Full-Timing For Five Years (Plymouth, WA)

We are in Plymouth, WA on the Columbia River for the next three days before moving on to Spokane.  Here's a photo of our new neighbor nesting in a tree directly above our RV.  She would like to invite one of our cats up for dinner, so we will be keeping an eye on our new neighbor.

So, for some catching up...March may have been a very wet month, but we managed to stay busy.  

We said good-bye to Newport and to our sea loving friends.

Newport, OR

Next stop was to Nehalem Bay State Park for five days.  We found a nice site near the sand dunes with the beach on the other side.

After our 4-hour travel on windy and very bumpy roads, the cats were very insistent about getting outside. Once they had their leashes on, it was mayhem and cat-a-wallowing until the door opened.

They all spilled out and immediately - Hitch started climbing trees (it's a good thing he is on a retractable leash), Dusty cried while chewing on grass and the last two did a lot of exploring...in different directions, of course. It was like watching land-lovers getting off a boat, dropping to their knees and crying "land! We love you Land!"  Gee, it wasn't that bad of a travel day, but we could not get them to admit it.

Here's a view of our "backyard" in the state park.  Wouldn't you love to have a house here with this view?

We spent one day driving around the area.  We stopped at Wheeler to walk around their downtown area.  Their little train stop is quite cute.

 We spent most of our time around the state park.  We walked along the beach from the state park to Manzanita - a quaint and very interesting artist-filled town.  

We like this town so much that we went back a couple of weeks later.  The second time, we brought our son, Shaun with us and we ate at a nice little restaurant called Left Coast.  

Shaun and Dan

After five days, we moved back to Seaside.  We got a couple of sunny days during our stay. 

 Spring break has been going on between Washington and Oregon so the area has been very busy with families enjoying the beach.

This drummer was keeping people entertained.

The Seaside Resort is set in a wetland area.  The ducks and geese have been spending a lot of time in the area.  The cats have been alerting on a couple of Mallards as they waddled by our motorhome totally oblivious of the dangerous drooling cats in the windows.

A great place to walk with scenic views of mossy trees and water....

...lots of water flooding the campsites.  At one point, the mini ponds had ducks swimming around.

The fifth wheel owner almost needed a boat instead of a car.

The Flavel House Museum

Shaun drove down from the Seattle area during our last weekend in Seaside.  We tried to show him the beautiful coast of Oregon, but the weather wasn't cooperating so we took him to Astoria to show him some of the lovely old houses like the Flavel House and the Astoria Column.

Shaun's visit with us was short, but it was wonderful to see him one more time since we are not sure when we will be in this area again

Work and Travel Plans 2014

Dan has been busy lining up work for us.  He has the rest of this year all planned out.  We will visit family in Spokane in mid-April.  From there, we will head to South Dakota to renew our drivers licenses.  In May, we will be working as camp hosts in Glenrock, WY, in a small campground on a river that also does rental kayaks, tubing, and paddle boarding.  Not too bad of a job working 20 hours each with another couple and the owners.  That will last through September.

In mid September through 23 December, we have lined up a job with Amazon for seasonal work in their Kansas warehouse.  That will be a tough job with 4/10 hour days and later 5/10 hour days, and some potential voluntary 6/10 hour days if we want the additional overtime.  After we are finished with this last job, we will drive through Lawton Oklahoma for a quick visit with our daughter and grand daughters, before heading, hopefully, to a warmer and drier early new year winter stay somewhere in the south of Texas.

5 Years Of Full-Timing!

March marked our fifth year on the road.  Wow, we have seen so much and have met so many people in the last five years.  Sandy put together some simple collages to show where we have been and what we have experienced in our five years full time RV living.

from NW Washington to Key West Florida

South Dakota, Florida,
Montana, Arizona, Texas

Utah, Missouri, Kentucky, Montana, Florida

So, here's to our next five years on the road....
Happy Trails!

Perfect Weather (Newport, OR)

We were happy to leave Florence, OR last week.  It rained almost the whole time we were there.  It rained so much that natural springs were popping up in the middle of the campground's dirt roads.  It would not be so bad if the campground had less dense growth and a better run-off system for the rain.  It just felt muddy and wet all the time.  The floors were a constant mess and hard to keep up with them.  They are clearing timber in the park to open it up, so it may be better by next year.

Florence

 Whenever it would stop raining, we would rush outside to get in some walks.  We spent most of our time in or around the RV park.  We weren't very enthused with getting out in the wind and rain along the coastal areas with cliffs.

Heathers in bloom

We are a lot happier in our new site in Newport.  We have had more sunshine and the roads are not as muddy in the campground.  The cats are certainly a lot happier.  They are not tracking in as much debris and the floors are staying a lot cleaner. 

you are my sunshine....my only sunshine....mine!

We had to go see the sea lions in Newport's Historic Bayfront area.  There were not as many as last fall and they were not very active, but they were still fun to see again.

 Newport's Historic Bayfront area

Sea Lions

 We also went back to Yaquina Head Lighthouse.  As you can see, the weather was absolutely gorgeous!  We walked up Communications hill to get a different view of the lighthouse and found it was a great place to view the surrounding area as well.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

 We could see for miles up and down the coast and not a single rain cloud within our view.

On another nice day, we went to Nye Beach.  We walked along the beach and then into the downtown area stopping along the way to view menus.  Some of them sounded pretty good.  Guess we will have to go back to try some of them.  We could not pass up a pastry shop though, so Dan got a big cookie and Sandy decided on a strawberry with lavender scone.

There's some interesting art work around the downtown area.  This one had our attention for a while.

We are not quite sure what it means, but it was well done with plenty of details.  The more we looked at the more we saw we missed on our first time around it.

Our only complaint with our campsite in Newport is the slow or non-existent WiFi.  In order to get online, we have to spend time in the family center or constantly reboot our own broadband connection.  

Well, by the time we post again, we will be a little farther north.  So until then...Happy Trails!

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!