Beach Business

Turkey Vulture. I didn't take this picture...

Depoe Bay...I did take this picture...beautiful day

 

 

 

A beautiful sunny morning and I headed to the beach for some fresh air and a walk. There were two USGS trucks driving on the sand away from a huge stack of objects I hoped was Tsunami debris. It turned out to be a small trailer with research equipment on it and a sign that said "Avian Recovery". Knowing my friend Jana would never forgive me for not asking when there were birds involved, I asked the guy what they were doing. He said"Raptor Research". They had caught a Turkey Vulture and were going to take blood samples for DDT etc.  Not wanting to disturb them I turned around and headed the other way on the beach still secretly hoping to find something with Japanese writing.......

Pictures from Whalers Rest

Expensive Toys. The license plate on the RV says "No Yard"

Some wet camp sites.....ours is dry however

Trail to the beach

Typical Washington beach scene

Tsunami debris?

Primitive Camping

Woke up to light rain pattering on the roof. Love it! I'm so excited to go to Fred Meyer today. It is one of our first stops when we hit Oregon. Just an FYI to anyone trying to call or text us.....we have no cell service until we go into Newport. Computer is available in the clubhouse but not in our site. I'll be heading to the beach later today. Jack and I put on our sweatshirts and flannel jammie pants for the first time in months last night. :)

PS Primitive camping is no cell or internet service  hahaha

Newport Oregon

 Yaquina Bay Bridge

 

We arrived at Whalers Rest RV Park this afternoon. It is raining on and off but this is the coast so we expect it. We were able to get our favorite site,which borders the horseshoe pit, and set up before it really poured hard.

Headed to lunch at a great Thai restaurant in Newport: Lucky Thai Elephant. The food is fantastic. The restaurant itself is a little worn out looking these days. The young man waiting on us gave Jack's lunch to another diner by mistake. I was halfway through my lunch before his appeared. The poor kid was so red in the face and embarrassed. We could hear the cook chewing him out in the kitchen. We tried to assure him that it was not a problem but it looks like he didn't receive the tip that Jack left on the table.

This particular RV Park has internet service but requires a trip to the clubhouse and hookup to ethernet. Kind of a pain but it's better than having no service at all.

Tomorrow I'll take my morning walk on the beach.

7 Feathers

I can't seem to upload any photos from this park. (Until Wednesday when we reached Newport Oregon!) We left Phoenix Oregon after devouring our Angelos pizza. Best ever.
Arrived in Canyonville OR and the 7 Feathers RV park under some drizzly skies. That's okay...it is a beautiful RV park with wide paved spaces,full hookups and of course the casino across the street.
Did some laundry, Jack had to replace the rubber thingy on the shower door,never did unhook the truck....and we leave for Newport Oregon in the morning.

You can see the truck 3rd rig down.

 

 RV Park from upper road

 

First Week on the Road

Packed up and left Chowchilla this morning around 8:30 AM. We cut over to I-5 at Manteca, just south of Stockton, and had an uneventful trip to Red Bluff. Tomorrow will be a short day. We plan on stopping in Phoenix Oregon(about 175 miles) specifically because there is a pizza place with the best pizza EVER. One night there...then on to 7 Feathers in Canyonville OR.
Current weather in Red Bluff is sunny and 78. 

No Costume? No Potty For You!!!

Sign on a Mexican Restaurant near the RV Park.

The Thrilla in Chowchilla

 

Jack and I played 9 at the Pheasant Run  Golf Course this morning. At our 8AM tee time it was only about 50 degrees, but sunny.  As "residents" in this RV park we can play the course for $10 each. It is a pretty course with lots of water..... hazards and on the course itself. Very soggy from overnight irrigation. I'm talking squishy soggy. Hydroplaning in the golf cart... It was fun however. I have not played golf since October. We considered this a practice round and did not keep score.

Tuesday night was so windy here that Jack got out of bed at 2AM to take the awning down. Yesterday we took a little trip over to the Table Mountain Casino where they have an $8.99 buffet that was good and featured an omelet station, Asian,Mexican, American and pizza stations as well.

It is much cooler today....73 and sunny, and the wind picked up a bit this morning on the golf course.

 

To the Nut Farm!

 This park really cleared out from the weekend guests. Jack and I think that many of the people that were here over the weekend live fairly close, like Fresno or Gilroy (according to  license plate frames) own RV spaces in the park, and come for the weekend to enjoy the pool and some golf. There was also an RV club from San Jose here.

We spent the early morning doing laundry,groceries, filling the truck with fuel and other mundane tasks. Then we splashed around for a nice peaceful hour in the pool.

We took a quick trip to LeGrande to the Buchanan Nut Farm  http://www.bhnc.com/ and bought pistachios and almonds. They also sell other nut varieties as well as honey and olive oil.  This entire area is criss crossed with nut "orchards"(?). A 25 pound bag of Pistachios sells for $162.50. Christmas is not that far away.... I love Pistachios.

Tomorrow we drive up for lunch with Dorothy and Mervyn in Modesto.   On to Red Bluff Saturday and our plan is to be into Oregon on Sunday.

It is currently 89 degrees and sunny.

The Lakes RV Park and Golf Club

After a sleepless night we left Bakersfield. The Bakersfield RV park was very close to railroad tracks and trains ran ALL NIGHT. We won't be staying there again. We hit the road heading north on Hwy 99 to Chowchilla which is about 130 miles south of Sacramento, and is famous for the 1976 kidnapping of 25 schoolchildren and the driver of their school bus. They were buried underground in a van but were eventually able to escape with the help of the bus driver. The kidnappers were caught and are spending life in a nice jail cell somewhere.

 The Lakes RV Park is a beautiful, gated park with lakes,  a golf course and nicely manicured hedges between sites that provide some privacy.  We can play golf for $10 each on the Pheasant Run course if we choose to do so. http://www.pheasantrungolfclub.com/  We walked over to "The Putter", a restaurant at the golf course, and had a great lunch...Calamari for Jack and Salmon Salad for me. We're looking forward to a week here and some quiet nights.  It's a pleasant 82, sunny with a slight breeze.

Bakersfield CA ....Day One

Burnt Out RV in the Bakersfield RV Park  

 Our Spot

 

So we are officially out of Southern California and in the Central Valley...Bakersfield, Kern County. The little info packet we receved states that Kern County is the nations #1 petroleum producing county with ten of the largest oilfields.

We left home around 8:30AM and headed West on I-10 in strong winds under overcast skies. I followed Jack in my car, behind the 5th wheel, exactly 16.4 miles until I couldn't stand it any more and passed him.  Our route this year bypasses I-5 and takes us up I-215 through Tehachapi (instead of the Grapevine,  which is the devil) to 395 and eventually Hwy 99.  We passed the  small town of Boron where there is a "Twenty Mule Team Road" and claim to fame is the worlds largest producer of borax. Took us about three hours to reach Mojave, where I saw a sign " Hyundai: California Proving Grounds" There was a winding track off in the distance and I was tempted to take the ol' Buick through it's paces but decided to keep on course.  Jack and I met up again at Kramer's Corner which consists of gas stations and fast food restaurants before you head back into the desert.

Arrived at the Bakersfield Palms RV Resort around 12:30 PM. It is a clean park, not too far off the highway, and there were only two other rigs here in the "nightly" section when we pulled in. There is a nightly and a monthly area. The monthly area is quite full and it's where we saw the burnt out RV.The palm trees next to it are scorched and black.

As soon as we set up the 5th wheel we noticed the dust from our most recent wind storm at home had coated the window screens and settled inside on the counter tops. Jack removed the window screens and hosed them down while I cleaned inside. Ugh, it's always something it seems but thankfully nothing more serious than that.

Made a quick trip to the store for ice, stopped to pick up dinner at Baja Fresh and we're settling in for Happy Hour. I spotted a Starbucks for my morning latte and life is good!  Temperatures are a pleasant 78 and sunny. Tomorrow we head to Chowchilla and "The Lakes RV Park" for a week.

 

 

Loading the 5th Wheel

 

Blocking half the street..

 

 

 

Sheryl and Russell Crow are ready to go...waiting in the 5th wheel for departure


Jack brought the 5th wheel over this morning so we could begin loading things inside before temperatures reach 108 again.

 

Animal Rehab

So today was my last volunteer day in the Admin dept.(I still have one more goat day on Sunday) Admin is an interesting place. I have learned a bunch of interesting facts ....Did you know that if you get ants drunk, the remaining (if any) sober ones will carry their mates back to the nest?  What I'm not clear about is why you would want to do this study in the first place.Aside from answering phone calls in Admin, we accept injured animals for rehab. I've accepted Hummingbirds, bunnies,weasels, baby hawks and other misc birds.. Today a lady called and asked if someone could babysit her 25 turtles while she goes on vacation...um.... no crazy turtle lady, goodbye...

Until the 18th

Jack is bringing the 5th wheel over today so we can load some stuff. I'll wipe down cupboards and make the bed,do an inventory and make a list (another one as we already have 2 typed up in our document file).

I probably won't post anything more before we leave unless something exciting happens like we win the lottery or I steal a goat......so until the 18th........

Buffalo!!

Buffalo Slot

 

We took a trip out Hwy 86 today to visit the Red Earth Casino. It is a little place about 35 miles from home, on the east side of The Salton Sea on the  Torres Martinez Indian Rez. I believe I read somewhere that the tribe has 4  members at this time. The Red Earth Casino features $2 shrimp cocktails and gas/diesel are the same price today at $3.65. http://www.redearthcasino.com/index.php

 

I got lucky on the Buffalo Slots. That was nice, but this particular slot machine features a voice screaming " Bufffffalllooooo!!!" and then the sound of a stampeding herd. Basically everyone in the casino can hear it......a bit embarrassing.

 

98 degrees today and breezy. We leave in 2 weeks!

 

 

Looking Ahead

We'll be leaving the desert on Saturday May 18. On the 19th we will be checking into The Lakes:  http://www.thelakesrv.com/amenities.php

I am looking forward to spending a week in this park because of the amenities it boasts. I'll let you know if they live up to the hype.

Meanwhile we are still taking care of last minute things....I got a haircut today, car got an oil change this week, Jack is stashing stuff in corners of the garage and the staging pile in the guest bedroom is growing.

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