Coos Bay, Oregon

I don't know when this blog and its photos will be posted, because we don't have internet access at Sunset Beach State Park in Oregon, but I need to report on our wonderful day on Friday, the 25^th of April.

Thursday we drove here from Klamath. It was a beautiful drive through the Redwood forest then up US Hwy 101 along the Oregon Coast. We even saw some cranberry bogs. As we entered Oregon, we stopped at the Visitor Information Center. There we encountered the most informed and helpful person we have ever met in such a facility. She asked where we were headed and gave us every possible pamphlet and booklet covering everywhere we will be in the state. By the time we left, we were excited about what we would learn and where we could go while we are here.

Sunset Beach State Park is beautiful. The hedges between spaces are well-trimmed azaleas. We walked to the protected beach and watched the seagulls before dinner.

All day Friday was a delight. First thing, we were able to do our 3-mile run, the first in over a week. And this is the first time we were able to run along a sandy beach for that run. Anyone who remembers watching the movie Chariots of Fire, will have an idea of what that feels like. It was great.

Louis J. Simpson was a pioneer lumberman and shipbuilder in the Oregon area. He built a summer home on a bluff high above the Pacific Ocean 13 miles southwest of Coos Bay, called Shore Acres. He suffered financial losses during the Depression, causing both house and grounds to fall into disrepair. In 1942, Simpson's beloved Shore Acres was purchased by the state of Oregon for use as a public park.

We toured the formal gardens on the site. Even in late April (which for us is early spring) they are beautiful. The Japanese-style garden surrounds a 100-foot lily pond and has many varieties of azalea and rhodendron.

Shore Acres State Park is one mile south of Sunset Beach and one mile north of Simpson Reef. This lookout is also named for the lumberman. This lookout gives the opportunity to view offshore rocks, islands and reefs that provide breeding and resting areas for sea birds and marine mammals. We saw (and heard) California Sea Lions and saw Harbor Seals today. The public is not allowed to go out to the islands, but the overlook provides a good view, close enough to hear the see lions barking.

We also drove around Charleston, North Bend and Coos Bay and had a great seafood lunch at Captain's Choice Restaurant in North Bend. Coos Bay is the largest deepwater port between San Francisco and Seattle. However, we saw only small fishing boats today.

After days of rain, today was sunny and a wonderful day of exploring.

A Change in Plans

Today was supposed to be a travel day, but we woke to rain and the prediction of more rain for today and tomorrow. So we have decided to stay here in Klamath till Thursday. We couldn't see any point in breaking down in the rain, driving in the rain, and setting up in the rain when we couldn't go enjoy the ocean we were driving to. And there is a chance we would have encountered snow along the way! When we went to pay for two more nights, the woman in the office asked where we were going to work in a fish hatchery. When we told her "Astoria," she said, "well, get used to this weather." We'll see over two months, I guess.

We are using this day to work out, catch up on finances, blog and print photos. We are so glad we decided to hike in the Redwood forest yesterday! It was a beautiful hike—cold, since the temperature was only in the mid-40s. But the beauty of the Redwood trees, ferns and all sorts of other greenery everywhere is hard to believe. The trees are so tall it is impossible to capture it in a photograph. We tried, though, as we hiked three and one-half miles on the South Fork, Rhododendron and Brown's Creek trails just north of the Prairie Creek State Park Visitor Center.

The hike begins with a steep uphill climb, rising 650 ft in the first section. That brought us to where we could look down on some trees, not just up. Everything—trees, leaves, trail—was shiny from the rain overnight. The silence is amazing, broken only by a small gurgling creek and a few small birds. We did not encounter any other hikers on our trail.

In places where a Redwood tree has fallen, other bushes and trees begin to sprout along the trunk. Ferns grow in the hollow spaces of dead trees. Everything is so lush and fertile and green, unlike the fragile high altitude environment we are most used to in Colorado.

Our first day here, we noticed a Big Sky Montana trailer and saw the owners also belonged to the Montana Owners Club, an on-line association of RVers. When we talked to David and Jo-Anna, we learned that they are headed to Alaska this summer, so we got together yesterday for a glass of wine and good conversation about RV travel and the wonderful travel to Alaska.

We always try to get ourselves plenty of time to get from one place to another, so we aren't forced to travel in bad weather or feel rushed. That gives us the freedom to do what we did today. We can just relax and go with the flow.

California Scenery

        For the past three days we have been traveling through the incredibly diverse landscape of California.  We started Thursday in Castaic (Santa Clarita in NW Los Angeles) and today ended on the north coast of California at Klamath. 

 

        In the Los Angeles area we had noticed the steep-sloped hillsides and many canyons, covered with green spring growth, poppies and numerous yellow and white-flowering bushes.  Very soon, driving north on I-5, we moved into smooth, rolling hills covered by soft green grass and little other vegetation.  It was a sudden change of topography and plants. 

 

        Next, we moved into the flat, open Central Valley of California with mile after mile of wheat field, hay field, vineyard, and orchards growing pecans, pistachios and almonds, with some olive orchards as well.  We have long thought each farm field should have a sign along the highway, telling city-dwelling motorists what is growing there.  It sure would help us to know what we are looking at.

 

        We spent the night at a very nice RV and golf resort in Chowchilla, on California Highway 99.  The town has lots of new construction.  The RV park is two years old and lovely.  Each night's stay includes a round of golf for two at the course next door.  As we walked around the next morning we saw some of the impact of the current housing and credit crisis.  A sign advertised an upcoming auction of 34 houses in the developments around the golf course.

 

        As we drove north from Chowchilla to Redding, we saw more farm fields.  Then the road began to climb toward Redding and we were among low hills, more dense vegetation and wild flowers.  Redding is an attractive city and we arrived for "Cool April Nights," a classic car show that has been held for 19 years.  We were glad we had called ahead for a reservation.  The weekend included cruising by the old cars, a drag race, pancake breakfasts and a concert.  Nearby, the town of Red Bluff had a rodeo over the weekend.

 

        The trip from Redding to the Pacific coast showed us another side of California's scenery.  We were in the mountains most of the way, even though we only went up to an elevation of 3,200 feet.  There were pine and spruce trees, heavy undergrowth and steep grades as we drove California 299 to Eureka, then US 101 north to Klamath.  Much of the first half of the trip we could see snow-topped Mt. Shasta.  It is beautiful.

 

        I've always know lupine as a cultivated garden flower.  We saw whole hillsides covered with it today.  Also numerous red bud bushes and trees, flowering crabapple and apple trees and many unknown yellow, purple and white flowers.  The beautiful drive included several 6% and 7% downhill grades, as well as one 8% grade.  But there wasn't a lot of traffic on the mainly two-lane road without much shoulder.

 

        For two or three nights, we are staying at Camper Corral in Klamath, at the mouth of the Klamath River, where it empties into the Pacific.  We are here to see Redwood National and State Parks and explore whatever there is to see.

 

        I wish I could share photos with you, but we carry our bikes on a rack on the front of our truck.  Most of the scenery we see includes bike handles and seats, so it isn't very photogenic. 

 

        We started this trip March 21 and were snowed on that weekend.  In Arizona and southern California we saw warm weather and even a little bit of summer—80s and 90s.  Today, between moving to the sea coast and encountering a Canadian cold wave, we are back into the 40s—for the high.  In less than a month, we've seen quite a change.

 

Back to Normal--We Hope

Today we were able to pick up our Chevy truck with its brand new transmission, ready to pull our 5^th-wheel trailer down the road—we hope. It's been a long week. Los Angeles isn't a bad place to spend a week. We have enjoyed good weather, toured the Reagan Presidential Library and the California Poppy Reserve and eaten good Mexican food. But we felt helpless when we couldn't tow our trailer and travel whenever we wanted to. And this isn't where we planned to spend a week.

But now we are ready to move again—north through California to the Redwood National Park, then on to a couple of stops along the Oregon Coast before we begin our volunteer assignment at Gnat Creek Fish Hatchery in northern Oregon.

We're grateful to the folks at Rydell Motors in Northridge for their good treatment when are truck needed repaired. And we're ready to get "on the road again."

Glorious Color

The only other time we traveled in California, it was mid-summer. Now it is spring. So, as we drove down the road Monday, we wondered what the bunches of bright orange flowers were that we saw in nearby fields. Finally, there were flowers close enough to the roadway we could pull over and look at them. They were the California poppies that we were on our way to see at the California Poppy Reserve, but didn't expect to see the flowers so soon and didn't realize that is what they looked like.

At first, there were small bunches of flowers. Then they started to line the edge of the road and the edges of farmers' fields. Next, we came to whole fields full of the gold-orange flowers. In places they grew between the sage brush, providing wonderful contrast to the gray-green bushes.

At the Reserve, run by the California State Parks Division, there were ribbons of orange down the valleys, poppies growing with other purple flowers, a whole landscape of gold and orange. We are so glad we were able to see the poppies this week. They are at their height of bloom. The annual Poppy Festival will be this coming weekend.

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The Saga Continues

Now we know what is wrong with the truck and we have an RV site where we can stay till it is repaired. But it wasn’t easy to get to this point. About 7:30 pm Wednesday evening Jeff called from Rydell Motors, telling us the transmission on our truck failed. They removed the pan (whatever that is) and found metal pieces. Thursday they would order a new one.

I told him we could stay where we were only through Sunday. He told us best case, they would find a transmission locally and we would be OK. If not, it might take a week!

Thursday we did our grocery shopping and looked for another RV park. That afternoon, Jeff said they were working on finding someone to move our RV that afternoon or Friday because our new transmission was coming from Wyoming, of all places, and wouldn’t be here till Tuesday or Wednesday.

We notified the park where we were staying that we would be out on Friday and made the reservation at Valencia Travel Village a few miles north on I-5. Friday, after stewing and fretting most of the day because we weren’t in control of the moving of our RV and we didn’t know when it would occur, at 3:30 pm a former Rydell employee finally arrived with his truck and fifth-wheel hitch to tow us to Valencia.

This is a large, open park right next to California Hwy 126, one mile from I-5. Our site is large and shaded, with quite a bit of highway noise. We will enjoy our time here, waiting and being tourists in Southern California.

Saturday we drove to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. This is the fifth presidential library we’ve seen in the past three years. It is interesting—focused on the close relationship between President and Mrs. Reagan, her style as First Lady, and Air Force One and the role it played in Reagan’s presidency. I feel President Truman’s was perhaps the best library we have visited. We learned so much about the issues he faced and life in America after World War II. We also have visited the libraries of Presidents Lyndon Johnson, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

We had planned to be nearly into Oregon by Wednesday. Instead we will still be here. But, since we have a time schedule for the repair of the truck and we are safely parked for the duration, we hope to really enjoy our time here. During our two months in Oregon, the temperature will probably only get into the 60s most days. So, this is our time to enjoy summer. Yesterday it was 92 degrees, today it is already 95.

This Has Never Happened Before

Today was certainly a new experience. We have never been driving down a city street, applied the brakes and had the truck lock up—not able to move forward or in reverse. But that is what happened today. First we drove 160 miles from San Diego to Northridge in the northwest corner of Los Angeles. That, in itself, was a real fete. It went amazingly well. No real congestion, no problems. Just a long, rather tense drive. We arrived in Northridge at the Walnut RV Park—a clean, well-kept park with lots of long-term residents.

After setting up, we left to buy groceries. Driving down the street, John stepped on the brake approaching a red light and we heard a grinding noise and the truck stopped abruptly. It felt like the brakes on the RV had locked up, but we weren't towing the trailer. John turned the truck off, waited, then started it again. We drove another block or so, then had to brake again. Same problem. John got out and looked under the truck. He couldn't see anything. We punched the OnStar button and asked them to do a diagnostic. Nothing seemed to be wrong. Again, we drove down the street, braked, grinding noise, abrupt stop. John was able to move the truck to the side of the street, into a parking spot. Push the OnStar button again. They called Chevy Roadside Assistance. They called a tow truck, found the nearest Chevy dealer. They even knew what street we were on! Amazing. We just had to give them the address.

When the tow truck drove into Rydell Chevrolet in Northridge, the service advisor walked up and said, "What is going on? That is a brand new truck!" We agreed—what is going on? We learned our warranty and Roadside Assistance covers a rental car while the truck is being repaired. For the next hour or so we dealt with renting a vehicle. Back at Rydell, we found they had hoisted the truck onto a lift and four or more technicians were looking at it, trying to determine the problem. At least they were taking it seriously. We imagine all of them were eager to see what could go wrong in such a short time.

We returned to the RV park and told them of our problem. The real problem—for them, at least—is that we are unable to move our trailer out of the site we have rented for only two nights. And they have someone coming in to the site in two days, and another person coming in Monday for a month. At this point, who knows what we or they will do about all of this?

At 7:30 this evening we learned that the transmission will need to be replaced. And this truck has only been driven 3,600 miles! The question is, how long will it take to get a new transmission here? And where what where will be park the RV in the meantime? We are in the only park in town.

We feel very blessed that the transmission didn't go out as we drove along the I-8, I-805, I-5, or I-405 through Los Angeles. That would have truly been a nightmare. We travel with two cats, who wouldn't have liked riding in a tow truck. And we would have had to have the RV towed, as well. God was truly watching out for us.

Now we ask, Lord, please help us solve the problems coming up of where and how we move the trailer if the truck isn't repaired by Friday.

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New Experiences

No matter how long we RV, we keep experiencing new things. In 1988 we borrowed John's sister's very old tent trailer for a trip to the East Coast. That fall we bought our own Coleman trailer. In 1997 we bought our first 5^th wheel trailer.

Still, this past two weeks we have seen so many new things. All across southern Arizona there are RV parks, Park Model Parks and storage lots built to accommodate snowbirds. We are in Yuma, Arizona, and half the town seems to be RV parks and winter residences. The estimated population here in 2006 was 86,000. I wonder how many people are here in February.

In Florence, AZ, between Tucson and Phoenix, we stayed in a park where they are selling lots to RVers, as well as offering long-term space rentals and storage. Desert Gardens RV Oasis is a beautiful park with large sites and excellent facilities. They are truly surrounded by a desert garden. There is a trail that encircles the park that is nearly one mile long and passes through beautiful desert flora. It was a delight for running our three miles. Plus, there is so much oxygen here for running!

Before we checked into the I-10 RV Park in Benson, we used a car-RV wash. While we were waiting in line, a man approached our truck and told us about Western Horizons parks and gave us a certificate for four nights free in one of their parks if we would listen to a 90-minute presentation about the campground network. Since one of the parks was in Yuma, we decided the price was right for four free nights lodging. Saturday morning we will learn more.

There is a difference between RVers who have 5^th-wheel and travel trailers and those who have class A motor homes. Part of the difference is the amount of money they spend cleaning their rig. The biggest difference is that motor home owners really like to shine up their rig and clean the windshield. In Benson we watched our neighbor spend more than 30 minutes polishing his windshield and the front of his coach. He used two or three cloths to clean each area. I have never worked that hard to polish silver at our stick house. Since we don't care for our rig that way, I guess we can never buy a motor home.

On the south edge of our park here in Yuma there is BLM land with boon docking sites. A camp host oversees the registration site. Campers can stay 14 nights for $30, unlimited nights for $60. A nearby gas station has a dump station and sells water. We have heard of this camping. Even seen it as we have driven by recreational rivers in Colorado and Utah. But this is the first time we have seen it in the desert. The countryside here may be warm in the winter, but it isn't very pretty. Staying for two weeks where there are no amenities, no trees or other plants, doesn't sound very interesting. At least the RV parks here have landscaping.

Here in Yuma we are right on the US-Mexico border. Thursday night I watched 5 Chinook helicopters looking for illegals crossing the boarder. Among the materials we receive when checking in to our RV park was a notice reading: "While you are here you may experience brief interruptions in your cell phone service as well as interruptions in wireless internet or satellite television. This is due to the highly sophisticated surveillance devices used by the Border Patrol to detect illegal aliens crossing our border." We hear about these issues on the evening news. But, living far from the border, we haven't experienced any of this till now.

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Tombstone Arizona

What a fun day we had today! From the I-10 RV Park in Benson (which accepts Passport America 50% discounts) we visited Tombstone and Bisbee, two historic towns south of here. The I-10 park is small (only 88 sites and one park model), without all the fancy amenities of many Arizona snowbird destinations. But the people here, both in the office and campers, are very friendly. As we walked around in the evening, many people said hello. We want to come south in future winters to enjoy the weather. But we don't want the pressure of having to participate in a lot of activities. We noticed last night that people were sitting out in their own sites, not gathering in large groups. That is the way we would like to live.

Tombstone is famous for the gunfight at the OK Corral and Boothill Cemetery. Since we are from Colorado, we are familiar with historic western towns and cowboy tourist attractions. Sadly, Colorado has lost many of its historic towns to gambling casinos. Tombstone is well run, with many people in costumes and few t-shirt shops. They do charge for visits to most historic sites, but sightseeing tours are done in an old trolley and in horse-drawn stagecoaches and other wagons. Boothill Cemetery gives insight into the causes of death in the frontier 1880s—shooting, leprosy, suicide, murder, scarlet fever, pneumonia. It certainly was a hard life.

Historic Bisbee is amazing, built on the sides of a steep canyon with business buildings and housing climbing the hills at precarious angles. Who would want to carry their groceries up these steps? We enjoyed a good lunch at the Winchester Restaurant in the Copper Queen Hotel. We skipped the many art galleries and artist boutiques, but did drive up to see the open-pit copper mine. Since we didn't go to the copper mining museum, I don't know how the land will be restored when they finish mining.

Over the past couple of years, we have become big fans of the J. A. Jance mystery novels featuring Sheriff Joanna Brady of Cochise County, Arizona. That is the main reason we wanted to visit Bisbee, which is in Cochise. We felt like we already knew the area. I'm not sure we did, but we will have some new insight when we read the next novel in the series.

I am most at home in the mountains. My second love is probably the sea coast. During our time last year in southern Utah and Arizona, I have begun to have an appreciation of the desert. This week I am seeing trees and bushes begin to turn green, contrasting with the bright almost yellow of the dry grass and the soft pink of the mountains. The scenery is growing on me

As we drove north from Tucson to Denver in October, we saw large numbers of snowbirds coming south in their RVs for the winter. We must have spent most of the snowbird season in Denver, because now even greater numbers of RVs are headed north. We almost celebrate when we see one going our direction. Right now the weather here is comfortable. Tucson has been about 10 degrees above normal this week, with highs in the mid-80s, where the average is in the mid-70s. Either is very comfortable. But soon, the highs will be in the 90s and above. So most snowbirds are headed home, even though there has been snow up north this week.

This has been the first day we felt free to sightsee and enjoy living on the road. Until now we have been pushing to move south and getting the trailer fixed up and organized. Today is what this lifestyle is all about!

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Snow at Chatfield State Park

What a day! It is truly springtime in the Rockies. As we returned from the Easter Vigil worship last night, a storm front was moving through, leaving us with about two inches of snow. The low temperature at our trailer this morning was 18. As we drove out to have breakfast with our son and his wife and two children, we crossed a river and the temperature registered 13. On Easter morning!

By noon, all the snow had melted. The high this afternoon was 50. The day was sunny and beautiful today. It ended with a pretty sunset.

Still, I would never have expected to see so many people camping in late March in Denver. Quite a few people left this afternoon, but there are still between 20 and 25 units here. A group of five RVs with probably 15 or more people have spent the day around the campfire, having a great time. There are a number of couples, as well as several children. They are probably here because it is spring break.

This is a great park. A lake for sailing, boating, fishing. A model airplane area, hot air balloon launch site, heron viewing facility, and lots of fishing. It is very popular with bicyclists. So in addition to the camping, there is extensive day use. We will definitely come here again before heading out on our travels.

Back on the Road

We are so happy to be back on the road again, even if we only drove 15 miles from home. This morning we loaded everything into the RV and drove to Chatfield State Park. We will spend three nights here, making sure we have everything we need and nothing that we could leave in the house. We also want to be sure the trailer systems are operating as they should.

In past years we have driven 200 miles to Lathrop State Park in Walsenburg to do all this. Today we wondered why we haven't come to Chatfield before. I already know I forgot to bring all the kitchen knives from the house and I don't need two large packages of paper napkins. Last year I forgot the cords to my laptop computer and we had to have our son overnight them to us. It will be much easier to drive home to get what we need.

We are really surprised at how many RVs are here in the state park. Granted, it is Easter weekend, and probably some schools are on spring break next week. But it is windy, the temperature is in the 50s and will be colder the next couple of days with light rain possible. Despite all this, there are about 35 camping units here by 7 pm.

It has been five months since we put the trailer in storage. We are so glad to be back in our small, traveling home. We can't wait to begin this year's adventures.

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Warranty Issues, Part 2

Well, the RV is repaired (at least we hope it is, we won't be sure till we move in about two weeks from now). But the saga with the extended warranty company continues. We ended up paying for the four hours it took to remove and replace the underbelly of the RV, which is the only way to access the hydraulic system.

Today I called the Montana-Keystone customer service department to see if they could tell me how long it should take to remove the underbelly cover on the RV so the work could be done. They estimated two hours to remove it, two hours to put it back on. And they were willing to send me an email with that information. I sure hope that persuades the warranty company to pay up.

As soon as the fifth-wheel was back in storage, we went to the Colorado RV, Boat and Travel show. By the time we came home, we were so anxious to get back on the road, we wanted to start loading up our clothes and other stuff to get going.

While we wait till the week after Easter, we are beginning the many tasks needed to move into the trailer for seven or eight months. We make lists of what to pack, back up the computers in case moving them around causes memory loss, gather up computer programs that can be reinstalled if the computer fails. We collect al the office supplies, household supplies and clothing we will need for the upcoming months. Copies of health insurance and vehicle insurance policies, financial information—all of these things are needed to live most of the year away from the house.

We also have the maps and the Trailer Life Directory out to plan our route to California. What RV parks are open in late March and early April? All of this is part of the planning. Then we wait till the day we hope to depart and study the weather carefully. We would rather not camp or drive in a snowstorm.

But we are ready to go—soon!

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Extended Warranty

        We've entered the land of the extended warranty!  Anyone who reads any of the RVing magazines has heard about problems with extended warranties and about some companies that offer such warranties going out of business.  In 2003, when we bought our Montana, we also purchased a five-year extended warranty that started in 2004 when the one-year manufacturer's warranty expired. It is good till July 2009.  We never buy extended warranties, but paid out the $1700 because, in this case, if we didn't use the warranty, we would get our money back at the end of five years.

 

        Until this February, we hadn't used the warranty.  Last summer, when we were afraid the refrigerator was going out, we thought about using it—those appliances cost $800 or more.  But luckily the fix was simple.  However, when we were looking for a repairman, we called the warranty company to get some referrals.  We were relieved to learn they were still in business.

 

        Then, last week we took the trailer in for maintenance before leaving in late March for seven months or more of travel.  The dealer service department called to tell us the hydraulic system that operates the slides was leaking and needs repair.  We already knew that.  We had to do some repairs in 2004 while in Alaska.  At that time, John did most of the work with some help from a local man—recommended by the RV park in Valdez—who didn't charge us for his advice and help.  Since then we have noticed some hydraulic fluid leaking, but not enough to necessitate adding fluid to the hydraulic pump reservoir.

 

        When I asked the dealer what would happen if we didn't get the leak repaired, the service manager said that at some point we wouldn't be able to open or close the slides.  That sounds like a horror story to anyone who lives in their RV as much as we do, so we asked him to contact the warranty company for authorization to repair the leak—there goes our $1700 refund in 2009.  And that's when the real problems started.

 

        Yes, the repair is covered.  No, they won't pay for all the hours the dealer says it will take to make the repairs.  He asked us to call the warranty company and appeal.  We did.  They didn't budge.  I found another dealer that said the job could be done in much less time—meaning the authorized repair amount would cover the work.  However, they were at least two hours away from the first dealer.  At $3.28 a gallon for diesel fuel (that's today's cost, who knows what it will be later this week), the four hours of driving to pick up the RV, deliver it to the second dealer, and drive back home would cost almost as much as we would save by making the move.  Late Friday afternoon, I called and said, "Go ahead with the job.  How much will you work with us on the part we have to pay?"  Watch for the next post to find out how we came out. 

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We're Going to Oregon

        We're going to spend May and June volunteering at Gnat Creek Fish Hatchery near Astoria, Oregon.  We are really excited about this assignment.  We have spent very little time in Oregon in the past and the area around Astoria, as well as the rest of western Oregon, looks like it will be very interesting to explore.  The hatchery sounds like a volunteer site we will enjoy.  The work is mostly outdoors and the 20 hours a week are flexible.  We really enjoy this kind of physical labor and the opportunity to work independently.  We have talked to two people there—Roger, the hatchery manager, and Pam, the volunteer coordinator.  Both sound nice and easy to work with.

 

        The biggest adjustment will probably be going from the semi-arid, high-altitude environment of the eastern Colorado foothills to the rainforest environment of the west coast of Oregon.  Pam said, "It rains a lot here."  We will need to find rain boots and I will need a jogging suit that repels rain.  We have heavy yellow two-piece rain suits, but we certainly don't want to run in them. 

 

        I do look forward to running at sea level.  And we read this weekend that Portland, OR, is one of the fittest cities in the US.  The tourist opportunities along the Oregon coast, at the mouth of the Columbia River, and in the Willamette Valley look so interesting.  We wonder how we will see everything.  Three years ago we visited a Lewis and Clark museum in Great Falls, Montana, on our way to Alaska.  This year we will explore Fort Clatsop, where Lewis and Clark wintered after following the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean.  Our travels give us such opportunities to learn more about our nation's history.   

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Where Will We Go?

        We're really anxious to be on the road again.  When we are here at the stick house, we really enjoy spending quality time with our son and his wife and our two grandchildren.  And we visit with friends.  Plus, it is good to do our workout at the gym, rather than always using free weights in the RV.  But beyond that, it is all work.  This year we have spent lots of time trying to pare down what we own.  And there is always work to do on the house, which accumulates over the months we are gone.  Then we spend a lot of time on annual doctor's appointments, lab tests, and dentist visits.

 

So we are ready to be on the road and have more fun.  But we have a big problem.  We don't know where we are going!  For three or four months, we had planned to head back to Alaska this summer.  Then the stock market and the economy tanked.  It really doesn't look like a good time to be taking funds out of our investments to pay for the diesel fuel to drive there or the Alaska Marine Ferry to return to the States. 

 

        So we decided to find one or two places to volunteer this summer, allowing us to travel without spending much money.  Last summer we were out eight months.  We spent three and one-half months volunteering.  In addition, we spent lots of time in Corps of Engineer and National Forest campgrounds, as well as Colorado State Parks.  In all of these places we use our senior passes and don't have to spend much.  So, by the end of the time out, we averaged only $9 a night for RV sites.  That is really the way to go.

 

Since we only started in January to look for places to volunteer, we haven't had time to nail anything down.  We have applied for spots in a Washington US fish hatchery and in two Oregon state fish hatcheries.  Now we are looking at Oregon state parks. 

 

        We plan to go on the road about the first of April.  However, until we know if we have a volunteer spot starting in May or in June (or none at all), we can't plan our itinerary.  We would like to go down to Arizona, west to California, then up the coast.  If we have to be in Oregon by May first, that will have to change. 

 

        I guess this is a work in progress.  I'd like to have everything firmed up.  Since we've only been working on this for two or three weeks, I guess it is too soon for that.

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A New Truck

This month we bought a new truck. How exciting! It is a 2008 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD extended cab short bed with a Duramax diesel engine. We have spent years moaning and complaining every time we were around people who owned diesel trucks. Why did they need that? The engine is so noisy. Diesel owners always let their trucks idle forever and don't turn them off, even to go into the campground office to register for the night. Why buy a diesel? It is so much more expensive and our 2002 Chevy pulls as much as a diesel.

But when we went shopping, we discovered Chevrolet doesn't make the Vortec 8100 engine any more. Within the next year or so, we want to buy a new fifth-wheel trailer that will weigh more than the one we own now. The diesel was our only choice!

At first we were dismayed. But the new diesel engines are so much quieter. And do we ever enjoy the bells and whistles that came in the 2008 truck: On-Star, XM radio, tire-pressure monitoring sensors, messages that tell us how much oil life is left—all are included, though some will cost extra to keep them operating.

We never expected to use On-Star. In 1991 we had a car stolen. With On-Star, they can track our truck if it is stolen. And the hand-free telephone service is satellite based—just the ticket when we travel through Canada or other areas where our Sprint cell phone won't do us much good.

We'll see about the XM radio, but it includes the Weather Channel and 24/7 emergency weather messages. That should be much more use-friendly than our US weather radio.

All this and the truck looks great and is comfortable to ride in. What a deal!

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An Early Christmas Gift

We received an early Christmas gift this year—it was a phone call. On the Thursday before Christmas I left my cell phone in the car while we went into the mall to walk for some exercise. When we came back to the car, I discovered we had missed a call from our older son, who we hadn't talked to for nearly two months. He promised to call again on Friday, so I carried the phone with me when we went to the gym to work out that morning. Sure enough, as we worked our way around the circuit training room, the phone rang. It was Doug.

John and I went out in the hall to talk. We were on the phone for over 20 minutes while he told us about his life and living situation in Al Habbaniyah, Iraq, where he is stationed with the US Marines. We hadn't talked to him since a couple of days before they shipped out.

In addition to the joy of hearing his voice and learning more about life there, it was good to see that in this deployment he wasn't calling collect. In the 21+ years he has been a Marine, we have received collect phone calls from a lot of very remote and distant parts of the world. But hearing his voice, no matter where he is calling from or how, always gives us a greater assurance he is doing OK.

It is a lonely Christmas for Doug, without his wife and two daughters. It is difficult for all of them. For the many thousands of US troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan, it has been a difficult Christmas season. Please keep them in your prayers.

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Downsizing

            We had a wonderful eight months, traveling and living in our 5^th wheel.  As we returned to our stick house in late October, we seriously considered selling the house and either:  1) living full-time in the RV, or 2) moving to a retirement community where we would live in a high-rise apartment house during the months we are in Colorado.  We have been living in 250 sq ft, more or less, for eight months.  The house was too large and we had too much space.  If we don't need something for 2/3 or the year, do we need it at all?  Or want it?

 

        By the time we reached Centennial, however, we knew we didn't want to go full-time.   Since it is important to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas here, where we have family and friends, it would mean wintering in the 5^th wheel.  We don't like staying in it when the temperature goes below freezing for any length of time.  That happens often during Colorado winters.

 

        About three weeks into our time in the house, we visited Heather Gardens, a community of townhouses, patio homes and condominiums for seniors.  We quickly realized we were not ready for apartment house living.  And it didn't make sense move into one of their patio homes.  Why go to all that work and spend money getting settled when we wouldn't really be downsizing?

 

        So, for now, the decision is to address all the "stuff" we have.  We are sorting, throwing out, preparing for a massive garage sale, giving things away.  If nothing else, it will make it easier to move to a small place, whenever we do decide to do that.  And we are amazed at how much we have we don't need.   

 

        The first thing we are cleaning out is paper—old financial records, kept way beyond what is necessary, excess items in John's work files.  Since we have the room, we didn't bother to weed through things.  We just kept it all.  This task will make it easier for us to find things.  And after going through all the files, we will know what we do have. 

 

        We are also going through the storage shelves in the basement, seeing what we can sell at a garage sale, what we can give away, what we can throw away.  We gave our son two sleeping bags that I made for us in the 1970s.  We haven't used them since we went on an overnight canoe trip in 20+ years ago.  "Build it and they will come."  For most of us, I think it is a matter of "give us space and we will fill it."  We're going to try to let a little air circulate in our space.

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