September 14, 2017

September 6, 2017

 Yesterday Joyce made a drive down toward Pendleton to the Wildhorse Resort to play bingo and I hung around here at the RV park.  In fact, I never left the RV all day not wanting to deal with all of the nasty smoke.

  Mike Clements pick me up at 6 PM and we headed over to the Hermiston Masonic Lodge for their Stated Meeting.  It had been a long while since I was in a lodge meeting and I was a tad rusty on the ritual work but I finally got back into the routine.  Mike is a Past Master of the lodge and now holds the chair of Junior Warden.

 We have made some changes to our travel plans since the fires in Glacier National Park prevent us from going up that way.  Joyce and I are really disappointed in not being able to see that park but it will remain high on our bucket list and hopefully we’ll have the opportunity again.

 Here are the changes:
    6-10 Sep, Rathdrum, ID, Rick & Patty Stills B&B and RV Park.
    10-11 Sep, Deer Lodge, ID.  Just spending one night.
    11-12 Sep, Shelley, ID.  Traveling trough.
    12-15 Sep, Hill AFB, UT.  Going to hang out a few days and I will be visiting my good         friend Woody Woodman.
    15-18  Sep, Spanish Fork, UT.  Visit friends Ron & Katie Cutler in Payson, UT.
    18-19 Sep, Rock Springs, WY.  Enroute to Casper.
    19-22 Sep, Casper, WY.  Visit Joyce’s sister.
All else remains the same as I posted before.  We’re hoping to get out of all of the smoke by the time we get down in the Salt Lake area.

 The Eagle Creek fire that is burning on the Columbia Gorge has now engulfed the scenic Multnomah Falls.  So far the fire fighters have been able to save to historic lodge but for many years to come that area will look terrible.  All because some punk kids paling with firecrackers.  Very, very sad.

September 7, 2017

 We left Hermiston around 9:30 AM jumped on I-82 and headed north toward Spokane and then on into Rathdrum, ID to Rick and Patty Stills B&B and RV Park.  It was an uneventful but very smokey drive.

 Yesterday was Patty’s birthday so we all jumped in the car and headed down to Kelsey’s Bar and Grill, Rick and Patty’s favorite watering hole.  While we were partaking of some adult beverages, Patty got a call from Buzz Patterson to wish her happy birthday.  That was set up by Rick.

 Rick and I used to fly C-141’s with Buzz back in the day.  He went on to work from Bill Clinton in the White House where he carried the President’s Emergency Satchel, commonly called the Nuclear Football.  Since retiring from the Air Force he has written several books and has become very involved in conservative politics.

We're havin' fun now!

September 8, 2017

 Yesterday Rick and I picked up a piece of Alder wood and started making a new frame around out living room TV.  Rick got it all cut, plained and trimmed so today we’ll finish that up.

Before and After

 

 Later in the day Bob Shaw came over for a visit.  Bob was in the same squadron Rick and I flew with back in the 1980’s.

September 9, 2017

 Yesterday Rick, Patty, Joyce and I went and got pedicures.  

Yesterday Rick finished making the new frame to go around our living room TV and got that installed.  Thanks for the beautiful work Rick.

September 11, 2017

 Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.  Yesterday we left Rick & Patty’s B & B and RV Park and after a stop at the dump station and a run by Costco to fill up with diesel fuel, we headed east on I-90.  There is a lot of construction going on and in some areas the road is rough, but we made good time and pulled into the Indian Creek Campground in Deer Lodge, MT about 3:30 PM.

 Indian Creek is a small campground that we have stayed in before but at $36 a night that’s a bit pricey for our blood. 

 After setting up we drove into Deer Lodge to check it out and to find some supper.  We found the Broken Arrow Steakhouse and Casino where we had a good meal.

September 12, 2017

 Yesterday we made the 244 mile drive from Deer Lodge to the North Bingham County Park in Shelley, ID.  This is a very nice little park with just 12 parking sites, all pull-throughs with good 50/30 amp electric and water.  A dump station is provided as are bathrooms and showers.

 After getting hooked up in our site we drove the 15 miles or so back to Idaho Falls so that Joyce could do the “mall walking’ thing since the smoke form all the fires is still bad.  After that we went to Sizzler’s for the salad bad for supper.

September 14, 2017

 On Tuesday we made the run down to Hill AFB, UT.  We have been to this famcamp several times, and in the three years since we were last here the base had made some changes.  They took several large pull-through sites and turned some of them into back in's which gave the park several extra sites.  The downside to that “improvement” was that the sites are now very tight.  They also put in all new washer and dryers in the laundry room.

 Yesterday i drove down to the Promise Hospital in Salt Lake City to to visit my good friend Michael “Woody” Woodman.  In August 1966 Woody and I went to tech school together at Shepherd AFB, TX.  After graduating were stationed at Travis AFB, CA in the 602nd Organizational Maintenance Squadron (OMS) working on the C-141A.  In 1969 Woody and I went back to Shepherd to train on the new C-5A.  After that training we spent nine months in the C-5 test program at Edwards AFB, CA.  Next we were assigned to the new 60th OMS at Travis.  Woody later got out of the Air Force and then had a career in civil service at Hill AFB, UT.

 Woody has been in poor health for several years now and a few weeks ago took a fall.  I won’t go into details but since then he has been in the hospital and still has a long road to recovery ahead of him.

 Gotta get a grand kid's picture in.

Abigail and Skyler

Some really cook picures of the Eclipse 2017.  I wish I had taken these.

 

 This on was taken by Patricia Davidson, a host at Smith Rock.

 

 That's enough for now.

Barry & Joyce

September 5, 2017

September 1, 2017

 The last few days we were at Smith Rock were slow and uneventful.  We did have a lot of smoke from the fires in the area, mainly from the Milli fire that is still burning out south of Sisters.  It was nice to have a break after the eclipse that’s for sure.

 This morning we hooked we said goodbye to Josie, hooked up the towed and headed north on Highway 97 toward the Columbia Gorge.  We will be staying here at Memaloose State Park for a few days unwinding.

 We arrived at the park about 2 PM since we took Highway 197 to get here.  Lots of hills, steep grades and slow turns.  About half way up I was wishing we had just taken 97 up to I-84.  Won’t do that again.

September 2, 2017

 Today we made a day trip over to Vancouver, WA to tour Fort Vancouver National Historic Site and the Vancouver National Historic Reserve.  Built in 1825 by the Hudson Bay Company the fort served as the center of a vast fur trading network.  The U. S. Army arrived in 1849 and the fort became Vancouver Barracks.

 As always for us our first stop was at the visitors center.  There we picked up a map, got our National Parks Passport Book stamped and saw a 20 minute film about the fort.

 Next, we walked along Officers Row, admiring the 22 fully-restored homes lining the fort’s parade ground.  They originally housed the officers who served at the Barracks but are now private homes with some being business offices.  One of them is named for General George C. Marshall who served as the post commander and occupied the home from 1936 to 1938.  The first house built on Officers Row is named after General Ulysses S. Grant.  General Grant never lived in the house but was stationed there as a young captain.  It is now a restaurant, The Eatery at the Grant House.  We decided to have lunch at the Eatery but were really not very happy with our meal.  ‘Nuff said.

 Next stop on our tour was Fort Vancouver which was established by the British Hudson’s Bay Company to support the fur trading network throughout the Pacific Northwest.

 Pearson Field is one of the oldest operating airfields in the United States and today operates as a busy municipal airport.

 The Pearson Field Education Center tells the story of the airfield from the very early days on through World War II and beyond.  There are several displays including a model of the Spruce Mill that produced the lumber necessary to build the early airplanes.

Officers Row

George Marshall House

The Grant House.  The first house built on the Row.

Smith Rock Volunteers for the 2017 Eclipse.

Joyce & Linda

 Mike & Patricia

 Jerry, Marilyn, Stan and Joyce

Stan "The Man"

Stan & Ray

 Steve Leigh, Pieter & Margie

Ranger Josie & Joyce 

Gotta throw in a grand baby picture or two.

Travis's first day at preschool.

 On our drive back to the state park we stopped in the small town of Cascade Locks.  There was a small produce market going on so we bought some really nice peaches, apples and cherries.

 Just for grins and something to do we made reservations for a paddle boat river tour.

September 3, 2015

 This morning we got a call from the riverboat tour company to tell us that they were cancelling the days trip due to a new fire near Cascade Locks.  In fact, some of the homes south of I-84 are under Stage 3 evacuation orders (Get Out Now).
 We were getting a lot of smoke from that fire and it looked like there was no relief in sight.  Here are some links to what is being called the Eagle Creek fire:

http://katu.com/news/local/eagle-creek-fire-explodes-forces-evacuations-i-84-closed-multnomah-falls-threatened
http://www.oregonlive.com/wildfires/index.ssf/2017/09/eagle_creek_fire_zero_percent.html
http://www.wweek.com/news/2017/09/04/hikers-say-the-columbia-river-gorge-is-burning-because-teenagers-were-tossing-firecrackers-off-a-cliff/

 So with all of the smoke and the possibility of the fire spreading, we decided to leave Memaloose one day early and head on up to Hermiston.

September 5, 2017

 We left Memaloose about 11 AM and after a stop in at Fred Myers in The Dalles for fuel (paid $2.76 a gallon) we made an uneventful run up to the Pioneer RV Park.  We have stayed here several times in the past and have always enjoyed the Passport America discount.

 After getting setup we had supper with Mike and Dorothy Clements who we have hosted with in Oregon State Parks.  I will be attending the Hermiston Masonic Lodge tonight with Mike who is a Past Master of the lodge.

That's all for now folks.

Barry & Joyce

August 24, 2017

August 5, 2017

 Early last evening all power was lost in the Rex House District Office area where we are parked.  After starting the generator I check the breakers in the house and all was good.  Joyce got in the Gator and drove down to see if she could find what was causing the problem.  She found that a young fellow hit one of the power poles knocking it over.  He then ran away leaving his car in the middle of the road.  A sheriff deputy and the power company were on scene and the officer caught the driver in our day use area.  Alcohol/drugs seemed to be a factor.

 Joyce and I along with Stan and Linda spent a couple of hours escorting guests out of the area using some back roads through some private property.

 We ran our generator since it was still hot and went to bed.  About 12:30 AM I woke up and our power was back on so I switched to external power.  It’s really nice having the generator at times like that.

 Some of the smoke has dissipated so the views are much better.

August 13, 2017

 It has been very smokey here in the Terrebonne area due to the many fires that are burning near us.  There is a major forest fire out near Mount Jefferson that has been causing a lot of the smoke.  To top that off there are a couple more burning up near Madras and Warm Springs where most of the tanker support has been headed each day.  Those the one at Warm Springs has actually caused some loss of homes.

 How is this smoke going to affect the solar eclipse on the 21st?  Not sure but you can bet will impact all of the festivities in the area.

 Speaking of the solar eclipse.  The staff here at Smith Rock are in full preparation mode for the additional amount of visitors that are expected.  We have a very good plan that will be put in effect starting next Thursday which includes additional staffing, professional security personnel, medical technicians on site and much more.  Of course we know that even the best plans will not cover everything that might happen, but like the Park Manager says, “If we don’t have a fire or a death we will have successful event”.

Stan and I helped Steve Leigh wrangle up these tow guys, moving them away from the foot bridge area in the canyon.

August 16, 2017

 This Sunday evening the park is putting on a supper for all of the additional folks that are that will be here for the solar eclipse.  Yesterday Joyce and I went to Bend to do the shopping for that event.  Costco was a packed with people and the traffic in town has increased dramatically.

August 24, 2017

 Well, the 2017 Solar Eclipse had come and gone and we all survived.

 On Friday the 18th we had a pow-wow with all of the park staff, hosts, Oregon Rescue (emergency rescue and medical assistance if needed), Security Pros (security patrol, manning the barricades, etc) and other volunteers.  Scott, our Park Manager wanted to make sure everyone knew everyone’s responsibilities and that we were all on the same page.  After the meeting Ranger Josie taught an abbreviated course in Verbal Judo.

 We also started putting up temporary signage in the park, marking off the temporary camping sites and all of the other numerous tasks that needed to be done.

 Saturday and Sunday was more of the same plus we were slammed with visitors.  Sunday was the first time we have actually seen the park closed to vehicle traffic in our 10 years hosting at Smith Rock.  We had 485 vehicles parked plus a lot more parked out on Wilcox Road.  Amazing!

 Sunday night the security folks put up barricades at the entrance to the park to prevent people coming in and sleeping in their vehicles.  Scott had asked Joyce, Stan, Linda and I to be out early on Monday morning to help get everyone parked.

 Joyce and I were out at 4:30 AM and the first place we went was to see what was happening down at the park entrance.  There were cars lined up on both sides of Wilcox and a lot more just driving around trying to position themselves to get in first.  Then at 5:30 the gates were opened and we filled up all 485 parking sites by 7:10 when we closed the park to vehicle traffic.  The final count was the 485 in the park and another 420-450 out on Wilcox.

 How about the eclipse itself?  Well, it’s hard to put into words a awe inspiring it was.  it never got real dark, more like twilight but we had a sunset all around us and the temperature dropped dramatically.  There were about 1700 folks that crossed the footbridge in the canyon and a lot of those were on the top of Misery Ridge.  There was also numerous folks on top of the Marsupials Group and they were all yelling and clapping like crazy.

 Joyce and I feel that just to witness the event live was a privilege, even with all the work during and leading up to the event.  Check!  Another bucket list item gone.

Sunset on 20 Aug.

The temporary camping area in our RV lot.

Supper for staff and volunteers on 20 Aug.

Stan, Linda, Joyce and I gettin' our eclipse game on.

Misery Ridge

Wow.

I wish I had taken this picture.  This is the money shot!

Andrew Studer Visuals

The story behind the photo:  http://www.oregonlive.com/eclipse/2017/08/the_story_behind_viral_iconic.html

Barry & Joyce

August 5, 2017

July 15, 2017

 This is our “written in Jello” travel plans for this coming fall: 

1-5 Sep           Memaloose State Park, Mosier, OR
6-7 Sep           Hermiston, OR
7-10 Sep         Rathdrum, ID     Rick & Patty Stills RV Park
10-11 Sep       Polson, MT
11- 14 Sep      Columbia Falls, MT (Tour Glacier National Park)
14-17 Sep       Helena, MT, Fort Harrison RV Park (Just because we have never been there.)
17-18 Sep       Billings, MT, Elks Lodge
18-19 Sep       Kaycee, WY
19-22 Sep       Casper, WY (Visit Joyce’s family)
22-23 Sep       Cheyenne, WY
23-26 Sep       Denver, CO, Westminster Elks Lodge (Visit friends)
26-29 Sep       Colorado Springs, CO, Elks Lodge (Visit friends and tour some of the sights in the area)
29- 30 Sep      Las Vegas, NM, Elks Lodge
30 Sep-10 Oct Kirtland AFB, NM, Famcamp (May take in one day of the Balloon Festival)
10-12 Oct       Carrizozo, NM, Valley of Fires Recreation Area
12-16 Oct       White Sands Missile Range, NM, Volunteer Park Travel Campsite
16-19 Oct       Deming, NM
19-23 Oct       Silver City, NM, Elks Lodge (Great little town up in the mountains.)
23-26 Oct       Willcox, AZ
26 Oct-1 Nov   Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ Famcamp
1 Nov-1 Dec     Florence, AZ, Rancho Sonora RV Park
1 Dec- 1 Jan 2018    Casa Grande, AZ, Wild West Ranch & RV Park
1 Jan- 1 Mar 2018    Naval Air Facility El Centro, CA, Palm Oasis RV Resort

 If you live near where we are going give us a shout.

July 18, 2017

 Yesterday Joyce and I took a drive up into the Cascades to visit Sahalie and Koosah Falls.  Both of them are right off of Highway 20 and only a short walk from the parking lots.  Both are beautiful.

July 26, 2017

 A lot has been going on since I last wrote so let me get right to it.

 On the 20th we got word that Joyce’s mother who lived in San Francisco had another fall and is was in the hospital.  Joyce talked to the doctor and was told that Pat had a very bad infection and they were trying to find out what was causing the problem.  Later Joyce again talked to the hospital and was told they were still working on the infection and they they were considering putting her on a respirator.

 Friday morning the doctor called and told Joyce that Pat had taken a turn for the worse and probably would not make it through the night.  We then started looking at flights out of Redmond to San Francisco but we couldn’t find anything that would get her there in a timely manner and the cost was also very high.  So we then rented a car so she could drive down to California.  By the time Joyce got to Klamath Falls she learned that Pat had passed away.

 She then drove on down to Los Altos where she spent the night with her good friend Chris Herdell.  The next day they went to the hospital and to the home where Pat lived and picked up Pat’s things.  They then went to the funeral home to make arrangements for her burial.

August 2, 2017

  Joyce buried her mother on the 27th and then made the drive back up to Smith Rock with one stop on the way back.  It’s really good to have her home.  Joyce would like to thank all of you that called or wrote her with condolences for the loss of her mother.

 While Joyce was in California I made a trip over to Oakridge to visit Jim and Jeanne Glaspey.

The Gang

Randy & Bamby

 Yesterday we made the move from the Bivouac host parking site down the road to the Day Use Host site next to the Rex House, the district office for this area.

 Our duties have changed to taking care of the day use bathrooms, turning the water on and off in several places in the park, mowing the Rex House lawns and general cleanup of the area.  Joyce will probably still do some of the mowing in the day use picnic area.

Our Front Yard

Back Yard Views

 Also yesterday we welcomed our new Bivi Hosts, Piter and Margie who are originally from South Africa but now call Oregon home.  Piter is retired from the South African military and Margie is a retired school teacher.

August 4, 2017

 Not only is it very hot here in Central Oregon but we also have a lot of smoke to contend with.  The Whitewater fire that is burning in the Willamette National Forest near Mount Jefferson north west of Smith Rock is only 8% contained as of yesterday.  Hope that it dies down before the eclipse happens on the 21st.

Gotta throw in a couple of grandson pictures.

Travis

Barry & Joyce