Happy Holidays!

We hope this message finds you and your family safe and warm. We have heard about the unusually cold weather people are getting all over the States. Even Whidbey Island in Washington’s Puget Sound got snow in early December. We are staying pretty warm and dry so far, but people are worried about another cold winter here in the Keys .

In late November, Sandy’s brother, Jay drove all the way from Illinois for a visit. On his first day here and within the hour of his arrival, Dan took Jay out kayaking around the campground. Jay promptly had himself baptized by tipping the kayak over while trying to look at an Iguana sitting in the tree above him. At least, it was a warm and calm day to go swimming in the marina. Later, we took him to an area of the marina where he could get pictures of the iguanas without getting wet.

Some of our plans had to be changed because of a cold front coming through, but we managed to do quite a bit during Jay’s short visit. We took him to Mallory Square for the Sunset Ritual and walked around Key West afterwards. Of course, we had to take him to the Southern Most Point and Mile 0 for photos. We spent one day taking a 70 mile one way boat trip to a very isolated outpost - Fort Jefferson (1860) at the Dry Tortugas NP. The seas were not too rough, but the Captain had to zig-zag around Lobster traps to avoid taking out the floats.

Once we landed at Dry Tortugas, we had the option to go on a tour or to do our own thing. While Jay did the tour and took pictures, we decided to wander around on our own. After lunch, Dan went snorkeling along the Moat walk while Sandy did some more exploring.

We learned that this was the home of Dr. Samuel Mudd and three other conspirators after they were found guilty of conspiracy to assassinate President Lincoln. Three years later, Dr. Mudd was released from his life-long sentence after treating yellow-fever victims during his imprisonment.


We have linked the National Park’s website so you can read about the fort's history.  Dry Tortugas Album

We spent a couple of hours at the Key West Garden Club (KWGC) at the West Martello Towers (1863-1873). The KWGC rescued the unfinished fort from being leveled on the south side or Atlantic side of Key West. Now the West Martello is listed as a National Historical Site and has a rare collection of native and exotic plants. We had to remind ourselves as we wandered along plant filled pathways and into garden rooms that this was supposed to be the fort’s old brick walls. Banyan Trees and Bromeliads were growing on many of the walls. The Club has done an amazing job and they only ask for a donation.  Key West Garden Album

Well, Jay did not get a chance to parasail or to snorkel any of the reefs. He did find lots of good subjects for his 3-D photography.  If you are interested in seeing Jay’s photos, here is a link to his album.  From the pictures he took, it looks like he had a good time.

We have also added a few more photos to some of our older albums.  The links below will start where the new photos start:

More Key West

Key West Critters

Have a safe and Happy Holiday!

Power Boat and Super Boat Races

It’s hard to believe we have been here in Key West for over a month now. Time just slips away with so many different things to do. One minute we are eating breakfast trying to decide what we want to do today and the next thing we know it is dark and we have not eaten dinner yet.

Ah! And the weather has been wonderful! Some days are almost too perfect with 83 degrees and just a hint of a breeze. Some days, the water on the Gulf side looks like glass all day long! Ah! Gorgeous! Well, to make you feel a little better. It wasn’t completely perfect. Yes, the humidity was a little high, but who cares when the sun is shining and the water is beckoning for us to dive in!

We have been exploring different kayak launching areas on the other Keys. We are always hoping to come across different sea life and wild life during our kayaking time. So far we have seen a lot of birds, a couple of sharks, stingrays, barracudas, and one dolphin. We uploaded a few more pictures to Key West Critters.  We’ll keep looking. After all we have plenty of time for exploring.  We started a new album Key West Kayaking with photos from our kayaking trips.  There are only a few, but we promise to add to the album as we get more photos.

On 7 Nov, Key West hosted a Power Boat and Super Boat Race. Every other day, there were three races with boats from different power/speed classes. On the first day, we went with the idea that we would not be able to see the race that well without binoculars. Boy, were we ever surprised to have the boats racing by so close that the spectators could almost feel the rooster-tails splashing them! If we stood right on the shore, the waves made by the power boat’s wake would get our feet. It was a WOW!! moment! Needless to say we were back for the next two race days. We took advantage of the multiple races by viewing them from different locations. We took so many pictures that Sandy filled her microchip (holds 500 pics) twice. Don’t worry we only uploaded a little over 100 photos in Power and Super Boats album.

As always, pics and clickable links are above.

Key West "America's Caribbean"

It is a whole different world here. It has sometimes been referred to as “America’s Caribbean”.

The beaches are from crushed white limestone and it is hard on the feet, so best to wear water shoes into the warm waters.  There's a few sandy beaches open to the public in Key West such as Smathers Beach, Higg’s Beach, and Ft. Zachary State Park.  As a matter of fact, all of the keys are made from limestone and an ancient coral reef giving this area its tropical setting.  Even Hemingway’s home is made from limestone. The first owner excavated limestone from the very spot the house was built. This gave the house a basement area and the first pool on the island.

Of course, we had to visit Hemingway’s home and all the cats. Hemingway had not planned on living in Key West. He and his wife, Pauline stopped in Key West to pick up a Roadster to drive to their final destination, but the car was not delivered for 7 weeks. By the time the car was delivered Key West had worked its magic on Hemingway and he decided to stay. Well, for at least the next 10 years, then he moved to Havana, Cuba after his divorce.

A sea captain gave Hemingway his first 6-toed cat and that cat apparently did a lot of tomcatting for many years based on the number of 6-toed cats on the estate. There are quite a few cat houses, food dishes, and water dishes throughout the grounds. One special drinking fountain for the cats has an old urinal catching water from a Spanish olive jar. The urinal came from Joe Russell’s “Sloppy Joe’s” place. Pauline disguised it with tiles. Pictures of the Hemingway Estate are in a separate album.

We bicycled all around the island one day. There are bike trails and designated bike lanes all over the island. Drivers learn very fast to keep an eye out for Jay-walkers, scooters, and bike riders so we felt safe riding our bikes on the narrow main streets in the downtown area. We were able to see more on our bikes than when we are in the car, not to mention that we got a lot of exercise. It is just over over 12 miles to ride around the island of Key West. We will probably do it again since it is easier to park a bike than to find a parking space for our car without paying.

Last week, we went to Casa Marina Resort for a Pet Masquerade during the week of Fanasy Fest.  Some owners were more dressed up than the pets. It was still a lot of fun and we took quite a few pictures. Many of the pets were enjoying the attention as much as their people. We swear that many of them were actually posing for the camera.

After the pet show, we walked downtown to check out Fantasy Fest and the sunset celebration at Mallory Square with the blowing of the conchs.  We cannot post many pictures of Fantasy Fest as it is a bit wild and not PC.  No nudity is allowed, but body paint and scraps of cloth constitute suitable clothing for some in the main blocks of the fest.  The theme this year was Habitat for Insanity.


Even grocery shopping is a different experience. We came across frozen bags of yucca and plantains. We tried the fried plantains at a restaurant and they were very good. We will have to try the yucca sometime in the near future.


We try to either walk, bicycle, or kayak each day.  Dan has a new case for his small digital camera, so will try and get some on the water kayak pictures posted soon.


When we are here at the motorhome in the evening, we go outside to watch the sun set. We have added more pictures to our Sunset album. A few of the campers blow on conch shells signaling the setting of the sun. It is so peaceful and so beautiful that it is hard to believe such a place actually exists. Pinch me!

Key West Photo Albums: More Key West
Key West Sunsets/Sunrise
Key West Critters
Key West Week #1

Our First Week in Key West

….has been Great! We have already been out kayaking four times. We saw our first Manatee close to the base shore and two sharks. We were able to follow the Manatee around for a while since he or she did not seem to care. Dan saw the first (small) shark while kayaking around Geiger Key’s mangroves. We got a picture of one 4 foot shark swimming around in the marina with some very large Tarpons.

We have been downtown just as often, and stopped to see the Southern-Most Point in America. The marker was very busy so we will have to go back for pictures. Of course, we had to visit MargaretiVille. It wasn’t crowded so we were able to spend some time at the bar, sipping our drinks, and checking out Jimmy Buffett’s place. . OH!.. and we have watched many beautiful sunsets. Yep! We got pictures. We will keep a separate album for the Sunsets so our Key West picture folder doesn’t get too large. We haven’t done the sunset ritual at Mallory Square, but we plan to do so and take lots of pictures.

The weather has been a little humid, but not too bad. How would we describe Key West? Three words come to mind: exotic, eclectic, and colorful. Exotic: a rich historic background with stories of shipwreck salvagers and an independent Conch Republic. Add in palm trees, warm crystal-clear and very calm waters, Iguanas and feral chickens blended with the eclectic culture in this balmy weather and the results are a very artistic Fun-n-Sun-Loving community with lots of flavorful food in a very beautiful old town. We couldn’t ask for a more colorful setting than Key West.

In one short week we have learned a lot about Key West history and its occupants. Such as this island’s first name was Bone Island after the Spanish found large amounts of human bones just lying around.

We were a little surprised to find the Key populated by Green Iguanas. Our first encounter with one was as we were driving our motorhome onto base. That’s when Sandy spied a very large lizard sitting on top of a bush near base housing. Turns out Iguanas are not indigenous to the Keys. From what we have been able to learn: some came by ships with fruit cargos and others were escaped or set free pets. Apparently, the weather, the vegetation, and the location have been perfect for the Green Iguana. We are going to have a separate album for the Iguanas and other Key West critters.

Then there are the feral “Gypsy” chickens running wild around Key West. They say the chickens have been here for over 175 years, but they grew in number when fleeing Cubans came here in the 1950s. We find the free-roaming chickens add charm to this area and are interesting to watch, but the locals are divided on keeping the chickens.

The food has been very good so far. Our first stop was a small place in a strip plaza. We just happened across Kennedy Café just outside the Sigsbee gate. We thought they were serving only Turkish food, but they also have Cuban-American and Italian. This time we decided to stick with our favorites: a Greek salad for Sandy and a Shawarma for Dan. Very good food and we do plan to go back.

We also had lunches at the Geiger Key Campground Smokehouse and Turtle Kraals. Both have good food, great views, a wonderful and very relaxed atmospheres.

So, do we like Key West? Most definitely!

Kayaking in Tampa, FL

After leaving Tyndall AFB, we stopped at Old Town, FL on the Suwannee River. We only stayed a few days at Suwannee River Hideaway campground. The owners are very friendly and very helpful. They had just reopened for the winter season so we were their first and only customers. Yep, we had the whoooole campground to ourselves. There’s a boardwalk built over a swamp that leads people to the Suwannee River. We took our time walking through the swamp since we have never been inside or near a swamp before coming here. From the road – yes, but never like this. We did not see any alligators, but we did hear some loud crashing deeper in the swamp. We think it was a deer or the Swamp Thing. You never know.

Since the campground was empty of people, we took three cats out at the same time. Squirrel and Dusty ran around on their own with their leashes dragging behind them. We knew they would not go far. We held on to our escape artist – Hitch. Max refused to go outside. We think it was the wide open spaces that made him nervous. Well, at least three of them had a few hours of fun and exploring.

We went to Manatee Springs State Park. The water is absolutely beautiful and so clear. We could see divers swimming around at the bottom. We did not see any Manatees, but we did see two different snakes lying in the bushes nearby thanks to an eagle-eye young man pointing them out to people. We had walked right by both and did not see either one.  We did not do any kayaking during our short visit to the Old Town area.

Moving on to MacDill AFB in Tampa:   We really like this campground, and the base is one of the best we have ever seen.  Here, they still play Reverie at 6:21 am, a noon siren, the National Anthem at 4:30 pm as the Base Flag is being lowered, and Taps at 10 pm every day on the "Giant Voice System". That is going to take some getting used to since we retirees like to sleep until 7 am.  Not to mention, we just went through a Time Zone change. Still, we are talking about coming back. We like this campground and the area.

The beach, the marina, and the beach club house are in the campground area. There is a residential Osprey living in the campground. The Osprey likes to perch on a lamp post near the beach boardwalk and watches the people as they walk to the beach. We also discovered Armadillos are not very scared of people. Well, at least the ones living here are not scared of us. The one in the photo in the webshots link below kept posing, but just as we would take his picture he would move. And Boy! Could he move and jump. We always though they were sloooow moving. Not true.

We went to Sarasota for a Kayak Demo Day sponsored by Dolphin Dive and Kayak Center,  to test a Current Designs 14' * 26" light weight sit on top composite kayak.  We liked the "test ride", so we traded in our old plastic kayaks for two lighter and faster fiberglass/kevlar kayaks.  The dealer through in 2 extra seats of a different design for a total of 4 seats, and a deep discount as these are last years models.  Pics to left of our new kayaks, with one seat in and one seat out.


Pictures above are "clickable" and more pictures are in our album Florida - Going South.

Hello From Florida!

Ahhhh.. Sun!

Hey! Hey!  WE were here first!!!

We are at Tyndall AFB on the Florida Panhandle between Panama City and Mexico Beach for the next couple of weeks. We are staying at the base’s FamCamp. We have a nice spot with trees and bushes giving us a little more privacy. Seeing the Gulf beaches again is great! Just the way we remember the beach with sand so white and soft it feels like you are walking on sugar. The ocean water temp is warm, no rain forecast for the next week, and air temp in the low 90s.

This is a great place to start getting back into shape for kayaking on the bays nearby. We started kayaking the day after we got here. We kayaked in a nearby back bay and saw a large pod of dolphins (porpoise). They were pretty close at times, well under 20 yards. They hung around where we were for about 5 minutes or so. Mullets were jumping.  One tried to jump into Dan's kayak.  We also saw a Red Tailed Hawk perched nearby in an old tree, but he would not let us get too close before flying away.

Just had to add this picture to our blog since we are headed for Key West....There BE Pirates Here!  Arrrgh!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

New Floors Installed

We have all new flooring and carpet in our coach, installed by Ernie Ekberg at his place in Weatherford TX. We selected a  bamboo flooring from Lumber Liquidators in Ft Worth, and a good quality carpet from Lucky's Flooring in Weatherford, as well as the best RV flooring installer in the business, Ernie.

We had never intended to buy bamboo flooring, but the Morning Star bamboo flooring is tough and durable.  We picked out the unstained Natural for a lighter flooring.

 

Pics of the completed project are here:

http://rides.webshots.com/album/578499643vFFIgh

Everything out of the living area

What a difference!

Ernie working on the entrance way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stairwell with new carpet and flooring for easy cleaning.

Catching Up

We made it to Albuquerque and got our green chile, breakfast burritos fix. But before we got to Albuquerque, we spent a few nights at Mesa Verde National Park. We toured all three cliff dwellings: Balcony House, Cliff Palace, and Long House. All were very interesting to see and to hear what the rangers said about all of them. We enjoyed our stay at the NP campground during the three days. It was hot and muggy – thanks to the monsoon season. During our tour of the Balcony House, a waterfall started cascading down the cliff near the dwelling. We were happy to be under the cliff safe and dry. You know what they say about your home: Location, location, location – and this was a very good location.

Once in Albuquerque, we had our car detailed, waxed, and interior cleaned. The poor car was so dirty from being towed; the carwash put our car through twice before waxing it! Dan also replaced a driving light taken out by a rock and had new tires and  brake pads put on the car. The car is back to looking good! Well, for a little while….

We spent some time catching up on the latest with our son, Shaun. Some of our cats actually remembered him. We then split up so we could visit our friends in the area. It was great seeing our friends again. We missed a few of our friends so we are hoping to see them the next time we are in town. Yea, we don’t have any idea when that will be, but we promise to let you know in advance.

Sandy spent Saturday at Project Linus. She had a great time visiting with all the Material Girls and participating in the Show-n-tell. There were a lot of beautiful quilts for personal use as well as for Project Linus.

After Albuquerque, we went to Lawton to see Misty and our grand-daughters. Both Bry and Vi are becoming beautiful young ladies. Both have a great sense of humor and we had lots of fun with all three. We decided to try the Ft. Sill military family campground next to Lake Elmer Thomas. Other than the fact that it was in the high 90s most of the time we were there, it was a very nice campground. Misty and the girls came to our place on Saturday for lunch and a day at the lake beach.

We are now in Weatherford, TX, parked next to Ernie and Brenda Ekbergs house. Our friend, Ernie is replacing all of our motorhome’s flooring. All the carpet and tile will be replaced by engineered bamboo flooring, with new carpet in the drivers cockpit and around the bed verticle surfaces in the bedroom.

Just a quick note:  Sandy had a request from White Sulphur Springs.  They asked to use one of her photos on their home page.  She is very excited about having one of her pictures published from one of our Webshot albums.

Utah

We survived “The Loneliest Road” to Ely, NV. It wasn’t all that bad.  We  saw what was left of two Pony Express Stations, and several old Nevada towns still hanging on. The mountain passes plus high temperatures were tough on our motorhome and it did overheat a couple of times. Dan figured out the radiator cap had failed, and while not leaking coolant it WAS leaking pressure.  Replacing the cap has helped but not totally solved hot days with long hard upgrades of 5 to 6 percent.  Every time we came out of a pass we saw the road stretched out before us through a valley and leading us towards the next mountain pass. Yep, lots and lots of wide open spaces on this highway.

We spent a few days in Torrey, Utah so we could visit Capitol Reef National Park. According to our book, it is known as one of the undiscovered gems, but apparently someone has been talking in Europe because there were a lot of Europeans visiting. We also started to notice quite a few RV rentals on the road and in this park. Then we started to notice another pattern – almost all of the RV renters were from another country. It looks like foreign visitors have embraced the all-American RV vacation.

We agree that this national park is an undiscovered gem. We found the formations at this park really interesting. We had no problem finding different trails to hike each time we visited. There were a couple of old homesteads, school and blacksmith buildings also located in the park. The settlers also left behind orchards with more than 2,000 producing trees near the campground. Apricots were ripe for the picking, but there are also cherry, peach, pear, and apple, along with plum, mulberry, almond, and walnut trees. Visitors can pick the seasonal fruit right from the trees and eat all the fruit they want in the orchard, but they have to pay for any fruit taken out of the orchard.

Moab has become one of our favorite spots in Utah. Well, for this visit. We have several so it is hard to decide which area of Utah we like better. We actually found grocery shopping interesting at the City Market. They should change the name to Around-the-World Market with the variety of foods they stocked.  They are catering to the many European visitors to the national park system.  The Deli had Dan’s attention and the variety of artisan breads kept Sandy undecided on which multi-grain flavor she wanted to try this time. Oh! And the cheese and the fruits and the veggies! Okay, so we are going a little overboard, but how often does a person get excited about the humdrum of grocery shopping?

We really enjoyed our stay at the OK RV Park, a 50 amp full hook up space for $17 a night with Passport America 1/2 rate.   A pleasant, very quiet campground with grass, a cement pad, and a nice picnic table for each space. Our space also had rose bushes and a plum tree. We had a great view of the red rim rock right out our front window. Sandy took the cats out for walks almost every day. We think the rabbits liked to tease our cats because they would lounge around right in front of our motorhome and the cats would go nuts. “Let me at them! Not allowed to be this close!” Well, needless to say, the cats had to put up with the rabbits teasing because Sandy would not allow them to chase a rabbit when they were outside.

And what about the Arches NP? – Wow! It is breathtaking! Awe inspiring! You feel very small among the giant rocks. If you could not tell from all the pictures we took of the park, we could not get enough of the balanced rocks, the arches, the monoliths, the canyon walls that stretched out for miles, the clear, clean air………the silence. We hiked around some of the shorter trails the first day. The next day, we hiked the Devils Garden and the Primitive Loop that was a little over 7 miles. We hiked across some steep fins, through arches, up and down slickrock…..yea, the description said steep, but nothing about having to do some minor rock climbing or sliding depending which way we were going at the time. As one guy put it, “It is not for the faint of heart”.   Note in the picture of Dan above standing on the rock: that is the actual trail - up and over the rock for a good distance and a good height.

We should have done Canyonlands NP first, because after seeing the Arches even Capitol Reef, driving around on top of the mesa and looking into the distant canyons just wasn’t the same. Very scenic, but just wasn’t the same as when we were walking among the rock giants. At least, we did not get a kink in our necks from looking up all the time.

We are dry camping (no water, sewer or electric hookups) at Morefield Campground, Mesa Verde National Park for a few days, then we will head towards Albuquerque to visit Shaun, friends, perhaps get work done on the car, and do a little shopping. Oh! And a green chile fix! No one makes a breakfast burrito like Golden Pride on Central! MMMMMmmm! Must Have Breakfast Burrito!!!  As always, the pictures and underlined links are "clickable".

Journey South

Our first stop on our journey east then south was at Hat Creek in northern California. While looking at different routes, Dan noticed Lassen Volcanic National Park. We have never been there and decided this would be a nice place to visit and to get a little hiking in along the way.

Despite the glowing reviews, Rancheria RV Park in Hat Creek turned out to be a bit of a disappointment for us. You can read our review in RV Park Reviews. That aside, we did enjoy our trips to McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park and to Lassen Volcanic NP. 

Webshots album: NE California

At McArthur-Burney Falls SP, Dan asked the Ranger which way was the best to get close to the falls. The Ranger pointed out that we could see the falls from the parking lot, but we would be far above it. If we wanted to get closer there were three trails. One was closed for repairs, the second one was fairly short, but a little steep and hot. The third trail, two miles each way, started at the lake a couple of miles away. The lake trail went through a canyon and connected with the falls trail at the Rainbow Bridge. The ranger also mentioned the last trail would be cooler in the canyon. We took his advice and hiked the lake/falls trails through the canyon. When we started out, the sky was a little overcast. This is perfect weather for taking pictures of the waterfalls. By the time we got to the waterfalls, the overcast was threatening rain and there was thunder in the distance. So, we hustled a little faster. The waterfall is not that tall, but it is awesome to see. Water seems to be coming from everywhere and dropping into the most beautiful deep blue pool of water below. It is a must see if you happen to be in the area. Oh, and we made it back to the car with only a few drops of rain.

The following day we drove through Lassen Volcanic NP. Lassen Peak last erupted in 1915. It was interesting to see how the devastated areas have changed and evolved since the last eruption with new growth growing around ghostly trees and lava rock. We hiked a little over 2 miles each way to Mill Creek Falls. We were told many families walked the trail, but it would have some patches of snow and fallen trees to climb over. Turned out the trail was longer than we were told and there were some very steep areas with loose gravel. The falls was worth the hike. We could have stopped at the lookout point, but we decided to hike down to the falls and cross two bridges for a closer look. From one bridge, we could see two falls coming together and following a river down through a valley for a couple of miles. Gorgeous view!

Our most recent stop this week has been at Fallon Naval Air Station. This is a nice Military FamCamp located on the base and within walking distance of the main shopping areas.  It is a bargain at $15 per day or $90 per week with 50 amp full hook-ups, cable tv, fast internet, and free laundry all provided.  It is close to the flight line, but the jets did not bother us. We spent most of our time just relaxing and taking evening walks, except for one day when we drove to Reno for a Quilt Show at the National Automobile Museum. While Dan took pictures of vintage cars, Sandy enjoyed the quilts hanging among them. Sandy thinks more quilt shows should be held at car and motorcycle shows. Can you think of a better way to get a couple to go to the same show?

Afterwards, we drove to Carson City and stopped at Red’s Old 395 Grill. This place was a museum by itself with vintage cars, antique chandeliers, and other items hanging from the ceiling. We sat out on a patio with a gas fireplace and a water fountain made with old washtubs and wood carved bears. Sandy had a Buffalo Chicken salad. The chicken was soaked not drizzled in hot sauce. She loved it. Dan had a beef brisket (shredded) sandwich that was so thick he could barely get his mouth around it. The atmosphere, the food, and the prices were wonderful.

On our way home, we drove through the old mining town of Virginia City, home of the Comstock Load. The town was packed with people so we did not stop. Got to expect that on a Saturday in the middle of summer, right? We just decided it was not worth fighting the crowds or the 100+ degrees to look around.

We resume our journey east and south again on Tuesday, 20 July. Plans are to start early before the temperature gets too hot. We are traveling east on Hwy 50 a.k.a. “The Loneliest Road” to Ely, Nevada, then on to Delta, Utah.  Up to 12 mountain passes and 100 degree weather forecast on the Loneliest Road.  Hmm, sounds ominous, or it could be interesting.  Dan topped up all the fluids, checked all the tires, and loaded 70 gallons of fresh water for the drive.   We will keep you posted!

Valley of the Rogue River

On July 4th, we spent a second day moving from a county park in Grants Pass to Valley of the Rogue State Park. Both parks were very busy for the 4th of July weekend. Check-out is at 11 a.m. and check-in is at 4 p.m., so we spent some time at Wal-mart. We picked up some steaks for a barbeque and potatoes for a New Mexican au gratin dish that Sandy would make in our roaster oven. We had already decided to celebrate at home this year.

As we were getting settled into our new space, we became aware of electrical problems. Like we had no power at all and with the heat wave starting up this week, we were going to need that power for some air conditioning. Dan figured out it was the 50 amp, but the 30 amp seemed fine. He notified the park rangers, but we did not hear back from them until the next day when they fixed the 50 amp, thank goodness! Have you ever seen an over-heated cat? It is not a pretty sight! Oh, we had our barbeque, but the au gratin was changed to accommodate the power.

The next morning, we went for an early morning 3 mile one way walk on the river trail from the park into town of Rogue River.  We decided to eat breakfast in town at a quaint little diner decorated with all sorts of Cola memorabilia called “Karen’s Kitchen”. The food and the service was great considering they were very busy and there were only two people (1 cook and 1 waitress) working. Dan’s breakfast burrito looked like two omelets with lots of other goodies wrapped in a tortilla. Sandy’s veggie omelet was packed full of veggies with a side of hash browns and whole wheat toast. The diner even had a good variety of herb teas to enjoy. Yea, our 3 mile walk home was a lot more labored than the earlier walk.

We took the Rogue River’s  HellGate Excursions. There are several rides to choose from and we decided on the 2-hour scenic ride with a 1-hour All-You-Can-Eat lunch stop on the river. Our driver was great and funny. He explained that the jetboat could go up to 45 mph while skimming over 8-inches of water. He mentioned we would be getting wet especially those sitting towards the front and ladies forget the hair-do for today. That’s when he gunned the jetboat and did a sudden stop. All we saw was a wall of water coming up and over the front. Yea, did I mention we were sitting in the third row?

At the beginning, he stopped (gently) several times showing us beautiful homes and parks. Then we were in a more uninhabited area where we saw quite a few ospreys flying overhead, some were sitting near a nest and we could see their babies peeking out at us. Dan saw one osprey come out of the water with its catch. Another osprey flew right overhead with a fish. We saw quite a few deer, but no bears. We also saw one lone eagle sitting in a tree. She was watching us with her eagle eye. No pun intended!

We rode over some whitewater and through a canyon. Finally, the driver asked if we were interested in spinning in a 360 and everyone cheered. He explained what people had to do to be ready for the spin so we would not slide into each other. Once we were ready, he did a mild 360. We were a little surprised that we did not get very wet. He promised to do more on our return trip after receiving encouraging cheers when he asked if we enjoyed the spin.

Lunch was served family style with homemade bread, cornbread, tossed salad, barbecued chicken, potatoes, and a dessert. The food just kept coming. They really meant it when they said all-you-can-eat. Some people at our table were a little worried about their overly full stomachs on the return trip, but we did not hear about anyone getting sick. Oh, they also offer special and vegetarian dishes as well.

Ahh, the return trip was quite different and a lot of fun. Our driver had partnered up with another jetboat. They took turns speeding past each other and riding in each other’s wakes. Our driver was very good at getting us wet. Remember, he said the first few rows would get wet? Well, he lied! Everyone was wet by the time he got done. His favorite trick was to stop suddenly in the other jetboat’s wake that would create an even larger wave to come over the whole boat! We did so many 360’s that we lost count. Who cares when it is 90+ degrees?

Oh, one last thing. We could see the eagle was still perched in the same spot watching the river. As we got closer, our driver stopped and explained that the other driver would whistle to the eagle and if she came down, he would give her a fish. Sure enough, that eagle was just waiting for her friend to whistle. She glided right by us to the other boat where she caught her prize and flew off for her afternoon snack. It was just amazing to see.

We are starting our journey south.  First stop is in Hat Creek, CA for 4 nights then on to Fallon, Naval Air Station in Nevada 70 miles east of Reno.  Happy Trails!

Oregon and Northern California Redwoods

We hiked on Redwood’s Trillium Falls trail on our 35th wedding anniversary on 30 June. We are camping right on the Klamath River in Klamath River RV Park .  We drove the Avenue of the Giants south of Eureka and hiked many trails this week in the Redwoods National and State Parks. The old Giants are truly magnificent, but a little hard on the neck from looking up at the giant trees. Our hikes gave us a feeling of peace and solitude, but the heavy mist enveloping the giants and soaking up sounds was a little eerie at times. There were times when we expected to see Mulder and Scully or Frodo and Sam come walking around the bend. After our anniversary hike, we had dinner at the Steelhead Lodge.  Diners can watch their dinner being barbecued over a wood smoked grill. Their menu is limited to a few choices of ribs, fish, rib-eye, and chicken. All meals come with a large shared salad with a choice of three dressings on the side and a grilled shish-kabob with mushrooms and pineapple. There was also a choice of baked potato with three toppings on the side or beans or pilaf rice. Last, but not least, a small bowl of ice cream is included with the meal.

Before we came to Northern California, we stayed in Sutherlin, OR for a few days.  We drove to Crater Lake taking Hwy 138 visiting waterfalls along the way.  We also spent a couple of nights at Harris State Park in Brookings, OR. We were camped on a cliff overlooking the beach through trees. There’s a short but steep short trail leading to the beach. There’s also a road going down to the beach with wheelchair access, but the trail was a lot more fun. We got up early one morning to explore the tide pools during low tide. We saw a lot of starfish, sunflower sea stars, anemones, and sea snails. Dan even found an small deceased octopus.

Tomorrow, we head back north to Grants Pass, OR for 6 days, and will then head south on I5 back into northern CA, then east into NV and UT. We are not in any hurry as you can see that it has taken us two months just to get to northern California. Life is good!  As always, the pictures and highlighted links are "clickable".

Have a safe and Happy 4th of July!

Steller's Jay