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.



Winter in Mesa, 2009-2010

Just after spending our 35th wedding anniversary in Las Vegas with Tom & Sue Stose at the new Trump International Hotel in early November, we flew back to Mesa.

We didn’t do anything special for Thanksgiving, since we had to work the next four days on the Desert Belle. On November 28th, however, was Wyatt Earp’s second performance on the Desert Belle. Molly & I had talked to him in Prescott, AZ last spring and encouraged him to do his one man show "Life on the Frontier" on the new Desert Belle. The show presents of an older Wyatt Earp talking to an off stage reporter asking Wyatt about his life. During the performance, then, you get a well-researched history of Wyatt Earp, by Wyatt Earp, the great grand nephew of the original Wyatt Earp. His first performance on the Belle was Oct 17th, and then he returned for a total of five shows this season.

On December 5th the traditional Parade of Lights on Saguaro Lake was lead by the Desert Belle, this time with the "new" Belle. I was captain once again, but I was training another of our newer captain’s for a future opportunity. It’s obviously a nighttime charter with no lights to follow. You just have to know where you’re going. It’s a fun trip for all, except the captain can’t partake in all of the onboard fun!

On December 26th we picked up our new "Brent & Molly Forsberg" sandstone sign to display outside our park model. It has an outline of Arizona and Oregon on it, each depicting our residential cities (Gresham and Mesa), and a Saguaro Cactus in the center. We had just gotten it when Jeanette informed us that that is what they got us for a Christmas present, but didn’t want to ship it because of the weight. We will use theirs to display outside the RV when traveling.
　
This winter we enjoyed several performances at the Broadway Palms Theater nearby. We went to a total of six different shows including:
Oct. 8: Smoky Joe’s Café; we took sister Jodene when she was visiting,
Dec 17: Meet Me In St. Louis,
Feb 4: Molly Brown,
March 14: George M; sister JoAnn was our guest for this performance,
May 8: Nunsense, and
May 11: AZ Diamond (a performer tribute to Neil Diamond).
Every seat was an excellent front row seat. We went to so many this winter and also went to quite a few in the past, that we decided to get season tickets for next year.


Jan 16-17: This year we decided to once again go to the Blythe Blue Grass Festival in Blythe, CA. We met friends Bud and Lisa Root there and enjoyed another great concert. We even picked up a couple more CD’s. Bud and Lisa later visited us in Mesa and took a ride on the new Belle.

Jan 19-28: Since one of the other captain’s normally takes the month of December off to go home and visit family for the holiday’s, I decided, with his and the owners blessing, that Molly and I would take most of the month of January off. I substituted for him and now he can reciprocate.

And it worked out great because Molly’s sister, JoAnn and husband Jim, had rented a condominium for a month in Hawaii (big island at Puako) and asked us to join them for some of that time. We jumped at the chance. The only problem was getting there. There are no direct flights from Phoenix, so on January 19th we had to fly to Seattle, spend the night, and then fly to Kona, Hawaii the next day.

It was one of the best trips we’ve made. Since we spent two weeks on the big island several years ago and "saw everything", we didn’t have to do any of that this time. We just laid around on the beach sunning ourselves, read our books, did some shopping, and ate! Of course we had to take Jim to the doctor after he fell while he and I were walking along the lava rock "beach" below their place watching sea turtles. He had to have several deep stitches in his knee. He still says I pushed him!

After another two flights back to Phoenix, we arrived just in time to go to the Phoenix Quilt Show on January 28th. It’s a big show, but we didn’t see anything there we couldn’t live without.

Since we are spending more time in Mesa now than in Oregon, we decided to locate a local Dentist and Doctor. Finding a doctor was out of necessity since I came down with something that reminded me of the Valley Fever I had several years ago. I had achy joints, headaches, coughing, and couldn’t breathe while laying on my left side at night. Apparently it was "just" walking pneumonia or bronchitis. I didn’t miss any work, but it was difficult narrating for both hour-and-a-half trips a day, sometimes three trips. The dentist we chose was very close, on the same mile-square block that we live on, and very good. We liked him a lot.

On February 21, Molly was again flying off to Las Vegas for the "Hen Party" with the other cruising girls. This has become an annual event, and this year they decided to have their get together in Vegas and see some shows. They couldn’t get the same great deal we had at the Trump in November, but after a little surfing, found a great deal at the Rio Hotel and Casino with adjoining rooms and a car. They decided to see the "Jersey Boys". That makes the third time for Molly, but it’s such a great show she didn’t mind seeing it again. They also spent a day at the Spa and shopping till they dropped!

Once again daughter Jeanette came for a weeklong visit (March 2-9). Since we had done so much with her on previous trips, we let her just take it easy and get some pool time. We did, however, take to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior, a trip that Molly and I have always wanted to make. We enjoy her visits and wish that Terry could break free one of these years to join her, although we know that’s his busy time of year. On the day Jeanette flew out of the Phoenix Sky Harbor

Airport on the 9th, Molly’s sister JoAnn arrived. She stayed a little over a week (March 9-17th). Again, we had a relaxing week, but did take her for a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West, his western living quarters and studio. Molly and I have done the tour before, but the guide this time made the place come alive. You could tell it was his life love. The best tour we’ve had.

On March 21-23 we drove to Yuma to visit Jim & Linda Newton. He and I used to work together at the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Back on February 12 they came through Mesa for a visit and went for a ride on the Desert Belle with her sister and brother-in-law. They have a great place in Yuma and were very good hosts and guides. They took us to the Yuma Territorial Prison and up the Colorado River to visit a wildlife refuge and another tour boat that I had a chance to operate several years ago…..glad I didn’t get that job! They also treated us to the infamous date-shake.

Then the next week (March 28-30) we took a bus trip to Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point), Mexico. We have been looking at some of the World Span Travel Trips on the board in the Rec. Room at Apache Wells for a long time, and finally decided to take this trip. We had never been to Rocky Point and decided this was the best way to get there after driving all the way to Yuma the week before. We stayed in the largest and finest hotel in town (Penasco del Sol), right on the beach and were very well taken care of. We had plenty of time to wonder around and shop, just lay in the beach cabanas, or by the pool. The tour guide was knowledgeable and very friendly. Another great time!


On April 5-6, we made another minor trip to Winslow, Arizona. We stayed at the La Posada Hotel, one of the last great railroad hotels build by Fred Harvey. We were originally given a small un-level room, but asked about an upgrade and moved to a large room with a Jacuzzi tub, large poster bed, and a library. In fact there was a good book about a couple sailing to Antarctica to spend the winter there. I borrowed it to read later, then sent it back. The lounge treated us like special guests, and the meal in the large dinning room was wonderful.

Oh, the original reason for going to Winslow in the first place was just to get a replacement T-shirt. The original one I bought during our Route 66 trip had an awful stain on it. The shirt had the Route 66 logo on it with "Standing on the Corner in Winslow Arizona", from the Eagles song. It got an awful stain on it so I had to replace it! It turned out to be an expensive T-shirt, but well worth the relaxed great mini-vacation.

On April 7 we went to the Arizona Opry with the Dick and Colleen Bonney, the other Desert Belle captain. Dick invited us because we had given them a couple tickets to an Oak Ridge Boys concert that we couldn’t make earlier this year. While we were there, Dick and I saw an advertisement for the Dolly Steamboat, a tour boat on Canyon Lake, on their large stage screens. We asked George Staerkel, the music director and star, what it would cost to get a picture of the Desert Belle on the screen and he said just send him a picture with any info we wanted. So we did, but by the time we left Mesa, it wasn’t up yet. He did give us several music CD’s, however, to play on the Desert Belle for the type of music we liked. We went back to the Opry on April 20 again with the Bonney’s and cruising friends Pat and Susan Canniff during their visit.

By far the best trip we took this season was on April 11 to the Four Peaks Amethyst Mine. We briefly talk about the mine during our Desert Belle narration as being the 2nd largest and highest quality amethyst mine in the world. As part of their appreciation to their captains, David Smith and Jeff Kitchen
gave us a helicopter trip to the mine. We met at the Sami’s Jewelry store in Fountain Hills, were driven to a ranch outside of town, boarded a special high altitude helicopter and flew to the mine at about 7,000 feet elevation. The helipad is almost big enough to land…..the tail still hangs out over the cliff! We met the owner and miners, donned our hard hats, and entered the mine with hammer and chisel to chip away. We got to keep all the amethyst we collected unless it was gem quality. We kept the best we could find and put the rocks in a small bowl with a candle in it to show off the purple color. As the helicopter leaves, it lifts off slightly, turns, and then falls straight down the cliff….an E-ticket ride! Even though the trip was a free gift from management, it cost me about $800. When we got back to the jewelry shop, I asked if they had a pair of earrings that would match Molly’s ring that I got her last Christmas with Four Peaks Amethyst and Arizona Peridot. Of course they did!!! It even had a third stone of Arizona Ruby (Anthill Carnet), also mined in Arizona, but by ants!

Our last day on the Desert Belle was May 14th. And we left the next day. Since we didn’t have the RV down this year, we planned a quick trip and made it to Barstow, CA that first day. Then on to Medford on the 16th and back to the Salem Elks on May 17th. We got the RV out of storage and started it with the generator and a little battery booster and drove it about 50 yards to our spot for the rest of the summer.

Summer and Fall 2009

This is a long-time-coming update to our blog for the Summer and Fall of 2009 by date. Enjoy!


June 2-6: Molly flew to LA for grand-daughter Megan’s High School graduation in Thousand Oaks and a visit with Lynda. For her graduation present, Molly made Megan a beautiful quilt that she had been working on for quite a while. It was full of bright colors and she really enjoyed it.

June 6: While Molly was in LA, I went to the Sauvie Island Yacht Club picnic in Scappoose. It was good to see all the old gang again, even though we don’t have a boat anymore. They are initiating a new membership, however, for those who have sold their cruising boats. It’s good to still belong!

June 18: One of the first thing we did when we got back was to have dinner with Carrie and Mark and his son. Carrie has moved out of her apartment and in with Mark. They are waiting until the kids get out of school for any future plans. At dinner I met a high school chum, Roger Rimers, and had a good chat and reminiscing about our other classmates. We said we should get everybody that’s local together for a mini reunion. It seems like we are starting to loose some of them.

June 22 – 26: We had a great opportunity to RV to Bullards Beach State Park in Bandon with Tom & Sue Stose, Pat & Susan Caniff, and Tom & Cathy Edwards, to visit Tom & Sue’s RV friends that were hosts at the Bandon Lighthouse this summer. Good time had by all! Then we motored up the 101 to South Beach, Newport for a few days and visited the Oregon Coast Aquarium before heading back to Salem.

July 10 – 12: Molly & JoAnn went to Sisters, Oregon for the annual Quilt Show there. They drove over to Bend and stayed with MaryAnn and family. While there, they met up with JoAnn’s friend Susie Irwin to catch up on things. The quilt show was another very crowed event but the quilts were something to see.

July 16 – August 9: When I was informed that the new Desert Belle had arrived at Saguaro Lake, I flew to Mesa to work on it for while. I stayed in our park-model and boat-owner David lent me his car for the month. The temps were bouncing around 113-114 for the highs. I called Molly everyday and one day when the temperature only 107, she didn’t have any sympathy for me, because it was 107 in Salem that day too. For the next month I did quite a bit of work from painting, and cleaning, to ordering and picking up new carpet and linoleum. When almost complete we took it out for sea trials and finally took our first passengers out on August 8th. By then I had had enough of the heat and work, so flew home on the 9th and let the local captain take it from there. That’s when I’ll take the helm again at the start of the Fall season in October.

July 28: Molly signed up to Face Book this summer and made contact with several high school chums. We made arrangements with one of her friends Pat Short and her husband in Vancouver, WA for lunch to catch up on old times. Isn’t the internet great!

August 11: Grand-daughters Megan and Brianna came for a visit this summer all by themselves. We picked them up at the Portland Airport, but they stayed with Aunt JoAnn because she had more room and their cousin Karen was also visiting at the time. But they were close and we did quite a bit with them while they were here.

September 3: We found out that the "check engine" light on the Toyota was going to run into much more money than we were willing to put back into the car…again, so we started looking for another Rav 4 or a Honda CRV. Finally bought a 2 year old CRV in Salem with only 12,000 miles on it. The two criteria for the new car were, it had to be towable behind the RV, and any color but black (since both of our last two cars were black and not compatible with Arizona sun). We had a hitch put on it as part of the bargain so we could tow a trailer to Mesa, AZ.

September 8-9: We made a trip to Rockaway to visit friends Bud & Lisa Root at their time-share. We had great outings for eating, shopping, and just hanging around catching up. And this was the first trip in the new car.

September 17-18: Our Apache Wells friends Jim and Char from Wisconsin made a surprise visit to the Northwest. They called and we made arrangements to meet them in Portland. We spent a few days with them showing them the best Oregon had to offer for the newcomers who had never been here before. We stayed in an inn near the airport and on the first day of their visit we took them up the Columbia River Gorge scenic highway to Crown Point, Multnomah Falls, Bonneville Dam, up to Hood River, and around Mt. Hood with a stop at Timberline Lodge. The next day we took them to the Oregon coast at Cannon Beach for a bit of shopping and on to Seaside and Astoria with a visit to the Astor Column and a ride on the trolley. Then we made a quick trip back up the Columbia River to Portland. It was great seeing them and having them contact us during their vacation.

September 23: We decided to leave the RV in Salem this winter since we bought the park-model in Apache Wells RV Resort last year. There didn’t seem to be any reason to drive it down and spend all that money for fuel. Molly wanted a washer and dryer put in the park-model this fall, so we decided to buy it in Oregon with no sales tax, clear out our storage unit, and take most of it to Mesa in a U-Haul trailer. It took us only three days going very slow with the new car pulling the trailer at its maximum load.

We arrived in Mesa Sept. 25, unloaded the trailer, but couldn’t put anything away because we were having some remodeling done in the Arizona Room for the washer and dryer. They needed to get into the attached shed for plumbing, so I had to take everything out of there too. The carport was stacked with several rows of boxes and shelves. What was estimated to be a three-day remodel job, turned into a week and a half. We just kept coming up with "one-more-thing" as long as you’re here. But the final job was just what we wanted. It got done just in time for Molly to wash clothes for her trip the next day back to Oregon.

October 15 – 22: Molly flew back to Oregon to go to a quilt retreat up in the Cascades with sister JoAnn. So she missed putting all the boxes away in the storage shed and in every little hidey-whole after the remodel. All this while I was captaining the new boat on Saguaro Lake. But she had a great retreat and we wouldn’t want her to miss that.

October 23 – 29: Sister Jodene finally came to visit us here in Mesa the day after Molly got back from the quilting retreat. She wanted to see the place and go for a ride on the new Desert Belle. We showed her the area, took her to our favorite restaurants, and it appears she had a good time. She was the first one to stay in the newly remodeled Arizona Room.

November 8 – 12: Right after Jodene left, we got ready to fly to Las Vegas for our 35th anniversary. Tom & Sue Stose were flying in from Portland to share their 40th anniversary with us. Their anniversary is on Nov. 8th, and ours is on the 9th, so we have shared that event with them on several occasions in Portland and in Mexico. The first night we got there we went to see the finalists of the "America’s Got Talent" TV show. Then the next night we had tickets for "Jersey Boys". Molly & I had seen the show in Phoenix last year, but had horrible seats. So we were thrilled to see it again and enjoy it with good friends. Again, the show was superb! Tom wasn’t feeling all that great after a cold, so we had plenty of time to just lay back and enjoy a luxurious room in the brand new Trump International tower.

Albion Remembered

After looking through some of the pictures we've taken over the 12 years we've had Albion, I got the idea of selecting a number of representative photos and making a slide show of them on our blog. Please enjoy! [To watch a slideshow with larger photos and slower speed, click on the lower left icon and then "Albion". Then select "slideshow" on the web album page. A photo may be downloaded by right clicking on the photo and selecting "Save photo as".]

Heading back to Oregon the long way home

The following blog entrys are some emails sent back to family and friends about our trip back from Mesa to Oregon. We decided to take the long way home since we won't be taking the RV back down to Mesa next fall and the fuel prices were very reasonable. We will just be driving the car down and staying in our Park Model.

5/8/09 On The Road Again:
Hi guys;

Cortez, Colorado:

Just a quick update of our travels. We left Mesa last Friday (5/1/09) and didn't go too far for our first RV miles in 7 months. We stayed at a Coast-to-Coast park near Overgaard, AZ. As I was setting up the computer, I realized I didn't have the power cord . We looked at the time and realized we still could make a quick trip back to Mesa (135 miles) in the car to get the power cord. We got back about 8:30 pm.

The next day we visited a good cruising friend in Show Low (Irene Harlander--Hiafin). She recently lost her husband, Lou, and thought we should stop by and spend some time. We had a good visit and then went on to Sun Valley, AZ at the Root 66 RV park (Passport America). And yes, that's how they spell it!!! Since we got there late, we decided to spend two nights there and watch Tiger play his final round on Sunday. It was a time to finally get everything located and unpacked.

We took our time on Monday and headed up to Canyon de Chelly> in NE Arizona. We checked into their campground and made reservations to take the day-long trip down into the canyon. Believe me, it was a trip well worth the jerking and bumping ride, as they say in the canyon, these trips are called "shake & bake". Of course Molly had to buy some of the beautiful <Navaho wares that were displayed at some of the stops.

On Wednesday, it was another short day to Cortez, Colorado. We drove up into the Mesa Verde National Park> to make reservations for a few of the tours to see the cliff dwellings. The tours were at the far end of the park so it was going to be about a 30 mile drive from our park in the morning. We left early Thursday morning and spent the entire day hiking in to some of the ruins and driving to see others. Got pictures--will share!

The weather so far has been just great, in the mid 80's. It's in the low 100's back in Mesa, left just in time again.

Today we head off to Durango, CO (another very short trip) for another couple days so we can take the Durango to Silverton steam train ride again. We took it back in 2000, but decided it was so much fun and such a scenic ride, that we would do it again. This time we would take the train up the canyon, but take the bus back to make it a little shorter day.

Well, that's it for catching up. We will be going on through Colorado (Colorado Springs, Denver, etc.), then up through eastern Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Washington, where we will stop in Pasco and take a look at the "new" Desert Belle that will be heading to Saguaro Lake later this summer. And then we will head back down the Columbia to Portland and Salem where we will probably be staying at the Salem Elks again. We've been out of Mesa now for one week, and the time-line for the rest of the trip is negotiable, but will definitely be back by the first of June.
We had good signal for the internet, so thought we would catch you all up.

Thanks for reading,
Brent & Molly

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5/15/09 Update of travels home:
Hi again,

Just another update from the last spot in Cortez Colorado on our way home.

5/8/09 Cortez, CO to Durango:

As we left off with our last update, we were heading off for another short trip to Durango, CO. It was in fact a very short trip of only 58 miles and just over an hour. We stayed in a real nice Coast-to-Coast park north of Durango on the Amimas River>. We were going to head back into town to get our steam train tickets to Silverton for the next day, but the park check-in person said she could arrange them for us. So we could just relaxed the rest of the day and read our books. We asked about nearby restaurants and she suggested a great steakhouse just down the road, but the "rare" prime ribs were over-done. But still a nice, unique restaurant.

Next day we headed into Durango very early to get our ticket confirmations at 7:30. We were in one of the nicer cars and got a "free" <Durango to Silverton RR mug. At first we were wondering if we should do this trip again since we did it nine years ago when passing through Colorado. But were pleasantly surprised at the renewed experience. There was much more water in the river and much more snow in the mountains than the August 2000 trip. Anyway, took lots of pictures, had a great lunch in Silverton, bought Molly some more unique ear rings, and enjoyed the bus ride back> through the 13 and 14,000+ foot> mountains to Durango.

We enjoyed the RV park so well, we decided to stay an extra day……just because we could! It allowed us to travel around the town of Durango, go to a local quilting shop for Molly to buy another project, and have dinner in town.

5/11/09 Durango to Blanca:

Yeah, who ever heard of Blanca, Colorado? To drive the 184 miles we had to climb over an 11,000 foot pass that was spectacular with snow all over along side the road. There was a Passport America park in Blanca, and it was just 20 miles from the newest <National Park called the Great Sand Dunes N.P. and Preserve. We drove up and really enjoyed the site of enormous sand dunes (750’ high)> tucked up in the corner of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The prevailing winds blow the sand to the northeast where it is picked up by a stream that transports the sand back to the southwest, perpetual motion!

In the morning after showing, I noticed water running out from beneath the RV. It was coming from the fresh water tank, which seemed to be overflowing, even though the "tank fill" lever was in the off position. Since we had another nearly 10,000 foot pass to go over, we drained most the fresh water tank and would examine the cause of the problem more closely later.

5/12/09 Blanca to Denver:

This was our longest day of travel so far at 220 miles, still not long by our standards, but on this trip we have just been taking it easy. In fact we were going to stop at the Colorado Spring Elks lodge for the night, but we were there by 11:30 and decided another hour or two to the Westminster Elks just north of Denver would be ok. It would still be an easy day and we would be beyond down town Denver to avoid the morning traffic for the next days travel. Another camper at Colorado Springs Elks recommended this lodge. Upon getting to Westminster, we enjoyed another fine prime rib dinner at the lodge and retired for the evening.

5/14/09 Denver to Casper, WY:

We thought we would finally put on some miles today and head for Kaycee, WY (340 mi), but the strong winds today (up to 35 mph) made it a difficult drive and very tiring. Our next option was Casper (only 280 mi) at a Passport America park. The only bright spot today was filling up with fuel. The needle was only on ½ tank, but we had gone 534 miles on that amount giving us 11.0 miles/gal at a price of only $2.18/gal for the diesel.

5/15/09 Casper to Billings, MT:

We were up early today and stopped for breakfast before we even hit the freeway, and were on the road again by 8:20. We thought we would make some miles before the wind started begin. It did, and started raining too, our first rainy day. Probably getting us used to typical Oregon weather again. There just seems to a lot of nothing in Eastern Wyoming, just miles and miles of miles and miles.

We did, however, stop for a short re-visit of the <Little Bighorn Battlefield (Montana). We watched a video and took some pictures in the rain, and then headed up to Billings for an over-night at the local Wal Mart. Today was still a long day making 286 miles and putting up with some head winds. More Montana tomorrow!

Thanks for reading. Keep in touch. More later!
Brent

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5/20/09 Kennewick—On the Road Home:
Hi everybody;

This will probably be the last update of our travels home. We are presently in Kennewick and heading home tomorrow. Here is a run-down of the past several days.

5/16/09 Billings to Deer Lodge, MT (262 mi):

Yeah, I know, where the hell is Deer Lodge Montana? Well it’s about 40 miles north of Butte and has a Coast-to-Coast Good Neighbor Park here. All freeway today and a beautiful valley drive up the Yellowstone River and the Clarks Fork of the Flathead River. We can’t get over how everything is so GREEN! The snow is still heavy in the adjacent mountains and the rivers are full. We started wondering about the road conditions going over Lolo Pass (5233’) between Missoula, MT and Lewiston, ID, our planned route. But after calling the road condition line, we found it would be clear over the pass. And when we went over the continental divide today at 6453’ it was clear with the snow level several thousand feet higher.

We have seen considerable wildlife on our trip so far. Through Wyoming we saw Pronghorn Antelope around every turn. Today we saw a Turkey along side the freeway shoulder and a moose eating shrubs along side the Yellowstone River as we crossed it. We have seen several herds of mule deer and keep our eyes open to identify the birds as we pass. Today we saw several flocks of White Pelicans, Osprey, and of course Red-tailed Hawks.

5/17/09 Deer Lodge to Kamiah, ID (229 mi)

Today was just a nice drive down the Clark Fork of the Flathead River to Missoula and then a fairly quick trip to the top of Lolo Pass> going into Idaho. This is the same pass that Lewis and Clark traveled over during their journey to and from the Pacific and that Chief Joseph passed over while trying to elude the Calvary on his way to Canada, before he was stopped. There was still snow on the pass, but the road was clear.

The next leg of the trip was down a very curvy road on the Lochsa and Clearwater Rivers. We eventually got to our Coast to Coast park in Kamiah, Idaho and relaxed for the rest of the day and the next. It was a very pleasant little community.

5/19/09 Kamiah to Kennewick, WA (204 mi)

Today we got up early, had breakfast at the park restaurant and hit the road. Last night it thundered, lightninged, and poured down rain. This morning it was fresh and green with some higher fog and a little sprinkle here and there. It was a beautiful trip down the Clearwater to Lewiston, but the wind just kept increasing until it was at least 35 mph. And after we left Lewiston, it was on our side making it a very jerky ride trying to stay in our lane.

Still blowing in Kennewick, we found the Elks lodge where we set up our dry camp in the parking lot and then tried to find the Columbia Voyager (aka the new Desert Belle). After considerable driving around and asking questions we located it in Richland, WA and called Dick Bonney (the other Desert Belle captain) to let him know where it was located. We were going to meet the existing captain and owner tomorrow and go for a test drive. We met Dick and his crewman, Gary, along with their wives, for dinner and to discuss the trip tomorrow.

5/20/09 Kennewick, WA

Today we slept late, then went out to breakfast and met everybody at the dock to discuss the working systems on the boat and take it out for a spin. WOW! What a pleasure. The 150 passenger boat handled great and will be a great asset for Saguaro Lake with dinner and entertainment cruises. We spent three hours going over the boat and took it out for some maneuvering practice in the basin and on the Columbia. We encouraged the captain to visit the boat after they moved it to Saguaro Lake and got it all put back together, and he said he would.

Tomorrow, it’s just a quick trip on down the Columbia to Gresham to get our mail at Jeanette’s and then over to Vancouver to spend a day or two with Tom and Sue at their place to catch up. Then it will be on to the Salem Elks again where we will be hanging it up for the summer.

Keep in touch!
Brent

Albion Sold

After a long hard decision, Molly & I have decided to make Mesa, Arizona and working on the Desert Belle Paddleboat on Saguaro Lake (www.desertbelle.com), our winter time activity for the foreseeable future. We came here in the fall of 2006 to captain the Desert Belle so I could get the necessary days to renew my captain’s license with the Coast Guard. After that season, we were going to return to Albion the next winter season to continue cruising in Mexico.

However, the owners made it very attractive for me to come again the next season. It was a great opportunity. We liked the area, we liked the RV park we were in, we loved the lake and the vessel, and we liked the opportunity to meet new people every day. So we decided to return to Mesa in the fall of 2007 and let Albion sit in the Mexican sun again in Marina Seca, San Carlos, one more year.

This year (fall, 2008) we returned again to Mesa in the RV and finally bought a comfortable park model with a nice Arizona Room. With that and the decision to make the Desert Belle Paddleboat a long-term prospect, we decided to put Albion up for sale. If she didn’t sell by the end of this tourist season in May 2009, we would take her back to the Northwest waters to use periodically in the San Juans or Canadian Gulf Islands during the summer.

Wouldn’t you know it, shortly after we made that decision, we had an offer and it was finalized by the end of the year. We are now boatless in Mesa…..except for the Desert Belle paddleboat. It was difficult to sell her, but it made sense for what we were doing and what looks to be a long-term situation here.

We are glad Albion went to a couple that appreciates her, will take good care of her and have as many great adventures as we did.