Sunny Skies

It is so good to finally shed the coat and long sleeves during the daytime. Temperatures are very comfortable at 72 F/22C during the daytime, but there is always frost on the ground in the morning. We are loving it! The sunny beach in the picture above, became a lunch stop on our way to Lakeport CA.

This unusual sky was captured at Nice CA, facing east. A rainbow had formed itself at the cloud's base. Earlier the sky had been very black, but no rain developed. Here in CA, the skies are so bright blue, so clouds of any kind really are a contrast.

From the viewing point at the highest elevation in the town of Lakeport, and at the base of Konocti Mountain sits Clear Lake( Upper and Lower), a very large lake, the recreational area for the Napa Valley. Grapes grew here many years ago; pears replaced them in the 60's and 70's and now the area is back to grapes and wonderful wines. Wine-tasting vineyards and cellars aboundalong both sides of Hwy 29, a very scenic route through the Valley, south toward Sacramento.

Crescent City CA

We love the Pacific Coast so we take any opportunity to travel to the beach. This is shipwreck reef in Crescent City. A working lighthouse at Battery Point, an island at high tide, warns ships and boats; as well the fog horn warns of a rocky shore close by. Further up the beach at Pelican Bay, the beach shoreline is sandy and one is able to walk it. A seawall protects the yachts in the nearby harbour, but at high tide, the water swells over the wall. In fact, the lighthouse was inaccessible because the tide was coming in. This is a favourite area for surfers and indeed the swell was perfect. Couldn't quite photograph when "on the board"; fun to watch them dive into the swell. Hard work!
Experienced coffee from Dutch Bros., begun and made famous by two Dutch farmer brothers from Grant's Pass, OR in 1992. Now there are a large number of drive-thru coffee kiosks dotted all over OR, with a few in CA. Bill's was white chocolate mocha and mine was ordinary regular coffee...bought some beans, too!

The Redwood Highway, Grant's Pass OR to Crescent City CA

A beautiful travel from Grant's Pass OR to Crescent City along Hwy 199, took us among the Giants...the redwoods. Their amazing girth and height can only be believed when seen. This highway took us through the Redwood National and State Park, the Smith River Recreational area, the agricultural inspection at the CA border and at times around narrow curves between redwood trees, as the bottom picture shows. In fact, one redwood was notched so that high vehicles would not hit. I love the yellow markers at the foot of the tree, warning to not get too close. This is one road I would not want to travel in fog! There are many areas warning of rockslides also. It was a tense ride at times, but fortunately we did not meet anything on the tight curves.

Seven Feathers Casino RV Resort

A newly opened RV Resort nestled in the valley of Myrtle Creek, near Canyonville, OR, offered full hookups and a very private site, complete with gardens. Concrete pad and full 50 amp hookup with wifi made for a very complete setup. A little more exepensive than others we have visited, but well worth the stop. Once notified, the shuttle transported us to the casino for a tasty steak dinner.

Timber Valley, Sutherlin OR

This was the entrance to our first Escapee Park visit, Timber Valley located in Sutherlin OR just off I-5, about 5o miles south of Eugene. Beautiful area of pastural farmland, rocks, lakes and trees. The nearby city, Roseburg, 12 miles away, has everything anyone would need and of course, we tripped to Eugene as well. We enjoyed our stay at this park...sure can't beat the price of $90.00 for a week!

Shore Acres State Park and Gardens

A beautiful State Park and botannical gardens right on the ocean! Different service groups from the nearby towns are responsible for a section of the gardens. A very rugged shore line in this area, yet a few yards away, this beautiful garden. Even from here, we could hear the sea lions barking. This would make a wonderful painting. Love the ocean and the Oregon coast!

The lights were being installed, but not on yet as the gardens would be illuminated from Nov 26th 'til Christmas. Beautiful! Hard to believe the Pacific is only a few yards away


The entry to the pond where herons and leaping frogs in Christmas lights were installed. Lush and green, a symmetrical garden of shubbery and flowers was a beautiful contrast to the ruggedness of the coast, a few yards away . Leaves are falling, but there is still colour. Hydrangeas, cannas and red hot pokers were still in bloom.

Simpson Reef and Cape Arago near Coos Bay, OR

If you look very closely, you will see the Sea Lions on the central rock, sunning themselves and barking their lungs out. What a din in the cove as we arrived at this spot! What a wonder to watch them vie for position on the rocks, sleep, then awaken to bark again. Not sure if it's a bark of displeasure or joy! Not far from here is the Shore Acres State Park where we visited a beautiful botannical garden.

Lincoln City Beach

We crossed into Washington State October 31st, after a brief agriculture inspection at Peace Arch. We travelled uneventfully through Seattle to Rochester,WA, near Tacoma and then on to Tillamook, OR , our favourite cheese producer, where we stayed at a campground adjoining the local Best Western. Then it was on to Lincoln City where we stayed at the Logan Road, Chinook Casino's RV park. A ferocious storm developed that produced huge ocean swells and foam. Rangers and firefighters guarded the seawall so that tourists would not park next to the rail as the waves flooded the parking lot during high tide. We lost our power to the rig; our surge protector even shut down the office breaker.

Museum of Glass, Tacoma WA

This is the outside of the Museum of Glass, student studio, called the Hot Spot, where children's designs are created into glass by student glassblowers and then put on display. It would appear to be a very successful programme given the number of completed pieces. Can you imagine being a famous 5 year old?

Blown Glass by Dale Chihuly

This beautiful ceiling is extremely difficult to describe, but suffice it to say, it was incredibly beautiful. This is one panel of about 50 and all depicted an underwater scene, all in blown glass created by world renowned glass blower, Dale Chihuly. The colours with the sun were awesome. A kids' programme where student glass blowers take children created designs and replicate in glass for display is extremely successful. The studio is very large and found in a cone shaped, bee hive type building, called the Hot Spot. Tacoma WA, November 6, 2009

White "Bums"

These white "bums", about 50 in all, were spotted on the Yellowhead 16 in Jasper National Park along the rivershed. Eastbound vehicles had to stop and as you can see, eating for these guys was more important than worrying about any traffic. Quite a site! Further on, three elk watched as we passed through. We love to sight wildlife when coming through this park and we are usually successful. That night we stayed in Irwin's at Valemount BC after running through a rain, slush shower. We are on our way to Vancouver to visit with our daughter, Kendra.

Atcheson AB

Our visit to Glowing Embers RV Resort was a snowy one. Our trip from Strathmore was quite a ride. Sunshine when we left developed into flurries, then sleet, then a snowfall complete with black ice under the overpasses and and a significant accumulation. We were certainly glad to get to the campground. Of course, we needed to wash the rig first. The front legs were elephant- sized and were unrecognizably coated with ice, grit, slush and road debris. In order to do this, after filling the diesel tank at Flying J, we headed to downtown Edmonton to a rig-sized truck wash; our locks froze on the way to the resort, so we were "locked out" temporarily.

We visited with our daughter, Nadine and her husband Michael over Thanksgiving along with daughter, Kendra, who had flown in for the weekend from Vancouver. Saturday night, when we started the truck, air was being released from the air pressure relief valve every 3-4 seconds. Sunday morning found us on the phone to First Truck in Edmonton for a valve repair which took most of the day. So much for a family brunch! However, Thanksgiving turkey was absolutely delicious, thanks to Michael and the girls. The turkey?... all 18 pounds of it, was very moist and we ate a hearty meal with all the fixings.
It snowed most of the week; we waited it out until October 16th, much later than anticipated. In northern Canada, one needs to be prepared for whatever comes.
Travels from here will take us to Vancouver through Jasper National Park and down the Coquihalla. Hope the weather cooperates.

September/October 2009

Let's begin with September 1st, the day, finally, that "Ruby", a nuisance kidney stone, was removed, the reason that we did not travel much all summer. A trip to Ottawa followed immediately, to visit with our New Brunswick friends, Joan and Blair, Ottawa friends Ron and Marlene and of course, Ryan. We travelled to Killaloe to visit with Nini and Wes and then off to Indiana for some upgrades and minor repairs. Before travelling west we were back to Rama for a followup appointment with the urologist who wanted a metabolic urinalysis to determine what in my system is creating "Ruby and her friends".
September 29th found us travelling North to our favourite and new spots...Spragge, no longer in the KOA family, Wawa, Thunder Bay and Kenora. Too cold for Casino stays! Then off to Brandon and Swift Current before landing at the Heritage Rodeo RV Campground in Strathmore for a few days to visit Aunt and Uncle Doreen and Fred and friends, Joe and Lynn whom we met last April, around a campfire at Davis Lake on the Natchez Trace. October 8th, we were off under bright sunny skies ('til N Calgary) and then flurries, which turned to snow, hail, sleet, black ice under overapasses, to accumulations of snow. Once out of Red Deer, sunshine again! Quite a ride! Oh, and Mr. Clean washed the rig in Strathmore and again in Edmonton.
We were so relieved to be at Glowing Embers, to visit with Nadine and Michael and Kendra who had flown in for Thanksgiving. Little did we know that it would be CCCCCOOOOOLLLLLDDDDD and SSSSNNNOOOWWWWYYYYY!
It was a very nice Thanksgiving, even though Bill spent most of Sunday at First Truck, getting the air pressure relief valve repaired. Michael and the girls prepared a wonderful turkey dinner...all 18 pounds of it! WOW! Turkey for a week!
Snow kept us in Glowing Embers, longer than planned but October 16th found us on the road again, heading west through Jasper to Valemount and then to Merritt before arriving at Peace Arch, Surrey for the next two weeks. Many thanks to Don and Lois Sanderson for securing a site for us.
After several shopping trips to Ikea, dinners out and hanging drapes at Kendra's, we crossed the border into the USA on October 31st.