May 10, 2013 - On to Vancouver USA

We had a beautiful drive along the Wallapa Bay & up the Columbia River from Long Beach to Vancouver, WA, today. We stopped at a national wildlife preserve for Columbian White-Tailed Deer to have our picnic lunch - didn't see any deer but it was a nice place to stop. Our gps told us to turn left onto Bart & Suzi's street so we did but didn't see any address numbers & none of the vehicles looked like theirs so we were turning around (not easy in a residential neighborhood towing a 5th wheel trailer) when Bart came driving up. He had been...

Apr 12, 2013 - 5th District Meeting

Today was a full day. We slept in a bit to allow for the late night drive home tonight. We killed part of the day looking around before heading to the Vancouver Post for dinner and the meeting. We had been anticipating an unpleasant and raucous meeting due to a few hotheads in the District. However, they generally behaved themselves and elected a new District Commander who is "younger" and pleasant. They did not elect a Vice Commander, so that will have to be handled later. The meeting also went fairly quick, so we were able to get on the...

Jan 27, 2013 - Still raining

Great early start to the day and here we are at the bottom of Washington. On to Seven Feathers resort tomorrow. Just wish it would stop raining for a little while. Doesn't look likely until at least Tuesday. Wind has been relatively calm so that part is good. Seems we are seeing a lot more RVs heading north than there is heading south. Getting caught up on line things so that part is good, WIFI is good everywhere.

Jan 23, 2013 - The Start of Our 2013 Trip

Well if the weather cooperates we plan on heading out on Monday the 28th, spend the first night in Medford. Then over the Siskiyou's the next morning, and on down to Red Bluff in northern Cal to Patti's girlfriend Judy's place for the second night. If it is looking like tire chains will be required to get over the pass, we'll detour over to the Coast and head down that way, bypassing the Siskiyou Pass and Judy's. We'll try to keep you posted with updates to this journal.

Jan 18, 2013 - Home

Once again we were excited to get out of the bad, cold, icy, foggy weather in Vancouver and head to sunshine. What we didn't know was that the fog would be with us until we got to Ashland, Oregon. We finally left home at 11:30 AM and headed to Seven Feathers RV Park in Canyonville, Oregon to meet up with our traveling companions, Ken and Connie Anderson. We didn't scare them off last year and they were willing to once again travel with us so here we go!!!

Oct 29, 2012 - Home

We arrived home on Friday, October 25, 2012 about 1:30 PM. We drove home in rain (shocking) and it has been raining ever since. The kids took great care of our place and with the exception of a lot of limbs down from a wind storm the place looks great! Summation of our trip: We traveled 4,774 miles with diesel averaging $4.26/gallon and camping averaging $35.12/night. We were gone 46 nights and averaged 104 miles per day. Great trip and we would do it again!

Oct 28, 2012 - Vancouver, WA

October 28, 2012 Bob and I did not even stir until 8:15 because it is so dark! There was a lull in the rain so we walked for about an hour return to get the Sunday NYT at Starbucks. I actually finished cleaning up my email after another 5 hours to the sound of the boys football commentary, our deciding what we would have for lunch and dinner and lots of kibbutzinig!!! Had some really tasty Costco panko crusted cod with delicious tartar sauce that Richard made for lunch. Tonight we are having mussels with two different sauces: garlic/olive...

Oct 28, 2012 - Vancouver, WA

October 27, 2012 We knew we would not escape rain in Vancouver, WA. That did not stop us from going to the Saturday morning Farmer’s Market in Vancouver. Bo could not resist the wood fire pizza so we all stood under a small tent and helped him eat an 8 inch pie. Did a bit of grocery shopping, picked up the NYT and home to watch college football. My past time has been getting rid of 25,000 archived emails from work! When Bob was putting groceries away, the “bottle shelf” in the fridge split and fell out. Fortunate for us, Bob found a parts...

Oct 26, 2012 - Vancouver, WA

October 26, 2012 We did not even stir until 8:15. Still cold and overcast with no real reason to get up early. About the time we left for Portland, it really started to pour. In fact, it is the worst rain during the day that we have had since we started the trip. I had made tuna salad for lunch before we left so we were able to stop for a bite along the way. Bob wanted to visit a Sprinter equipment supplier which we did on the way to the Riordans. Nothing that we couldn’t live without. About the time we got to Portland the rain had...

Sep 29, 2012 - Vancouver, WA

Sat, 29 Sep: Back on the road again after a week goofing off in Chimacum. We enjoyed our sojourn, but the ole' "hitch itch" was getting to us so time to roll wheels. We'd mostly gotten things organized yesterday so this morning's activities consisted of little more than going thru our checklist (we depend on it doubly so if we haven't been on the road for a while) and last minute stowing of gear. We got underway a few minutes before ten and headed south on WA 20 to US 101 and thence south to I 5 at Olympia. The stretch along WA 20 and US...

Sep 17, 2012 - Vancouver, WA

Awoke to a beautiful, cool and sunny fall morning. Have to travel only 70 miles today to Vancouver, WA to visit with our friends the Riordans. Washed windows and tidied up the rig before heading out to Corvallis, home of the Oregon State Beavers. We needed to make sure we gave even time to the Beavers so that we were not off the Sue Crockett bundt cake list. We looked in vain for Sue’s statue on campus. Someone we saw on campus who thought they knew Sue was sure that the statue would be over on fraternity row. Corvallis had a great Trader...

Sep 17, 2012 - Vancouver, WA

I didn’t mention that after our hike to Whiskeytown Falls last Wednesday my third finger on my right hand suddenly swelled to the size of a sausage and it is still swollen. This is a real mystery as I am pretty sure I did not break it or get stung by an insect. Fortunately it is not painful, only uncomfortable. We are very near Kaiser and managed to get an appointment today. Bottom line is tendonitis from repetitive motion injury (probably from my hiking stick) and aggravated arthritis flare up. More icing and anti-inflammatory meds. Will...