Fidalgo Bay in Anacortes, WA

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Spent most of the day in Anacortes, a lovely town. We checked out a couple of RV parks and decided on an open spot (as apposed to the dark woods) on the water in Fidalgo Bay The sun shone long enough to warm us up in the late afternoon .

Monday, April 28, 2008
North through Olympia on I-5 thru Tacoma then Seattle to Lynnwood and on to Mukilteo and the ferry to Whidbey Island. Nice short ferry trip. On the island, we traveled N. to Freeland, where I called my friend, Joanne, a classmate from my class of '59 VGH school of nursing. Joanne has lived here for many year and it has been many years since I last saw her. We went to Magee High School together then we both went into nursing at VGH. We had so many great times together in training because.....Joanne had a car! Lots of memorable trips to the White Spot & to Seattle overnight when we were supposed to be in residence. I remember changing into our uniforms at the border at 5:30 am so we could go straight to breakfast and to work the next day! Those were wild & crazy times!
We had a wonderful visit with Joanne at her place..... beautiful setting and a spectacular view of the water.
Further north to Deception Pass State Park where we got lost finding a spot to camp for the night. We must try harder to arrive before nightfall!
It was nice being in the woods. Tomorrow is the last day in April. 39 days on the road, so far!

Mt. St, Helen's

Sunday, April 27, 2006

Seaquest State Park was so great and after we spent a little time there in the morning, we crossed the road to the Interpretive Center. What an amazing job they have have done telling the story of Mt. St Helen's and the events around May 18, 1980. We spent a couple of hours there then back on the road to Tumwater, a sister city to Olympia, the capital of WA. We stayed at the Olympia RV Park where it was so damp that the buildings all looked like 'soddy' huts!!

More great places.....Saturday, April 26, 2008

Saturday, April 26, 2008

We woke up in the Walmart Supercenter in Troutdale, OR. and left about 10 am heading east for Multnomah Falls. What a glorious sight!

We spent about 45 minutes there then headed back into Portland and the Lloyd Center where we hopped on the MAX(light rapid transit) for downtown. What a great transit system they have here in Portland! So handy & convenient (and free)! We made our way to the Multnomah Athletic Club and were treated to a tour by the manager. This will be the site for the 2009 World Handball Championships in October of next year. A truly amazing facility!
After wandering about downtown, we ended up at the Portland Saturday Market, a regular circus of fast-food and humanity! It was overwhelming to say the least and we barely made it on to the MAX and back to the place where Kingsley was waiting for us.

We left Portland heading north about 4:30 pm and are staying at the Seacrest State Park right across from the Mt. St. Helen’s Interpretative Center. The air is divine!! We are very comfortable tonight!......Janet

All the best spots to see in Oregon

Thursday, April 24th
We really enjoyed our stay at the RV Park in Tillamook. It was kitty-corner from the Tillamook Cheese Factory so we walked over there in the morning and had the tour. It is a very well run company and a real tourist mecca! Everything first class. Besides the cheese products, they make the very best ice cream so we sampled some before we left.
Next we went to the Tillamook Air Museum housed in one of two WWII blimp hangars built just after Pearl Harbor was attacked. The second hangar burned to the ground in a spectacular blaze in 1992. We saw these hangars in 1959 when we were here on our honeymoon. I took lots of pictures of the planes for Donny, our Air Cadet grandson. On our way east from Tillamook to Portland, we saw lots of fresh snow in the Cascade Mountains. Still waiting for spring!

Friday, April 25th

We met up with my cousin, Dorothy, today. Her father, Alan Langfeldt, is my mother’s brother. We met once before in 1960 when we traveled through the northern states from Vancouver to Minneapolis but have not seen each other since. We parked Kingsley at the Lloyd Center in Portland and took free transportation downtown. Dorothy showed us around and treated us to a late lunch/happy hour at one of her favorite places. The three of us had such a great time. We were sorry to have to say goodbye. Thanks Dorothy for a lovely afternoon! Hope we can reciprocate real soon!
We ended up in Troutdale at the Walmart for the night….very comfortable!

Tillamook County and the cheese centre of the western world.

We left Newport today in the same rain situation as we arrived two days ago. What a shame to have all this rain as it is such a beautiful place with so much to do when conditions are right! The rain never let up on our trek north to Tillamook. We took the scenic route towards the coast and ended up at Cape Lookout...very desolate and very wild! I took some pics but nearly got blown into a tree in the process!
We heard from Alan's niece , Nancy, today and she has been following this blog. She asked" When does the R & R (rest & relaxation) start"? Well, R & R for us seems to stand for Rough & Ready!!
We will heed her words, though....we need to incorporate a little more of that rest & relaxation into our regime!
That's all for tonight.....J.

In Soggy Newport!

Well. it is really socked in now. I can't believe the magnitude of this rainfall! Now I know we are lucky that it's only rain and not snow, sleet & hail but it sure is depressing. It seems magnified as it pounds away on the roof of our Kingsley. We were watching the results of the big primary in Pennsylvania and the pundits and media folks have been saying the same thing over and over for the past many hours, ad nauseum. We finally turned that off but there is precious little on our cable TV worth watching.
We really enjoyed our time at the Aquarium this afternoon. It's a wonderful place and the exhibits are fascinating. I took a lot of pics....some didn't work out well because the fish were moving too fast for my camera! I did get some good ones though and have posted them to the blog.
Nothing left to do but turn in for the day. Tomorrow is another(drier?) day. TTFN!

At the Marina in Newport, OR

We arrived here yesterday afternoon and went to the Aquarium. We decided to wait until today to go through as it will take several hours to do it right. We are camped out on the docks in a lovely new RV park with excellent facitities.
Yesterday we toured the famous Sea Lion Caves. We traveled 208' down in an elevator and into a grotto where the Sea Lions were everywhere(see pictures). It was dark and quite stinky but fascinating!
I also got some great pictures of the ocean surf at a place called Yachats where Alan & I remembered staying on the honeymoon in October 1959.
Still raining here and snowing higher up the coast. Oh well, we can't do anything about Mother Nature!
We are off to the Oregon State Aquarium just minutes away from here. More later...J

RAIN, RAIN...GO AWAY!!

Yesterday, we spent some time with Rosemary Wheeler and son Cory before we left Charleston. Sorry we missed Jerry but he was in N.C. We had a tour of the garage and saw their two GMCs. It was great talking about the coaches and other stuff with them.
Back on the road north with several stops along highway 101. Very rugged and beautiful. Stopped at Honeyman State Park and the amazing sand dunes there. We remembered it from our honeymoon when there wasn't a park there... only the dunes. We climbed to the to the top of the dunes without being short of breath and Alan's leg was up to the task. All is well with the leg now.
We stopped for the night at Florence and are parked in the harbour at a RV park in the old town centre. It rained most of the night, a nice sound when you're inside and warmly ensconced in bed. However, the roof fan over the bed started to leak after awhile and we had to pull a tarp over the bed. Not a big deal.
Rain is forcast for the next three day all the way up the coast. We will head up the coast to Tillamook today. I'm glad I packed the umbrella.....Janet

On the Pacific Ocean at Charleston, OR

We stayed last night on the very edge of a sand dune with the raging seas within earshot. The roar of the ocean was a constant throughout the night. There was a full moon, when we could see it but, lots of wind and clouds passing over. We awoke to hail and heavy rain but bundled up and walked along the beach anyway. We have the furnace or the Braun heater on all the time. The Braun is 47 years old and still going strong! Charleston is an original fishing village west of Coos Bay/North Bend....good clamming and whale watching. The Oceanview RV park has everything(very impressive) @ $20.00/night. Life is good!

Now we are in Oregon.

We are 5 miles into Oregon now and just getting ready to leave our campground by the river ('At River's Edge', Brookings,OR) and we are heading up the coast on 101. Weather is cool and windy but nothing like what's happening at home and in BC! Wow, when is spring due to come?....just too much winter and for too long! I posted some more pictures from the last two days and will post again tonight if I have a connection. Love to all, Janet

Wednesday, April 16th
I set the alarm to wake up early this morning because Donny from Jim’s shop was going to do some final touches and we would be on our way. Well, I never had a chance to get out of my pjs before he arrived and commandeered the coach @ 7:55 am! Four hours later they were finally finished, had taken it for a test drive and we were ready to go, after we paid the bill! We headed north to Santa Rosa (again) where we gassed up at Costco($3.79/gallon), $.20 more than a week ago! We went to Costco and Trader Joe’s for a few provisions and back on to Ca. Hwy. 101 headed north and stopped near Cloverdale at Dutcher’s Creek RV Park, a lovely spot up in the trees but close to the highway. The motorhome is handling really well with new shocks and a
new exhaust system. We are headed for Eureka tomorrow…..Janet
Thursday, April 17th
We slept like a log in this gorgeous place....cleaned up the coach and did the laundry and left about 1:30pm. The trip north on 101 was exhilarating....up, down, left, right, however, it was no match for the new, improved Kingsley!! We called it a day @ 6:00pm at the Redwoods RV Park on 'The Avenue of the Giants' and we are having Salmon, baked potatoes, leeks and asparagus for dinner. What more could we ask for! Pics to follow.....love Janet

Our last day with the Langfeldt's in Pleasanton

I went for a nice early morning walk with Caroline in the foggy weather this morning. What a difference a day makes! Yesterday was such perfect weather for our road trip down the coast and then the fog rolled inland. After we got back, Caroline and I drove to Livermore where she teaches a class of latino mothers english twice a week. There were 8 women in the class and a resource person fluent in both english & spanish. I speak no spanish and they speak very little english but, they gave me a very warm welcome. Caroline is a terrific teacher and she loves working with these moms and watching them grow in confidence as they learn. On the way home we stopped at the new library in Livermore...a beautiful, modern facility with lots of programs.
In the afternoon, John drove us over to Trader Joe's where we took advantage of the 'Two-Buck Chuck' several times! What a treat to shop there! Thank goodness they have stores all up the coast on the way to the border with BC. Alan & I have had such a good time with our Langfeldt cousins. They certainly went out of their way to make us feel at home. Thank you, guys! We will definitely be staying in touch.
After a delicious London Broil dinner at the Langfeldt's, we bid them farewell and left in Kingsley. We drove south to Fremont and our friend Jim's shop where we are settled in for the night in his very crowded parking area. Some of our friends from the rally in Santa Rosa are here too. We have power, we are warm and comfortable and we have an internet connection.....So long for now,,,,,Janet

A very pleasant time in Pleasanton, CA!

We stayed Thrsday night in Fremont at Jim's place He provided us with power, internet connection and accessto the washroom facilities overnight. He won't be able to the work on the exhaust system 'til Tuesday am so we left Friday afternoon for Pleasanton and stayed at the Fairgrounds RV park Friday night.
Today is Saturday, April 12, 2008 and it is our daughter's 31st birthday! Happy Birthday, Michelle...have a great one.
We rode the bikes over to my cousin John's place It was great to see John and his wife, Caroline again after five years. Kingsley fits nicely on the street in front of their house. John & Caroline took us over to Alameda, a suburb of San Francisco, to meet their daughter Cathy, her husband, Bob & their toddler, Keira. They live in a really interesting older neighbourhood in a great house they are fixing up themselves. Later back in Pleasanton, we had a good time over dinner outside on their patio and a good sleep inside the house for a change.
Today is Sunday and the four of us drove to the Monterey peninsula, Pebble Beach and Carmel. We explored Fishermans Wharf at Monterey and had lunch by the water. We travelled along 17 mile road ending up at the legendary Pebble Beach Golf Club. After that we went to Carmel spending some time window shopping. It was a perfect day weather-wise and we thoroughly enjoyed being by the sea. Pictures to follow!

At Jim Kanamoto's Shop

We travelled to Jim's place in Fremont, CA and he has GMC coaches everywhere! They all came after the rally and we thought by now most of them would be gone. We have camped for the night along with a fellow from San Antonio, TX and a guy with a motorcycle (and a coach) not sure where he's from. Jim is so generous. He has provided us with power, water & internet connection and left the shop unlocked so we can use the washrooms. We will have to decide tomorrow whether to wait 'til next week to have some work done or just buy some supplies and take them with us. In any case, we are having a good time and meeting interesting folks. Tomorrow we may go to San Jose.....So long from Fremont where it's nice and warm and the air smells good! Janet

We are now in Vallejo

We left Bodego Bay heading north on a different route back to SR Wednesday morning. Another coach rattling experience up and down a twisting roadway. So glad we came to this place...it's so beautiful and rugged.
Hooray! The package arrived from Jim Kanamoto in Fremont and they can go ahead and install our new front wheels & tires. They look so classy!
Next we drove to Sonoma, parked on the historic square and checked out all the shops. It hasn't changed much since the last time we were here in October 1997. Still great. We toured the Sebastiana Winery & Cellars and continued on to Vallejo for the night. Here are just a few of our pictures......Janet

Still no tires...UPS failed to deliver!

We checked out of the campground...again! We were the last of the 200 coaches to leave as we headed to the tire place. The tire valves did not arrive because they had the wrong zip code on the order. The package went to Petaluma instead and is supposed to be there tomorrow, they say. So we headed to the ocean, Bodega Bay via Sebastopol, about an hours drive. Very beautiful windy road to the coast. Bodega Bay is famous as the place where Hitchcock' film, 'The Birds' was made.
We are camped on the water by a marina and the view is great. I haven't downloaded the fabulous pictures of the ocean I took today so, will post them tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed that the package will arrive tomorrow. We are still having fun!
So long for now....J.

Spoke too soon...we are still in Santa Rosa!

We packed up this morning and left the campground bound for the tire store. They started to install our new front tires and found that we didn't have the proper valve stems for our tires/wheels. Our friend, Jim Kanomata, who we bought the wheels from, is sending them via UPS for tomorrow.
So, we are here for another day! We went shopping to Trader Joe's where we found a nice bottle of merlot for $6.00 and a 2nd bottle for $.10. It has been a mellow day and we are enjoying steak, baked potatoes & fresh tomatoes in our little house away from home....and the merlot!!
Love Janet & Alan....more tomorrow.

Last night in Santa Rosa

Well, I'm still up and wrapped in a quilt. It sure gets cold at night here. We went shopping at Costco & Trader Joe's this afternoon. Gas is $3.59 @ Costco and that's the cheapest price around. Trader Joe's is a great place to shop: great liquor and food prices & selection and excellent customer service. They have stores right up the coast to the border.
Our friend, Bernie, flew back to Edmonton on Friday for the funeral of a family member. He arrived back here about 3pm this afternoon and retreived his coach. It was quite a trip with delayed flights due to weather. Snow in Edmonton and fog in San Francisco. He and our friends, Norm & Joan, left for home at 4pm. We'll miss them. Now the place is almost deserted with only four coaches left here. I am freezing so I'm off to bed!! Tomorrow is another day.......Janet

The GMCMI rally is over

The rally officially ended at noon on Saturday and we moved from the Mexican Village to the campground. There were 14 coaches here last night and most have left this morning. We will stay here tonight and get our new tires in town tomorrow. We bought two new Eagle aluminum wheels earlier in the week.

Friday night we played Bingo followed by the last of three Ice Cream Socials. I won $25.00(rare for me to win at bingo). The ice cream topped with hot fudge and chopped pecans was decadent!

We have made many new friends and plan to visit some on our way back home

Cool weather in Northern California

We haven't worn our shorts yet on this trip...it is still very cool most of the day here in Santa Rosa. I've been too busy to keep up with the blog so...here goes!
Alan's ankle is getting better each day; still swollen and stiff but all the bruising is gone and the crack in the fibula is not bothering him.
We bought some Eagle aluminum wheels here at the rally and went tire shopping in town. There are over 375 people here from all over N. America and one from Australia(he has 2 GMCs, one in Australia and another just purchased and in Florida-he's coachless at the rally). He says he hasn't told his wife about the second one yet! Brave man!
I am helping with breakfast and alternate days , walking and exercising at 7am. I wear gloves and my ski jacket to stay warm. Yesterday we went to a Farmers Market a short walk under the highway from here. Beautiful produce and crafts. On Sat we will go again as it will be 3 times bigger and there's a booth where they sell gluten-free goods....I've run out of bread.
The food here is so good. Several catered meals and last night, a pot-luck with the Cascaders club(Pacific Northwest area).
Tues. & Thurs. afternoons are Open House days where we can check out all the amazing renos people have done to their coaches. I took pics of a few interiors to show you.
Please leave us a comment when you read the blog. We would love to hear from you.
That's all for now......Janet