We were planning on heading for Arizona today, Saturday the 29th, but due to unplanned circumstances, we won’t leave until Monday (New Year's Eve). Golly gee, it is so hard to believe 2008 is here already!
We hope you all had a peaceful and blessed Christmas like we did. On the 24th, we joined other family members at Don & Carol’s (Ken’s brother) for an early evening of sharing wonderful stories of past Christmases, great food, and good drinks. One of those drinks was some very special wine that Ken’s dad made over 35 years ago. We couldn't believe the wine was still good after all these years, but it was....just matured more (grin).
Later Christmas Eve, we were at our daughter’s home watching our 3 great-grand-children open presents (now that was a WILD time…lol). The little ones are ages 4, 2, & 1. Needless-to-say, they were very “exuberant” in seeing what Santa’s Elves left them. The “real Santa” was not due until sometime before dawn with their “special” stockings full of goodies.
Around 11 pm, Ken & I headed for Church and Midnight Mass. Before Mass, the congregation joined the choir in singing Christmas Carols. The sound was wonderful! After the Carols, we had a beautiful Mass celebrating the birth of Christ. It was a long, busy day, and we were very tired when we got home (1:30 am) but it all was worth it.
On Christmas Day, we picked up Naoma (Nomi) and took her to our daughter’s (LeighAnn) for our traditional “family dinner.” Nomi doesn’t eat much these days, but she happily ate snacks and most of her Ham dinner. We all were thankful when Tim’s, (our son-in-law) mom (Ann) arrived from California safe and sound. Even with all the snow in the mountains, Ann had fairly clear roads all the way from Redding. After dinner we set around and visited until it was time to take Nomi back to the Assisted Living Facility. She was tired, but glowing from the fun day. We are so thankful knowing Nomi is safe and well cared for in the facility. I don’t think we would be leaving Salem if she weren’t.
On the 26th, Ken went about taking down his many Christmas decorations. He did pretty well and had the majority of them cleaned and put away by late Friday the 28th. As I said earlier, we were planning on heading south this morning, but during Christmas we heard some funny noises in the Jeep’s engine. The noises turned out to be the power steering pump which was leaking. Ken kept it going over the holiday, but knew he would have to replace it before heading south. He found a new pump and replaced it, but the new pump continued to make strange noises. After talking with the pump supplier, Ken found out the bearings in the pump needed to be used a bit before quieting down….and yes, it has. However, should it again start making loud noises, it is under warranty, and any auto supplier will replace it. I guess we will put it to the test once we get on the road.
The main reason we won’t be leaving until Monday is on Christmas day, we received the very sad news that a close friend’s dad died. She and her husband had to fly to Texas for the funeral, and won’t be back until Sunday evening. We said we would watch their “baby.” The “baby” is a beautiful 6 year old chocolate Cocker Spaniel. We truly love having her and couldn’t see them placing her in a kennel. Our hearts and prayers are with Nancy and Wayne during this very sad time. We love you guys!!!
We are hearing (and seeing) that many highway passes are covered in snow, but hopefully, we will find a route on Monday where the snow isn’t too bad. Our thoughts are to travel east through Reno and Las Vegas then on to Laughlin and finally Queen Valley. However, until we start out and see what the roads are like, we won’t know the exact route. My cell phone is “Windows Mobile” ready (smart phone) and I can check the road cams as we travel south to see which highways are the clearest. I also can read and send emails from my phone. Isn’t technology great!! Of course, it is a cell phone and IF there is no cell service in the area, it won’t work.
There will be more news once we begin our trip south.
Until then, here’s wishing you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
December 29, 2007
December 19, 2007
Christmas Lights
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Finally, we have a few pictures of the Christmas lights to post. We ended up leaving the good digital camera with the coach in Arizona, so have a smaller digital that Ken ended up taking some pictures with. The pictures really don’t do justice on the lights, but it gives you an idea of what we look like at night. The whole neighborhood is lit up, so it really is pretty. Ken says he didn’t put up as many lights as he usually does, but I honestly can’t tell any difference. The only thing I see missing is a huge five pointed star of lights that he puts in the middle of the front yard. Everything else looks like it has for years. This year he will only have the lights lit through Christmas; then they ALL have to come down so we can be on the road by the 28th or 29th.
This is a shot of the front yard....pretty bright!
Now here is a shot of the side yard. That huge tree is a pole of lights and garland. Ken has a lot of fun putting that up in the wind (lol). Thankfully, we have a strong son-in-law and grandson that helps. That tall dark thing in the extreme middle front is a telephone pole, not a flaw in the picture.
Today, we are in the midst of a new series of storms hitting Oregon, and are having very strong steady winds with up to 50 mph gusts. Snow is falling as low as 1,500 feet and will continue for a few more days. The mountains are supposed to get several feet of snow from these storms. As it stands right now, we are anticipating driving through a lot of snow on our way back to Arizona, but we have “Snow Claws” for the Jeep, so aren’t too worried. We found out last year our Grand Cherokee that has 17 inch wheels can’t use the normal chains or cable chains; There is no clearance between the tires and frame for them to work. After checking with many dealers, we ended up with “Snow Claws” which work in Snow, Sand, and Mud. Let’s hope we don’t have to use them in ice…..I don’t want to find out if they work there or not. At least driving the Jeep back to Arizona is going to be a lot better than trying to handle a 40 foot motorhome that weighs in excess of 38,000 pounds and towing a Jeep (65 feet total) in snowy or icy conditions.
We have had a very busy last few weeks trying to tie up many loose ends and getting things ready for our departure soon after Christmas. Our 92 year old lady friend is safe and secure in an assisted living facility. She isn’t in the best of health, but we are happy knowing she has the best of care if she gets worse. IF something should happen while we are gone, Ken will fly home, but hopefully, that won't happen. We have a storage unit for the many items we are saving from her house, but the rest of the work at the house will have to wait until we get back next summer. Still so very much needs to be done!
Anyhow, once we get on the move, I will post more about what is happening plus pictures of our adventures. Hope you all have a great Christmas. Stay healthy and travel safely.
Finally, we have a few pictures of the Christmas lights to post. We ended up leaving the good digital camera with the coach in Arizona, so have a smaller digital that Ken ended up taking some pictures with. The pictures really don’t do justice on the lights, but it gives you an idea of what we look like at night. The whole neighborhood is lit up, so it really is pretty. Ken says he didn’t put up as many lights as he usually does, but I honestly can’t tell any difference. The only thing I see missing is a huge five pointed star of lights that he puts in the middle of the front yard. Everything else looks like it has for years. This year he will only have the lights lit through Christmas; then they ALL have to come down so we can be on the road by the 28th or 29th.
This is a shot of the front yard....pretty bright!
Now here is a shot of the side yard. That huge tree is a pole of lights and garland. Ken has a lot of fun putting that up in the wind (lol). Thankfully, we have a strong son-in-law and grandson that helps. That tall dark thing in the extreme middle front is a telephone pole, not a flaw in the picture.
Today, we are in the midst of a new series of storms hitting Oregon, and are having very strong steady winds with up to 50 mph gusts. Snow is falling as low as 1,500 feet and will continue for a few more days. The mountains are supposed to get several feet of snow from these storms. As it stands right now, we are anticipating driving through a lot of snow on our way back to Arizona, but we have “Snow Claws” for the Jeep, so aren’t too worried. We found out last year our Grand Cherokee that has 17 inch wheels can’t use the normal chains or cable chains; There is no clearance between the tires and frame for them to work. After checking with many dealers, we ended up with “Snow Claws” which work in Snow, Sand, and Mud. Let’s hope we don’t have to use them in ice…..I don’t want to find out if they work there or not. At least driving the Jeep back to Arizona is going to be a lot better than trying to handle a 40 foot motorhome that weighs in excess of 38,000 pounds and towing a Jeep (65 feet total) in snowy or icy conditions.
We have had a very busy last few weeks trying to tie up many loose ends and getting things ready for our departure soon after Christmas. Our 92 year old lady friend is safe and secure in an assisted living facility. She isn’t in the best of health, but we are happy knowing she has the best of care if she gets worse. IF something should happen while we are gone, Ken will fly home, but hopefully, that won't happen. We have a storage unit for the many items we are saving from her house, but the rest of the work at the house will have to wait until we get back next summer. Still so very much needs to be done!
Anyhow, once we get on the move, I will post more about what is happening plus pictures of our adventures. Hope you all have a great Christmas. Stay healthy and travel safely.
December 6, 2007
Storm Damage Update
The rural roads leading to and from our coast are now open, and a lot of the power has been restored. Highway 101 along the Oregon coast also is now open. However, the coastal town of Astoria still doesn't have power or telephone service. They should have that restored by this weekend, but it will take awhile for the buildings along the coast to be repaired.
The worst area of damage was in the mountain towns of Vernonia, Jewell, and Mist. They are located along the Nehalem River (west of Portland), which flooded after getting over 11 inches of rain. The towns were totally devastated and will be without power or telephone service for a long time. They were completely flooded out and cut off from all civilization until the water subsided (took a few days). After the water went down, the governor was able to tour the towns and see how much was destroyed. He was awe struck and hardly able to express his sorrow upon seeing all of the destruction. We saw pictures on TV and it looked like everyone lost most of everything they owned. The water was at least 3 feet deep in all of the homes and buildings. What is left after the water went down is thick mud and total destruction... to me, it looked like another New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. As far as I know, none of the people had flood insurance and are now relying on FEMA and other sources in order to restart their lives. Our prayers go out to each and everyone affected.
The railroad service traveling through Washington has now been restored. The I-5 freeway traveling through Chehalis and Centralia (WA) is still closed with more damage than they were expecting. The road was flooded for several miles with 10 feet of water. Some of the pavement is now having to be replaced and even some areas under the highway is needing to be repaired. The WDOT is hoping to have most of it repaired in a few days. That freeway is a major link between Canada and California, so the closure has been causing havoc with many companies shipping products north and south. There are by passes, but it involves hundreds of miles of going out of the way. Local country roads that smaller cars can travel on are not passable by large trucks. Some truck drivers tried using the rural roads and ended up jack-knifing their trucks and causing those roads to be blocked for a while.
Ever since the rain & wind quit, we have had fairly nice weather with just a couple showers passing through. The next few days are supposed to be in the high 40s and low 50s with lots of sun breaks (minimum rain). Salem (our home) hardly had any problems with the wind or rain. Our only problems were some storm drains were clogged with leaves which caused some street corners to be a bit flooded. We never lost power or had any damage.
We now have our Christmas lights on! I will post pictures as soon as they are ready.
The worst area of damage was in the mountain towns of Vernonia, Jewell, and Mist. They are located along the Nehalem River (west of Portland), which flooded after getting over 11 inches of rain. The towns were totally devastated and will be without power or telephone service for a long time. They were completely flooded out and cut off from all civilization until the water subsided (took a few days). After the water went down, the governor was able to tour the towns and see how much was destroyed. He was awe struck and hardly able to express his sorrow upon seeing all of the destruction. We saw pictures on TV and it looked like everyone lost most of everything they owned. The water was at least 3 feet deep in all of the homes and buildings. What is left after the water went down is thick mud and total destruction... to me, it looked like another New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. As far as I know, none of the people had flood insurance and are now relying on FEMA and other sources in order to restart their lives. Our prayers go out to each and everyone affected.
The railroad service traveling through Washington has now been restored. The I-5 freeway traveling through Chehalis and Centralia (WA) is still closed with more damage than they were expecting. The road was flooded for several miles with 10 feet of water. Some of the pavement is now having to be replaced and even some areas under the highway is needing to be repaired. The WDOT is hoping to have most of it repaired in a few days. That freeway is a major link between Canada and California, so the closure has been causing havoc with many companies shipping products north and south. There are by passes, but it involves hundreds of miles of going out of the way. Local country roads that smaller cars can travel on are not passable by large trucks. Some truck drivers tried using the rural roads and ended up jack-knifing their trucks and causing those roads to be blocked for a while.
Ever since the rain & wind quit, we have had fairly nice weather with just a couple showers passing through. The next few days are supposed to be in the high 40s and low 50s with lots of sun breaks (minimum rain). Salem (our home) hardly had any problems with the wind or rain. Our only problems were some storm drains were clogged with leaves which caused some street corners to be a bit flooded. We never lost power or had any damage.
We now have our Christmas lights on! I will post pictures as soon as they are ready.
December 4, 2007
High Winds
We arrived home on November 12th and Ken proceeded to work on getting his Christmas decorations put up. He had several days of good, bad, and ugly weather, but he has finally got the majority of his lights/characters positioned and all the lights are turned on. Because of some really nasty severe weather these last few days, he doesn’t have his huge tree up, but hopes to get it up after the high winds subside.
As all of you may have heard, the last couple days our Pacific Northwest had two huge weather systems pass through which brought very high winds and torrential rain. Today, many areas in Oregon and Washington are flooded and thousands of people are without power. Because of the high winds (up to 129 mph) on the coast (Oregon & Washington) power is out and phones (cell and land line) are not working. All the roads to and from the coast are closed due to many downed trees and flooded roads. Even an area south of Seattle had mud slides closing their roads. AmTrack rail service is closed from Eugene, Oregon all the way north to Vancouver, BC. We heard I-5 (the major Interstate north/south highway) is closed at Chehalis, Washington due to flooding. Our governor has issued a State of Emergency for most of our state because of the damage. Salem (our home) had recorded high winds of 50 mph, but we were spared lots of the damage. Ken did have a couple decorations lean a bit, but they are tied down and won't blow away.
The winds (cyclones) were part of a “Pineapple Express” which came from the southwest and brought warmer (50 degree plus) temps. Prior to the winds, we were in chilly (30 degree) temps. Mount Hood even had lots of snow and opened for some fabulous skiing on Thanksgiving. However, in the next few days, the temps are going to rise causing the freezing level to go up, so the snows will melt and cause the rivers to rise and bring more flooding……not a good situation.
On Saturday, November 30, we braved the very wet weather and drove out to find a 6 foot Christmas tree. We even had a dusting of snow as we were cutting it down (that was nice). We now have the tree up and decorated, things are starting to look a little more like Christmas around here.
I will post pictures of Ken's decorations as soon as the weather gets better to take some.
SPECIAL NOTE: Today is our grandson's 20th birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUSTIN!! The picture below is Justin after he caught a large Salmon while fishing in Alaska. He was 18 then and very proud!!
As all of you may have heard, the last couple days our Pacific Northwest had two huge weather systems pass through which brought very high winds and torrential rain. Today, many areas in Oregon and Washington are flooded and thousands of people are without power. Because of the high winds (up to 129 mph) on the coast (Oregon & Washington) power is out and phones (cell and land line) are not working. All the roads to and from the coast are closed due to many downed trees and flooded roads. Even an area south of Seattle had mud slides closing their roads. AmTrack rail service is closed from Eugene, Oregon all the way north to Vancouver, BC. We heard I-5 (the major Interstate north/south highway) is closed at Chehalis, Washington due to flooding. Our governor has issued a State of Emergency for most of our state because of the damage. Salem (our home) had recorded high winds of 50 mph, but we were spared lots of the damage. Ken did have a couple decorations lean a bit, but they are tied down and won't blow away.
The winds (cyclones) were part of a “Pineapple Express” which came from the southwest and brought warmer (50 degree plus) temps. Prior to the winds, we were in chilly (30 degree) temps. Mount Hood even had lots of snow and opened for some fabulous skiing on Thanksgiving. However, in the next few days, the temps are going to rise causing the freezing level to go up, so the snows will melt and cause the rivers to rise and bring more flooding……not a good situation.
On Saturday, November 30, we braved the very wet weather and drove out to find a 6 foot Christmas tree. We even had a dusting of snow as we were cutting it down (that was nice). We now have the tree up and decorated, things are starting to look a little more like Christmas around here.
I will post pictures of Ken's decorations as soon as the weather gets better to take some.
SPECIAL NOTE: Today is our grandson's 20th birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUSTIN!! The picture below is Justin after he caught a large Salmon while fishing in Alaska. He was 18 then and very proud!!
November 13, 2007
Return to Salem
We are back in Salem and will be here until just after Christmas. Our trip back from Queen Valley took three long days, but we are now home again safe and sound. The coach is resting quietly in our site in QV with the best of the "best neighbors" keeping an eye on it.
We left Queen Valley the morning of November 10 and took hwy 60 (Grand Ave) north through Wickenburg to I-40 and on to Kingman. It must have taken us two hours just to get from I-10 to Surprise. I never saw soooo much traffic and stop lights. Once out of the Surprise city limits, we made good time to Kingman, then took hwy 68/163, which is a bit north of Bullhead City and Laughlin. From there, we took hwy 95 north to Searchlight, then west on hwy 164 to I-15 a few miles south of Las Vegas.
We did cache a little, but didn't take very long at it because we were in a hurry to get to Pahrump, Nevada. We were going to stay the night at the Best Western in Pahrump, but the only rooms they had available were smoking and with my allergies, I said no. The only other places to stay were at casinos, and we didn't want to stay at one of them because of all the stuff we would have had to leave in the car unprotected. So, we headed on out of Pahrump to hwy 95 and on to the small town of Beatty, which is known as the gateway to Death Valley. We found a very nice place there to spend the night, and it was much cheaper than what we were going to spend in Pahrump (go figure).
Early the next morning, we headed north on highway 95 and turned west on hwys 266 and 168, which is a scenic route through the mountains to a neat little town in California called Big Pine. What a beautiful drive that was! The road was surprisingly good and in much better condition than most roads we take the coach on. In fact, we probably could have taken the coach on all of 266 which makes a loop back to hwy 95, but after we turned on 168 going into California, the road narrowed and got really twisty going up and over the mountains. In fact, one spot going down the other side, the road narrowed to only one lane going through a very narrow slot canyon. Definitely the coach would never have made that road!
While in the mountains, the clouds were turning very dark with a few drops of rain landing on the windshield. When we got into Big Pine, we stopped at a small park to do a virtual cache, but the wind was blowing so hard we could hardly stand up. Not much rain yet, but the sky was getting darker and more menacing. After getting the answers needed to claim a find of the cache, we turned north on hwy 395 towards Carson City. The wind was gusting very hard on our side and front until we got back into the mountains. What rain we were getting soon turned into a dusting of snow, and as we got higher in elevation (eventually 8,100 feet) there was more snow all around us. The pictures below were shot at a small pull out area between Mammouth Lakes and June Lake. The trees were gorgeous with the dusting of snow!
As we headed further north and came down in elevation, the snow disappeared and it quit raining. When we arrived in Carson City (where we stopped for the night) it was cold, but very nice.
The morning of the 12th, we got up to ice on the windshield. Seems it was 26 degrees out that morning (brr). It did warm up to 45 as we headed north to Alturas, then west on hwy 139 to Klamath Falls in Oregon. Just south of Klamath Falls near Tule Lake, Ca, there is a Lava Beds National Monument, so we took a side trip to see what they were all about. We have passed this area many times, but never took the time to stop and see it. We are glad we did this time because it is a marvelous place for cavers. Most of the park is caves (lava tube caves) and you can actually go exploring in most of them. There are more than 300 caves that have been counted within the park. Many of them have trails laid out and ladders installed to make access easy. Of course, we didn't have the time to explore any, so we just drove through noting that someday we will be back. The pictures below are of one of several large lava flows within the park.
Also in this area is where the Army and the Modoc Indians had a huge war. Seems the Modoc didn't like losing their land and being forced on a reservation nearby with their mortal enemys, so many of them took up arms and fought the army until they were re-captured. Many lives were lost during the fight, and after they were captured, the leaders of the Modoc were hanged; the rest of the band were re-located to a reservation in Oklahoma.
After leaving Klamath Falls, the rain started again, and we had pouring rain all the way on hwy 97 and down a mountain road (hwy 58) into Eugene, where we stopped and had dinner. What a relief to finally get off that mountain and out of the car. Even though it hadn't quite turned dark by the time we stopped, the heavy rain/wind and traffic made the trip down that road horrid. It was so nice to finally stop and get a break.
Back on the road after dinner (dark by now) it had finally quit raining, and we had clear skies the rest of the way home. Found out later there were many power outages in the Portland and Salem area that day due to high winds and heavy rain.
Anyhow, we are now home until after the Christmas holiday. Ken is planning on decorating, so I will post more once that takes place.
We left Queen Valley the morning of November 10 and took hwy 60 (Grand Ave) north through Wickenburg to I-40 and on to Kingman. It must have taken us two hours just to get from I-10 to Surprise. I never saw soooo much traffic and stop lights. Once out of the Surprise city limits, we made good time to Kingman, then took hwy 68/163, which is a bit north of Bullhead City and Laughlin. From there, we took hwy 95 north to Searchlight, then west on hwy 164 to I-15 a few miles south of Las Vegas.
We did cache a little, but didn't take very long at it because we were in a hurry to get to Pahrump, Nevada. We were going to stay the night at the Best Western in Pahrump, but the only rooms they had available were smoking and with my allergies, I said no. The only other places to stay were at casinos, and we didn't want to stay at one of them because of all the stuff we would have had to leave in the car unprotected. So, we headed on out of Pahrump to hwy 95 and on to the small town of Beatty, which is known as the gateway to Death Valley. We found a very nice place there to spend the night, and it was much cheaper than what we were going to spend in Pahrump (go figure).
Early the next morning, we headed north on highway 95 and turned west on hwys 266 and 168, which is a scenic route through the mountains to a neat little town in California called Big Pine. What a beautiful drive that was! The road was surprisingly good and in much better condition than most roads we take the coach on. In fact, we probably could have taken the coach on all of 266 which makes a loop back to hwy 95, but after we turned on 168 going into California, the road narrowed and got really twisty going up and over the mountains. In fact, one spot going down the other side, the road narrowed to only one lane going through a very narrow slot canyon. Definitely the coach would never have made that road!
While in the mountains, the clouds were turning very dark with a few drops of rain landing on the windshield. When we got into Big Pine, we stopped at a small park to do a virtual cache, but the wind was blowing so hard we could hardly stand up. Not much rain yet, but the sky was getting darker and more menacing. After getting the answers needed to claim a find of the cache, we turned north on hwy 395 towards Carson City. The wind was gusting very hard on our side and front until we got back into the mountains. What rain we were getting soon turned into a dusting of snow, and as we got higher in elevation (eventually 8,100 feet) there was more snow all around us. The pictures below were shot at a small pull out area between Mammouth Lakes and June Lake. The trees were gorgeous with the dusting of snow!
As we headed further north and came down in elevation, the snow disappeared and it quit raining. When we arrived in Carson City (where we stopped for the night) it was cold, but very nice.
The morning of the 12th, we got up to ice on the windshield. Seems it was 26 degrees out that morning (brr). It did warm up to 45 as we headed north to Alturas, then west on hwy 139 to Klamath Falls in Oregon. Just south of Klamath Falls near Tule Lake, Ca, there is a Lava Beds National Monument, so we took a side trip to see what they were all about. We have passed this area many times, but never took the time to stop and see it. We are glad we did this time because it is a marvelous place for cavers. Most of the park is caves (lava tube caves) and you can actually go exploring in most of them. There are more than 300 caves that have been counted within the park. Many of them have trails laid out and ladders installed to make access easy. Of course, we didn't have the time to explore any, so we just drove through noting that someday we will be back. The pictures below are of one of several large lava flows within the park.
Also in this area is where the Army and the Modoc Indians had a huge war. Seems the Modoc didn't like losing their land and being forced on a reservation nearby with their mortal enemys, so many of them took up arms and fought the army until they were re-captured. Many lives were lost during the fight, and after they were captured, the leaders of the Modoc were hanged; the rest of the band were re-located to a reservation in Oklahoma.
After leaving Klamath Falls, the rain started again, and we had pouring rain all the way on hwy 97 and down a mountain road (hwy 58) into Eugene, where we stopped and had dinner. What a relief to finally get off that mountain and out of the car. Even though it hadn't quite turned dark by the time we stopped, the heavy rain/wind and traffic made the trip down that road horrid. It was so nice to finally stop and get a break.
Back on the road after dinner (dark by now) it had finally quit raining, and we had clear skies the rest of the way home. Found out later there were many power outages in the Portland and Salem area that day due to high winds and heavy rain.
Anyhow, we are now home until after the Christmas holiday. Ken is planning on decorating, so I will post more once that takes place.
November 6, 2007
Home in Arizona
All is well and it sure is great being back in Queen Valley!!
Prior to our leaving for QV, we were warned the tree on our lot was a little over grown and to bring pruning shears so we could get into our shed. Boy were they right! We have never seen this tree so bushy. Before we left for home last May, it was nothing but dead looking limbs. What a surprise to see it looking like this. Here is what the tree looked like when we pulled in on Sunday.
Ken quickly got busy and started trimming it way back. Here is Ken buried among the leaves. Sure hope there aren't any strange critters in there (several snakes have been seen in park lately).
Finally, back to normal!! Look, you can actually see the shed now.
These last few days have been fantastic! Temperatures are in the mid 90s every day with beautiful evenings. There has been no rain in Arizona for over 30 days and so far there is no sign of any in sight. It's supposed to remain warm for a few more days, then cool down to the mid 80s.
The season here is in full swing and lots of events are planned. We already have gone to an ice cream social that was held around the pool and celebrated wedding anniversaries with our next door neighbor (theirs and ours) by going out to a marvelous Mexican restaurant in Florence (a few miles south of us). Too bad we aren't going to stay here a bit longer because there are some really nice specials being offered on tours to Las Vegas and other places. Alas, we have to be back in Salem on the 14th, so we are leaving here on the 10th or 11th.
While here in the RV park, we have no cell service, so am having to use dial up for posts. It is very slow! Sure didn't realize how much I like my air card! There has been talk that a cell tower has been approved for the area and permits are being reviewed, but pretty sure it won't happen this year. Should you wish to call us, our land line here in the park is: 520-463-0198. Once we get out of the park and on the main highway, our cells do work, so leaving a message is good, but it may take several days before we get them.
More later! Love & Hugs to ALL!
.
Prior to our leaving for QV, we were warned the tree on our lot was a little over grown and to bring pruning shears so we could get into our shed. Boy were they right! We have never seen this tree so bushy. Before we left for home last May, it was nothing but dead looking limbs. What a surprise to see it looking like this. Here is what the tree looked like when we pulled in on Sunday.
Ken quickly got busy and started trimming it way back. Here is Ken buried among the leaves. Sure hope there aren't any strange critters in there (several snakes have been seen in park lately).
Finally, back to normal!! Look, you can actually see the shed now.
These last few days have been fantastic! Temperatures are in the mid 90s every day with beautiful evenings. There has been no rain in Arizona for over 30 days and so far there is no sign of any in sight. It's supposed to remain warm for a few more days, then cool down to the mid 80s.
The season here is in full swing and lots of events are planned. We already have gone to an ice cream social that was held around the pool and celebrated wedding anniversaries with our next door neighbor (theirs and ours) by going out to a marvelous Mexican restaurant in Florence (a few miles south of us). Too bad we aren't going to stay here a bit longer because there are some really nice specials being offered on tours to Las Vegas and other places. Alas, we have to be back in Salem on the 14th, so we are leaving here on the 10th or 11th.
While here in the RV park, we have no cell service, so am having to use dial up for posts. It is very slow! Sure didn't realize how much I like my air card! There has been talk that a cell tower has been approved for the area and permits are being reviewed, but pretty sure it won't happen this year. Should you wish to call us, our land line here in the park is: 520-463-0198. Once we get out of the park and on the main highway, our cells do work, so leaving a message is good, but it may take several days before we get them.
More later! Love & Hugs to ALL!
.
November 4, 2007
Arizona
ARIZONA
After three days of traveling, we are in Arizona and have good cell tower reception. We left Salem on Thursday, November 1, and had good service until we left I-5 and headed through the mountains toward Klamath Falls. All the way from there until we got to I-10 near Quartzsite (167 miles west of Queen Valley) did we have decent cell/Internet reception. There were a lot of areas that were good for phone, but not decent enough to maintain good Internet reception for a long period of time.
Our trip south has been pretty good with great scenery and no real major mishaps. The only real problem we had was just after crossing the Oregon/California border on Thursday, we saw a Red Tail Hawk. He was near the side of the road, but as we got closer, he swooped down in front of us.....note, we were traveling around 60 mph.....anyhow, as he swooped down, then started rising, we thought he was going to miss us by flying over the top of us. Wrong! He hit the upper portion of our windshield just off the middle on the driver's side. We thought for sure he cracked the windshield, but couldn't stop right away to check it out. What I could see from the inside was just a smudge where he hit, and no crack. When we finally did get stopped, Ken checked it out from the outside and could see where the hawk hit, but no damage was done. Guess the good Lord was watching out for us that time. Later that afternoon, we stopped at a nice little town called Likely (likely name...lol). The fire station had a nice large lot where we pulled into, and Ken checked to see if it was ok to stay there. They said no problem as long as the fire trucks could get out (they could). The day was a beautiful sunny day and up to 57 degrees, but as the sun went down, it got cold. We settled in and closed everything up and kept it as warm as we could. We were boondocking, so the only power was from the inverter and generator.
The next morning (Friday) when we got up, it was 30 degrees and frost was everywhere. We turned furnace on and were warm and snug, but it took a while to defrost the windshield. The sun was up and once again, it turned out to be another beautiful sunny day. We took highway 395 to Reno, then I-80 to Fernly where we topped off the fuel tank at a $3.38 a gallon (ouch, but better than Oregon's prices). We then traveled south through Fallon and ended up at a nice little rest stop near Tonapah, Nevada (125 miles north of Las Vegas). Our high that day was 68, but with our elevation being about 5,500 feet, we knew it was going to be another cold night. It really didn't get cold until after 4 in the morning. When we got up, it was 35 degrees and no frost. Just a nice clear sunny morning.
Saturday was another uneventful drive as we went south through Las Vegas (just before noon) and on to Laughlin where we stopped at Avi Resort & Casino RV Park. What a difference in temperature as we got further south. Laughlin was 75 when we parked the coach and got settled in. The Avi is a few miles south of the town of Laughlin on the Mojave Indian Reservation and it is nice place to spend the night (or several days for that matter). They have a nice casino right on the river with a beautiful sandy beach. At about 9 pm, they have a fire works display that lasts for quite a while. They also have an extensive fireworks store where you can purchase a huge array of goodies (no we did not buy any).
After we had parked and got settled in our site, we found out from a friend that there had been a 100 car pile up near Fresno due to dense fog. Normally, we would have been on I-5 or even highway 99 near Fresno when the accident happened, but because Ken wanted to go a more scenic way, we weren't anywhere near the accident. Guess the good Lord was still watching over us.
Will post more once we get settled and have some pictures to show.
After three days of traveling, we are in Arizona and have good cell tower reception. We left Salem on Thursday, November 1, and had good service until we left I-5 and headed through the mountains toward Klamath Falls. All the way from there until we got to I-10 near Quartzsite (167 miles west of Queen Valley) did we have decent cell/Internet reception. There were a lot of areas that were good for phone, but not decent enough to maintain good Internet reception for a long period of time.
Our trip south has been pretty good with great scenery and no real major mishaps. The only real problem we had was just after crossing the Oregon/California border on Thursday, we saw a Red Tail Hawk. He was near the side of the road, but as we got closer, he swooped down in front of us.....note, we were traveling around 60 mph.....anyhow, as he swooped down, then started rising, we thought he was going to miss us by flying over the top of us. Wrong! He hit the upper portion of our windshield just off the middle on the driver's side. We thought for sure he cracked the windshield, but couldn't stop right away to check it out. What I could see from the inside was just a smudge where he hit, and no crack. When we finally did get stopped, Ken checked it out from the outside and could see where the hawk hit, but no damage was done. Guess the good Lord was watching out for us that time. Later that afternoon, we stopped at a nice little town called Likely (likely name...lol). The fire station had a nice large lot where we pulled into, and Ken checked to see if it was ok to stay there. They said no problem as long as the fire trucks could get out (they could). The day was a beautiful sunny day and up to 57 degrees, but as the sun went down, it got cold. We settled in and closed everything up and kept it as warm as we could. We were boondocking, so the only power was from the inverter and generator.
The next morning (Friday) when we got up, it was 30 degrees and frost was everywhere. We turned furnace on and were warm and snug, but it took a while to defrost the windshield. The sun was up and once again, it turned out to be another beautiful sunny day. We took highway 395 to Reno, then I-80 to Fernly where we topped off the fuel tank at a $3.38 a gallon (ouch, but better than Oregon's prices). We then traveled south through Fallon and ended up at a nice little rest stop near Tonapah, Nevada (125 miles north of Las Vegas). Our high that day was 68, but with our elevation being about 5,500 feet, we knew it was going to be another cold night. It really didn't get cold until after 4 in the morning. When we got up, it was 35 degrees and no frost. Just a nice clear sunny morning.
Saturday was another uneventful drive as we went south through Las Vegas (just before noon) and on to Laughlin where we stopped at Avi Resort & Casino RV Park. What a difference in temperature as we got further south. Laughlin was 75 when we parked the coach and got settled in. The Avi is a few miles south of the town of Laughlin on the Mojave Indian Reservation and it is nice place to spend the night (or several days for that matter). They have a nice casino right on the river with a beautiful sandy beach. At about 9 pm, they have a fire works display that lasts for quite a while. They also have an extensive fireworks store where you can purchase a huge array of goodies (no we did not buy any).
After we had parked and got settled in our site, we found out from a friend that there had been a 100 car pile up near Fresno due to dense fog. Normally, we would have been on I-5 or even highway 99 near Fresno when the accident happened, but because Ken wanted to go a more scenic way, we weren't anywhere near the accident. Guess the good Lord was still watching over us.
Will post more once we get settled and have some pictures to show.
Haunted Cave
Here are a few pictures of Ken's Halloween Haunted Cave. He takes the front quarter of one side of our gargage and sets up a goulish display. With daylight, it doesn't look so scary, but the last picture is taken just after dark and looks better. The smoke/fog machine was in operation at the time of the pictures, so the figures don't look so goulish. But after the fog is flowing and all the creatures are moaning, screaming, and chattering, things get more thrilling. All the little (and big) visitors seem to enjoy it.
November 1, 2007
Arizona Bound
Hi everybody! We sure hope you all had as nice as a Halloween as we did. Ken goes all out for the event by taking one quarter of our double car garage and making it over into a "Haunted Cave." I took a couple of pictures, but will have to post those once I am able to upload them to computer. The evening turned out to be great with no rain and not as cold as in the past. Lots of "Creatures" showed up for a Snickers Bar and a special toy given out by the "Gorilla" who was actually "g'pa" in disguise. He had as much fun as the kids and adults who showed up did. I "lurked" in the background, but didn't get as involved with the distribution of thrills as he did.
This morning all of the decorations are down, but not necessarily put away. Even though things are in a bit of disarray in the living room (lots of animatronics sitting around) we finished packing the coach, hooked up the Jeep, and are now on our way to Arizona. The morning is foggy and cool (46 degrees) but the further south we get, it should be better. I will post more once we arrive at a parking spot, that is IF I have cell service there, and let you all know how things are going.
This morning all of the decorations are down, but not necessarily put away. Even though things are in a bit of disarray in the living room (lots of animatronics sitting around) we finished packing the coach, hooked up the Jeep, and are now on our way to Arizona. The morning is foggy and cool (46 degrees) but the further south we get, it should be better. I will post more once we arrive at a parking spot, that is IF I have cell service there, and let you all know how things are going.
October 26, 2007
South for the Winter
Golly Gee, We got up this morning and had ICE all over the car!! That is the sign which tells us it is time to head south. However, we still have a few things to do before that is possible.
Taking charge of our 92 year old friend has been quite a challenge. With taking on her responsibilities and handling our own, it has been a tumultuous summer. She was in the hospital for three days in September with Pneumonia, then just three weeks later, we had to rush her in again for the same thing. This time, she was in for a week before they would release her. She is now back at the assisted living facility, but now requires some home health care on top of what the facility provides. The doctor thinks that hospice may have to be called in soon. Don't know how that is going to work with us being in Arizona for the winter, but I guess we will cross that bridge when it happens. Her house is still in a mess, but we will put most of her things in storage before closing the house up for the winter.
Anyhow, we really are almost ready to move the coach to Arizona. The slider awnings still have to be replaced, but that will be done next Monday. We had the coach in Cummin's yesterday getting the yearly service done and had quite an awakening when going to the truck stop to "top off" the fuel tank. We only needed 60 gallons (our tank holds 130 gallons) but at $3.46 a gallon, it cost a fortune. We try to always top off the tank when it gets down around one half full, so figure our trip south is going to take three more "top offs" before actually getting the coach parked in our site at Queen Valley. Hopefully, the price will drop, but we think it is just going to go up. Just this last week, the price per gallon went up 11 cents (WOW). Good thing once we get the coach parked, it won't be moving again until May. Of course in Arizona, come May, it may be over $4 a gallon (sad thought).
Our plans are to leave Salem on November 1 and hopefully arrive in Queen Valley on November 3. Our phone and electric have been turned on, so all should be ready when we get there. This last summer the park had some changes and they re-numbered all of the sites, so we are NOT in site 181 any longer. Our new site number is 167. If anyone wants to contact us, our address is: 50 W Oro Viejo Dr. #167, Queen Valley, Arizona 85218. Our phone number remains the same: 520-463-0198. As most of you know, there is NO cell phone service in the park, but our cells do work when we leave the park. Those numbers are: Ken's is 503-551-8491, and mine is 503-559-6543. Of course, ALL the phones have a message service, so no matter what happens, we will get a message IF you leave one.
Once we get the coach parked and settled, we will head back to Salem in the Jeep. We will remain in Salem until just after Christmas then head back to Arizona for the rest of the winter. When we finally get on the road, I will be leaving more updates and hopefully some pictures. I just got a new computer, and haven't got all of the equipment attached to it yet. Still not sure how much will or will not work with the new Vista program. Yes, I still have the older computer and we still have Ken's, so one way or the other, I will get something posted with pictures.
More later. Hugs to all!!
Taking charge of our 92 year old friend has been quite a challenge. With taking on her responsibilities and handling our own, it has been a tumultuous summer. She was in the hospital for three days in September with Pneumonia, then just three weeks later, we had to rush her in again for the same thing. This time, she was in for a week before they would release her. She is now back at the assisted living facility, but now requires some home health care on top of what the facility provides. The doctor thinks that hospice may have to be called in soon. Don't know how that is going to work with us being in Arizona for the winter, but I guess we will cross that bridge when it happens. Her house is still in a mess, but we will put most of her things in storage before closing the house up for the winter.
Anyhow, we really are almost ready to move the coach to Arizona. The slider awnings still have to be replaced, but that will be done next Monday. We had the coach in Cummin's yesterday getting the yearly service done and had quite an awakening when going to the truck stop to "top off" the fuel tank. We only needed 60 gallons (our tank holds 130 gallons) but at $3.46 a gallon, it cost a fortune. We try to always top off the tank when it gets down around one half full, so figure our trip south is going to take three more "top offs" before actually getting the coach parked in our site at Queen Valley. Hopefully, the price will drop, but we think it is just going to go up. Just this last week, the price per gallon went up 11 cents (WOW). Good thing once we get the coach parked, it won't be moving again until May. Of course in Arizona, come May, it may be over $4 a gallon (sad thought).
Our plans are to leave Salem on November 1 and hopefully arrive in Queen Valley on November 3. Our phone and electric have been turned on, so all should be ready when we get there. This last summer the park had some changes and they re-numbered all of the sites, so we are NOT in site 181 any longer. Our new site number is 167. If anyone wants to contact us, our address is: 50 W Oro Viejo Dr. #167, Queen Valley, Arizona 85218. Our phone number remains the same: 520-463-0198. As most of you know, there is NO cell phone service in the park, but our cells do work when we leave the park. Those numbers are: Ken's is 503-551-8491, and mine is 503-559-6543. Of course, ALL the phones have a message service, so no matter what happens, we will get a message IF you leave one.
Once we get the coach parked and settled, we will head back to Salem in the Jeep. We will remain in Salem until just after Christmas then head back to Arizona for the rest of the winter. When we finally get on the road, I will be leaving more updates and hopefully some pictures. I just got a new computer, and haven't got all of the equipment attached to it yet. Still not sure how much will or will not work with the new Vista program. Yes, I still have the older computer and we still have Ken's, so one way or the other, I will get something posted with pictures.
More later. Hugs to all!!
October 7, 2007
Home in Salem
Just a quick note to let everyone know we are home in Salem and back to our daily grind. We had a marvelous time at Newport with Rod & Lynda even though it rained on us. It is always nice to get away with very good friends and just enjoy their companionship. It will be great when they retire, so we all can spend more time traveling and camping together. But, they are younger than us, so it will be a few years more before that can happen.
Things are going well here at home, but I wish things were done so we can head back south for the winter. We spend a couple days each week at Nomi's (our 92 year old lady friend) place trying to sort out her stuff and get it organized for storage. Currently we are just filling up the garbage and making sure nothing is tossed of importance. We do take her out for lunch, shopping, etc. at least one day a week and sometimes more depending on what she needs and how she feels. When we do that, it becomes an all day event.
Since we have been so busy with Nomi's house, her dr. appts, our own chores, and our medical appts, our geocaching has come to a complete halt. There are soooooo many more things taking priority that we can't devote the time needed to go out and geocache (we have attended a couple events, but nothing more). Maybe once we get back to AZ, we can devote more time to it. Only time will tell.
A couple needed things for us to do is replace the 2 slider awnings on the coach and buy 8 new tires (2 for the tag axle). There is nothing wrong with our tires, but they are going on 6 years old and the tire manufacturers say 5-7 years is all you ever want to keep the tires on your rig. We don't travel far, but we do park it for 6 months straight in Arizona, and the UV effect on them can be devastating after a while. That work has to be done prior to our trip south this year. Oh boy, more money out of pocket!! I would like a new Laptop, but at this time, can't justify the cost for what I want.
As it stands now, we may be heading south sometime early November (if I get my way) and stay until just before Thanksgiving. We then will drive our Jeep back to Salem for the holidays, then go back to AZ after just after Christmas. That way, we won't be driving the coach through the mountains when the snow hits (if it hits).
This year Mt. Hood (near Portland, OR) has already had lots of snow and the predictions are we may be getting more earlier. We really need the snow pack because there hasn't been much in the last few years.
I will write more once we know what our plans are. Until then we pray all are doing well and staying healthy. If you are traveling, please be safe and happy.
Things are going well here at home, but I wish things were done so we can head back south for the winter. We spend a couple days each week at Nomi's (our 92 year old lady friend) place trying to sort out her stuff and get it organized for storage. Currently we are just filling up the garbage and making sure nothing is tossed of importance. We do take her out for lunch, shopping, etc. at least one day a week and sometimes more depending on what she needs and how she feels. When we do that, it becomes an all day event.
Since we have been so busy with Nomi's house, her dr. appts, our own chores, and our medical appts, our geocaching has come to a complete halt. There are soooooo many more things taking priority that we can't devote the time needed to go out and geocache (we have attended a couple events, but nothing more). Maybe once we get back to AZ, we can devote more time to it. Only time will tell.
A couple needed things for us to do is replace the 2 slider awnings on the coach and buy 8 new tires (2 for the tag axle). There is nothing wrong with our tires, but they are going on 6 years old and the tire manufacturers say 5-7 years is all you ever want to keep the tires on your rig. We don't travel far, but we do park it for 6 months straight in Arizona, and the UV effect on them can be devastating after a while. That work has to be done prior to our trip south this year. Oh boy, more money out of pocket!! I would like a new Laptop, but at this time, can't justify the cost for what I want.
As it stands now, we may be heading south sometime early November (if I get my way) and stay until just before Thanksgiving. We then will drive our Jeep back to Salem for the holidays, then go back to AZ after just after Christmas. That way, we won't be driving the coach through the mountains when the snow hits (if it hits).
This year Mt. Hood (near Portland, OR) has already had lots of snow and the predictions are we may be getting more earlier. We really need the snow pack because there hasn't been much in the last few years.
I will write more once we know what our plans are. Until then we pray all are doing well and staying healthy. If you are traveling, please be safe and happy.
September 30, 2007
RAIN...RAIN...DELUGE!
Yesterday was a fairly nice day at the coast. Just a couple showers, but mostly cloudy with some wind. We barely got wet while in Lincoln City at a Celebration of Honor GPS Event, and even got quite warm racing around the town viewing various sites collecting stamps in our "passport" in order to win a prize. We had ten sites to visit and it took us about 2 hours to complete, but we "earned" a couple very nice GeoCoins for our effort. There were many 'cachers' from the Salem area who showed up for the social aspect and the chance to earn the prize.
Today became another matter. It started raining last night around 9 p.m. and hasn't yet stopped. The whole park has become a lake and it seems most of the camp sites are surrounded by water. We are warm and cozy in the coach, but the poor tenters must be freezing and miserable.
These two pictures show us sitting high and dry, but most of the road and some of the grassy areas are underwater.
The weather forcast is rain for the next several days, so I guess, we are going to get pretty wet tomorrow hooking up and dumping tanks before our drive back to Salem.
Will keep you all posted.
Today became another matter. It started raining last night around 9 p.m. and hasn't yet stopped. The whole park has become a lake and it seems most of the camp sites are surrounded by water. We are warm and cozy in the coach, but the poor tenters must be freezing and miserable.
These two pictures show us sitting high and dry, but most of the road and some of the grassy areas are underwater.
The weather forcast is rain for the next several days, so I guess, we are going to get pretty wet tomorrow hooking up and dumping tanks before our drive back to Salem.
Will keep you all posted.
September 29, 2007
South Beach in Newport
What fun it is to spend a long weekend at South Beach State Park in Newport, Oregon. This is one of our favorite state parks where there is plenty of room to park our coach in comfort. We got here on Thursday, the 27th, before it started to rain. Our friends, Lynda & Rod showed up about two hours after we did.
Did I mention rain? Well, it was beautiful (some clouds, but mostly sun) until 10 in the evening, then it first started sprinkling, then it poured. Friday, it started out damp, but cleared until Lynda and I drove north to Lincoln City to do some browsing and shopping at the outlets. Just as we got parked, it started raining, then it again poured. It rained so hard the gutter downspouts were overflowing. Naturally, after we got under cover, (totally soaked) it slowed down and didn't really rain again until we were headed back to get in the car. Oh well, we had fun and enjoyed the area (also spent a tiny bit of money).
This is us just after getting set up and Ken is washing the bugs off the coach's windshield.
Here comes Rod & Lynda!
They are in their site and just getting settled in.
Today, Ken & I are going back to Lincoln City (20 miles north of Newport) for a geocaching event. Actually, it is a city wide celebration in honor of the American Veterans with a little geocaching thrown in.
More later.
Did I mention rain? Well, it was beautiful (some clouds, but mostly sun) until 10 in the evening, then it first started sprinkling, then it poured. Friday, it started out damp, but cleared until Lynda and I drove north to Lincoln City to do some browsing and shopping at the outlets. Just as we got parked, it started raining, then it again poured. It rained so hard the gutter downspouts were overflowing. Naturally, after we got under cover, (totally soaked) it slowed down and didn't really rain again until we were headed back to get in the car. Oh well, we had fun and enjoyed the area (also spent a tiny bit of money).
This is us just after getting set up and Ken is washing the bugs off the coach's windshield.
Here comes Rod & Lynda!
They are in their site and just getting settled in.
Today, Ken & I are going back to Lincoln City (20 miles north of Newport) for a geocaching event. Actually, it is a city wide celebration in honor of the American Veterans with a little geocaching thrown in.
More later.
September 26, 2007
Around the town of Yakutat
More pictures from around Yakutat.
It is hard to believe, but Yakutat is also known for its great surfing. There is a neat surf shop there called Icy Waves. You can find more pictures on the web by going to glacierbearlodge.com and checking out the links.
The Small Boat Harbor is a very small part of a huge bay. The bay will accommodate a large cruise ship, but they don't stop there on a regular basis. If there is a large storm or an emergency, the cruise ships will pull in. We saw one once, but didn't have the camera with us to get a picture.
This is the Sheriff's Office in the middle of town. Next door is the Magistrate's office and court room. The judge travels from town to town and comes in when there is a trial taking place.
The General Store is called Mallotts. They are not the only grocery store here, but is the oldest and the only one still owned and operated by locals.
It used to be if you wanted to view the local bears (coastal grizzley) you could just go to the garbage dump. There were several Junk Yard Junkies that hung out there just waiting for a handout. Now, the town passed an ordinace banning all fish refuse being dumped there. All fish scraps have to be ground up at the grinder and then disposed of in the bay. These were some of the "junkies" we ran into a couple years ago.
Eagles are harder to get pictures of, but they are quite numerous in Yakutat. We see several every day when out fishing. This year we saw two pair hanging around the lagoon watching us fish. Tried to get pictures of them, but they stayed high and too far away to get a good shot. We spotted this Eagle eating a Salmon along the bank of a ditch near a local road; when we got close, he flew up into the nearest tree. He didn't want to lose his meal, so didn't go far, and we were able to get a fairly decent picture.
Well that is all from Yakutat, hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did. The next post will be from South Beach State Park (Newport, Oregon), where we will be camping out with friends for a nice long weekend.
It is hard to believe, but Yakutat is also known for its great surfing. There is a neat surf shop there called Icy Waves. You can find more pictures on the web by going to glacierbearlodge.com and checking out the links.
The Small Boat Harbor is a very small part of a huge bay. The bay will accommodate a large cruise ship, but they don't stop there on a regular basis. If there is a large storm or an emergency, the cruise ships will pull in. We saw one once, but didn't have the camera with us to get a picture.
This is the Sheriff's Office in the middle of town. Next door is the Magistrate's office and court room. The judge travels from town to town and comes in when there is a trial taking place.
The General Store is called Mallotts. They are not the only grocery store here, but is the oldest and the only one still owned and operated by locals.
It used to be if you wanted to view the local bears (coastal grizzley) you could just go to the garbage dump. There were several Junk Yard Junkies that hung out there just waiting for a handout. Now, the town passed an ordinace banning all fish refuse being dumped there. All fish scraps have to be ground up at the grinder and then disposed of in the bay. These were some of the "junkies" we ran into a couple years ago.
Eagles are harder to get pictures of, but they are quite numerous in Yakutat. We see several every day when out fishing. This year we saw two pair hanging around the lagoon watching us fish. Tried to get pictures of them, but they stayed high and too far away to get a good shot. We spotted this Eagle eating a Salmon along the bank of a ditch near a local road; when we got close, he flew up into the nearest tree. He didn't want to lose his meal, so didn't go far, and we were able to get a fairly decent picture.
Well that is all from Yakutat, hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did. The next post will be from South Beach State Park (Newport, Oregon), where we will be camping out with friends for a nice long weekend.
September 22, 2007
Glacier Bear, Yakutat, Alaska
More pictures from The Glacier Bear Lodge, where we stayed.
This is a shot of The Glacier Bear's main building from one of the older rooms. Note the lovely rental van ($75 a day).
This one shows part of the second floor looking toward the office.
One thing I didn't say earlier is how we take care of the fish. First we have to catch them, then we bring them back to the lodge's cleaning station and filet them (cut heads & tails off, then filet each side). Depending on how big the fish is, we will cut them in thirds or half. After that, we vacuum pack the filets and place them in fish boxes (up to 50 lbs per box) and fast freeze them in this lovely freezer.
This is the cleaning station.
Here is a shot of the newer section (two story) of the lodges rooms.
This is what our messy room looks like. The rooms are set up for three men (or three people). There are two full sized beds and a roll away cot. The beds are very uncomfortable because they tend to sag toward the side where a single person sleeps. For years, not many women ever went there. Now, we see more and more couples showing up. The new owners of the lodge are trying to upgrade things, but because of the weather during off season, they can't get much done fast.
This is a shot of The Glacier Bear's main building from one of the older rooms. Note the lovely rental van ($75 a day).
This one shows part of the second floor looking toward the office.
One thing I didn't say earlier is how we take care of the fish. First we have to catch them, then we bring them back to the lodge's cleaning station and filet them (cut heads & tails off, then filet each side). Depending on how big the fish is, we will cut them in thirds or half. After that, we vacuum pack the filets and place them in fish boxes (up to 50 lbs per box) and fast freeze them in this lovely freezer.
This is the cleaning station.
Here is a shot of the newer section (two story) of the lodges rooms.
This is what our messy room looks like. The rooms are set up for three men (or three people). There are two full sized beds and a roll away cot. The beds are very uncomfortable because they tend to sag toward the side where a single person sleeps. For years, not many women ever went there. Now, we see more and more couples showing up. The new owners of the lodge are trying to upgrade things, but because of the weather during off season, they can't get much done fast.
September 21, 2007
Fishing in Alaska
On Sept. 10, we drove the Jeep to Seattle and spent the night at the Airport EconoLodge. Early the next morning, we flew to Yakutat, Alaska for our annual Silver Salmon fishing. Earlier that week, we took a 6 horse Johnson (boat motor) and a box of needed fishing essentials to the Portland Airport for shipment to Yakutat. Shipping them is easier than taking them as luggage and paying the extra fees. They are always waiting for us when we arrive.
This picture is just before we pulled out of the gate. Not a lot of activity near by, but lots of planes were flying at that hour (7:30 am).
Our one and only stop was at Juneau, the capitol of Alaska. The flight from SeaTac to Juneau was 2 hours and 15 minutes. We got a couple sodas and some chips while in route (yea....reminder for return flight was to bring on goodies). Take a look at the picture and notice the huge glacier looming over the town. That is called the Mendenhall Glacier.
Here is another picture of the glacier just after we took off.
After leaving Juneau, it was just a hop over the mountains (45 minutes) and we were landing in Yakutat. "Yak" is located half way between Juneau and Cordova on a bay called (of course) Yakutat. Ken has been traveling to Yak every September since the late 1960s. I was finally "allowed" to go fishing there after I retired in 1999. The only way to get to Yakutat is either by air or boat. The whole time we were there, we had no cell phone or Internet service. There is Satellite TV in the lodge, but we are usually so tired after fishing, we don't go over there.
This is the Glacier Bear Lodge where we stay. The rooms are in the smaller building in back. On one side of the main lodge is a two story building with rooms, but we always stay in the "older" portion that is on one floor. We like not having anyone moving around over us...the walls are paper thin, so even on one floor, things can be noisy.
Yakutat's rainfall averages around 270 plus inches every year. This last winter, they had 12 feet of snow, which hasn't happened for several years. For the first four years I went fishing, I never saw the surrounding mountains because all it did was rain. However, the last five years, we have had many nice days, and the views are spectacular.
Mt. St. Elias (shown here) is the second tallest mountain in North America. It is very impressive when you can see it. The snow is so white, it almost looks like a painting.
This year, we had several cloudy days, but only one really nasty rainy day with high winds. When it isn't raining, the mosquitoes and other flying and biting critters are out. My "perfume" while in Alaska is called DEET. Deet, and Skin So Soft, are pretty effective in keeping the swarm of skeeters and "no see ums" from biting...but they still tend to hang around your face and just "bug" the heck out of you.
It is always hard to get in the swing of fishing because we have to get up before dawn, dress in layers; thermals, other wear, then waders (mine are neoprene...boy are they fun to put on) then rain gear or a jacket depending on what is happening at the moment. After putting on all those clothes, you feel like mr/mrs dough boy/woman (but they sure keep you nice and warm and above all dry). Yep, I have taken a tumble in the water and didn't even get wet!
We have a John Boat waiting for us on a tidal river called The Ankau (rent is $75 a day). The drive to the river is about 5 miles from the lodge, which takes all of 20 minutes over a gravel, pot holey road. We have seen bears along the road in the past.
Once to the river, we "pull" the boat to the river's edge, place motor on the boat, then motor about a mile up river to some narrow chutes that flow into and out of a beautiful upper lagoon. We like to fish the chutes and sometimes the lagoon. The chutes flow both ways depending on how high or low the tides are. The best fishing is on an incoming tide, but this year we caught the most fish on the outgoing tide (go figure).
This is the lagoon looking toward the chutes.
This picture is one of the chutes we like to fish. Normally the flow out is much rougher, but the tide is coming in, so the chute is starting to fill up and will soon flow into the lagoon.
While out fishing we see many Eagles, Sand Hill Cranes, Seals, and an occasional bear. There are many black bear in the area plus the brown bear (coastal grizzly). The local "Sitka Deer" are growing in population, and we saw a mama with two fawn our second day out. They are a small deer and not afraid of anyone. Last year, Ken had one walk right up behind him while he was fishing. Good thing it wasn't a bear because he didn't even hear it. Ken does carry a short barrel Smith & Wesson Model 500 (we ship it up) on his belt. That is one powerful gun and we feel very safe in bear country.
My first year in Yak, there was an orphaned female Moose hanging around the lodge. The guides named her Muffin and hand fed her until she was able to live on her own. Of course she was gone by the time we went up the following year.
We spent the next six days fishing and made our limit each day.
This is Ken with half of a day's catch. After six days of fishing, we had over 3 fish boxes full of Salmon filets and had to quit. We ended up with 180 lbs of Salmon filets, plus a large amount of Clams. We did de-shell them to keep the weight down.
This picture is just a few of what we gathered.
Since we didn't fish on the 7th day, we had time to get our gear dried out and Ken was able to go pick cranberries. This year they weren't very big or plentiful, but he still managed to get a good bag full. He has a yearly order to bring cranberries back for Thanksgiving because they are so much better than what you buy in the store.
On Sept. 19, we finished packing our bags and took the boat motor, a box of our gear, and a seabag full of dirty fishing clothes to the airport and shipped them back to Portland. We then took the rest of the morning, which was very rainy, to check out another place to hide a geocache. We already have a "cache" hidden in Yakutat, but thought the town needed another. We located a neat spot and will place it on line in a few days. Check out geocaching.com to see what it is all about. Our handles are "Snobird & Mountain Goat." Guess who the Mtn Goat is??
Later that afternoon, we gathered up our 4 fish boxes and headed for the airport.
Our plane arrived on time and we took off just before 7 pm. Look at that stormy, dark sky. At least it wasn't raining when we left, but it was raining in Juneau when we got there. The flight was uneventful, but we did have to wait in Juneau for some delayed passengers from another incoming flight. However, because of a strong tail wind out of Juneau, we landed in Seattle ahead of time (10:30 pm). We placed the fish boxes in a freezer at the airport and again spent the night at the EconoLodge.
Early the next morning, we loaded the fish boxes in our Jeep and headed for Salem. While on the way through Washington, we had a call telling us our 92 year old lady friend, who we take care of, was in the hospital with Congestive Heart Failure. When we got home, we loaded fish in the freezer and went to see how she was doing. We were told she was doing better and possibly could go home the next day (today). We picked her up this afternoon and took her home. She is doing better, but still very weak.
That is enough news for now, but I will post more pictures of Yakutat tomorrow.
This picture is just before we pulled out of the gate. Not a lot of activity near by, but lots of planes were flying at that hour (7:30 am).
Our one and only stop was at Juneau, the capitol of Alaska. The flight from SeaTac to Juneau was 2 hours and 15 minutes. We got a couple sodas and some chips while in route (yea....reminder for return flight was to bring on goodies). Take a look at the picture and notice the huge glacier looming over the town. That is called the Mendenhall Glacier.
Here is another picture of the glacier just after we took off.
After leaving Juneau, it was just a hop over the mountains (45 minutes) and we were landing in Yakutat. "Yak" is located half way between Juneau and Cordova on a bay called (of course) Yakutat. Ken has been traveling to Yak every September since the late 1960s. I was finally "allowed" to go fishing there after I retired in 1999. The only way to get to Yakutat is either by air or boat. The whole time we were there, we had no cell phone or Internet service. There is Satellite TV in the lodge, but we are usually so tired after fishing, we don't go over there.
This is the Glacier Bear Lodge where we stay. The rooms are in the smaller building in back. On one side of the main lodge is a two story building with rooms, but we always stay in the "older" portion that is on one floor. We like not having anyone moving around over us...the walls are paper thin, so even on one floor, things can be noisy.
Yakutat's rainfall averages around 270 plus inches every year. This last winter, they had 12 feet of snow, which hasn't happened for several years. For the first four years I went fishing, I never saw the surrounding mountains because all it did was rain. However, the last five years, we have had many nice days, and the views are spectacular.
Mt. St. Elias (shown here) is the second tallest mountain in North America. It is very impressive when you can see it. The snow is so white, it almost looks like a painting.
This year, we had several cloudy days, but only one really nasty rainy day with high winds. When it isn't raining, the mosquitoes and other flying and biting critters are out. My "perfume" while in Alaska is called DEET. Deet, and Skin So Soft, are pretty effective in keeping the swarm of skeeters and "no see ums" from biting...but they still tend to hang around your face and just "bug" the heck out of you.
It is always hard to get in the swing of fishing because we have to get up before dawn, dress in layers; thermals, other wear, then waders (mine are neoprene...boy are they fun to put on) then rain gear or a jacket depending on what is happening at the moment. After putting on all those clothes, you feel like mr/mrs dough boy/woman (but they sure keep you nice and warm and above all dry). Yep, I have taken a tumble in the water and didn't even get wet!
We have a John Boat waiting for us on a tidal river called The Ankau (rent is $75 a day). The drive to the river is about 5 miles from the lodge, which takes all of 20 minutes over a gravel, pot holey road. We have seen bears along the road in the past.
Once to the river, we "pull" the boat to the river's edge, place motor on the boat, then motor about a mile up river to some narrow chutes that flow into and out of a beautiful upper lagoon. We like to fish the chutes and sometimes the lagoon. The chutes flow both ways depending on how high or low the tides are. The best fishing is on an incoming tide, but this year we caught the most fish on the outgoing tide (go figure).
This is the lagoon looking toward the chutes.
This picture is one of the chutes we like to fish. Normally the flow out is much rougher, but the tide is coming in, so the chute is starting to fill up and will soon flow into the lagoon.
While out fishing we see many Eagles, Sand Hill Cranes, Seals, and an occasional bear. There are many black bear in the area plus the brown bear (coastal grizzly). The local "Sitka Deer" are growing in population, and we saw a mama with two fawn our second day out. They are a small deer and not afraid of anyone. Last year, Ken had one walk right up behind him while he was fishing. Good thing it wasn't a bear because he didn't even hear it. Ken does carry a short barrel Smith & Wesson Model 500 (we ship it up) on his belt. That is one powerful gun and we feel very safe in bear country.
My first year in Yak, there was an orphaned female Moose hanging around the lodge. The guides named her Muffin and hand fed her until she was able to live on her own. Of course she was gone by the time we went up the following year.
We spent the next six days fishing and made our limit each day.
This is Ken with half of a day's catch. After six days of fishing, we had over 3 fish boxes full of Salmon filets and had to quit. We ended up with 180 lbs of Salmon filets, plus a large amount of Clams. We did de-shell them to keep the weight down.
This picture is just a few of what we gathered.
Since we didn't fish on the 7th day, we had time to get our gear dried out and Ken was able to go pick cranberries. This year they weren't very big or plentiful, but he still managed to get a good bag full. He has a yearly order to bring cranberries back for Thanksgiving because they are so much better than what you buy in the store.
On Sept. 19, we finished packing our bags and took the boat motor, a box of our gear, and a seabag full of dirty fishing clothes to the airport and shipped them back to Portland. We then took the rest of the morning, which was very rainy, to check out another place to hide a geocache. We already have a "cache" hidden in Yakutat, but thought the town needed another. We located a neat spot and will place it on line in a few days. Check out geocaching.com to see what it is all about. Our handles are "Snobird & Mountain Goat." Guess who the Mtn Goat is??
Later that afternoon, we gathered up our 4 fish boxes and headed for the airport.
Our plane arrived on time and we took off just before 7 pm. Look at that stormy, dark sky. At least it wasn't raining when we left, but it was raining in Juneau when we got there. The flight was uneventful, but we did have to wait in Juneau for some delayed passengers from another incoming flight. However, because of a strong tail wind out of Juneau, we landed in Seattle ahead of time (10:30 pm). We placed the fish boxes in a freezer at the airport and again spent the night at the EconoLodge.
Early the next morning, we loaded the fish boxes in our Jeep and headed for Salem. While on the way through Washington, we had a call telling us our 92 year old lady friend, who we take care of, was in the hospital with Congestive Heart Failure. When we got home, we loaded fish in the freezer and went to see how she was doing. We were told she was doing better and possibly could go home the next day (today). We picked her up this afternoon and took her home. She is doing better, but still very weak.
That is enough news for now, but I will post more pictures of Yakutat tomorrow.
September 3, 2007
WOW, Labor Day already!
Here it is Labor Day already! What on earth happened to our summer? It seems like it was only yesterday that we arrived back in Salem after spending the winter in Queen Valley, AZ. On May 6, we decided to drive back to Salem via Laughlin and Reno instead of spending the next couple months on the road because a 92 year old lady friend (Naoma) needed our help. Ken is her POA (power of attorney) and we took her under our wing several years ago because she has no one else to rely upon.
Long story short, she took a hard fall late January and cracked a couple bones (one in upper hip and one in left shoulder) and was placed in a skilled nursing-rehabilitation facility for 100 days (Medicare’s maximum time). After that amount of time, she still was not in good physical condition to go home alone and would need 8-10 hours daily care if she did. However, her home was so squalid the caregivers said no to her going home (even with help) and recommended assisted living. She wouldn’t go to assisted living until we, and the doctor, said she had no choice. We found a very nice place and got her settled on the 21st of May. After getting her settled, we left town and went camping along the McKenzie River with friends, Rod, Lynda, and their family, for a week. After being involved with Naoma’s condition on a daily basis since January, it felt so good not having to deal with cell phone or Internet service. Of course that all changed once we went back home.
Back home, we still had to work on getting Naoma’s house and miscellaneous “stuff” sorted out and figuring out what to do with everything. We worked on that off and on during June then took off over the Fourth of July holiday. We spent June 28-July 8 at South Beach State Park on the Oregon coast and had a great time. We even managed to do some geocaching, which we hadn’t done much of since being back in Oregon. But once again, we had to go home and get back to working on our stuff along with taking care of Naoma’s stuff. Of course during the next couple months, we had several doctor appointments for us and for Naoma, plus managing to take her out to lunch and shopping at least once a week, if not more often.
In August, we took time to attend a couple RV Rallies: One was the Monaco Pre-FMCA Rally in Salem (five days) and the FMCA (Family Motor Coach of America) in Redmond (5 days). Instead of driving our coach to the rallies, we just walked into the one in Salem (extremely small and quiet) and drove the Jeep over to the one in Redmond and stayed at a local hotel. By driving the Jeep, we were able to do more geocaching to and from that event. It was great meeting up with old friends at the event in Redmond and of course checking out the huge array of vendors, educational seminars, and some really neat entertainment. Of course, viewing the new coaches of all makes and brands was a treat…..that just made us more determined to hang on to ours for a while. It is unbelievable as to what some of the new coaches are going for now….even with the gas and diesel prices the way they are.
So now here it is Labor Day and we are once again preparing for our annual Salmon fishing trip to Yakutat, Alaska. We leave on Sept. 10 and will be back in Salem late the 20th. The latest news from Yakutat is the fish are in the bay and waiting for rain before moving up in the streams. Of course, it is going to start raining just before we get there, so hope the fishing will be good. Also, have heard there is a chance of some very wet snow while we are there…..now that is very hard to believe. Again, we will have no Internet or phone service (except through the lodge) while there, so hope the emails don’t get too plentiful while we are gone.
Long story short, she took a hard fall late January and cracked a couple bones (one in upper hip and one in left shoulder) and was placed in a skilled nursing-rehabilitation facility for 100 days (Medicare’s maximum time). After that amount of time, she still was not in good physical condition to go home alone and would need 8-10 hours daily care if she did. However, her home was so squalid the caregivers said no to her going home (even with help) and recommended assisted living. She wouldn’t go to assisted living until we, and the doctor, said she had no choice. We found a very nice place and got her settled on the 21st of May. After getting her settled, we left town and went camping along the McKenzie River with friends, Rod, Lynda, and their family, for a week. After being involved with Naoma’s condition on a daily basis since January, it felt so good not having to deal with cell phone or Internet service. Of course that all changed once we went back home.
Back home, we still had to work on getting Naoma’s house and miscellaneous “stuff” sorted out and figuring out what to do with everything. We worked on that off and on during June then took off over the Fourth of July holiday. We spent June 28-July 8 at South Beach State Park on the Oregon coast and had a great time. We even managed to do some geocaching, which we hadn’t done much of since being back in Oregon. But once again, we had to go home and get back to working on our stuff along with taking care of Naoma’s stuff. Of course during the next couple months, we had several doctor appointments for us and for Naoma, plus managing to take her out to lunch and shopping at least once a week, if not more often.
In August, we took time to attend a couple RV Rallies: One was the Monaco Pre-FMCA Rally in Salem (five days) and the FMCA (Family Motor Coach of America) in Redmond (5 days). Instead of driving our coach to the rallies, we just walked into the one in Salem (extremely small and quiet) and drove the Jeep over to the one in Redmond and stayed at a local hotel. By driving the Jeep, we were able to do more geocaching to and from that event. It was great meeting up with old friends at the event in Redmond and of course checking out the huge array of vendors, educational seminars, and some really neat entertainment. Of course, viewing the new coaches of all makes and brands was a treat…..that just made us more determined to hang on to ours for a while. It is unbelievable as to what some of the new coaches are going for now….even with the gas and diesel prices the way they are.
So now here it is Labor Day and we are once again preparing for our annual Salmon fishing trip to Yakutat, Alaska. We leave on Sept. 10 and will be back in Salem late the 20th. The latest news from Yakutat is the fish are in the bay and waiting for rain before moving up in the streams. Of course, it is going to start raining just before we get there, so hope the fishing will be good. Also, have heard there is a chance of some very wet snow while we are there…..now that is very hard to believe. Again, we will have no Internet or phone service (except through the lodge) while there, so hope the emails don’t get too plentiful while we are gone.
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