Longmont Co.-St.Pete Fl.-

Thur.  We got up by 5:15 but because we had trouble with automatic levelers we did not leave till 6 again.  We drove across the continental Divide(where the waters pour into the Pacific on west side and on east side the Atlantic) several times and we went to the highest mountain point on hwy 82 (8,665 feet).  We drove with the petal to the metal 40mph.  It was not fun when a tractor trailer was on each side of us.( and also 2 more cracks in the windshield which is a blessing that we never fixed the first one yet) We did make it to Longmont Co. by noon. Got set up at a beautiful sight. We have farmland on two sides and the Co. mountains on the other.  It is the best set up we have ever had.  We told my dad we will be coming to Fl. for a vacation from the rig.  Betty is looking for tickets for us.  We have been blessed with so many people here to help us and that have made friends with us.

Fri.  We both got a good night sleep.  And Linda made a wonderful egg omelet this morning.  We then packed for our trip.  We left for the airport a 7 and got there an hour later.  For some reason we had a hard time getting organized and lost the keys for the car and dad's house.  We got through security and had to get rid of the mouthwash and hand cream.  We had a hard time finding a good place to sleep.

Sat. After a bad sleep at the airport we looked for coffee.  One opened early and we were able to have Caribou before getting on the plane.  They had several openings(God is so good) so off to Atlanta.  When we got to Atlanta the gate we were to go to just 4 gates up, they had to turn the plane around and go to a different terminal.  We had 20 min. to go to the gate from terminal A7 to B1.  When we got there they knew we were coming and held the plane open for us(God is still blessing us).  When we got there we were able to get a shuttle to Dad's condo.  When we saw him we saw how thin he had gotten.  Linda made dinner and we watch a movie before bed.

Sun.  We both slept good.  Linda woke me so we would not be late for church. After church we did some shopping.  Linda made lunch, watched some TV,  went for a short swim(because of the rain and lighting), had dinner, watched a movie, then bed.

Mon.  We had breakfast and were able to get a DR. appointment with Dad's cancer Dr. after lunch.  Things went well and his blood counts are good.  We got home and he crashed in bed.  When I went to get the I-pad charger I found the keys we lost(thank-you God).  We had dinner, watched some tennis and a movie.  Dad is eating much better then when we first got here.  He seems to be getting some energy back and able to get up easier.

Tues.  We got an appointment with dad's family Dr.  He sent him over to the hospital.  We found that his kidneys were failing and he has pneumonia and fluid around his lungs.  The staff is wonderful and doing everything for dad.

Wed.  Dad has gone through a battery of test at times we had four different folks waiting to work on him doing different things.  We found his kidneys are doing better and they took 2 liters of fluid from outside his lungs.  He felt relief immediately and was able to eat better.  He will have a lot of test tomorrow.

Wallow Or.-Joseph Or.-Wallow Lake-Rodeo-Hell's Canon

Thur.  Top left picture was the moon and Mt. Hood on our way home from church on Wed.  Top right and bottom row some of the scenery on the way to Wallowa Or.  After we got set up we just relaxed the rest of the day.  After dinner we went for a walk down town which is just two blocks away.  We played some cards and watched the Olympics.

Fri.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDA!!!!! We had coffee in bed while watching GMA and Today show.  WE had our breakfast and bible study.  Took our coffee and went for a walk around the camp.  We drove to Joseph and walked form one end of town to the other. It was a very quaint fun town.  We took pictures of the statues(see picture below. We went to a coffee and chocolate shop and had a Mexican Spice Mocha. We got a piece of Huckleberry and Honey Lavender Truffles.  Linda got one free because of her b-day.  As we walked the rest of the town we found a store that smokes cheese, sausage, pork chops, and bacon( the samples were free ended up with $40 dollars worth).

We left there and drove to the indian tribe leaders(Nez Perce tribe) grave sight then to Wallowa Lake.  At first we were going to ride a gondola to 8,000 feet but got a jon boat for two hours instead.  We stopped at the local restaurant and got a mushroom hamburger, fries, and cookie and had a picnic on the boat.  Notice the back ground some have trees, dirt and Mt.  After we got home we had crackers with the cheese and sausage on the creek that flows by the park. Linda said it was a perfect relaxing birthday.

Sat. What a wonderful day.  Right behind the campground was The Maxwell Annual Gathering.  It is a group that has actives telling of the lumberjack days.  This year they told of the black community and how they got the skilled craftsman from all over the USA and brought them here. I was able to experience some of the actives(left four pictures is me throwing an ax)(7 throws (missed 3 throws),  (2 throws in 2nd black), (1throw in 1st. red), and(1throw in bullseye).   Top right two pictures I got the chance to use a two man saw.  Middle and bottom right, we went on a mule drawn cover wagon tour.  They had games and crafts for the kids, blacksmith, food, storytelling, music and lumberjack competition.

We drove to Enterprise where they had a car show and rodeo.  It was the first time for both of us to enjoy the rodeo.  It was a local event so they did actives they would do on the ranch.  Top left a man giving the dog commands to maneuver the cows. Top right a three person team had to separate the cows by number and if they got out of sequence they were eliminated. Best was nine of ten in two min. Left bottom three pictures, a horse race. Middle right two harvesting some type of grass(all the rest of the time it was brown bales instead of these green ones). Bottom right a cow was out on the free range and near the roadside.

We drove 70 miles last  24 on dirt road which took over two hours to travel(see gps and back of car below) to hat point(named after a hat landed on a tree branch and was left there for a year for someone to claim it. No one did, so it got the name Hat Point). It was worth the time and nerves to make the trip. It was a one lane road that was extremely winding and steep with no railings. You can imagine what Linda was doing after looking straight down the edges with no railings! The pictures do not show the magnificence of the canyon.  Which by the way is the deepest gorge in North America 7,913 feet. With white water rapids and deep pools for 72 miles in the free-flowing portion of Snake River. It dumps into the Columbia River.  Bottom right at one of the pull off's they had a fire tower which we were able to climb almost to the top.

Sun.  We went to church and came home, ate, played some cards and just relaxed.  We went to church service after dinner then came home and went to bed.

Mon. We got up and went for a walk down town.  When we got back  I washed the windows on the rig and did a little waxing. We played some cards and watched some movies on TV. We've been traveling Cal and Oregon coast for 2 months and have traveled over 10,000 miles! It feels good just doing nothing.

Tues. Was like Sun. that we relaxed, played cards and sat by the creek.  As we were playing cards we decided to leave for Co.  I was so happy it only took one hour to dump, shower, and get everything ready to travel.  We drove till 8:30pm and pulled into a rest stop for the night.

Wed. up by 5:30, bible study, and on road by 6.  We pulled into a Wal-Mart at 3. Never realized how many mountains there are out there! Very tiring. Went shopping, had dinner and went to Starbucks for Linda's b-day treat(green tea cappuccino).  The pictures below are as we traveled Or., Id., Ut., and now Wy.

Pacific City-Troutdale-Portland-Columbia River Gorge-Mt Hood-Mt St Helen

Thur.  We slept in till 8:30 which was good but we had a phone meeting at 8 that we missed.  It is very foggy and cold (have our heat on 55 out) this morning so we are going to take our walk later.  Before lunch we played cards and after lunch we went back to the beach for the phone and internet.  We got the blog posted and Linda sent over many pictures off her phone to the computer.  We then walked up the sand mountain to the top. Middle picture is Linda with the white sweater.  It took us 20 min. to get to the top.  We enjoyed the view from both directions for 5 min. because the wind was blowing sand in our face.. It took 10 min. to get down(what an achievement).  The top middle picture is some art work along side the road.  The bottom middle picture was some deer along side the road.

Fri.  Our last morning it was very foggy and the tide was out the most we have seen it.  We were able to talk to all three girls and my dad on our afternoon run to the beach.  It will be nice to have phone, internet and TV. again.  The second picture below is the last sunsets we enjoyed here.  We were able to play putt putt and Linda had two hole in ones me none.  We payed cards through out the day.  

Sat.  We drove to Troutdale Or.  We got there to early so we did our shopping at Wal-Mart.  After we got set up we went to McMenamins Edgefield Hotel.  It was a home for farmers down on there luck and lost there land.  Later it became the Edgefield Manor nursing home.  Top left the hotel now middle what it looked like when built. Today there is several of this kind in the Oregon and Washington area.  they have renovated them into Brewery,pubs and eatery places and on the grounds they hold free concerts and different venues like the glass blower(bottom left) and art work(bottom middle) which is on the walls and doors.  The power station and and water tower(bottom right.    They have a pitch and putt golf course and flower and herb gardens(2nd picture below) which they use the veg. at there restaurants. They have entertainment weekly.

When we got back to the campground we went to their ice cream social, had dinner and a boat ride down the Columbia River.  When we got back we played cards and did the blog and looked at things to visit while we are here.

Sun. We went to church then drove into Portland to Washington Park. You could see the city and Mt.Hood(top left).  It is a park that is 7 miles long with a zoo and we went to the rose garden(2nd and 3rd top). We went to a Japanese Garden(2nd picture below).  We drove into town from there as we drove we saw many interesting sights(top right the bikes, middle right moving art, bottom left the elephants).  We went to Powell Books a four story book store(1st 3 middle pictures).  It is a block long and houses over a million used and new books and have 108 different sections, it has a coffee shop and more. We drove to two donut shops (that they specialize in)which both had long lines at 4 P.M. Blue Star (2nd bottom picture)  which we got Blueberry Bourbon Basil(blueberries, Bulleit bourbon, and fresh basil) and Passion Fruit Cocoa Nib(passion fruit puree, dash of cayenne, and cocoa nibs). They both were very good. The other donut shop was Voodoo Doughnut(3rd bottom picture). Bottom right is the Riverplace which is Portlands own riverfront village with shops, restaurants(with outside eating), the Esplanade, and a marina.

Mon.  We got an early start going up The Historic Columbia River Hwy 30 Gorge to Mt. Hood.  The first stop was Crown Point Vista House(top 2 left pictures) It was a rest area when the hwy 30 was built in early 1900's.  There were many different trees and plants along our walk from right along the road to 2.5 miles to see the many awesome water falls(2nd set of picture below) Each waterfall was between 1/2mile to 2.5mile hikes to see them. Some gave us a good workout!  Thank goodness we had hiking boots and walking sticks.  The middle picture I was standing in the middle of the trunk of the tree.  The bottom right picture is called the Bridge of Gods as Indian love story of the Great Spirit. Where the first bridge was it had to be raised 44 feet when they built the Bonneville lock and dam. Total length is 1,858 ft and 35 ft wide.

This is the Bonneville Lock and Dam built in 1930 to put folks back to work during the depression. Top left the elec. part of dam.  Middle two top and bottom the locks of the dam.  Right three pictures is made so the salmon can swim up stream against the strong current to reproduce. Bottom left Pacific Lamprey they two are born in fresh water and swim to the ocean and return to reproduce.  There was also a fish hatchery there(solomon mainly).  We walked through and saw the fish in different ages.

The picture below is several pictures of Mt Hood as we drove to Timberline Lodge.

The Timberline Lodge was also built during the depression to put folks back to work. Picture below is the lodge.  Top right is pictures of some movies made there("Bend in the River" 1951 and "All the Young Men" 1950. The U.S. Ski Team trains here in the summer. This Mt can be hiked with special hiking equipment.

Tues.  As we drove to Wa. we drove through Portland(top middle picture).  We went to St Helen Or. thinking it was near Mt. St. Helen.  As we drove to Mt St. Helen we drove through Rainie Or. and Longview Wa. which are across the river from each other. The bottom right picture shows they are into logging.  As we drove to Johnston Ridge Observatory we got stopped three time with road work and single lane traffic.  One of the times we saw a bigfoot(bottom 2nd picture) Linda got out to take this picture and the traffic started to move.  As she started to run she fell on loose gravel and hurt her knee, hand, wrist, and elbow. The rest of the pictures are Linda’s trees and flowers.  I do like the top right how the pine cones just grow on the top of the tree.  The 2nd  collage pictures below is of Mt St. Helen.  At the observatory they had some displays and movies showing the eruption and how it blew out of the side of the mountain not up out of the miiddle(see bottom left picture). The bottom right picture is the regrowth of the trees.  They all had to be individually replanted below the ash on the mountains. It was very interesting to see and learn. When we got home Linda took her shower she was in a lot of pain when she put water on her cuts and had to get some pebbles out of the cuts. I got to wash the car and the boat.

Wed.  We slept in, well, we had coffee in bed while we watched The Today Show.  We were Able to put the boat away, washed the rig, and used our new vacuum on the car.  I put away the hiking stuff and got the car and rig ready to move tomorrow.  We got all our mail caught up and the bills done.  We went to church and came home to bed and watched a little olympic's.

Seaside Or.-Astoria Or.-Long Beach Wa.-Pacific City Or.

Thur. We took a walk to the beach.  It Was 51 this morning and only got up to 53 for the day.  There has been fog coming in all day.  When we went to town we saw that it was only along the sea shore.  We got the car and rig ready for a move.  

Fri. Up by 5am, bible study and coffee.  After getting the car hooked up we left by 6.  When we were leaving South Beach going to Seaside in Newport we had to detour a fire that burned two hotels and killed four people (top left). We saw a funnel cloud along the way(top middle).  When we got to Seaside we got set up then to town.  We walked the main street for tourist and saw the merry-go-round, mural, Lewis and Clark monument, beach, and sand sculpture which had spelled Oregon.  After dinner we watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

Sat.  Linda got up and made blueberry pancakes and eggs.  Later I washed the windows in the rig and the car.  We went for a bike ride and walked a mall.  On the way home we saw blackberries so we picked some(bottom right).  We got enough to put two packages in the freezer and Linda made a blackberry cobbler.  We watched some of the Olympics.  

 

 Linda found more flowers to take pictures of.

Sun. We got up and went to church in Astoria Or.  It is known for it's treacherous waters, waves get to 40 feet,  where they have twenty pilots to bring in the big ships.  After they get them through the pass another pilot gets them through the moving sand bottom.  Even during our short stay we saw the river rise 5 feet.  They also have the Astoria Column (top left) which you can climb(we did not because it was raining when we went)  You get a view of the city, Columbia River,  and ocean.  It has 14 murals encircling the outside.   The middle picture is Flavel House Museum which was Captain George Flavel home. There have been many films made here The Goonies, Short Circuit, Benji the Hunted, Kindergarten Cop, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle III, Free Willy, Free Willy II, Into the Wild, and The Road.   We drove to Wa. and ate at a bakery afterward we walked to the beach(the top middle two and bottom two middle pictures is of Long Beach).   The rest of the pictures below are of the bridge which was the last piece to connected Rt. 101 from Canada to Mexico Borderscalled the Astoria-Megler Bridge.

The right side pictures is the cranberry museum and fields.  It was interesting to see how they are grown and harvested. On our way leaving Wa. we saw a marina (middle picture) and a historical church(bottom middle). Top right is the mountains and bottom right across the bay is Astoria.

On our way home we went to Ft. Clatsop.  It was the winter encampment of Lewis and Clark. 1805 and 1806.

Mon.  We got up and drove to Pacific City Or. After we got set up (which God blessed us with a site with full hook up only 1/3 are)  We went just 2 miles to the beach and got LTE and two bars are on phone.  We played games after dinner then to bed no TV.(Hate missing Olympics)

Tues. After our trip to the beach for service(morning walk). We got home I cooked bacon, sausage, blueberry pancakes and eggs on the grill. We then went on a walk and watched some of the Olympics at the club house. On our walk we saw the deer eating berries(top middle).  Then back to the beach for internet service which we are able to facetime my dad and grandchildren.  Top right is a sand dune which we hope to climb Thur. They have boats here called Dory"s (made just for this area by folks that live here) they are flat bottom and go on and off the trailer rollers right into the ocean.  The bottom three pictures are them putting a boat into the water.  They do not have boat docks along this coast like the east coast.  We have only seen a hand full of marina's.  We grilled hamburgers with blue cheese in them and bacon on top(yum yum).  Went back to the club house for more olympics.

Wed.  We traveled along the coast to Cape Meares. Along the way we stopped at Oceanside Beach(bottom left).  We were able to see Three Arch Rocks from there(bottom two right).  when we got to Cape Meares we saw Murre and Puffin’s. They look like penguins but they are not.  Just a little further we came upon the light house(top left).We walked along the coast and came to this octopus tree(2nd top left).

We then drove to Tillamook Or.  We drove to Blue Heron French Cheese.They are known for their homemade Brie.   We had a sandwich with brie on it for lunch. They have a petting farm.  We saw llama’s (top left) and a ram(top middle).  They had a nice garden just before you walked in(top right). Bottom right I stepped onto a cow display(bottom right.  We then drove to Tillamook Cheese(middle left and middle).  They have a self guided tour where we read about how it came about and we watched how they cut and packaged cheese.  Bottom middle show the Mountains. and cows.  The cows got there because as they cut and cleared the land thinking they could farm fruits and veg.  They found it rained to much but the grass was always green so they started Dairy Farms.  In fact there are 26,000 cows which is 5 cows for every person.  Middle right are alpacas which we saw at the quilt place.  There is a air space museum where during WW2 they housed the air balloons. Now they have many airplanes there we did not go in ran out of time.

Crater Lake-Florence Or.-Coos Bay-Newport-Devil,s Punchbowl

Thur. Another early start.  We drove to Union Creek to get homemade pies at Beckie's Cafe(top middle picture) then to welcome center at Crater Lake. There was wild life but not much, they say the bigger animals just past through.  There was still snow on all sides of the lake(bottom left two).  We walked to two water falls( middle and bottom right). The middle picture is the Pinnacles which was made by steam when the river was covered by lava and the steam escaped and made the tall figures.  The middle left is what they call Pumice Castle the only rocks that has color in the area.

The pictures below are of Crater Lake.  There was an island called Wizard Island(middle picture). They have a Phantom Ship(2nd bottom).  The water was very blue, the lake is 6.1miles by 4.7 miles and it takes 33 miles to drive around it.  The deepest points 1,943 feet(7th deepest in the world). The surface  temp. is 32 to 66 degrees(records show only froze once).  The bottom is 38 degrees year round.  What a wonderful experience we had to see God's handy work. 

Fri.  We had a great morning with walking, breakfast, bible study and getting things ready for moving tomorrow.  We evan played a game of cards.  We watched a movie and played more cards.

Sat. Up at  5:30 did devo, got the rig ready to leave,  hooked up car, left by 6:30.  Here we went again up and down Mt. over 2500 feet.  The last 60 miles which the map showed curvy were not as bad as the roads that the map showed straight.  Top left we saw a flock of turkeys then down the road we saw two elk grasing.  We got to the park and it is first come first to get your sight.  We were happy we got a great spot(Thank-you God) After we got set up we drove into Florence and found they were having a farmers market at the marina.  But first we are told about the wonderful donut shop.  We went and they sell out every day and they had about 8 left.  He said we could have two on him.  We were not disappointed they tasted great.  We found our church building and the times then went to the farmers market.  As we walked along we saw folks going to one of the fishing boats.  We walked down there and found they were sellingAlbacore Tuna.  Linda asked folks how they were going to prepare the fresh tuna.  I walked down the dock a little further and found the best clam chowder.  We walked the old town shopping area stopping for pictures, ice cream, and coffee.  We went back to the dock and got a large clam chowder.  As we were waiting to see about getting a tuna a man asked if anyone wanted to share one and Linda quickly said yes.  Our's weighted 15 pounds and the man on the boat cleaned it in five min.  It is truly wonderful when someone knows his craft. It was totally awesome experience. When we got home we grilled some with Italian dressing and some wrapped with bacon.  We had two large pieces one grilled each way.  Had left overs for tomorrow and only used about ten percent of the tuna.  We played some cards then to bed.

Sun.  We got up and had a casual morning.  Coffee in bed then breakfast, and Devo.  We went to church and met a lot of nice folks.  Came home and Linda made tuna sandwiches. Yes the tuna was just as good as last night.  We drove to a dune buggy place to find out info and ended up getting tickets. Our driver was the best he made the trip daring and fun but safe.  We had a half hour of fun and screams.  We were airborne in the front and at times as he come over the dunes in the rear.  When we got done we drove down the jetty road to the ocean(bottom right).  We past three staging areas for the dunes.  When we got home we went for a walk, did the blog, talked to Dan's aunt who lives here, and grilled( or as they say here BBQED).  After dinner played out  things to do tomorrow then to bed. Hi today is 62 far cry from104 where we came from!

Mon. After our breakfast we drove to Coos Bay Or. The picture below with all the flower is Shore Acres State Park and Botanical Gardens. Which was in the middle of our walk.  The pictures just do not capture the beauty of these flowers

 As we entered Charleston we stopped at a info center(charlie the tuna outside 2nd picture below top 2nd picture).  Then off to Cranberry Sweets the same Co. we saw last week in Bandon but this one makes the sweets(top right two pictures). We stopped at a "Human Bean" for coffee then back on the trail. Middle picture is the Cape Arago Lighthouse. Bottom right is a grey whale.  The rest of the pictures below are of our mile walk along a path on the coast.

Tues.  After breakfast and bible study I got to wash the car and rig.  It is so nice to get them washed not all campgrounds let you do that.  The car looked like a dust mobile.  After lunch we drove to Heceta Head Lighthouse(bottom middle).  We found out that they closed at 3 and we did not get there till then. The bridge is at the base of the light house(middle right). The rest are of the shore line near the lighthouse. When we got home put the bikes on the car and got the rig ready to move.

Wed.  We drove to South Beach and found a great camp site.  After lunch we drove up to Yaquina Bay and Saw the Yaquina Head Lighthouse(top left). Then to Devil’s Punchbowl top right and middle left.  The view from there as the rest of the coast breathtaking. The middle picture the view on the corner heading to the beach(middle right).  Bottom left is of Depoe Bay(the world’s smallest navigable harbor). Then off to Boiler Bay where we saw two whales. The bottom right 2 pictures the Or. coastline.

After church in Toledo we drove back to Newport.  It was cold and windy.  We walked along the Old Town and found these seals resting. Then as we walked there were many murals.  The bottom left is the opening to the harbor and the next two pictures of the harbor.