwork and I transferred pictures to the computer and to a dvd.
At about 6:30 pm we went back over to the Trout Dock area and fished. I called Mama. She seemed to be doing okay. She said the therapist was working with her on getting up and down the steps of the house.
My line got tangled in with Frank's while I was talking with Mama, so Frank took my line out the water. The mist started covering the river while I was talking to Mama. It felt cool.
After talking with Mama I fished for a while. All we caught was more of the green, green weed. Frank had another fish given to him.
This trip I caught one fish and Frank got 4 fish given to him... hmm... seems like his way was a lot easier :-D
Showers are taken and we are tired. It will be a long day tomorrow, so time to say good night.
Friday, July 18, 2008
We went walking on one of the trails at around 9 am this morning.. about too late to do so. It was warm and humid. We lost our green trail markers... and followed the blue markers for a bit and then turn around and went back the direction we came when the trail started getting too steep.
There are lots of beautiful rocks along the trail. There were also lots of spider webs in the midst of the trail. We walked around a lot, but Frank also walked into a lot of them that just couldn't be seen.
There were Turkey Vultures sunning on the power lines. We saw a couple of deer in the same area. On the blue trail we saw a pair of fawns.. they still had their spots. I brought the pocket camera along, but the battery was dying and the pictures didn't turn out. How I wish I had brought the Sony A700 and the long lens. They were so beautiful.
The forest was pretty quiet. There were a few crickets chirping and something sounded a bit like a cicada. There was a very loud woodpecker for a couple of minutes... pecking at a dead tree. Maybe it was a pileated woodpecker or the elusive ivory-billed woodpecker.... I'd like it to be the latter one :-D
We took a shower after our walk. I then put some butter beans on to go with the roast chicken. While they cooked we watched a Jack Benny tape... bought at Wal-Mart from the $5 bin. All of it won't play, so we will probably exchange it next Wal-Mart visit. Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny and other voices) was in a couple of the shows... he sure was funny.
After dinner I took a walk around the Trout Dock area and then up to the Dew Springs area of the park. The sign there said that the water temperature of the spring runs from 46 to 74 degrees depending on the season. The temperature of the water of the river year-round is from 48 to 52 degrees. Much colder than the springs around home.
We were lazy in the afternoon. Around 6:30 pm we took our cameras over to the river's edge. We both took photos. I tried out the b&w feature on my camera and some of them turned out pretty good.
We talked with a man that has been a guide on the river for a while. He was interesting to listen to. He gave us two rainbow trout. So we have enough for a meal now.... probably after we get back home. We might do a little fishing in the morning.
Another shower was taken and it is time to rest again.
There are lots of beautiful rocks along the trail. There were also lots of spider webs in the midst of the trail. We walked around a lot, but Frank also walked into a lot of them that just couldn't be seen.
There were Turkey Vultures sunning on the power lines. We saw a couple of deer in the same area. On the blue trail we saw a pair of fawns.. they still had their spots. I brought the pocket camera along, but the battery was dying and the pictures didn't turn out. How I wish I had brought the Sony A700 and the long lens. They were so beautiful.
The forest was pretty quiet. There were a few crickets chirping and something sounded a bit like a cicada. There was a very loud woodpecker for a couple of minutes... pecking at a dead tree. Maybe it was a pileated woodpecker or the elusive ivory-billed woodpecker.... I'd like it to be the latter one :-D
We took a shower after our walk. I then put some butter beans on to go with the roast chicken. While they cooked we watched a Jack Benny tape... bought at Wal-Mart from the $5 bin. All of it won't play, so we will probably exchange it next Wal-Mart visit. Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny and other voices) was in a couple of the shows... he sure was funny.
After dinner I took a walk around the Trout Dock area and then up to the Dew Springs area of the park. The sign there said that the water temperature of the spring runs from 46 to 74 degrees depending on the season. The temperature of the water of the river year-round is from 48 to 52 degrees. Much colder than the springs around home.
We were lazy in the afternoon. Around 6:30 pm we took our cameras over to the river's edge. We both took photos. I tried out the b&w feature on my camera and some of them turned out pretty good.
We talked with a man that has been a guide on the river for a while. He was interesting to listen to. He gave us two rainbow trout. So we have enough for a meal now.... probably after we get back home. We might do a little fishing in the morning.
Another shower was taken and it is time to rest again.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
We bought our permits to trout fish this morning. We fished a while, but no luck. I lost my hook.. caught it on the jetty.
For lunch today I cooked scalloped potatoes with brocolli. There was suppose to be ham in it, but I forgot about chopping the ham and by time I remembered I decided I was too lazy to chop it and added a little real cheese for extra protein. We ate the last of the apple salad.
After dinner we went exploring. We saw several deer in the park and outside of the park. We drove up to the visitor's center. It is a very nice visitor's center.
We drove around the Bull Shoals area and went into Flippin for gas at Wal-Mart. With card the gas was $4.63 a gallon. While at the vistor's center I broke my sunglasses. So we bought me a pair in Wal-Mart. We bought a roast chicken for tomorrow.
When we got back there was no one in the "good" fishing spot. Yesterday we watched a couple catch fish there... they are so cute. This is her first camping trip. He caught a Walleye and didn't have a stringer. He sent her to the car to look for one and she couldn't find it. He then told her to watch the fish while he looked. She held a small bucket in front of it. He couldn't find the stringer either, but found a plastic bag to put the fish in... he needed the bucket for water and then she put her foot on the fish.. grimacing the whole time. He got the walleye in the plastic bag and put it in the cold water. This was her first expeience with trout fishing and had caught a couple.. usually catching a fish soon after he caught one.
We hurried up and put things away and got our gear together and fished in the "good" fishing spot. The sun was shining good and hot when we started fishing... that is why no one was in the "good" fishing spot. I think get started fishing a little bit after 6 pm (CT). At about a quarter after 7 pm I caught a little rainbow trout. It sure took a lot of throwing and reeling to finally catch one and I honestly thought to start with that I had hung my hook on the grass (in the water) for about the thousanth time. I did a lot of hanging my hook on the grass and on the rocks (that were in the water) and on the one bush that is on the shoreline in that area.
We stayed until about 8:30.. the fog had already started rolling in. The river we are fishing on is called the White River and they say that is how if got its name. The fog is very white and lays close to the river. Sometimes your can hear the fishing boats out there, but can't see them. When the fog hits you it is like walking into an icy cold air conditioned room. The water is clear and cold.
The couple that was there last night took our spot. They are from Texas and she has folks around Jacksonville Florida. He is a school teacher. He teaches inner city children that are members of gangs. He says they are members of gangs because it isn't safe at home... even with two parents at home. He tries to make a difference in their lives.
The trout is in the freezer and we've had our showers and we checked on the cute couple.... he caught a nice rainbow trout. They are renting a boat tomorrow and touring the lake.
A Jack Benny tape is playing and my hair is almost dry enough to go to bed.
For lunch today I cooked scalloped potatoes with brocolli. There was suppose to be ham in it, but I forgot about chopping the ham and by time I remembered I decided I was too lazy to chop it and added a little real cheese for extra protein. We ate the last of the apple salad.
After dinner we went exploring. We saw several deer in the park and outside of the park. We drove up to the visitor's center. It is a very nice visitor's center.
We drove around the Bull Shoals area and went into Flippin for gas at Wal-Mart. With card the gas was $4.63 a gallon. While at the vistor's center I broke my sunglasses. So we bought me a pair in Wal-Mart. We bought a roast chicken for tomorrow.
When we got back there was no one in the "good" fishing spot. Yesterday we watched a couple catch fish there... they are so cute. This is her first camping trip. He caught a Walleye and didn't have a stringer. He sent her to the car to look for one and she couldn't find it. He then told her to watch the fish while he looked. She held a small bucket in front of it. He couldn't find the stringer either, but found a plastic bag to put the fish in... he needed the bucket for water and then she put her foot on the fish.. grimacing the whole time. He got the walleye in the plastic bag and put it in the cold water. This was her first expeience with trout fishing and had caught a couple.. usually catching a fish soon after he caught one.
We hurried up and put things away and got our gear together and fished in the "good" fishing spot. The sun was shining good and hot when we started fishing... that is why no one was in the "good" fishing spot. I think get started fishing a little bit after 6 pm (CT). At about a quarter after 7 pm I caught a little rainbow trout. It sure took a lot of throwing and reeling to finally catch one and I honestly thought to start with that I had hung my hook on the grass (in the water) for about the thousanth time. I did a lot of hanging my hook on the grass and on the rocks (that were in the water) and on the one bush that is on the shoreline in that area.
We stayed until about 8:30.. the fog had already started rolling in. The river we are fishing on is called the White River and they say that is how if got its name. The fog is very white and lays close to the river. Sometimes your can hear the fishing boats out there, but can't see them. When the fog hits you it is like walking into an icy cold air conditioned room. The water is clear and cold.
The couple that was there last night took our spot. They are from Texas and she has folks around Jacksonville Florida. He is a school teacher. He teaches inner city children that are members of gangs. He says they are members of gangs because it isn't safe at home... even with two parents at home. He tries to make a difference in their lives.
The trout is in the freezer and we've had our showers and we checked on the cute couple.... he caught a nice rainbow trout. They are renting a boat tomorrow and touring the lake.
A Jack Benny tape is playing and my hair is almost dry enough to go to bed.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Last night the fee collectors came by a little before 9:30 pm (CT). Of course we had already gone to bed. The fee collectors gave up before Frank dressed and made it to the door. Frank managed to catch up with them. The fee collectors thought we were out for a walk and were going to come back later.
Frank couldn't wake me up this morning. I took an antihistimine along with my other meds... so I was out like a light :-) I think it was around 6:45 am (CT) before I woke up.
We left Keystone State Park at about 9:30 am (GA Time... 8:30 am CT). The day's scenery changed drastically from yesterday. We went from rolling hills to foothills... or what we used to call mountains :-D The mountains are about the size of those around Atlanta. We passed farms with cattle, horse and donkeys. The crops seemed to be mostly hay... probably alfalfa.
There were lots of sycamore trees today along with oak and pine trees. There were also mimosa and crepe myrtles. Black-eyed susans were growing along the roadways.
As we left the campground we saw 6 cottontail rabbits. Later into Arkansas we saw a deer. The birds have changed to the familiar ones.... mockingbirds, catbirds, blue jays and even a northern cardinal.
We stopped in Sand Springs Oklahoma at Wal-Mart. Frank found out last night while paying the fee collectors that we have a day running light on the truck out... they didn't have the light bulb in Wal-Mart... but they did have cookies :-D (we decided the missing cookies weren't missing.. we just didn't buy them, we had only bought the ginger snaps). There was an Advance Auto Parts in front of Wal-Mart and they had the bulb.
In Inola Oklahoma we bought gas at $4.59 a gallon.
We stopped at the Arkansas Welcome Center for a little break. Helen and Betty were very nice to us. It was great to hear Southern voices again. Oh.. at the welcome center there are a set of doors in the lobby to go through to the restrooms... the door on the right states: "use other door" and on the left door it has a sign stating: "this is the other door" :-D
We ran into a lot of road construction in Arkansas today... I think we had to stop three times for flagmen. Arkansas has better roads than Oklahoma. The worst roads we traveled in Arkansas today were much better than the toll road we traveled on in Oklahoma.... we paid $4.50 to travel on a real crappy road.
We arrived at Bull Shoals State Park, Bull Shoals Arkansas at 4:00 pm (GA Time... 3 pm CT). The ladies in the office were very nice.
We are in site #64. Our lunchupper was soup and sandwiches. Our snack today was Ritz Chips that we bought during our Wal-Mart walk this morning.
After our meal we went for a walk... we stopped by the Trout Dock and Frank found out all they require to go trout fishing. We may do a bit of fishing tomorrow. After our walk we got some things out of the truck and now it appears the daylight bulb on the truck is now working... another head scratcher.
This is a very nice park.... we have a shady site by the water. We enjoyed our showers a bit ago. Frank is reading and I'm writing. I've caught up on pictures for now. No internet connection to load them up with.
We traveled 248 miles today.
Frank couldn't wake me up this morning. I took an antihistimine along with my other meds... so I was out like a light :-) I think it was around 6:45 am (CT) before I woke up.
We left Keystone State Park at about 9:30 am (GA Time... 8:30 am CT). The day's scenery changed drastically from yesterday. We went from rolling hills to foothills... or what we used to call mountains :-D The mountains are about the size of those around Atlanta. We passed farms with cattle, horse and donkeys. The crops seemed to be mostly hay... probably alfalfa.
There were lots of sycamore trees today along with oak and pine trees. There were also mimosa and crepe myrtles. Black-eyed susans were growing along the roadways.
As we left the campground we saw 6 cottontail rabbits. Later into Arkansas we saw a deer. The birds have changed to the familiar ones.... mockingbirds, catbirds, blue jays and even a northern cardinal.
We stopped in Sand Springs Oklahoma at Wal-Mart. Frank found out last night while paying the fee collectors that we have a day running light on the truck out... they didn't have the light bulb in Wal-Mart... but they did have cookies :-D (we decided the missing cookies weren't missing.. we just didn't buy them, we had only bought the ginger snaps). There was an Advance Auto Parts in front of Wal-Mart and they had the bulb.
In Inola Oklahoma we bought gas at $4.59 a gallon.
We stopped at the Arkansas Welcome Center for a little break. Helen and Betty were very nice to us. It was great to hear Southern voices again. Oh.. at the welcome center there are a set of doors in the lobby to go through to the restrooms... the door on the right states: "use other door" and on the left door it has a sign stating: "this is the other door" :-D
We ran into a lot of road construction in Arkansas today... I think we had to stop three times for flagmen. Arkansas has better roads than Oklahoma. The worst roads we traveled in Arkansas today were much better than the toll road we traveled on in Oklahoma.... we paid $4.50 to travel on a real crappy road.
We arrived at Bull Shoals State Park, Bull Shoals Arkansas at 4:00 pm (GA Time... 3 pm CT). The ladies in the office were very nice.
We are in site #64. Our lunchupper was soup and sandwiches. Our snack today was Ritz Chips that we bought during our Wal-Mart walk this morning.
After our meal we went for a walk... we stopped by the Trout Dock and Frank found out all they require to go trout fishing. We may do a bit of fishing tomorrow. After our walk we got some things out of the truck and now it appears the daylight bulb on the truck is now working... another head scratcher.
This is a very nice park.... we have a shady site by the water. We enjoyed our showers a bit ago. Frank is reading and I'm writing. I've caught up on pictures for now. No internet connection to load them up with.
We traveled 248 miles today.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
We left Ft. Supply at 8:45 am ( GA Time... 7:45 am CT). Our view changed today. We now have rolling hills with trees, cattle, horses, goats and oil pumps. The biggest change is the trees and humidity... yep my hair looks like Bozo The Clown's.
We stopped in Hennessey Oklahoma for gas at $4.60 a gallon.
We arrived at Keystone State Park just west of Tulsa Oklahoma at 2 pm (GA Time... 1 pm CT). It is a "find your campsite and go to the camp/grocery store to register" campground. We picked a site and went to the store to register, but the two women were more interested in their conversation than registering us... when one of the women finally turned her attention to us it was a rude: " you must leave something at the campsite to register" and us "we don't wish to unhook"... then woman: "we'll send a fee collector around".
This isn't a very pretty state park... it feels dirty. It could be a beautiful park with the right management and an update to restrooms and showers... showers will be in the trailer tonight... a couple of employee changes would benefit the park too.
Our dinner was pork chops, corn muffins, apple salad and some micro-steamed veggies. The steamed veggies were beans and carrots and weren't that good... something not to buy again.
I've had a headache today. I laid down for a while and it let up. Frank figured out our route for tomorrow while I napped.
Frank is reading Mark Twain short stories and I'll edit a few more pictures.
There is a pack of cookies hiding somewhere... or the Cookie Monster visited us :-D
We traveled 209 miles today.
We stopped in Hennessey Oklahoma for gas at $4.60 a gallon.
We arrived at Keystone State Park just west of Tulsa Oklahoma at 2 pm (GA Time... 1 pm CT). It is a "find your campsite and go to the camp/grocery store to register" campground. We picked a site and went to the store to register, but the two women were more interested in their conversation than registering us... when one of the women finally turned her attention to us it was a rude: " you must leave something at the campsite to register" and us "we don't wish to unhook"... then woman: "we'll send a fee collector around".
This isn't a very pretty state park... it feels dirty. It could be a beautiful park with the right management and an update to restrooms and showers... showers will be in the trailer tonight... a couple of employee changes would benefit the park too.
Our dinner was pork chops, corn muffins, apple salad and some micro-steamed veggies. The steamed veggies were beans and carrots and weren't that good... something not to buy again.
I've had a headache today. I laid down for a while and it let up. Frank figured out our route for tomorrow while I napped.
Frank is reading Mark Twain short stories and I'll edit a few more pictures.
There is a pack of cookies hiding somewhere... or the Cookie Monster visited us :-D
We traveled 209 miles today.
Monday, July 14, 2008
The phone rang at about 2 am this morning... a wrong number.... grrrr.
Frank had a rabbit run between his feet this morning while walking back from the restroom. Two cottontail rabbits were playing. He got pictures of them later.
We left Oakley Kansas at about 8:45 am (GA time... 7:45 CT).
Pretty much just a travel day. Corn and wheat fields... cattle and horses grazing on the rolling hills and flat plains. To the southwest there was a haze maybe from the California fires. We passed a lot of cattle feed lots... poor things, but I will still eat beef... I'm a horrible person :-(
We stopped in Scott City Kansas for gas at $4.82 a gallon. A stop into a Wal-Mart (in Liberal Kansas) was needed for Mylanta... Frank is having trouble with an acid stomach again. He seemed to not have much acid while we were on the west coast.
We stopped in May Oklahoma for gas at $4.60 a gallon. In the middle of nowhere gas is cheaper than in a good-size town.
We arrived at the Corp of Engineers Campground, Ft. Supply Oklahoma at about 2:40 pm (GA Time... 1:40 pm CT) We're in site 19 again. We set up and Frank went to register... took him forever and I'm starving. There wasn't a picnic area that we could get in and out of along the way. We ate ginger snaps for a snack. The host here told Frank of a better way to get to Tulsa... so worth starving for :-)
We had sandwiches and vegetable soup for dinner. I'm going to make an apple salad for tomorrow.
This is the campground that had all the geese with chicks in May. The chicks are now the size of their parents. Geese poop is everywhere, so shoes come off before our stepping into the trailer.
We traveled 262 miles today.
Frank had a rabbit run between his feet this morning while walking back from the restroom. Two cottontail rabbits were playing. He got pictures of them later.
We left Oakley Kansas at about 8:45 am (GA time... 7:45 CT).
Pretty much just a travel day. Corn and wheat fields... cattle and horses grazing on the rolling hills and flat plains. To the southwest there was a haze maybe from the California fires. We passed a lot of cattle feed lots... poor things, but I will still eat beef... I'm a horrible person :-(
We stopped in Scott City Kansas for gas at $4.82 a gallon. A stop into a Wal-Mart (in Liberal Kansas) was needed for Mylanta... Frank is having trouble with an acid stomach again. He seemed to not have much acid while we were on the west coast.
We stopped in May Oklahoma for gas at $4.60 a gallon. In the middle of nowhere gas is cheaper than in a good-size town.
We arrived at the Corp of Engineers Campground, Ft. Supply Oklahoma at about 2:40 pm (GA Time... 1:40 pm CT) We're in site 19 again. We set up and Frank went to register... took him forever and I'm starving. There wasn't a picnic area that we could get in and out of along the way. We ate ginger snaps for a snack. The host here told Frank of a better way to get to Tulsa... so worth starving for :-)
We had sandwiches and vegetable soup for dinner. I'm going to make an apple salad for tomorrow.
This is the campground that had all the geese with chicks in May. The chicks are now the size of their parents. Geese poop is everywhere, so shoes come off before our stepping into the trailer.
We traveled 262 miles today.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
We departed USAF Academy at Colorado Springs Colorado at about 10:30 am (GA time... 8:30 am MT).
A day of rolling prairie scenery with cattle and horses... then farmlands of corn and wheat. We saw a coyote just past Silma Colorado.
We bought gas in Stratton Colorado at $4.86 a gallon.
We stopped at the welcome center of Kansas for a break and a cup of coffee. Pretty good coffee, but not as good as what Zarone gave us.. I think I'm spoiled with that coffee. We snacked on ginger snaps with the coffee... only 63 more miles before our stop for the night.
We arrived at High Plains Campground in Oakley Kansas at about 3:40 (GA time... 2:40 CT)... changed time zones again.
After setting up the trailer I heated up the leftover stew from last night. I poured some Crystal Hot Sauce in it before heating... almost put too much for me.
Then shower time. The water here is very soft and I'm not sure I got all the shampoo out of my hair.... I didn't even use a dime's spot of shampoo.
Now it is time for rest.... tomorrow we'll be heading towards Ft. Supply Oklahoma.
We traveled 242 miles today.
A day of rolling prairie scenery with cattle and horses... then farmlands of corn and wheat. We saw a coyote just past Silma Colorado.
We bought gas in Stratton Colorado at $4.86 a gallon.
We stopped at the welcome center of Kansas for a break and a cup of coffee. Pretty good coffee, but not as good as what Zarone gave us.. I think I'm spoiled with that coffee. We snacked on ginger snaps with the coffee... only 63 more miles before our stop for the night.
We arrived at High Plains Campground in Oakley Kansas at about 3:40 (GA time... 2:40 CT)... changed time zones again.
After setting up the trailer I heated up the leftover stew from last night. I poured some Crystal Hot Sauce in it before heating... almost put too much for me.
Then shower time. The water here is very soft and I'm not sure I got all the shampoo out of my hair.... I didn't even use a dime's spot of shampoo.
Now it is time for rest.... tomorrow we'll be heading towards Ft. Supply Oklahoma.
We traveled 242 miles today.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
This morning we started the laundry off at about 6:15... beat everyone to it. There are four washers and dryers here and they seem to stay running most of the time. We utilized all washers and dryers.
I started a beef stew off in between the washing and drying. Frank cooked a lot more than I... he broiled a couple of pork chops and patty sausage. Then he baked biscuits and cornbread muffins. Everything but the stew and enough sausage and biscuit for the morning went in the freezer... a couple of the biscuits went with the stew.
While the stew was cooking I edited some pictures.
The stew turned out pretty good for dinner with a couple of the biscuits. I forgot to put the Crystal Hot Sauce in the stew while cooking it.. but it was okay adding it afterward.
Then more editing pictures for me. Frank went and air in the spare tire... the slow leak tire. I took a break from pictures and cleaned the inside of the trailer some.
In between cooking, cleaning and straightening we both took pictures of a ground squirrel and a couple of tassel eared (Abert) squirrels. They were fun to watch.
I called Mama this afternoon and she seemed to be doing okay.
I started a beef stew off in between the washing and drying. Frank cooked a lot more than I... he broiled a couple of pork chops and patty sausage. Then he baked biscuits and cornbread muffins. Everything but the stew and enough sausage and biscuit for the morning went in the freezer... a couple of the biscuits went with the stew.
While the stew was cooking I edited some pictures.
The stew turned out pretty good for dinner with a couple of the biscuits. I forgot to put the Crystal Hot Sauce in the stew while cooking it.. but it was okay adding it afterward.
Then more editing pictures for me. Frank went and air in the spare tire... the slow leak tire. I took a break from pictures and cleaned the inside of the trailer some.
In between cooking, cleaning and straightening we both took pictures of a ground squirrel and a couple of tassel eared (Abert) squirrels. They were fun to watch.
I called Mama this afternoon and she seemed to be doing okay.
Friday, July 11, 2008
We got up early enough to make it over to the Garden of the Gods a little after 8 am. There were quite a few people there, but none were crawling on the Balanced Rock. So we got our pictures and then made it over to the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument by a little after 9 am.
The ranger that greeted us really gave us a good over view of the monument. He answered a lot of questions... we had our own private lecture with him. Then we went on the one mile hike. It was amazing to see redwood tree stumps petrified. They had been huge trees at one time. The story of this monument is very interesting.
After our walk Frank purchased a book about Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. Finally a good souvenir for him. I promised him I would read it too. Then we had a picnic lunch.
We had planned going into to Ft. Carson, but we were both tired.... I guess all the sight-seeing and mountain air finally caught up with us.
We dropped by Wal-Mart for bread and luncheon meat. We can't buy much bread at a time... it just seems to dry out quickly. We had hoped to find a small bouquet of flowers in a vase or a small planter of house plants at Wal-Mart as a "thank you" for the lady (Linda) that has been so helpful here at the campground... but they didn't have anything suitable. We stopped at a grocery store on the way back... can't remember the name of it and it had a nice minature rose. Linda really has been helpful beyond the call of duty.
Much appreciated long showers were taken this afternoon. This is the first campground / rv park that has furnished body shampoo... melon is the flavor, but it doesn't really smell like a melon to either of us.
We sorted the laundry so we can get an early start at it.... we have either 4 or 5 loads depending on the size of the washers here.
I copied the pictures to a dvd this afternoon and then Frank helped make sure I used the external hard drive correctly and I copied them to it. It worked fine. So now... three copies of the pictures... oh and some are copied to the internet too. So maybe we can keep these memories for a long time.
The ranger that greeted us really gave us a good over view of the monument. He answered a lot of questions... we had our own private lecture with him. Then we went on the one mile hike. It was amazing to see redwood tree stumps petrified. They had been huge trees at one time. The story of this monument is very interesting.
After our walk Frank purchased a book about Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. Finally a good souvenir for him. I promised him I would read it too. Then we had a picnic lunch.
We had planned going into to Ft. Carson, but we were both tired.... I guess all the sight-seeing and mountain air finally caught up with us.
We dropped by Wal-Mart for bread and luncheon meat. We can't buy much bread at a time... it just seems to dry out quickly. We had hoped to find a small bouquet of flowers in a vase or a small planter of house plants at Wal-Mart as a "thank you" for the lady (Linda) that has been so helpful here at the campground... but they didn't have anything suitable. We stopped at a grocery store on the way back... can't remember the name of it and it had a nice minature rose. Linda really has been helpful beyond the call of duty.
Much appreciated long showers were taken this afternoon. This is the first campground / rv park that has furnished body shampoo... melon is the flavor, but it doesn't really smell like a melon to either of us.
We sorted the laundry so we can get an early start at it.... we have either 4 or 5 loads depending on the size of the washers here.
I copied the pictures to a dvd this afternoon and then Frank helped make sure I used the external hard drive correctly and I copied them to it. It worked fine. So now... three copies of the pictures... oh and some are copied to the internet too. So maybe we can keep these memories for a long time.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Today we went to Royal Gorge. It was a very hot day there... about 90 degrees and probably 40% humidity... of course not much shade. We stayed about two and a half hours there. We rode the aerial tram twice. We took pictures on the first ride over. Frank ran out of film his last click on the first trip over... so back out to the parking lot to the truck to reload and get some water too. Today I glistened a lot... so there was humidity :-)
We walked around the animal part of the park and took pictures of the animals. They had elk, bison and long horn sheep. Some of the elk had very big racks. Three of the bison were white... not albinos. One of the sheep had some very nice horns.
They had a little western town and we walked through that. A toothless cowboy was riding a long horn steer. Him and some other cowboys had a little gun fight.
We then walked across the bridge. It was hard walking up the hill just beyond the bridge. I had to sit down and catch my breath. Then we hit the gift shop. They had hats and shirts on special for $5... so we just had to have them :-D I also added to my bell collection.
We stopped at a Denny's restaurant in Canon. We had a very good meal of grilled tilapia, rice pilaf, salad and mixed veggies (squash, beans and broccoli).
We were talking so much on the way back home that we missed our turn onto highway 115. When you don't recognize the miles and miles of nothingness you are passing... you know you missed your turn :-) We picked up I-25 in Pueblo.... around there the thermometer on the truck said 101 degrees... the clouds weren't there, so probably not the humidity.
It is cloudy here in the campground, but so far no rain. The campground is very nice... my only complaint is the trains that run constantly. The tracks are just past the rim of the campground. Last night they didn't keep us awake and I don't think they will tonight.
We walked around the animal part of the park and took pictures of the animals. They had elk, bison and long horn sheep. Some of the elk had very big racks. Three of the bison were white... not albinos. One of the sheep had some very nice horns.
They had a little western town and we walked through that. A toothless cowboy was riding a long horn steer. Him and some other cowboys had a little gun fight.
We then walked across the bridge. It was hard walking up the hill just beyond the bridge. I had to sit down and catch my breath. Then we hit the gift shop. They had hats and shirts on special for $5... so we just had to have them :-D I also added to my bell collection.
We stopped at a Denny's restaurant in Canon. We had a very good meal of grilled tilapia, rice pilaf, salad and mixed veggies (squash, beans and broccoli).
We were talking so much on the way back home that we missed our turn onto highway 115. When you don't recognize the miles and miles of nothingness you are passing... you know you missed your turn :-) We picked up I-25 in Pueblo.... around there the thermometer on the truck said 101 degrees... the clouds weren't there, so probably not the humidity.
It is cloudy here in the campground, but so far no rain. The campground is very nice... my only complaint is the trains that run constantly. The tracks are just past the rim of the campground. Last night they didn't keep us awake and I don't think they will tonight.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
We left early this morning and dropped by Burger King for a sausage biscuit and orange juice.... well, it was suppose to be just a sausage patty and a biscuit, but eggs and cheese were in there too. We ate it anyway... no time to complain when you are not sure how long it will take you to get somewhere. There was suppose to be construction on I-25, but we didn't run into any.
At Pike's Peak Cog Rail they had Frank parallel park.... only a small car in front of us and nothing behind, so no problem. The truck took up a parking space and a quarter of another parking space :-) We picked up our tickets... Frank called and got us reservations last evening. I visited the restroom... none on the train and it is an hour and a half ride up the mountain. We waited a bit... watching hummingbirds at the feeder up above our heads. The lighting wasn't good enough to get the camera speed up... so no pictures.
Soon the train arrived and we got seated. The conductor, Mary, stressed a few times before our departure to use the restroom :-) We rode facing another couple.. we were on the three seat side and we were fortunate to not have anyone else in the third seat. Frank had the window seat so he could do the video taping. I didn't take any pictures from the train. It would have required standing up and my balance isn't the greatest in the higher altitudes.
The train ride was interesting and beautiful. Frank had wondered why there were so many dead trees. Pine beetles had destroyed them. There was one area that looked like a scene from The Sound of Music... beautiful green.
We had hoped to see some of the long-horn sheep, but we didn't. We did see some yellow-bellied marmot.. hopefully the pictures turned out okay.
At the summit we stopped for a while and we got out and took pictures. One elderly lady was so dizzy I thought she might fall down. I told her to drink some water... she did and stood still for a few minutes and she was all right. I told her to walk real slow and keep drinking a little water and she would be fine.. and she was. The altitude bothered both of us too. It was very hard to breathe up there.
I stopped by the restroom before we left... Frank hit it just after we arrived at the summit. I wouldn't have gotten any photos if I had waited in line for the restroom after we got there. Frank bought me a souvenir bell.
We had a pleasant trip down the mountain..... good conversation with our seat mates who were from Texas.
A little bit hard getting out of the parking area.... so many people and more cars coming in to find a parking space.
We went over to Garden of the Gods and visited the trading post there. I needed the restroom again. We bought a bell and a plate. Then off to eat lunch at the picnic grounds. We found a nice shady spot with a view of Pike's Peak. We took a few pictures of Pike's Peak after lunch. A dark cloud rolled over the summit for a while. We then drove over to the visitor's center... nothing much really there. Most of the unique rocks in the garden had people crawling or hiking on them, so not great photo opportunities.
On the way home we bought gas in Colorado Springs for $4.69 a gallon.
We came home and have pretty much crashed. There is a train tracks near by... can't see them, but we can hear them very well. The trains are frequent day and night. The ac fan doesn't drown them out. Frank put ear plugs in.... me I just tried to shut the noise out because I really hate ear plugs.
We have done a little bird watching while resting. Getting pictures is proving difficult. The lighting just sucks. There have been cow birds, house finches, steller jays, a nuthatch, a type of grosbeak and a yellow and black colored bird that may be an oriole of some type.... even a hummingbird investigated the feeders.
Tomorrow we head over to Royal Gorge Bridge.
At Pike's Peak Cog Rail they had Frank parallel park.... only a small car in front of us and nothing behind, so no problem. The truck took up a parking space and a quarter of another parking space :-) We picked up our tickets... Frank called and got us reservations last evening. I visited the restroom... none on the train and it is an hour and a half ride up the mountain. We waited a bit... watching hummingbirds at the feeder up above our heads. The lighting wasn't good enough to get the camera speed up... so no pictures.
Soon the train arrived and we got seated. The conductor, Mary, stressed a few times before our departure to use the restroom :-) We rode facing another couple.. we were on the three seat side and we were fortunate to not have anyone else in the third seat. Frank had the window seat so he could do the video taping. I didn't take any pictures from the train. It would have required standing up and my balance isn't the greatest in the higher altitudes.
The train ride was interesting and beautiful. Frank had wondered why there were so many dead trees. Pine beetles had destroyed them. There was one area that looked like a scene from The Sound of Music... beautiful green.
We had hoped to see some of the long-horn sheep, but we didn't. We did see some yellow-bellied marmot.. hopefully the pictures turned out okay.
At the summit we stopped for a while and we got out and took pictures. One elderly lady was so dizzy I thought she might fall down. I told her to drink some water... she did and stood still for a few minutes and she was all right. I told her to walk real slow and keep drinking a little water and she would be fine.. and she was. The altitude bothered both of us too. It was very hard to breathe up there.
I stopped by the restroom before we left... Frank hit it just after we arrived at the summit. I wouldn't have gotten any photos if I had waited in line for the restroom after we got there. Frank bought me a souvenir bell.
We had a pleasant trip down the mountain..... good conversation with our seat mates who were from Texas.
A little bit hard getting out of the parking area.... so many people and more cars coming in to find a parking space.
We went over to Garden of the Gods and visited the trading post there. I needed the restroom again. We bought a bell and a plate. Then off to eat lunch at the picnic grounds. We found a nice shady spot with a view of Pike's Peak. We took a few pictures of Pike's Peak after lunch. A dark cloud rolled over the summit for a while. We then drove over to the visitor's center... nothing much really there. Most of the unique rocks in the garden had people crawling or hiking on them, so not great photo opportunities.
On the way home we bought gas in Colorado Springs for $4.69 a gallon.
We came home and have pretty much crashed. There is a train tracks near by... can't see them, but we can hear them very well. The trains are frequent day and night. The ac fan doesn't drown them out. Frank put ear plugs in.... me I just tried to shut the noise out because I really hate ear plugs.
We have done a little bird watching while resting. Getting pictures is proving difficult. The lighting just sucks. There have been cow birds, house finches, steller jays, a nuthatch, a type of grosbeak and a yellow and black colored bird that may be an oriole of some type.... even a hummingbird investigated the feeders.
Tomorrow we head over to Royal Gorge Bridge.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
We left Steamboat Springs Colorado around 10:15 am (Ga Time... 8:15 am MT). Before leaving Frank chased some magpies around the campground trying to get a good picture... I think he probably got a good one. He said he is going to have to put a cot in the dark room so he can get all these rolls of film developed :-D
For a while a pleasant trip. The ride along highway 40 was beautiful. The mountain desert scene kept changing... then we climbed high mountains. We traveled along the Colorada River for a while.
We stopped in Kremmling Colorado for gas at $4.91 a gallon. We could have gotten gas a bit cheaper in a couple of other places, but there was not an easy in/out.
We almost ran over Alvin (chipmunk). We saw several more chipmunks along the way... they really liked the highway today. We also saw two coyotes doing some hunting in the grassland near the river (creek or stream... not sure exactly what waterway it was along there). Later on a coyote crossed the road right in front of us. Sadly to say one chipmunk and one antelope didn't make it across the highway. From Frank: We didn't hit them! They were hit when we saw 'em.
The unpleasant part of the trip was I-70 and I-25... just as bad as driving in Atlanta. We hit a little bit of rain just just past Idaho Springs Colorado for a few miles. We stopped at a Wendy's in Castle Rock Colorado to calm our nerves a bit and get a bite to eat. It wasn't easy finding a place to park in the shopping center behind Wendy's.
The rest of the way on I-25 to Peregrine Pines FamCamp at the United States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs Colorado was not too bad. We arrived at 4:00 pm (Ga Time... 2:00 pm MT). We thought we might get caught in a thunderstorm setting up, but it skirted around us.
We had never seen a black squirrel and took a couple of pictures of one before setting up. Then I spotted a weird critter that I couldn't get a good look at (darn thundering.. had to hurry up and set up)... it is a ground squirrel of some type. I'm sure during our stay we'll get a better look at it. Our neighbors have bird feeders out and it is feeding on the seed on the ground. There are a few Steller's Jays that feed on the ground too. Hopefully we will get a good picture of one of them too. I also saw some type of grosbeaks feeding at the feeder, but with the overcast skies there was not enough light for me to even make a guess at which one.
After setting up we went to the commissary here to see if there were any bargains. It is much like the one at home... things are cheaper at Wal-Mart.
Tomorrow morning we ride the train up Pike's Peak... we have to be there by 7:15. So early to bed early to rise.
We traveled 242 miles today.
For a while a pleasant trip. The ride along highway 40 was beautiful. The mountain desert scene kept changing... then we climbed high mountains. We traveled along the Colorada River for a while.
We stopped in Kremmling Colorado for gas at $4.91 a gallon. We could have gotten gas a bit cheaper in a couple of other places, but there was not an easy in/out.
We almost ran over Alvin (chipmunk). We saw several more chipmunks along the way... they really liked the highway today. We also saw two coyotes doing some hunting in the grassland near the river (creek or stream... not sure exactly what waterway it was along there). Later on a coyote crossed the road right in front of us. Sadly to say one chipmunk and one antelope didn't make it across the highway. From Frank: We didn't hit them! They were hit when we saw 'em.
The unpleasant part of the trip was I-70 and I-25... just as bad as driving in Atlanta. We hit a little bit of rain just just past Idaho Springs Colorado for a few miles. We stopped at a Wendy's in Castle Rock Colorado to calm our nerves a bit and get a bite to eat. It wasn't easy finding a place to park in the shopping center behind Wendy's.
The rest of the way on I-25 to Peregrine Pines FamCamp at the United States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs Colorado was not too bad. We arrived at 4:00 pm (Ga Time... 2:00 pm MT). We thought we might get caught in a thunderstorm setting up, but it skirted around us.
We had never seen a black squirrel and took a couple of pictures of one before setting up. Then I spotted a weird critter that I couldn't get a good look at (darn thundering.. had to hurry up and set up)... it is a ground squirrel of some type. I'm sure during our stay we'll get a better look at it. Our neighbors have bird feeders out and it is feeding on the seed on the ground. There are a few Steller's Jays that feed on the ground too. Hopefully we will get a good picture of one of them too. I also saw some type of grosbeaks feeding at the feeder, but with the overcast skies there was not enough light for me to even make a guess at which one.
After setting up we went to the commissary here to see if there were any bargains. It is much like the one at home... things are cheaper at Wal-Mart.
Tomorrow morning we ride the train up Pike's Peak... we have to be there by 7:15. So early to bed early to rise.
We traveled 242 miles today.
Monday, July 07, 2008
We left Vernal Utah at about 10:45 am (Ga Time... 8:45 am MT). We drove past the Dinosaur National Monument entrance again.
The desert mountain scene changed many times today... I can't really describe any of them, except they were all beautiful in their own way.
We traveled past many Prairie Dog towns today... and not a picture of any, just no place to pull over in time. Antelope and Elk were also seen today.. and sadly no pictures of the large antlers of the Elk.
We arrived at the Steamboat Campground in Steamboat Springs, Colorado at 2:15 pm (Ga Time... 12:15 MT) .
There was some thunder after we got set up and a few sprinkles of rain drops.
After dinner we walked along the bank of the Yampa river... not a very wide river here. We picked up a few more rocks :-)
Frank researched us a place to stay at while taking a peek at Pike's Peak and I took my shower. Frank came up with Peregrine Pines FamCamp at the United States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs Colorado. We'll stay Tuesday and Wednesday night there.
It is now Frank's turn for the shower. I'm updating the blog and then will transfer some pictures to a disc.
We traveled 161 miles today.
The desert mountain scene changed many times today... I can't really describe any of them, except they were all beautiful in their own way.
We traveled past many Prairie Dog towns today... and not a picture of any, just no place to pull over in time. Antelope and Elk were also seen today.. and sadly no pictures of the large antlers of the Elk.
We arrived at the Steamboat Campground in Steamboat Springs, Colorado at 2:15 pm (Ga Time... 12:15 MT) .
There was some thunder after we got set up and a few sprinkles of rain drops.
After dinner we walked along the bank of the Yampa river... not a very wide river here. We picked up a few more rocks :-)
Frank researched us a place to stay at while taking a peek at Pike's Peak and I took my shower. Frank came up with Peregrine Pines FamCamp at the United States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs Colorado. We'll stay Tuesday and Wednesday night there.
It is now Frank's turn for the shower. I'm updating the blog and then will transfer some pictures to a disc.
We traveled 161 miles today.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
We left Salt Lake City at 10:30 am ( Ga Time... 8:30 am MT). The traffic was a little bit hectic at times... and as most days there were construction areas to go through.
A lot of varing scenery today of desert and mountains. We saw 7 deer and one small moose lying dead on the sides of the road between Heber Utah and Vernal Utah. I wish they had been alive... especially the moose.
We arrived at the KOA Campground in Vernal Utah at about 2:30 pm (Ga Time... 12:30 pm MT). We were going to stay at a different campground, but it looked like it might be too difficult to get out of in the morning.
After dinner we went to Dinosaur National Monument. The quarry was not open so decided to go on the auto tour. It was a pretty good tour. There is a lot of beauty in the park. It amazes me how the mountains can be so many different colors and shapes.
Along the tour there are rocks that take on the look of a turtle and one of elephant toes or maybe "apatosaurus toes". There were also petroglyphs (drawings) on some walls of the rocks. Some drawings were of people, sheep and lizards.
We passed the Chew family ranch. The family has lived on the site since the early 1900s. They raise alfalfa, corn and other crops, as well as sheep and cattle.
At the end of the tour is Josie Bassett Morris' old homestead. She chose this beautiful spot to live in 1914. The last cabin she built with the help of her grandson and his friend was built in 1935. In 1964 she broke her hip on slippery ground while feeding her horses. She died of complications of this injury at the age of 90.
It was a nice day with clouds coming in the late afternoon. We bought gas in Vernal at $4.77 a gallon. Then we went to Wal-Mart to buy a couple of things. As we left it started to sprinkle a little rain. We were out of it by time we got home. After our showers it started to rain a bit harder.
We traveled 177 miles today plus another 60 or so on our sight-seeing tour.
A lot of varing scenery today of desert and mountains. We saw 7 deer and one small moose lying dead on the sides of the road between Heber Utah and Vernal Utah. I wish they had been alive... especially the moose.
We arrived at the KOA Campground in Vernal Utah at about 2:30 pm (Ga Time... 12:30 pm MT). We were going to stay at a different campground, but it looked like it might be too difficult to get out of in the morning.
After dinner we went to Dinosaur National Monument. The quarry was not open so decided to go on the auto tour. It was a pretty good tour. There is a lot of beauty in the park. It amazes me how the mountains can be so many different colors and shapes.
Along the tour there are rocks that take on the look of a turtle and one of elephant toes or maybe "apatosaurus toes". There were also petroglyphs (drawings) on some walls of the rocks. Some drawings were of people, sheep and lizards.
We passed the Chew family ranch. The family has lived on the site since the early 1900s. They raise alfalfa, corn and other crops, as well as sheep and cattle.
At the end of the tour is Josie Bassett Morris' old homestead. She chose this beautiful spot to live in 1914. The last cabin she built with the help of her grandson and his friend was built in 1935. In 1964 she broke her hip on slippery ground while feeding her horses. She died of complications of this injury at the age of 90.
It was a nice day with clouds coming in the late afternoon. We bought gas in Vernal at $4.77 a gallon. Then we went to Wal-Mart to buy a couple of things. As we left it started to sprinkle a little rain. We were out of it by time we got home. After our showers it started to rain a bit harder.
We traveled 177 miles today plus another 60 or so on our sight-seeing tour.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
I started us off a variation of Brunswick Stew in the slow cooker this morning.... variation was I didn't have but one can of tomatoes, so I substituted tomato soup.
We caught our shuttle van to Temple Square a few minutes after 9 am. We went on a couple of the tours. They were interesting. Two lady missionaries led our first tour which was through the vistor's center and the Tabernacle. One was from Nepal and one was from Ukraine. They spoke English very well and gave a good presentation. We got to see the beautiful organ in the Tabernacle.
Our second tour was of the Conference Center. A beautiful building with many beautiful paintings and sculptures. One of the Elders led our tour. We walked on the roof of the Conference Center. There is a garden there. We understand that it was planted in only three hours... that took quite a work force.
We then walked around the square to the front of the temple. A beautiful building. The Joesph Smith Memorial Building we passed had beautiful architecture. While walking we came across a man that works maintenance? on the square. He asked if we would like to get a picture of the temple with the water fountain spewing in front and we said yes and he got on his walkie talkie and told someone to turn the water fountain on. In just a view minutes the water gushed upward... as beautiful as Old Faithful. He also offered to take a picture of us in front of the fountain... we said yes.
We dropped by one of the cafes for a soda and made our way back to the shuttle stop. We were home a little after 2 pm and our stew was ready to eat. I dipped it out into our bowls and we sat for a few minutes with our feet up.... soon the stew was cool enough to eat. It sure was good. There is some left over for tomorrow.
Earlier at the Conference Center Frank asked the lady at the information counter where we might buy some buckets of wheat. She was kind enough to look in the phone book and call a store. She gave us the address, phone number and very good directions to the store. So after dinner Frank called and inquired of the price and we found our way there and bought some wheat. Bread sure taste better with freshly ground wheat.
On the way home we bought gas for $4.67 a gallon.
Afterward Frank dropped me back home and he went to wash the truck. When I got back inside the trailer it was a warm 78 degrees. A lot of sun was shining in the window of the door so I taped a piece of tin foil over it and then I went and took my shower. When I got back it was two degrees cooler in the trailer. The poor ac is working as hard as it can. I think it was in the upper 90s today.
Frank came back and tried calling his folks, but no answer. He watched a bit of tv while I copied pictures to a dvd. I haven't tried the portable backup drive yet. Maybe tomorrow.
Frank tried his folks again and reached them. All is fine. Then I called Mama and she is doing better.
Time to get things ready for tomorrow's adventure.
We caught our shuttle van to Temple Square a few minutes after 9 am. We went on a couple of the tours. They were interesting. Two lady missionaries led our first tour which was through the vistor's center and the Tabernacle. One was from Nepal and one was from Ukraine. They spoke English very well and gave a good presentation. We got to see the beautiful organ in the Tabernacle.
Our second tour was of the Conference Center. A beautiful building with many beautiful paintings and sculptures. One of the Elders led our tour. We walked on the roof of the Conference Center. There is a garden there. We understand that it was planted in only three hours... that took quite a work force.
We then walked around the square to the front of the temple. A beautiful building. The Joesph Smith Memorial Building we passed had beautiful architecture. While walking we came across a man that works maintenance? on the square. He asked if we would like to get a picture of the temple with the water fountain spewing in front and we said yes and he got on his walkie talkie and told someone to turn the water fountain on. In just a view minutes the water gushed upward... as beautiful as Old Faithful. He also offered to take a picture of us in front of the fountain... we said yes.
We dropped by one of the cafes for a soda and made our way back to the shuttle stop. We were home a little after 2 pm and our stew was ready to eat. I dipped it out into our bowls and we sat for a few minutes with our feet up.... soon the stew was cool enough to eat. It sure was good. There is some left over for tomorrow.
Earlier at the Conference Center Frank asked the lady at the information counter where we might buy some buckets of wheat. She was kind enough to look in the phone book and call a store. She gave us the address, phone number and very good directions to the store. So after dinner Frank called and inquired of the price and we found our way there and bought some wheat. Bread sure taste better with freshly ground wheat.
On the way home we bought gas for $4.67 a gallon.
Afterward Frank dropped me back home and he went to wash the truck. When I got back inside the trailer it was a warm 78 degrees. A lot of sun was shining in the window of the door so I taped a piece of tin foil over it and then I went and took my shower. When I got back it was two degrees cooler in the trailer. The poor ac is working as hard as it can. I think it was in the upper 90s today.
Frank came back and tried calling his folks, but no answer. He watched a bit of tv while I copied pictures to a dvd. I haven't tried the portable backup drive yet. Maybe tomorrow.
Frank tried his folks again and reached them. All is fine. Then I called Mama and she is doing better.
Time to get things ready for tomorrow's adventure.
Friday, July 04, 2008
We went to McDonald's for breakfast this morning and then we did laundry.
We lazed around for a while and we left for a tour at 2:30 pm. We stopped at the Salt Lake Marina. The driver captured some brine shrimp in a bottle for us to look at. I couldn't get a good picture of them.. they are too quick. I did get pictures of some pretty spiders :-). Frank was nice enough to get me a bottle of water... he knows how this climate dehydrates me. We then drove to the Kennecott Copper Mine... passing its smeltering section and other processing facilities on the way. The pit where they are mining was amazing. The humongous trucks looked so small from where we were at the visitor's center. The trucks are as big as house and the drivers sit about two stories high. It is was fascinating watching the scoops fill the trucks. We didn't get to look around the museum... we watched the movie. Then we went into the gift shop... I got another bell :-)
On the way back the mini tour bus we were on stopped in the entry way of a service station... the bus was out of gas and didn't make it to the pumps. He called for another bus. I think we made it back home between 6 and 6:30.
We took our showers and rested for a while. We didn't go to bed until about 10:30. Fireworks were still being set off. They didn't disturb our sleep.
We lazed around for a while and we left for a tour at 2:30 pm. We stopped at the Salt Lake Marina. The driver captured some brine shrimp in a bottle for us to look at. I couldn't get a good picture of them.. they are too quick. I did get pictures of some pretty spiders :-). Frank was nice enough to get me a bottle of water... he knows how this climate dehydrates me. We then drove to the Kennecott Copper Mine... passing its smeltering section and other processing facilities on the way. The pit where they are mining was amazing. The humongous trucks looked so small from where we were at the visitor's center. The trucks are as big as house and the drivers sit about two stories high. It is was fascinating watching the scoops fill the trucks. We didn't get to look around the museum... we watched the movie. Then we went into the gift shop... I got another bell :-)
On the way back the mini tour bus we were on stopped in the entry way of a service station... the bus was out of gas and didn't make it to the pumps. He called for another bus. I think we made it back home between 6 and 6:30.
We took our showers and rested for a while. We didn't go to bed until about 10:30. Fireworks were still being set off. They didn't disturb our sleep.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
We left at10:30 am (GA Time... 8:30 am MT). We arrived at the KOA Campground in Salt Lake City Utah at 2 pm (GA Time... 12 pm MT)
We purchased tickets for a tour tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully we won't die from the heat... can't make us happy... hate the cold and hate the dry heat. We went out to a Wal-Mart this afternoon and when we got back around 5:30 pm (MT) it was 107 degrees in the shade... it is about 80 degrees in the trailer. The ac just doesn't seem to work as well in the dry heat. We needed the basics of milk, cereal and bread. We also needed to get a tire that seemed to have a slow leak checked out. When the mechanic put the tire in the water tub, Frank saw the small bubbles before the mechanic did. The hole in the tire was at the tread close to the sidewall. Wal-mart could not fix it and did not have a tire like it so Frank had them put the spare on and put it where the spare was. It is a very slow leak so if we cannot find another one Frank will keep an eye on the air pressure so it might still be used in an emergency. Milk is cheaper here at $2.75 a gallon for 2%. We also stopped by the pumps at Wal-Mart and got gas at $4.68 a gallon.
Back home and we took a shower... the ac doesn't work in the bathhouse. The cool water felt nice though. The rest of the evening will be spent staying cool.
We traveled 142 miles today.
We purchased tickets for a tour tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully we won't die from the heat... can't make us happy... hate the cold and hate the dry heat. We went out to a Wal-Mart this afternoon and when we got back around 5:30 pm (MT) it was 107 degrees in the shade... it is about 80 degrees in the trailer. The ac just doesn't seem to work as well in the dry heat. We needed the basics of milk, cereal and bread. We also needed to get a tire that seemed to have a slow leak checked out. When the mechanic put the tire in the water tub, Frank saw the small bubbles before the mechanic did. The hole in the tire was at the tread close to the sidewall. Wal-mart could not fix it and did not have a tire like it so Frank had them put the spare on and put it where the spare was. It is a very slow leak so if we cannot find another one Frank will keep an eye on the air pressure so it might still be used in an emergency. Milk is cheaper here at $2.75 a gallon for 2%. We also stopped by the pumps at Wal-Mart and got gas at $4.68 a gallon.
Back home and we took a shower... the ac doesn't work in the bathhouse. The cool water felt nice though. The rest of the evening will be spent staying cool.
We traveled 142 miles today.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
We left out at 10:30 am (GA Time... 8:30 am MT). We arrived at McCammon RV Park, McCammon Idaho at 1:30 pm (GA Time...11:30 am MT). I cooked us up some spaghetti for dinner. I do cook ever once in a while :-D
The rv park was just off I-15. The most noise was from the trains that passed on the nearby tracks. I called Mama and there were two trains passing each other as we talked. Mama seemed to be in good spirits. She said that a physical therapist had came out on the day before and a nurse.
Frank and I walked over to the Chevron that had an A&W Root Beer store.... a couple of root beer floats were ordered. They were larger than we thought they would be and I got a bit of a tummy ache.
We got gas at $4.69 a gallon in McCammon Idaho.
We traveled 134 miles today.
The rv park was just off I-15. The most noise was from the trains that passed on the nearby tracks. I called Mama and there were two trains passing each other as we talked. Mama seemed to be in good spirits. She said that a physical therapist had came out on the day before and a nurse.
Frank and I walked over to the Chevron that had an A&W Root Beer store.... a couple of root beer floats were ordered. They were larger than we thought they would be and I got a bit of a tummy ache.
We got gas at $4.69 a gallon in McCammon Idaho.
We traveled 134 miles today.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
We left at 10 am (GA Time... 8 am MT). We thought we would miss a lot of the heavy traffic, but it was heavy most of the way through the park. A mule deer crossed in front of us as we pulled out from the campground
(Big Grin) We saw a Grizzly Bear! It was from a good distance... too far for our camera lenses, but we got it on video and you can tell it is a Grizzly Bear. We got a good look through the lookers (binoculars) at him. He looked right at us a few times. We wondered if he could see us at that distance... probably a half mile. He was crossing Alum Creek and then he seem to play in the water along the edge... jumping and splashing. Of course he could have been fishing. He was beautiful to watch.
We never got a good picture of the white pelicans with our cameras... other than the video. Frank took some more video of one before we left the area where the bear was.
The traffic was slow going out of the park... we looked at some of the video a while ago and it looked like we were going fast. We got slowed down by one bison walking right next to the truck. Then later there were three bison walking in the other lane of traffic... the one taking up the rear looked to be younger than the other two... it was smaller in size. The leader looked like it might charge us.
Then there were elk in a meadow that had traffic slowed. Then traffic got thicker and thicker as we neared the west entrance of the park. The oncoming traffic was at a stand still for a bit... nothing more than a curve slowed the traffic for them.
We arrived at Aspen RV Park... and golf course at 1:15pm (GA Time 11:15 am MT). The campground is a bit off highway 20. We passed a few farms. We were beginning to think that we would reach the mountains before we reached the campground. We drove through the golf course to get to camp site #29. Two men directed Frank into the site... I never could have directed him.
There are aspen trees all around us... and lots of BIG mosquitoes. All these trees around us and we aren't very shaded... there just aren't any sprawling limbs on the trees.
We took a walk in the evening on the edge of the golf course. We stopped at one of the campsites and took pictures of swallowtails on a flower... of course the wind was blowing about 30 mph. I managed to get a couple of shots that weren't too bad. We took pictures of an old building in a field with the Teton Mts. in the background. The mountains were a little hazy though. It was a nice walk.
We traveled 132 miles today.
.
(Big Grin) We saw a Grizzly Bear! It was from a good distance... too far for our camera lenses, but we got it on video and you can tell it is a Grizzly Bear. We got a good look through the lookers (binoculars) at him. He looked right at us a few times. We wondered if he could see us at that distance... probably a half mile. He was crossing Alum Creek and then he seem to play in the water along the edge... jumping and splashing. Of course he could have been fishing. He was beautiful to watch.
We never got a good picture of the white pelicans with our cameras... other than the video. Frank took some more video of one before we left the area where the bear was.
The traffic was slow going out of the park... we looked at some of the video a while ago and it looked like we were going fast. We got slowed down by one bison walking right next to the truck. Then later there were three bison walking in the other lane of traffic... the one taking up the rear looked to be younger than the other two... it was smaller in size. The leader looked like it might charge us.
Then there were elk in a meadow that had traffic slowed. Then traffic got thicker and thicker as we neared the west entrance of the park. The oncoming traffic was at a stand still for a bit... nothing more than a curve slowed the traffic for them.
We arrived at Aspen RV Park... and golf course at 1:15pm (GA Time 11:15 am MT). The campground is a bit off highway 20. We passed a few farms. We were beginning to think that we would reach the mountains before we reached the campground. We drove through the golf course to get to camp site #29. Two men directed Frank into the site... I never could have directed him.
There are aspen trees all around us... and lots of BIG mosquitoes. All these trees around us and we aren't very shaded... there just aren't any sprawling limbs on the trees.
We took a walk in the evening on the edge of the golf course. We stopped at one of the campsites and took pictures of swallowtails on a flower... of course the wind was blowing about 30 mph. I managed to get a couple of shots that weren't too bad. We took pictures of an old building in a field with the Teton Mts. in the background. The mountains were a little hazy though. It was a nice walk.
We traveled 132 miles today.
.
Monday, June 30, 2008
I packed us a lunch for today of ham and cheese sandwiches, potato salad and cake. We ate breakfast and left out sight-seeing around 7:30 am (MT). We headed towards Old Faithful.
Along the way we stopped at some thermal pools at West Thumb Geyser Basin. The thermal pools are beautiful and fascinating to me. The pools are different colors, some spout water and some bubble.
We made it to Old Faithful. It isn't as "faithful" as it used to be. They say it used to spout its water every hour and now it is about 90 minutes in between spouts. It teased us a bit... spurting steam and just a bit of water.... and then 15 or 20 minutes after the time it was suppose to spout it began its show. It was beautiful!
Afterwards we took the cameras back to the truck. We went into the visitor's center, but there were too many people in there... so we left there and found a shade to stand in.... it was about 80 degrees and felt warmer in the sun. Frank called his folks. All was fine at home.. they had some rain.
Then we went on to the Black Sand Basin. The thermal pools there were very beautiful. One was opalescent. There was one that spouted water pretty high. I took a couple of pictures of the edges of the pools. One had some insects in it... including a moth. There were more basins, but the parking lots were full so we didn't stop at them... I think we saw the prettiest ones anyway.
We stopped and had our lunch at one of the picnic areas near Fairy Falls. Lot of dust kicked up by vehicles coming into the picnic area... hopefully we didn't eat too much of it. The mosquitoes liked Frank and not me... very unusual. At the picnic area a girl came out of the restroom (pit toilet) and said that it was the grossest restroom she had ever been in. Her younger brother hearing this went to the trees :-)
Not far past the picnic area I could smell that it had rained. None had hit us... but the smell of dirt that had been rained on was nice.
We saw more bison along the drive. We drove the Fountain Flat and Fire Hole Canyon Drives. Both nice little drives.... the latter had a waterfall. We couldn't stop.. the parking spaces were all full.
As we neared home we ran into rain. It was only a light rain. When we got back to the trailer it looked like it had came down hard there. The temperature had dropped to 56 degrees by 2:30 pm (MT)
A beautiful and fun day... but saw no bear :-(
Along the way we stopped at some thermal pools at West Thumb Geyser Basin. The thermal pools are beautiful and fascinating to me. The pools are different colors, some spout water and some bubble.
We made it to Old Faithful. It isn't as "faithful" as it used to be. They say it used to spout its water every hour and now it is about 90 minutes in between spouts. It teased us a bit... spurting steam and just a bit of water.... and then 15 or 20 minutes after the time it was suppose to spout it began its show. It was beautiful!
Afterwards we took the cameras back to the truck. We went into the visitor's center, but there were too many people in there... so we left there and found a shade to stand in.... it was about 80 degrees and felt warmer in the sun. Frank called his folks. All was fine at home.. they had some rain.
Then we went on to the Black Sand Basin. The thermal pools there were very beautiful. One was opalescent. There was one that spouted water pretty high. I took a couple of pictures of the edges of the pools. One had some insects in it... including a moth. There were more basins, but the parking lots were full so we didn't stop at them... I think we saw the prettiest ones anyway.
We stopped and had our lunch at one of the picnic areas near Fairy Falls. Lot of dust kicked up by vehicles coming into the picnic area... hopefully we didn't eat too much of it. The mosquitoes liked Frank and not me... very unusual. At the picnic area a girl came out of the restroom (pit toilet) and said that it was the grossest restroom she had ever been in. Her younger brother hearing this went to the trees :-)
Not far past the picnic area I could smell that it had rained. None had hit us... but the smell of dirt that had been rained on was nice.
We saw more bison along the drive. We drove the Fountain Flat and Fire Hole Canyon Drives. Both nice little drives.... the latter had a waterfall. We couldn't stop.. the parking spaces were all full.
As we neared home we ran into rain. It was only a light rain. When we got back to the trailer it looked like it had came down hard there. The temperature had dropped to 56 degrees by 2:30 pm (MT)
A beautiful and fun day... but saw no bear :-(
Sunday, June 29, 2008
A little bit of difficulty leaving today. The tongue jack went up, but wouldn't come down. A fuse fixed the problem. Just hooking up was a problem. Tent campers were across from us that weren't there when we pulled in.... but one was nice enough to move his car. Frank had to put the sway control on after we pulled out of our spot. Nothing major, but enough to make one's headache worse. We pulled out at 10:30 am (GA Time 8:30 Mt T).
The scenery was beautiful on the way to Yellowstone... mountains, farmland and blue skies.
We arrived at our campground in Yellowstone, Fishing Bridge, at around 2:15 pm (GA time... 12:15 pm Mt T) (only an approximate time of arrival...neither of us looked at a clock). A bit of squirming to get in space D 117... we fit hitch to bumper, barely. The truck parks by the trailer very close to the trailer's slide out.
After setting up we ate dinner of leftover steak, peas and the potato salad. Then off sight-seeing. We traveled back towards Canyon Village and just past Mount Washburn.
The scenery at Yellowstone is beautiful. There are still signs of the fires that ravaged the park a few years back.
We saw lots of things that steamed and some that bellowed (Mud Volcano, Sulpher Caldron and Dragon's Mouth Spring) and there were cascading waterfalls and fast running rapids (Upper and Lower Falls and Lehardy Rapids). There is still snow in some places.
There was a grizzly in the woods laying by a log.... with any luck I might have it on video camera... but there was so many people and they weren't looking where they were walking... this was when we still had the trailer hooked to the truck. We managed not to have any pedestrians run into us and none of our blood vessels broke :-)
After dinner we saw mule deer and buffalo. Yep.. the people were really too close to the animals. A boy about 10 or 12 years old was gored by a buffalo a few days ago... last I heard he was in critical condition... he was posing in front of the buffalo with family members for a picture. Signs and brochures abound telling people not to get close to the wildlife, but some people just don't seem to understand.
We saw pelicans, seagulls, canada geese and a gray jay.
We got tired and came back home. We talked to some people that own a Tundra Travel Trailer like ours.... they've had no problems with theirs.
Then we took showers in the trailer and grabbed a snack. Frank read while I put the pictures I took today on dvd. Frank is asleep now. I'm about there myself.
We traveled 129 miles today.
The scenery was beautiful on the way to Yellowstone... mountains, farmland and blue skies.
We arrived at our campground in Yellowstone, Fishing Bridge, at around 2:15 pm (GA time... 12:15 pm Mt T) (only an approximate time of arrival...neither of us looked at a clock). A bit of squirming to get in space D 117... we fit hitch to bumper, barely. The truck parks by the trailer very close to the trailer's slide out.
After setting up we ate dinner of leftover steak, peas and the potato salad. Then off sight-seeing. We traveled back towards Canyon Village and just past Mount Washburn.
The scenery at Yellowstone is beautiful. There are still signs of the fires that ravaged the park a few years back.
We saw lots of things that steamed and some that bellowed (Mud Volcano, Sulpher Caldron and Dragon's Mouth Spring) and there were cascading waterfalls and fast running rapids (Upper and Lower Falls and Lehardy Rapids). There is still snow in some places.
There was a grizzly in the woods laying by a log.... with any luck I might have it on video camera... but there was so many people and they weren't looking where they were walking... this was when we still had the trailer hooked to the truck. We managed not to have any pedestrians run into us and none of our blood vessels broke :-)
After dinner we saw mule deer and buffalo. Yep.. the people were really too close to the animals. A boy about 10 or 12 years old was gored by a buffalo a few days ago... last I heard he was in critical condition... he was posing in front of the buffalo with family members for a picture. Signs and brochures abound telling people not to get close to the wildlife, but some people just don't seem to understand.
We saw pelicans, seagulls, canada geese and a gray jay.
We got tired and came back home. We talked to some people that own a Tundra Travel Trailer like ours.... they've had no problems with theirs.
Then we took showers in the trailer and grabbed a snack. Frank read while I put the pictures I took today on dvd. Frank is asleep now. I'm about there myself.
We traveled 129 miles today.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
The ac froze up yesterday evening... Frank has it going again.
This morning we did laundry... only two loads :-D While the laundry was going I stepped into the restroom... a full house in there. A couple of ladies taking showers were having a conversation... which dominated the room. One was talking to the other about a musical she had seen. She said the name of it was Mathew, Mark, Luke and Juan. She said one of the cast members was Jewish and another was gay. Her voice sounded just like the cow in the California cheese commercials :-D. I like to people listen :-)
Then we went to Wal-Mart and got a few essentials... bread, cereal, etc.... and a pair of scissors. I had Frank cut a couple of inches of my hair off... it feels better. There is no humidity here, so a good time to cut hair.
We cooked dinner today... steak and potatoes, peas and toasted French bread. I made a potato salad for tomorrow.... and perhaps a couple of more days. I'll make some and share it with y'all when we get back home, Mr. Goff :-)
I called Mama today. She is home from the hospital... she said it didn't seem like home yet. She will settle in soon. Hopefully she will behave herself.
We also called Zarone & Linda... we just can't leave them alone :-D They said the temperatures are getting hot there. It was warmer today here too... probably mid to upper 80s... they say tomorrow into the 90s.
The computer is a pain today... the WiFi signal is in and out and Internet Exlplorer doesn't want to close down... then I get it to close and 40 more pages of it pop up to close down.
I've edited pictures this afternoon and Frank has been working on places we might stay down the road and catching up on his paperwork. He keeps tabs on what we spend. Wal-mart tried to over-charge us by 93 cents today on a cake that we have no business eating... but sometimes we splurge :-D
The traffic didn't keep us awake last night... but I think at least six trains blew their whistles last night.
My allergies haven't been quite as bad this afternoon.... maybe I finally got enough antihistamine in me.
Time to get some things packed away.
This morning we did laundry... only two loads :-D While the laundry was going I stepped into the restroom... a full house in there. A couple of ladies taking showers were having a conversation... which dominated the room. One was talking to the other about a musical she had seen. She said the name of it was Mathew, Mark, Luke and Juan. She said one of the cast members was Jewish and another was gay. Her voice sounded just like the cow in the California cheese commercials :-D. I like to people listen :-)
Then we went to Wal-Mart and got a few essentials... bread, cereal, etc.... and a pair of scissors. I had Frank cut a couple of inches of my hair off... it feels better. There is no humidity here, so a good time to cut hair.
We cooked dinner today... steak and potatoes, peas and toasted French bread. I made a potato salad for tomorrow.... and perhaps a couple of more days. I'll make some and share it with y'all when we get back home, Mr. Goff :-)
I called Mama today. She is home from the hospital... she said it didn't seem like home yet. She will settle in soon. Hopefully she will behave herself.
We also called Zarone & Linda... we just can't leave them alone :-D They said the temperatures are getting hot there. It was warmer today here too... probably mid to upper 80s... they say tomorrow into the 90s.
The computer is a pain today... the WiFi signal is in and out and Internet Exlplorer doesn't want to close down... then I get it to close and 40 more pages of it pop up to close down.
I've edited pictures this afternoon and Frank has been working on places we might stay down the road and catching up on his paperwork. He keeps tabs on what we spend. Wal-mart tried to over-charge us by 93 cents today on a cake that we have no business eating... but sometimes we splurge :-D
The traffic didn't keep us awake last night... but I think at least six trains blew their whistles last night.
My allergies haven't been quite as bad this afternoon.... maybe I finally got enough antihistamine in me.
Time to get some things packed away.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Well the WiFi did work after I put the cell phone in the bedroom... something about their signal can interfere with with the WiFi.
We left at 10:15 am (GA Time... 8:15 am Mt. T). Very beautiful scenery again today. Farmlands and mountains and a river running along the roadside at times were the scenery.
We stopped at Frenchtown Montana for gas at $4.59. We stopped again for gas at Butte Montana at $4.35 a gallon... whoop-d-do!
We are in Bear Canyon Campground in site 56 at Bozeman Montana. Pretty much another parking lot type campground with electricity and water. We do have a good view out our picture window.... farmland and mountains :-)
I called Mama today. She sounded good and they say she is going home tomorrow morning. Frank called his folks and they are doing good.
We traveled 283 miles today... a very long day.
We left at 10:15 am (GA Time... 8:15 am Mt. T). Very beautiful scenery again today. Farmlands and mountains and a river running along the roadside at times were the scenery.
We stopped at Frenchtown Montana for gas at $4.59. We stopped again for gas at Butte Montana at $4.35 a gallon... whoop-d-do!
We are in Bear Canyon Campground in site 56 at Bozeman Montana. Pretty much another parking lot type campground with electricity and water. We do have a good view out our picture window.... farmland and mountains :-)
I called Mama today. She sounded good and they say she is going home tomorrow morning. Frank called his folks and they are doing good.
We traveled 283 miles today... a very long day.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
...... darn! the man and the dogs didn't show up... I probably would have gotten bitten anyway.
We left this morning at 11 am (GA Time.... 8 am PT)
We bought gas at Moses Lake for $4.79 a gallon.
I woke up not breathing so well this morning and had to take antihistamine. I had to use my inhaler... I don't have to use it very often. My breathing improved, but I was sleepy from the antihistamine and slept through Spokane. I asked Frank what I missed and he said nothing except for 14 miles on the fence it told what crops were being grown in the fields... I wish he had awakened me.
We stopped at a rest area along the way and I got a cup of coffee and woke up a bit. A lot of pretty scenery in Idaho and Montana. The mountains are beautiful. Some have just a bit of snow on them.
We stopped in Kingston Idaho and got gas at $4.72 a gallon.
We arrived at St. Regis Campground at St. Regis Montana at 4:45 pm (GA Time... 2:45 pm Mt. Time)... time zone change again. This is a nice park. It has been windy and the temps in the mid 70s.... comfortable except for the wind. The manager of the park said that cottonwood trees are blooming... hopefully our allergies will only be mild here. She also told us there was still snow on the ground just two weeks ago and 91 degrees last week ! Maybe it was a good thing we traveled so slow!
We have WiFi here, but the signal is too far away for it to work. Frank managed to find out enough information with his Streets and Trips program and our campground books to figure out where we will stay the next few days. He made a couple of reservations being it is so close to the fourth of July holiday.
We traveled 237 miles today.
We left this morning at 11 am (GA Time.... 8 am PT)
We bought gas at Moses Lake for $4.79 a gallon.
I woke up not breathing so well this morning and had to take antihistamine. I had to use my inhaler... I don't have to use it very often. My breathing improved, but I was sleepy from the antihistamine and slept through Spokane. I asked Frank what I missed and he said nothing except for 14 miles on the fence it told what crops were being grown in the fields... I wish he had awakened me.
We stopped at a rest area along the way and I got a cup of coffee and woke up a bit. A lot of pretty scenery in Idaho and Montana. The mountains are beautiful. Some have just a bit of snow on them.
We stopped in Kingston Idaho and got gas at $4.72 a gallon.
We arrived at St. Regis Campground at St. Regis Montana at 4:45 pm (GA Time... 2:45 pm Mt. Time)... time zone change again. This is a nice park. It has been windy and the temps in the mid 70s.... comfortable except for the wind. The manager of the park said that cottonwood trees are blooming... hopefully our allergies will only be mild here. She also told us there was still snow on the ground just two weeks ago and 91 degrees last week ! Maybe it was a good thing we traveled so slow!
We have WiFi here, but the signal is too far away for it to work. Frank managed to find out enough information with his Streets and Trips program and our campground books to figure out where we will stay the next few days. He made a couple of reservations being it is so close to the fourth of July holiday.
We traveled 237 miles today.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Frank went out and bought us sausage biscuits again... I think he thinks it will be a while before we get a chance to eat another one :-D (The croissants will be eaten later that Linda left out for us). While out Frank stopped by another Walgreens and found more of the Hi 8 tapes for the camcorder.
I finished packing the trailer and filling containers with water while Frank was gone. We ate breakfast.... much better with the great coffee Linda and Zarone left us than McD's coffee.
We hooked up the trailer and pulled out of their driveway at 12:30 pm (GA Time... 9:30 am PT) with no problems. Our first turn at the stop sign and there was a surveyor's tripod... Frank didn't even knock a cone over :-D
We stopped a few miles past Cle Elum at a rest stop and had lunch. Frank called his folks. Everything is fine at home.
We were going to stay in a State Park at Vantage Washington. It cost a lot more than what our Travel Life book said. You could check out a water hose to keep your site green. Anyway... we didn't like the park and drove on... getting gas in Vantage at $4.89 a gallon.
We arrived at Suncrest Resort at Moses Washington at about 6 pm (GA Time... 3 pm PT). Frank saw a Passport America book on the shelf in the office and asked if they accepted it... the lady said yes (we thought they only accepted Good Sam's)... so we got a better discount. The park is clean. The sites are a bit close together.
Frank said I've been around Linda too long. I really wanted to tell a man off this afternoon. He was walking his dog... not in the pet area, but through our campsite! He picked the poop up, but I still wanted to tell the man that you don't walk through other people's campsites and for sure don't walk your dog through other people's campsites. Maybe the next time he takes the dogs (there are two of them.... bull terriers) through our campsite I will tell him off ..... I'm a bit moody today :-D
We traveled 207 miles today.
I finished packing the trailer and filling containers with water while Frank was gone. We ate breakfast.... much better with the great coffee Linda and Zarone left us than McD's coffee.
We hooked up the trailer and pulled out of their driveway at 12:30 pm (GA Time... 9:30 am PT) with no problems. Our first turn at the stop sign and there was a surveyor's tripod... Frank didn't even knock a cone over :-D
We stopped a few miles past Cle Elum at a rest stop and had lunch. Frank called his folks. Everything is fine at home.
We were going to stay in a State Park at Vantage Washington. It cost a lot more than what our Travel Life book said. You could check out a water hose to keep your site green. Anyway... we didn't like the park and drove on... getting gas in Vantage at $4.89 a gallon.
We arrived at Suncrest Resort at Moses Washington at about 6 pm (GA Time... 3 pm PT). Frank saw a Passport America book on the shelf in the office and asked if they accepted it... the lady said yes (we thought they only accepted Good Sam's)... so we got a better discount. The park is clean. The sites are a bit close together.
Frank said I've been around Linda too long. I really wanted to tell a man off this afternoon. He was walking his dog... not in the pet area, but through our campsite! He picked the poop up, but I still wanted to tell the man that you don't walk through other people's campsites and for sure don't walk your dog through other people's campsites. Maybe the next time he takes the dogs (there are two of them.... bull terriers) through our campsite I will tell him off ..... I'm a bit moody today :-D
We traveled 207 miles today.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Our last full day here..... so hard to go.
Frank took the truck to have the oil changed and then he took the truck through a car wash. While he did that I cleaned the trailer a bit and made burned some pictures to a dvd... we discovered they won't play on any dvd player of Linda's and Zarone's... nor ours. All but one played on Linda's computer. We decided to buy an external hard drive to back the pictures and computer on. I don't know what Linda did while we did "our things" .... hopefully had a few minutes of peace :-)
When Frank got back we went shopping for the external hard drive, gas and food. Oh... first thing was drop pictures off at COSTCO for developing. We also went by Walgreens for Hi 8 tapes for the camcorder. They had them on clearance..... they had none... so later another Walgreens had one pack.
We got the external hard drive at Office Depot. We did a little shopping at COSTCO and we bought gas while out at Safeway.... maybe $4.75 a gallon
We had lunch at a Chinese buffet that I can't remember the name of... the food was good and I ate way too much!
When we got back I called Mama. She sounded like her old self. She is in rehab and they are working her hard... she may get to go home Saturday. I got disconnected from her... I think... 3 times. I wonder why?
Linda and Frank worked on fixing supper.... I just don't like cooking any more... so I let them handle it while I talked to Mama :-D I did smell smoke one time... I understand the grill got a bit hot when they were down stairs looking at pictures on the computer :-) The pork chops, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy and salad were good. I shouldn't have eaten anything because of the big lunch I had.... if I stayed here much longer I would be fatter than I all ready am ;-)
Marcy, Devin and Amber came over and later Ralph. We had a good time visiting. I'm sure we kept Zarone and Linda up way too late. I think Ralph is in trouble with Linda. Where he was sitting some black marks showed up on the carpet. Hopefully he didn't get into too much trouble ;-)
Oh... I forgot to mention that I enjoyed being around everyone's dogs too..... Rose, Riley, Sadie and of course Molly. I do enjoy petting dog ears :-D
We had the best time with Family!
Frank took the truck to have the oil changed and then he took the truck through a car wash. While he did that I cleaned the trailer a bit and made burned some pictures to a dvd... we discovered they won't play on any dvd player of Linda's and Zarone's... nor ours. All but one played on Linda's computer. We decided to buy an external hard drive to back the pictures and computer on. I don't know what Linda did while we did "our things" .... hopefully had a few minutes of peace :-)
When Frank got back we went shopping for the external hard drive, gas and food. Oh... first thing was drop pictures off at COSTCO for developing. We also went by Walgreens for Hi 8 tapes for the camcorder. They had them on clearance..... they had none... so later another Walgreens had one pack.
We got the external hard drive at Office Depot. We did a little shopping at COSTCO and we bought gas while out at Safeway.... maybe $4.75 a gallon
We had lunch at a Chinese buffet that I can't remember the name of... the food was good and I ate way too much!
When we got back I called Mama. She sounded like her old self. She is in rehab and they are working her hard... she may get to go home Saturday. I got disconnected from her... I think... 3 times. I wonder why?
Linda and Frank worked on fixing supper.... I just don't like cooking any more... so I let them handle it while I talked to Mama :-D I did smell smoke one time... I understand the grill got a bit hot when they were down stairs looking at pictures on the computer :-) The pork chops, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy and salad were good. I shouldn't have eaten anything because of the big lunch I had.... if I stayed here much longer I would be fatter than I all ready am ;-)
Marcy, Devin and Amber came over and later Ralph. We had a good time visiting. I'm sure we kept Zarone and Linda up way too late. I think Ralph is in trouble with Linda. Where he was sitting some black marks showed up on the carpet. Hopefully he didn't get into too much trouble ;-)
Oh... I forgot to mention that I enjoyed being around everyone's dogs too..... Rose, Riley, Sadie and of course Molly. I do enjoy petting dog ears :-D
We had the best time with Family!
Monday, June 23, 2008
We did another day of sight-seeing. This time we went to Mt. St. Helens National Park. J T, Kassy, Marcy, Devin and Amber went with us, Zarone and Linda. We had another great picnic lunch. It was very interesting looking at the volcanic mountain and hearing of what happened on May 18, 1980. Zarone and Linda tried to take us up the back way to Mt. St. Helens but the road was closed. At the ranger station we were told there was still five to seven feet of snow on the road! Then we had to loop around to get there from the front side. The roads were clear but there was still quite a bit of snow on the mountain. Another beautiful day!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Today the whole family got together. All the children (Devin, Amber, Lillian and Victoria) talked to me. They are all wonderful children! It was great to see Aaron again... we had not seen him since he was a little boy. He is marrying Hilary Rivas in August. He is really great with Lillian and Victoria. I didn't get to talk to Hilary much, but I like her.
We all took pictures and hopefully one day I'll get around to editing the pictures. Linda got some good shots... it was fun watching Linda and Frank running to get into position for the photos (they put the cameras on tripods and used the self-timer.. I think maybe one more tripod was needed). The kids were really good and patient with us oldsters.
We called Mama and she was doing much better.
Another wonderful evening with Zarone and Linda.
We all took pictures and hopefully one day I'll get around to editing the pictures. Linda got some good shots... it was fun watching Linda and Frank running to get into position for the photos (they put the cameras on tripods and used the self-timer.. I think maybe one more tripod was needed). The kids were really good and patient with us oldsters.
We called Mama and she was doing much better.
Another wonderful evening with Zarone and Linda.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Today was a wonderful day. Zarone, Linda, J T, Kassy, Ralph, Marcy, Devin, Amber and us went to Mt Rainier. We had a picnic lunch and really had a great time visiting and sight-seeing. Mt. Rainier is beautiful! There was still a lot of snow on the mountain. The waterfall was pretty... it was a lot colder near the waterfalls with the water spray hitting us. The visitor's center was interesting.
I got a salt and pepper set for a souvenir.
On the way home we stopped at Applebee's. We couldn't eat everything we ordered... so boxed the leftovers up. Then the kids went home and we went to Zarone's and Linda's... we stayed up way too late talking.
I got a salt and pepper set for a souvenir.
On the way home we stopped at Applebee's. We couldn't eat everything we ordered... so boxed the leftovers up. Then the kids went home and we went to Zarone's and Linda's... we stayed up way too late talking.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Zarone and Linda are working today. We decided we wanted a sausage biscuit for breakfast. We went to McDonalds. After breakfast we did laundry... we spotted a laundrymat just behind McDonalds and did 3 week's worth of laundry. The laundrymat had large washers and dryers so it didn't take forever to do the wash. We took the laundry back to the trailer and put it away.
Then we went to the BX and commissary. Frank bought a wallet in the BX and I got some hair detangler. My hair is a mess! Frank got a haircut and I probably should have too.
We stopped by Burger King for a burger and fries to go... got a meal for Linda too. We thought it was Linda that didn't like mayo on a burger, but it was Kassy. I can't remember what we had for supper.... I need a new memory chip for my brain :-)
Another enjoyable evening with Linda and Zarone.
Then we went to the BX and commissary. Frank bought a wallet in the BX and I got some hair detangler. My hair is a mess! Frank got a haircut and I probably should have too.
We stopped by Burger King for a burger and fries to go... got a meal for Linda too. We thought it was Linda that didn't like mayo on a burger, but it was Kassy. I can't remember what we had for supper.... I need a new memory chip for my brain :-)
Another enjoyable evening with Linda and Zarone.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
(these next few entries are being written way after the fact... my memory isn't the greatest)
We left at 11 am (GA Time... 8 PT)
There was beautiful scenery again. We drove around part of Lake Crescent.... very beautiful lake. The skies were a bit gray. We stopped along the way and took a couple of pictures.
Of course we ran into construction.... two times and long waits at both. We made it to Zarone's and Linda's at 2:15 pm (GA Time... 11:30 PT). (To me the time travel seems a bit off... may be one we didn't remember one of the times right and took a stab at it). It took us a bit to get the trailer parked. We set up and rested a bit until Linda got home. A little later Zarone came home and we had a great tasting supper.... I especially liked the sweet potatoes... spicy and warm to the tongue. Seems like I remember Kassy and J T coming by for a bit.
We traveled 211 miles today.
We left at 11 am (GA Time... 8 PT)
There was beautiful scenery again. We drove around part of Lake Crescent.... very beautiful lake. The skies were a bit gray. We stopped along the way and took a couple of pictures.
Of course we ran into construction.... two times and long waits at both. We made it to Zarone's and Linda's at 2:15 pm (GA Time... 11:30 PT). (To me the time travel seems a bit off... may be one we didn't remember one of the times right and took a stab at it). It took us a bit to get the trailer parked. We set up and rested a bit until Linda got home. A little later Zarone came home and we had a great tasting supper.... I especially liked the sweet potatoes... spicy and warm to the tongue. Seems like I remember Kassy and J T coming by for a bit.
We traveled 211 miles today.
Wedneday, June 18, 2008
We left Forks at 12 pm (GA Time... 9 am PT) We arrived in Clallum Bay at12:45 pm (GA Time.. 9:45 am PT) My that was a long ride ;-D We are in Sam's RV Park... site 22. Frank paid two dollars to have cable tv :-)
We set up and I made us sandwiches... those little cooler sure are nice for a picnic lunch. We went on to Makah Indian Reservation. We stopped at the local General Store to purchase our Recreational Use Permit... $10.
Then we made our way to the Cape Flattery trail parking lot. Then we toted ourselves, cameras and tripod up the trail. The walk is 3/4 of a mile there and two miles back :-D It is a beautiful walk, but one has to keep and eye out for roots, mud and step-up and step-downs of the boardwalk. We heard bird sounds along the walk that we are not familar with... the birds so high up that we couldn't find them. There are a couple of overlooks on the pathway. Beautiful views! We saw a harbor seal swimming. At another view point we saw murrees and cormorants flying about making nest. There were starfish clinging to the rocks just under the water level. We thought we heard sea lions, but the lady at the end of the trail (a Native American named Polly McCarty whose job is to be at the final overlook to talk to tourist) said it was the pelagic cormorants making that noise.
The view from the end of the trail is magnificent. The water is so clear and beautiful. Looking to the right of the platform there is another cave with birds going in and out. We were hoping to see a puffin, but none showed up.
There is a lighthouse way out in the water. It looked beautiful through my camera lens. There was a tall ship with sails in the water... a beautiful scene. The skies were mostly blue with white clouds about and near the horizon was a pinkish cloud bank that I hope shows up in the pictures I took.
Time to go back... can't spend all day looking at the beauty of this place. On the way back we had to take our jackets off. Frank was sweating and I was glistening by the time we got back to the parking lot. It was still 54 degrees when we got back to the truck. It only took us 30 minutes to walk back.... that is stopping a few times for me to let my heart slow down. Our legs hurt, but worth every pain to see what we saw today.
We then drove to the salmon hatchery. Not much to see there this time of year. There were bunches of small frys in the tanks. While there we took advantage of a good signal and called Mama. She was still a bit goofy, but seemed to be doing okay. She said they had her up walking today.
We stopped along the road back to the village and ate our sandwiches. A beautiful view of the ocean. Frank thought he saw a whale.. but it didn't move, so just a rock :-)
We drove back to the village and stopped at the marina. The lady at Cape Flattery said there were sea lions there. We didn't see any. On the way back to the truck Frank spotted a large bird and it landed on the water's edge. We got our cameras and took pictures of a juvenile bald eagle. then more eagles showed up... a couple of adults and another juvenile. I looked behind me and there were even more flying over that direction. The neatest thing was that the flying juvenile grabbed hold of one of the adult's wings. I managed to catch it with the camera... and hope Frank did too.
We wanted to see the museum, but we only had 45 minutes before they closed... so decided not to see it.
On the way home we stopped at Clallum Bay community beach. We gathered more rocks :-D
Then to top the gas tank off in town... price was $4.85 a gallon.
We called Zarone for directions and hopefully we won't get lost tomorrow.
We traveled a whole 29 miles today... plus sight-seeing.
We set up and I made us sandwiches... those little cooler sure are nice for a picnic lunch. We went on to Makah Indian Reservation. We stopped at the local General Store to purchase our Recreational Use Permit... $10.
Then we made our way to the Cape Flattery trail parking lot. Then we toted ourselves, cameras and tripod up the trail. The walk is 3/4 of a mile there and two miles back :-D It is a beautiful walk, but one has to keep and eye out for roots, mud and step-up and step-downs of the boardwalk. We heard bird sounds along the walk that we are not familar with... the birds so high up that we couldn't find them. There are a couple of overlooks on the pathway. Beautiful views! We saw a harbor seal swimming. At another view point we saw murrees and cormorants flying about making nest. There were starfish clinging to the rocks just under the water level. We thought we heard sea lions, but the lady at the end of the trail (a Native American named Polly McCarty whose job is to be at the final overlook to talk to tourist) said it was the pelagic cormorants making that noise.
The view from the end of the trail is magnificent. The water is so clear and beautiful. Looking to the right of the platform there is another cave with birds going in and out. We were hoping to see a puffin, but none showed up.
There is a lighthouse way out in the water. It looked beautiful through my camera lens. There was a tall ship with sails in the water... a beautiful scene. The skies were mostly blue with white clouds about and near the horizon was a pinkish cloud bank that I hope shows up in the pictures I took.
Time to go back... can't spend all day looking at the beauty of this place. On the way back we had to take our jackets off. Frank was sweating and I was glistening by the time we got back to the parking lot. It was still 54 degrees when we got back to the truck. It only took us 30 minutes to walk back.... that is stopping a few times for me to let my heart slow down. Our legs hurt, but worth every pain to see what we saw today.
We then drove to the salmon hatchery. Not much to see there this time of year. There were bunches of small frys in the tanks. While there we took advantage of a good signal and called Mama. She was still a bit goofy, but seemed to be doing okay. She said they had her up walking today.
We stopped along the road back to the village and ate our sandwiches. A beautiful view of the ocean. Frank thought he saw a whale.. but it didn't move, so just a rock :-)
We drove back to the village and stopped at the marina. The lady at Cape Flattery said there were sea lions there. We didn't see any. On the way back to the truck Frank spotted a large bird and it landed on the water's edge. We got our cameras and took pictures of a juvenile bald eagle. then more eagles showed up... a couple of adults and another juvenile. I looked behind me and there were even more flying over that direction. The neatest thing was that the flying juvenile grabbed hold of one of the adult's wings. I managed to catch it with the camera... and hope Frank did too.
We wanted to see the museum, but we only had 45 minutes before they closed... so decided not to see it.
On the way home we stopped at Clallum Bay community beach. We gathered more rocks :-D
Then to top the gas tank off in town... price was $4.85 a gallon.
We called Zarone for directions and hopefully we won't get lost tomorrow.
We traveled a whole 29 miles today... plus sight-seeing.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
We left at Hoquiam at 11 am (GA Time..... 8 am PT) . We saw a buck and doe tip-toeing through the campground before we left and a rabbit up the road just past the rv park. Forgot to mention that yesterday morning we had chipmunks in our campsite.
A bit of rain this morning... just a light drizzle. The skies cleared long enough for us to spot a lighthouse in the distance from Ruby Beach. It was Destruction Island Lighthouse... not accessible to the public. It is on an island a good ways from shore. The Coast Guard shut it down just this past April.
We arrived at Forks Washington at 1:50 pm (GA Time... 10:50 am PT) We are staying in Forks 101 RV Park... site 15. We ate dinner and then went over to Rialto Beach and walked a little. With the drizzle and the cold we didn't stay long, but picked up a few more rocks.
We got a voice message from Zane saying that Mama did okay with her surgery at a little after 2 pm (PT). The cell phone signal comes and goes quickly in this area.
Then we drove over to Hoh Rain Forest and we visited the visitor's center. We saw an Oregon Junco in the parking lot... beautiful coloration. I don't know how it came about, but Frank started telling the rangers there about lighter wood and he brought in a few pieces he had in the truck... it was from a long leaf pine... a tree they are not familiar with :-) We took a walk around a closed section of the campground. We saw a squirrel on the walk... can't remember which kind it was... but it was more colorful than ours back home.
We came back to camp and I looked up the number online for Phoebe Hospital and dialed the number to make sure we understood the room number okay and how to call a room... so long ago I forgot how. I had to make the poor lady repeat the phone number a few times. I don't know if it was the cell phone or my ears going in and out. My ears have fluid in them again :-(
Frank went out and bought gas at $4.75 a gallon while I looked up the phone number.
We decided to go ahead and use the showers here, which close early. The caulk on the shower isn't dry yet.
We drove around and found a little better phone signal. It was 9:05 GA Time when we got through and they had just shut down the patient phone lines and the lady transferred our call to the nurses station. The nurse said Mama was asleep and asked if we wanted to talk to her nurse... Frank said okay. Then we hear groggy Mama. She was in pain.. and the nurse had woke her up... I heard that much :-) We'll call her again tomorrow... if we can find a good signal.
We traveled 104 miles today plus sight-seeing.
A bit of rain this morning... just a light drizzle. The skies cleared long enough for us to spot a lighthouse in the distance from Ruby Beach. It was Destruction Island Lighthouse... not accessible to the public. It is on an island a good ways from shore. The Coast Guard shut it down just this past April.
We arrived at Forks Washington at 1:50 pm (GA Time... 10:50 am PT) We are staying in Forks 101 RV Park... site 15. We ate dinner and then went over to Rialto Beach and walked a little. With the drizzle and the cold we didn't stay long, but picked up a few more rocks.
We got a voice message from Zane saying that Mama did okay with her surgery at a little after 2 pm (PT). The cell phone signal comes and goes quickly in this area.
Then we drove over to Hoh Rain Forest and we visited the visitor's center. We saw an Oregon Junco in the parking lot... beautiful coloration. I don't know how it came about, but Frank started telling the rangers there about lighter wood and he brought in a few pieces he had in the truck... it was from a long leaf pine... a tree they are not familiar with :-) We took a walk around a closed section of the campground. We saw a squirrel on the walk... can't remember which kind it was... but it was more colorful than ours back home.
We came back to camp and I looked up the number online for Phoebe Hospital and dialed the number to make sure we understood the room number okay and how to call a room... so long ago I forgot how. I had to make the poor lady repeat the phone number a few times. I don't know if it was the cell phone or my ears going in and out. My ears have fluid in them again :-(
Frank went out and bought gas at $4.75 a gallon while I looked up the phone number.
We decided to go ahead and use the showers here, which close early. The caulk on the shower isn't dry yet.
We drove around and found a little better phone signal. It was 9:05 GA Time when we got through and they had just shut down the patient phone lines and the lady transferred our call to the nurses station. The nurse said Mama was asleep and asked if we wanted to talk to her nurse... Frank said okay. Then we hear groggy Mama. She was in pain.. and the nurse had woke her up... I heard that much :-) We'll call her again tomorrow... if we can find a good signal.
We traveled 104 miles today plus sight-seeing.
Monday, June 16, 2008
We left at 11:45 am (GA Time.. 8:45 PT). One little town after another at times... speed about 30 mph. Beautiful trees and hills along the way.... skies were cloudy and one time there were a few sprinkles on the windshield... think it was fog or we were in a cloud.
We arrived at Hoquiam River RV Park, Hoquiam Washington at 2:15 pm (GA Time... 11:15 PT). A nice private park... like all of them there are a lot of permanent or seasonal tenants. The bath house is clean.
A bit of rough roads today... can goods slid out from the dinette seat... the hassock bounced out of the chair. Both faucet handles were off their bases.... set screw missing on the cold water handle (we replaced the hot water one not long after we started the trip). Yesterday the latch to the sauce pan drawer broke... but it stay shut with the chair against it. When Frank was drying the shower walls down last night he discovered some of the caulking was missing.
Ah.. you guessed it... a trip to Wal-Mart. We bought gas on the way in Hoquiam for $4.75 a gallon.... the cheapest in a long time. We got the caulking, bread and soda pop and a thing or two that I can't remember at Wal-Mart (in Aberdeen). Wow!... another floor plan... I wonder how many different ones they have.
We walked to the grocery store next door to Wal-Mart and bought some luncheon meat and cheese. The Wal-Mart had very few food items. Then walk back to the truck... it was a quarter of a mile or better one way. We then drove to the inlet behind Wal-Mart. An old sailing ship is docked there, but nothing there spoke "take a picture of me".
We then drove up the block to a Mexican restaurant called Los Arcos. The food was very good. One of the dips was a slaw of cabbage, onions, peppers, tomatoes and lime juice. It was delicious. We ate shrimp dishes, but I couldn't tell you the name of the dishes. They were both good. That is when we should have done our walk :-)
We then drove to what was said to be a viewing tower of the harbor. Nothing exciting there... not even a pretty view.
We also stopped by Levee Lumber Inc for the set screws... Frank got a few extra. We thought there was an ACE Hardware in the shopping center up from Wal-Mart. We walked all the way over there and the store was out of business.
Then back to camp. Frank started talking with a man from New Hampshire. I listened a bit, but he seems to need to get in your face to talk, so I left and came back to the trailer and set up the computer... aah.. need a code. I go to the office, but there is a sign saying "I'll be right back". I stopped by Frank and Mr. New Hampshire and let him know and he said he would keep a look out for someone at the office. I got the phone from Frank and came back to the trailer and called Mama. She is to have back surgery tomorrow. I wish I were there to be with her through it.
I was going to do laundry, but the washers were full, so I rinsed out a few essentials by hand. Frank put the set screw in and caulked the shower.
Frank baked biscuits and fried sausage up for breakfast in the morning... just heat in the microwave :-D
Tomorrow we head towards the Hoh Rain Forest within the Olympic National Park.
We traveled 103 miles... plus shopping and sight-seeing miles.
We arrived at Hoquiam River RV Park, Hoquiam Washington at 2:15 pm (GA Time... 11:15 PT). A nice private park... like all of them there are a lot of permanent or seasonal tenants. The bath house is clean.
A bit of rough roads today... can goods slid out from the dinette seat... the hassock bounced out of the chair. Both faucet handles were off their bases.... set screw missing on the cold water handle (we replaced the hot water one not long after we started the trip). Yesterday the latch to the sauce pan drawer broke... but it stay shut with the chair against it. When Frank was drying the shower walls down last night he discovered some of the caulking was missing.
Ah.. you guessed it... a trip to Wal-Mart. We bought gas on the way in Hoquiam for $4.75 a gallon.... the cheapest in a long time. We got the caulking, bread and soda pop and a thing or two that I can't remember at Wal-Mart (in Aberdeen). Wow!... another floor plan... I wonder how many different ones they have.
We walked to the grocery store next door to Wal-Mart and bought some luncheon meat and cheese. The Wal-Mart had very few food items. Then walk back to the truck... it was a quarter of a mile or better one way. We then drove to the inlet behind Wal-Mart. An old sailing ship is docked there, but nothing there spoke "take a picture of me".
We then drove up the block to a Mexican restaurant called Los Arcos. The food was very good. One of the dips was a slaw of cabbage, onions, peppers, tomatoes and lime juice. It was delicious. We ate shrimp dishes, but I couldn't tell you the name of the dishes. They were both good. That is when we should have done our walk :-)
We then drove to what was said to be a viewing tower of the harbor. Nothing exciting there... not even a pretty view.
We also stopped by Levee Lumber Inc for the set screws... Frank got a few extra. We thought there was an ACE Hardware in the shopping center up from Wal-Mart. We walked all the way over there and the store was out of business.
Then back to camp. Frank started talking with a man from New Hampshire. I listened a bit, but he seems to need to get in your face to talk, so I left and came back to the trailer and set up the computer... aah.. need a code. I go to the office, but there is a sign saying "I'll be right back". I stopped by Frank and Mr. New Hampshire and let him know and he said he would keep a look out for someone at the office. I got the phone from Frank and came back to the trailer and called Mama. She is to have back surgery tomorrow. I wish I were there to be with her through it.
I was going to do laundry, but the washers were full, so I rinsed out a few essentials by hand. Frank put the set screw in and caulked the shower.
Frank baked biscuits and fried sausage up for breakfast in the morning... just heat in the microwave :-D
Tomorrow we head towards the Hoh Rain Forest within the Olympic National Park.
We traveled 103 miles... plus shopping and sight-seeing miles.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
We left Tillamook River RV Park at 11:45am (GA Time.. 8:45 am PT). More beautiful scenery along the way, but cold when we stopped at a view point to look at the ocean and stretch our legs. Frank called his Dad to wish him a happy Father's Day.
As we came into the Ft. Stevens (Warrenton/Astoria Oregon) area we missed our turn and decided to find Ft. Clatsop to turn around. We stopped in the visitor's center there and enjoyed ourselves looking at the museum and we watched a movie about the area told by a Native American woman from the Native American point of view. Sometimes it turns out pretty good missing a turn :-D.
We went to Ft. Stevens State Park and checked in... we had to wait and see if they had a site for us. After a few minutes they said they had a site for us and sent us to site #182. People were still there... they had checked out and thought they had until 1 pm to leave. There were nice and it didn't take them long to move out of the site. The site is a pull-thru which tends to be a bit close to the road. Our arrival time was 3:30 pm (GA Time... 12:30 pm PT)
I heated up some veggie soup to go along with our sandwiches. I stood and looked out the kitchen window and Frank looked out from the window by his chair. A couple of sites down from us a family was tent camping... I think 3 kids and a dog along with the parents. The teen age girl was playing her guitar and her dad had a paper bag that had something in it that made a rattling noise... sorta like a tambourine. He danced around her Indian style as she sang a song and played her guitar.
There was a large family across from us... Frank thought Mexican, but I said the granddad looked Hawaiian and grandma looked like she was oriental mixed. They were a dozen or more of them. They were fun watching... Frank watched the kids real close as they kept throwing their playground ball near the truck. Grandma... she took pictures and pictures of everyone. Towards evening grandma didn't show herself very much... it was too cold. Grandpa brought her food. Grandpa was getting a bit tipsy by bedtime. When we went to bed they had Hawaiian music playing.
Who needs tv :-D
After dinner David called and wished his Dad Happy Father's Day. Frank called Sonja, but she wasn't home yet.
Then we went to the beach and saw what is left of a shipwreck... decided it was too cold to go on the actual beach... our view was from the parking lot :-D
In that short time we walked to the edge of the parking lot the seagulls did a bang-up job of decorating the truck :-)
We then went to the War Museum. Ft. Stevens was used during the War Between the States and both World Wars. We took the underground tour... the two tour guides, us two and a man were the tour group.. My kind of tour :-)
After the tour we sat in the truck and called Sonja.
Then we found the car wash... the truck did a lot of aahing ;-) Then we got gas in Warrenton (Oregon) for $4.79 a gallon.
I had a bit of a headache all day, so I added a couple of tylenol and a chlortab to my nightly pills. I fell asleep after hearing the first little bit of a Hawaiian song. I don't think Frank got much sleep... people cars and my snoring kept him awake.
We traveled 77 miles today plus sight-seeing.
As we came into the Ft. Stevens (Warrenton/Astoria Oregon) area we missed our turn and decided to find Ft. Clatsop to turn around. We stopped in the visitor's center there and enjoyed ourselves looking at the museum and we watched a movie about the area told by a Native American woman from the Native American point of view. Sometimes it turns out pretty good missing a turn :-D.
We went to Ft. Stevens State Park and checked in... we had to wait and see if they had a site for us. After a few minutes they said they had a site for us and sent us to site #182. People were still there... they had checked out and thought they had until 1 pm to leave. There were nice and it didn't take them long to move out of the site. The site is a pull-thru which tends to be a bit close to the road. Our arrival time was 3:30 pm (GA Time... 12:30 pm PT)
I heated up some veggie soup to go along with our sandwiches. I stood and looked out the kitchen window and Frank looked out from the window by his chair. A couple of sites down from us a family was tent camping... I think 3 kids and a dog along with the parents. The teen age girl was playing her guitar and her dad had a paper bag that had something in it that made a rattling noise... sorta like a tambourine. He danced around her Indian style as she sang a song and played her guitar.
There was a large family across from us... Frank thought Mexican, but I said the granddad looked Hawaiian and grandma looked like she was oriental mixed. They were a dozen or more of them. They were fun watching... Frank watched the kids real close as they kept throwing their playground ball near the truck. Grandma... she took pictures and pictures of everyone. Towards evening grandma didn't show herself very much... it was too cold. Grandpa brought her food. Grandpa was getting a bit tipsy by bedtime. When we went to bed they had Hawaiian music playing.
Who needs tv :-D
After dinner David called and wished his Dad Happy Father's Day. Frank called Sonja, but she wasn't home yet.
Then we went to the beach and saw what is left of a shipwreck... decided it was too cold to go on the actual beach... our view was from the parking lot :-D
In that short time we walked to the edge of the parking lot the seagulls did a bang-up job of decorating the truck :-)
We then went to the War Museum. Ft. Stevens was used during the War Between the States and both World Wars. We took the underground tour... the two tour guides, us two and a man were the tour group.. My kind of tour :-)
After the tour we sat in the truck and called Sonja.
Then we found the car wash... the truck did a lot of aahing ;-) Then we got gas in Warrenton (Oregon) for $4.79 a gallon.
I had a bit of a headache all day, so I added a couple of tylenol and a chlortab to my nightly pills. I fell asleep after hearing the first little bit of a Hawaiian song. I don't think Frank got much sleep... people cars and my snoring kept him awake.
We traveled 77 miles today plus sight-seeing.
Saturday, June, 14, 2008
We left at 11:15 am ( GA Time...8:15 PT). A nice drive up the coast today... a few places it got a bit narrow. The cloud bank over the oceann was beautiful.
We were going to stay in a campground in Netarts called Big Spruce.... basically a fishing camp. It would have been alright, but there really wasn't an easy way for us to pull out in the morning. We came back to a campground we passed on the way call Tillamook River RV Park. It is a new park... nothing really to it, just a horseshoe-shaped graveled parking lot with electric and water hookups. We got here about 2:20 pm (GA Time... 11:20 am PT).
We had dinner. Then off sight-seeing. We went to Cape Meares Lighthouse and scenic viewpoint. We looked at the viewpoint first. There was a spotting scope set up and we got to see a Peregrine Falcon chick through the scope and there were some Pelagic Cormorants nesting on the hillside. My camera wouldn't pick them up. It was well worth almost freezing to death in the wind and ocean spray to see them.
Then the lighthouse... The path is all downhill going to the lighthouse then does a hairpin curve. At the level (LOL) of the path before the hairpin curve we were almost eye-level with the lens of the lighthouse.... another Fresnel Lens. The lighthouse is tower only 38 feet tall... the shortest on the Oregon Coast. We didn't go inside, but tried to get a half-decent picture with everyone going and coming from the lighthouse. Then the uphill climb to the parking lot... a view of a rock formation out in the water with three arches. The wind was so strong the picture would turned out to be a blur... I couldn't hold the camera steady.
We went down town and walked around the Farmer's Market... basically people selling crafts, plants, food and some produce.
Next up was the Tillamook Cheese Factory. It really very interesting watching the workers worker and the process of making cheese. We bought a waffle sunday... Tillamook Mudslide is the flavor we chose with a cherry topping. Our accents are so bad the girl thought we want cherry ice cream. The people behind us they they understood us just fine... they were from Texas.
We were going to do laundry, but decided we were just too tired... it was time to rest. On the way back home we got gas at $4.79 a gallon. We can't get used to people wanting to pump gas for us.
Back home... Frank called his folks and talked to his Mom. I called Mama. She was a bit tired... she had worked in the garden in the morning, then cleaned house in the afternoon. She said thunder was around them... more of a chance of rain tomorrow for them. Then we called Zarone to find the best way to come into their area.
Frank has been watching a bit of tv... cable here :-) Me typing away here... I got a couple of pictures edited earlier.
Frank is talking to the manager of the park now... getting a receipt that was forgotten about this morning. The manager is from Tallahassee Florida... hasn't been there in 32 years. I do wonder why people like to live on the coast here in the cold and wind. If its feels cold now with the wind I can (and will) only imagine it in the winter.
We traveled 68 miles today plus sight-seeing.
We were going to stay in a campground in Netarts called Big Spruce.... basically a fishing camp. It would have been alright, but there really wasn't an easy way for us to pull out in the morning. We came back to a campground we passed on the way call Tillamook River RV Park. It is a new park... nothing really to it, just a horseshoe-shaped graveled parking lot with electric and water hookups. We got here about 2:20 pm (GA Time... 11:20 am PT).
We had dinner. Then off sight-seeing. We went to Cape Meares Lighthouse and scenic viewpoint. We looked at the viewpoint first. There was a spotting scope set up and we got to see a Peregrine Falcon chick through the scope and there were some Pelagic Cormorants nesting on the hillside. My camera wouldn't pick them up. It was well worth almost freezing to death in the wind and ocean spray to see them.
Then the lighthouse... The path is all downhill going to the lighthouse then does a hairpin curve. At the level (LOL) of the path before the hairpin curve we were almost eye-level with the lens of the lighthouse.... another Fresnel Lens. The lighthouse is tower only 38 feet tall... the shortest on the Oregon Coast. We didn't go inside, but tried to get a half-decent picture with everyone going and coming from the lighthouse. Then the uphill climb to the parking lot... a view of a rock formation out in the water with three arches. The wind was so strong the picture would turned out to be a blur... I couldn't hold the camera steady.
We went down town and walked around the Farmer's Market... basically people selling crafts, plants, food and some produce.
Next up was the Tillamook Cheese Factory. It really very interesting watching the workers worker and the process of making cheese. We bought a waffle sunday... Tillamook Mudslide is the flavor we chose with a cherry topping. Our accents are so bad the girl thought we want cherry ice cream. The people behind us they they understood us just fine... they were from Texas.
We were going to do laundry, but decided we were just too tired... it was time to rest. On the way back home we got gas at $4.79 a gallon. We can't get used to people wanting to pump gas for us.
Back home... Frank called his folks and talked to his Mom. I called Mama. She was a bit tired... she had worked in the garden in the morning, then cleaned house in the afternoon. She said thunder was around them... more of a chance of rain tomorrow for them. Then we called Zarone to find the best way to come into their area.
Frank has been watching a bit of tv... cable here :-) Me typing away here... I got a couple of pictures edited earlier.
Frank is talking to the manager of the park now... getting a receipt that was forgotten about this morning. The manager is from Tallahassee Florida... hasn't been there in 32 years. I do wonder why people like to live on the coast here in the cold and wind. If its feels cold now with the wind I can (and will) only imagine it in the winter.
We traveled 68 miles today plus sight-seeing.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Oh my... Friday the 13th :-D We left at 12:30 am (GA Time... 9:30 PT). Travel went okay today despite the date.. except that we were only able to get a campground for one night. We are at Beverly Beach State Park near Newport Oregon. They are packed for the weekend. We arrived at 2:16 (GA Time.. 11:16 PT). A few spots of constructions again.
After setting up we ate dinner and went sight-seeing. We visited the visitor's center at Yaquina Head Lighthouse. We didn't go inside the lighthouse... a very long line to get in. We took a few pictures from an overlook below the lighthouse. It was very overcast, so not the best light for pictures. There were comorants, seagulls and murees on the rocks below in the ocean along with harbor seals.
We climbed down a gazillion steps to the beach area. The beach is covered with large cobblestones... basically round lava rocks. We stumbled across them to the tidal pools. The tidal pools were very interesting with sea urchins, anemones, starfish, mussels and periwinkle snails... and a few things I don't know what are :-)
We stumbled across the cobblestones to another area to get a better view of the harbor seals and brown pelicans. Some of the harbor seals are so large you wonder how they are able to move.
Then we stumbled back across some smaller cobblestones and up the gazillion steps to the parking lot.
Next stop was the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. We looked at it from the parking lot. Too tired to climb up a hill. The visitor's center told the story of both lighthouses. They pretty much all look alike when going up to the top where the fresnel lenses are housed.
Back home and showers in the trailer. I copied a bunch of pictures to a dvd and Frank has read a little, but it is hard to concentrate when there is a pit bull next door that keeps barking... a small child left unattended in the street riding his bike while his grandparents are trying to figure out how to set up a tent (they are reading the directions, so it must be a new tent) and lots of cars driving on the road. The little boy stopped riding his bike and visited his neighbors and is eating marshmallows with them. The granddad finally notices where he is :-)
After watching a bunch of things going on around us Frank says this is a redneck trailer park and it ain't even the southern part of Oregon :-D
We traveled 49.1 miles today plus sight-seeing.
After setting up we ate dinner and went sight-seeing. We visited the visitor's center at Yaquina Head Lighthouse. We didn't go inside the lighthouse... a very long line to get in. We took a few pictures from an overlook below the lighthouse. It was very overcast, so not the best light for pictures. There were comorants, seagulls and murees on the rocks below in the ocean along with harbor seals.
We climbed down a gazillion steps to the beach area. The beach is covered with large cobblestones... basically round lava rocks. We stumbled across them to the tidal pools. The tidal pools were very interesting with sea urchins, anemones, starfish, mussels and periwinkle snails... and a few things I don't know what are :-)
We stumbled across the cobblestones to another area to get a better view of the harbor seals and brown pelicans. Some of the harbor seals are so large you wonder how they are able to move.
Then we stumbled back across some smaller cobblestones and up the gazillion steps to the parking lot.
Next stop was the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. We looked at it from the parking lot. Too tired to climb up a hill. The visitor's center told the story of both lighthouses. They pretty much all look alike when going up to the top where the fresnel lenses are housed.
Back home and showers in the trailer. I copied a bunch of pictures to a dvd and Frank has read a little, but it is hard to concentrate when there is a pit bull next door that keeps barking... a small child left unattended in the street riding his bike while his grandparents are trying to figure out how to set up a tent (they are reading the directions, so it must be a new tent) and lots of cars driving on the road. The little boy stopped riding his bike and visited his neighbors and is eating marshmallows with them. The granddad finally notices where he is :-)
After watching a bunch of things going on around us Frank says this is a redneck trailer park and it ain't even the southern part of Oregon :-D
We traveled 49.1 miles today plus sight-seeing.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
We made it to Coquille River Lighthouse before the doors opened and hopefully we got a good picture. We had a nice talk with the volunteers there. We didn't go up to the top of the lighthouse. The history of the lighthouse was very interesting.... especially to the history buff in the family.
We had a nice stay at Bullard State Park... very quiet. Frank had a bit of a rough night... but is okay today. We left at 1:15 pm (GA Time) and arrived at Lakeshore RV Park just south of Florence at 3:30. It is another quiet park so far. It is clean and the showers were warm :-)
After we set up we set off sight-seeing. We only drove by Umpqua Lighthouse. Not really a place for us to park with the trailer. It had apartment housing all around it and wasn't very picturesque. We visited Sea Lion Cave. Most of the sealions were on the rocks below the cliff. We had our telephoto lens on the cameras, so hopefully there is a good picture among our cameras. Frank totes around two film cameras and the camcorder... he thinks he looks like all the Japanese tourist we saw many years ago in Hawaii that we used to chuckle at :-D The sea lions are very interesting. There was not a pleasant odor on that section of the beach... I'm guessing sea lions cause this odor :-) There were a dozen or so in the sea lion cave. We watch one of the smaller sea lions... probably a female struggle to get up on the big rock. Just amazing to watch them.
Then off to another lighthouse... Heceta Lighthouse. It too was interesting. Each lighthouse has a different and fascinating history. We did climb to the top of this one.
We stopped on the way home in Florence and bought gas at $4.83 a gallon. Then back to home and a warm shower. It was very cold at the sea lion cave. The temperature was 55 degrees, but gale force winds made it feel much colder. It was a bit warmer at the lighthouse... 57 degrees. The wind was blocked in some places by trees on the "half mile" hike "up" to the lighthouse. I think most of these hikes are mismeasured :-D
We looked some things up for travel on the internet and then I searched for what an agate looks like. It looks like we pick up some agates... maybe :-D I don't care if they are or aren't.. I just picked up what I liked.
Frank is napping and I feel like I need to... it is almost 8 pm (Pacific Time).
We traveled 67 miles... plus sight-seeing.
We had a nice stay at Bullard State Park... very quiet. Frank had a bit of a rough night... but is okay today. We left at 1:15 pm (GA Time) and arrived at Lakeshore RV Park just south of Florence at 3:30. It is another quiet park so far. It is clean and the showers were warm :-)
After we set up we set off sight-seeing. We only drove by Umpqua Lighthouse. Not really a place for us to park with the trailer. It had apartment housing all around it and wasn't very picturesque. We visited Sea Lion Cave. Most of the sealions were on the rocks below the cliff. We had our telephoto lens on the cameras, so hopefully there is a good picture among our cameras. Frank totes around two film cameras and the camcorder... he thinks he looks like all the Japanese tourist we saw many years ago in Hawaii that we used to chuckle at :-D The sea lions are very interesting. There was not a pleasant odor on that section of the beach... I'm guessing sea lions cause this odor :-) There were a dozen or so in the sea lion cave. We watch one of the smaller sea lions... probably a female struggle to get up on the big rock. Just amazing to watch them.
Then off to another lighthouse... Heceta Lighthouse. It too was interesting. Each lighthouse has a different and fascinating history. We did climb to the top of this one.
We stopped on the way home in Florence and bought gas at $4.83 a gallon. Then back to home and a warm shower. It was very cold at the sea lion cave. The temperature was 55 degrees, but gale force winds made it feel much colder. It was a bit warmer at the lighthouse... 57 degrees. The wind was blocked in some places by trees on the "half mile" hike "up" to the lighthouse. I think most of these hikes are mismeasured :-D
We looked some things up for travel on the internet and then I searched for what an agate looks like. It looks like we pick up some agates... maybe :-D I don't care if they are or aren't.. I just picked up what I liked.
Frank is napping and I feel like I need to... it is almost 8 pm (Pacific Time).
We traveled 67 miles... plus sight-seeing.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
We left at 1:20 pm (GA Time). A nice short trip up the road to Bandon Oregon. We arrived at 2:30 (GA Time). A long time to go just 24 miles. We hit some construction along the way. We are staying at Bullard State Park in site #B63. So far it is nice and quiet here. I imagine the park will be full by the weekend.
We got set up and went into Bandon for dinner. We ate at Bandon's Fish Market. They sell dinners and fresh fish. We got fried salmon, fried prawns, crab cakes, fries, garlic toast, slaw and... ew.. a Pepsi (really not that bad and I can't believe I said that about a Pepsi). We had never had salmon fried before and it was really good.... everything was really good with the exception of the slaw. I didn't eat any of the slaw, but Frank said it was just chopped up cabbage with no seasonings at all. He put some of the tartar sauce in it and said that made it edible :-D
Out of town we drive... on a scenic route... nothing very scenic about it. We went to Seven Devils State Park... a day use area... and walked on the beach. There are suppose to be agates there. There are not near as many stones as there were at Stone Lagoon on the beach. Frank said he didn't find any agates that he knows of.... I was too busy trying to keep my hands warm to pick up many stones. Nothing I picked up was pretty enough for me to keep :-) It was 58 degrees according to the truck thermometer, but it felt more like 40 degrees... the wind was blowing pretty good.
A few groceries were needed and talking to people... it was not a good idea to drag the trailer into the Wal-Mart parking lot. The nearest Wal-Mart is just past Coos Bay in North Bend... these two cities and Charleston run together. Frank was told by a park attendant here as to how to get to Wal-Mart, but she told his so many directions to things he couldn't remember what she said, so we stopped in at North Bend's visitor's center. The elderly lady there showed us on the map how to get there and gave us the map and loaded us up on more brochures of Oregon :-)
We found Wal-Mart. It would have been very difficult finding it with the trailer following us. It is a very small parking lot compared to most Wal-Mart's. .... I think that was a 21 mile trip one way to Wal-Mart. We figure we will have learned every floor plan the company has by time we get back to Georgia :-D We bought frozen biscuits... so next time we are stopped long enough some will get baked :-)
We we back into Bandon for gas at $4.85 a gallon.
The lighthouse is not far from the campground. We drove by there to see what time they open in the morning. They open at 9, so we'll go a bit earlier than that to take a few pictures of the lighthouse and then take a tour. It is no taller than the last one, so we should make it up and down it okay.
We came back and put away the groceries and went up to the bathhouse for our showers. The dreaded push button ones. They also have no shower curtain so the floor gets all wet and there is no dry place to put clothes on.
Frank looked at the Streets and Trips program some and I ate an apple and made coffee for in the morning. Then Frank is through with the computer... he ate a snack of something. When you eat like we did today nothing much is needed in the evening. So far Frank isn't sick with acid reflux. I'm doing the journal and he is reading Mark Twain.
We traveled 24 miles today plus extra miles driving scenic routes and to North Bend.
We got set up and went into Bandon for dinner. We ate at Bandon's Fish Market. They sell dinners and fresh fish. We got fried salmon, fried prawns, crab cakes, fries, garlic toast, slaw and... ew.. a Pepsi (really not that bad and I can't believe I said that about a Pepsi). We had never had salmon fried before and it was really good.... everything was really good with the exception of the slaw. I didn't eat any of the slaw, but Frank said it was just chopped up cabbage with no seasonings at all. He put some of the tartar sauce in it and said that made it edible :-D
Out of town we drive... on a scenic route... nothing very scenic about it. We went to Seven Devils State Park... a day use area... and walked on the beach. There are suppose to be agates there. There are not near as many stones as there were at Stone Lagoon on the beach. Frank said he didn't find any agates that he knows of.... I was too busy trying to keep my hands warm to pick up many stones. Nothing I picked up was pretty enough for me to keep :-) It was 58 degrees according to the truck thermometer, but it felt more like 40 degrees... the wind was blowing pretty good.
A few groceries were needed and talking to people... it was not a good idea to drag the trailer into the Wal-Mart parking lot. The nearest Wal-Mart is just past Coos Bay in North Bend... these two cities and Charleston run together. Frank was told by a park attendant here as to how to get to Wal-Mart, but she told his so many directions to things he couldn't remember what she said, so we stopped in at North Bend's visitor's center. The elderly lady there showed us on the map how to get there and gave us the map and loaded us up on more brochures of Oregon :-)
We found Wal-Mart. It would have been very difficult finding it with the trailer following us. It is a very small parking lot compared to most Wal-Mart's. .... I think that was a 21 mile trip one way to Wal-Mart. We figure we will have learned every floor plan the company has by time we get back to Georgia :-D We bought frozen biscuits... so next time we are stopped long enough some will get baked :-)
We we back into Bandon for gas at $4.85 a gallon.
The lighthouse is not far from the campground. We drove by there to see what time they open in the morning. They open at 9, so we'll go a bit earlier than that to take a few pictures of the lighthouse and then take a tour. It is no taller than the last one, so we should make it up and down it okay.
We came back and put away the groceries and went up to the bathhouse for our showers. The dreaded push button ones. They also have no shower curtain so the floor gets all wet and there is no dry place to put clothes on.
Frank looked at the Streets and Trips program some and I ate an apple and made coffee for in the morning. Then Frank is through with the computer... he ate a snack of something. When you eat like we did today nothing much is needed in the evening. So far Frank isn't sick with acid reflux. I'm doing the journal and he is reading Mark Twain.
We traveled 24 miles today plus extra miles driving scenic routes and to North Bend.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
We got everything about ready to go this morning and then went back over to the head of the trail we walked yesterday and took pictures again with good light. We left Harris State Park at 12:30 (GA Time).
It was another beautiful drive this morning... the temp started off around 55 degees. We made it up to 58 degrees, but with the wind it felt about 40 degrees. It may have been a bit warmer this evening after the sun came out.... but I'm now in my cozy home :-D
We are in Port Orford Oregon. We decided to camp at Camp Blanco RV Park... it is on highway 101... arrival time of 1:30 (GA Time). The park that was Passport America was crappy. We got settled in and ate dinner... veggie soup and a sandwich and then went off sight-seeing.
The port here is interesting... you usually see boats docked at the marina / pier, but here they lift the boats out of the water and set them on dollys (look like boat trailers) until it is time for them to go back into the water. There are only small fishing boats. There really isn't much else to the small town.
We drove a bit northward and visited the Cape Blanco Lighthouse. We both managed to climb up and down it... I wasn't sure of climbing back down the ladder part. It was interesting to actually see the light in the lighthouse.
Back to camp now... cable tv and I updated the computer, read the headlines and transferred pictures to a dvd.
We traveled a short distance today... hey... the mileage isn't figured up yet by the mathematician :-D
It was another beautiful drive this morning... the temp started off around 55 degees. We made it up to 58 degrees, but with the wind it felt about 40 degrees. It may have been a bit warmer this evening after the sun came out.... but I'm now in my cozy home :-D
We are in Port Orford Oregon. We decided to camp at Camp Blanco RV Park... it is on highway 101... arrival time of 1:30 (GA Time). The park that was Passport America was crappy. We got settled in and ate dinner... veggie soup and a sandwich and then went off sight-seeing.
The port here is interesting... you usually see boats docked at the marina / pier, but here they lift the boats out of the water and set them on dollys (look like boat trailers) until it is time for them to go back into the water. There are only small fishing boats. There really isn't much else to the small town.
We drove a bit northward and visited the Cape Blanco Lighthouse. We both managed to climb up and down it... I wasn't sure of climbing back down the ladder part. It was interesting to actually see the light in the lighthouse.
Back to camp now... cable tv and I updated the computer, read the headlines and transferred pictures to a dvd.
We traveled a short distance today... hey... the mileage isn't figured up yet by the mathematician :-D
Monday, June 09, 2008
We got most everything ready this morning and went over to the beach and became rock hounds :-D We had fun walking the beach and stuffing our pockets full of stones.
We tried our best to be out by shortly after noon (GA Time). We finally got left at around 1 pm (GA Time). People kept talking to us... which is fine.. that is part of traveling the USA... meeting people. The man that told us about this park, Redwood Trails (Stone Lagoon) Campground, stopped by and gave us a couple of agates. I don't think we picked any up while playing rock hounds. The man next door told us they had a window fall out somewhere along the road.. they have no idea when. He replaced it with a piece of plexy glass... taped in.. for now.
The drive along Newton B. Drury Scenic Drive was just beautiful.. I don't know which was better walking through the giants of driving through them.... just a treat to do both. The Pacific Ocean is very beautiful too. The color is so much different than the Atlantic Ocean. One night I would like to stay up an see the sunset over the ocean.
We got gas in Crescent City California at $4.99 a gallon.
We stopped by the Visitors Center here at Brookings Oregon. The attendant there gave us a sack full of stuff to look over.
We arrived at Harris Beach State Park (Brookings Oregon) at 3:45 pm (GA Time) We had to wait 15 minutes to get into our assigned spot. The people before us were staying until the last minute.
It was sunny when we first got here then it quickly clouded up and the dampness could be felt... the temperature was about 62 degrees and is still so at 7 pm (PT)
I managed to fix dinner... an interuption of opening the frig door and the bottom door rack falling out.... water bottle and tea bottle hit the floor and the rack hit my right pinkie finger bruising it... at least I think that is all the damage it did. A cup or so of tea spilled all over the floor. Frank got to it before it reached the carpet.... while I dealt with the pain of my finger. We ate dinner about 2 pm (Pacific Time). Pulled pork, baked beans and corn were the fare.
After dinner we went for a walk on the beach. We went downhill a short ways in the campground and then crossed the road that comes to the entrance of the park. We went uphill for a bit. We had a great view of the beach from up there. So we decided to go back and get our cameras.
Now back to the trail where we turned around... some beautiful roses. I took pictures and hope something turned out. There were also other wildflowers along the way. Then the view was spetacular and more pictures were taken. We then became mountain goats and climbed down the hillside... making those hairpin turns that the truck has gotten used to doing. Frank had his walking stick and I had my cane. I don't think we would have made the climb down without them.
We saw a squirrel before reaching the bottom... I think his name was Rocky. He sure could scale the rocks in no time. By this time we thought we might just have made a mistake coming down that hill. We found a less steep way of getting back to camp though. We climbed over rocks to get to the beach.... from soft ball size to cinder block size. The Big Rocks (several building stories high) along the shore were beautiful... one with a hole in the middle that water came through and formed a tidal pool. We didn't see any critters in the pool.
We took more pictures and went back over the rocks again to the other path. We managed to make it down the slightly steep hill going back down.... think of a slide... I kept hoping that it wouldn't become one. Next climbing over extremely large driftwood... maybe small redwood size :-D Then the walk along the beach. No stones or seashells... just dark gray sand, dead crabs and dead sand fleas. We took more pictures.
We rested a bit up by the picnic tables at the day use area. There were some girls up on one of the rocky hills feeding squirrels with seagulls waiting for their turn. The squirrels were crawling all over the girls. We looked down and squirrels were all around us too. A much different squirrel than back home. We got pictures of them... so maybe we can identify which species of squirrels it is later.
Then our gentle climb back to home. We walked up the day use area parking lot and up the road past the entrance to the campground and up to our path leading to our site... site # A-29. I'm not sure if we were in fog or if it was misting rain on the way back.
It was such a gentle walk uphill that I didn't get out of breath.... but it is easier to breathe at this lower elevation. Crescent City California's elevation was only 44 ft and I don't think it is much different here... except on the hills going towards the beach :-D
Then our showers. We decided to use the campground showers. There was enough sand in my shower stall to make a good start on a sand castle... the same for Frank. I wore my Crocs up there and kept them on while showering,,, I still managed to wash my feet. We thought about doing the laundry here, but the machines are constantly busy and a bit expensive.
After we settled down the sun came back out. You can't have perfect light for pictures all the time.
We've seen Stellar Jays here, but they seem to hide when we have the cameras handy.
We've looked at a bunch of stuff that the man at the Visitor's Center gave us this evening. It looks like there is a lot to see and do on the Oregon coast.
We traveled 76 miles today.
We tried our best to be out by shortly after noon (GA Time). We finally got left at around 1 pm (GA Time). People kept talking to us... which is fine.. that is part of traveling the USA... meeting people. The man that told us about this park, Redwood Trails (Stone Lagoon) Campground, stopped by and gave us a couple of agates. I don't think we picked any up while playing rock hounds. The man next door told us they had a window fall out somewhere along the road.. they have no idea when. He replaced it with a piece of plexy glass... taped in.. for now.
The drive along Newton B. Drury Scenic Drive was just beautiful.. I don't know which was better walking through the giants of driving through them.... just a treat to do both. The Pacific Ocean is very beautiful too. The color is so much different than the Atlantic Ocean. One night I would like to stay up an see the sunset over the ocean.
We got gas in Crescent City California at $4.99 a gallon.
We stopped by the Visitors Center here at Brookings Oregon. The attendant there gave us a sack full of stuff to look over.
We arrived at Harris Beach State Park (Brookings Oregon) at 3:45 pm (GA Time) We had to wait 15 minutes to get into our assigned spot. The people before us were staying until the last minute.
It was sunny when we first got here then it quickly clouded up and the dampness could be felt... the temperature was about 62 degrees and is still so at 7 pm (PT)
I managed to fix dinner... an interuption of opening the frig door and the bottom door rack falling out.... water bottle and tea bottle hit the floor and the rack hit my right pinkie finger bruising it... at least I think that is all the damage it did. A cup or so of tea spilled all over the floor. Frank got to it before it reached the carpet.... while I dealt with the pain of my finger. We ate dinner about 2 pm (Pacific Time). Pulled pork, baked beans and corn were the fare.
After dinner we went for a walk on the beach. We went downhill a short ways in the campground and then crossed the road that comes to the entrance of the park. We went uphill for a bit. We had a great view of the beach from up there. So we decided to go back and get our cameras.
Now back to the trail where we turned around... some beautiful roses. I took pictures and hope something turned out. There were also other wildflowers along the way. Then the view was spetacular and more pictures were taken. We then became mountain goats and climbed down the hillside... making those hairpin turns that the truck has gotten used to doing. Frank had his walking stick and I had my cane. I don't think we would have made the climb down without them.
We saw a squirrel before reaching the bottom... I think his name was Rocky. He sure could scale the rocks in no time. By this time we thought we might just have made a mistake coming down that hill. We found a less steep way of getting back to camp though. We climbed over rocks to get to the beach.... from soft ball size to cinder block size. The Big Rocks (several building stories high) along the shore were beautiful... one with a hole in the middle that water came through and formed a tidal pool. We didn't see any critters in the pool.
We took more pictures and went back over the rocks again to the other path. We managed to make it down the slightly steep hill going back down.... think of a slide... I kept hoping that it wouldn't become one. Next climbing over extremely large driftwood... maybe small redwood size :-D Then the walk along the beach. No stones or seashells... just dark gray sand, dead crabs and dead sand fleas. We took more pictures.
We rested a bit up by the picnic tables at the day use area. There were some girls up on one of the rocky hills feeding squirrels with seagulls waiting for their turn. The squirrels were crawling all over the girls. We looked down and squirrels were all around us too. A much different squirrel than back home. We got pictures of them... so maybe we can identify which species of squirrels it is later.
Then our gentle climb back to home. We walked up the day use area parking lot and up the road past the entrance to the campground and up to our path leading to our site... site # A-29. I'm not sure if we were in fog or if it was misting rain on the way back.
It was such a gentle walk uphill that I didn't get out of breath.... but it is easier to breathe at this lower elevation. Crescent City California's elevation was only 44 ft and I don't think it is much different here... except on the hills going towards the beach :-D
Then our showers. We decided to use the campground showers. There was enough sand in my shower stall to make a good start on a sand castle... the same for Frank. I wore my Crocs up there and kept them on while showering,,, I still managed to wash my feet. We thought about doing the laundry here, but the machines are constantly busy and a bit expensive.
After we settled down the sun came back out. You can't have perfect light for pictures all the time.
We've seen Stellar Jays here, but they seem to hide when we have the cameras handy.
We've looked at a bunch of stuff that the man at the Visitor's Center gave us this evening. It looks like there is a lot to see and do on the Oregon coast.
We traveled 76 miles today.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
We left at 10 am (GA Time) We stopped in Eureka for gas... $4.99 a gallon.
We arrived at Redwood Trails campground near Trinidad at 1:30 pm. The drive was very nice... the scenery was beautiful. Mostly gentle mountain roads with assorted flowers growing on the roadside. There are rhododendron in bloom... that is all I recognize... but lots of plants with yellow blooms that are very fragrant.
We had the rest of the deli chicken today and some steamed veggies. We passed by a couple of Mcdonalds and a Burger King and I kept thinking "biscuit"... if there had been a place to park I would have made Frank stop :-) Maybe next grocery store visit we'll buy either some canned or frozen ones.... or maybe try Bisquick :-)
After dinner we drove across the road... this was over a mile and uphill... to the beach (Stone Lagoon Beach). Instead of sand, rocks cover the beach... from pebble size to softball size and a few boulders sitting in the water and along the water's edge. We walked along the beach and filled our pockets with the beautiful stones. Frank would have lost his breeches if he hadn't had his suspenders on :-D
We then drove north on highway 101 and stopped at the visitor's center. Frank talked to a ranger there about short and easy hikes we might be able to do to see some redwood trees. She told us the Lady Bird Johnson Grove hike was one mile and not very steep. As we were about to leave we decided to take pictures of the swallows that were nesting at the visitor's center. About every corner you can find they had a nest in... either sitting on the nest, feeding babies or building a nest.
We took a brochure at the entrance of the grove hike. It told interesting facts about the grove. The large trees are overwhelmingly beautiful. I took four pictures going up one tree... I'm going to play with those pictures one day and see if I can stitch them together (in my editing program) and make it a whole tree :-)
There were rhododendron growing amongst the tall trees, but none with blooms low enough that I could get a picture of. There were pretty white flowers growing and a plant I know the name of with bell shaped flowers... but can't think of the name.. sometimes the brain just doesn't work. There were also ferns.. I think they said Sword Ferns.. growing in the grove too. We could hear birds, but not see them until the end of our walk.. one of the jays.. Stellar maybe.
We stopped by the visitor's center on the way back to camp. We wanted to make sure we could drive the Newton B. Drury Parkway... some roads don't allow trailers. When we pulled into the visitor's center I noticed a bug crawling on the inside of the windshield. I couldn't reach it with my seat belt on. Frank got it when we stopped... a tick. We keep checking to make sure we don't have any on us.
When we drove back into the campground we decided to stop and take pictures of the elk in the campground. Just glancing at my photos I didn't get much of anything that was good.
Then showers and plugging in cameras, camcorders, etc to recharge. Then a sandwich.... Frank reading and me writing.
We had to put down a five dollar deposit for the bathhouse key. They don't open until 9 am in the morning... so we have to wait to get our five dollars back. We'll get the trailer mostly ready and go over to the beach and collect more beautiful stones :-)
We drove 168 miles today.
We arrived at Redwood Trails campground near Trinidad at 1:30 pm. The drive was very nice... the scenery was beautiful. Mostly gentle mountain roads with assorted flowers growing on the roadside. There are rhododendron in bloom... that is all I recognize... but lots of plants with yellow blooms that are very fragrant.
We had the rest of the deli chicken today and some steamed veggies. We passed by a couple of Mcdonalds and a Burger King and I kept thinking "biscuit"... if there had been a place to park I would have made Frank stop :-) Maybe next grocery store visit we'll buy either some canned or frozen ones.... or maybe try Bisquick :-)
After dinner we drove across the road... this was over a mile and uphill... to the beach (Stone Lagoon Beach). Instead of sand, rocks cover the beach... from pebble size to softball size and a few boulders sitting in the water and along the water's edge. We walked along the beach and filled our pockets with the beautiful stones. Frank would have lost his breeches if he hadn't had his suspenders on :-D
We then drove north on highway 101 and stopped at the visitor's center. Frank talked to a ranger there about short and easy hikes we might be able to do to see some redwood trees. She told us the Lady Bird Johnson Grove hike was one mile and not very steep. As we were about to leave we decided to take pictures of the swallows that were nesting at the visitor's center. About every corner you can find they had a nest in... either sitting on the nest, feeding babies or building a nest.
We took a brochure at the entrance of the grove hike. It told interesting facts about the grove. The large trees are overwhelmingly beautiful. I took four pictures going up one tree... I'm going to play with those pictures one day and see if I can stitch them together (in my editing program) and make it a whole tree :-)
There were rhododendron growing amongst the tall trees, but none with blooms low enough that I could get a picture of. There were pretty white flowers growing and a plant I know the name of with bell shaped flowers... but can't think of the name.. sometimes the brain just doesn't work. There were also ferns.. I think they said Sword Ferns.. growing in the grove too. We could hear birds, but not see them until the end of our walk.. one of the jays.. Stellar maybe.
We stopped by the visitor's center on the way back to camp. We wanted to make sure we could drive the Newton B. Drury Parkway... some roads don't allow trailers. When we pulled into the visitor's center I noticed a bug crawling on the inside of the windshield. I couldn't reach it with my seat belt on. Frank got it when we stopped... a tick. We keep checking to make sure we don't have any on us.
When we drove back into the campground we decided to stop and take pictures of the elk in the campground. Just glancing at my photos I didn't get much of anything that was good.
Then showers and plugging in cameras, camcorders, etc to recharge. Then a sandwich.... Frank reading and me writing.
We had to put down a five dollar deposit for the bathhouse key. They don't open until 9 am in the morning... so we have to wait to get our five dollars back. We'll get the trailer mostly ready and go over to the beach and collect more beautiful stones :-)
We drove 168 miles today.
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