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.
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.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
A day of mostly rest. This morning I deleted a bunch of stuff from the computer and Frank printed out a bunch of stuff... after dinner a disk cleanup and defrag of the computer.
Dinner today was Slum Goody and corn muffins. I upped the temperature on the oven and the muffins turned out much better. A bit of a delay in cooking them. The owner of the campground (Sleepy Hollow) wanted to check some of the electrical boxes... so no electricity for a while.
Thoughts of Uncle Henry and Aunt Zell came to mind... while the owner of Sleepy Hollow was checking out the electrical box at our site a man came up to him that wanted a site for a couple of nights while he got the contents of his trailer in order (and then move on to Oregon). His trailer is in the campground about two miles down the road. The campground down the road has new owners who have been evicting a lot of tenants. The owner of Sleepy Hollow said he would have to check with his wife... she is the one that takes care of reservations and he didn't know if anyone was coming in. Sounds like Uncle Henry handing things over to Aunt Zell. The owner called his wife and she came down and talked to the man at their office... I wish I could have heard that conversation :-) The man left and she came down and told her husband that she told the man that they didn't have a place for him. She said the man started telling her about the problems in the other campground and how he reported to whoever about not enough amperage in the electrical hooksups... she said she decided right then and there that he wasn't going to be staying in their campground... she already had one of "those" people.
Frank to talked to his folks this morning and I talked to Mama. They had a bit of a hard time hearing us. For the most part we could hear them just fine... not bad for not even one bar showing on the phone.
Frank has talked to a lot of people here and could say more about them than I could. Most are interesting. The one I remember most is Jorgen Jorgenson... said he had cursed his parents 65 years for that :-) He will move into the spot we are in next week for at least a year. He told us that he had checked out the other campground and no way would he stay there.
The county the town of Willit is in is the marijuana capital of California. Riding through town the people look like the Hippies from long ago.
After dinner cleanup and tea making I took my camera out and chased birds. I don't have a lot of good pictures, but some I'm proud to have gotten. I've never seen a Green Heron in person. I didn't get pictures of the proud parents, but I got pictures of three of the chicks. They look like they are ready to leave the nest. I did get a couple of so-so pictures of a Mallard Duck.
Dinner today was Slum Goody and corn muffins. I upped the temperature on the oven and the muffins turned out much better. A bit of a delay in cooking them. The owner of the campground (Sleepy Hollow) wanted to check some of the electrical boxes... so no electricity for a while.
Thoughts of Uncle Henry and Aunt Zell came to mind... while the owner of Sleepy Hollow was checking out the electrical box at our site a man came up to him that wanted a site for a couple of nights while he got the contents of his trailer in order (and then move on to Oregon). His trailer is in the campground about two miles down the road. The campground down the road has new owners who have been evicting a lot of tenants. The owner of Sleepy Hollow said he would have to check with his wife... she is the one that takes care of reservations and he didn't know if anyone was coming in. Sounds like Uncle Henry handing things over to Aunt Zell. The owner called his wife and she came down and talked to the man at their office... I wish I could have heard that conversation :-) The man left and she came down and told her husband that she told the man that they didn't have a place for him. She said the man started telling her about the problems in the other campground and how he reported to whoever about not enough amperage in the electrical hooksups... she said she decided right then and there that he wasn't going to be staying in their campground... she already had one of "those" people.
Frank to talked to his folks this morning and I talked to Mama. They had a bit of a hard time hearing us. For the most part we could hear them just fine... not bad for not even one bar showing on the phone.
Frank has talked to a lot of people here and could say more about them than I could. Most are interesting. The one I remember most is Jorgen Jorgenson... said he had cursed his parents 65 years for that :-) He will move into the spot we are in next week for at least a year. He told us that he had checked out the other campground and no way would he stay there.
The county the town of Willit is in is the marijuana capital of California. Riding through town the people look like the Hippies from long ago.
After dinner cleanup and tea making I took my camera out and chased birds. I don't have a lot of good pictures, but some I'm proud to have gotten. I've never seen a Green Heron in person. I didn't get pictures of the proud parents, but I got pictures of three of the chicks. They look like they are ready to leave the nest. I did get a couple of so-so pictures of a Mallard Duck.
Friday, June 06, 2008
We left at 10:30 am (GA Time). The road was not near as bad as what we went through yesterday. Between Williams CA and Clear Lake Oaks CA (hwy 20) there was one way traffic for probably about two miles. More traffic was coming from the west than going west... the direction of our travel. We had to sit for a few minutes and then it was slow going for a bit.
We stopped at Wal-Mart in Yuba City CA. We got another battery... just in case that is what the problem might be with the slide out. We also found some cheaper bread :-) We bought some bananas.... 55 cents a pound instead of the 70 cents or more we have been seeing. In the next shopping complex there was a Home Depot so we went in and Frank got some wire to wire the battery.
We stopped at Clear Lake Oaks for gas at $4.99 a gallon. We then seemed to drive forever around Clear Lake. It is a big lake... it was a bit windy and there were white caps and waves hitting the shore.
We are in a campground called Sleepy Hollow just north of a town called Willit. We arrived at about 4 pm (GA Time). We plan on staying two nights. No one has come to collect the campground fees. The information on the door says they need advance notice for more than one night. I don't think there will be a problem staying two nights... but if so we can move on.
The campground is on the side of the mountain. This one dips down and then uphill. It is mostly shaded and is suppose to have 18 sites here, but we haven't come up with that number yet. There are some Mallard Ducks, Green Herons and some woodpeckers. Maybe tomorrow we can get some good pictures of them.
We finished the fried chicken off today and had some steamed veggies. I want something that resembles a biscuit. Tomorrow I'll cook us up something real good :-D
We traveled 174 miles today.
We stopped at Wal-Mart in Yuba City CA. We got another battery... just in case that is what the problem might be with the slide out. We also found some cheaper bread :-) We bought some bananas.... 55 cents a pound instead of the 70 cents or more we have been seeing. In the next shopping complex there was a Home Depot so we went in and Frank got some wire to wire the battery.
We stopped at Clear Lake Oaks for gas at $4.99 a gallon. We then seemed to drive forever around Clear Lake. It is a big lake... it was a bit windy and there were white caps and waves hitting the shore.
We are in a campground called Sleepy Hollow just north of a town called Willit. We arrived at about 4 pm (GA Time). We plan on staying two nights. No one has come to collect the campground fees. The information on the door says they need advance notice for more than one night. I don't think there will be a problem staying two nights... but if so we can move on.
The campground is on the side of the mountain. This one dips down and then uphill. It is mostly shaded and is suppose to have 18 sites here, but we haven't come up with that number yet. There are some Mallard Ducks, Green Herons and some woodpeckers. Maybe tomorrow we can get some good pictures of them.
We finished the fried chicken off today and had some steamed veggies. I want something that resembles a biscuit. Tomorrow I'll cook us up something real good :-D
We traveled 174 miles today.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
We left at 10 am (GA Time) with the temperature at 40 degrees. No winds this morning and no problems through Summit Pass.
We had twisting roads all day today. Frank and I both awakened with headaches... mine coming from my neck and Frank a sinus headache. The tension of driving the twisting roads did not help.
We stopped about 6 miles from Auburn at a grocery store to buy some bread. We decided to get fried chicken for dinner while in there. We came back out to the trailer to eat and when we came inside we found coffee everywhere. The cabinet came open and the big canister of coffee fell out... the canister that I thought I had wedged in there pretty good. The canister was full and half of it was all of over the floor and carpet. We swept up as much as we could and ate our dinner... had a couple of aspirin a piece to go with dinner.
Afte dinner... more twisting roads and then Auburn. The roads straightened a bit, but there was a good bit of traffic. The town is booming... new shopping complexes going up everywhere. The numbers $4.99 and diesel caught my eye... we managed to get into the gas station and purchase the gas. It is bad when that seems cheap for diesel :-D
Then we find highway 49.. it goes through a neighborhood and then it gets narrower and more twisting. We finally got to a better part of it. We got to Grassy Valley and decided to try and find the campground we saw mentioned in the campground book... it is at the Nevada County Fairgrounds. We arrived at 5 pm (GA Time). It is a mostly shady campground. The restrooms and showers are clean. There are lots of people camping here. We are in site 6.
After we got set up I got the vacuum stick out and started cleaning up more coffee. I think I worked at it over an hour.... sweeping and vacuuming. I think I need a better vacuum for the trailer. At home I use the brush that came with the dust pan to clean the fuzzy stuff off the vacuum filter.... I don't have one in the trailer, so I found a smushed up pine cone and used it to clean the filter. While I was doing this Frank was off visiting with the campground host... finding out our road will be no better tomorrow. The cabinets will be tied with string tomorrow morning.
We're running the ac. It was in the low 80s when we got here, but the sun was shining strongly on the trailer and it was a bit warm in here. We'll probably turn it off in a bit.
A surprise of WiFi... so Frank did more research on places to stay and I called Mama. Nice to hear her voice... will try to call her again Saturday.
Frank is reading Mark Twain now and I've been working on the journal.. maybe tomorrow pictures.
We traveled 216... very long... miles today.
We had twisting roads all day today. Frank and I both awakened with headaches... mine coming from my neck and Frank a sinus headache. The tension of driving the twisting roads did not help.
We stopped about 6 miles from Auburn at a grocery store to buy some bread. We decided to get fried chicken for dinner while in there. We came back out to the trailer to eat and when we came inside we found coffee everywhere. The cabinet came open and the big canister of coffee fell out... the canister that I thought I had wedged in there pretty good. The canister was full and half of it was all of over the floor and carpet. We swept up as much as we could and ate our dinner... had a couple of aspirin a piece to go with dinner.
Afte dinner... more twisting roads and then Auburn. The roads straightened a bit, but there was a good bit of traffic. The town is booming... new shopping complexes going up everywhere. The numbers $4.99 and diesel caught my eye... we managed to get into the gas station and purchase the gas. It is bad when that seems cheap for diesel :-D
Then we find highway 49.. it goes through a neighborhood and then it gets narrower and more twisting. We finally got to a better part of it. We got to Grassy Valley and decided to try and find the campground we saw mentioned in the campground book... it is at the Nevada County Fairgrounds. We arrived at 5 pm (GA Time). It is a mostly shady campground. The restrooms and showers are clean. There are lots of people camping here. We are in site 6.
After we got set up I got the vacuum stick out and started cleaning up more coffee. I think I worked at it over an hour.... sweeping and vacuuming. I think I need a better vacuum for the trailer. At home I use the brush that came with the dust pan to clean the fuzzy stuff off the vacuum filter.... I don't have one in the trailer, so I found a smushed up pine cone and used it to clean the filter. While I was doing this Frank was off visiting with the campground host... finding out our road will be no better tomorrow. The cabinets will be tied with string tomorrow morning.
We're running the ac. It was in the low 80s when we got here, but the sun was shining strongly on the trailer and it was a bit warm in here. We'll probably turn it off in a bit.
A surprise of WiFi... so Frank did more research on places to stay and I called Mama. Nice to hear her voice... will try to call her again Saturday.
Frank is reading Mark Twain now and I've been working on the journal.. maybe tomorrow pictures.
We traveled 216... very long... miles today.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
We did wind up with neighbors last night... a couple from Reno NV. They had a bad day. The wife had gone into a store and the husband was walking the dog (a handome dachsund.. brown and white in color) around and a drunk driver came along and hit their trailer. It messed up the side of the trailer near the bumper and the bumper... so much they couldn't get the sewer hose out of the bumper. They had also had to do a sudden stop when someone ahead of them stopped suddenly... the inside of the trailer was a mess from that. The wife told us that it was too bad her husband wasn't in the trailer when the drunk driver hit them, if he had she would be replacing the trailer for a new motorhome with the insurance money! :-)
We left Tonopah at 10:15 (GA Time). We bought gas in Tonopah at $5.09 a gallon.
Pretty scenery along the way. We saw Columbus Salt Flats. That is when wind kicked up real quick and hard.. probably at least 50 mph. We saw wild horses on highway 6 near the INYO National Forest. Frank took a few pictures and hopefully one of them will be decent.
We arrived at the Mono Lake Campground in Lee Vining California at about 1:50 pm (GA Time; 11 am Pacific Time)... but they don't let anyone check in until 1 pm (Pacific Time). So we went over to the visitor's center and looked around and Frank asked questions. The museum there told all about Mono Lake. It is a salt lake that is three time saltier than the Pacific Ocean. No fish are in the lake. There are brine shrimp that live in the water. There are Alkalai Flies that live on the shore... they are only interested in the alkalai and not humans. There are also a few birds that visit the lake, but none year round. They feed on the brine shrimp and algae. The lake is a beautiful blue, but they say the color changes with the seasons. The lake is just as interesting as it is beautiful. We ate lunch and then went back over to the campground and got checked in and are in site 25. It was a bit chilly with the strong winds when we checked in. Summit point.. which we hope to travel in the morning has winds up to 70 mph today. It was advised that rvs not go through there.... hopefully the wind will be zilch in the morning.
As soon as we got set up we went to Yosemite National Park. A beauitful park. There was still snow on the ground in places. The temperature started off at 54 degrees at the beginning of the road into the park and not long into the park it dropped to 44 degrees... with a good breeze. One of the lakes still had snow and ice on it.... just beautiful! There are just no words to describe the beauty within this park. Frank and I did go for one hike to see sequoia trees... but we didn't finish the walk. We walked for about a mile... which is suppose to be the length of the walk to the first of the trees. We think we saw one... not for sure as to what one looks like. The trip uphill was harder for me. I wheeze a bit with my asthma and my heart tends to beat hard and loud. My knee was screaming a bit too, but not bad. Frank's leg was a hollering too. Despite all that it was an enjoyable walk. There were three chipmunks scurrying about and we wondered which one was Alvin :-D We also saw a Belding Ground Squirrel. An interesting looking squirrel. There was also a woodpecker that had a red head, titmice and a few other little birds darted about so fast I couldn't tell what they were. The Pacific Dogwoods were blooming. They look a bit different than those back home. I couldn't get close enough to one for a good picture. I didn't take the long lens. The pines in the forest smelled wonderful and the sounds of the trees and shrubs rustling in the light breeze was a delightful sound along with the twittering of birds.
Within the park we also saw mule deer and a very interesting critter called a Yellow Bellied Marmot. I wish one of those would have let us get a picture of it.
The park was just as beautiful on the ride back. It would take a very long time to explore all of the park. I'm glad we got to see what we did.
On our way back to the campground we stopped and got gas at $5.49 a gallon. There was a scenic view outlook up the hill from the gas station. We went up there and looked at Mono Lake from there... wow... such a beautiful view!
We went back to the campground exhausted but had a beautiful day. We took our showers in a token operated shower. One token.... 5 minutes of warm water. The token runs out and you get cold water... that is what Frank said... I didn't use all my 5 minutes. I was a little wind burned on my face... the water was forceful and stinging, so I wanted to just get out of there :-D Then rest the rest of the day.
We traveled 137 miles today plus thru Yosemite.
We left Tonopah at 10:15 (GA Time). We bought gas in Tonopah at $5.09 a gallon.
Pretty scenery along the way. We saw Columbus Salt Flats. That is when wind kicked up real quick and hard.. probably at least 50 mph. We saw wild horses on highway 6 near the INYO National Forest. Frank took a few pictures and hopefully one of them will be decent.
We arrived at the Mono Lake Campground in Lee Vining California at about 1:50 pm (GA Time; 11 am Pacific Time)... but they don't let anyone check in until 1 pm (Pacific Time). So we went over to the visitor's center and looked around and Frank asked questions. The museum there told all about Mono Lake. It is a salt lake that is three time saltier than the Pacific Ocean. No fish are in the lake. There are brine shrimp that live in the water. There are Alkalai Flies that live on the shore... they are only interested in the alkalai and not humans. There are also a few birds that visit the lake, but none year round. They feed on the brine shrimp and algae. The lake is a beautiful blue, but they say the color changes with the seasons. The lake is just as interesting as it is beautiful. We ate lunch and then went back over to the campground and got checked in and are in site 25. It was a bit chilly with the strong winds when we checked in. Summit point.. which we hope to travel in the morning has winds up to 70 mph today. It was advised that rvs not go through there.... hopefully the wind will be zilch in the morning.
As soon as we got set up we went to Yosemite National Park. A beauitful park. There was still snow on the ground in places. The temperature started off at 54 degrees at the beginning of the road into the park and not long into the park it dropped to 44 degrees... with a good breeze. One of the lakes still had snow and ice on it.... just beautiful! There are just no words to describe the beauty within this park. Frank and I did go for one hike to see sequoia trees... but we didn't finish the walk. We walked for about a mile... which is suppose to be the length of the walk to the first of the trees. We think we saw one... not for sure as to what one looks like. The trip uphill was harder for me. I wheeze a bit with my asthma and my heart tends to beat hard and loud. My knee was screaming a bit too, but not bad. Frank's leg was a hollering too. Despite all that it was an enjoyable walk. There were three chipmunks scurrying about and we wondered which one was Alvin :-D We also saw a Belding Ground Squirrel. An interesting looking squirrel. There was also a woodpecker that had a red head, titmice and a few other little birds darted about so fast I couldn't tell what they were. The Pacific Dogwoods were blooming. They look a bit different than those back home. I couldn't get close enough to one for a good picture. I didn't take the long lens. The pines in the forest smelled wonderful and the sounds of the trees and shrubs rustling in the light breeze was a delightful sound along with the twittering of birds.
Within the park we also saw mule deer and a very interesting critter called a Yellow Bellied Marmot. I wish one of those would have let us get a picture of it.
The park was just as beautiful on the ride back. It would take a very long time to explore all of the park. I'm glad we got to see what we did.
On our way back to the campground we stopped and got gas at $5.49 a gallon. There was a scenic view outlook up the hill from the gas station. We went up there and looked at Mono Lake from there... wow... such a beautiful view!
We went back to the campground exhausted but had a beautiful day. We took our showers in a token operated shower. One token.... 5 minutes of warm water. The token runs out and you get cold water... that is what Frank said... I didn't use all my 5 minutes. I was a little wind burned on my face... the water was forceful and stinging, so I wanted to just get out of there :-D Then rest the rest of the day.
We traveled 137 miles today plus thru Yosemite.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
We left Las Vegas at 11:00 am (GA Time). A little bit of traffic getting out of town... got on I 15 then CR 215 W to US 95 N to Tonopah NV. The drive was a bit monotanous. Mountains and desert were our view... a little bit of change when we got to the Cactus Mountain Range. Cactus joined the scrub brush in the desert and on the hills.
Along the drive Frank saw a chipmunk and I might have seen one... it could have been a rat. It scurried so fast under a brush that I couldn't tell for sure. We kept looking for burros crossing the road, but didn't see any. There were road signs indicating burro crossings. We saw a few cows. Our only stop was for gas in Lathrop Wells at $4.79 a gallon.
We arrived at Joy Land Campground at 3:30 pm (GA Time). So far a quiet park. We have the pull thru section to ourselves except for a 5th wheel that seems to be a permanent resident. The park attendant lives across the road from the campground. He said he used to be the park manager and his mother worked here. He said he had to fire her. Then she bought the campground and now she fires him at least twice a week :-)
Tonopah is small town. The park is just off highway 6. A few houses... probably built in the 1950s and 1960s or maybe earlier... with a couple of house trailers are the housing on this road. There is a meat processing place (deer, elk, etc.) on the other side of the road to the park and a junk yard. There are also horses, goats and sheep... hey, they ain't in the campground :-D There are two to four dogs at most houses... BIG dogs mostly. We met most of them on the walk we took this afternoon. All this probably makes this sound like a bad campground, but so far it is nice one.
We are pleased that we are out of the heat. It may have gotten to 80 degrees here today. A good breeze blowing and most of the time not from the direction of livestock :-) The birds seem to be mostly doves. Some house sparrows are about and we saw some type of flycatcher... looked a lot like the one at Capitol Reef.
We traveled 221 miles today.
Along the drive Frank saw a chipmunk and I might have seen one... it could have been a rat. It scurried so fast under a brush that I couldn't tell for sure. We kept looking for burros crossing the road, but didn't see any. There were road signs indicating burro crossings. We saw a few cows. Our only stop was for gas in Lathrop Wells at $4.79 a gallon.
We arrived at Joy Land Campground at 3:30 pm (GA Time). So far a quiet park. We have the pull thru section to ourselves except for a 5th wheel that seems to be a permanent resident. The park attendant lives across the road from the campground. He said he used to be the park manager and his mother worked here. He said he had to fire her. Then she bought the campground and now she fires him at least twice a week :-)
Tonopah is small town. The park is just off highway 6. A few houses... probably built in the 1950s and 1960s or maybe earlier... with a couple of house trailers are the housing on this road. There is a meat processing place (deer, elk, etc.) on the other side of the road to the park and a junk yard. There are also horses, goats and sheep... hey, they ain't in the campground :-D There are two to four dogs at most houses... BIG dogs mostly. We met most of them on the walk we took this afternoon. All this probably makes this sound like a bad campground, but so far it is nice one.
We are pleased that we are out of the heat. It may have gotten to 80 degrees here today. A good breeze blowing and most of the time not from the direction of livestock :-) The birds seem to be mostly doves. Some house sparrows are about and we saw some type of flycatcher... looked a lot like the one at Capitol Reef.
We traveled 221 miles today.
Monday, June 02, 2008
It was suppose to be a lazy day... but not sure that is what it has been. We did laundry again today. Just taking advantage of having good washers and dryers. An hour and 25 minutes versus about 3 hours at a town laundry mat.. is a lot of difference... and the clothes are cleaner. Those commercial Maytag front load washers work well.
Frank got to see the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds go over this morning... me here sitting at the computer :(
I worked on editing photos today and writing in this journal. I took 220 pictures last night and edited 29 for uploading to the web.... split doing this before and after dinner.
We had a good dinner. Smoked pork chops, mustard greens, blackeyed peas and cornbread muffins were the fare. I used some Goya ham seasoning in the greens and blackeye peas and it improved the canned products immensely. I also added a little onion to both and some Trappey's jalapeno peppers and sauce to the greens. I have to remember if I make more muffins to up the temp of the oven.
While I cooked dinner Frank went and got gas in the truck. A little problem getting it on the charge card again.
I'm glad he came back when he did. I tripped a switch while he was gone... plugged in one too many appliances. Frank had to flip the switch that is outside the trailer... gotta have him show me where it is at.
With the delay in cooking muffins Frank had time to hook up the printer and see if it worked... it did and he printed out a couple of pages he will need for the next few days.
Another trip to Wal-Mart... sodas and deodorant. I miss my dry erase board that I usually write our list on.
Until next Wifi...
Frank got to see the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds go over this morning... me here sitting at the computer :(
I worked on editing photos today and writing in this journal. I took 220 pictures last night and edited 29 for uploading to the web.... split doing this before and after dinner.
We had a good dinner. Smoked pork chops, mustard greens, blackeyed peas and cornbread muffins were the fare. I used some Goya ham seasoning in the greens and blackeye peas and it improved the canned products immensely. I also added a little onion to both and some Trappey's jalapeno peppers and sauce to the greens. I have to remember if I make more muffins to up the temp of the oven.
While I cooked dinner Frank went and got gas in the truck. A little problem getting it on the charge card again.
I'm glad he came back when he did. I tripped a switch while he was gone... plugged in one too many appliances. Frank had to flip the switch that is outside the trailer... gotta have him show me where it is at.
With the delay in cooking muffins Frank had time to hook up the printer and see if it worked... it did and he printed out a couple of pages he will need for the next few days.
Another trip to Wal-Mart... sodas and deodorant. I miss my dry erase board that I usually write our list on.
Until next Wifi...
Sunday, June 1, 2008
We managed to do a bit more trip planning last evening. The Passport America should save us a bit of money. Being we don't have a book Frank is copying and pasting the information into Wordpad. If we had internet all the time we wouldn't have to do that... or had their book (its on the way to Zarone and Linda)
This morning we tried calling David, but no answer. We started to leave for The Strip and David called us back. We wished him a Happy Birthday... him and Tish are doing fine.
Before going to The Strip we went by Wal-Mart for some gallon jugs of water. Of course we bought more than that :-) .. one being a printer (cheapest one Wal-Mart had) so Frank doesn't have to hand write stuff from the computer. We bought a big coke at McDonalds inside Wal-Mart.
We went to The Strip via Las Vegas Blvd. being the traffic wasn't bad. That changed as we neared The Strip. We found the Bellagio and parked there at about 11:30 am (Pacific Time). First stop is restroom for me. Then we walked around the Bellagio and out and watched a water show... water that shoots up in motion (dancing) with the music... a favorite for both of us. Then we walked down.. or maybe up.. The Strip to Caesar's Palace. We walked more... to Treasure Island, and The Venetian. I loved the architecture and the decor there ..... even though some of it is wallpaper and not paintings. I can't remember all of the places. We ate lunch at McDonalds... actually pretty good cheeseburger and fries for a McDonalds. After resting our tootsies and legs for a while we wandered back across the street and rested by the fountain at Caesar's Palace. We people watched a bit while resting. Some women just shouldn't try to walk in 3 or four inch heals.
We then went back to the truck and Frank put the video camera away... I had the pocket camera this adventure... the other cameras are just too heavy to tote around that much. We then played the penny slot machines a while.. just a place to sit in the cool for a while. Frank played a dollar and eventually lost it. I played two dollars... lost the first and got tired of playing after an hour and cashed in at $2.68 :-D
We went back to the truck to get the video camera and a bottle of water. We then walked to McDonalds and got a Sundae. While there the paramedics were called for a young man. We think he probably had too much alcohol to drink in the heat (the temp was about 98 degrees by then). He refused treatment and his buddies were helping him walk out of the place... with the paramedics behind.
Then we walked over to Treasure Island... it is now about 7 pm (Pacific Time) and we watched a Siren / Pirate Show. I'm looking forward to seeing the video that Frank took of it. The zoom of the camera got a lot more than I could see. It was an enjoyable show. We walked up to Caesar's Palace again and rested by the fountain... a shady spot. The couple ahead of us got the bench we had our eyes on... we sat on the fountains edge. I dipped my hands in the water to cool myself a bit... I wanted to go wading in the fountain like a young lady did when we stopped there before.
Then we walked over to the Eiffel Tower and rode the elevator to the top. The evening price was suppose to be $12 per each, but I guess we were looking older than we are and the young lady at the ticket counter charged us the senior price of $10. We watched the water show from the Eiffel Tower. It was beautiful from up there, but we couldn't hear the music. We took pictures of the city lights while up there.
Then we walked back across the street and watched the water show again.... then called it quits. It was 9:30 (Pacific Time) by time we got to the truck. We took the freeway back to home. Showers at 10 pm and bed at 11 pm... a very late night for us. We couldn't see it all... it would take several days or perhaps months to do so. An enjoyable day.
This morning we tried calling David, but no answer. We started to leave for The Strip and David called us back. We wished him a Happy Birthday... him and Tish are doing fine.
Before going to The Strip we went by Wal-Mart for some gallon jugs of water. Of course we bought more than that :-) .. one being a printer (cheapest one Wal-Mart had) so Frank doesn't have to hand write stuff from the computer. We bought a big coke at McDonalds inside Wal-Mart.
We went to The Strip via Las Vegas Blvd. being the traffic wasn't bad. That changed as we neared The Strip. We found the Bellagio and parked there at about 11:30 am (Pacific Time). First stop is restroom for me. Then we walked around the Bellagio and out and watched a water show... water that shoots up in motion (dancing) with the music... a favorite for both of us. Then we walked down.. or maybe up.. The Strip to Caesar's Palace. We walked more... to Treasure Island, and The Venetian. I loved the architecture and the decor there ..... even though some of it is wallpaper and not paintings. I can't remember all of the places. We ate lunch at McDonalds... actually pretty good cheeseburger and fries for a McDonalds. After resting our tootsies and legs for a while we wandered back across the street and rested by the fountain at Caesar's Palace. We people watched a bit while resting. Some women just shouldn't try to walk in 3 or four inch heals.
We then went back to the truck and Frank put the video camera away... I had the pocket camera this adventure... the other cameras are just too heavy to tote around that much. We then played the penny slot machines a while.. just a place to sit in the cool for a while. Frank played a dollar and eventually lost it. I played two dollars... lost the first and got tired of playing after an hour and cashed in at $2.68 :-D
We went back to the truck to get the video camera and a bottle of water. We then walked to McDonalds and got a Sundae. While there the paramedics were called for a young man. We think he probably had too much alcohol to drink in the heat (the temp was about 98 degrees by then). He refused treatment and his buddies were helping him walk out of the place... with the paramedics behind.
Then we walked over to Treasure Island... it is now about 7 pm (Pacific Time) and we watched a Siren / Pirate Show. I'm looking forward to seeing the video that Frank took of it. The zoom of the camera got a lot more than I could see. It was an enjoyable show. We walked up to Caesar's Palace again and rested by the fountain... a shady spot. The couple ahead of us got the bench we had our eyes on... we sat on the fountains edge. I dipped my hands in the water to cool myself a bit... I wanted to go wading in the fountain like a young lady did when we stopped there before.
Then we walked over to the Eiffel Tower and rode the elevator to the top. The evening price was suppose to be $12 per each, but I guess we were looking older than we are and the young lady at the ticket counter charged us the senior price of $10. We watched the water show from the Eiffel Tower. It was beautiful from up there, but we couldn't hear the music. We took pictures of the city lights while up there.
Then we walked back across the street and watched the water show again.... then called it quits. It was 9:30 (Pacific Time) by time we got to the truck. We took the freeway back to home. Showers at 10 pm and bed at 11 pm... a very late night for us. We couldn't see it all... it would take several days or perhaps months to do so. An enjoyable day.
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