We're here! Got in at about 8PM Tuesday at the end of a 400+ mile day.
It seems we got behind our daily schedule by stopping in Eureka and Ely, Nevada and ending up in Pioche rather than Las Vegas. Hence the 400 miles the last day.
We could have stayed out another day but got caught up in "get-home-itis."
Like I said, we got home about 8PM and walked into the house and said "Wow!" It's beautiful! You see, Cheryl had hired a young lady to do a top to bottom house cleaning and to finish the job just before we got home. So the whole house was shining like a new penny.
We brought in just the few items we'd need in the morning and then put on our buffs and jumped into the pool. After that we collapsed into bed and zonked our way through the next eight hours.
In the morning I treated myself to a fifty-gallon shower. It was pure heaven. The trailer provides 6-gallons of hot water at a time which means 3-minute showers. Doable, but not relaxing.
After that we unloaded all our clothing and the food from the trailer. Then I took it up to the dealer to wash out the tanks and to buy some replacement and upgrade parts for fixes and changes I decided to do while on the trip. Each time we go out I come up with new ways to make the camper just a bit better. The fun never stops.
Today I washed the trailer. I've found that there are only two days when a trailer looks really good. The day before a trip and the day after a trip. Other than that it only ever looks as good as Moma Nature wants it to look.
So that's it. Unless Cheryl wants to post something.
The trip is over. Bikes are coming into the shop. Business is ramping up and drudgery and boredom are looking at me from around the corner. I swear that becoming full timers is looking better and better each day.
'Till next year,
Love,
Yodar, Yodera, and Yodette the Wonder Pup.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
The Loneliest Highway in America – Nevada Route 50
“The Loneliest Highway in America.“ We didn’t make up that name. Life Magazine dubbed it thus back in the 50s when they wrote a story about it. Nevada adopted the name in hopes it would attract tourists to the state. It worked! Route 50 runs from Lake Tahoe all the way across Nevada and into Utah. We picked it up in Austin and traveled as far as Ely where we turned south on Route 93 and ended our day in Pioche. It’s cool and quiet here, and we plan to sleep good tonight.Today on “The Loneliest Highway in America,” we saw about six cars, two motorcycles, a truck, and for some strange reason, a bicyclist! We all got together and formed a support group for lonely drivers with annual meetings to be held in Austin, Nevada. We bought a bottle of champagne to be opened by the last surviving member of the group.
In actuality, Route 50 is incredibly beautiful with rolling hills, giant mountains and a few exceptional twisty-turny roads like you’ll find up around Jerome. There are all sorts of small towns full of buildings that hark back to the days of the Pony Express. In fact, this road follows the Pony Express Routes very closely. We can’t imagine how the riders rode a 10- mile leg followed by a four-minute horse change and continued this routine for 10 hours a day.
We had breakfast in Eureka and went through the town museum full of old newspaper equipment housed in the Nevada Sentinel newspaper building, and dating back to 1864. It produced papers using hot lead and flatbed presses up until the 1960s. Then it was on to Ely where we visited the old train depot and saw an amazing old steam engine chugging away on the tracks next to the station. We even got see the stoker shoveling the coal into the firebox and hear the wail of the whistle!
So here we sit in Pioche (Pee oach). It’s a little town firmly caught in the middle of a time warp, half 1800s and half 21st Century. It’s absolutely fascinating to drive from one end of town to the other and see the centuries change!
Love from the Whistle-Stop Kid, Lucy the Loose Caboose, and Peanut the Hobo Wonder Pup
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Austin, Nevada. At the opposite end of the spectrum.
Remember when I said some of the best RV Parks were the ones we didn’t plan or reserve in advance and just found by accident. Well, that holds true for those few parks we’ve stumbled into that reside on the other end of the “nice” spectrum. Welcome to Pony Express RV Park in lovely Austin, Nevada. All seven spaces. Well, at least they are all pull throughsThat’s the highlight of the day. The good old PERV Park.
The rest of the day we just drove through a whole lotta seriously empty Oregon and Nevada.
Tomorrow we’re going to drive some of Nevada Route 50, known as “The Lonliest Highway” in America. It runs from Sparks, Nevada to Ely, Nevada, and then into Utah.
We’ll enter it here in Austin at just about the halfway point and follow it to just past Ely and pick up Rt. 93 down to Las Vegas. The next day the plan is to do Vegas to Phoenix.
That’s all today.
Love,
The Desert Rat, the Foxy Desert Fox, and Peanut the Prairie Pup.
By the time we get to Phoenix
Howdy!
Looks like we'll be showing up in Phoenix on Tuesday!
We're in Burns, Oregon, waking up this morning to a terrific sunrise over a meadow. It was balmy and breezy last evening and this morning it's crisp and feeling like fall. Yesterday we almost ran out of gas when we spotted Hampton Station with two gas pumps and a cafe. So . . . as the saying goes, we ate and got gas. Har, har. Anyway, while we were eating we noticed a table surrounded by honest to goodness cowboys. They had dusty boots with spurs and were chowing down on rhubarb pie with gusto. I think that's the first time I've seen "real" cowboys. They sure looked like they knew their way around a horse.
Today we hope to make it to Nevada. These back roads are fascinating. We're loving seeing these slices of Americana, and amazed at just how much untouched land still exists.
Love, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Bullet
Looks like we'll be showing up in Phoenix on Tuesday!
We're in Burns, Oregon, waking up this morning to a terrific sunrise over a meadow. It was balmy and breezy last evening and this morning it's crisp and feeling like fall. Yesterday we almost ran out of gas when we spotted Hampton Station with two gas pumps and a cafe. So . . . as the saying goes, we ate and got gas. Har, har. Anyway, while we were eating we noticed a table surrounded by honest to goodness cowboys. They had dusty boots with spurs and were chowing down on rhubarb pie with gusto. I think that's the first time I've seen "real" cowboys. They sure looked like they knew their way around a horse.
Today we hope to make it to Nevada. These back roads are fascinating. We're loving seeing these slices of Americana, and amazed at just how much untouched land still exists.
Love, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Bullet
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Aircraft Overload and a Sucessful Kite Fly.
(Frank) Problems uploading photos. I'll try them seperately.
(Frank) The plan for the day was to get up at a normal time, 7 AM give or take an hour or so, and to be at the Evergreen Aviation Museum when they opened at 9 AM. Then we would see the Spruce Goose and do a quick blast through the rest of the displays and be on the road by noon. Ha, ha, ha, oh foolish me. Seven hours later we finally physically PULLED ourselves free and DRAGGED ourselves back to the rig and FORCED ourselves to get on the road to make a few miles. We made it as far as Idanha, about 50-60 miles from McMinnville, although it seems farther because we’re tired from the several miles we walked while in the museum.
Now we’re parked in the Mountain View RV Park under tall pine trees right next to a pretty little river. It’s a small park run by a nice couple. I swear I think the best, most comfortable, friendliest, most personable parks are the ones we don’t plan on and just find by accident. When I walked up to the Park Office there were three men and a lady sitting on the front porch. I had on my Air Force cap and immediately one of the guys said, “Air Force! Well we won’t hold that against you.” Then he shook my hand and said, “Navy”. Then the second guy stood up, offered me his hand and said, ”Marines”, then the third guy stood and said, “Army!” Just like that we had four of the five services represented. I asked the lady if she happened to be Coast Guard and she laughed and said “Nope, I’m with the Marine.” It turned out that she and her husband own the park and when I asked if she had a pull-through spot open she said, “Not really, but I’ll move my car and give you the one next to us here.” Later Cheryl said to me, “That hat of yours sure lets you meet some really nice folks!” And I have to agree. By itself it sets up an instant camaraderie between folks who otherwise would simply be strangers passing through life. Later I went over and kibitzed with the guys, and the Soldier and the Marine both agreed it was really nice of the Navy to take them to the fight and it sure was helpful of the Air Force to supply air cover before going back to their hot meals and comfortable beds. The Navy and the Air Force both agreed that yes, it truly was so.
OK, back to the museum. It’s HUGE! It’s magnificent! It’s actually two museums, the Aircraft Museum and the Space Flight Museum. It also has an IMAX theater and we saw the movie “Fighter Pilot”. It was filmed at my old base, Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, and just seeing the base, the aircraft, the pilots, and the ground crews in action actually and honestly brought tears to my eyes I missed it so much. I swear I should have stayed in the Air Force. But that’s the road not taken and I just gotta let it go. But after seeing that movie and all those airplanes, it’s hard!
Both museums are packed, just PACKED with old airplanes, new airplanes, rockets, space craft, and military and civilian hardware, to the point where sensory overload sets in and you just sort of become numb. That’s the point where you have to force yourself to leave or at least take an extended break.
One last point, the Spruce Goose (Howard Hughes HATED that name, he called it the “H4”) is in perfect condition and is beyond belief. It’s called the “Oh my God” plane because that’s the reaction of people who have never seen it. I’ll post a few photos of parts of the plane as it’s not possible to fit the whole thing in one photograph.
Tomorrow we head southeast to Bend, Oregon and then farther east to Burns and Burns Junction and pick up Rt. 95 into Nevada.
(Cheryl) “Wait just a dag-gone minit,” Frank! What about the bottle with the note inside? What about the kite? What about the RV park with the trash compactor and combination locks on the laundry and shower rooms in McMinnville Thursday night? Yeah, what about all that, you ask!
Well, here’s the story morning glory . . . we got up to a dreary cloudy morning on the coast, but we two intrepid old salts and one young pup staggered out to the beach with our kite and bottle as the thunderheads continued to build above the foamy brine. Alas, the landlubber Vodka bottle insisted on returning to us time after time, and we recalled Tom Hanks’ and Wilson’s efforts to paddle their homemade raft beyond the breakers in the movie, Cast Away. Failure landed on us like an Albatross.
But wait, you say, what about the kite?
‘Twas a stellar accomplishment! The instant I unrolled that sorry-looking, sodden and sand-covered parcel, it took flight! The wind caught our tethered sail, and away we went to the very end of the rolled up string! Sweet, sweet success – “Let’s go fly a kite up to the highest heights and send it soaring – Up to the atmosphere, up where the air is clear – Ohhhhh, let’s go fly a kite!” This new foil is a stunner in the sky, and when we take it in and roll it up, it fits inside a neat little pouch for storage in my truck where I’ve kept the old San Francisco Chinatown kite for 20 years! Now to keep a log of all the places where this one has flown starting with Long Beach, Washington - I know, I know, Frank and I are both obsessive-compulsive, but we DO so enjoy our obsessions!
Dauntless romantics that we are, we drove our Vodka bottle with note safely tucked inside over to the bridge leading from Washington into Oregon. On the approach to that amazing 3-mile long bridge into Astoria, we spotted a turn-out next to the fast moving Columbia River. Frank gave our “pirate flask” a fling and flung it way out into the current. We watched it bob along for a bit as it headed for the mouth of the Columbia River on the heels of Lewis and Clark! It was a breathtaking moment in the history of these great United States of America! You could almost hear the brass band playing in the background. Sweet success #2! Hooray! Now, I just wait for an email from the person who finds our treasure. Seriously, wouldn’t that be fun if someone did find it and take the time to let me know! Yes, I’ll always be a dreamer – life is more fun that way.
And that, our dear followers, is that!
Till later,
Howard Hughes (don’t I wish), Mary Poppins, and Peanut the Red Baron.
(Frank) The plan for the day was to get up at a normal time, 7 AM give or take an hour or so, and to be at the Evergreen Aviation Museum when they opened at 9 AM. Then we would see the Spruce Goose and do a quick blast through the rest of the displays and be on the road by noon. Ha, ha, ha, oh foolish me. Seven hours later we finally physically PULLED ourselves free and DRAGGED ourselves back to the rig and FORCED ourselves to get on the road to make a few miles. We made it as far as Idanha, about 50-60 miles from McMinnville, although it seems farther because we’re tired from the several miles we walked while in the museum.
Now we’re parked in the Mountain View RV Park under tall pine trees right next to a pretty little river. It’s a small park run by a nice couple. I swear I think the best, most comfortable, friendliest, most personable parks are the ones we don’t plan on and just find by accident. When I walked up to the Park Office there were three men and a lady sitting on the front porch. I had on my Air Force cap and immediately one of the guys said, “Air Force! Well we won’t hold that against you.” Then he shook my hand and said, “Navy”. Then the second guy stood up, offered me his hand and said, ”Marines”, then the third guy stood and said, “Army!” Just like that we had four of the five services represented. I asked the lady if she happened to be Coast Guard and she laughed and said “Nope, I’m with the Marine.” It turned out that she and her husband own the park and when I asked if she had a pull-through spot open she said, “Not really, but I’ll move my car and give you the one next to us here.” Later Cheryl said to me, “That hat of yours sure lets you meet some really nice folks!” And I have to agree. By itself it sets up an instant camaraderie between folks who otherwise would simply be strangers passing through life. Later I went over and kibitzed with the guys, and the Soldier and the Marine both agreed it was really nice of the Navy to take them to the fight and it sure was helpful of the Air Force to supply air cover before going back to their hot meals and comfortable beds. The Navy and the Air Force both agreed that yes, it truly was so.
OK, back to the museum. It’s HUGE! It’s magnificent! It’s actually two museums, the Aircraft Museum and the Space Flight Museum. It also has an IMAX theater and we saw the movie “Fighter Pilot”. It was filmed at my old base, Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, and just seeing the base, the aircraft, the pilots, and the ground crews in action actually and honestly brought tears to my eyes I missed it so much. I swear I should have stayed in the Air Force. But that’s the road not taken and I just gotta let it go. But after seeing that movie and all those airplanes, it’s hard!
Both museums are packed, just PACKED with old airplanes, new airplanes, rockets, space craft, and military and civilian hardware, to the point where sensory overload sets in and you just sort of become numb. That’s the point where you have to force yourself to leave or at least take an extended break.
One last point, the Spruce Goose (Howard Hughes HATED that name, he called it the “H4”) is in perfect condition and is beyond belief. It’s called the “Oh my God” plane because that’s the reaction of people who have never seen it. I’ll post a few photos of parts of the plane as it’s not possible to fit the whole thing in one photograph.
Tomorrow we head southeast to Bend, Oregon and then farther east to Burns and Burns Junction and pick up Rt. 95 into Nevada.
(Cheryl) “Wait just a dag-gone minit,” Frank! What about the bottle with the note inside? What about the kite? What about the RV park with the trash compactor and combination locks on the laundry and shower rooms in McMinnville Thursday night? Yeah, what about all that, you ask!
Well, here’s the story morning glory . . . we got up to a dreary cloudy morning on the coast, but we two intrepid old salts and one young pup staggered out to the beach with our kite and bottle as the thunderheads continued to build above the foamy brine. Alas, the landlubber Vodka bottle insisted on returning to us time after time, and we recalled Tom Hanks’ and Wilson’s efforts to paddle their homemade raft beyond the breakers in the movie, Cast Away. Failure landed on us like an Albatross.
But wait, you say, what about the kite?
‘Twas a stellar accomplishment! The instant I unrolled that sorry-looking, sodden and sand-covered parcel, it took flight! The wind caught our tethered sail, and away we went to the very end of the rolled up string! Sweet, sweet success – “Let’s go fly a kite up to the highest heights and send it soaring – Up to the atmosphere, up where the air is clear – Ohhhhh, let’s go fly a kite!” This new foil is a stunner in the sky, and when we take it in and roll it up, it fits inside a neat little pouch for storage in my truck where I’ve kept the old San Francisco Chinatown kite for 20 years! Now to keep a log of all the places where this one has flown starting with Long Beach, Washington - I know, I know, Frank and I are both obsessive-compulsive, but we DO so enjoy our obsessions!
Dauntless romantics that we are, we drove our Vodka bottle with note safely tucked inside over to the bridge leading from Washington into Oregon. On the approach to that amazing 3-mile long bridge into Astoria, we spotted a turn-out next to the fast moving Columbia River. Frank gave our “pirate flask” a fling and flung it way out into the current. We watched it bob along for a bit as it headed for the mouth of the Columbia River on the heels of Lewis and Clark! It was a breathtaking moment in the history of these great United States of America! You could almost hear the brass band playing in the background. Sweet success #2! Hooray! Now, I just wait for an email from the person who finds our treasure. Seriously, wouldn’t that be fun if someone did find it and take the time to let me know! Yes, I’ll always be a dreamer – life is more fun that way.
And that, our dear followers, is that!
Till later,
Howard Hughes (don’t I wish), Mary Poppins, and Peanut the Red Baron.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
We went to see “Jake”.
(Frank) First things first: We went to see “Jake”. Jake is cool. Jake is interesting. I wonder what Jake is exactly. Second things first: We had pizza at Chico's. The pizza was great. The atmosphere is more for kids than old geezers, but it was nice and once again, the pizza was great. Third things first: We had ice cream at Scoopers. The ice cream was Dryers rather than the expected home-made and the waffle cone was too thick and hard. Jake passes. Chico's passes. Scoopers flunks.(Frank) I never thought it would happen. I have found a town that hasn’t done anything to p*** me off! (Other than Scoopers.) Long Beach is a tourist town, but it’s not too touristy. There are lots of interesting shops, but they’re not too posh and uppity to be obnoxious. They have fun stuff at reasonable prices. The town provides free parking on all the city streets, free access to the beaches with large parking lots at the ends of each of the beach access roads. The city allows you to drive your car or truck on the beach if you want to because the beaches are huge, wide, long and very sparsely populated. There are picnic shelters with wind screens and picnic tables along the upper reaches of the beaches and paved bicycle and walking paths through the beach grass. AND not only that, the town provides public restrooms that are clean and actually have hot and cold water in the sinks. And that, by itself, is a miracle.
(Cheryl) We ate lunch at a deli and bakery in the middle of the town of Long Beach. The Italian wedding soup bread bowl was delicious, and we came home with a loaf of cinnamon bread, a bear claw, and a sweet flat swirled crispy for breakfast tomorrow morning. We walked all that off hiking up to the North End Light House and then to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. Of course, when we returned to town, we ate an ice cream cone at Scoopers as we had been instructed by our grandchildren. Frank climbed to the top of the North lighthouse while I hiked along the lighthouse keeper’s path and took pictures of him talking with the docent at the top of the lighthouse. We found out that you can rent the lighthouse keeper’s residence and the assistant lighthouse keeper’s residence. Each sleep six and rent for around $300 a night. Frank will post pictures of these elegant old houses above the ocean. These days the lighthouses are completely automated so there are no more keepers. Frank will tell you about the old fort up at the Lewis and Clark exhibit and lighthouse at Cape Disappointment.
(Frank) The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center is built on the site of Fort Canby. The fort was originally built in 1863 and rebuilt in 1941. We walked around in the old ammunition bunkers and saw the original cannon mounts. Everything about the fort is massive and it was built to protect the mouth of the Columbia River from foreign ships. Also on display at the Center was the original 1822 Fresnel lamp assembly that was formerly installed in the North Lighthouse. It is huge, large enough for the lighthouse keepers to go inside the light to clean the lenses and it’s a work of art. Interestingly at the base of the North Lighthouse are two stone structures built to store the oil used to light the original lamp. They built two building to house the oil in case one of them caught fire. That way they’d still have oil left to keep the light glowing for the ships.
(Cheryl) I had this brilliant idea! I found a Vodka bottle in the surf so we wrote a note on the back of our Long Beach map to anyone who might find the bottle when we tossed it back into the surf. This proved to be problematic as each time we flung the bottle into the ocean it came right back to us! Tomorrow we’re going to try again. If it won’t work, we’re going to attempt to toss it off the Astoria Bridge without getting arrested. If we’re caught, please send cash for bail. We also failed to launch my new kite which is a virtual impossibility on a windy beach! We really wish we had brought some teenagers with us. We did manage to ride our bicycles a long way on the paved path through the beach grass. Frank rode with Peanut tucked inside his Sturgis jacket with just his little head sticking out.
Love from,
Captain Ahab, the Mermaid, and Moby Peanut
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Long Beach, Washington.
(Frank) T’was an easy day. We slept in until 8:30 this morning, lounged around the “house” for another two hours, decided we never want to go home, hit the road, stopped for breakfast, and meandered south. Destination: Long Beach, Washington.Well, we made it. We’re here. Easy drive. NICE ROADS! Washington Route 101 is very, very nice. Scenic and well maintained. The rig pulled beautifully.
We had Googled RV Parks in Long Beach and selected Andersen’s as sounding the nicest. Last night we called and reserved a slot for tonight and tomorrow, and now that we’re here and have driven past most of the others have decided we made the right decision. This is a very nice park and although all the slots are “back-ins” the center aisle is sooooo wide I had no trouble at all getting Ali-the-Gator back-slid in.
I have unhooked KB Truck and as soon as I can drag Cheryl and Peanut off the beach (they left me as I was unhooking the rig almost 2-hours ago!) we’ll go downtown to Long Beach for some dinner. We’re under strict orders from grand-kids to have pizza at “Chico’s”, and ice cream at “Scooper’s” while we’re here so those are our destinations. They also said we have to see “Jake, the alligator man”, the “half man, half alligator” skeleton at the local museum so we might see that also, if not tonight then tomorrow. I mean, I went to see Sylvester the Mummy so how can I pass up a half & half Skeleton? Right! I can’t. (www.marshsfreemuseum.com)
(Cheryl) Peanut and I arrived back from our stroll down a nearly deserted beach to find Frank typing away at the computer inside the trailer! He missed the magnificent yellow bird kite with streamers and the KB trucks happily plowing down the beach next to the surf. He missed Peanut rolling on the dead crabs and odoriferous fish remains while I busied myself beachcombing and lolling in the sand staring out at the breakers. The beach directly behind our trailer park suits me to a T. No swimming allowed due to rip tides, just walking, thinking, and enjoying the sound of surf on sand and watching the sun paint pictures on the water.
While our stretch of sand today seems almost like a private beach, Long Beach hosts many events like the annual kite festival and a sand-castle building festival that draw large crowds. I was lucky enough to stumble on the kite festival when I was here with my RV in 1998, and this year my daughter Stacie and her family won a prize in the sand-castle building in their division. Be sure to add Long Beach, Washington to your list of places to visit. It sure is one of my favorites!
That’s it for today.
Love to all,
Laid Back Frank, Sandy Shoes Cheryl, and Peanut the wayward pup
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