Monday, June 29, 2015

Vacation 6/2015

We went on a short trip with friends Alan and Cindy Neuburger. They were on their trike and we were to go in the car, due to problems with my wrist and not being unable to ride. The morning we were to leave, we got to the gas station, and then the car would not start. The guys there tried to jump start the car, and it would not stay running. Called for a tow home (1 1/2miles). We spent the day working on the car, and unloading the car and tent trailer, and loading the motorhome (Navi). By the end of the day the alternator and battery had been changed in the car and it was running fine, and the Navi was loaded and ready to go.  We meet up with Alan and Cindy on Sunday in La Grande Oregon. After we were all gassed up, we headed for Wallowa, Oregon.
Our destination was Wallowa River RV Park. great little place. Nice to be finally settled for the night. 
The next morning we headed up to Joseph to ride the tram up to the top of Mt Howard. WOW, what views.....and lunch very pleasing. After walking a short distance, the next area was quite steep, Jay and Cindy decided  to walk back towards the tram, while Alan and I went on to the top....again I can't tell you how great the views were. It was a long day, but so enjoyed it. 


Tuesday morning we were off and going to Baker City, pleasant camp ground, without facilities being ADA friendly, not good. Wednesday we were off again to the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Very interesting and informative, a lot of work went into the center to tell the history of the Oregon trail. And again the views of the rolling hills...just loved it. We moved on to Sumpter Valley Dredge State Park. First we stopped at the old train station and had a picnic lunch. The train does not run during the week, so we just poked around and took some pictures. We stayed that night at Sumpter Pines RV Park. After getting checked in we head to the city of Sumpter and to see the Dredge that is still in place from the gold mining days. The dredge is getting a face lift more to come. So much history in our state. Thursday we were on to Vale, Or for the night. We had thought we were going on Friday to Idaho...and Alan and Cindy were off to Burns, and then on to see his kids. Thursday night Jay was sick, Friday morning he seemed ok, but I decided to drive and let him rest, well he was sick again about 1/2 hour into our trip to Idaho, and I thought nope we are going home. We got home that eve about 4:30pm, Jay still wasn't well, did lay down in the back of Navi for awhile....After we got him home, it was several days before he was back on his feet. It was a good trip, enjoyed our time with Alan and Cindy....and seeing and learning more of Oregon history.




Friday, May 1, 2015

2nd home update

After talking with Good Sam the the charges incurred on first trip, they will be refunding out money. I have talked with the GM @ camping world, he is getting out money back for the cost of the tire.
All is well......enjoying the MH...
until next time....

Sunday, April 26, 2015

2nd Home

We had been looking and talking about getting a cabin in the mountains or at the beach, or just even selling our home and moving someplace else. To travel or not, how to travel, by car or motorcycle. Lots of questions, and no answers.
Ok lets try traveling, camper van, or pickup with camper? Or a van and through sleeping bags in the back? more questions and no answers. Jay can't stand up in a camper van, I don't want to be crawling up in the back of a pickup camper.....So maybe a motorhome....maybe not....if we get a motorhome, and then find a cabin or another place to live....What then?..more questions, no answers. Whatever we purchase Jay needs to be able to drive it...with such long legs and being 6ft 7in, it is difficult for him to find something that he fits into....head room and leg room is lacking in most vehicles. We started looking and had Jay sitting in many different kinds of vehicles, camper vans short on head room and leg room....motorhome....again most are short on head and leg room. We found a few motorhomes that had tall ceilings, but no leg room for driving. Finally we found a motorhome that had enough head and leg room for Jay, and a king size bed in the back......So in finding this motorhome, we found our cabin, but on wheels. So we have a 2nd home. When we purchased this RV Good Sam roadside assistance was included.  We decided to take a trip, heading south along the coast, we took a corner a little too fast and a drawer came shooting out.....hanging on one of the roller rails. I went back to try and take care of this....but needed Jay to stop and come help me....He was able to get the drawer back in the cabinet, and it works ok.....As we take off from this stop, we hit a pothole causing the lotion bottle in the bathroom to fall and break. Lotion was all over the bathroom, a slippery mess. As this first day ends, we pull in to South Beach State Park to camp for the night. As Jay is backing the RV in, I noticed a flat tire on the passenger outside dually. I looked up the number we were given for roadside assistance, they can't find us in the system, and a service call to fix the tire is $175, I give them the Visa number and approx 2 hours later someone shows up from les schwab. He does his thing, checks the tire, puts air in it, says all is good, and he is on his way (All of this time we are under the impression there is no spare tire, we had asked many times about).
Day 2 we are on the road again. We stop at Sunset Bay State Park for lunch and to stretch our legs. In doing my walk, I noticed a big bump on the side of the tire. Since we don't want to pay for another service call, I called a local les schwab (only 6 miles away) and we drove there. Again not thinking we had a spare tire, we purchased a tire ($239), as they start to put the new tire on, they tell us we have a spare....OMG...They put the spare on, and the new tire goes to the spare position. The tire with the bump had a split bead, they thought it was done when the tire was put on the wheel, and it had just taken this long to cause a problem.
We continue our trip, staying that night at Bullards Beach State Park....very quiet, mostly retired peeps.
New day....maybe tire problems are over.
Not in a hurry the next morning, light breakfast, and just kicking back.....at lunch time we pack up to go.....Lunch was at Face Rock Creamery, it is the new cheese factory in Bandon, Or. Cheese is wonderful, we tried the Vampire Slayer (triple garlic to keep the mosquitoes away), aged cheddar, and garlic basil, we were not disappointed in our selections. On down the coast we had wanted to spend the night at Mill Creek campground in the Redwoods. It was still closed for the season. Found another park almost as interesting a few miles down the road Elk Prairie campground, this place was "boon-
docking" our first time. Still learning about this RV, and how everything works, could not get the the microwave to work. The generator would run, but no power to any plugins. After reading the manual, we found that the generator has a breaker on it.....flip the breaker and everything works.
The next day was lunch at Samoa Cookhouse (the destination), again not disappointed, Short ribs, Spanish rice, baked beans, three bean salad, and not to forget chicken veg soup and toss salad, with carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for desert.
Another night boon-docking went much better. with lunch in Cave Junction,Or at Taylor s Country Store and restaurant.
We slowly worked our way back home with out last night out at Detroit Lake State Park, the lake is so low.....it was very quiet, and I really enjoyed it. It was so different traveling in the same vehicle with Jay, the laughs and comments. So much different then being on separate bikes. Like reconnecting.....not all the day to day stuff to get in the way. I look forward to much more of this type of travel.
    


Monday, July 28, 2014

UMCI Rally July 21,2014

Our first "rally" ever....We decided to attend the UMCI rally in Cashmere, Wa. Ready to go on Sunday the 20th bikes packed, trailer ready and at 9pm we go out to check the air in the tires. Jay had been complaining about some type of shaking in bike, when I got down to check the air in his back tire, he had nylon cords worn thru. Bald spots!!! No way to get tires that night or the next day...so we take the car. Not a bad drive, bikes would have been fun....It rained off and on all week, we did some sight seeing, Leavenworth, Grand Coulee Dam....and Applets and cotlets.. Lots of nice people and many, many bikes.....home Friday..no rain...

Thursday, July 3, 2014

July 3, 2014 short trip













We have been doing the RCMC Grand Tour, and to get another check point off of our list we went to Camp Sherman for lunch. 304 miles of wonderful scenery. Some curves going up Clackamas River hwy. I always need practice on curves. Made a couple of stops along the way.

First was at the day use area at Detroit Lake. I am breaking in a new pair of boots....no duck tape and a pair to tourmaster vented gloves to protect my hands from more sun burn. We did have lunch at Camp Sherman, it is a small deli. My club sandwich was great, but Jays hamburger was lacking. We need to learn not to eat at check points, or Jay needs to order the same as me. After we left Camp Sherman, we went on to Sisters for gas. The traffic was so bad at that point we turned around and came home. Same route same rest area on the way home. One thing I will say, is that in Sisters it was 84 degrees, in Detroit 78 degrees, and in Estacada it was 72....so nice to be back on this side of the mountain.....


Thursday, June 26, 2014

Summer 2014

I have not been posting, seems like I just stay very busy. But this year we are doing the RCMC Grand Tour. what happens is you get a list of places, and you ride to these places, get your passport stamped and move on.
Since we have been going to so many places and enjoying the ride, I am going to tell you alittle about the places that are check points (where we get our passports stamped for this event). I am calling this the South trip, 2255 miles. Left home 6\15/2014 First thing was rain First check point Wells Inn Scottsburg, Oregon. Food not so good burnt fries, and onion rings Toilet had poop on the seat Camp for the night at Tee campground on hwy 138 So far so good. 6\16\2014 Had a good night, some rain...bkft then hit the road about 10amm Stopped out of Medford for a light snack and break. That was about 12 noon. GPS said we should be at check point by 1pm......with all the construction, and traffic it took us until after 2pm......now the food at triple tree was good. Jay grilled roast beef and cheddar, I had bacon cheese burger. When we asked to get our passports stamped, the owner came over introduced himself shook our hands and thanked us for coming to his restaurant.....now that man knows how to treat people. After lunch headed up hwy 140 headed to the next check point....found a campground at fish lake for the night. Found that ball on the back of Jays bike was ready to fall off....no tools to fix it tonight......so tomorrow a trip to K falls to purchase tools. 6\17\2014 37 degrees when we started out this morning.....cold and wet. Rain all night,we stayed dry. Hand tightened the ball on the back of Jays bike, short ride to K falls this morning. No problems, stop at Walmart crescent wrench purchased, ball nice tight now. On to Keno check point Max's family cafe.....limited menu only one slice of toast with eggs and chicken fried steak, extra toast was $2.00, and plastics fork and knife........crazy shit. Food not that great....so on with the day...On our way to Adel, Or. Another check point. Staying tonight at Muddy creek CG. No one else in the park....very primitive, very quiet. I was leading coming in. and I was following a deer down the road. Muddy creek is east of Lakeview,Or. No rain today. Ready for more fain tonight. Onward tomorrow, need to find WiFi hot spot... 6/18/2014 On to Adel restaurant and store. Great food very friendly people. Ran into Monty who is also doing the Grand Tour. Worth a stop. 6/19/2014 stayed the night in a RV park in Winnamaca, not to bad.... Hot shower and food On to Wells NV. on Weds , Belleas for lunch great food......on the way back to Winnamaca stopped at rest area, met a very nice couple, also doing the Grand tour.. Mark & Wendy Green from Vancouver, Washington.. After a nice visit, we were on our in different directions. We spent another night in Winnamaca. 6/20/2014 Up early and on to Chester Ca. to a place called Kopper Kettle Cafe. The riding in Nevada is very boring...really nothing g to see....so just go. Found a great little cg Battle creek in Ca....very quiet..I needed the rest....I have learned that I am not a good camper. I like camping ,I just don't like packing and unpacking with riding the bike all day. 6\21\2014 We are on the Calif coast. Great weather, staying at Emerald forest RV park....not bad but wilfi sucks. The sole of my shoe started to come off, so duck tape to the rescue. Also will wear different gloves next time....my hands are sore..and the ferns are as tall as Jay....love it. Another. Check point tomorrow in crescent city....then we start for home. 6/22/2014 We even tho it said Crescent City, it was not. It was Hiouchi, Ca. nice enough, but very busy this day. Food was fairly good. In all 7 check points done this trip. We stayed another night in a state park, called Humbug. great weather and just nice to have a break. Home on the 23rd, June 2014.
Only 7 more check points to go.... 2014 Grand Tour Checkpoints: 1. South Bend, WA River View Dining 2. Cannon Beach, OR MO's 3. Keizer, OR Mommy & Maddy's 4. Newport, OR Newport Cafe 5. Albany/Scio, OR Shirley Mays 6. Scottsburg, OR Wells Creek Inn 7. Crescent City, CA Historic Hiouchi Cafe 8. Central Point, OR Triple Tree Restaurant 9. Mt. Hood, OR Saw Tooth Roadhouse 10. Keno, OR Max'x Family cafe 11. Post, OR Post General store & eatery 12. Camp Sherman, OR Camp sherman Store & Deli 13. Burns, OR Ye Olde Castle Family Rest. 14. Adel, OR Adel store & cafe 15. Union, OR Gravey Dave's 16. Chester, CA Kopper Kettle Cafe 17. Wells, NV Bellea's Rest & Espresso House 18. Island Park, ID Boondocks Restaurant 19. Bigfork, MT Echo Lake Cafe BONUS 20. Sorrento, BC Sprocket Cafe