HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We are back in Arizona after spending a very nice “dry” three weeks in Salem for Christmas.  We heard that for Oregon it was the driest December since 1877.  It was cold, but we had sun every day.  Could not have asked for better!!  It was not so in Arizona.  While we were gone, they got a lot of rain and the desert is nice and green!

December 4, we flew out of Mesa Gateway airport on Allegiant Air back to Eugene, Oregon. Our daughter and her husband were there to pick us up and take us home to Salem.  The flight was only 2 hours, 28 minutes and very comfortable.  I surely would recommend that airline to anyone wanting inexpensive and simple.   We spent the next few days getting our house ready for Christmas.  I put up and decorated a tree, while Ken put lights up outside.  While home, we did the usual stuff; shop, eat out, visit friends & family, shop, and eat out some more.  Yes, we had to also pack what we would be taking back to Arizona with us.  Since we didn’t tow the Grand Cherokee to Arizona with us, we were preparing to pack it up for our return trip.

Christmas Eve and Christmas day are times for love and family.  We spent both days with our family and loved every minute we were with them.  On Christmas Eve, we spent a couple hours with the Paveleks for food, drink, and lots of visiting.  From 8:30 to 11 we were at our daughters to watch the great grandkids open their gifts from everyone.  After the little ones were done, we spent the rest of the evening exchanging gifts with rest of family.  At 11:15 Ken & I were at church to celebrate the true reason for Christmas at Midnight Mass.  A long day, but so worth it!!  Christmas Day is when Santa visits the little ones very early in the morning, so we stayed home till Noon, then went back over to our Daughters for a wonderful afternoon and dinner.  It was a wonderful day!!

Two days later, we had the tree down and all the Christmas decorations put away.  Finally, on December 28, the Jeep was loaded, the alarm set, and all the services turned off.  We left Salem around 11:30 while the weather still was nice.  That night it was supposed to start raining.  We were fortunate to make it across the mountain pass while it was still clear and have a somewhat sunny drive to Susanville, California where we spent that night.

December 29, we left Susanville and made it to Tonopah, Nevada and checked into the Best Western for three nights.  Our plans were to geocache along highways 6 & 375 (known as the Extraterrestrial Highway) where over 1,500 caches are hidden.  We spent the next three and a half days caching and found all 1,500 caches, plus many more that weren’t part of the “ET Run.”   Most of that time, we were on dirt roads and we along with the Jeep were covered with dust.   Our poor “white” Grand Cherokee was a dirty brown inside and out.

For New Year’s Eve, we had dinner then spent the night at the Windmill Ridge Restaurant & Lodging.  It’s a wonderful restaurant and the rooms (cabins) are very nice.  Both of us were so tired from the caching that we didn’t stay up to see the New Year come in.  We were both sound asleep by 7:30 pm.

The next morning, January 1, 2012, we were on the road at 6 am.  Of course, when we crossed over the border from Nevada into Arizona, we lost an hour because of the time change.  Even with that, we were in Queen Valley by 3 pm.  It was wonderful to get off the road and back into our coach.  The work began when we started unloading the Jeep and trying to find a place to put everything.  Thank Goodness, we have two sheds here!

Since being back in Queen Valley, we are back into the swing of park life and trying to fit all the activities in.  It seems there is something going on every day and we really have to pick and choose what we really want to do.  Since we have been coming down so many years, we have done most everything, so this year we are taking things much easier.  Ken is still spending time in the Rock Shop, but not as much as in years past.  We plan on doing more off road trips and more caching and less group partying.  The weather has been wonderful since we got back.  The days are in the high 60s (low 70s) and the nights are dipping in the high 30s, so we’ve had the heater on a few times.  As for rain, we may or may not get some this next weekend, but that is just a possibility.

We wish you all a very Happy New Year!!!!

Arizona Bound

After the annual maintenance and service checkup on the coach, we drove it over to Newport and stayed Oct 6-10 at South Beach State Park with our friends Rod & Lynda.  According to the weather forecast, we were supposed to have rain the whole weekend, but it didn’t turn out that way.  We all were quite pleased to have decent weather so we could sit outside and enjoy a nice campfire and visit.  Also, we had the opportunity to have an afternoon where we had fresh Oysters off of the grill.

Once we got back home, we cleaned up the coach (inside & outside) and finished loading it with what we would need in Arizona.  Once the house was secured we were ready to head out.  Pulling out was much easier this time because we decided to not hook up the Grand Cherokee and take it with us.  Since we already have a vehicle (Jeep Wrangler) in our storage shed in Arizona, we didn’t see the need to tow the Cherokee this time.  Our plan is to use the Wrangler till we fly back to OR for Christmas then drive the Grand Cherokee back to AZ after Christmas.

The morning of Oct 18 was sunny and clear.  We drove south to Coburg where we stopped and fueled up the coach.  Imagine our shock when we saw the cost of Diesel was $4.15 a gallon--we took on 95 gallons (ouch).

Just south of Eugene, we got on highway 58 and drove east across Willamette Pass.  It was a beautiful, scenic drive with many of the trees changing colors--lots of oranges, yellows, and reds along the way.  However, we had some “slowdowns” just east of Oakridge when we ran into road construction.  First, we had to wait at the “Tunnel” because crews were inspecting it for cracks, then a couple miles past the tunnel, crews were painting stripes on the newly paved road.  Each time we had a long wait because a pilot car was needed to lead traffic through on the one lane portion of the road.  Just before we crossed the OR/CA border, we had another long wait because of road paving.  Finally, we made it to our usual stop at a volunteer fire department’s parking lot in the small town of Likely.

We woke early on Wednesday the 19th and quickly were back on the road.  The drive was uneventful all the way through Reno and east to Fernley.  As usual, we always top off our tank near Fernley on I-80 at a Love’s Station.  The fuel there was $4.07 a gallon and we took on 39 gallons.  Price a little better, but still a lot more than we were expecting.  Our next stop for the night was at Miller’s Rest Area just north of Tonapah, Nevada.  We got there pretty early and were able to set outside and enjoy a wonderful glass (or two) of wine before dinner.  Well, I had the wine and Ken had his V/O.  It was a beautiful day with the temperature topping off around 75.

Thursday the 20th, we once again ran into more road construction between the towns of Tonapah and Beatty, Nevada.  This time we had to wait about 15 minutes for the pilot car to lead us through the work area.  Finally, we were back on the road and making good time to Laughlin, Nevada.  The further south we went, the warmer it got.  Las Vegas was 76 degrees when we passed through it (11:30 am) and when we pulled into the AVI RV Park (and casino) south of Laughlin, it was 90.  So nice to be able to turn the AC on once we got settled.  For dinner, we walked over to the casino and ate a wonderful dinner.

Friday, the 21st, was another great sunny day.  In fact when we left the AVI, it was already in the 60s.  Our trip took us south to Needles, CA, where we saw Diesel was $4.79.  However, when we got to Vidal Junction, CA the Diesel was going for $4.89…..that was just plain crazy!!  We crossed the CA/AZ border at Parker, AZ about 10 am and it was already 89 degrees.  There we ran into more road construction (paving) but we never had to come to a complete stop.  There were no more slowdowns, but the road south to I-10 was very rough.  In fact the entire road from Needles to I-10 was rough.  We may be thinking of another route next time we head south.

Anyhow, once we got to I-10 just south of Vicksburg, AZ, we stopped and filled our propane tank and added 20 gallons of Diesel to the tank ($3.79 a gallon).  We didn’t stop again until we got to Avondale where we filled the Diesel tank up at Flying J for $3.75 a gallon.  We then made the final trek through Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa, Apache Junction, and Gold Canyon arriving Queen Valley just before 3 pm.  The temperature was 90 degrees.  Since we didn’t have the Cherokee, backing into our site and getting set up was a piece of cake.  Ken quickly checked on the Wrangler and happily, it started right up.

We have now been in Queen Valley for 2 weeks and are seeing more and more friends showing up.  Our first night here we went out to dinner with friends Dave and Pat, then just this last weekend spent a wonderful day with “caching” friends from Tucson, Florence, and Apache Junction at a “Birthday Campout” held just north of Florence (south of us).  They all camped out, we didn’t.  It was just great seeing them all again and are looking forward to spending a lot more time with them this season.

End of Summer

Hard to believe, but summer’s almost over and soon we will be heading back to Arizona.  I loosely use the term “summer” because Salem hasn’t really had one.  June was mostly wet and cool.  July had some nice warm days, but also some cool wet ones.  August was nice and mostly in the mid to high 80s.  The first week of Sept did have some mid to high 90s, but as I write this, it's back to rain and cool.  We are being told there still is some nice days coming.  Hope that happens before we head back to Arizona.

We got back in Salem on Memorial Day and have been busy ever since.  The first couple weeks of June we worked around the house and organized some repair work to be done on another piece of property we own.

June 25 we loaded up coach and drove it to Prineville where we parked at the Crook County RV Park for two nights.  We were thrilled to have clear warm days and cool evenings!  Both that Saturday & Sunday, we cached and checked out the BLM campsites along the Crooked River to see what sites were available for us to camp at starting Monday.

Monday, June 27, we moved the coach 15 miles south on hwy 27 and set up camp in a wonderful spot along the Crooked River where we spent the next 12 nights.  Soon after we were set up, our friend, Rod, showed up and set his camp up in the site next to us.  Rod’s wife Lynda had to work until Thursday so the three of us played cards and sat around and visited until she got there Thursday evening.

Saturday, July 2, our daughter Leigh & her husband Tim showed up with 4 of their grandkids and stayed in our huge family tent for two nights.  What fun, we visited, floated the river, ate, visited some more, ate some more, and watched the four "mini tornadoes" - ages 3-7) enjoying their very first camping trip.  The little ones got really dirty and no one cared!  They were having fun and that was what the time was all about. These are the four "mini tornadoes."

On Monday, July 4, our daughter’s family packed up and drove into Prineville to check into a hotel so everyone could get cleaned up and have the little ones take a nap before watching the evening fireworks show.  Rod & Lynda, and Ken & I stayed in camp and enjoyed a very peaceful evening.

After another few days of total fun, we all packed up and pulled out of our camping sites on July 9.  Rod & Lynda headed home, while we drove back to the Crook County RV Park for a two night stay.  Where we camped along the Crooked River was in a narrow canyon, so we on AT&T had no cell/internet service (our daughter did on Verizon L) so we weren’t able to get news on our sister-in-law’s Breast Cancer surgery until we got back into town.  Once back in town, we talked to her and happily, she said she was doing well after having a lumpectomy and would know in about a month if she needed further treatment.  We later found out that would undergo some Radiation, but Chemo would not be needed.  We spent the next two days caching in and around the area, then drove home on Monday, July 11. 

July was a month of Cancer surgeries…. On July 13 we spent a nervous day as our daughter-in-law underwent a "high risk" hysterectomy due to Uterine Cancer.  Thankfully, she came through surgery with a very hopeful prognosis.  We didn’t find out until a month later that she was free of Cancer and required no further treatment.

July 18-25, our coach was in Lafayette, Oregon having the bay door repaired.  They did a fantastic job and it now looks like new.

The rest of July we spent working in and around the house.  Ken re-leveled the pavers in driveway while the coach was in for work, then after we got the coach back he repainted the house.  We still need more work to be done on house, but we plan on holding off till next year.

August came and went so fast, it’s hard to remember what we did that month.  I remember it finally being warm, sunny and in the mid to high 80s.  We did go to Ken’s 50th high school reunion on August 4-6.  Also, on the 18th, we drove to Seattle to attend a MEGA Geocaching Event that took place on the 19th.  Since we were so close to the Canadian Border, we drove across to White Rock and found a couple caches so we could claim a foreign country on our geo-stats.  The MEGA Event was called “Groundspeak's Block Party” and it was held at their new headquarters on 34th and Freemont just under the Aurora Bridge, downtown Seattle.   We spent the whole day there and had a great time meeting geocachers from all over the world and seeing old friends.

Our grandson Justin and his wife Holly live in Tacoma while Justin is stationed at McChord AFB.  Holly is pregnant with their first child and our soon to be 7th great grandchild.  We found out late August that she is having a boy and his name is Tristen Raymond Allen.  We all are very excited about the up and coming birth of this little guy.  On the 20th while heading back to Salem, we got to visit with Holly & Justin at their place and see how they plan on setting up Tristen’s room.  After having a late lunch with them, we checked into a hotel for the night and had the opportunity to have a wonderful visit with our niece Janis.  Janis, whom I haven’t seen for over 20 years, is my half sister’s third of four children.  It was such a thrill to sit and talk with Janis and reflect on the past and present.  We vowed to set up another time to get together and include her siblings and our daughter.  I am truly looking forward to that.

Labor Day, Sept 5, we headed north to SeaTac and stopped in Tacoma to spend an hour with Justin & Holly over an early dinner.  As always, it was great to see them….they are so cute together!

After dinner, we drove north another 10 miles and spent the night near the SeaTac Airport.  Early the next morning, we caught the airplane to Yakutat, Alaska and were there till September 14.  Ken has been going to “Yak” to fish for Salmon since the late 60s, but I didn’t start until I retired in 1999.  After watching the weather, we were expecting nothing but rain the whole time we fished, but were pleasantly surprised to have some very nice days.  Yes, there were some days of rain, one very heavy and miserable day, but two days were totally sunny and nice.  One thing about the rain, the awful “no see-ums” don’t bother you.  As I have said in the past, the scent of the month in AK is DEET.  I used a lot of Avon Skin So Soft and I didn’t get one bite (yay).  The fish were smaller than last year, so our “limit” didn’t weigh as much as last year, but we still brought home 3 full boxes (150 lbs) of Filets plus about 30lbs in a 4th box (180 lbs total)

It is now late September and soon time to head to Arizona!  We first will be taking the coach to Coburg for its annual service and checkup on Oct 5.  The next day, we will be driving to Newport, OR and camp at South Beach State Park till Oct 10.  Once we get back to Salem and ready the coach for travel to AZ, we will be on the road….hopefully by the 17th.