Category Archives: Beer

Getting Wired

I’ve been keeping myself busy while Donna is away. Donna left Thursday night on a trip to New York. She’s celebrating her dad’s 80th birthday with family near Albany, then going to New York City for a couple of business commitments. She’ll fly back to Portland Tuesday evening.

I had a slow start to the day on Friday. My priority for the day was repairing the cable signal and over-the-air antenna signal on our television. I have no cable signal and very weak reception from the antenna. I haven’t worried about it, since we usually use the Dish satellite for programs or we watch movies and TV series recorded on a hard drive.

The San Diego Chargers pre-season football game on Sunday will be broadcast locally on Fox. The only way I can receive the broadcast is over the air or on the RV park’s cable.

I studied the wiring diagram in the Alpine Coach Owner’s Manual. The original TV had been replaced. The Dish receiver and satellite system weren’t original equipment either. Looking at the original diagram gave me a few clues though.

I removed the TV from the front cabinet. This was a tricky operation. I really wished for an extra set of hands, but I had to get it done. I made note of how everything was connected. When the TV was replaced, the installer ran the coax cable from the antenna directly to the TV. The Wineguard antenna on the roof of our coach is supposed to run through a signal booster before it connects to the TV. The signal booster connection is in the wall of the cabinet above the driver’s seat. To rewire this, I needed a short section of coax cable.

I found a Radio Shack store online, about five miles from here. I bought a six-foot coax cable with connectors on each end. I used this cable to connect from the antenna booster to the junction box that allows me to select various input sources for the TV. I connected the TV cable to the signal out connector of the junction box. This was simple enough, but time-consuming as I worked in a cramped overhead compartment.

With everything back in place, I turned on the TV and did a channel search. The TV picked up a dozen channels. Some of them were digital high-definition broadcasts. This was looking good. But I had no sound. I pulled the screws from the frame securing the TV to the cabinet and pulled it out again. I saw the audio connections had inadvertently been pulled loose. I re-connected the wires while balancing the TV on my shoulder because the wires aren’t long enough for me to set the TV down and connect everything.

Now I had a good picture and sound. But I couldn’t find the Fox broadcast. I had ABC, NBC, CBS and other programing. There were several stations that I should have been picking up, but I couldn’t lock on to them. I was only receiving the strongest signals.

I decided to focus on the cable connection. The external cable connector hadn’t been connected to the junction box. I re-purposed the six-foot coax I bought and connected the external cable input to the proper connector on the box. Now I had a cable connection, but I could only find a few cable channels. It was the same problem as the antenna. Once again, Fox was not one of the channels I could receive. I was tired and frustrated. I gave it a break and spent the evening watching the NFL Network on the Dish satellite.

I was thinking about the day ahead before I got out of bed Saturday morning. The TV problem became suddenly clear. It was so simple. What are the common elements between the TV and cable signal or the TV and the antenna signal? The junction box and the coax cable from the box to the TV! A bad coax cable or bad connector would only pass the strongest signal from the box to the TV.

My first order of business was washing the coach. I wanted to do that Saturday morning, before I had direct sun on the coach. I got to work on the coach around 9am. I started by breaking out the ladder and washing the roof. I don’t like heights and climbing on the roof of the coach is no fun. Actually, it’s getting back down that is a little scary. I spent the next three hours spiffing up the coach, including washing all of the windows. While I was washing, the FedEx truck pulled up and delivered my ScanGauge D from Amazon.

After dining on leftover chicken stir fry and rice for lunch, I wanted to install the ScanGauge. To put it where I wanted it on the dash, I had to run the wiring from the J1708 diagnostic connector on the passenger side of the dash, behind the console and up on the driver’s side. The ScanGauge intercepts signals from the Engine Control Module (ECM) through the diagnostic port. Diesel truck platforms (including diesel RVs) use either a J1708 or J1939 connector and protocol. This serves the same function as an OBD-II diagnostic link on cars built since the 1990s. The ScanGauge will display information sent via digital signal to the ECM from various powertrain sensors. I can program it to display information from four sources at a time. I can also interrogate the ECM for faults in the system.

I couldn’t get the cable from the passenger side to the driver’s side. It kept getting hung up behind the console. I took a break from it and rode to the Radio Shack store. I bought two three-foot sections of coax cable to rewire the TV. On the way back, I saw a Harbor Freight store. I stopped and bought a package of thin, flexible fiberglass rods designed for snaking cable through tight places. The rods are 12″ long and have threaded ends to join them together to make the length required.

When I returned, I ran four sections of rod through the back of the console, then used the rod to pull the cable through. Job done!

Then I pulled the TV again. With it balanced on my right shoulder, I removed the old coax cable and replaced it with the six-foot section I bought the day before. I made sure the audio cable was still connected before I reinstalled the TV. I used the two three-foot coax cables to connect the antenna booster and the external cable connection to the junction box. Whew!

I searched for channels over the air and on cable. It worked! I have Fox on channel 12!

I completed the installation of the ScanGauge on the dash. While I was relaxing with a cold one at the picnic table, a couple walking their dog stopped by. We had met briefly before at an RV park in Junction City, Colorado! I remembered his name was Mike (hard one for me to forget). They were on their way back from a trip to Alaska in their coach. We talked about our travels for a few minutes and then they continued their walk. Small world!

By then it was time to order a pizza and call it a day. I had pizza delivered from Tom’s Pizza and Sports Bar. Excellent pizza, I recommend them.

Today, I plan to kick back and watch the Formula 1 race, and then hopefully I can watch the Chargers game. I say hopefully due to the earthquake in the San Francisco Bay area this morning. The game is scheduled to be played in San Francisco at 1pm PDT.

Lava Butte

We joined Dave and Stilla Hobden for a little sight seeing on Tuesday morning. We drove in their truck through Bend, south to the Newberry Lava Lands Visitor Center near Sun River. The visitor center is part of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument, which is operated by the National Forest Service.

Dave had an interagency pass that got us into the monument free. The main attraction here is Lava Butte, a cinder/spatter cone of the Newberry Volcano. Lava Butte rises 500 feet above the surrounding area. The cone erupted 7,000 years ago and created a lava field covering 6,100 acres of land.

The visitor center sits on forested land at the edge of the lava field. There are a number of interpretive hiking trails from the visitor center. There’s also a narrow, steep, paved road to the top of Lava Butte. Cars are limited to a 30-minute stay in the parking area on top of the butte and a pass is required to drive up. No vehicles over 22 feet long are allowed.

Edge of the lava field behind visitor center

Lava Butte viewed from visitor center

We drove to the top of the butte at our appointed time, 11:45am. We hiked the trail around the cinder cone on top. The top of the butte is also home to a fire lookout station. You can see smoke in the distance in the photos from wildfires.

Lava field to the west from the top of the butte

Northwest side of the crater

Donna and Stilla on the trail around the crater

I took a photo of one of the signs on the trail that gives more information. Click on it to enlarge if you’d like to read the sign.

By the time we hiked around the crater and drove back down to the visitor center, it was past noon and we were hungry. We headed back to Bend and stopped for lunch at the Deschutes Brewery. The food was great. Donna had a burger and sweet potato fries. I had a roast beef dip. The beef comes from a local ranch and they make the breads and rolls fresh onsite daily. The Black Butte Porter was also excellent!

After lunch, we made another stop at Trader Joe’s. I got an e-mail from the insurance agency on my smart phone. I had to get back home so I could print out documents for signatures and return them to Miller Insurance. My policy would lapse at midnight and I had to make sure the new policy was in place.

Last night, I caught up on our laundry in the park’s laundromat. Donna had done a few loads in our Splendide washer/dryer, but after a week of dry camping, we had a lot of laundry to catch up on.

We were both tired last night. We watched a couple of TV shows, one was a Jimi Hendrix documentary that I hadn’t seen since the 70s. It disappeared for decades and was released again. I don’t know what the story behind that is. We turned in early.

This morning, I need to pack the trailer, fill the fresh water tank and dump and flush the holding tanks. We’ll pull out of here around noon. Our next stop is an overnight dry camp on property owned by a Escapee member north of Terrebonne. It’s a short drive from here. Tomorrow, we’ll drive north to The Dalles and on to Portland.

Donna is flying to New York tomorrow night. I’ll be a bachelor at the Fairview RV Park for five days.

Caravan to Redmond

We’re at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds and Expo Center in Redmond, Oregon. I need to catch up on the activities of the last couple of days.

On Saturday evening, dinner was provided by the Alpine Coach Association (ACA). In addition to more pizza than we could possibly eat, ACA attendees brought salad or dessert to share. We had been given some big, ripe Oregon peaches as a welcome gift that Donna used to make a peach and wild blackberry galette (an unstructured pie). Shade was precious – we had another hot day with the temperature reaching 97 degrees by 5:30pm.

Dave Hobden brought a growler of Belgian Witbier to our table, of which I helped myself to a couple of glasses. It went well with the pizza.

On Sunday morning, Donna and I left the park on the scooter a little past 8am. We headed east through Troutdale on the Old Historic Columbia River Highway. It was a beautiful road, winding along the Sandy River at first. The surface was recently paved and very smooth.

The road took us through the town of Corbett and past the Vista House. We didn’t make any stops as we were bound for Multnomah Falls. The ACA was treating us to brunch at the Multnomah Falls Lodge. Brunch was scheduled for 9am and we wanted to arrive early so we could hike up to the bridge at the falls before brunch.

Multnomah Falls view from the parking area

We walked to the lower pavilion and took a few photos. We lingered there too long and decided to hike to the bridge after brunch.

Upper and lower falls from the pavilion

I was there

The bridge spanning the nine-foot drop between the upper and lower falls was financed by Simon Benson and completed in 1914. It’s called the Benson Bridge. Earlier this year, a large rock fell from the cliffs above and damaged the west end of the bridge. Engineers determined that the damage was cosmetic. The hole was repaired and the bridge re-opened. There have been a few mishaps on the bridge in the 100 years it’s been standing, but it’s still the original structure.

View from Benson Bridge, looking down the lower falls

Brunch was served in the Multnomah Lodge restaurant. The lodge was built in 1925. The brunch was an all-you-can-eat, buffet-style meal. It was outstanding! There was a huge variety of food, including eggs benedict and poached Copper River salmon, all of it tastefully prepared.

By the time we made it up to the Benson Bridge around 10:30am, it was crowded with tourists.

Donna and I rode the same route back, but this time we stopped at the Vista House Observatory. The Vista House is on Crown Point and offers a scenic view of the Columbia River to the east and west. The Vista house is a domed rotunda on an octagonal base. The base is about 64 feet in diameter and the dome stands 55 feet high. It was completed in 1918. Crown Point stands about 700 feet above the Columbia River.

Columbia Gorge to the east from the Vista House

After we returned, Donna went out for a bike ride, back down the Old Historic Columbia River Highway and across the Sandy River on Stark Street, eventually hitting the Springwater Trail. While she was out, I made a run to the store to replenish my beer supply. Then I organized the trailer and loaded the scooter. After Donna returned from a 30-mile loop in the heat of the day, concluding with a jump in Blue Lake, I loaded her bike in the trailer.

We planned to hit the road by 8:45am Monday morning. We were up early and made our final preparations. I filled the fresh water tank and dumped the holding tanks. We won’t have fresh water or sewer hook-ups for the week while we’re in Redmond.

I hooked up the trailer at 8:30am. Dave and Stilla Hobden were ready to roll and we followed them out of the park. Our plan was to caravan for the 135-mile trip to Redmond. Dave had walkie-talkies. He gave one to Donna so we could communicate if necessary. We were rolling down the road by 8:45am.

We followed US26 from Gresham past Mt. Hood. US26 is mostly a two-lane highway with a few climbs. We were able to maintain the speed limit most of the time. Near Warm Springs, we drove in the right lane where there was a section of highway with a passing lane. Some cars passed us there. The last car to pass was slowly overtaking as the passing lane ended. He crossed the double yellow line to get around Dave’s coach. An Oregon State Trooper was sitting in his car on the opposite shoulder. His lights lit up and he whipped a quick U-turn. Bad decision by the driver of the car. I’m sure it cost him.

The ACA members coming to the Family Motor Coach Association Convention in Redmond staged at the school grounds on the north side of Redmond. We split into three groups to stagger our arrival at the fairgrounds. This way, we could have our group parked together without overwhelming the parking staff.

I was in the last group, since I had to drop our trailer. The guys organizing our parking area found a great spot for my trailer. It’s fairly close to our site. It was an easy pull through to drop it and it should be easy to hook up when we leave.

After setting up, I took the scooter to reconnoiter the area. After getting wrong directions a few times, I finally found the will-call area and picked up our packet. At 3pm, I attended the volunteer cart drivers’ meeting. I will drive a golf cart to transport people to and from the handicapped area. We expect more than 3,000 people here by tomorrow and through the weekend. My golf cart shift starts tomorrow, from 6:30am to 9:30am. I have the same shift on Friday. Other than that, I’m free to enjoy the show.

The heat wave continued. The thermometer hit 95 degrees here yesterday. Around dinner time, a thunderstorm blew in. The wind was swirling as the raindrops fell. We stayed indoors and watched Good Will Hunting in remembrance of Robin Williams. RIP Robin.

Between the golf-cart duty and the seminars I want to attend, I’m not sure when I’ll write my next post.

Alpines Everywhere

We’ve had some busy days since I last posted on Wednesday. It’s Saturday morning and I need to catch up.

Donna went out for a bike ride on Wednesday. She rode west on Marine Drive to Portland and followed the bike path along I-5 over the Columbia River. If she continued north on the path, she would cross the state line into Washington. Instead, she pulled off at Hayden Island. She rode there to visit her friend, Ramona Creel. Ramona is an organizing professional and full-time RVer.

Ramona was staying at the Jantzen Beach RV Park. She has an Airstream travel trailer that she pulls with a Ford truck. She was stranded at the time due to engine trouble with her truck. An independent mechanic in Portland told her the engine had seized and would need replacement. His estimate for the repair was $6,000.

The truck ended up at a Ford dealer where they told her the engine wasn’t seized. The compressor was seized and wouldn’t allow the engine to turn over. Replacement of the compressor was $1,100.

Stories like this really frost me. The first mechanic condemned the engine without doing a proper diagnosis. He assumed the crankshaft was seized and never removed belts to confirm this. I don’t know if he was dishonest or incompetent, but people like that give the auto repair business a black eye.

Donna visited with Ramona for an hour or so before riding back. It was about a 30-mile round trip with a tailwind all the way home along the Columbia River.

While Donna was out, I washed our coach. I also treated the tire sidewalls with 303 Aerospace Protectant.

Around 4pm, we rode the scooter to the old downtown district of Troutdale and had an early dinner at a sushi restaurant. Downtown Troutdale is only a couple of blocks, but it has some cool shops.

Old downtown Troutdale

At the end of the road is a museum and park overlooking the Sandy River. They roll up the sidewalks at 5pm though, so the museum was closed by the time we got there.

Old Union Pacific rail car in front of museum

Thursday was a move day. We had to pack up and move from site 99 to site 28. We also had to drop our trailer. I walked up to office to check in for the move. Last Friday, the manager told me I would be dropping the trailer in site 2, 3 or 4 and I should check in before moving. The manager wasn’t there Thursday morning. The assistant manager, Debby, was on duty. I asked her which site I would be dropping the trailer in. She told me she didn’t have anything available, so I would have to leave it in the other end of the park by the pond!

I nearly lost it. I told her this was the second time they hadn’t come through. First of all, Debby had e-mailed me in April and said we would stay in the same site for our entire stay. That didn’t happen. Then the manager told me I would drop my trailer near our present site and now Debby was saying that wouldn’t happen either. After I pointed out to Debby how she had dropped the ball on me, she started looking through her reservations. She finally told me I could drop our trailer in site 6 as soon as the people there moved out, which would be by 11am. Site 28, where we had to move, was also currently occupied and should be available by 11am. I don’t understand all the juggling of sites. The people in site 28 weren’t leaving the park – they were being moved to another site as well!

At 11am, I dropped the trailer in site 6. Then we drove the coach down Sandy Boulevard a few miles west to a Union 76 station I had scouted. Their price for diesel fuel was $3.78/gallon. With my 5% Chase Freedom card cash back bonus, I filled up for less than $3.60/gallon.

Once we settled into our new site, the Alpine Coaches started rolling in. The Alpine Coach Association rally would officially kick off with cocktails and heavy hors d’oeuvres at 5pm.

Rows of Alpine Coaches

The hors doeuvres turned out to be dinner. There was plenty of food, wine tasting and a variety of beers. I sampled a few beers while Donna enjoyed the wine. We sat with Dave Hobden and his wife, Stilla. They’re originally from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Actually, Stilla is from Germany. They’re full-timers now that Dave has retired for the second time. First, he retired from the army, then went back to work for the government as a contractor. Now, he’s fully retired and enjoying life on the road. Dave and I corresponded online through the Alpine forum and he follows our blog. It was great to meet in person. Events like this and life on the road in general are all about the people we meet.

Dave, Stilla and Donna along with other ACA members

A tour of the Roadmaster facility, where RV parts and accessories are manufactured in Vancouver, Washington was on the agenda Friday morning. Donna and Stilla weren’t interested in going. Dave and I decided to travel together in Dave’s truck.

Donna hung out with a group of women after I left at 7:30pm. I came back to the coach to watch the Chargers pre-season opener against the Dallas Cowboys. For some reason, the NFL Network showed the TV coverage kicking off at 7:30pm. The actual kick-off was at 7pm, so I missed most of the first quarter. The Chargers look promising. I think it will be a good season.

I’ll post about Friday’s activity later and bring us up to date. Today, Donna and I are heading to Portland’s downtown area to kick around.

Day’s End at South Bend

The RV parking area at Cabela’s worked out fine for an overnight stop. Donna was bothered a bit by the road noise from I-5, which is just to the south of the parking lot. I didn’t notice it much and slept well.

Donna went out for a power walk before we headed out. We hit the road around 10:30am. We stopped at Uhlmann RV in Chehalis to see if they had the proper size bolts for the loose compartment door. Uhlmann was the highest sales volume dealer for Alpine Coach. They didn’t have any idea of what size bolts were needed.

I backtracked a few miles to Home Depot. I guessed the blind holes the bolts came out of were either 6mm (if metric) or 1/4 inch. I bought two of each size with lock washers and tried them in the parking lot. The 6mm bolts threaded in, but the threads felt loose. The 1/4 inch bolts didn’t fit. I think when the original bolts came loose, they vibrated and shook in the threads enough to partially strip them. I tightened them as much as I dared, but I wasn’t confident about them holding. I left the temporary safety wire fix in place.

While I was doing this, Donna fixed a green salad with leftover roasted chicken for lunch. Then she looked at the Escapees’ Day’s End Directory for a place to stay. She found a promising free boondocking spot about 60 miles west of us, near the coast.

We decided to detour west and check it out. The Day’s End Directory is updated by Escapees members and is only available to Escapees members. The directory is the only way we would have found this place. Because of that, I don’t want to give away too much detail of the location. But finding places like this in the Day’s End Directory makes the Escapees membership worthwhile.

We drove west on WA6 and followed the Willapa River to the town of South Bend. We found the gravel lot described in the directory and parked in a fairly level spot. There was a sign stating that overnight RV parking is allowed.

The Willapa River flows southwest from the nearby town of Raymond. It quickly picks up volume from tributaries and then it abruptly bends to the northwest before emptying into Willapa Bay. The small town of South Bend is located at the southernmost point of the river, right at the bend.

Donna and I took a walk across the street and found a small park and the city boat dock.

View upriver from the dock

View downriver toward Willapa Bay with Donna on the dock

We walked along the dock and saw an interesting looking boat tied up to the dock. When we came to the boat, we saw the owner sitting on the aft bench. He was waiting for family members to arrive for a boat ride down to the bay.

Steve Rogers and his Ranger Tug

His name was Steve Rogers and he’s lived her all his life. He’s a Pacific County councilman. South Bend is the county seat. Steve told us a few interesting facts about the town. South Bend, WA is undergoing a period of renaissance after being sleepy for a number of years. They are encouraging tourism and are also profiting from the legalization of marijuana in Washington.

New boost to the local economy

The population has remained steady at around 20,000 people, but the local economy is growing. One of the things that held growth back was the lack of wastewater treatment. This has been addressed through a cooperative effort with the town of Raymond. A new wastewater facility has been built, which has allowed the town to issue more new building permits.

Harvesting oysters from Willapa Bay is another driver for the local economy. Steve told us that the bay holds 10,000 acres of oyster beds. Oysters are processed at Hilton’s Coast Seafoods, a few hundred feet downriver from the dock. South Bend modestly calls itself “The Oyster Capital of the World.”

After we left Steve, Donna and I walked about a half mile down the road to the city boat launch. They allow RV dry camping in an area there, right on the river for $10/night. It looks like another good find. Last year we drove through this town but didn’t have a clue about how RV-friendly it is.

Steve’s Ranger Tug passes by as we walked to the city boat launch

We walked back into town from the boat launch. We were thirsty, so we stopped at the Chester Club and Oyster Bar. It’s a small tavern and oyster bar. I had a Dick’s Pale Ale from the tap while Donna had a Bud Light. We decided we should eat. Donna loves oysters, so she ordered half a dozen oyster shooters. I’m not so much of an oyster guy, so I had fried halibut and chips.

Oyster shooters

The oysters were fresh from Willapa Bay. Donna said they were the freshest oysters she ever had, big but delicate. The oysters in Willapa Bay are farmed. Local oystermen began seeding the bay with Pacific oysters from Japan in 1928 after the native oyster population crashed. I’ll have to try the oysters while were here.

Today, we want to explore the town. The weather at this time of year is near perfect. The forecast for today is a carbon copy of yesterday – sunny with a high of 72 degrees and an overnight low in the 50s.

We’ve decided to move to the city boat launch later this afternoon and stay for another night, right on the river!

First Saturday Club Anniversary

My last post was a short blurb on Thursday, July 17th about computer trouble. I think this is my longest stretch without a post. My laptop runs hot. Several months ago, Donna bought me a Targus Laptop Chill Mat with fans to circulate cool air under the laptop. This seemed to help. Last week, my laptop started shutting itself off. When I restarted it, the laptop displayed an error message about a cooling fan not working and an overheat error message.

I bought this laptop about a year and a half ago. On Thursday, I rode down to Best Buy and talked to them about the issue. The warranty is only good for 12 months. They said they would need to send the laptop to their service center and it would take about 10 business days before I would get it back. The estimated cost to replace the fan was $150 minimum, plus any heat damaged components they find. This sounded expensive considering the laptop (HP Pavilion G6) costs around $300 new.

I was afraid to use the laptop. If it overheated and crashed, I might lose all of my files. On Friday, I talked to my friend and former colleague, Khaldoon Tufail. Khaldoon is very computer savvy. He told me fan issues more often than not are caused by dust and debris build-up on the fan itself. The fan is located underneath the keyboard. His advice was to start by trying to blow the area out with a compressed gas duster. If that didn’t work, I would have to open the case and replace the fan. I found instructions for this on YouTube. It requires nearly complete disassembly of the laptop.

I bought a couple of cans of compressed gas and blew gas through all of the vent openings for the fan and through the keyboard. After doing this several times, the laptop seems to function fine. In fact, I think it’s running cooler than ever. Thanks, Khaldoon!

My daughter, Alana, had Wednesday and Thursday off work at the hospital. We spent both days together with her and our granddaughters and their “adopted” friend, Andrea. Andrea is about Lainey’s age and she is currently living with them.

It was hot and sunny both days. They bought some floating mattresses on their way out to the lake. I cut the stem of a Presta valve out of an old bicycle tube and made an adapter to fill the mattresses with air, using our bicycle tire pump. This was better than trying to blow up four mattresses. The girls enjoyed time in the lake and we grilled dinner both nights.

We loaded Donna’s bike in Alana’s car and Alana drove Donna to her house on Thursday so she could ride the Centennial Trail, which passes near Alana’s house. The roads around Lake Goodwin aren’t wide enough for safe bicycling. Donna took a ride on the trail and put in 30 miles or so.

On Friday, Alana picked us up after work. She took us to a brew pub called Skookum Brewery near her home. We sampled a few brews and had nachos. Afterwards, Alana gave us her car for the weekend. We dropped her off at home and drove her car back to the Lake Goodwin RV Resort.

Donna enjoyed a hefe while Alana tried a sample flight

Donna enjoyed a hefe while Alana tried a sampler flight

Yesterday, our friends from Portland, DeWayne and Marlo Nikkila, were passing through the area. They had visited relatives in Bremerton and were taking the Bremerton-Seattle Ferry to continue their travels to Wyoming and South Dakota. The ferry would drop them off in Seattle at 11am.

We arranged to meet at an Indian restaurant called Bombay House. It was right on their route, just off of I-90 in the Eastgate area of Bellevue. DeWayne and Marlo are vegans and they love Indian food (as do we), so this restaurant fit the bill. We met at 11:30am and had lunch. I haven’t seen them since we visited them on a motorcycle tour back in 2010. They were living in North Bay, Ontario at the time. Donna and I rode our BMWs on an extended motorcycle tour that took us through Ontario. Since then, they’ve lived in Hawaii, where DeWayne was stationed, and now Portland. The last time Donna and Marlo were together was at a convention in Las Vegas in 2011.

We sat at our table and talked for over an hour. DeWayne is a retired military man now. We talked about adjusting to The Saturday Club (every day is Saturday).

Marlo and Donna

After we left them, we drove west on I-90 to downtown Seattle. I was a little concerned because there were signs warning of lane closures on I-90 and traffic delays. We took our chances and found the traffic was so light (everyone else must have heeded the warnings), we didn’t have any problems.

Our first stop was at the Esquin Wine Merchant south of the city center. This store is in an old warehouse. They have aisle after aisle of wine – great selection and great prices. Donna picked out a few bottles.

From there, we drove downtown and parked on the corner of 2nd and Pike. We walked down the street to Pike Place Market. Pike Place Market is Seattle’s original farmers’ market. It first opened on August 17, 1907. It’s located on a steep hillside overlooking Elliott Bay. You can find great prices on some of the freshest seafood there. Most of the vendor stalls are in a large building with six levels. The building houses vendors with everything from seafood, fresh fruit and vegetables to tourist trinkets, T-shirts and fine art to restaurants and bars. You name it, you can probably find it there.

Saturday crowd at Pike Place Market

There’s one fish monger in particular with a large selection of fresh fish. They always draw a crowd. While we were standing in front of their display, someone bought some fish. One of the employees hollered, “Four black cod!” He then picked up a large, whole black cod from the crushed ice and threw it to another guy behind the counter about 15 feet away. The second guy made the catch and wrapped the fish. This was repeated until all four of the fish purchased were caught, wrapped and delivered. It was a good show.

Fish monger

More seafood

We stopped at a fruit and vegetable stand and found garlic spears. These are like the garlic scapes we bought in Coeur d’Alene, but they are from elephant garlic plants. Donna bought a bunch.

Fruit and vegetable stand

We wandered among the stalls until I was feeling claustrophobic from the crowd. We walked outside the building and shopped across the street. Donna bought handmade cheese from a small store.

Fresh flower arrangements – from $5 to $20

After we left Pike Place, I drove us up to Ballard, a small fishing community north of downtown. I wanted to show Donna the Chittenden Locks (also known as the Ballard Locks). These locks are part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal. The locks connect the fresh water of Lake Washington and Lake Union to the salt water of Puget Sound. The locks maintain the fresh water levels 20-22 feet above the mean low tide level of the sound. This prevents salt water intrusion into the fresh water of the lakes.

We crossed the locks and went to the fish ladder. This is a unique ladder due to it’s location at the confluence of fresh and salt water. When the Corps of Engineers built the dam and locks, they blocked the natural flow of fresh water to the sound. The fish ladder provides flow from the lake for salmon and steelhead trout to return from the sea to fresh water. These fish hatch in fresh water. Then they migrate to the sea. At the end of their lifespan, they return to the fresh water to spawn.

The fish ladder has 21 weirs (or steps). The weirs are like large, square concrete buckets of water overflowing into the next lower weir. Each weir is about a foot higher than the previous weir. The fish are attracted to the weirs by the smell of the fresh water flowing through them. The fish jump up each weir, climbing to the level of the lake to continue their journey to the rivers, streams and creeks they originally came from. We could see fish in the weirs from the walkway above. We walked down to a special viewing room. Some of the weirs have a plexiglass wall, allowing us to look into the weir like an aquarium. We saw steelhead trout and Coho (silver) salmon working their way up.

Yesterday was a landmark day for me. Friday, July 19, 2013 was my last day of work at the office. I walked out the door, joined the Saturday Club and haven’t looked back. The time seems to have flown by. Paradoxically, it also seems like we’ve been so many places and have seen so many things, it couldn’t possibly have fit into a span of just one year. Wednesday will mark one year since we locked up the house for the last time and hit the road.

We ended the day by watching an old movie, Witness, starring Harrison Ford. All in all, it was a great anniversary of my induction into The Saturday Club.

Diablo Deja Vu

After our early morning wake-up yesterday, Donna walked to the bakery downtown and picked up breakfast for us. She brought me a sausage, cheese and egg sandwich on a biscuit and bought a cinnamon pull-apart pastry for herself.

We pulled out of the Pine Near RV Park at 11am and headed west on the North Cascades Highway (WA20). We drove over this highway last year in our gasoline-powered Gulfstream coach. I remembered it being a slow struggle up Washington Pass. This year, it’s unusually hot. I took it easy climbing to the summit at Washington Pass, holding 40-45mph up the steep grade and switchbacks. The temperature gauge was indicating just under 200 degrees Fahrenheit – the hottest I’ve seen our Cummins ISL engine reach.

Windshield view as we climb the North Cascade Highway – yep, that’s snow in July

The North Cascade Highway is closed from around mid-November to mid-April due to the amount of snowfall. I crossed it once in the spring after the road had been cleared. The snow banks along the road were over 20 feet high.

Once we crossed the Pacific Crest Trail at Rainy Pass, it was downhill into the wet side of Washington. West of the Cascade Range, the climate is very different from the east side. The steep Cascade Mountains trap moisture from the Pacific Ocean. In the Seattle area, measurable precipitation falls 150 days per year. It’s cloudy more than 200 days per year.

We made a stop at the overlook above Diablo Dam. We stopped at the same place and took a selfie last year. We shot another selfie to compare our look a year later.

Selfie over Diablo

There are a series of three dams – Ross, Diablo and Gorge Dam. These generate electricity for western Washington, utilizing the water cascading down to the Skagit Valley. The water has a unique hue to it. The color comes from the glacial run-off that fills the reservoirs. Glacial action scrubs organic and inorganic matter from the mountains. This matter is suspended in the water, giving it a greenish color.

Reservoir behind Diablo Dam

Once again, the two-stage Jake brake on our Cummins ISL made descending into the Skagit Valley a breeze. It was a white-knuckle affair at times last year with our gasoline-powered Gulfstream coach.

After we passed Marblemount, Donna started to look for a place for us to dry camp. We found a WalMart in Smokey Point, near my daughter’s house in Arlington. Donna called and talked to manager. He said local ordinance limits the stay to 24 hours, but realistically two nights are fine. This was perfect as we need to hang out for two nights before we move to the Lake Goodwin RV Resort where we have reserved a two-week stay.

Donna programmed Nally (our GPS). Nally directed us to take Highway 530 through Darrington. I lived in Darrington, a small logging town in the north Cascades, for 13 years. This is where my three daughters grew up. When I talked to my oldest daughter, Alana, a couple of days ago, I asked about the condition of 530. There was a devastating mudslide recently between Darrington and Arlington that destroyed more than 30 homes, resulting in deaths and many injuries. The mudslide covered a stretch of Highway 530. Alana told me the road was open. She said there was a slow stretch with narrow lanes, but it wasn’t bad.

We took 530 through Darrington. The last time I came through Darrington was for my youngest daughter’s high school graduation in 2005. My youngest daughter, Shauna, attended school from kindergarten through high school here. Today, she’s a law student at Cal Western University in San Diego.

As we made our way to the WalMart, we passed the Arlington Airport. It’s a small general aviation airport. I used to live near the northwest corner of the airport from 2002 to 2005. We saw signs for the EAA Fly-in. This is a gathering of members of the Experimental Aircraft Association that takes place one weekend every summer in Arlington. They have seminars, vendors and planes on display. They also put on an airshow with aerobatic airplanes, warbirds and experimental aircraft.

After we set up in the WalMart lot, we walked back to a steakhouse called the Buzz Inn. It’s located at the south end of the runway. They had tables set up outside. We found seats and enjoyed cold beer and food while we watched the airshow. I had no idea that the EAA Fly-in was this weekend. I also didn’t know the WalMart was by the airport (it didn’t exist when I lived here before). Serendipity strikes again.

Last night, Alana stopped by with her eight-year-old daughter, Gabi (Gabriella). Her other daughter, Lainey, was out camping with friends for the weekend. We enjoyed the visit and will join them again today. We’re looking forward to spending time with Alana and our granddaughters over the next two weeks.

Early Morning Wake-up

We had a visitor for breakfast yesterday. A doe came into our site to graze on the clover. We’ve spotted a few deer around Winthrop. They seem to be fairly tame.

Breakfast visitor

The Pine Near RV park has a strange name. If you say it quickly, it becomes pinear (pioneer). At least that’s what I make of it. The park filled up with weekend campers yesterday. Winthrop is a popular destination. It offers river access for fishing, boating or tubing and there’s great hiking and biking in the area.

We were in site 14, but unfortunately it was reserved for the weekend. It’s a favored site, with good reason. It’s the largest site at Pine Near. It’s right across the street from the Shafer Museum with easy access to town.

We packed quickly and had the slides in and engine fired up by 9am. We moved to site 26 to spend another night here. Site 26 is also large and level. It isn’t a pull-through – it’s a back-in site, but it’s more than 60 feet deep. We had one SNAFU backing into the the site. I didn’t hear any advice from Donna over the CB radio. Through the window, I heard her yell, ‘Stop!” She walked up to the driver’s window and said I was about to hit the picnic table with the trailer.

I had her try her handheld Cobra CB. It worked fine. As I straightened out and started backing in again, I couldn’t hear her instructions on the CB. Later, I tested the handheld unit. It worked fine. We came to the conclusion that the way Donna was holding the unit positioned her finger over the tiny microphone opening. That’s why I wasn’t hearing anything.

Site 26 – Shaded and roomy

Site 26, living room slide out

After we set up, Donna went for a bike ride. She rode out on West Chewuch Road, then followed a paved forest service road through the Okanogan National Forest for 7-8 miles before turning back. She took West Chewuch Road to a river crossing and came back on East Chewuch road. It was about a 30-mile ride.

It was hot out yesterday. The temperature was in the 90s. In the afternoon we walked to town for ice cream. It was great! I had pistachio almond. Donna had the handmade coffee ice cream. We also browsed in a few shops.

I bought some cold beer and wanted to come back to put it in the refrigerator. Donna decided to walk to the west end of town to a winery for wine tasting. She headed that way while I came home and sat outside and read for a while.

Last night, we grilled a pork tenderloin. Donna marinated it with one of my favorites – a blend of sesame-chili oil, olive oil, fresh ginger and soy sauce. I also grilled baby bok choy that Donna bought at the farmers’ market in Hayden. Another nutritious and oh so delicious meal!

Grilled pork tenderloin, baby bok choy with a side of brown rice pilaf

A group of motorcyclists from western Washington set up tents in the area across from our site. They call themselves the Alky Angels. It’s a clean and sober group, so they don’t party into the night. But this morning, eight or ten of them were up at 5:30am, having coffee, milling about and yukking it up. They were unbelievably loud. This wasn’t my idea of a good wake-up.

Today, we’ll pull out of here and cross the north Cascade Mountains. We have two summits to climb. Washington Pass tops out at 5,477 feet above sea level. Then we descend a bit before climbing over Rainy Pass at 4,855 feet. Here in Winthrop, we’re sitting at about 1,700 feet above sea level.

I’m not sure where we’ll end up tonight. Our next reservation begins Monday at the Lake Goodwin Resort in Stanwood, Washington. I checked with them yesterday and they’re booked up for the weekend. I think we’ll head over to a truck stop at Island Crossing. My oldest daughter, Alana, gets off work at the hospital at 7pm. She can pick us up at Island Crossing and we can take a look at her driveway and see if we can fit the coach there for a couple of nights. If not, we’ll come up with something.

Pine Near RV Park

Yesterday’s post left us on the road Wednesday. We crossed Blewett Pass and drove north on US97 past Wenatchee. We stopped there and topped up the fuel tank. We were thinking about heading to the Twisp-Winthrop Rodeo Grounds to boondock for a couple of days. I like to have the tank full when we’re unsure of our destination and may need to run the generator. It won’t run if there’s less than a quarter of a tank of fuel. It’s designed that way so that you won’t run out of fuel and not be able to start the engine.

The quick turnaround at Aubrey’s RV left us with a few open days to fill before we cross the Cascade Mountains. After fueling up, we ran into heavy smoke north of the Rocky Reach Dam. A wildfire covering 28 square miles of the Wenatchee National Forest west of Entiat, Washington was burning. The smoke hung like fog over the Columbia River.

We didn’t know about the fire. There are two routes to the North Cascade Highway from Wenatchee – US97 on the east bank of the Columbia River and US97A on the west side. Since I wanted fuel, I chose US97 on the east side. This turned out to be the better choice. US97A was closer to the fire and road closures were a possibility. By Thursday, 30 miles of 97A were closed.

I began to have doubts about the Twisp-Winthrop Rodeo Grounds. When we stayed there last year, it was Labor Day weekend. The grounds were open for the rodeo. I asked Donna if she remembered a gate at the entrance. I was thinking the grounds might be closed and the gate locked up. I was trying to remember the road. I thought we could be in trouble if the gate was locked. I wasn’t sure if we could turn around if we couldn’t enter the rodeo grounds.

Donna opened the Escapees Day’s End directory on her laptop to look for information. The Day’s End directory has information on campgrounds and boondocking sites. She didn’t find any information on the rodeo grounds, but she found other points of interest. She found an American Legion Park north of us in Okanagan. It was only six bucks per night (no hook-ups).

Then she found an RV park in Winthrop that offered a 50% discount to Escapees members. Donna called the Pine Near RV park and inquired about availability. They had a large pull-through site available. We diverted from US97 to WA153 – a narrow two-lane highway that follows the Methow (MET-how) River. I made a wrong turn as we entered town, but we had no problem getting back on the right road. We found the RV park on a ridge above downtown Winthrop.

The owner, Anna came out to our coach and told us to walk to the site with her. She showed us the site and explained how we should orient the coach. The site is huge with a large grassy area, picnic table and fire ring. Next to road, a line of trees borders the site. There wasn’t anyone within 100 feet of our site.

This was a real score. Full hook-ups with 50-amp service for $21/night including tax. Winthrop is a cool town with lots of activities. It’s a popular destination for people from the Seattle area (Westsiders). The town was first built in 1891 when Guy Waring settled with his family at the confluence of the Methow and Chewuch Rivers. The place burned to the ground in 1893. In 1897, Guy returned and re-established the town. Click on the photo below to read his story.

Winthrop Story

The Pine Near RV Park is located across the street from the Shafer Museum. This museum is manned by volunteer docents and entry is by donation. It has old buildings and various implements used for farming and mining in the area.

Implements at the Shafer Museum

A very old tractor with iron wheels

They displayed a huge old diesel engine. Originally it powered a tug boat. It was re-purposed to run a mining operation.

Huge diesel engine

Donna and I walked through the museum grounds to access stairs leading down to the main street and downtown area. The museum and Pine Near RV Park are on Castle Avenue above the downtown district.

Downtown Winthrop is comprised of old western-style buildings and boardwalks covering about two blocks. The Winthrop area has about 2,000 residents, but fewer than 500 live in the incorporated city.

Winthrop gas station below the Shafer museum

Winthrop Emporium (general store)

Saloon and stores

Donna and I walked through town and found the Old Schoolhouse Brewery. I went inside while Donna window shopped at a few more of the stores.

Brewery in Winthrop

The brewery has a patio deck in the back, right on the Chewuch River. I found a table on the deck shaded by a tree. Donna joined me for a beer.

Donna enjoying a craft brew on the riverside

After sampling a couple of beer styles, we walked back to the Pine Near RV park. Did I mention our deluxe site?

Our site, shaded by trees

Another view of our site

Anna bought the Pine Near RV Park about two years ago. She’s working hard to upgrade the grounds and build her reputation. We heard from locals in town how much she’s improved the place. We absolutely love it. Nice sites, friendly service and a short walk to downtown.

When we set up, I put the living room slide out. Wow! After living with the slide in for the last five weeks, we’d forgotten how much of a difference it makes. Our space feels huge! I got the tape measure out and did some calculations. The slide is 16 feet long and extends about two feet. This adds about 32 square feet of floor space. That’s about 10% of the total floor plan of the coach.

But when you think about the living room, where we spend most of our time, the picture changes. Our living room, from the back of the driver’s seat to the bathroom entry is 16 feet long and about eight feet wide with the slide in. That’s 108 square feet. With the slide out, it’s 140 square feet, a 30% increase in area.

On Wednesday evening, we munched on hors d’oeuvres for dinner and watched TV in our luxurious, 140-square-foot living room.

Prosciutto-wrapped cantaloupe, crackers and labneh

Yesterday, Donna went out on her bicycle and explored the area. She finished off her ride with a stop at Pearrygin State Park and jumped into Pearrygin Lake to cool off. I asked Anna if I could wash our coach. She said she doesn’t always allow washing in her park, but she let me do it. I spent about three hours washing the coach and trailer.

Donna and I I walked back into town later and had a late lunch at the Mexican restaurant. Donna shopped at a consignment shop while I returned to the coach. It was very hot out – in the mid-90s.

We only booked two nights here as that was what Anna had available. Yesterday, Anna told me we could stay another night, but we have to move to a different site. Our current site was reserved for the weekend. It’s the best site in the park. Next time we’re in Winthrop, we’ll try to book site 14 again. This morning we’ll move the coach to site 26, another large, shaded site.

Nuclear Waste

We rolled out of Tamarack RV Park on Thursday morning and headed west out of Coeur d’Alene. We intended to make an early start and be on the road by 9:30am at the latest. I thought this would give us ample time to reach Aubrey’s RV in Union Gap, Washington to have our slide-out repaired. I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start over.

I had organized the trailer and added another strap on the left side to secure cargo on Monday afternoon. It was hot in the trailer. The outside temperature reached the 90s and it was even hotter inside the trailer. While I was working in the trailer, we had visitors – Suzanne Holman and her boyfriend, Doug. This gave me a good excuse to take a break. Donna and Suzanne met through a random connection on Facebook. Donna learned from a recent post that Suzanne was taking Doug on a quick tour of Idaho and Washington and invited them to stop by so they could meet in person. We sat at the picnic table enjoying some of Donna’s homemade artichoke hummus and veggies and talked for about an hour. Then I went back to work.

Doug, Donna and Suzanne

That night, Donna prepared garlic scapes that she picked up at the farmers’ market on Saturday. She was excited to find them after trying them once many years ago. I’d never eaten a scape before. Donna massaged the scapes with olive oil, wound bunches of 4-5 in a loose knot, and sprinkled them with sea salt and fresh pepper. I grilled them in our veggie grilling pan.

Garlic scapes, hot off the grill

I should mention that before cooking, you need to break off the lower, thicker part of the stem and discard it. It’s tough and woody. The white garlic “flower” (it doesn’t really flower) and the upper stem are tender and delicious.

I grilled boneless, skinless chicken thighs marinated with the honey-maple dressing, another find at the farmers’ market. Served with the scapes and garlic smashed red potatoes, it was a meal worth repeating.

Honey-maple marinated chicken with scapes and garlic smashed red potatoes

On Tuesday morning, we were up early and walked next door to the Broken Egg for breakfast at 7:30am. We had a hearty breakfast. I ordered eggs benedict with hash browns and Donna had bacon, eggs and hash browns.

We were a little behind schedule. It was 9:40am when I was finally ready to fire up the beast. On our way out of the park, I stopped at the propane station. I wanted to fill our tank as I didn’t think we would see a better price on propane in the months ahead. That took another 20-minute chunk out of the morning by the time the tank was filled. We should be set on propane for the rest of the year now though.

Our next stop was the Pilot-Flying J truck stop at exit 2, in Post Falls (two miles from the Washington border). I knew fuel would cost more in Washington, so I wanted to fill up our fuel tank. The card reader at the pump wouldn’t authorize my Flying J card. This card gives me a discount on the price and allows me to put up to $500 worth of fuel in the tank. Many pumps will stop at $100 when you use a regular credit card.

I went inside and handed my Flying J card to the cashier and told her I was having a problem at the pump. She swiped the card and asked me for my PIN. I gave her the number and she said my PIN was wrong. I opened my e-mail on my smartphone and showed the e-mail from Pilot-Flying J with my PIN. She tried it again and said, “Sorry, it doesn’t work. You’ll have to call customer service.” Another 20-minute chunk of time gone.

I drove out of the Flying J and went to the Exxon station across the street. This turned out to be a better option anyway. My Chase Visa card is offering 5% cash back on gas station purchases (truck stops are excluded). So, the 5% meant about 20 cents off per gallon. That’s better than the Flying J discount. I filled the tank and found that my fuel mileage from Great Falls to Coeur d”Alene was 9.8 MPG. Not bad!

It was 10:45 by the time we hit the border. We had a 2pm appointment at Aubrey’s RV in Union Gap. We cruised west on I-90 at 62mph, then turned south on US395. I planned to follow US395 to Tri-cities (Pasco-Kennewick-Richland) and pick up I-82 there. I knew we weren’t going to be at Aubrey’s by 2pm.

I asked Donna to program Aubrey’s address into Nally (our GPS). I wanted to see if Nally would come up with a faster route. Nally had me exit US395 and follow a series of county roads. When I planned our route, I though it might be quicker to cross over to WA24, which runs right into Union Gap. This was where Nally was taking us. However, that route has to jog around the Hanford Department of Energy (DOE) site. I didn’t want to drive near Hanford.

Hanford is the biggest, most toxic nuclear waste site in the western hemisphere. The site was part of the Manhattan Project in 1943. It was the first full-scale plutonium reactor in the world. The plutonium for the first nuclear test (Trinity) and for the bomb detonated over Nagasaki was made there.

Today, the 586-square-mile site has more than 56 million gallons of radioactive liquid waste stored in failing containers. In 1973, 115,000 gallons of nuclear sludge leaked there. Today, at least 67 containers of radioactive sludge are known to be leaking.

The site was decommissioned in 1987, but many experts agree the worst is yet to come. Many of the leaking containers date back to the 1940s. There are many more containers that are sure to fail at some point. This waste will eventually find its way to the Columbia Gorge and contaminate the river. It could be potentially worse than Fukushima. If you’re interested in knowing more about Hanford, click on the links below.

Koin Article

Huffington Articles

As we skirted around the desolation of the Hanford area, the day became very hot. The temperature outside was 103 degrees. I fired up the generator to run the roof air conditioner as we drove along. The intense heat was creating thermal air streams which developed into dust devils. These mini-twisters were creating funnels of dust and vegetation swirling into the sky. We were slammed by a couple of the fierce winds.

Donna phoned Aubrey’s and told them we would be an hour late. They told her that 3pm would be okay. We arrived at their shop right at 3pm. I went inside to write up my repair order.

The woman I talked to two weeks earlier when I made my appointment wrote up the ticket. Then she asked me when I needed the coach back! I told her we live in it. When I made the appointment, I clearly told her we were full-timers and I wanted to be sure they could get the work done. We found out later that she was new to the position and misunderstood what I meant when I said we were full-timers.

This wasn’t good. She told me she only booked time to diagnose and make an estimate – they didn’t have time to do the work. Their technician was an experienced guy and he was very helpful. He asked me a few questions and then he pulled the coach into the shop with the hope of finding a simple fix. I told him I thought the seal had come loose and jammed the slide. He looked at the inner seal and told me he had never seen this type of seal jam a slide in over 20 years of RV experience. The inner seal is soft foam. He said the outer wiper seal is bonded to an aluminum strip and it could jam a slide, but our outer seal is intact.

You know how it is when you have a toothache. You make an appointment and go to the dentist. When you get there, the tooth doesn’t hurt anymore and the dentist doesn’t find anything wrong.

Well, that’s how it went. The tech operated the slide and it worked fine. He did find the hydraulic reservoir for the HWH jack and slide rams was low on fluid. His theory was the low fluid allowed air into the ram for the living room slide, as that is the last thing I operate when I set up. He topped up the fluid and operated the slide several times. I’m skeptical, but I didn’t have any other ideas. We’ve been living without opening the living room slide for about five weeks, and it’s working perfectly.

I paid for the shop time and fluid and drove to the WalMart in Terrace Heights. We were told at Aubrey’s that this WalMart is RV-friendly and we could overnight there.

We found a good spot near the end of the WalMart lot. There were a couple of semi tractor-trailer rigs parked there. It was beer thirty and I opened a cold one. About then, a security vehicle drove around our rig. A few minutes later, the security vehicle stopped next to our door. I stepped outside and greeted the security guy. He told me we were welcome to stay the night, but he wanted me to pull forward about thirty feet. He said it was a popular stop for truckers and he wanted to maximize the parking space. No problem. Free overnight parking with a security guard – I’m good with that.

Big rigs at WalMart

They weren’t all big rigs

We were up early Wednesday morning. We had breakfast at the McDonalds in WalMart and hit the road. We headed north on I-82 over the Umptanum Ridge to Ellensburg. From there we took US97 over Blewett Pass and continued on to Wenatchee. We were thinking about boondocking at the Twisp-Winthrop Rodeo Grounds where we stayed last year.

I’ll have to continue this story tomorrow – it’s getting too long-winded already!

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Beer

Getting Wired

Lava Butte

Caravan to Redmond

Alpines Everywhere

Day’s End at South Bend

First Saturday Club Anniversary

Diablo Deja Vu

Early Morning Wake-up

Pine Near RV Park

Nuclear Waste

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