Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Christmas Blog

From Lakeport we traveled to Santa Rosa and once again, what a nice surprise? The camp site was close enough to the center of town to be able to walk (about a mile).  We knew from the forecast that we would have a dry day and a wet day there and that the afternoon we arrived would be fine also. The weather has been a big part of this trip as it probably will be throughout the 2 years. Whether too hot or too cold we are cozy in our little home as we have both heating and air conditioning.
We walked into Santa Rosa and along the way found the Luther Burbank gardens; very interesting – Burbank was an early pioneer of grafting and grafted literally thousands of trees, flowers and shrubs much to envy of his fellow horticulturists of the time. There was a bed of “naked ladies” Lilies, from miniature to giant in size, lots of roses named for the Queen of England, film stars, perfumes and places. His wedding photo was on display - he was 67 and his wife looked about 19 years old. He died 5 years after the marriage and she must have been a widow for 50 years or so as she only died around 1997. During her life Mrs. Burbank gifted the house, outbuildings and gardens to the city of Santa Rosa. The Burbank gardens forms part of a lovely chain of parks right beside the downtown area.
We walked then to Peet’s Coffee for our daily dose of caffeine, I drink a Cafe Latte with lots and lots of foam, which I love.  Sometimes the locals talk to us as they find our accents intriguing. Not surprisingly most claim some Irish blood flowing through their veins; one woman reckoned she was 1/33 Irish she was fun – I told her that she was the United Nations all in one person.
The following day it rained so we visited The Charles M. Schulz Museum to learn all about Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Peanuts, Linus et al – we spent nearly 4 hours there – it’s a must visit! Charles M. Schulz (“Sparky” to his friends) lived and worked for 50 years in Santa  Rosa. One could draw a picture and they would put it on file and then you could come back 50 years later and they would have it in the archives. I didn’t draw do a drawing – going back in 50 years being the problem!! 
Our next stop was Los Gatos in Maky’s driveway for 3 nights.  I hit town just as the parties were starting.  I went on the hike to San Francisco; we had lunch in the Palace Hotel. I will not say how much I ate but it was three courses and was delicious. That night I went to the annual Tennis Party in Loretta’s and now have a lovely small cushion for my RV.  Thank you ladies, I could see you wanted to steal it but had decided it was the only suitable present for the RV.  I will think of you as I sit on it!!
At the tennis Party I discovered there was a British Party the next night in Debbie’s house (I am 1/8 British).  Both of us enjoyed meeting so many friends and discovered that quite a few people are following us through the Blog.  The food was wonderful and plenty of it.  The turkey was moist the Pudding huge and the trifle boozy (Barry what did you put in it?).
The reason we hit Los Gatos so early was three fold ,  my friend Rina was visiting from  Israel so I knew Debbie would come up from San Diego for a week end so we ended up coming back to Los Gatos a little early to see Rina, Eileen (Eileen was not going to miss out on the fun and she flew in from Maine),  Debbie, Maky, Judy, the Variot’s, Gaffney’s, Goswamy’s, Gianni’s; and of course we “bumped into” lots of other friends and neighbors also. And, boy did we have fun.  I think I can finally play Mah Gong thank you, Kerry.  I had a Bridge party, Bunko party, and lots friends around.
Eileen left for Maine on the 16th, we had dinner with Rina and Ami that night and they left for Israel on the 17th.
We parked the RV in Morgan Hill for the week and it was a 40 minute ride to town and the parties. At the moment we are house sitting for Eileen and Carl as our RV is in for a major service, lots of big and little jobs need doing. I will not be moving out of Los Gatos again until Sunday. 
My “Flip” just died on me and I am sending it back to the distributors and hopefully they will send new a new one.  They were very nice on the phone and I like the size of the flip.  We will see what happens.
We saw family at the weekend; our baby is now 30 years old.  I am OLD (Ed. Adele might be, but I’m definitely NOT).  Our two San Jose grandsons are now 2 years and 4 years old and two of the best boys in the world!!  
Christmas Day will be a family celebration, thanks to Stella and Tony and then on Sunday, St. Stephen’s Day, Boxing Day – whatever you want to call it we fly to England to spend three weeks with the three best grand children in the British Isles.
To all of our Followers and Friends we wish a Merry Christmas & a Happy, Peaceful and Prosperous New Year.
We expect to be back on the road at the end of January.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Photo's as promised some time ago

Promised you photos and here they are. (You see the real reason I could not put photos on was I had forgotten my connecter) now that I am near Los Gatos I can get things out of storage.


Taken at Munson Falls near Tillamook, it is as tall as the Niagara Falls but not so much water!  It was way up a back road with lots of pot holes.  It was so green in the forest.  The spray makes a micro climate and the moss was thick on the trees.
Tom at the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Washington. We also visited a site they wintered at in Oregon.  We now think we are experts on the Lewis & Clark trip. Any Questions?
A “blowhole “on the promenade in the middle of a seaside town called Depoe Bay just south of Lincoln City, OR.  What fun watching the waves come in and wondering would this be the one that would” blow”.
Tom at the main door of Tokeland Hotel, Tokeland, WA that was built in 1865 and is still in its original state. Walls are not plum, door frames crooked, the rooms are furnished as it was in 1865, Iron bed with patchwork counterpanes, wash stands with pitchers in the wash bowls and chamber pots with lids stored underneath.  
We had a wonderful dinner there of Cranberry Pot Roast it was delicious. 

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Konocti Mountain at Lakeport

We had hooked up the car the night before our departure from Fortuna. It takes us two hours from bed to road and we are not early risers so having the car hitched is a good start. 

Next day we set off in the rain and it was relentless. Wipers on all the time; swish/swish...these are big wipers. We had booked ahead to an RV camp in Leggett but we decided to keep going to our next scheduled stop Lakeport on the shores of Clearlake which is dominated by Konocti Mountain.

Konocti is a sacred mountain to the Native Americans, who have been living in the area for over 12,000 years; it is a dormant volcanic mountain on the south side of Clear Lake.  Needless to say there are houses built right up the side of it with fantastic views.

Clear Lake which has been there for millions of years is 100 miles around. Lakeport is the county seat and it is a pretty little town with a very good museum in the old Court House of the history of the Pomo people, their culture, weaving and basket making. One exhibit that fascinated was a reed boat – very similar to those from ancient Egypt. In the lobby of the museum we met a genuine Pomo, Thomas I told him I thought John Wayne had killed them all and after a good laugh we had a great chat with him. Once again we stayed beside a Casino, this time literally on a strip of land belonging to the Pomo tribe. Let me put it this way they do not have houses with great views.

We drove down to Calistoga and saw "Old Faithful" shooting into to the air and a few minor steam pools along the side of the road.  Calistoga which is in the wine country has mud baths and hot geysers. We had left the fishing area of California and entered into the wine country. Most places before Calistoga relied on the fisherman for business.

On Sunday we had a wonderful traditional Holiday Victorian Afternoon Tea at the Lakeport English Inn which is run by Karan Mackey a former Mayor of Lakeport and Supervisor of Lake County. I also purchased some gifts from their beautifully Holiday store.

I am having some challenges downloading videos and photos and will work on resolving these issues during the Holidays as I have some great shots to show.


Saturday, December 4, 2010

CA at last

We crossed into CA on November 28th.  Any other State it really makes no difference but CA likes to let you know you are entering this vast and different place called after a mythological island in Spanish folklore.

Police in uniform officially greet you at the border and make sure you are carrying no fresh fruit and vegetables into CA.  This of course meant I had a night of making a gallon of soup in lots of small pots.  Then the fresh fruit had to be chopped into little pieces and I ended up with 4 bowls of fresh fruit salad.  Fresh Fruit Salad!!! That’s a salad, right?  The soup is now finished but the fruit salad is still with us one more bowl to go!!

As Tom was unhooking the car at our next stop, Fortuna, he was already chatting up a lady at the campsite, Joei. So I asked her in to have a cup of tea and 8 hours later she goes home. Joei Carlton Hossack as it turns out is an Author and has written many books (of course I bought one called Everyone’s Dream, Everyone’s Nightmare which is about her own RV adventures with her late husband). She was on her way to San Diego to see her sister but had an oil leak which meant that she could not leave until Monday and this was Sunday.  We invited her to visit Ferndale with us and we enjoyed her company as much as she enjoyed ours.  She is very entertaining and has lots of stories to tell as she had travelled extensively in Europe and the USA.  She is not impressed with our plan of travelling in our RV to 48 states over 2 years; as she had lived on the road for 11 years before she settled in Canada.

Ferndale is a Victorian town with a beautiful Main Street that is crowned by a gorgeous Hotel at the end of the street. It’s a real jewel in the middle of farming country.

Fortuna is your all American town.  We went to the movies to see the latest Harry Potter movie.  Once again I need to read the book and not sit there and wonder what the story is. 

Next blog I promise will have Photos.   

Monday, November 29, 2010

As you saw in the last blog the view was lovely but we didn’t bring our snow shoes.  We did intend to stay in the Coos Bay area for Thanksgiving; as we enjoyed the setting, the town and the RV Park which was very good.   

But we needed to move South as it was cold brrr brrrr. So we headed for Gold Beach. The camp site we stayed at overnight was run by Germans, accents and all. This is a place where gold was found on the beach in powder form and men set up a system whereby they could extract the gold from the sand. I don't think anyone got too rich there.

Our next stop was to be Klamath however, when we called to reserve, the person we spoke with was not interested unless we intended to stay more than one night; so I said we would stay three. We arrived on Thanksgiving around 3.30pm and opened the gate as no one was in the office and 2 more RVs followed us in, they stayed one night and next day we were the only customers. That night Ray (the owner) lit a big fire in a large recretation room for us and told us where to go in Crescent City to get Thanksgiving dinner. We had a lovely Seniors Thanksgiving meal - the whole works, soup and pumpkin pie included; we enjoyed our meal as we were hungry. 

The following day we visited the Trees of Mystery, rode the gondola to the top of the mountain; hiked down a very steep, and in places difficult trail to the bottom and then rode up and down again to experience the ride down. At the top we had spectacular views of snow covered mountains to the East and the Pacific to the West.

On our last day we went looking for elk (Roosevelt Elk - the largest elk) and saw quite a sizable herd after we had hiked Prairie Creek Forest which was beautiful. We dropped into a CA State Park information center and met a young man sitting inside; we had passed a bike on the way in. We got chatting and he told us that he had cycled from NC to CA to see the Redwoods; he had the book with him showing an enormous redwood that had inspired him to undertake his cycle-trek across the USA to see these lovely trees. He hopes to cycle back and go back to college.

On our last night Ray gave us smoked salmon that he had caught and smoked himself. Then he took us in an all-terrain vehicle, all over his property, right down to the area where the original town of Klamath used to be. 

Klamath and its bridge were washed away in 1964. Some of the original bridge is still standing. If you drive across the bridge on 101 that has 2 gold bears (one either side) this is the replacement bridge; however it is further up the river than the original and twice as high. Since then we've discovered that a lot of small towns have been washed away over the years by rivers in Northern CA.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Snow video

You need to hit the little arrow at the bottom of the picture to turn on video

Snow

Little did we think we would be waking up to a scene like this
The view out our window yesterday

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Rainy Sunday

Well, we got the weather that was forecast.  Lots of rain, we now think we should have purchased an ARK. We are still beside The Mill Casino at Coos Bay.

As we came into to Coos Bay area we were stopped by the police.  All the works "BI BA BI BA" PULL OVER, we wondered could that be us, we are going 30 mph so it cannot be us but no one else is around so we pull in to the side. Another BIG LOUD announcement NOT ON THE FREEWAY so now we know it is us. Tom is driving and we pull into a side road. We get out of the RV to be met by a policeman that could have been my grandson.  He informs Tom that he drove through a School zone at 30mph and he should have been doing 20mph. Tom got a warning and I told the policeman this was Tom’s first time to be stopped by the police in 50 years of driving. Now we crawl through town in my bug hoping we will not get stopped again.

On a different note, there is a Theatre in Coos Bay town that is a Listed American Heritage Building. Friday was the 85th anniversary of its opening and to celebrate it showed a silent movie “The Cat and the Canary” accompanied by a Wurlitzer Organ with the original music.  It was fun and free.

Saturday night there was a Variety Show with local talent and it was very entertaining.  During the interval there was coffee and birthday cake.  This all cost us $5 a head, the fun and entertainment was well worth the price.

Knocked on the Door of another RV just like ours to discover they were both from England but living in Canada, they head for Arizona every winter so I have met my first Snowbirds".  Also, met another man from Australia who also lives in Canada; he answered lots of our question regarding "life on the road".

Thursday, November 18, 2010

photos


RV book for Dummiies needed

We are now in a lovely RV Park beside a The Mill Casino on Coos Bay, OR.  We have the use of the facilities, indoor pool, hot tub, gym, several restaurants and of course we can lose lots of money in their slots.

Weather better than expected as a big storm was forecast and got sunshine instead. What weather will tomorrow bring ? We intend to stay here for Thanksgiving, we will miss family around the Table in Moody's and will drink a toast to all family and friends and hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving Feast.

We now know how to extend the awnings. Once again out came" the book", this time it was our fault as we did have the awnings demonstrated to us but we could not remember "diddly"  If we were to pull gently or with force on the tape, wheather the lever was to be forward or back, we were afraid it would come flying down in top of us, anyway we worked it out and were delighted with ourselves. 2 days later we need to get the awnings back up.  Loosen all the nuts and then do we pull gently or will it ... you guessed...go flying up; should the lock be forward or back?  OUT with the book, we don't want the awning fluttering in the breeze as we go sailing down 101.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Oregon Coast continued….

We explored Cannon Beach on Sunday, a quaint little town that’s a mix of Carmel and Mendocino; wonderful art and crafts shops, a veritable menu of eateries with friendly, interested and chatty people.

And, the beach…well what can we say about it – it goes on forever. The real attraction however is the Haystack which is a large island like rock about a mile off-shore; which nostalgically reminded us of Scelig Micheal off the Kerry Coast. The day was beautiful, if chilly, and we walked the beach before lunch and again afterwards.

Monday morning Adele played her on-line Bridge and afterwards we loaded BlueBug onto the tow dolly and took the short 50 mile trip to Tillamook. That afternoon we went sightseeing, we started by hiking to Munson Creek Falls – quite spectacular waterfall at 319 feet hidden away in a rain forest; then we traversed the Three Capes Loop to Cape Meares Lighthouse. What fascinated us however was not the lighthouse but rather Three Arches – a formation of offshore rocks with, yes! Three Arches! Not unlike Natural Bridges near Santa Cruz.

Tuesday we visited Tillamook Creamery and took the self-guided tour of their cheese making facility – well worth a stop. We had a really great lunch of Clam Chowder and a Bacon Cheeseburger in their cafeteria and purchased a couple of pounds of their Extra Sharp Cheddar; as it’s the closest we can find to Irish Cheddar or a Leicestershire Red. From there we paid a quick visit to the Blue Heron Cheese shop where we picked up lovely Brie.

Wednesday we traveled, again a short way to Lincoln City where we had arranged to meet Adele’s friend Becky. And, what a treat that turned out to be! Becky called and suggested we meet her at Otis Café in Otis.

I missed the turn as the co-pilot/navigator was busy speaking with Stella (of Tony & Stella fame) discussing Christmas arrangements. The consequence of this was that I had to drive through a Safeway parking lot to turn back.

To get to Otis take Hwy 18 off Hwy 101 towards Salem, it’s about 3 miles east of 101.

Our individual brunches were freshly prepared and cooked from all local ingredients; we agreed that this was the best brunch we’ve had. For anyone touring Oregon or en route on 101 North or South this is an absolute MUST STOP Café experience.

We parked the RV outside Becky’s and stayed the night in her home. The following morning (Thursday) we took Becky’s collie Grantley for a walk on the beach, still don’t know who enjoyed it better, Adele, Grantley or me.

Then we got on the road again a little further down the coast to Newport where we self-checked into Beverley Beach State Park. Very quickly we un-hooked BlueBug from the dolly and (as it was raining) visited the Newport Aquarium; we arrived a little too late to fully enjoy the many exhibits there, those we did see were interesting and informative.

Friday started bright and sunny, so off we went for a long walk on the beach after which Adele spent 30 minutes doing Yoga while I sat, meditated and solved the ills of the world as I watched a boiling see rush to shore.

For lunch we decided to take another of Becky’s suggestions and took the short journey to La Maison in Newport. La Maison is Bakery/Café tucked away on 315 SW 9th Street, Newport, OR 97365.

Adele ordered a Turkey Croissant sandwich (Turkey, cranberries, hazelnuts, tomato and lettuce) she pronounced it “melt in your mouth” and “the best sandwich” she’s ever had; I ordered what was billed as a Mediterranean sandwich (ham, salami, pepperoni, prosciutto, mozzarella and tomato) on a Ciabatta bread – without a doubt the very best sandwich I have ever eaten! And, before I forget…the sandwich orders included a bowl of Clam Chowder. As value for money this takes the prize!

If you are in Newport or passing through do yourself a large favor and stop at La Maison for breakfast or lunch – its open from 9 to 3 everyday, this is a very busy and popular venue so call ahead (541) 265-8812.

As the day was still fine we walked the beach once more. Then as the forecast for Saturday was rain, we loaded BlueBug onto the dolly.    

Saturday did in fact start rainy yet by the time we had finished breakfast and the pre-drive checklist it was fine enough for another walk on the beach.

Our journey was another relatively short one – Newport to Florence, and, again on the edge of the pacific with just amazing scenery all the way. A disappointment was that the Sea Lions were not in residence at the Sea Lion Caves just north of Florence – it does, however, give us a reason to return in sunnier times.            


Saturday, November 6, 2010

Are we having fun yet??

A full week on the road and, in spite of some first-timers teething problems, we are also having fun and learning the rich history of the Northwest of the US.

Our first stop as you know was in Westport, WA – we understand it’s a tourist mecca in the summer and early fall. The Tourist information people suggested we visit nearby Tokeland, particularly the Hotel which is a National Historic Landmark – there’s a fine history available “Tokeland Hotel, A History” by Ruth McCausland. We had afternoon tea and a tour of the Hotel by the owner. This “is the place to get away from it all” no phones, no television and with beautiful bedrooms as they were in the 19th century.

The following day after visiting Gray Harbor Lighthouse which at 109 years old is the oldest working lighthouse, certainly in the Northwest, we returned to Tokeland Hotel for dinner of Cranberry Pot Roast; a melt in the mouth dish which we followed with a Marion berry cobbler, yummy!

Westport has a long tradition of fishing; some of which we sampled on Saturday night in The One-Eyed Crab, the clam chowder was the best we’ve tasted, thankfully, we had decided to share an entrée of Halibut Fish & Chips which was superb and sufficient.

From Westport we traveled to Long Beach, WA which journey we’ve already written about.

While in the Long Beach area we visited Cape Disappointment on the North side of where the Columbia River meets the Pacific – the bar at the mouth of the river has to be seen to be believed. Here we visited two more lighthouses, literally 2 miles apart, North Head Lighthouse and Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. However, the highlight was our visit to the Lewis & Clark Interpretative Centre; a MUST VISIT for anyone visiting this area!

We left Long Beach, via Astoria for Cannon Beach, OR. Our stopover in Astoria was to visit the Columbia River Maritime Museum; to try to understand the river, the bar at its mouth and its maritime history; this again is a MUST VISIT.

Yesterday, as you know we played golf at virtually our own private course Gearhart Golf Links, a very tight, challenging course that we thoroughly enjoyed; the scores were both respectable. Enough said!

One of our ambitions is to visit as many National Parks as possible and today we visited our first the Lewis & Clark National Park and Fort Clatsop. The highlight for me was that for the second time in 2010 (the first time was on a bus in San Francisco) I was “carded” to prove that I am over 62 when I wanted to purchase a Lifetime Pass to all National Parks – tremendous value  at $10 for both Adele and me. 4 hours later we left still wondering at the tenacity and perseverance of the Lewis & Clark party.

So…yes, we are enjoying ourselves.  

Friday, November 5, 2010

Golf

We are now at Cannon Beach, OR  having crossed the four and a half mile Astoria bridge.

On our way here we stopped off first to visit the "Museum of the Columbia River" in Astoria. In all, we spent 3 hours there marveling at this magnificient and dangerous river; the mouth of which is the most treacherous in the US and has taken in total almost 1,000 lives.
 
This morning I had a swim in a heated seawater pool here at the RV park and then this afternoon we played golf at Gearhart Golf Links about 10 miles away - believe it or not we had the course to ourselves, which we played (walking) in a little under 4 hours. It was a lovely course and great value at $20 each. 

47 more states to go!!.

Turning on the oven took the two of us and the book of instructions.  It took us quite a while to discover that the button had to stay pushed in while one lit the pilot light.  I don't like to cook by gas and it shows. Then we had a lovely meal.


This is a very nice area and prosperous. Lovely seaside homes. 

On our way back from golf we drove our bluebug on the beach - a first for all of us, Tom, me and the Bug.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Our Scary Halloween

As the weather was too bad to travel, we stayed an extra day in Westport; in fact the rain was so heavy we were beginning to think we should have bought an ARK. 

On Nov 2nd we hitched up the dolly, drove the bug onto it, no easy thing to do and off we went. Driving along 101 S looking at the scenery which is beautiful.  Really awsome. Then Tom notices that the engine temperature is very HOT almost on the red. So, we pulled off to the side.

The computer on the RV had been indicating "check coolant" we were also seeing a "change engine oil" message and consequently ignored it as computer error as we had earlier called the service garage having just had the RV "dewinterized". Incorrectly, we assumed they would have looked after everything under the hood. So...we decide the computer is correct, check the coolant resevoir - EMPTY! Take the car off the dolly and away Tom drives back to the nearest town to buy coolant for the engine. We pour the fluid into the resevoir, put the car back on the dolly, strap it securely, chains for extra safety and head down 101 once again. 

In about 3 miles the engine starts to get way too hot so we have to stop again. We call AAA for road side assistance to hear that we were responsible for towing after which AAA will reimpurse us $200. The tow company would have cost $1,000 at least. AAA put us in contact with a Tow company who were unable to help as we were too big for them to tow; and "no" they can't recommend anyone.

It is now getting late and we are facing spending the night on the side of 101. We decide our only option is to drive back to town and buy more coolant so the car must come off the dolly again. As Tom is driving away I hear a chain noise as I realised I had left a chain around an axle so I run after the car as Tom drives away, thankfully, he hears the chain and stops; we unwind the chain from the axle - no damage done.  While Tom is gone I re-read the instructions for the coolant and realise we should have added equal amounts of water. OMG. So I add the water and I pull out my deck chair and enjoy the scenery and resign to the idea that this is were we will spend the night. Tom arrives back with 3 more gallons of coolant and we pour coolant and water into the engine and decide to "limp: to the next campsite; we decide it is too much trouble to hitch the car up as we will probably just get down the road a few miles and will be stopping again. I drive behind Tom the rest of the journey and we make it to the RV park just as the sun goes down.

It looks like we have solved the problem all by ourselves.

We are on the road again tomorrow.....

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Moving in

This is us moving into our new home.  What fun we had looking for places for all our "stuff"
VID00136

Friday, October 29, 2010

On the road at last!

Almost two weeks late, finally, we are on the road starting our 48 State + Canada adventure.

Last night the "dolly" for BlueBug was delivered.  Tom and Gerry (honestly) put it together in the wind and rain last night, well almost - this morning we had to have the lighting matched to the RV at a service station and then learned the intricacies of loading the car and securing it to the dolly; quite an excercise.  

Then...we headed West in blazing Sunshine to Westport on the Washington coast.

We are not yet "all systems go".  The pilot light for hot water will not light so we must go out to the shower block to wash. I boil a kettle to wash the few dishes we use and we cannot get any channel on the new TV - mostly as we have no idea how it works - maybe one of our grandkids could help. 

It is great to be finally on the road and we are hoping for a few fine days by the sea.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

In count-down mode!

On Sunday, I sallied forth for the first time by driving the RV from Olalla into Tacoma for it service. Quite like driving a car, except that one must be ultra vigilant on size and length of gap to the next vehicle in front...stopping a 28 foot monster on a dime is not recommended.

As I write "Rambling Rover" is in the Camping World service bay being de-winterized (sounds counterintuitive), serviced, oil changes etc; as well as having a reversing camera and TV installed.

This afternoon we will have an orientation run through on the RV to develop our "pre-flight check lists" and learn about the various hook-ups.

Tomorrow the tow dolly is scheduled to arrive sometime. We should be on the road, at the latest, Friday morning; with our first port of call scheduled to be Westport, WA.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Not on the road yet

The problem with getting the RV on the road are now hitting us  We assumed that we could walk into Camping World ,book the RV in for dewinterizing and a full service the following day and we would be on the road today Wednesday 21st oct.  The reality is we are now in Vancouver, Canada staying with my brother for a few days rather than staying in Dorethy's yard and hanging around.   We will travel back to Tacoma WA Sunday morning.  more next Monday

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Sleeping in the RV

Believe it or not we left CA in the rain, lots of it, 4 hours of very heavy rain. My little car was packed to the hilt.  with a small window of space to see out the back.  A great place to stop for lunch or coffee is in Willians CA , "Granzello's".  We slept very well in OUR RV last night.  Unpacking this morning so chaos reigns in our new home.  We are in Starbuck which could be our favourite haunt for the next two years it has FREE wi-fi! Must go now to Camping World and the grocery store to stock up.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Heading out Sunday

We head up to Olalla near Tacoma WA on Sunday 16th Oct. (early).   We need to reach Eugene OR by night fall. My little bug will be full to the brim with stuff.  Golf clubs, suitcases, coats, hiking boots and lots of stuff we think we need and might never touch.  The kindle is packed and so is my new tableware.We hope to get to Olalla ( I think of the french "Oh la la")by the afternoon so we can go grocery shopping and unpack.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

In the UK

Arrived at Heathrow after a restful British Airways flight on Monday afternoon to be surprised by Jennifer in the Arrivals Hall...a great start to our visit.

This morning we hiked along the canals around Gumley for about six miles - a splendid way to overcome jet-lag.

Stella (Tony's girlfriend) starts the September Birthday celebrations today, followed by Hannah tomorrow, Adele on Friday and Molly on the 30th.

We're all heading to London on Saturday for the day.

More later.... 

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Counting down the days!

We leave for a visit to our daughter Jennifer's family - (hubby) Karl; Hannah, Molly and Ciaran on September 12th where we will celebrate three Birthday's Hannah's 16th, Adele 17th and Molly 30th.

On October 2nd we head over to Ireland where Tom will visit his Mum; attend some business meetings; play golf and catch up with family and friends. Meanwhile Adele will "go West" to visit friends, hopefully meet up with her brother Tom (visiting from Vancouver, BC) and rejoin Tom in Dublin before heading back to Jennifer on the 9th.

We return to California on October 12th for a few days before heading north to Tacoma to take posession of our RV and commence on our travels and regular postings to our blog.