Oct 16, 2010 - Waiting on Parts

Silver Spur RV Park Saturday, October 16, 3 pm PDT Silverton OR I’ve spent the last two weeks here in Silverton OR waiting for one part to be delivered to the RV Dealer located in Milwaukie OR, just south of Portland. The RV Park I’ve been waiting for is the rear Top Cap which is the piece underlying the fiberglass exterior of the top rear of the coach. I’ve got a very big crack in that part and it’s that crack that forms the main threat of water leakage into the coach. I have a large plastic patch covering the crack as a temporary stop...

Sep 5, 2010 - Disastrous Campground Stay

Silver Spur RV Park Sunday, September 5, 11 am PDT Silverton OR The last 3 weeks have been simply disastrous. I’d been having a good time and only minor problems with the coach, but then I moved to the Chehalis Thousand Trails Reserve near Chehalis WA. I bought into Thousand Trails at a cost of $10k for 10 years and blanket access to all their reserves and parks in the NW and SW. I get to stay free with 30 amp power, water and sometimes sewer hookups and have been doing so since I reached the Oregon coast in May. Their parks are more like...

Aug 9, 2010 - Silverton, Oregon - Part 2

We have relocated to Silverton, Oregon again. We enjoyed this area si we decided to come back. The main reason is to get out of the cold and damp of the Oregon Coast. We hardly saw the sun in 5 days at Camp Rilea. We will spend a couple of days here and then move south. We hope to get to Redwood National Forest in northern California by the end of the week or early next week. I do not see any more pics until then. Thanks for follwoing our journal. I enjoy the comments that some of you have sent.

Aug 6, 2010 - Oregon Gardens

We had a nice afternoon in the gardens. While it is not up to the standards of Bouchard Gardens, they are very nice to take a stroll thru and enjoy. It is still in the beginning stages with a lot of experimental gardens. They are working with different plants to see how they climatize with the Oregon Climate and are getting some great results. It was near 90 while we there, so we hope to return and spend some time there walking the different paths, which wind around the park. There is a tram which was enjoyable and informative. The entrance...

Jul 18, 2010 - Visiting Salem

Today was a wonderful day… We had a lazy morning playing on the computer with the fireplace turned on while most of the rest of the country was hotter then Hades… Our mornings have been cool and cloudy until about lunch time and then the clouds disappear and the sun comes out and off come the sweaters and out come the shorts.. We Didn’t wait for the sun before heading over to Salem to check out the capitol city of Oregon… We only had about a 15 mile ride and there we were… Right at the State Capital that is surrounded by the Capitol State...

Jul 17, 2010 - We have moved again

As promised, we found something really fun to do on our last day in Portland… We started out by going to Camping World… That is always something we enjoy and Bill need a few things for the RV… It was real close to our campground so we couldn’t miss the opportunity… Next we had a few things to pick up for inside the RV and stopped at a roadside stand for some fresh picked raspberries and strawberries… Oh boy, were they ever good… I passed on the blueberries this time since I had just bought some at the grocery store but these looked so much...

Jul 4, 2010 - Independence, Oregon

We visited the town of Independence, Oregon for the 4th of July. Independence was founded in 1845 by settlers from Independence, Missouri. We figured with a name like Independence, they would have a great party to celebrate our nation's birthday. The town has an estimated population of about 8000 and most of them were at the parade. The town also has a park with an amphitheatre. It was a pretty neat set up. We took a few pics, and one of stage performing groups was from a dance studio and they were demonstrating the ZUMBA. Paula snuck in a...

Jun 28, 2010 - The Grotto in Portland and the Municipal Elevator of Oregon City, OR

We took a leisurely drive up to Portand, OR today. We decided the visit the Grotto, a 62 acre Catholic shrine. Its proper name is the National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother. Quoting from their web page, "The Grotto strives to provide a welcoming presence and a beautiful environment conducive to peace, quiet, and spiritual inspiration. The Grotto offers understanding, compassion, support and hope through a variety of ministries including counseling, education, spiritual direction and liturgical celebrations. The Grotto endeavors to serve...

Jun 23, 2010 - Mt. Hood, the Tallest Mountain in Oregon

Today, we drove over to take a look at Mt. Hood, another of the mountains in the Cascade Range. Like the others, Mt. Hood has it origins as a strato volcano. It is the 4th highest mountain in the Cascade Range and the highest in Oregon reaching a peak of 11,240 feet. Mt Hood is considered the volcano in Oregon most likely to erupt, but scientists put the odds of that happening at three to seven percent over the next 30 years. Therefore, for all intents and purposes, one could say that Mt. Hood is dormant. In the distance, we could see Mt....

Jun 22, 2010 - Columbia River Gorge

The Columbia River Gorge is an 80 mile long canyon of the Columbia River extending over 80 miles from the Pacific Ocean making up a good portion of the boundary between Washington and Oregon. The Oregon side of the CRG sports over 80 waterfalls. I will spare you all of the fotos. (Actually, I only saw a couple of falls today.) We saw the Bridal Veil Falls and the 2nd highest year round water fall in the US, Multnomah Falls. Multnomah Falls is two-tiered and drops 620 feet. We stopped for a "kodak" moment at Crown Point State Park Vista...

Jun 21, 2010 - Silver Falls State Park

Just about 14 miles outside of Silverton is Silver Falls State Park, the largest state park in Oregon. It sports over 9000 acres of spectacular scenery, and more than 25 miles of trails for hiking, biking and horse back riding. The park as over ten waterfalls and at least 10 of them can be seen in an 8 1/2 mile hike. And, we not talking about a little trickle. You can drive to within a mile or less of all of them. I imagine the colors would be fantastic in the fall, but I am not sure there would be as much water coming over the falls. We...

Jun 20, 2010 - Oregon Garden

We visited the Oregon Garden today. The Garden is located in Silverton, Oregon. As far as botanical gardens go, I think this is one of the best. They have over 80 acres developed with over 20 separate gardens. Conifer forests, commercial gardens, children's garden, rose garden (alas, all of their roses froze this past winter and are being replanted) and more. And, they have a tram that runs through the park. This time of the year is too early for summer flowers and too late for spring flowers, but there was a lot of color anyway.