Seeing the USA in our RV

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Washington's and Oregon's rolling hills and well maintained roads aided our completion of the trip to Redmond. The magnificent mountains in Oregon provided some foothills we navigated and also some outstanding scenery for the Good Sam Rally. With over 3000 rigs parked in a variety of lots surrounding the Deschutes County Expo Center buildings we enjoyed a variety of activities including looking at new RVs, browsing through vendors offering “must have” stuff, seminars provided by vendors on new concepts and information, and opportunities for meeting others the Good Sam way. The Good Sam CEO gave very inspirational presentations to Life Members explaining his efforts to make the Club and supportive organizations user friendly. The evening entertainment offerings included Vince Gill's concert delayed by rain and Peter Noone's (Herman's Hermits) electrifying performance that mirrored his annual Tampa Busch Garden's performances. Transportation in buses conveyed us to and from the central site and technicians helped repair vehicles – we got our refer and hitch fixed at no charge. I was able to share the value of SMART membership with veterans and explain to vendors why they need to exhibit at our musters. We also secured some discount campground stays for our travels for the rest of the summer which we're now planning to include Oregon, Northern California, Nevada and Colorado as we visit National Parks and friends. A real highlight for us was an afternoon tour of microbreweries in Bend where we discovered that Oregon is a land of these tasty businesses and brew pubs. While the Deschutes Brewery is the 5th largest micro brewery in the country (Sam Adams being #1) with new equipment from Germany, the Old St. Francis Brewery, Pub and Hotel is housed in an old Catholic school with small movie theater, Roman style baths, and fascinating art displayed. The Boneyard Brewery uses recycled equipment in a large converted garage with similar avant garde approaches from the staff. The general attitudes were “relaxed” with those dispensing the beer, maybe 'cause we were being driven around, being quite generous. More experience is obviously necessary to fully evaluate this opportunity. A unique vehicle arrived while we were tasting – a “cycle pub” which is a bar on wheels with bicycle pedals attached to the bar stools. Customers peddle while imbibing with hopes that the bartender, who is steering, is sober. The cycle tour, naturally, circles the city visiting pubs and breweries. Oregon has maintained it's quaint atmosphere and traditional architectural policies which makes it fun to visit this tourist friendly state. Monday we departed the Fairgrounds for a side trip to John Day Fossil Beds National Monument and then a short back track to Madras. We did experience some twisty roads for our motor-home but found a nice street parking spot for our lunch at one of the 8 or 9 Mexican restaurants in this town of 6,000. Then it was on to Welches for our discounted overnight stay on the slopes of Mt Hood. The weather is cool and wet while the rest of the country experiences Florida heat.

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