August 10, 2014

07/24/2014

It’s has been said that time fly's when your having fun but in our case, it’s moving along more like a rocket these days.  Here it is already the end of July and it’s almost time to get on the road again.

Last week we had some really hot days with the temperatures hovering in the mid 90’s with a 98 degree day thrown in for good measure.  Couple that with a lot of smoke from the fires here in Central Oregon, and we've had some uncomfortable days.  But, as the folks in this area say, “wait a day or so and it’ll change.”  Well, it did!  The past two days were stormy with thunder bumpers and heavy rain in the area and then last night we had a real cool night.  We even had to run a space heater in the living room.

On Tuesday we drove over to Oakridge to surprise Jim Glaspey on his birthday.  I’m not going to say how old he is but suffice it to say he is darned crusty!  Happy Birthday Brother!

 

Yes, you have to drink it.  Oh, and you can't use your hands!

Some pictures of Smith Roack, July 2014

 

On The Steelhead Falls Trail

 

08/03/2014

Joyce and I couldn’t believe how fast our two months at Smith Rock went by.  But, all good things must eventually come to an end so last Thursday we packed up the rig and headed over the hills to Camping World in Coburg, OR. where we are having a new Winegard satellite dish installed on the motorhome.

Before settling in for the night in their parking lot, we checked in with the service department and got all the paperwork done.  On Friday morning we were standing in front of the doors at 8 AM, happy to see that we were first in line.  Hey, life is good!  They're going to get our motor home in first thing and we’ll get it back in the early afternoon.  NOT!

We had to wait for our service advisor who was running late.  So, when he finally showed up at 8:30, there were three other folks checked in before us.  Never mind that we did all the paperwork the day before and we were first in line.

To make this story a little shorter I will say that our day was very long and extremely frustrating.  We finally got out of there at 7PM and then made the 40 mile run up to Albany where we are now parked at I think the last available site in this area.

Knox Butte RV Park is a very old and tired “trailer park” that is full of permanent residence who for the most part haven't taken care of their rigs or the area around them.

Yesterday, we drove over to Corvallis and did a short walking tour of the downtown area.  Translation, Joyce did some shopping.

08/04/2014

Yesterday we drove from Albany to Champoeg State Heritage Area near the small town of St. Paul.  Jim and Jeanne Glaspey are here with us for five days.  We don’t have anything special planned so we’ll probably just do some relaxing.

08/09/2014

We had a great time at Champoeg.  On Monday Jim and I visited the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, the home of The Spruce Goose.  I have been to this museum several times but this was Jim’s first visit.

Jim and Jeanne left the park on Thursday and then yesterday we drove to their house in Oakridge where we’re going to hang out for a few days.  Joyce has a eye doctor appointment in Eugene on Monday and we need to consolidate some of the boxes in out basement storage compartments.  There is really no sense in carrying around a bunch of stuff just because “you just might need it someday”.  Less weight in an RV is usually a good thing.

July 12, 2014

06/27/2014

We’ve been fortunate to have our resident pair of Bald Eagles nesting here at Smith Rock again this year.  They have two chicks that are thriving and will be flying from the nest soon.  However, I can’t say the same for our Golden Eagles.

None of us here had seen any movement by the two chicks and no sightings of the adults for quite some time.  The assumption was made by the professionals that the chicks were dead and that the adults had left the nest.

So, what to do?  It is always a good thing to find out what caused the deaths, so the decision was made to recover one or both of the chicks.  Ian Caldwell, one of the district employee’s and an avid rock climber, volunteered to be belayed down the face of the rock.  Here are some pictures:

Ian is next to the red arrow and the nest is at the blue one.

  You can see how big the nest is in this shot.  Ian is over 6 feet tall!  That is nest is well over 1000 pounds.

Only one of the chicks was still in the nest so that one was recovered and is now at a laboratory in Massachusetts for an autopsy.  We probably won’t hear anything back for couple of months.

07/05/2014

Joyce and I welcomed Jim and Jeanne Glaspey to Smith Rock for a visit on Sunday the 29th.  It’s always fun for us to have visitor’s, especially Jim and Jeanne.

07/12/2014

Man, time flies when your having fun!  Where have all the days gone anyway?

Our pair of eagle are now flying and being taught to hunt.  The two adults should be leaving Smith Rock in the very near future and leaving the fledglings to fend for themselves.  They will hang around here for a while and then they will be gone.  Hopefully, the pair of adults will return next year.

More next time.

Barry & Joyce

June 22, 2014

06/02/2014

Yesterday we mad the short run up Hwy 97 to Smith Rock State Park, our favorite park in Oregon.  This is our seventh year serving as hosts here and in our opinion, it just gets better each year.  To make it even better we will be working with our good friends Jerry and Marilyn Howett from Nevada City, California and Bill and Carol Smith who are full-timer’s like us.  Also joining us was Ranger Kacey Epplett from Tumalo who was kind enough to bring up some of our “stuff” that we didn't have room for in the RV or car.

Last night we all loaded up and met up with Ranger Matt Davey, our direct supervisor here at Smith Rock at the Terrebonne Depot, one of our favorite restaurants here in Central Oregon.  The food was fantastic and the conversation was very lively.  To make it even better, Jerry and Marilyn paid the complete tab!  Thank you very much.

06/03/2014

Yesterday we had Jim and Jeanne Glaspey over for a short visit. They were kind enough to load Joyce’s motor scooter up and haul it over for us, making Joyce very happy.

06/10/2014

On the 5th we welcomed Art and Kandi Jones to the park for a short visit.  I few with Art in the 7th Military Airlift Squadron for several years and had not seen him for a long time.

On the 6th, I turned another year older and Joyce had a little surprise birthday party for me at a local pizza shop.  Helping me celebrate was our co-hosts, Bill & Carol Smith and Jerry & Marylyn Howlett along with Art & Kandi.

A very bad fire has broken out north west of Bend, treating several subdivisions in that area.  Some residents have been evacuated but so far no homes have been burned.  Called the Two Bulls Fire, it appears that it was “human caused and suspicious”.  Very sad.

We’re still sorting and moving our “stuff” into hour new home.  We lost a lot of inside storage when we traded in the Landmark so it’s time to do some down sizing.  Some things will be put into storage and hopefully, we can have a garage sale soon to get rid of everything else.  It’s truly amazing what you can collect and store in a 400 square foot trailer.

More Pic's of our new home and towd, a 2010 Honda-CRV.

06/22/2014

We’ve been very busy here at Smith Rock since I last wrote.


We did take the time to drive up north to see Cottonwood Canyon State Park, the newest in Oregon.  This park is pretty isolated but in a beautiful area.

On the way up to Cottonwood, we stopped at Clarno Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.

Awhile back, the State of Oregon declared Smith Rock one of the Seven Wonders of Oregon and since then, the visitors have increased dramatically.  Couple that with the events we have been having at the park this month, we've had some long days.

One of those events, the Second Annual Smith Rock Paint Out, was held yesterday.

First Place

Second Place

Jeanne Glaspey and Marcia Stevenson with Joyce.

Nice cloud formations over Smith Rock

More later.

Barry & Joyce

May 23, 2014

05/05/2014

After a fun time with Jim and Jeanne Glaspey, we made the run over the Willamette Pass to Tumalo State Park in Bend.  We hosted here in the summer of 2008 and swore we would never come back.  Tumalo is a very, very busy park requiring us to put in many more hours than is normally required in most state parks.  However, as the hosts assigned to site B-6 and being May, we were hoping to get some breaks.  Well, that didn’t happen.

There should be three sets of host here, but as it turned out, one set doesn’t even start until June and the host that showed up for the primary Greeter Host position turned out to be a single lady who had never been a volunteer before.  Not that is a problem in itself, but she didn’t really doesn’t want to do anything but just enough to get her free parking site.

05/07/2014

Our days off here at Tumalo are Wednesdays and Thursdays but since the primary host site was not filled, we decided to help out with some of the work.

On Tuesday we had the pleasure of welcoming our good friends, Rick and Patty Stills for a short visit.  Joyce prepared a delicious turkey dinner for the evening meal and we had a lot of lively conversation.

On Wednesday Rick smoked his famous ribs and I can say that they are some of the best tasting ribs we have ever eaten.  Thanks Rick and Patty!

05/16/2014

It’s been a few days since I last wrote and I can say we have been very busy here at Tumalo and in our personal lives.

Joyce and I are in the initial stages of looking for a motor coach to replace our 5th wheel trailer.  Several reasons have brought us to the decision to do this right now, one of being that Joyce would like to do more of the driving when we are on the road and if something happens to me, she could take over all of our moving from place to place.

Last week we found a beautiful 2003 Beaver Contessa in outstanding condition and actually got down to making a firm verbal offer on her.  After having our Landmark appraised we got a call back from the dealer, they told us that the company’s owner’s wife said that she wanted the rig and that they couldn’t sell it to us.  Hummmm…..!

On Wednesday we drove over to Eugene for Joyce’s eye doctor appointment and after that looked at several more motorhomes, none of which really jumped out at us.

When we got back to Tumalo, out other host had packed up and left.  So, now Joyce and I are the only hosts in the park.  Of course, we’ll step up to the plate and “git ‘er done”.

05/18/2005
What a difference a day makes.  Yesterday we signed papers to purchase a 2005 Holiday Rambler Ambassador Model 37PBD 37’ motor coach.  The motor home was purchased new by a dealership’s owner and is immaculate inside and out.  Powered buy a 330 hp Cummins motor and coupled to a six-speed Allison transmission, there is plenty of power to pull just about anything we would want.  There are many options on the coach such as upgraded TV’s (after market additions), a large slide tray in the front bay, 3-camera rear vision system, front door awning and many more.

Our new home.

The dealership has agreed to put on new tires all around, transfer our washer/dryer and reprogram the existing King Dome satellite system that is installed on the Ambassador.

On the 28th we will pull our rig down to the dealership and on the 29th we’ll take possession and transfer all our belongings.  We expect all of this is going to take all day.

05/23/2014

We welcomed Rick, Patty, Hunter and Paddy Stills back to Tumalo on Wednesday the 21st for a short stay.  Then on Thursday Jim Glaspey rode his Harley over from Oakridge.  We all had a good time telling stories and just enjoying the company of good friends.

Enough for now.  More pictures of the new rig soon.

Barry & Joyce

May 1, 2014

04/10/2014

We left Fresno on Tuesday, jumped onto Hwy 99 and bounced ourselves up to Stockton.  The state is working on the highway all the way from Bakersfield to Sacramento and believe me, it is very rough in places.  We then cut over to I-5 a tad better road, but not by much.  Then, it was Hwy 12 into Fairfield which we won’t drive again anytime soon.  There were several times I had to slow down to 15 mph due to the pot holes and bumps.  Even at that speed, there was a couple of times I thought I would break an axle we were bouncing so hard.

Not only is California going to hell financially and politically, the roads are terrible as well.  I don’t have a clue about what the state does with their money but they need to spend a lot more on their roads that’s for sure!

We’re now parked at the Travis AFB Famcamp where we have stayed several times.  It’s an nice RV park with a few exceptions.  One, they play Reveille at 7 AM here.  What the heck!  Even the Navy doesn’t wake you up until 8 AM!  Two, the park has rules, rules and more rules.  Not that we mind rules all that much but, here at Travis they are excessive.

04/20/2014

We had another great visit at Travis AFB.  We especially enjoy seeing Joe and Lorie Martin every time we are in the area and Joyce got to visit with Nancy and Linda.

04/24/2014

On Sunday the 20th, we hooked up the rig and headed up to Calistoga to visit with Joyce’s family.  We always stay at the Napa County Fairgrounds which accepts our Passport America membership.  We actually pay for our membership with the discount they offer.

A Walk Around St. Helena

After a wonderful four days there, we made the run up to Redding, CA.  We had planned to stay at the Elks Lodge there but they have changed their parking fee from $20 for all Elks members to $25 if you are a member of another lodge.  They only offer electric and water hookups for that fee and since the lodge didn’t have a lot of activities on their calendar, we decided to stay at the Win-River Casino.  Although the casino is just a big parking lot, they do have full-hookups for $24 which is pretty reasonable for the Redding area.

After a fairly good nights rest, we went to see the Sundial Bridge which spans the Sacramento River in Redding.  Not only is the bridge beautiful, but there’s a museum and botanical gardens to see as well.

After spending some time there, we drove up to Trinity Center, CA.  As you might recall, Joyce and I house-sat for a friend there a few years back and while there, I established a geocache called Trinity’s Hero.  Over the years the container had lost the lid and the logbook needed replacing as well.

After taking care of the cache, we had dinner at Trailhead Pizza in Coffee Creek with some friends we had made there.

On Sunday we made the run up to Oakridge, OR to Jim and Jeanne Glaspey’s RV Park.

Sunday evening Gary and Marcia Stevenson had us over for a wonderful Easter dinner.

Last month we received an email from Jill Nishball, Oregon State Parks Mountain Region Visitor Experiences Coordinator, informing us that we had been selected as finalists for the Oregon State Parks Hosts of the Year Award for 2013.  The celebration luncheon was Wednesday the 23rd in Salem.

Although we weren’t selected as the winners, it was still an honor to have been among the six finalists out of over 1100 hosts in the state of Oregon.

While here Jim helped us out with some maintenance on our truck and replaced the kitchen faucet in our home.

Last night we were all invited up to Chuck and Sue Svendsen’s for a delicious barbecue rib dinner.

That's all for now folks!

Barry & Joyce

April 6, 2014

03/21/2014

On the 12th we drove up to Hemet to visit our friend Sheryl Cain, who is in the process of moving to Hawaii.  It was good to see her again.  Hey Sheryl…get our room ready for a visit!

03/27/2014

On Tuesday we made the drive to Long Beach to tour the RMS Queen Mary, which is now a hotel and museum.  Since it was almost a four hour drive to Long Beach and we wanted to take a couple of tours, we decided to get a room on the ship and spend the night.  “Part of the experience”, so to speak.

Joyce booked us one of the first class stateroom and I have to say, it was worth the experience.  The room was a mixture of many of the “old” features but there were modern convinces also, like a LCD TV and a very comfortable king size bed.

The bathroom still had some of the old controls for the the bathtub.  Back in the day you could get both fresh and salt hot and cold water.  The original fan and environmental controls were still in place and there was much more closet storage than you have on the cruise ships today.

We took two tours offered; the Diana: Legacy Of A Princess and The Glory Days, both of which we enjoyed.  We also did the self-guided walking (and a lot of it) tour.

We had dinner at the at the Chelsea Chowder House and Bar on the ship and all-in-all, we were not impressed.  Very pricey and the food was not all that good.

Would we do that again?  Probably, but with changes.  We would get one of the less pricey staterooms and we would probably not eat on the ship at all.  The hotel has a free shuttle to the downtown area so we would use that.  Also, we would plan to arrive there before 10 AM, even though you can’t check-in until later.  To see everything on the ship you need more that just a couple of hours.

 Our Stateroom

The Hallway.  Notice the handrails.  The Queen Mary had no stabilizers so the ship rocked and rolled in high seas.

 Duck Press's

 Wood used on the ship

 Grand Hall

 The Bridge

 The Auto Pilot

 Radio Room

 Liberace.  He played on the ship several times but never for the 1st class passengers.  He said that 2nd and 3rd class folks needed to have good entertainment as well.

04/01/2014

We left El Centro on Sunday and headed up to Ontario Elks Lodge.  Our original plan was to go over the hills to Edwards AFB but there was high wind warnings through the pass on I-15.  It is no fun pulling a 5th-wheel in winds gusting to 50 mph.

After leaving the park, we jumped on Hwy 86 north and immediately ran into fairly strong cross winds and blowing sand, especially in the Salton Sea area.  When we got up on I-10 in Indio, all hell broke loose.  Very strong headwinds with blowing sand/dust greeted us all the way through Desert Hot Springs.  A few times we actually had to slow down to 5 mph in visibility less than 50 feet.  Of course, the crazies were out driving like their butts were on fire and cutting us off a lot.  Most folks have no idea what it takes to stop a 15,000 lb. 5th-wheel trailer and I don’t think they even care.

After a restful night there, we then made a very rough and bumpy drive to Tulare, CA.  We had planned to stay at the Bakersfield Elks Lodge but since we are members of Passport America, we got a nice RV park here with full hookups for $18.50 vice $20 for electric only in Bakersfield.  Hey, and it actually rained last night.  No, really.  It did!

04/06/2014

We’re now in Fresno, CA visiting my mother, brother and the rest of the family.

When we were getting ready to leave Tulare, the bedroom slide would not retract all the way.  It would go in about two feet and stall.  I did some troubleshooting and discovered the cable connector blocks were hitting each other and stalling the motor.  Since the blocks were behind the bed frame and not having all the tools necessary to get into that area, we called Total RV Service, a mobile RV repair service out of Visalia.

After they showed up and did some further checking, the determined that they would need more time than we had in Tulare to get the issue fixed.  So, they got the slide retracted, made an appointment for them to come to Fresno and do a permanent repair.  The work has been done and we don’t expect to have any more problems with that slide….hopefully

Enough for now.

Barry & Joyce