Imagine our Surprise

While stopping for gas in Oregon, imagine our surprise when an attendant (clean cut and in uniform) came out to pump the gas and wash the windshield for us!  The attendant stated it was customary in the state of Oregon for this to happen.  WOW!  We are spending two days in Florence, Oregon, right along the coast line (two blocks from the beach).  The sun has been shining, but the breeze off the water is a little cool.  It'll be nice to relax and catch up on laundry.  We are finally at the Pacific Ocean!

This was a lighthouse outside Crescent City, California, where we spent last night.  Love the water!

The Run with the Harleys

We left Winnemucca (where the wind blew the whole time) and spent the next night in Verdi, Nevada, west of Reno, two miles from the Nevada/California border.  It was an RV park nestled up in the mountains and the views were gorgeous (I'll put pictures up soon).  The next two nights we spent in Grass Valley, California, at the Nevada County Fairgrounds.  It was a pretty place and very quiet.  We had dinner with Gary and Pat Orechwa the first night, then traveled down to Manteca the next day to visit Brett and Brian.  It's always good to see your kids and catch up with their lives.  That evening Gary and Pat came over to our "home on wheels" and visited, which was a special treat for us!

The next morning we took the trailer over and had four new tires installed.  It seemed like a good idea since we still have 10,000 miles left on this trip.  After leaving Grass Valley, we meandered north/northwest on Highway 20, which is a two-lane, curvy road, but very picturesque.  After we passed I-5, we noticed quite a few motorcycles on the road, all headed the same direction.  All the way from Highway 20, to Highway 101, and north, we kept seeing more and more Harley Davidsons in groups.  We decided to go beyond where we were planning on staying that night, and wound up at Redwoods River Resort north of Leggett, California.  Turns out that there is a Harley bike rally this weekend all up and down Highway 101.  The resort personnel warned us that it would be noisy, as they weren't enforcing their normal "quiet time" while the rally was there.  We had driven far enough we decided to stay anyway.  It wasn't that bad, really.  Some of the riders were up and leaving by 6:00 this morning, which seemed early to us, but who knows where they're headed next! Now we're headed to Crescent City and the Giant Redwoods!

The Wind Blew us to Winnemucca

We got an early start today and were supposed to spend the night in Battle Mountain, Nevada, but it was only 11:30, so we decided to drive on to Winnemucca.  It wasn't too bad until then, but the wind started blowing really hard.  We decided that Winnemucca was a good place to stop before we wound up on the side of the road.  At least we'll have the rest of the day to relax and head to an RV park outside Reno for tomorrow night.  No pictures as yet.  I'm trying to figure out a better way to post pictures to the blog without too much work.  Until next time!

If It's Friday, This Must be Salt Lake City

We arrived in Provo, Utah, around 11:30 this morning and decided to scope out a Camping World to have our air conditioner checked out.  The 90-degree heat in Moab helped us realize we needed cool air, and our air conditioner didn't want to cooperate -- 90 outside, 85 inside.  Fortunately it was something simple and didn't cost much to have it fixed.  We left Camping World three hours later and headed to the Salt Lake City KOA campground, which is very close to downtown Salt Lake City.  They even have a shuttle that will take you to and from Temple Square!  We'll be here for two days and then head on westward to California.  Thank goodness for air conditioning!

Our Journey Begins!

T

Tuesday, June 1, we left Gorham Scout Ranch and headed to Pagosa Springs, Colorado, our first night on the road for our Alaska RV Tour!  (Thank you, Donna, for taking the picture.)  We had dinner with our friends Jim & Deneice at their gorgeous home in Pagosa (it's for sale if anyone is looking)!  Now it's June 2, and we're in Moab, Utah, for two nights.  Last time we came through Moab, we wanted to hike a trail but were unable to because it rained all night.  I don't think we'll have that problem this time, at 2:45 PM it's already 87 degrees.  After Moab, we're heading to Salt Lake City to sight see, then to Nevada, and on to California to visit some family.  Then we'll head up the coast through Oregon and Washington state on our way to Hazelton, British Columbia.

We're excited to finally be on the way.  It seems like forever since we made the reservations for this tour, but so much has happened and changed since then, that it probably just makes it seem longer.  Ziva and Casey settled right in to the traveling routine, probably more so than Wayne and myself.

We plan to update a little more frequently from this point onward.  We will definitely have more pictures.

Less Than Ten Days

June 1st is getting closer and we'll be headed North by Northwest (hey, good title for a movie) to meet up with our Alaskan RV tour in British Columbia.  We will be sight seeing along the way and stopping in California to visit my sons, then head up the coast.  I have never seen Oregon or Washington state and I'm almost as excited about seeing those states as I am about the Alaska trip!  

We are in Albuquerque getting last-minute "official" things taken care of and put the Toyota in storage.  Tomorrow we head back to the Scout Camp where we will keep helping them get ready for summer camp until our departure.  Internet access there is sporadic, but we will keep the blog up-to-date more regularly once we start on the trip.

Spring in the Mountains

Friday, April 23, we awoke to three inches of snow on the ground!  It melted later that day and warmed up a little.  Then this past week, we have had snow and cold weather since April 29th.  Today dawned sunny with a promise of warmer weather, which we are hoping will occur.  We'll be leaving for our Alaska trip on June 1st and that's not far away.