Northern California to Yachats

Well, when we woke up after spending several warm, sunny days in Red Bluff, knowing it was time to move on, the vote was for a straight shot to the Oregon Coast - do not pass GO, do not stop at another campground, do not do any sight-seeing.  Write it down for another camping trip, at another time.

We drove straight up Interstate 5, enjoying this scenery on the way past:

Mt. Shasta

Almost the second we drove over the Oregon border, the weather turned cloudy and foggy and cool.   You'd think the weather-maker knew we were on the way home and wanted to be sure we got a dose of true Oregon drizzle.

We did make it home.  Had dinner at our favorite spot on the ocean - The Adobe, completely oblivious to the fact that there had been a tsunami warning earlier in the day.  After almost 9500 miles of retirement cruising, we slept in our own bed.

I've decided to call this Retirement Cruise #1, leaving lots of room for our next trip somewhere in the Phoenix Cruiser.

Red Bluff - Day 2

We enjoyed a very relaxing day here at the Red Bluff RV Park.  We walked about 1/2 mile and ate lunch at an Applebees. Then walked back.  Good exercise!  When we finished eating supper, we sat at our neighbor's picnic table for an evening snack (as we had actually done last night, too).  They were going to the fair grounds to watch their second night of the Western Open Fiddle Championships and invited us to go with them. So we did.  It was a very enjoyable evening.  The picture is of a six year old who competed and was very good.

Red Bluff CA

We arrived in Red Bluff after a relatively short drive, yesterday.  It's a really nice RV park - clean showers, green grass, trees, nice people, sunshine and warm temps during the day. :)

We decided to stay a couple more days here, rather  than rush to the cool rains of Yachats. It's nice to not be driving every day, which we're been doing since the 2 day stay on the Mississippi.  I'll post again when we get on the move.

Nevada and Southern California

This was definitely a driving day. We're getting close enough that our auto-pilot says 'home.'  We left Mesquite, NV (our casino town), drove through LasVegas, oogled at all the tall buildings and flashing lights, and kept driving right out of the Mojave Desert, over the Sierra Nevada Mountains and into the San Joaquin Valley.

Today we had 3G service most of the time for our hot spot, making it possible to research everything of interest to us along the way. It kept Linda busy with Google on her tablet. Did you know that the Tehachapi Pass has more turbine installations than anywhere in California? They have several different generations of power producing turbines- hundreds and hundreds of wind turbines. The internet was a great source of information, making a long driving day more enjoyable.

Tonight's campground location is Coalinga, CA. We stayed here last January. Unfortunately, the fruit and nut stand is no longer right by the campground entrance  :(

A Day of Travel

We had a great day driving west on I70 and south on I15 to get out of Utah and through the north west corner of Arizona and into Nevada.  Our trip is going south to avoid the cold and snow that have shown up further north.  The day will be shown, again, in pictures.

The San Rafael Reef along I70 (in Utah)



This drive along the Virgin River Canyon (river on the right) was
what we saw for lots of the 30 miles that we drove through
the north west corner of Arizona.

We've experienced a first tonight:  We picked from the Trailer Life campground

book a campground that turned out to be on the grounds of and owned by a casino - The Casa Blanca RV Resort. There was extra rigmarole since we registered at the hotel desk, with all the people checking in to the hotel.  Not a bad spot to be, complete with a very nice pool and spa.  Our exercise today was the walk from the RV parking spaces to the restaurant in the casino/hotel for dinner. We're planning on a second round of walking for breakfast, tomorrow.



Our exercise for the day (in Nevada)



Another day in Utah's Beautiful Parks

We spent the day driving through the Dead Horse Point State park and the Canyonlands National Park.  Lots of pictures, lots of view points, even a 1/2 mile hike to see the Mesa Arch, and lots of shorter walks.  We should sleep well tonight.  Below are just a few of the great photos that we got.

The Monitor and the Merrimack in the background.

This was our 1/2 mile loop hike to see the Mesa Arch in the distance.
Arches National Park has more than 2000 identified arches,
but they are in every park around here. This is in Canyonlands.

A Grand View, where the Green River comes into the Colorado

The Colorado River from 2000 ft above

Arches National Park

We drove out of Colorado today and into Utah.  When we arrived in Utah, we did our usual stop at the state's Welcome Center to get a new map and any necessary (and not so necessary) information pamphlets.  We talked with a nice volunteer-type octogenarian who said, "Oh, I lived in Oregon at one time. Where do you live?" Us - "On the coast."  She - "Oh, I never went to the coast." Us - "Where did you live?" She (shyly and certain we had never heard of it) - "Malin."

We continued an interesting conversation and then said goodbye. What an unusual thing to have happen in Utah.

We visited Arches National Park, a beautiful and unique place. The rock formations are fascinating.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Phoenix Cruiser parked at one of the pull-offs




Picture from inside the Visitors' Center

Our road into the park goes up the side of this rock
(view from the Visitors' Center)

Another perspective - that's the Visitor's Center -
look down on the left.  We were coming back, after visiting
several highlighted spots in this part of the park.

Formations from which the park gets its name.

A lot of the rocks have names.
This one's name is Balancing Rock

This one's called Three Gossips

We even got in a little exercise.

 

Friday - Stay in Thornton / Saturday - drive Interstate 70

On Friday we drove from North Platte to Thornton, a suburb of Denver, where Stephanie and Paul Riess live when they are not in Yachats.  We saw them just before we left Yachats and they invited us to stop on our way back across the country, because they would be home in Thornton at that time.  We did stop and had a great visit, a wonderful dinner, and shared breakfast with them as we left the Denver area. It's our turn to offer dinner when we are both back in Yachats.

We also met a mobile RV repair guy in Golden, CO since we were having trouble with one of our RV circuits.  He said if we met him in the Safeway parking lot in Golden, he wouldn't have to charge us any mileage and he'd look at our problem on Saturday (something he tries not to do at this time of the year.) Do you see me smiling?  He was able to diagnose and fix our problem and tell us where there was a tire store down the street.  We were having a tire that was losing air on Thursday.  The tire store took the tire off and found a simple problem with the valve stem.  Didn't charge us anything, but Bob paid the "kid" $5 for finding the problem and blowing up the tire.

So you see me still smiling?  We had a wonderful drive west from Denver on Interstate 70, a route that we've never taken before.  The Rocky Mountain sky line was beautiful. The weather was picture-perfect.  I took lots of pictures from the co-pilot's seat. 

We stopped at a campground outside of Glenwood Springs.  Turns out it is on the Colorado River and our site is on the water.  We've gone from the banks of the Mississippi to the banks of the upper Colorado, a beautiful spot. (See pictures below).

Entering the Eisenhower Tunnel, the highest, longest tunnel
on the Interstate Highway System - over 10,000 feet in elevation.

Dillon Reservoir and Rocky Mt skyline west of Denver,
Denver's water supply

A Rocky Mountain Peak from I 70

A view of Glenwood Canyon as we drove along I70

Rapids on the Colorado River from our campsite
in the Glenwood Canyon Resort

Another view of the Colorado River from our camp site

That's the Phoenix Cruiser parked along the river.
We're looking down the hill from the "bath house" That's what they call it here.
It will be a long walk up in the morning for our showers

Driving across Iowa and Nebraska

We spent two days driving from the Mississippi River. Our goal for the first night was to get almost to Council Bluffs and camp in the same county park where we stayed last year on our first trip across the country with the Phoenix Cruiser. It was a mildly windy day and our big excitement was passing a wind turbine blade that was being transported along the interstate.  We've seen several coming at us when driving through Michigan.  There is a big wind farm in the thumb and we presumed that the blades were going there.  Iowa also has a huge emphasis on wind energy with lots of turbines visible from the road. This was the first time we actually passes one going the same way we were.  I wasn't smart enough to take a picture, so I copied a couple so you'd get an idea how big they are.  The internet said they can be as long as 50m.

It's good thing that they weren't trying move these things today.  As we drove across Nebraska the winds were blowing 40-50 mph with gusts to 65-70mph.  It was a challenging drive.  We've made arrangements to visit with Paul and Stephanie from Yachats, who also have a house in the Denver area.  Because of that we kept driving in the wind, stopping in North Platte at a full service Good Sam campground.  Nice facility, even got the laundry done before dinner. On to Denver tomorrow.

Day Two on the Mississippi

We enjoyed a beautiful day on the Mississippi River.  We tried to called friends in DesMoines for a visit on our way through, but they are not home, so we just relaxed in our beautiful surroundings.  However, picture this: we are 75 feet from the water, but also 100 feet in the other direction is a double railroad track.  We're here to tell you that commerce seems to be alive and well. There must be 30-40 trains that pass this point, sometimes one in each direction at the same time, day and night, all going about 60 mph, rocking the ground we're parked on, tooting their horn for the crossing that comes into the park. One internet description of the park called it the BNSF campground.

Black and white engines

Orange, white, yellow engines - engines of every color

On the Road Again

Yesterday, after saying goodby and getting the oil changed in the RV, we started west.  We haven't really decided on a route, but west was a good direction.  On the recommendation of John and Jane Stoffer we looked for an Army Corps campground and came to Grant River Recreation Area.  Rolling in after dark, we took the recommendation for a site number from the campground host and woke up to a veiw of the Mississippi River with the rising sun shining off the opposite bank - a beautiful site. 

Mississippi River at dawn

Looking south down the Mississippi River,
 promising to be a beautiful day

Wheels/home/bed parked in Grant River campground on Mississippi

Baptism of Grace Marie

This weekend was a wonderful celebration with the baptism of our newest grandchild, Grace Marie Mitchell.  Nicole and Holly and family had flown from Portland for the fun.  We all stayed in a local hotel with a small water park where all grand kids got to swim in the pool, including Grandma.

We are quite a crowd going to a restaurant asking for a table for 12 including six children. At least that's a one-to-one ratio, and sometimes it takes that many adults. We had a great weekend. 

We also volunteered to watch kids for Jenn and Greg so they could go out to eat for their 6/7 anniversary. They designate the number that way, remembering the date they eloped and the year later when we celebrated their 1st anniversary with affirmation of their vows at Calvary Church. Four of us adults were just the right number to cook and serve dinner and prepare twins for bed (of course we had Anneliese and Elijah and Nathanael to help.)  The hardest job was having Grace practice sitting up.  This is a long story, but very funny. Ask for full details when you see Jennifer or Linda or Holly.

Jen and Greg's church has a nice tradition of having all the attending children help to fill the font with water before the baptism.  These are pictures of the kids doing that.

Cousins Evelyn and Elijah adding water

Sister Emma reaching up to add water

Cousins Anneliese and Evelyn adding water

The "lady of the hour," Grace, all in white

Last Days in Michigan

We were treated to a beautiful sunrise over Lake Huron from Peg's livingroom on this special day 10/11/12.  This picture just didn't capture the look of molten lava on the water where the clouds were reflecting the sun which had not come above the horizon.

Then we couldn't resist a trip through Alma and a little stop.  When the college office said we couldn't park our RV in the visitor's lot, it would be towed away, Linda tried to take a quick picture of the chapel out the window as we drove by.  What resulted was this picture which Bob titled "Chapel w/ precaution against combustible worship."

We were actually able to find a spot on the street where we could park our RV and walked back and got a decent picture of the chapel.

We're staying outside of Niles MI tonight, on our way to Milwaukee for the baptism of Grace Marie and a mini- reunion with all the RJ Perdues.

More Michigan Time

Bob and I spent some quiet time at the cabin on the Tittabawasee River.  The colors were beautiful and the fall weather cool and clear.

Tittabawasee River looking north

Looking across the river to the developing colors

We had to buy Rock n Rye soda to take to the cabin

A country scene near Gladwin

The cabin dressed in new windows and doors



Cabin dressed in fall colors



Cabin from the river

Looking at the sky through the oak tree

Michigan At It's Best

We walked around the track that Dean uses for his daily walks at a local park just across the road a little ways from his house.  The park is on the Flint River and we saw some beautiful fall color there and all along the routes we're driving.


Flint River, low water (as in all of the Great Lakes this year), pretty colors




Flint River - view 2


We made our way to Bay City to visit with Jim and Karen. More beautiful weather and a spectacular sunrise over the Saginaw Bay at their beach house.

Sunrise over Saginaw Bay

Three days, three stays

Monday, staying with Joan and John Davis in Caseville.  Walked the pier, drove out Sand Point, had lunch in town dinner at home on Easy Street (their true address.) Great visit.

Tuesday, staying with Marsha Johnson in her new home in Swartz Creek.  Great visit with years of catching up. 

Wednesday, visiting with Dean Johnson in Montrose. Talk, talk and more talk.  :)

Sunday and Monday

FPCPH

We attended church at First Presbyterian Chruch in Port Huron and enjoyed many more conversations and catching up with the people there.

Lake Huron at our lunch stop

Some colors at Lake Huron lunch stop

Then, on Monday, we drove around the thumb to visit with John and Joan Davis in Caseville. Some beautiful fall colors are starting their show.