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.

Back in Salem

Our trip back home to Salem was another great adventure. We had sun, clouds, rain, and even snow while en-route. Our worst nightmare was the wind. No matter where we were, we had wind, and most of it was a strong side wind. Driving a 40 foot coach and towing a Grand Cherokee puts us at about 65 feet long, and the coach being almost 12 feet tall just makes us one huge sail in the wind. The strong wind started just west of Phoenix and didn’t quit until we got into Oregon and over the Willamette Pass into Eugene.

We left Queen Valley, AZ on May 12 and our first stop was on Vicksburg Rd, at exit 45 on I-10. We pulled into the Zip fuel center to fuel up and upon leaving the fuel pumps, Ken turned too sharp and ran into one of the side guards protecting the fuel pumps (oops). He banged up our pass thru bay door and now has to get it fixed ($$$).

After the mishap, we continued on our way to the Avi Casino and RV Park at Fort Mohave south of Laughlin, NV. We stayed there for a few nights and geocached along Route 66 from Newberry Springs towards Needles. We ended up getting about 851 total caches in two days. From there, we took coach up north about an hour and stayed in Searchlight, NV at a quaint mobile home and RV Park called Crees Trailer/RV Park. We stayed there three nights and geocached in the hills north of Searchlight and even drove over to Primm on I-15 for more caches. We found about 75 caches while there.

After Searchlight, we drove on to Hawthorne, NV and stayed at Whiskey Flats RV Park for 3 nights. We were hoping to drive the Jeep up the back way into Yosemite National Monument via Tioga Pass Rd, but the road was closed due to a huge snow fall. They said the highway was in the process of being plowed, but with all the repair work to be done, it wouldn’t open till mid June. Since we couldn’t get into Yosemite, we took a drive around June lake and totally enjoyed the sights and, YES, we also geocached while there.  The first picture is of June Lake from above, and the rest are different views around June Lake Loop Road.  It really is a beautiful spot and we so understand why a couple of our friends like to spend their summer there.

This really is a real slot machine buried in cement with plaque explaining it's history!

After we left Hawthorne, NV, we drove coach on to Reno/Sparks, NV to spend some quality time visiting with our relatives there. We did not do any major caching while there, but did pick up a few caches near Sparks Marina RV Park (where we stayed). We had a great time showing our aunt & uncle what a geocache looked like. When we took them out to dinner a couple times, there just happened to be a geocache very close to where we ate, so had to show them what we do for fun (grin). We also had dinner at our cousins house one night and saw a geocache about 450 feet from their house…of course, we and the cousins had to go in search and find it.

We left Reno just as the weatherpeople were predicting a huge winter storm heading that way. Yep, we got caught in part of it while crossing over Sage Hen Pass between Susanville, and Alturas on hwy 395. Snow and rain mix were pretty heavy for a while, but again, the worst part was the wind. We ended up making it to Oregon and stopping at the KlaMoYa Indian Casino on Hwy 97 for one night. The temperature that night went down to 35 degrees (brrr). We got home on May 30 just in time to say a huge happy birthday to Leigh, our daughter, who turned '40 something.' She is a beautiful lady, mother, grandmother, and above all our special girl!!  We love her very much!!

Now as I sit here typing this blog, it is raining outside.  Bummer, all I see in the forecast for the next few days is rain! However, they say the temps will actually start to rise sometime next week and actually may get up in the high 70s (wow). This is the end of May, so hopefully, there will be lots of sun to come in June!!