November quickly into December

Somehow November disappeared and it’s now December with one only more week till Christmas.  I honestly don’t know where the time has gone, but upon looking back I see we’ve been quite busy.

After we arrived back in Queen Valley from Texas, we immediately got to work getting our site back in order for our winter stay.  We spent the next 3 1/2 weeks enjoying beautiful sunny days with cool evenings and watching our neighbors arrive back for the winter.  The only regular park activity going on during that time was our Monday morning coffee social, so it was nice not having to worry about attending or missing anything.  We did have a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with our park residents and way too much to eat.  We also took some time to do a little geocaching & Jeeping in the desert, plus we enjoyed visiting with more friends from Apache Junction.

Incredibly, November was gone, and it was December already.  It seemed like we had just arrived in Queen Valley, but we had earlier made plans to go home (Salem) for Christmas, so we had to pack stuff into the Jeep and make sure the coach was once again secure for a month.

We left Queen Valley on December 2 with plans to spend a few extra days on the road to do some geocaching in an area known as area 51 along the Extra Terrestarial Highway in Nevada. This highway is really highways 375 & 6 heading west out of Ash Springs to Tonapah, and a very long 100 plus miles of nothing but open range and strange sights---dum-de-duh-duh (grin).

In June a group of cachers got together and hid 1,021 caches every 500/600 feet for over 100 miles along the two highways, plus another 51 were placed in the shape of an alien head in one huge field.

We arrived in Alamo, Nevada at 3 pm on the 2nd and found a comfortable (inexpensive) place called The Alamo Inn to spend a couple nights at.  After checking into our room, we decided to drive another 20 miles down hwy 93 to the junction of hwys 375 & 93, to the start of the E.T. series (E.T. 001) just see what we were in for.  We stopped at a couple caches in Alamo and Ash Springs and found another 15 of the actual E.T. series before heading back to a wonderful place in Alamo called “Windmill Ridge” for a wonderful dinner (and dessert).  The Windmill Ridge does have rooms for rent, but the room we had at the Alamo Inn was much cheaper and just as good.

On Dec 3, we left our room at 5:30 am & fueled up the Jeep in Ash Spring.  At 6:16 am we started caching along Hwy 375.  I was the driver & operator of the GPS, while Ken did the jumping in & out of Jeep to grab the caches & stamp our geo names on the log sheets.  We quickly got into a rhythm and averaged 100 cache logs in 1 1/2 hours.  We did stop a couple times along the side of the road for a break and gave Ken a chance to rest his legs.  At 3 pm we quit the highway and drove over to where the Alien Head was laid out and Ken walked to 13 of those caches before it got dark.  At 5 we quit and headed back to the Windmill Ridge Inn for another great meal.  Note, we found 622 caches that day, which is now our personal best finds in one day.

The morning of the 4th, we were up early and had Jeep packed & fueled before daylight.  After an hour plus of driving down hwys 93 & 375, we were at the place we had quit the day before.  We started caching at 7 am and finished number 1,000 just after Noon!! Originally the caches placed were 1000 in total, so we stopped at the original point of finish and had our pictures taken by some other cachers we met along the way.

We then headed on down the highway for the final 21 newer caches then drove on into Tonapah where we had a late lunch.  Incredibly we completed the run, found 13 of the Alien Head, and even managed to find another 8 that weren’t even part of the “Alien” theme for a total of 1,042 finds in less than 17 hours (WOW).  Since it was still early (2 pm), we continued driving and made it all the way to Susanville, CA where we spent the night

We were up and on the road (hwy 395) early Dec 5 and made our way north to Alturas, CA where we began to see snow along the roadside.  We actually had snow along the road all the way to Klamath Falls, Oregon.  By the time we got through K Fall and into to Chemult on highway 97, we were seeing more snow and some was building up on the road.  Once on highway 58 and heading through Willamette Pass, we were really into the snow.  It was gorgeous!  Since there really wasn’t much traffic on the road, we had no problems getting through the pass and down & out of the snow.  Of course with a Jeep, we weren't that worried!!  That day was a wonderful drive and we made it to Salem (and home) by 2 pm.

Since we have been home, we have accomplished a lot.  Our Christmas tree is up and decorated, and Ken even put up a few lights outside (not like in the past).  Also, we have finished our Christmas shopping for the wee ones (great grandkids), and everything is wrapped and under the tree.   Hooray, we have never finished this early before.  We are sooooo looking forward to watching the 5 great grandkids open their presents on Christmas and of course the huge meal on Christmas Day.

I think our biggest thrill is seeing our grandson, Justin, back in Salem for Christmas.  Justin is not going to be going into the Air Force Special Ops as originally planned because he injured both legs in CCT (Combat Controller Training).  He has been on light duty since his injury and is now reclassified and heading off to Southern California after the first of the year for Vehicle Ops Training.  Mechanics was his second choice if he couldn’t make Combat Controller, so he is excited.  He will be in California for 6-8 weeks, then we don’t know where he will be going.  Hopefully, close to Salem.  Time will tell and all our love and prayers are with him!!!

October Fun

During the first two weeks of October, we continued to get coach ready for moving south and getting the house in order to leave it for a couple months.  There was so much to do because of some new things we had ordered for the coach and getting a valve replaced on the toilet (it didn't always flush well).  I came down with a very sore throat during the first week of Oct, and it grew worse as the days progressed and ended up lasting almost three weeks.  As the soreness went away, it worked into a horrid chest cough that lasted the whole month.  No matter how bad I felt, I still had to finalize my portion of packing the coach, but I was working much slower than normal.

On Oct 12, we drove the coach to Junction City and had Davis Cabinets install new snaps for our new outside solar screens.  Yes, we still had the old snaps and some were utilized, but we still needed about half of them redone in different positions. The job wasn’t that difficult, and they were finished by early afternoon.  Since we had a coach service appointment at Cummins in Coburg the next day, we moved the coach over there and got set up in their parking lot.  They have power and water, so we were very comfortable.

At 7:30 the next morning, Cummins took our coach in for its annual service check on the engine and generator.  What was supposed to be a 4 hour service job turned into 8 hours because they found a fuel pump leaking fuel and a gasket in the generator leaking oil. Well, the fuel pump and gasket had to be replaced ($$$) so they put two techs on the jobs and we were on the road at 3:45 pm. Good thing because we had reservations at Newport’s South Beach State Park (Oregon Coast) and sure weren’t looking forward to parking after dark. As it was, we were in our site and all hooked up by 5:45 pm.

The morning of Oct 14, Ken & I took a two mile walk out to the beach and found an earthcache on a walkway platform.  An earthcache is not a physical cache, but somewhat like a "virtual" where you have to answer some questions regarding something to do about the local geological area.  This cache was related to the Newport Jetty and after answering some questions, we had to post a picture of one of us with the Jetty in the background.  Yeah, that's me looking at the telescope.

It was a beautiful, but cool morning and we totally enjoyed the walk. I was thrilled that my foot didn’t give me any problems at all.  We did get a little mist around 3 pm, but it was completely over by 6 pm.  Our friends, Rod & Lynda showed up about 5 and got set up in the site next to us.  We spent the rest of that evening visiting and playing cards.

We woke the morning of the 14th to sun and 43 degrees (brr).  Since it was such a gorgeous morning, the four of us (Rod, Lynda, Ken & I) took a hike to the beach, then over to the Jetty and back down the beach before heading back to camp.  We figured we walked about 3 miles.  After our walk, we all cleaned up and drove to Lincoln City and did some shopping at the outlets, then headed over to Mo’s for Clam Chowder and Garlic Bread……wonderful!!!

On the 16th, we slept in a little, then decided to go for a geocache about a mile down the beach from the day use area.  Well, we were parked in the G Loop which is about a mile from the day use lot.  I wanted to drive down to the day use area, but everyone else wanted to hike the trail, so I relented and we ended up walking about 4 miles for a cache.  Hooray, again, I didn't have any problems with my foot.  It was a gorgeous day and we totally enjoyed walking the beach!

Sunday, the 17th, no one wanted to do anything, so we sat by the fire most of the morning, then decided to have a late lunch, early dinner at a local 50’s/60’s style restaurant in town called Fast Back. On the way back to camp, Ken & I stopped for a cache in a little known cemetery, while Rod & Lynda took a beach short cut back to camp. This was our last day at the beach, so we made the most of it by enjoying a quiet evening playing cards.

After pulling out of our site and dumping the tanks, we left South Beach around 10 am on Monday, Oct 18.  Once we got back home, we cleaned the coach and loaded the last minute stuff for Arizona.  We couldn’t leave until Oct 21 because I had a Dr Appointment and had to get an allergy prescription filled.

We finally left Salem on Thursday Oct 21 and after a very uneventful drive, we got to Queen Valley on Sunday afternoon, Oct 24.  We parked the coach in our site, hooked up to power and water, and didn’t even pull the big slide out because we were leaving for Texas (in Jeep) early Tuesday morning, Oct 26.

We spent all day Monday, Oct 25 getting the basics of the coach set up and loading the Jeep with what we would need for the next week or so in Texas.  We had found out earlier in September that our grandson, Justin, was scheduled to graduate his Air Force Basic Training on Oct 27-31.  I had already made reservations for staying on base the nights of Oct 28 & 29, but we had to stay off base the night of the 27th because Lackland Air Force Base is a closed base and no civilian could be on base till 6 am, Oct 28.

We left Queen Valley at 6:45 and drove 633 miles to Fort Stockton, Texas, where we spent the night.  It was a long drive and we even lost two hours because of the time change from Arizona to Texas.  The next morning we were up and on the road at 6 am and pulled into San Antonio about 11:30.  It was a hot 80 degrees with 88 percent humidity.  There was lots of fog due to the humidity, but it burned off by mid afternoon.  At 2 pm, Justin’s wife, Holly and her mom, Colleen, landed at San Antonio Airport and made their way to the base.  They were able to be on base because Holly being a military wife had her Military ID and was able to go right in the gate.  At 6 pm, we were at the San Antonio Airport where we picked up my daughter LeighAnn, her husband Tim, and his mother Ann. They stayed at the same hotel we did, so after getting them checked in, Holly & Colleen met us, and we all went out for dinner at the local Cracker Barrel.  It was a fun evening and Holly was so excited about seeing her hubby after him being away for 8 1/2 weeks.  Of course LeighAnn was very excited about seeing her only son too.  This is the longest that he has ever been away from home (Salem area) and mom was pretty teary.

We were up early the next morning and on base shortly after 6 am. We couldn’t check into our rooms till 2 pm, so we left all the bags in the Jeep and attended the day’s festivities.  At 7 am, we had “briefings.” This is where we learned all the dos and don’ts for being on the base. We also were told what the graduating “Airman” could and couldn’t do.  Sooooo many rules!!  Did we remember them all?  Well no one got in trouble, so I guess we did OK.

At 9 am, we were lined up along one of the roads on base and watched all the graduating “flights” run by the visitors and family. We were sooooo excited when we spotted Justin. They ran by us twice while we all cheered and yelled greetings. The airmen trainees couldn’t even acknowledge anyone or they would have gotten in trouble.

At 11 we were in the bleachers for the “Coin Ceremony.”  Every new Airman is given a coveted “coin” signifying they are no longer a trainee, but an Airman.

We sat in the first row of the bleachers and was right in front of Justin’s flight.  He saw us, but couldn’t acknowledge us, so had to look away in order to keep a straight face.  In the first picture below, Justin is in the second row from the right and 4th back.  In the second picture he is in the third row from the right and fourth back.

As it was, all the airmen had to stay at attention after the ceremony until someone tapped them out of it.  Once the ceremony was over, we all made our way to Justin and at that time, he was released for the rest of the day on base liberty.

While Justin and Holly got reacquainted, we went for pizzas (off base) and brought them back to one of the rooms so we could all just visit and enjoy being with our boy again.

The next day, October, 29, we were up and out to the parade grounds for the actual graduation ceremony. It was a beautiful thing as all the flights marched and paraded around the grounds, then settled into their spots for the invocation and ceremony.

Once the ceremony was over, we took Justin off base and went to the Cracker Barrel for Breakfast/Lunch, then off to the Alamo where we toured the site.

Later we walked down a couple blocks to the River Walk so he could see what it was all about. While some walked around the area, Leigh, Colleen, Ken, & I stopped at a small café and had some Margaritas.

San Antonio traffic was horrid, and Justin didn’t want to be late getting back to base, so we had him back on base in time for him to get something else to eat.  He really wanted something other than military mess.  We stopped at a Burger King (on base) where he got his fill (grin).  It was great seeing Justin and it was hard to say goodbye, but we had to get back to our room and prepare to be up early in order to have LeighAnn, Tim, and Ann back to the airport at 5 the next morning. We were all in tears as we said our goodbyes, but we were glad that Holly was able to stay on a couple more days and have some quality time with her hubby.

Once we dropped everyone off at the airport, Ken & I headed to Dallas, Texas to see his son, Dean for a couple days.  Dean had been having episodes with his heart the last few months and the doctors finally said his heart was only operating at 30 percent, and he needed a Pace Maker and a Fibulator.  His surgery was set for 7:30 am on November 1. We got to Dallas about 10 am on Oct 30 and had a great visit with Dean.  We went out to eat at a local mall and do a little shopping.  On Oct 31, we did a couple geocaches and had more time to visit with Dean.  We also had some great Mexican food at a local “Chuys.”

The morning of November 1, we picked Dean up and had him at the hospital in time to check in and be prepped for surgery.  The surgery lasted about 2 hours and the doctor said he was pleased with how it went.  We, along with Dean's mom & stepdad, were able to see him in recovery and then back in his room.  Since things were going well, Dean was released after only spending one night in the hospital.  We had to head back to Arizona on Oct 2, so after Dean's mom got him checked out and back to his house, we were there to say goodbye.  While we were saying goodbye, a huge thunder and lightning storm hit with rain pouring so hard we had trouble seeing the road.  We managed to get through the mid morning traffic and happily were out of the hard rain by the time we got past Fort Worth.  We were both tired after the last few days of little or no sleep, so we stopped for the night in Odessa.  At least we got some sleep after a light meal.

We were back on the road early and gained our two hours back as we crossed thru Texas and New Mexico back into Arizona.  It was windy and there was some dust, but we had no problems on the road.  We even managed to stop a few times to find some geocaches.  We made it back to Queen Valley about 5 the evening of November 3.  We were shocked to see that our total driving miles were 2,670 miles (whew)…  It was nice to be off the road and back in our own bed.

It’s great being back in Queen Valley and seeing all our friends again.  We will be here all of November, but plan on heading back to Salem (in Jeep) the beginning of December to spend the holidays with our family.

September Update

When I posted my last blog, I was due to see the foot doctor about what damages (if any) that I may have done to my foot.  I was still limping and in some pain when I saw the doctor, and thankfully, he said I didn’t do any major damage, but did rupture some fibers along the Plantar muscle along the sole of my foot.  He ended up strapping my arch to ease the tension on the muscle and said to keep the wrap on at all times (except in shower) and give the muscle time to heal.  He also recommended some better shoes/hiking boots and  other types of arch support braces while walking.  I saw the doctor on August 26 and by the time we left for Alaska (September 6) I was able to walk carefully without a lot of pain.  It’s now Sept 24, and I can go out for short walks without pain, but if on longer walks/hikes, the muscle in my foot starts to rebel and I start limping again.  The doctor said it will take quite a while for the muscle to fully heal.

We were in Yakutat, Alaska September 7-15 for some great Salmon fishing.  The day we arrived (the 7th) it was gray and cloudy, but no rain.  It remained cool & cloudy with some partial sun breaks until the afternoon of September 9.  That afternoon the skies opened up and it started raining.  It rained all afternoon and all night, but when we got up on the 10th, the skies were clear.  We then had sun the next 5 days.  In fact, Yakutat had record warm (70 plus degrees) temperatures during that whole week.  It was wonderful, except for when the little “no seeum” bugs came out.  As I have said in previous posts, the perfume of choice in Alaska is DEET!!  I used a lot of Avon Skin So Soft and it helped a lot.  The bugs still swarmed around but none were able to get through the oil to bite.

The fishing in Yakutat was unbelievable.  We normally come home with about 140-150 pounds of filets.  This year, we had to buy 2 extra fish boxes in which to pack the extra fish we caught.  We ended up with a little over 200 pounds of Salmon Filets this year. The fish were much bigger and eager to bite our lures (grin).  We were never out later than 1:30 fishing.

These pictures are just a sample of what we caught!

Ken is getting ready to filet this beauty!

This is Ken's limit for one day.

All was not perfect because we did catch some fish that ended up breaking our lines and taking the hooks with them, and many were pink/red that we had to throw back. The worst and most expensive mishap was done on our second day of fishing. We were done fishing for the day and were heading in for the day when “somehow” Ken knocked my Loomis “graphite” Rod and Shimano Reel into the water (oops). Yep, it sank in the murky depths and we never saw it again. Thankfully, we were done for that day and Ken had an extra (duplicate) set-up back in our room.  It was an expensive day, but crap happens and the trip was still fantastic.

The day before we were to leave, we didn’t fish and since it was warm and sunny, we took a drive up the longest road in Yakutat called 29 Mile Road. That road dead ends at the Dangerous River, which is actually glacial water heading towards the ocean. The Yakutat glacier feeds into Harlequin Lake and the Dangerous River flows out from there to the ocean.

That's our rental van parked at the dead end turn-around at the end of bridge that spans the Dangerous River.

This is a view of icebergs in Harlequin Lake where the Dangerous River begins.

This is a close up of the icebergs at the head of the Dangerous River.

Here's an iceberg floating down the Dangerous River.  Look how milky the water is!

Here is some bear scat we saw on the road.  Notice the little red berries.  No it didn't smell like pepper spray, nor did it contain any tiny bells (grin).

Here I am hugging Yakutat Jack just before our plane arrived.

We left Yakutat on September 15 and for the first time in a long time, our plane was on time. We landed at SeaTac on time at 11:30 and surprise of surprises, it was raining.  We got our fish into the airport freezer, then checked into our hotel for some badly needed sleep.  It rained the rest of the night/morning and most of the next day (16th) while on our drive back to Salem.   It quit raining near Chehalis, WA, but remained cloudy the rest of the day.

If you wish, you can view many more pictures we have taken around Yakutat over the many years we have fished there.  The link to our Picasa Web Album is:  Yakutat

We are now in the process of updating some things in the coach and getting it ready for when we head to Arizona in October.

Busy July & August

We got home the afternoon of July 10 and spent the next couple weeks cleaning out and reorganizing the inside of the coach. The rest of the month we took stock of the house and decided it needs a lot more work than we have time for….  We have to replace the front door and back sliding glass door, then repaint the whole outside.  We also need a new dishwasher, microwave, and television…. Because of time restraints, all but the doors may have to wait until next year.

The first couple weeks of August proved to be a nightmare.  We couldn’t believe that everything happening was taking place during those first two weeks.  There were two RV Rallys, my 50 year high school reunion, a Moore retirees picnic, a good bye party for our grandson, my dental and eye appointments, Ken having to report for jury duty, and two geocache events.  Whew!!

Since we couldn’t do them all, we had to decide what was most important.  The first thing we decided to do was go to the Monaco RV Rally (Aug 2-8) which had been scheduled for several months and was already paid for.  Early on the 2nd we moved coach out to the Oregon State Fairgrounds so we could hook up to electric during the rally.  We were one of the first few in line and got a marvelous spot situated very close to all the activities and right across a grassy area from all the new show coaches.  The “party” started on the afternoon of Aug 3.  Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, and lots of wine (and soft drinks) were served while everyone had a chance to see and visit with old friends and take the time to view some of the new coaches on display. The rest of the week was more of the same with a daily catered breakfast, happy hour/catered dinner, then an evening show. We had a lot of fun and loved being wined and dined, but we still didn’t buy a new coach. Yes, we looked, and liked some that we saw, but weren’t tempted to spend that kind of money. However, we did get a couple things fixed on our coach (latch on bay door and a new arm on main door) and ordered a new set of outside screens for the front of the coach. We even made an appt to upgrade our TV antenna.

Also during that first week of August, I had to visit my dentist and have two teeth (molars) prepared for crowns ($$$).  It worked out, because the temporaries were pretty solid and didn’t stop me from participating in the meals or drinks (grin).

On Sunday, Aug 8, the great exodus of coaches headed out in caravan style heading for the FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) Rally in Redmond, Oregon.  We were scheduled to attend the rally in Redmond (Aug 11-15), but had too much going on at home and couldn’t get away for the whole week (I had eye appt, Ken had jury duty).  The FMCA Rally is a huge rally with 1900 coaches in attendance.  There also were several hundred vendors showing their wares and offering some great deals.  There were many things at the vendors we wanted to check out, so we finally got the chance to drive Jeep over on August 12.  It was good that we did because Ken had purchased a tow shield storage bracket that didn’t work and was able to swap it for a mud/rock screen that does work. We also had our fire extinguishers recharged and ended up ordering some new inside solar and privacy curtains for coach’s living room.  We also took the time to view many other coach brands and models, but still weren’t tempted to buy (grin).

We have been so darn busy since getting back to Salem in July that we just haven’t had much time to do any caching…. Well, we finally had a chance while on the way home from Redmond.  We ended up finding 21 caches, but since then haven’t been out looking for any.

Our grandson (Justin) joined the Air Force and on August 30 is headed to San Antonio (Lackland AFB) for his basic training.  His elected field is in Special Forces/Combat Controller.  His wife, Holly, had a goodbye party for him on August 14th, so we had to be home for that!

This is Holly & Justin.

This is Leigh, Tim, Jessica, Mila & Justin

This is Me and Ken with Justin

It was a fun day with several family members in attendance. We were so glad to be able to let him know how much we love him and how much we will miss him. We are very proud of Justin and will pray daily for his health and safety.  We hope to be in Portland for “Family Day” when he has his final swearing in ceremony and then departure for Texas. There is going to be a lot of tears that day!!

Happily, Ken’s juror number wasn’t called, so he didn’t have to report for duty, but his name has gone back in the pot and can be selected again soon….

After having my temporary crowns on for just over two weeks, I went back in for the permanent ones, and as dentist was fitting them, he noticed something that he didn’t like and said he would have to have them remade and rescheduled me to come back a week later.  Finally after 3 weeks, I have the new crowns on and they feel great.

I also had new glasses ordered and when I tried those on, I couldn’t make out the words on a written page……bummer, they now have those on back order with an adjustment to the bifocal section.

This has not been the best of weeks for me because on Aug 20, while just walking, I pulled something (??) in the back of my left heel (felt like a rubber band snapping) and spent the last two days with foot wrapped while hobbling around.  Today (Aug 23) it feels better, and while slightly limping, I can bear some weight on the side of the foot. Yes, I did call for an appointment with a podiatrist and will find out what damage, If any, I might have done.  It’s really a bad time to have foot damage/soreness because we are off to Alaska in two weeks for our annual Salmon fishing trip. There’s a lot of physical work to be done during that trip, so hope I can hold up my portion of the trip.  Wish Ken luck for having to deal with me as his fishing partner, and wish me luck in being able to handle all the work ahead of me!!

Trip Home

After leaving Reno we stayed at Kla-Mo-Ya, Indian Casino in Chiloquin, Oregon. It was pretty noisy with trucks and other traffic coming and going, but it did quiet down after 6:30. Would you believe we even found a cache in their parking lot? Just one, no more till we got to Prineville.

Earlier in June, we made arrangements with the Marion County Sheriff’s Dept in Salem to renew our concealed weapons permits which were going to expire before we got home. Our appointment was scheduled for June 24, so we left the Kla-Mo-Ya Casino on June 23 and drove to the Crook Country RV Park in Prineville, Oregon. After we made sure the coach was secure, we loaded the Jeep with some un-needed stuff and headed to our home in Salem. We arrived home three hours later and unloaded the Jeep. Later, we met our friends, Rod & Lynda for dinner at our favorite Pizza place (Paddington’s).

The next morning (June 24) we were up early and off to the Marion County Sheriff’s office to renew our concealed weapons permits. Once they had all the pertinent information, did another background check, and took our mug shots, we had our new cards in hand. It never fails, the pictures they put on those cards always makes us look like criminals. We have never had a good picture taken there…. Oh well, at least now we are legal for another four years to pack (in Oregon).

When done at the Sheriff’s Office (and before we headed back to Prineville) we went by our daughter’s office and surprised her with a short visit and hugs. She was very surprised and I think we all had a few tears in our eyes when we left. The drive back to Prineville, was uneventful and we arrived at the coach about 2:30. Once we put our stuff away, we went down to the river and secured our site for the campout.

The 25th we attended the Gem Show at the Prineville Fairgrounds where Ken perused many wonderful rock slabs and some beautiful gem stones. He did buy a chunk of nice rock to take back to QV to work on.

June 26 & 27, we went caching on top of the rim above Crooked River finding a series of 32 caches that were hidden in the shape of a face frowning.

June 28, we moved the coach down to the Crooked River and set it up for12 days of dry camping. We weren’t totally primitive, we had the generator and did use it for electric power. We even had 100 gallons of fresh water, so we enjoyed some (not many) showers. We were later joined by friends Rod & Lynda, and Daryl & Kathy. Our weather was warm and sometimes windy. Yes, there was even a slight sprinkle on one day, but in general every day was perfect! Rod saw a Bald Eagle fly by early two mornings, and we all got to see several deer. Ken & I even saw a Badger trying to come out on the road, but he soon decided not to when we showed up. There was a day that the girls went into Bend to do some shopping while all the guys went hiking (and caching). We all did go into the town of Prineville for dinner a couple times. We had a great time and are looking forward to next year.

Everyone broke camp the morning of July 10 and drove the RVs to Prineville to dump the tanks and head home. We were the last to empty our tanks and we made it home by 2 pm. We did encounter an event taking place in the town of Sisters, so were routed around the town, but after that, there was virtually no traffic stalls of any kind.

We are now home and the work has begun on cleaning out the coach. It is amazing what we can amass in just 7 months. I have taken many items out that we haven’t used in a long time and Ken has checked and rechecked what he really needs to be carrying in the basement storage. We are now getting ready for a Monaco RV Rally here in Salem on August 4-7.

We also have looming a goodbye party on Aug 14 for our grandson who is leaving for boot camp on Aug 24. Justin joined the Air Force and will be going into Special Ops (like the Navy Seals) and is facing up to two years of intensive training. We are very proud of Justin and know he has some tough times ahead of him. He is very determined and we pray he does well and achieves everything he has his mind set on. We love him very much and will miss him a lot!!

Heading Home

June 8, we paid to stay two more nights at the AVI Casino/RV Park, then drove Jeep to Searchlight to check out a small RV/Mobile home park that we had spotted while driving by earlier. The park is just west of Searchlight on Nipton Rd and even though it’s mainly a mobile home park, there’s a huge gravel area in front of the mobile home section strictly set up for overnighters, or for those who wish to stay monthly. We couldn’t believe that it was only $20 a night. We quickly said we would be up on the 10th and spend four nights. Plus it was much cooler up there (whew). After visiting with the manager, we headed back to Laughlin via an area that we have wanted to travel for a long time. The route is called “Christmas Tree Pass” and was a fun drive. Even though the road was gravel, it was in great shape and the views were incredible once we hit the summit and made our way down the other side.

The last day we were at AVI (June 9), we did laundry and prepared coach for moving. During the whole six days we were at the AVI, the daytime temperature never got below 106. The highest we had was 112. Both of our air conditioners were going the whole time because the nights never went below 79.

On June 10, we moved coach one hour north to Cree’s Mobile Home Park in Searchlight, NV. They didn’t have a problem with us coming in early, so we were set up and ready to go caching by 9:30 AM. The best part was the temperatures were 10 degrees cooler than Laughlin and Bull Head City. We spent the next four days geocaching around the hills of Searchlight, and further west in the Primm/Jean area.

Monday, June 14, we pulled out of Searchlight and headed for Hawthorne, Nevada. While on the road, we received an email telling us that Jo Hennrich, a close friend and neighbor in Queen Valley, had passed away in her sleep. What an absolute shock!! We had spoken with her the night before we left Queen Valley and she seemed in perfect health. Jo was a beautiful lady and all who knew her will miss her….I know we sure will. Our hearts and prayers are with her husband, John, and her entire family!

Once in Hawthorne, we secured a site at the Whiskey Flats RV Park for two nights. Since we got set up early enough, we took a short drive along the highway around Walker Lake and found some caches, then headed back to the coach for dinner and early to bed.

The next morning, Tuesday the 15th, we headed out for some geocaching on the east side of Walker Lake, then drove west and worked our up the Lucky Boy Pass to Bridgeport Reservoir, Mono Lake, and then south back down to Hawthorne and our coach.  It was a very windy day, but thankfully the sun was out and it was wonderfully cool.  It was so nice to finally be cool after the last couple weeks of high temps.  We were gone all day and we didn’t get back till late and saw the most incredible sunset ever.  High winds were blowing a lot of clouds over us and the setting sun was creating some weird and unusual effects.  The pictures below are only a couple of what Ken took.

The 16th was still extremely windy, so we stuck around the park until close to checkout hoping it would die down.  It never did calm down and we had strong wind with even stronger gusts all the way to Reno/Sparks.  We are about 65 feet long when towing the Jeep, and our coach is 12 feet tall, so we are like a huge sail in the wind.  With the side wind, Ken had to fight it all the way to Reno/Sparks.  We finally got to the Sparks Marina RV Resort about 4 PM, and Ken was pretty tired.   We called Ken’s aunt & uncle and told them we were in town and would see them the next day.

Thursday, Ken worked on the outside of the coach cleaning and I cleaned the inside.  Ken’s aunt & uncle showed up about 1:30 and we had a nice visit before heading over to the Western Village Casino for dinner.

Friday morning, we took a nice walk around Sparks Marina Lake and spent the afternoon with Ken’s aunt Velma & uncle Francis.  At 5:30 we went to dinner at Ken’s Cousins home.  Barry and Gordy have a beautiful home up in the heights above Reno, and we had a great visit while enjoying the view.  Ken also had fun showing off the jewelry he’s made.

Saturday, we had a chance to take a very early morning drive to Pyramid Lake (a few miles north of Sparks).  Since we had to be back for a late breakfast with Ken's aunt & uncle, we didn't stay long at the lake (just up and back).  Yes, we even grabbed a couple very quick caches while up there.

Later, back in Reno, we had a huge breakfast, then spent the rest of the day with Velma & Francis and later had a light dinner at their favorite restaurant.  It was so nice to spend time with them because they are getting on in years and we don't know how much longer we will have them around.

While in Reno/Sparks, the temperatures stayed in the wonderful very high 70s with marvelously cool evenings.  However, the news was reporting a warming trend was coming and the temps were heading for the 90s....thankfully, after we were due to leave.

We are heading for Oregon with plans of staying in the parking area of the Kal-Mo-Ya Casino in Chiloquin, Oregon (north of Klamath Falls). We will end up in Prineville, Oregon on June 23 and stay in the Crook County RV Park until we move the coach down to the Crooked River for 12 wonderful days of "dry" camping with friends and family. We are scheduled to be back in Salem on July 11.

OMG, It is HOT!

Since we were planning on leaving Queen Valley on June 1, I had made arrangements to have our land-line phone put on vacation that day. Well, as it happened, we didn’t leave Queen Valley as expected because we found out on May 28th the part for our refrigerator hadn’t arrived. Because of the holiday weekend, we knew there would be no more deliveries until Tuesday, June 1, so we knew we weren’t going to leave until after that date. Even though we didn’t have the land-line, we still had the Internet and our cells worked when/if we left the park.

We had a great Memorial Day weekend and enjoyed our last of the double digit days by basking in the sun and going out for dinner. I didn’t want to cook inside because of the heat and Ken already had the BBQ cleaned and stored, so if we wanted to eat, we had to go out (grin). We made our last trip to Superior and had our last pizza for the season from one of our favorite places, Edwardo’s. We also went to The Great Wall in Gold Canyon and had a nice meal.

Finally on Tuesday, June 1, we called the service center and yes they had the part. We were up very early on Wednesday, left the park at 7:15 AM, and got to the service center in Apache Junction just as they were opening at 8 AM. They checked us in and after checking the part for our refrigerator, they got really red-faced because that part was not designated for our coach—in fact, they didn’t even have our part because it somehow wasn’t ordered. At least they had our replacement fan for the Air Conditioner unit, so while they were installing that, they called Norcold and special ordered the refrigerator part. We were told it was to be shipped overnight at Norcold’s expense and we could have it installed early Friday morning. We weren’t happy but what else could we do. After the AC fan was replaced we drove back to our site in Queen Valley. Thankfully, I had arranged to have the electric set to be turned off on June 7, so we still had power, just no phone.

Thursday, while waiting to check with the service center, we just hung out around the coach and didn’t do much (too hot). Our park had virtually become a ghost town with just a few residents left. I think out of 32 sites in just our section, there were only four units occupied (that includes us). There were only a few more occupied in the whole park of 200 sites. Sometime before Noon (92 degrees outside), we looked out our front windshield and saw a coyote loping up the road right in front of us. He was headed for the storage unit and looked like he didn’t have a care in the world. He was moving too fast for us to get a camera and take a picture (dang). Anyhow, Ken called the service center that afternoon and found out our part did in fact show up. He made arrangements for us to have our coach there at 8 am on Friday. The temperature on Thursday topped out at 100, but we were hearing the weekend was going to be in the 106-110 range (whew). However, we also heard Laughlin (where we were headed) was going to be 110-115 (yowie).

Friday morning (June 4), we were once again up very early and left the park at 7:30 and had the coach into the service center just as they opened at 8 AM. They confirmed the part was truly ours and quickly set about to install it. Finally, less than 2 hours later the recalled part installed on the refrigerator and we were able to leave Apache Junction. We had a comfortable drive till nearing Needles, CA and the temperature was climbing to 100. I turned the generator on (yes while driving) and then turned on the coach Air Conditioner. Boy did that make a nice difference. We got to the Avi Casino/RV Park at 3:30 and the temperature registered 107 at that time….whew it was hot when we got out of the coach…and we knew it was only going to get hotter (and it did).

Saturday morning, we got up at 4 am and drove Jeep to Searchlight area (1 hour north of Laughlin) and did a “power run” of geocaches. It was 79 when we got up and 109 at 5 PM. We found 101 caches and had to quit about 10 AM because of the heat. Sunday was another day of the same and we were once again back west of Searchlight for 67 more geocaches. We did a lot more walking only to have to give up because of the heat. Both Saturday and Sunday, Ken & I went through at least a gallon of water in a couple hours. They aren’t kidding when they say the heat really saps your strength. Sunday was another hot 109.

Monday, June 7 was going to be a day of rest, but Ken didn’t want to sit around the coach all day, so we took off about 8:30 for Golden Valley which is east of Bullhead City and west of Kingman. We found an area of caches that had been set up like a monopoly board called the Cacheopoly series. It was fun because most of the roads were dirt and sandy washes and very little walking….but it still was hot. We started the run at 11:45 AM (95 degrees) and quit at 1:30 when it hit 101. By the time we got back to the coach, it was 112 degrees. It was so nice to have the AC on and be comfortable through that heat. I have never been in that kind of temperature before and it just suffocates you while scorching the skin right off of you.

We were planning on leaving the Avi RV Park today (June 8) and stopping in Primm, Nevada for a few days. However, we found out the RV park in Primm (south of Las Vegas) isn’t open any longer and we don’t want to go there and be forced to dry camp in this kind of heat….so we opted to stay in Laughlin 2 more days and get some laundry done and do some more off roading. The temperatures aren’t supposed to be going down for the next few days!!

End of May

The month of May is almost over and we’ve now made the decision to leave Queen Valley on June 1. We’ve had fantastic weather and couldn’t bear the thought of leaving any earlier.

The month of May began in the low to mid 80s, then bounced to mid to high 90s, and continued to yo-yo between 80s & 90s till it finally hit 101 on May 21. We only had the one day of 101 because another cooling trend came through and the temps dropped back to the low 80s and high 70s. In fact on May 23 & 24 the temperature only got to 79. The forecasters are saying it won’t hit 100 again until after the Memorial Day holiday……it really has been an amazing May!! Everyone is incredulous with how nice it has been!!

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end! We decided to leave on June 1, not because of the weather, but because of a recall on our refrigerator’s thermal switch unit. It seems Norcold (the maker of our fridge) had several motorhomes go up in flames while their refrigerators were operating on propane, so Norecold put a recall out on those particular models. Turns out our refrigerator is one of the offending models (bummer).

We drove our coach to a service center in Apache Junction (AJ) on May 20, and they said the refrigerator looked great, but needed to order the new part to be installed as per Norcold’s recall requirements. While at the service center, we also had them service our front AC unit because it was making noises. It was determined the “squirrel cage fan” in the front air conditioner unit was out of sync and needed to be replaced. Once we picked a date to have the parts installed (June 1) we decided it would be a good time to make the move and slowly head back to Oregon. We have several stops planned before getting back to Oregon and won’t be home until mid July.

With so many of our park’s residents gone, it has been very quiet. We feel like we are living in a ghost town, and it’s wonderful! We enjoyed these past few weeks by geocaching, rock collecting, visiting friends, dining out, and just enjoying our solitude.

The first and second of May we attended geocache events celebrating “10 years” of geocaching. One was in Mesa and the other was on South Mountain in Phoenix. Both events were well attended with fun activities and as always, lots of food.  

I have had many people ask me what geocaching is:  Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment.  Anyone interested can always go to geocaching.com and check it out.

We drove to Tucson the night of May 14 and attended a World Wide Flash Mob Geocaching Event the next morning. That event was our find 6,000. The Flash Mob was only 15 minutes long. and to commemorate it, there was a group picture taken by a member of our group who was controlling the down town web cam from his computer. The picture isn’t really very clear, but the operator of the camera doesn’t have a lot of time to “capture” the picture.

On May 20, we had a special visitor stop and see us. He looks a little like a Golden Eagle, but in reality is much smaller and is called a Harris Hawk. He stayed around for most of the day preening and chattering all the while staying very close to our site. It was fun to see him so close just watching us as we watched him.

As I said earlier, we are pulling out of Queen Valley on June 1 and stopping in Apache Junction to get the parts for the fridge and AC installed. We should be done and on the road by Noon and hopefully in Laughlin early that evening. You ask what we will do there? Well, geocaching of course! We plan on staying in Laughlin for several days, then work our way up to South Vegas and stop again at another casino to do more geocaching. We are not huge casino fans, but like staying at their RV parks when we can.

End of Season

Tomorrow is May 1 (May Day) and it’s totally dead around here. We actually see and hear more wild critters than real people. Yep, the snowbird season is over and many of our residents have gone back to their summer homes. The few that are still here plan on pulling out soon. We plan on staying here until the weather hits triple digits and stays there for a decent period of time.

This last month was like a roller coaster with the variance of temperatures. A week would start off in the low 70s and work up to a low 90, then drop back to the 70s before it once again would end up in the high 80/90s. Our lowest daytime temp in April was 67, with the highest daytime temp at 95. Because of all the sudden temperature drops, we haven’t had a chance to acclimate to the higher temperatures, so when it does get hot, we feel it! As usual, we had lots of wind and dust, some rain and thunder, and many beautiful sunny days.  No matter what, we loved every minute of it!!!

Since it’s getting warmer, the snakes are out and several have been spotted in and around the park. Park maintenance doesn’t like to kill them unless they become a nuisance. Not all are Rattlesnakes, we have seen many bigger Bull Snakes. They are wonderful to have around because they kill and eat the Rattlesnakes. A couple of Gila Monsters have been spotted and our close neighbors even saw a coyote chasing a bunny on the morning they were packing to leave. Yes, we too have spotted some critters while out driving the back roads (mostly snakes).

There were many wildflowers blooming in April turning our green hills yellow. The sides of the roads were quite colorful, and yes, the pollen was nasty (I’m still sneezing)….but that will all come to an end once the days get hotter.
            
Many of the cactus are now blooming, but there aren’t as many blooms as there normally are. It’s probably because the weather has been much cooler than normal. The magnificent Saguaro also is blooming, and its white blossom is gorgeous! I’ve always been amazed at how these plants can have such a beautiful flower.

Over Easter, we had a scare with Ken’s son Dean. Dean was hospitalized due to some chest pain and found out he had Pneumonia. He was released from the hospital, but was told there also may be some problem with his heart and needed to schedule a stress test. The stress test showed Dean was having some restriction problems, so he had to undergo an angiogram, which thankfully showed no blockages. The doctors think Dean’s problems were side effects of a high blood pressure medicine he was on. Dean is now on a different medicine to reduce the high blood pressure. He is back to work and gaining strength every day! Thank God!!!

The rock shop is now closed for the season, but Ken spent his usual days working during April. Happily, Sylvia is now the Rock Club’s new president and Ken will have more free time next season. He will continue to monitor and work in the rock shop when we return, but the paper work and spending personal time working on club stuff will be over. For the rest of this year, Ken will continue beading and making jewelry.

Before the huge exodus of park residents, there were many going away (clean out the fridge) parties with lots of food being served. We also were involved in the usual geocaching events and going out to various restaurants with friends…. So much eating!!!! Since most of that is over, we are back to our sensible eating habits and hopefully will start to downsize our waist lines (grin).

We’ve still been taking the Wrangler out on some 4WD trips, and hope to do more before we park it for the summer. No, we don’t plan on going anywhere dangerous, but do plan on going after some elusive geocaches. Yes, we will continue to “pack” and carry an emergency locater!

I am still not sure when we will leave, but we do plan on doing some intensive geocaching in and around Laughin and South Las Vegas before heading back to Oregon.

Desert Fun

After we got back from Death Valley, and while the weather was nice, we managed to take a few jaunts out in our Wrangler to enjoy the desert. Yes, we have had some very nice days along with a few cooler and a couple wet days.

One very nice, 73 degree day, we joined our friends, Dave, Pat, and their daughter Marilyn on a drive north of us to see a slot canyon which overlooks Roosevelt Lake. They weren’t sure what the road was going to be like and didn’t want to go alone, so we tagged along with them.  It’s always a great idea to travel with someone just in case there is a problem.  Most of the drive was on paved roads with just the last mile on a somewhat rough (high clearance needed) dirt road that ended at the top of a slot canyon. We did go through some deep mud puddles, but didn’t have any problems.  Notice that Dave is taking the high side of this mud puddle.  The middle is much deeper!

The view from the rim was awesome! I hate heights and steep drop offs, but I did enjoy this great view.  No, I didn’t go near the edge.  Ken was the one who enjoyed tormenting me by standing right on the edge as he took pictures.

We all had a great time and after we got back to the main road, we had an early dinner by the lake. Yep that lake you see in the distance!  Do notice the snow on Four Peaks!

We went out again on March 27, and 30.  Both days we drove south about 40 miles and went off roading in the 96 Hills area.  No, we didn’t follow our own advice and have someone go with us.  We went by ourselves, but did have an emergency locator with us just in case something went wrong.  Plus, we always pack while going out by ourselves.  Ken was loaded for snakes, and I was loaded for whatever (grin).  Our goal was to find the geocaches that were placed during the last couple AJACS Campout events that we hadn’t had a chance to look for.  This time during the two days, we found a total of 31 caches. Most involved some bit of hiking and climbing. Yes, Ken did ALL the climbing!  We also found snakes...Rattlesnakes. One very mad Rattler was too close to a cache that we wanted and he was not going away.  Well, Ken won that argument, and we signed the cache log and got a picture of the snake.  Another Rattler was soaking up sun in the middle of the road and was not very happy about our big white Jeep interrupting him.  We managed to get a couple pictures before he finally went off in the weeds on the side of the road.  Another one which we couldn’t get a picture of was at the edge of the road and was not letting anyone or anything get close to it.  We let that one be.

The wildflowers are blooming, but we only saw buds on the cactus and no blooms. We did see some strange Saguaros and took a couple pictures.

April is now here and as you all can see I made a change to my blog page.  No it is not an April Fools joke. I may keep it this way, or may change it again….I just haven’t decided.

Death Valley

During the first couple weeks of March, we did the usual park functions and off road trips.  Ken also turned 67, and we celebrated by attending an Apache Junction Area Caching Society (AJACS) Campout.  We had lots going on that weekend, so only went to the event one day and spent our time visiting with old friends and enjoying a beautiful warm 77 degree day.  Good thing we didn’t spend the night because it started raining that night and rained hard all the next day. Out of seven weekends in a row, five of them were wet!  The second week of March was cool, but dry.

March 14th, we took off in the Jeep Grand Cherokee and headed for Death Valley.  We were going to take the Wrangler, but Ken found out before we left that the main trail we wanted to tour (Titus Canyon) was closed due to flood damage, so we took the Cherokee and rode in comfort.  Our reservations at Stove Pipe Wells Village was for March 15-19, so we stayed in Pahrump our first night. Yes, we even did a little caching there.

March 15th, we took off early and drove to Rhyolite where we stopped and toured the old ghost town.  Rhyolite is the largest ghost town in Death Valley!  Rhyolite had a population of nearly 10,000 people between 1905 and 1911. The town had 2 churches, 50 saloons, 18 stores, and much more… Many ruins are still there including a Bottle House, part of a three-story bank, and more.

       

We left Rhyolite and drove to Stove Pipe Wells where we met up with friends, Dave & Sandy, and after checking into our room, we took off to Artist’s Drive, then Zabrinski Point to watch the sunset.  This is just a sample of the color we saw before the sun set.

Tuesday, Ken & I met up with Dave & Sandy for breakfast, then we all headed out to the Badwater Basin area of Death Valley and drove the West Side Road all the way to Ashford Mill.  We stopped along the way at many sites and even had lunch at the Eagle Borax Works Ruins.

     

After the long drive over the sometimes washboardy gravel road we all headed back to our room and had snacks and drinks for the evening.  Dave & Sandy had to leave early on Wednesday, so they headed back to their trailer around 6pm to pack and get ready to pull out.

The one high clearance, off-road drive we really wanted to do was Titus Canyon.  The drive is approximately 28 miles on a mostly one-way unpaved road.  It stretches from just west of Rhyolite in Nevada (near Beatty) from highway 374 to the Scotty’s Castle Road in Death Valley. The road was closed because of a huge rock slide in the narrows and wasn’t due to open until Friday the 19th (the day we were leaving…bummer).  Our only option was drive to the mouth of the canyon via the 3 mile east-bound portion of the road and hike uphill through the narrows (another 3 miles).

Once we got to the mouth of Titus Canyon, we were pleased to see the narrows portion of the canyon had been recently graded.  The narrows are just wide enough for a small truck, with a constant uphill climb in sand and gravel.  It's a huge drainage/wash channel for the nearby Grapevine mountains.  I ended up walking just over a mile in and decided to turn around because I knew my knee would be killing me on the walk back out.  Ken continued walking another 2 miles through the narrows and past the slide.  He was pleased to see the slide had been cleared and kinda wondered WHY the road was still closed.  We found out later the officials were waiting till the threat of rain was over, which was supposed to be on Friday.  Oh well, we were happy to just be able to do what we did.

     

After leaving the canyon, we drove on up to Scottys Castle to find the answers to a couple of geocache virtuals.  The park does not allow ANY physical caches to be placed in it, but you can have what is called Earth Caches, and Virtuals.  We even ate our lunch there and were greatly surprised to run into a couple we know (Larry & Laura) from Spokane, Washington.  They were in-between tours, so we visited until they were ready to go on their second tour.

On Thursday the 14th, we toured some other sites and had lunch in Furnace Creek.  After lunch, Ken talked to one of the park rangers and was surprised to learn Titus Canyon had opened up early that morning.  We didn’t even have to think about it…. we got back in the Jeep and headed out of the park to the Titus Canyon Cutoff and headed on in.

We crossed the National Park Boundary about 2 miles in when the road became a drainage channel (wash).   About 7 miles in, we started getting into the Grapevine Mountains.  We went through two passes (White Pass and Red Pass) with some spectacular views into the Valleys.  Oh boy that was an experience!  The road was narrow & twisty, with many steep drop-offs.

After some white knuckles on my part (Ken was fine) and 16 miles in, we stopped at the ghost town, Leadfield.  All that remains of Leadfield are the ruins of a wood and a tin building along with some cement foundations of the mill.  They mined for lead there in 1926-1927.

Just outside Leadfield, we entered Titus Canyon. The road once again became thick loose gravel as we drove through several wash/drainage areas. At 22 miles in, we came to the Narrows portion of the canyon. The narrows portion is 3 1/2 miles long, with many twists and turns.  We came to the mouth of Titus Canyon after driving 25 1/2 miles and were once again back on the busy two-way portion of the road.  It was a long day, but so very worth it.

After we got back to our room, the sky darkened, the wind started blowing and we had a full force sand storm. We were soooo glad we were not on the road when that came through. The visibility dropped almost to zero during the height of the storm, but soon it was all over and back to normal.