Good-Bye Sutherlin! (Florence, OR)

We finished our three month stay in Sutherlin and have moved back to the coast before moving north.  We fell into a routine the last couple of months - shopping in Roseburg, Dan's trips to the gym while Sandy quilted, and walks around the park.  We are ready to get back on the road! 

So, have we decided which park will be our home base location?  No, we are going to wait a little longer on this decision.  We are #32 on Timber Valley's waiting list.  We are moving up much faster than we had planned.  We were thinking more along the line of being #1 about three years from now.  If we decline our first offer, we will go to the bottom of the list.  Which isn't too bad.  There are only 84 people on the waiting list right now.  Of course, that can change by the time we are #1.  In the meantime, we are in the 200s for Saguaro's waiting list in Benson, AZ.

The weather is starting to wear us out with the constant fog and overcast days.  The cold damp days seem to be seeping into our home and bones.  We both long for a full day of sunshine.

Even our cats are acting a little lethargic.

We have a lot to consider.  Costs, locations, family, and weather.  One thing we are considering is escaping the bad weather.  Hot summers in Benson and cold dreary winters in Sutherlin.  It would be easier to travel during the late spring than it would be to travel during the late fall when the weather tends to be less predictable.  We can always wait out spring rains and winds, but snow and ice might be a little harder to deal with while traveling south.

We spent a couple of hours at the Sutherlin's water reserve.

Dan had just parked the car when this raptor popped up.  We were not sure he knew we were sitting in the car.  He was so close that Sandy was afraid she would scare him off if she tried to get out of the car to take his picture.  This one was taken through the windshield.

Sure enough, he flew off when we got out of the car.

He did not go too far and Sandy managed to get a few shots before he flew farther down the lake.

We do love the area.  Lots of green pine trees, rivers, lakes, and wild life compared to the desert browns, sage brush, and cactus.  The desert does have plenty of wild life though and it is dry most of the year.  Sigh!  Decisions! Decisions!

We are going to miss our feathered friends.  They have been some great entertainment, but we will not miss their calling cards.  Talk about watching where you step!

Happy Trails!

A Cold December (Sutherlin, OR)

The weather changed drastically from overcast foggy fall days to freezing temperatures and a week of snow.  Most nights, we had all four cats in bed with us.  It is unusual to have snow in this area for such a long time, but then again, has anyone in the north had a normal winter this year?  

Dusty helping Sandy with her scraps

All this chilly weather hasn't kept us from taking walks, visiting the community center, or getting out to shop. We have been learning as much as we can about the local area.  Visiting some of the shops and stores in Sutherlin, we are pleasantly surprised by the warm greetings from everyone we meet.  People talk to us as if we have known each other all along.  Standing in long lines at the Post Office during their busiest season has been a nice experience as people took this opportunity to chit-chat with each other with no complaints about having to wait.

Last of the fall leaves

There is a local used book store that we just had to visit.  The Book Gallery is filled new and used books from floor to ceiling in every nook and cranny.  Every shelf is overflowing with books, not to mention, the rows of books lining the floor in front of the stuffed shelves.  We were greeted with the smell of baked goodies, classical music playing in the background, a friendly smile from the lady behind the counter while a couple of women were working on a puzzle at one of the many tables with chandeliers lighting the reading areas.  Eccentric and charming - a place to visit again and again.

Dan found a small organic vegan restaurant called Lighthouse Center Bakery Cafe just outside of Sutherlin in Umpqua.  This place is always busy.  Sandy loves their soy-based Reuben sandwich while Dan has enjoyed the soups and salads.  Even our son, Shaun enjoyed his Guacamole burger.

Roseburg has a good selection of grocery stores, a VA hospital for Dan, and plenty of places with quilting supplies for Sandy.  For some of our organic grocery shopping, we will have to go to Eugene.

It did not take us long to get into a routine which has helped the winter pass by quickly.  Dan joined a local gym and tries to go every day while Sandy enjoys the alone time to spread out her projects and get some quilting done.

We spent a quiet Christmas with Shaun who drove down from Everett for a visit.  It was nice to spend a little more time with him.

As you can see from our photos, the cats have become quite comfortable in their new surroundings.  They enjoy going outdoors.  Our site has plenty for them to explore and birds to watch.  They are fascinated by the turkeys and watch them when they are near the rig.

 A handsome profile of Hitch

We might leave Sutherlin in February.  Tentative travel plans are to go back to the coast and slowly make our way back north.   Hopefully, the weather will stay about the same with no more snow storms closing down roads for several days here or along the coast.

Max has claimed our hamper as his new bed

Since we need to be in South Dakota this year to renew drivers licenses in May, we plan to travel via Spokane, WA for a short visit with family before making our way east to Rapid City, SD.

Squirrel giving the "don't bother me" look

Have a Happy New Year!

Settled For The Winter (Sutherlin, OR)

In late October and early November we spent our last three weeks on the Oregon coast in a wonderful little town and port called Florence.  We did a little new exploring, but for the most part we visited some of our old favorite sights.  We walked the downtown area several times.

We visited the Shore Acres State Park.  This place use to belong to one family.  Such a wonderful combination of a rugged shoreline with gorgeous formal gardens filled with dahlias, roses, and a reflective pond.  Here are some photos we took during our visit.  The link shows more photos and tells the history about the owner.

Some of the dahlias and roses were still blooming despite the colder weather.

We also visited the Heceta Head Lighthouse on a foggy day.  The fog gave this old lighthouse a very mysterious almost romantic feel to it.  The views were spectacular.

from the shore looking up towards the lighthouse keeper's home

Lighthouse keeper's house - now a B&B

During our walks around the RV park, we started entertaining ourselves by looking for mushrooms.  They were everywhere in all sizes and colors.

The moisture in the air was perfect for the mushrooms, but we were starting to get a little tired of it.  Time to move to Sutherlin on I-5.

Granted it is overcast 80% of the time, but it is a lot dryer here in the inland valley between the low Coastal Range to the west, and the high Cascades to the east.  We got to pick out our own site this time.  We picked one on a hillside overlooking the park and the hills.

Now, when we go for walks in the RV park, we look for deer...

and turkeys...

and jack rabbits.  The wildlife seems to be very use to humans.  They rarely run off when we stop to watch them.  We even watched one man come out of his rig yelling at the turkeys to go away.  They certainly did not panic and take off in a hurry.  More like little punks, bobbing their heads, sauntering off as if to say "okay Pops, we're leaving, but you don't scare us."

We have been spending sometime with the park's residents to get a feel for this park.  They have been very friendly and filled with information about the area.   We can't believe the holidays are already here again.  We had our Thanksgiving dinner with the Escapees in a pot luck this year.  So, that's what we have been up to for the past month.

The fall leaves were almost gone when these photos were taken and the holiday season is here once again.  

Our son, Shaun stopped in for two nights.  He is moving from Albuquerque to the Everett area.  If we decide to lease a lot with Timber Valley SKP in Sutherlin, we will be within a day's drive to his new home.  A big plus we were not planning on when we first added Sutherlin to the top of our list.

We have now been dealing with snow and freezing temps for the past week.  We will add photos of that in our next blog post. 
 

Since it might be awhile to our next post, let us say a belated Happy Thanksgiving!  Merry Christmas! and a Happy New Year!

Smells A Little Fishy (Florence, OR)

Ta-Da!  Our new shower door!  Dan did a great job installing it once we got the correct size, of course.  The door has a very strong magnet so it stays closed during travel.  But just in case, we have the cat's litter box in front of it while we are moving down the road.  No need to take a chance on breaking our new glass door.

Since our last posting, we have moved several times.  We spent four nights at Ft. Stevens State Park where we walked around the old battery and what was left of the Civil War fort.

Our next move was to Newhalem Bay State Park.  Most of our time there was spent indoors due to the two storms that were moving through the northwest.

Newhalem State Park

We braved the cold windy days a couple of times just to get a little exercise.  We liked what we saw and we hope to stop by here again sometime in the future.

Port of Garibaldi 

Back on the road again, we headed south of Tillamook to Newport.  It is so nice to have blue sky again!  We spent the afternoon walking the Historic downtown area.

Newport, OR

We followed our noses.....

and the sea lions' barking to the docks.  

roll over, dude!

Looks like we are not the only ones enjoying the sunshine.

I am smiling!

Moving on....

Draw bridge Florence, OR

We are settled in Florence for the next three weeks or until the weather turns bad.  Which ever comes first.  Right now, the forecast is for lots of sunshine...well, we know how that goes, so we will see.

Happy Trails!