Day: 78 miles: 6000 Mendocino was our last Pacific Ocean location. Ron got to fly his glider on Casper Beach and I collected gobs of beach glass and then we were off to Vacaville. We had hoped to avoid crossing mountains by going farther south, but evidently there is no way to avoid mountain crossings. We were on highway 128 most of the way; a windy, twisty two lane road with plenty of hairpin turns that was hard on the driver and equally hard on the passenger. Folks who are nervous about driving by edges (Doreen!) would have a very rough [View Full Entry]

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Day 71 We have taken several drives and walks among the redwoods now that are along highway 101. There is just no way to describe them that can convey the feeling you get when you stand among them. Pictures aren't much better, since there is no way to get even a 1/4 of a tree in the frame. All the words like majestic, grand, awesome just don't seem majestic, grand or awesome enough. So all we can do is include some inadequate pictures and hope you can all imagine the rest. Two small towns that we have enjoyed along the way [View Full Entry]

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4,985 miles Day 64 Our last few days in Oregon were quite dramatic. A storm in the Pacific brought enormous waves to the coast line. The largest were 30-35 feet and when they crashed against the rocky shore giant plumes of spray shot up in the air. There were warnings on the local news stations about staying off break walls and jetties, so we headed out several times to watch the action from a safe distance. We took some pictures but it really is hard to capture the energy and power of the ocean. On the 7th we left Oregon and [View Full Entry]

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Day 57 Here on the Oregon coast we have begun to appreciate days that are only overcast with intermittent sprinkles - these are terrific weather days for us as opposed to the usual heavy rain and even hail. On the first 'nice' day Ron flew his glider on the beach. In the picture notice how the mountain meets the ocean in the background. This was the beach at the Nehalem Bay State park. Our campsite was separated from the beach by an enormous sand dune. Three black tailed deer walked through our campsite one morning and there were sign of elk [View Full Entry]

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Day 50 We left the Seattle area behind on Sunday the 25th after having an excellent adventure with Mark. This visit was great timing for us since Mark will be leaving this area himself on Nov. 6, for his new job in Philadelphia. He got a call offering him a terrific job while we were driving along the shores of Crescent Lake. This has to be one of the most scenic areas on the Olympic peninsula - it is a huge lake surrounded by mountains. As he was ending his call a perfect rainbow appeared that spanned from one mountain peak [View Full Entry]

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43 days on the road and 4,000 miles. On the 16th we picked up Mark and his camping equipment and headed back to the Columbia Gorge for the sturgeon fishing trip. Here is Ron's account of their fishing charter: Arrived at the dock at 6am Saturday morning….Mark and I met Ed, the fishing guide. Took off up river toward the Bonneville Dam at 50 mph using a 225 hp Yamaha. This was a trip looking for Sturgeon. Strange fish not found in very many places. We were fishing the famous Columbia River on the Oregon-Washington border. We anchored 200 yards below [View Full Entry]

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We've traveled about 3,500 miles so far of the 10,000 that we anticipate going. Ron figured out how to add a map to our entry. If you click fit route on the map it will show our trip so far. This entry will be lots of pictures so be sure to scroll past the map. Right now our camper is parked next to two enormous pines at Deception Pass State Park. We'll be here total of 8 nights - a very long lay over for us right now. It will be nice to slow down a bit. The park is on [View Full Entry]

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Starting Sept. 29 we had several days of rainy weather and cooler temps. I started piecing a quilt on my sewing machine and Ron fixed the camper windows again. This time the windows work but the turn signal doesn't and neither does one brake light. I'm sure there is a repair shop in our future. We also moved across the Columbia River into Washington to a campground up the side of a mountain. Down by the river there is the constant sound of the trains and the highway, up in the mountain all of that disappears. Timberlake Campground in Home Valley [View Full Entry]

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After leaving Crater's of the Moon we followed the Snake River to Baker City , Oregon. Here there is an Interpretive Center for the Oregon Trail. The display is enormous with mounts of real oxen teams pulling wagons and horses and riders. It is so lifelike that we came away feeling like we had seen the real thing and had a SMALL glimpse of the hardships these folks went through. But unlike those pioneers when we got back to the campground Ron flew his RC glider in a mowed hay field and we made ice cream in a bag which worked [View Full Entry]

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Trials of camper traveling and Yellowstone continued... When camper traveling there are always problems that come up. This year has not been as bad as when our transmission went out in Texarkana on New Year's weekend. Our biggest concern, although Ron says not to worry, is the camper overheating on long grades. Ron has figured out ways to overcome the problem one of which is to turn the heater on full blast, this works out well except for the second problem we have. The automatic window doesn’t work! Ron has fixed it twice, but it won't stay fixed. The first [View Full Entry]

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