Living our dream

Update November & December

2012-01-29T10:44:00.000-08:00

It's only been 3 months since I've posted any information here, but we finally have free internet access that is fast enough to load pictures. I'm going to try to bring this current along with pictures.

Ok, from the Redwoods we went to the Russian River in the wine country. Beautiful scenery when you are driving around. Lots of rolling hills covered with rows and rows of grapes. We spent a week in this area just lounging around.

No pictures of the rolling hills, just our camp site and the river.

From here we moved on to Southern California. Arrived at Soledad Canyon (Palmdale/Lancaster area) for our three week stay. Not too much to say about this park, only that it was close enough to Gordy's parents to make the one hour drive for visits and Thanksgiving dinner.

While we were here, Gordy's sister and brother-in-law (Jana & Joel) stayed with us and Joel was my hero, fixing our cracked drain pipe. He had to remove the bottom cover of the RV, all the wet insulation, fix the pipe and put it all back together again. Can't thank you enough Joel.

We never even took any pictures of this area.

On to Widerness lakes in Menifee, CA (by Hemet) for another 3 week stay. We were backed up to a small canal where everyone was fishing for Catfish. All kinds of strange birds wandering around.

We spent three weeks here. While it could have been a very nice park, we were parked on the outside edge of the park right next to a dairy. The flies were horrendous, and the smell at times was pretty bad, but the ants that got into the rig were the worst. I lost so much food to those little buggers. They were everywhere throughout the rig and it tooks weeks to get rid of them.

Our next stop was one of my favorites. Palm Springs for 3 weeks. It's not a fancy rv park and the spaces are close together, but something about it appeals to me. It did get a little scary with the tall palm trees everywhere and the high winds at times, but I really enjoyed it. I was able to lay out by the pool and catch some sun and just visit with neighbors.

After 3 weeks in Palm Springs, we put the rig in storage in Anaheim, just around the corner from Gordy's folks and flew home for 2 weeks. Just had to get my grandkid fix for Christmas.

Here's a picture of the house where we all grew up in Buena Park.

Give me a couple more days and I'll finish the update from Christmas to today.

Someplace Different

2011-10-26T12:13:00.000-07:00

Well, now that I have access to the internet again, I forgot to load my pictures. So....no pictures this time. Not that we have taken many lately. We left the Redwoods, and deciding to move inland headed to the Sacramento/San Joquin River Delta area. So it was south on Hwy. 101 and hang a left (east) at San Fransisco. This was someplace we have never been before and it was completely different from anything we've seen. All the roads were narrow and winding and up on raised dikes or levees with water all around. Water was everywhere and any farms or houses were on islands surrounded by rivers and small lakes. The majority of houses were built on stilts to avoid flooding. This was an interesting area, with over 1,000 miles of water ways/tributaries.

The first park we stayed at had an over abundnce of mosquitos and flies along with a horrible stench. Other than that it was a nice park. After two nights there, we packed up and moved on down the road a whopping one mile to another park thinking it would be better. Of course it was twice as bad there. I made the mistake of wearing sandals and now have mosquito bites on every toe and all across the tops of my feet, not to mention any other skin areas that were exposed to the air. So two nights there and on down the road.

We made our longest drive yet, about 250 miles and spent the night at a RV park in Lost Hills. Not much of a park, just a gravel lot and power/water hookups but cost $35! Up early the next morning and left for Soledad Canyon just north of LA. We will be close enough (80 miles) to Gordon's family to drive in and visit and will spend 3 weeks here.

I'll post pictures when we can get internet access again.

Redwoods

2011-10-17T07:20:00.000-07:00

We finally have acces to wifi without driving into town to the local Starbucks. We did spend 2 nights in Scotia in a quiet little campground owned and operated by a church. Nothing special about the park except for the deer that were strolling through the grounds. We met an interesting young man from Germany who was traveling down the coast. He was doing a combination of trains, buses, hitchhiking and a lot of walking. He started in Canada and was headed for LA. He was spending the night at the campground and we had the opportunity to visit with him for quite awhile.

We spent most of the day driving th “Avenue of the Giants” which is an amazing drive through the heart of the redwoods. The size of these trees is awsome. This picture is of one that had fallen over. The diameter of the tree is 53' and it was over 350' tall. Here I am standing at the base of the tree.

More pictures

Tree laying on its side.

The pictures just can't convey the absolute beauty of the place.

Kathy and I also got our dose of civilization by driving into the quaint little town of Ferndale. The entire town has consists of renovated Victorian houses and buildings and we spent some time browsing the historic district's shops and restaurants.

Klamath River, CA

2011-10-07T08:01:00.000-07:00

We have been parked on the river bank along side the Klamath River in a beautiful little rv park. Once again, you can watch the salmon leaping out of the water. We are only a few miles from the coast and a family of seals have been playing in the water all week.

View up river

View from our front door

Though the setting is beautiful, the weather has been less so. We had several days of solid rain and we just stayed inside to keep dry. We are parked on grass and the standing water is pretty deep. Hard to go outside without stepping in ankle deep mushy grass and water.

But today, the sun was out and it was gorgeous! We sat outside just enjoying it. Moving our chairs to follow the sun as it moved across the sky.

On Saturday, the 8th, we will be moving on to a little town called Scotia, right in the middle of the Redwood National Forest. Hope the nice weather holds out.

Gold Beach

2011-10-01T23:06:00.000-07:00

We accidently found the RV park we are at. We were supposed to turn at the first street after the bridge into Gold Beach, but turned at the last street before the bridge. The only place to turn around was this dumpy little RV park called Lex's Landing.

We decided to just stay here, after all it was only for 2 nights. What a diamond in the rough! The people are friendly, the weather is nice and the view is to die for. We are parked right on the bank of the Rogue River, where it empties into the ocean. Put me anywhere next to a body of water and I am in heaven. We are next to both the river and the ocean and I couldn't be more content.

We can sit inside or outside the RV and watch the salmon jump out of the water on their way up the river to spawn and the harbour seals playing around the boat docks. This is a fishermans paradise and all day long the boats go out and come back with 30 to 40 lb salmon. The neighbors next to us shared their catch from the day. Wayne and Kathy came over for dinner and we had delicious salmon that had been caught only a few hours earlier. Doesn't get much tastier than that. The next day they gave us more from the days catch, which I promptly put in the freezer to enjoy later.

Here's a view up river

and a view down river toward the ocean

Sunrise up river

We drove around a little to explore the area which is absolutely beautiful. Rocky beaches, forested river banks and incredible views from the roadside parks. The only problem was the fog obscured some of the views and made for less than perfect pictures. Even though it was foggy and misty, the temperature was still “short sleeves”.

Walk on the beach

I hate to leave here but Saturday it's on down the road about 75 miles to Klamath River, CA, which is in the Calif. Redwoods. We plan to spend a week there. Just hoping the weather isn't as bad as they are predicting for the OR coast. A week of rain may send us south faster than we had originally planned.

Florence - forest and ocean

2011-09-30T17:48:00.000-07:00

Spent 2 beautiful days in Florence. The sun was shining all day and when you could find a opening in the canopy of trees, there were a million stars out at night.

We had a great barbeque with our friends and spent the evening around a campfire listening to the sounds of the ocean.

We didn't do much of anything except enjoy the forest like setting and relax. It was beautiful to be deep in the woods yet still hear the ocean and smell the ocean breeze.

Gordy and Wayne, hard at work.

Here's a view out the back window of the RV.

The next leg of the trip is about 100 miles down the road to Gold Beach.

On to Florence

2011-09-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

We ended up spending 2 nights at Neskowin Creek RV Park. They call it a “premier RV Resort” but in reality it's just a big field nestled in a valley. When it gets 2 days of rain, which is what we had, it turns into a giant pond. The winds really howled through the park on Monday. There were a few times the gusts hit us broadside and I thought for sure we were going to flip over.

The park was full of great people and we met two really nice couples (Mike & Peggy and Frank & Val) that we wish we had more time to get to know better. But there is always the possibility that we will meet again out on the road. (Are you reading this Mike & Peggy? We're waiting for you.)

Here are a couple of pictures from the park.

Our rig with the Maxwell's behind us.

A view of Neskowin Creek.

We left Neskowin Tuesday around noon for the 90 mile drive to Florence. I can't believe it was my idea to drive down the coast, with the winding, narrow roads and the cliffs on my side. What the H#*L was I thinking!!! I've been told it is a beautiful drive and we've driven it several times over the years, but when your eyes are scrinched (is that a word?) shut, your fingernails are digging into the dashboard and your foot is pushing through the floor boards trying to make the passenger side brakes work, it's kind of hard to enjoy the scenery.

Anyway.....it was pretty foggy & hazy but I tried to take some pictures of the drive. It's just hard to get a good picture from a moving car with your eyes closed.

We arrived safe and sound in Florence and have a beautiful fully forested spot I'll post pictures and more info on this park later. Not sure how long we will stay here. We”ll just take it day to day.

I'm having some difficulty getting the map updated, so please be patient. Hopefully, I'll get it figured out in the next day or two.

Neskowin

2011-09-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

We've moved on down the road ....a whopping 10 miles....to Neskowin to meet up with our friends the Maxwells. After 2 days here the 4 of us will be moving on to Florence to spend a few more days.

The weather is not being very cooperative, rain and winds make us want to stay holed up in the RV. Fortunately, it is a short walk to the clubhouse.

More Pacific City

2011-09-23T10:30:00.000-07:00

We're still hanging out at Pacific City and not doing much. Just doing a few modifications to the RV that we have wanted to do for a long time and soaking in the hot tub at the club house. Since we have previously spent so much time in this area we haven't done any sightseeing. But I would recommend the 3 Capes scenic tour to anyone visiting the area for the first time.

The weather has been beautiful one day, foggy & cloudy the next day with a few rain sprinkles mixed in overnight. Nothing to rave about but nothing to complain about either.

Here is a picture from the club house deck looking out over the coast.

And another shot of Cape Kiwanda that we drive by anytime we run into town. The morning fog was still hanging around, so it's not the best picture.

Here we go!

2011-09-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

It's official! We are finally on the road. Left home on Sunday and arrived at the Thousand Trails park in Pacific City. We plan on staying here until Sunday, then maybe a day or two in Neskowin before heading to Florence.

We have a nice roomy and secluded spot with sewer and cable; however, we don't have water. The park has a broken water main in our part of the park that they are hoping to get fixed today (it's been broken for 4 days). I sure hope they do 'cause we don't have any water in our tanks. We filled up a 5-gallon bucket with water for flushing the toilet and are using bottled water for brushing teeth. Have to drive to the other end of the park to take a shower and fill the bucket. Dang....I guess I can't wash dishes, bummer It's gonna be a long week if they don't get it fixed.

When we checked in they let us know the bears were active in the park. Sure enough, went to take the trash to the dumpster this morning and there were pile of bear s*#t around the dumpster just 3 sites down from our rig. Kathy......here's a picture just for you!

Waiting

2011-06-15T19:03:00.000-07:00

Just waiting for September when we hit the road!