40 Years

May 18th, Linda and I celebrated our 40th anniversary. On May 19th, I had my back surgery. Obviously, we were unable to have a significant celebration. We postponed everything, and Linda set about creating our next wonderful adventure. Something to commemorate our 40-some years together. We had had to postpone this all summer.

September came fast, and on September 4th, we loaded the Kia and drove west and then south to Eugene, OR, to visit Linda's sister and her family.  We were traveling light in the Kia, which meant we could make the entire drive to Eugene in one day. We shared driving and were able to complete the journey in about nine hours. We took our time, but, boy, did we feel it. Nine hours of travel isn't what it used to be for us.

Milo the invisible cat.

We arrived at the Sollenger's house and were greeted by our nephew, Kenyon. It was nice to see him smiling and very talkative. He told us all about his new obsession: collecting and rebuilding old World War I and World War II rifles. Kenyon showed us his collection and shared a surprise with us, which was scheduled during our visit. He was so excited because they would be taking us up to a rock quarry shooting range to shoot at targets with his guns.

Our first day was a very long one. Not only did we drive from Post Falls, but we also had a wonderful dinner, played Skip-Bo, and then went to bed.

Turtle Lake

Friday, Diane led us on a hike around a small lake called Turtle Lake. Just like the park's name implies, we saw many turtles in addition to numerous waterfowl. It was a fun hike and provided some much-needed exercise.

On Saturday, Kenyon and Diane led the way to the rock quarry in Kenyon's truck. Al Dee, Linda, and I followed in their car. It took us approximately 35 minutes to reach the location. When we arrived, Kenyon and Al Dee set out the guns while Diane, Linda, and I set up the targets. It was interesting because each gun we fired had its own story and history. Kenyon was very knowledgeable about their history, and Al Dee filled in with personal anecdotes about how they acquired each item. I shot 2 guns and a pistol. Linda didn't want to disappoint Kenyon. She shot one of the rifles and a pistol. She decided she really liked the target practice, but would rather use a bow and arrow.

That evening, we went all out and purchased dinner for the family from, wait for it, Chick-fil-A. This was Linda's and my first Chick-fil-A experience. We decided that the food was good and much better than Popeye's. After dinner, we played more cards (a fun new card game called Slapzi) and then went to bed.

Al Dee and Kenyon are setting up the rifles.

Eugene in the distance.

Pelican Shores

On the 7th, we left the family and headed to the coast, where we had a room reserved at a hotel called Pelican Shores Inn. It was a really nice room with a balcony and a small kitchen. We had a beautiful balcony that we used a lot! The drive was on two lanes, and it twisted its way down to the coast at Newport, where we then headed north on Highway 101. We stopped at Yaquina Head Lighthouse. It was beautiful weather. We ate a picnic lunch and then wandered the grounds for a while. We saw our first whale of the trip there.

For dinner, we visited the Chinook Winds Casino Resort. We both had a bowl of clam chowder, and Linda added some cheesy bread. The prices were ok, the soup was good, and we were served enough that we were each able to take a container home for our next lunch.

On our first full day on the coast, we drove south to Newport, where we visited the Oregon Coast Aquarium. We always enjoy looking at the marine life and reading all that is provided.

On this visit, we were captivated by the jellyfish display. The creatures are so beautiful and move about their tank in a very slow and peaceful dance. We spent a lot of time just sitting and watching their slow-motion performance.

We decided to stay for lunch at the Aquarium food court. The weather had changed and it was raining pretty hard (It is Oregon, after all). We enjoyed a sandwich split between the two of us, and we both agreed that it was delicious!

When we drive south to Depoe Bay and the Newport area, we always stop at Boiler Bay State Scenic Viewpoint. The viewpoint never disappoints. This stop, we spotted two whales moving about the foam line, very close to shore.  I got a photo of one fluking, but the tail is barely visible.

On Tuesday, we went to the Lincoln City Outlet Mall.

After spending some money at the Outlet Mall, we visited Depoe Bay and ate lunch at a fine restaurant called Tidal Raves Seafood Grill. Linda enjoyed a bowl of clam chowder and a green salad, and I went all out and had fish and chips. My lunch was another culinary win. The sauce on the fish had an amazing flavor. Linda said her chowder was a lot better than what we had at the casino. We were sitting at a table overlooking Depoe Bay. Whales were spouting everywhere, and they were incredibly entertaining. It was a great way to spend an hour and a half.

Lunch at Tidal Raves Seafood Grill.

Our last full day was Wednesday, and we spent the day locally, walking on the beach, packing, and preparing for our return trip to Post Falls. 

We took the short drive south that afternoon and again visited Boiler Bay State Scenic Viewpoint. We watched the whales spout and enjoyed the sun. On the way back to the hotel, we fueled up the Kia and bought a travel sandwich from Subway. 

The next morning, we were on the road home, leaving the coast around 6 AM. We drove straight through to The Dalls and filled up with gas. Continuing on, we made one other stop just north of the Tri-Cities at The Country Mercantile. This large specialty grocery store has been on Linda's watch list for a long time. We shopped around and purchased some of their Mexican burritos (which were a little pricy). We ate them for dinner once we got home, and they were very good.

Boiler Bay State Scenic Viewpoint.

The small black dot is a fluke.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

Second Stop

It rained all night, but we slept like logs and woke up ready to get on the road. Our next leg took us to Eugene via I-205 passing around Portland to I-5. We arrived at the Sollingers at about 1:00 PM and got all set up in their driveway. After everyone had gathered and chatted for a while, Diane, Al Dee, Linda and I loaded into their car and we drove to the Eugene Fairgrounds where we met Alayna at the main entrance to an event called Glow. 

Glow is a traveling Christmas light show. It is popular because of its many beautiful lights and the fact that it is held entirely under cover. That was the key that evening because it was pouring buckets outside. We walked through various countries of the world-themed displays and enjoyed the tens of thousands of lights each area contained. After the Glow walk, we picked up some dinner at their local WingStop and returned to the house to eat and play SkipBo. That was our first experience with WingStop. We thought it was delicious. I continued my reign of terror through SkipBo. I won again!

South

By the end of October, the weather in our area gets freezing and gray. It is hard to keep your spirits up as the rain and wind knock all the beautiful bright-colored leaves to the ground. We have always tried to add a little adventure south into warmer climates to help us through the winter months. It lifts up our spirits and gives us something to concentrate on.

We've been busy getting ready for our next adventure. We've packed clothes and removed stuff we don't use from the camper. We've evaluated each item and decided whether it's going or staying. This includes finding a storage location for our items and packing them away. Our lists grew and then got shorter as we made decisions. We're almost ready to hit the road!

Our truck should be in tip-top shape for this trip. It cost us some savings to get it ready, but they were items we deemed necessary for our peace of mind. We also have confirmed our house visitor's schedule, and the place will be in great hands once we leave. Thanks to all of the folks who will be helping in this endeavor. It's so nice to have someone taking care of the home front.

Weather-watching has become an obsession. Ideally, we would like a window with a slight warm-up and no precipitation called for, but that will probably not happen. We will leave when we feel safe from ice on the roads. A little snow is manageable until we get past the Tri-Cities and closer to Eugene.

Finally, the day of departure arrived. Leaving Post Falls at about 8:00 AM, we drove to Ritzville, turned south, and followed Highway 396 southwest, turning west on Highway 84 to Boardman, where we fueled up.

Remember the weather window we were watching? Well, we hit it! As we left Post Falls, snowflakes slid gently down the truck window. When we hit Spokane, the snow had stopped. When we stopped at the rest area by Sprague Lake, the sun came out, and we had beautiful weather the rest of the day.

We continued downriver on Highway 84 past one of our usual spots, Arlington, assuming we could boondock at a flat gravel bed called Rufus Landing. When we arrived, we found that the site was closed until April 1st. Linda did some quick map reading and Googled up some options. Continuing on down the Columbia, we chose to spend our first night at Deschutes River State Park on the Deschutes River.

We chose site 21, a very nice spot just yards from the river. It was an easy day and our adventure has officially begun.

Below is a map of our travel route down to Yuma. I will update our progress the best I can so bookmark this post and enjoy the ride!

Oregon Here We Come!

After our last camping adventure at Heyburn State Park, Linda and I reprovisioned the camper. I got everything geared up to travel southwest to Oregon where we would visit Linda's sister and her family.  Linda had planned for us to stay in Eugene for three nights visiting the family, then drive to the coast and meet up with our friends Caroline and Don Samuelson. 

Putting everything in order, we left Post Falls and drove to Arlington on the first day. The only interruption along the way was an hour-long shopping stop at the Kennewick REI. Neither of us bought anything, but it was a fun break from driving. 

Hydrofoil kiteboarder having fun in the wind.

We drove on and spent the night at our $10 boondock spot at the Port of Arlington. We had a great dinner and watched several wind boarders and a couple of kiteboarders working the wind and waves.  The wind had been blowing hard all day and when we neared the Port, I was ready to stop for the day. Wind makes for tense driving, but great sailing. We enjoyed watching the boarders perform.

The next morning we were up and on the road by 9 AM. I drove and Linda navigated. We followed Highway 84 west to Portland where we merged onto I-5 south. The drive was uneventful and we arrived in Eugene at around 2 PM. We parked the camper in the driveway and got our chairs out and started relaxing. Throughout the afternoon the Sollingers returned home from their various commitments and we greeted each with a hug as they arrived.

Mt. Hood was spectacular

Our 3-night visit with the Solenger family was very fun and filled with food, conversation, and exploration.  On Friday, we drove to several parks in the Eugene area and even spent part of the day looking for license plates in the city and around the U of O. 

Our travels took us up a hill to Hendrick's Park where we took a wrong turn and ran right into Pre's Rock. This is a monument memorializing the rock where Steve Prefontaine, a famous Oregon runner, crashed his sports car and died. 

That evening we ate like kings and played Skip-Bo. It was fun catching up, but mostly it was fun teasing Diane!

On Saturday we spent the day at the Wildlife Safari located in Winston, OR. Trip Advisor says, "

Monument to Steve Prefontaine

Wildlife Safari is a non-profit AZA-accredited zoological park dedicated to conservation, education, and research since its inception in 1972. Wildlife Safari is a fun-filled family destination where you can view over 500 animals in their natural habitat roaming freely much as they do in the wild! Visitors to the park drive through a 4.5-mile trek to see animals from Africa, Asia, and the Americas. This unique setting offers many opportunities to get up close and personal with animals large and small."

We drove the loop through the park and then walked the area around the petting zoo. Linda tried to hide one of the baby goats in her handbag, but we caught her, and she had to give it back. I don't know how she thought she could hide that little critter. You could not see it, but its bleats could be heard a mile away.

That night, the last night in Eugene, we celebrated Kenyon's 21st birthday. Specialty pizza was ordered and picked up and we had a feast before our final Skip-Bo game. We said our goodbyes and went to bed. It was back on the road in the morning heading to the coast.

The drive to the coast was uneventful. We checked into our campsite at Jessie Honeyman State Park where we were greeted by Don and Caroline. It was good to see them and we all sat around and chatted.

It was windy, but later on, Caroline and I took advantage of the Oregon Free Fishing Day and tossed some power bait into Lilly Lake. We fished for a bit and talked to a few folks about the lake. Lilly Lake is stocked with hatchery fish so everyone fishes with garlic-scented power baits. The fish feed on them because they are most like the fish food they have been given at the hatchery. They tend to be on a schedule and will bite better just before sunset. With all this info, we still could not catch anything, so we blamed it on the wind and quit.

Dinner time rolled around and Caroline prepared a wonderful hot dinner of clam chowder, crab and cheese sandwiches, and fruit salad. The wind was blowing hard and it was too cool to sit outside, so we ate in our little houses separately. We slept well with the wind cooling our camper making it very comfortable.

Monday all four of us took a walk over to Woahink Lake, where we explored the shore and took photos. The park has an excellent trail system that is paved so Don had no trouble riding his recumbent trike with us as we walked.

 

We stayed two nights at Honeyman State Park and then both rigs were packed up and we moved north to South Beach State Park for our final two nights.

You can make your own caption here.

When we were on the road to South Beach, Linda and I took the opportunity to drive about 20 miles farther north to Lincoln City and we did some shopping at the Outlet Mall which is located on the south end of the city. We both found some great deals while we were there. It turned out to be a great extension of our little vacation.

We arrived at our campsite in the late afternoon, got set up, ready to enjoy our dinner,

I walked across the campground loop road to have snacks with Caroline and Don. As we sat there talking, I looked over at our camper and noticed something hanging down under the front of the truck. I took a closer look and found that our brand-new steering rod assembly ($1200.00) had come apart.  The shock portion of the system had disconnected from the rest of the unit and was just hanging there. A large nut was missing. There was no way to tell if this had been detached for our entire trip, or if it had come apart recently. 

We took a few photos of the problem and called Les Schwab in Newport right before they closed for the day. They said that if it wasn't dragging, bring it in and they would check it out. The next morning we packed up and drove into town. It took them about 20 minutes to replace the nut. Nothing had been damaged during the time things were detached. We were very lucky and old Les was able to make the repair at no additional cost.

We drove back to the campground and set up for the second time. 

During our stay, we walked the paved trails out to the beach and enjoyed short walks in the sea breeze. The beach is one of Linda's happy places and she can walk and search for shells for hours. I love to watch her explore. Her smile is always amazing.

Fishing Lilly Lake in the wind!

After two nights at South Beach, it was time to split up and both groups head home. It is always so fun to see Caroline and Don.  We said our goodbyes and reminded each of us that we will be traveling together again at the end of June. We can't wait for that next adventure!

The next morning we drove through Newport, found Highway 20, and headed east. We intersected I-5 and drove north. When we neared the Portland area we exited I-5 and took 205 around the jam of traffic in Portland. We intersected I-84 and followed it up the Gorge and back to our spot at the Port of Arlington. We had dinner, played Skip-Bo, and went to bed.  Our final night on the road had the perfect backdrop. Cool winds, train whistles, and the sounds of the waves on the shore of the Columbia River. Brings tears to your eyes, doesn't it?

Siuslaw Bridge entering Florence.

We retraced our route down, with the exception of the REI stop. Our big white box was back in its parking spot by 1:00 PM and we were unpacked by 2:30 PM. It was good to be home. Little did we know that the next week would bring a huge bittersweet change into our lives.  I will explain all that later.

No nut! That's not right!

Two beach eagles and a dead fish.

Photos from the Wildlife Safari:

"Can I see your park pass, please?

This one is way tired.

Yes, this little guy would fit in my bag nicely!

Red Wolf pretending to be dead. 
Yes, it is sleeping.