Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Coastal Trip

Sunday was a pretty laid back day, went grocery shopping in the a.m. then played golf in the p.m. The play was sooooo slow, it was at the point of almost unbearable, but we survived another round of golf.

Monday we left around 9a.m. for a trip to the coast (80 miles to Newport). We finally saw the ocean. It was a beautiful, cool, clear, bright day. Perfect for the views along the coast.
The Lighthouse at Newport made for a very scenic view.
I was surprised by the big, beautiful beaches. It's just a little too cold for me to get out on the beach, even though it was such a nice day, the wind cut right through you.
We stopped for lunch at the Chowder Bowl at Nye Beach in Newport for fish and chips again. Even though it was delicious, I think Ungers fish and chips in Winchester Bay was better.
After filling up on fish and chips, we headed up the coast a ways then back inland to wine country. We stopped at 7 wineries on our way home. Here is a view from top of the hill at Van Duzer winery.

There are flowers everywhere, from wildflowers along the roads to planted flowers at the wineries.
These flowers in particular were just in abundance at the Left Coast Winery and they were just so colorful.
 Didn't find any wines we enjoyed at the Johan Vineyards, they were all quite dry, not what we like.
 Emerson was our last stop for the day and found one wine in particular that we liked.
After all this wine tasting, we are a bit wined out, so instead of more tasting today, we are playing golf this afternoon at a course in Corvallis that hopefully is more enjoyable than the course where we are staying. The price is right - Tuesday special is $27 each. It's started out overcast this morning but forecasted to be sunny and 80 degrees this afternoon - I'll believe it when I see it. I don't know whether I could handle this type of weather, but it's ok for a change from 100 degrees.

Tomorrow we start our trek back home. Our first day will be a long drive, about 660 miles and 12 hours. We are going all the way to Chowchilla, CA where we will stay 2 nights (a days rest to just get over the long drive). Golf is included in the RV parks stay, so we will enjoy a round of golf in 95 degree weather again. Then Friday onto our lot in Indio then Tucson on Sat. Our trip is coming to an end, but it has been quite enjoyable and have seen a lot of country we have never seen before.



Saturday, July 21, 2012

Moving Day

Today we moved farther north to Mallard Creek Golf & RV in Lebanon, OR, just east of Albany. But let me back up and catch you up on our trip to Crater Lake on Friday. It's a beautiful drive, we took the southern route there then came back the northern route, so was able to see more of the countryside. It turned out to be quite cold there, at places only 46 degrees, so needless to say, we looked, took pictures and high tailed it out of there to some warmer weather.
 The lake is quite scenic, but what attracted Jim was the snow. He just had to stop and play.


The water is so clear and even turquoise in spots around the island.
 On our way back we passed by Diamond Lake with Mt. Baily in the background.
This is looking back towards Crater Lake and the next pictures tells you what this point is.

 There were several falls along the way, so stopped to get a look at I believe was Watson Falls.
 Once we got back to I5 we toured a couple of wineries in the area.  We were impressed with a couple, so did purchase a couple of bottles. At the end of the day, we drove 287 miles all of them just beautiful scenery. Everything is just so green, with trees everywhere.

This morning we left Canyonville about 9am and got into Mallard Creek about 11:45. The previous people had not vacated our space yet, so what was there to do except play golf. The course is right next to the RV park, nicely maintained but the fairways are narrow. So Jim spent time looking for his ball on a few holes.



Had an enjoyable round of golf, got the RV parked and we settled in to BBQ chicken for dinner. The weather was perfect this afternoon and hopefully will continue while we are here.


Friday, July 20, 2012

Golf for the Day

Yesterday turned out to be a beautiful, sunny warm day - perfect for golf. The local course, Mrytle Creek GC, has a special every Thurs. for $40 including cart, a savings of $12. The course is quite scenic nestled in surrounding tree filled mountains. Had an enjoyable round of golf, Jim had a 87 and we won't mention what my score was. Situated in the mountains made the course quite up and down, which we don't play very well due to the fact that we are use to AZ courses that are mostly flat. But a good time was had by all. Here are some pictures along the way.



 We found plum trees along the way and of course we had to sample. There were also berry bushes but the berries are not ripe yet.


After we arrived back at the RV Park, we needed a walk so over to the casino we went. This time we left winning only $30 after 1/2 hour of hard work. Our goal is to walk out of their when we are ahead. I would also like to mention that it has been my expertise at the slots that have gained us all this abundance. Got back to the RV just in time for wine time. After filling our wine glasses, Jim starting the BBQ, we sat back for a relaxing evening and a fine meal of BBQ turkey breast.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Coos Bay Day Trip

Here it is Thursday morning already, where does time go when on the road? To catch up a little let's go back to Tues. evening. We were enjoying a glass of wine out on the patio gazing on the surrounding tree filled mountains when the sky just decided to dump. Needless to say that by the time we got the chairs put away and got into the motorhome it rained so much that my wine was a bit watered down. It rained off and on the rest of the evening (it doesn't get dark here until after 9pm) and night. But around 7pm the electricity went out in the park. Luckily it was cool enough that the A/C was not required, so we faired quite well even though the coach is all electric there is enough battery power we can survive for quite some time, except A/C that would really draw the power. But if need be, we always have a generator. The power did come back on around 9:30. Never did hear why it went out.

Yesterday since it was still overcast and cool we decided that a trip to the coast would be in order. Sorry no pictures of the ocean/coast as we really didn't see it except all the bays. We started out at Bandon, drove through town, not much. But as we were driving up Hwy 101 we saw Bandon Doons Golf Course, so we drove in just to check it out. Really not much to see there, but we can now say we saw the place (it's a highly rated course).

On up Hwy 101, took a side trip through Charleston then through Coos Bay. Nothing really caught our eye so kept driving. Now we are getting hungry, so Jim found a listing for Ungers Fish & Chips in Winchester Bay. We found the road it was on, but I guess we missed the turnoff, so we kept driving down this road quite aways until we figured out we must have passed it, so turning around we went back.  It still took us quite awhile to find the place, but we finally made it, so glad we did as the fish-n-chips were delicious.
Drove up the coast a little bit further before heading back inland to the RV park. A total of 259 miles for the day and even though the drive was beautiful, I wanted to see the coast/ocean which we didn't even get a glimpse of it.

Here is the Seven Feathers Park we are staying at, which I highly recommend. The park is rated #10 and I totally agree, they only need to trim their trees.
Jim is trying to fix our little plastic side table that a leg broke off, but didn't work, so off to the garbage it goes.
 Here is a look eastward from our space.
 Here is a look westward from our space.
Oh, after we got back from driving all those miles yesterday, we needed some exercise, so of course we walked over to the casino where we proceeded to win $59 then left and walked back. Another productive day at the casino.



Sunday, July 15, 2012

Oregon Bound

Friday we left Tucson at 11:30 Oregon bound to find cooler weather and to get the RV on the road. Our place in Indio was our first stop, which we made in 6 1/4 hours with no problem except with rain along the way. Just enough rain to get the RV and the Lincoln filthy. A big downpour hit us right after we got parked and all settled - whew just in time! I think this is the first time we have experienced rain ever in Indio.

We were up and on the road by 4:30 the next morning, hoping to get through LA before the freeways got crowded. We skirted along the foothill freeway with only a 10 minute construction delay and with minimal traffic for that area. Hit the San Joaquin valley at the bottom of the Grapevine after 3 3/4 hours unscathed. Our first stop is Lodi (the only park for our size RV in the Sacramento area) so we can visit my sister who lives in Sacramento.

We arrived at the Flag City RV Park at 12:30, proceeded to check in then went out to unhook the Lincoln to pull into our space. The Lincoln didn't start - nothing new, we have this problem with this vehicle that the battery dies while we tow, so we hooked up our battery jump starter - nothing. This has always worked in the past. At this point I go in and ask the office if there was anyone with cable jumpers that could help us - well no luck.

Just so happens this guy was walking past us and asked if he could help. Of course we say Yes!! He came over with his pickup, jumper cables and still no luck - The Lincoln is just dead. Luckily he was a mechanic and kept at it until he came up with the idea that a fuse was blown, so started to investigate - well that was the problem. After searching through out the many fuses, we finally found one that was bad - replaced it and got the Lincoln started.  Needless to say, that guy made a few extra bucks helping us because if he didn't we would have to had the Lincoln towed to get fixed and ruined our trip. I'm thankful for people willing to help other people. Talk about a stroke of luck.

So after that problem was solved, we decided the Lincoln needed to be driven, so off to the Lodi wineries we go.  After spending the next 3 hours at wineries, we only came home with 1 bottle of wine.  Didn't really find any we really loved. But not to worry, Monday we are heading over to Napa valley.

After driving for 8 1/2 hours this morning and an exhausting afternoon tasting wine, we mellowed out enjoying the beautiful 80 degree weather, then BBQ'd our dinner.


Now it's Sunday morning - tried to post this last night but was having troubles (maybe the visit to the wineries had something to do with it?), it's going much better this morning. Today we are off to visit with my sister for the day.


Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Unwanted Guest

Our trip to San Diego came to an end on Sunday the 1st and we reluctantly drove back to the heat of Tucson. We did discover that while we were away, we had an unwanted guest move into our pool.
I believe this is a Sonoran Desert Toad. Don't ask me where it came from, I have no idea, it just decided to make our pool his new home. We have tossed it over the fence hoping it will go away, but it just shows back up at our pool. At night it sounds like someone snoring. And of course it is right outside our bedroom, so we get serenaded every night. The only way we will get rid of him is to catch the thing and transport it far away from our backyard.

I just finished another oil painting, so just wanted to share with everyone. It's actually 3 canvas' to make one painting with each panel being 15"x30".  I don't profess to be a professional artist, but I do enjoy dabbling.
It's too hot for hiking so haven't had much to post. So until our next trip my blogging might be a little thin. Hopefully our next trip in the RV will be happening soon.