Summer 2010

The following post is how we spent our summer of 2010 back in Oregon and on our way back to Mesa, Arizona in the fall.  The post is arranged by month.  Thanks for caring enough to read it and remember to click on any picture for a larger view.

May/June

We arrived back at the Salem Elks on May 17th after a quick trip in the car from Mesa. Since we took the “new” car to Mesa just after purchasing it last September, we didn’t have time to get tow bar attachments put on before we left. So that was one of the first things we did after coming home. Since I kept the tow bar from the old Rav 4, all I needed was the attachment and I thought that would be fairly inexpensive…..it wasn’t! But now it’s ready to go.

One of the things we always want to do as soon as possible when we get back to Oregon is to see friends and family. Of course we had to just kick back and rest up for awhile. But we had lunch with sister Jodene, which was also a lunch with daughter Carrie too. She was having a donation lunch to raise money for her yearly cancer walk in San Diego. Good lunch, and had fun meeting some of her friends.

We also had a planning lunch with Dick and Colleen Bonney, another captain on the Desert Belle, to talk about our planned trip to the San Juan Islands next month. Dick had arranged the 40 foot power boat, so I did most of trip planning since Molly and I had cruised the San Juan’s many times.

Eagle Cap Excursion Train

Molly had two desires this summer. One was to go on a train trip. So I Googled “train trips Oregon” and found several. But we had already done many of them. The one out of Elgin, down the Grande Ronde River, however, seemed like a good one. So we made reservations for the train and a motel. The trip was an all day trip that included lunch and took us along the river about 40 miles and then up the Wallowa River a short way.

We boarded the train in Elgin and got a table seat next to the window. It was very relaxing and scenic. And we also met some nice people along the way.

Molly with Bella Rose and the Sheriff

This trip was going to be a special event, because there was to be a train robbery. The outlaw “Bella Rose”, was lead onto the train by the sheriff, bound by ropes and made the rounds through each of the cars. During the trip, some masked train robbers on horseback stopped the train, boarded it, broke Rose loose, and road off. A lot of fun!

Open door seating!

Lunch was prepared aboard and served at our table. Since they didn’t have enough tables for all the passengers, we ate and then moved to another car. Since I had walked the train earlier, I saw that the last car was a baggage car with open observation doors. So we quickly moved back there after lunch and had a great open door ride back. The weather was just perfect and the trip was a memorable one.

Wallowa Lake

After the trip, we decided to go up to Wallowa Lake and ride the tram to the top of the adjacent mountain. Because of a phone call about the RV that we had to return, we got to the tram 10 minutes too late for the last trip. This was the second time we misted the tram on a trip up there. But the lake was beautiful anyway!

On the way back to Salem, we decided to spend the night in Hood River and visit brother Dick. We didn’t get to see him last summer, so we thought we better check in early this year. We had dinner with him (Bonnie was busy) and caught up on the latest goings-on.

July

The crew at Sucia Island, San Juan Islands

The major activity for July included the week long San Juan Cruise. We picked up the 40’ power boat in Anacortes and was able to spend the night before take-off on the boat. Our itinerary included Sucia Island, Friday Harbor (2 nights with cruising to Garrison Bay on the day trip), Butchart Gardens, B. C., and Rosario Resort on Orcas Island (2 nights).

With Ray and Carol Rogers at Butchart Garden's Cove

At Butchart, we were surprised to get one of the four buoys available in their private cove [our boat is over Carol's head]. We contacted Apache Wells friends Ray and Carol, that live very close, and they met us for a walk-through of the gardens and lunch. After walking through the gardens during the day, and a BBQ on the boat for dinner, we went back after dark for the evening experience.

Pool day at Rosario Resort, Orcas Island

During our stay at Rosario Resort, Molly and I spent a day at the pool while the others went to East Sound on a shuttle bus. Dick stepped off a curve and severely twisted his knee. He had to have help moving about from then on and will be getting it operated on later this summer or fall.

We had a little problem with the boat. It would not come up to cruising speed and was throwing considerable black smoke out the back. The charter company made a small consideration in the final charter fee because of the inconvenience. But all in all, it was a fine trip and nice to get back on the water in the Pacific Northwest.

Lisa Root ejoying the sun on their deck

And of course, on the way back from the San Juan’s we stopped to visit long time friends Bud and Lisa for a few days at their place on Whidbey Island over-looking Admiralty Inlet and Port Townsend. Always a good time!

On the trail at Silver Creek Falls State Park

Later that month Molly and I took a little trip to Silver Creek Falls State Park and did one of the small loops around the waterfalls. Molly has been walking several miles nearly every morning at the Salem Elks to get in shape for her Italy trip this fall. So we thought this would be another good exercise, and a beautiful day to view the waterfalls.

Then we went to an all school reunion at Scappoose High School. Reunions are always fun. I saw several classmates and teachers, and my Scappoose next door neighbor that was very close when we were in school. When he found out we were going to Redmond for an RV Rally next month, he suggested we meet at Crooked River Ranch (where we were staying before the rally), since he has a place there, and we could have dinner. We had a great dinner in Terrebonne and met his wife, Pam, who came over from Portland just for this event. We agreed we should get together again before heading south. We did, but the circumstances were not as happy. His mother, Hazel who I considered my surrogate mom, had just pasted away and we made arrangements to go to her service.

August

The second thing Molly really wanted to do this summer was go to Crater Lake. It had been a long time since we had been there…..I think it was when I ran the marathon around the lake…..so you know it had to be a loooong time ago!

Debbie Reynolds at RV Rally, Redmond

So in August we went to the FMCA RV Rally in Redmond where the entertainment included Debbie Reynolds and the Texas Tenors. We didn’t buy much this year, probably because we had just purchased a new couch and had new carpet put in the RV. That was probably enough!

Talking to the Captian

Crater Lake

After the Rally we had reservations at Diamond Lake RV Park for several days so we could do Crater Lake. We decided to take the boat tour of the lake and in the parking lot before heading down, I met one of the captains who encouraged me to contact the boat manager and put in an application. When we took the cruise around the lake, the captain of our boat also said the same thing. All the captain has to do is DRIVE! They have a Ranger aboard that does the narration. So that may be a new summertime activity next year that could be fun and help keep my license current.

And that may be a real possibility, now that I am no longer captain of the Desert Belle on Saguaro Lake. I had always said when it wasn’t fun anymore, I would be out of there. Enough said!!!   And four years was probably enough anyway.  Now we have all winter in the sun without anything scheduled and can explore the sites of Arizona and ……

Fireside chats at the Cruiser's Rendezsvous, Cathlamet

In late August we again attended the Cruisers Rendezvous in Cathlamet, Washington. We took the RV down and met up with lots of our Northwest cruising friends from Mexico. The reunion, pot luck, and catching up on activities was a wonderful time.

September

Bumpus Hell, Lassen Park

Driving through Lassen Park

We left for Mesa on September 18th. Since we didn’t have anything to rush back for, we decided to take our time and see some of the California National Parks that we never had a chance to visit before. We started our two week trip by spending a couple nights in Redding at their Elks and then up into the Lassen Volcanic National Park for a few days. We parked the RV in a campground and drove the car through the park and took a lot of pictures. We also took a few little hikes, one around the lake near our campground and another to the second biggest volcanic sulfur springs and mud pots in the U.S., second only to the ones at Yellowstone N. P. The weather was perfect.

East entrance, Yosemite N.P., Tioga Pass @ 9945'

Hetch Hetchy Valley and Reservoir, Yosemite N.P.

From there we crossed over the hill to Reno/Carson City, NV and spent the night in a nice little park in that valley. I had scoped out Yosemite National Park for road conditions and elevation gain for the RV by using Google Earth’s on-road cameras. The trip of from the East side was not as bad as I had thought, even though there were some 8 or 9% grades up to the 9945 foot elevation at Tioga Pass, the park entrance. The road was a little rough and curvy on the west side, however. We camped at Hodgdon Meadows Campground and drove the car up the Hetch Hetchy Canyon and viewed the reservoir that John Muir fought to prevent. It was a beautiful valley and we wished he had succeeded. We did walk across the dam and through a railroad tunnel on the far side.



Half Dome from Glacier Point



Ahwahnee Resort in Yosemite Valley

The next day we spent driving driving the car into the Yosemite Valley, taking the obligatory photos, doing some touristy shopping, and having lunch at The Ahwahnee Resort. We have cruising friends Tom and Cathy Edwards, who named their boat Ahwahnee, so we had to get them a souvenir or two. The next day I drove the RV (Molly drove the car) from our campground on the north edge of the park, through the valley (and its four tunnels), and out the southern entrance. The road was very curvy, narrow, up, down, and under construction. Entering some of the shadowy curves, from the sun, was almost blinding. I hit the newly constructed curbs a couple times and was glad Molly was driving the car behind me. At the south entrance, we stopped at the Wawona Hotel, one of the oldest hotels in California, and had lunch.

Wawona Hotel, south entrance to Yosemite N.P.

Reason for the smoke!



Smokey Kings Canyon N.P.



Then it was on to the Elks in Oakhurst, a small little mountain community. We paid for two lights, but didn’t like the neighbors’ three dogs wondering around unattended and crapping anywhere they wanted without it being picked up. We left early the next morning and went ddown the road to the Fresno Elks, a real nice place with grassy sites overlooking a small lake, and lots of nearby amenities. It was so nice, we decided to keep the RV there and make the one hour drive into the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks with the car…..much better idea! We drove up into Kings Canyon first. There was a contained forest fire in the canyon that had been burning for two months that made it a little smoky for good picture taking. We had lunch at a small little hole-in-the-wall place and then on into Sequoia National Park. I was a little disappointed in the park. We just drove through big trees without many scenic views . We did make our obligatory stop at the visitor center and watched one of their videos. And of course, we made it to the General Sherman Tree, the largest living thing in the world. However, that is not Molly in the picture below.  It was a steep walk down to the tree and she choose not to climb down there considering the heat and altitude.



General Sherman Tree, Sequoia N.P.



We stayed in Fresno for four nights and just relaxed from the heat in the air conditioned RV. The next stops were Newberry Springs, east of Barstow, and Blythe. And finally arrived early on Saturday, October 2, at Apache Wells. We parked the RV in the space next to our Park Model for two days to do our unloading in the 103-degree heat, and then stored it just down the road at another Cal-Am Park where it will be handy for any short trips.