Shenanigans and Adventures

Author: Amariephinney

  • January

    Welcome 2026

    Well, 2026 just sort of snuck in, didn’t it.

    Shenanigans were mixed in with adventures in January.

    We had a week at home after New Year’s Day.  Then it was on to Seattle.  We hadn’t seen the Seattle crew since Thanksgiving and our son and his wife had purchased a new home during that time.

    Our first stop was lunch with David’s dad and sister, J, at the Orting Senior Center.  J drives  3 hours round trip every Wednesday to pick up Dad and have lunch with him at the senior center.  

    It’s a kick in the pants. We are all seniors now, but David’s dad at 98 is, I believe, the oldest person there.  Lunch was hamburger and cheese sliders, a pasta salad and cake.  The sliders were my favorite.

    After lunch we took Dad home and drove the 90 minutes to J’s house for fun and games. 

    J’s husband wasn’t going to be home that night so we opted for a really yummy dinner at Sparta’s.  Sparta’s is an Italian/Greek restaurant very close to J’s house on Highway 99 in Lynnwood. During Covid we’d ordered pizza from them, but we really hadn’t gone into the restaurant for a number of years. 

    It was so nice to sit in the cozy restaurant and have spaghetti and meatballs knowing none of us had to cook and none of us had to clean up.

    Having found some treasures we headed back to the house for some libations and games.  We played several rounds of golf – the card game – everyone got a bit happier and we had dinner.  J and I spent some time in the hot tub before Ted Lasso. 

    This made my knee very happy.

    Saturday found us at loose ends.  David and I had been discussing the future purchase of a truck and a trailer, so we almost went looking – just looking, no buying.  In the end we decided on a hike through Discovery Park in Seattle.

    I thought I had not been to this park, but when we arrived and started walking it was all looking very familiar.  We found an informational sign just above the beach explaining the park was originally Fort Lawton.  I knew I had been to Fort Lawton as a Campfire Girl and remember my parents talking about Fort Lawton.

    Fort Lawton has an interesting past.  Established in 1896 the intention was for the Fort to defend Seattle from naval attack.  It opened in 1900 as an army base.  In 1909 It became home to the Buffalo Soldiers.  Things were pretty quiet at Fort Lawton until WW II.  It was the second largest embarkation center for American soldiers during the war.  The Fort also housed 1,000 German Prisoners of War and 5,000 Italian Prisoners of War on their way to Hawai’i. 

    There is more including;  a riot between the Italian POWs and Buffalo Soldiers, housing of soldiers during the Korean War, establishing a radar station in the 1960’s.  It’s pretty fascinating. 

    When we got to the trailhead for the beach no one was interested in heading down to the beach.  Except me.  It was, admittedly, very muddy, steep, and lots of open grate metal stairs.  And as J’s husband, K, pointed out; “whatever goes down must come up.”

    But, I had my camera and I rarely get back to Puget Sound and Elliot Bay.   So I accepted the challenge and carefully walked down to the beach.  Once down there the sight was breath taking.  Although it was an overcast day the view was incredible. The Olympics (my favorite mountain range) were in view below some heavy clouds the sun was trying to break through.  There must have been two dozen sail boats on the water.

    More of Discovery Park

    Later in the early evening we had just ordered food at a favorite watering hole, The Bulldog in Lynwood, when I got a call for help from our daughter-in-law.  Our son was sick and they were in the throws of moving with a five year old and a three year old and she was leaving on a work trip the following evening.

    We stopped by J & K’s house after we ate, to pick up just enough clothes/toiletries for a couple of nights and our car, and drove to our son and daughter-in-law’s new house.

    We spent that evening and the following day helping unpack, wrangle boys, nurse our son and easing some of our daughter-in-law’s understandable anxiety. 

    We stayed with our son’s family until Monday.  I helped our daughter-in-law with unpacking and nursing our son.  David was downstairs I assumed keeping the boys occupied.

    By Sunday evening things had smoothed out a bit.  Our son was able to leave his bed. The boys were more settled and familiar with the new house.  And our daughter-in-law made her flight to LA for work.  We spent one more night per our son’s request. 

    Monday rolled around and we visited our friends M & P in Edmonds.  They had recently moved from Tacoma so that they could provide childcare for their first grandchild. They care for him at their daughter’s house.  So they invited us to lunch.  We spent a lovely afternoon catching up and getting to know their newest family member. This was a real treat since we no longer have babies to play with in our family.  The boys are getting too big.

    We spent the next two days hanging out with J & K who were actually busy preparing to fly to Mississippi that Friday. They do this every year to celebrate Mardi Gras in Bay St. Louis.  

    Our last day in Lynnwood was Wednesday.  It was J’s birthday month so we drove to Orting Senior Center for their monthly birthday lunch with David’s dad.  After lunch we drove back to Dad’s house and picked up his dog and luggage so he could spend a week with us in Eugene.

     I didn’t realize what home bodies David and I are until Dad came to visit.  David’s dad is losing his sight due to macular degeneration and walking can be difficult – as I said; he is 98 – so without the senior center life at our house can be pretty boring.  Dad wanted to go somewhere every day.  So when David and I were recovering from our 3 mile walk Dad stood up and said,  “ Let’s go look at trucks. I’ll spring for lunch”

    We convinced him to wait until we had showers.  

    Since walking can be difficult and tiring for Dad I wasn’t sure how truck shopping was going to work.  As it turned out David really only wanted to look at Toyotas, so we didn’t do much walking.  We also didn’t buy anything.

    The following day there was lunch at our neighborhood club house so we started the day there.  David’s dad won a drawing for some rain bells.  After we found ourselves at home again with nothing planned.  Nothing planned.  Nothing to do.  Let’s go buy that truck.  And that’s what we did.

    Our Kia Soul is 10 years old and can’t pull a trailer.  A Toyota Tacoma was the answer.  It drives like a car, but for the life of me I can’t seem to park the thing without making 3 tries.

    We ended the month with our friends D & R.  David had been searching for an authentic, traditional mole recipe.  He finally found one and of course wanted to make it, which meant making enough mole chicken for a family of 6 and enough mole sauce for 4 meals.  We asked D & R to dinner on January 31st.  R brought one of her amazing salads and a lemon cake topped with raspberries.  ( R is a dangerous friend to have).  Dinner was followed by a game of Golf (the card game) and wonderful conversation.

  • December

    Once we got home from Thanksgiving it was time to prep for the next adventure:  Christmas in Colorado.

    We were flying this time. 

    David and I made our 2022 Christmas trip to Colorado in the van.  It was our first official van trip.  It was cold.  We were warm in the van and got lucky with no snow, but December – even in northern Arizona and New Mexico – is not a trip we wanted to repeat.

    The two weeks following Thanksgiving were a whirlwind of cleaning house and packing for our flight. 

    For one thing, packing was ridiculous because Colorado was experiencing warmer weather than Eugene.  I didn’t have a clue what to pack and still fit it into our one checked bag.  We went heavy on the warm weather clothing and light on the cold weather.  Good thing we did.  On Christmas day the temperature reached 72 degrees.

    The next puzzle was transportation to the airport.  David checked in to parking our Kia at the Eugene airport.  At $19 a day for 2 weeks that was out.  We decided to Uber until our wonderful neighbors, B&G, offered to drive us and pick us up when we got home.

    When we arrived at our daughter’s house we found a very sick woman.  My daughter had what appeared to be a very bad cold or an upper respiratory infection. It was later diagnosed as a sinus infection.

    Grandma and grandpa took over.  That first week we were more nurse, cook, and housekeeper than grandparents.

    Since our daughter was feeling so ill we took the boys to jui jitsu twice.  It was interesting.  I had never been to the boys jui jitsu classes so this was a new experience for me.  

    Grandson #3 is the smallest of all our grandsons and the smallest in the class.  Watching him work so hard for this was inspiring.  And he got his first stripe on his belt.

    Because grandson #1’s class is more advanced, there are more age levels and more people in the class.  That meant getting any photos of him was impossible.

    As I mentioned, our daughter was sick so we pretty much stuck to the house.  

    She and I did a bit of Christmas shopping one day. Another day we went over to her sister-in-law’s house to take care of some laundry that her sister-in-law did not have time to finish before she left for the holidays. 

    Anyone with children will tell you about the many stages of Children at Christmas. The first few years are very relaxed and take hours to all day to work through presents. Then there is the stage where the process is reduced to the morning hours. Our grandsons are at the second stage. Stockings and Santa presents take about 30 minutes then the rest of the morning is opening gifts under the tree. At the first stage there are many opportunities for adorable pictures. The second stage, not so much.

    The photos here are about the best I could get. At 7 and 4 there is a lot of rapid movement.

    We went out as a family on two different days to two different parks. 

    At the parks David, our daughter, and son-in-law played disc golf and the boys and I played on the playground equipment.

    One of those days was Boxing Day and I was not feeling well.  The temperature decided to start dropping that afternoon and I was feeling worse as the afternoon wore on.  I was pretty much worthless the rest of the weekend and I was getting on a plane the following Tuesday.  

    I was well enough to fly home, but boy did the flight take its toll.  I was pretty much in recovery mode through New Year’s day.  And that’s how I ended the year.

    Content for this post was limited, Some months are like that. So I perused my photo library for some photos from 2025 that may not have been included (if there are duplicates, I apologize) and decided a photo “dump” was due. After all we are closing out 2025.

    Here’s hoping 2026 is better for all of us.

  • November

    Since it took so long for me to get October’s blog off I decided I’d better get started on November early.

    November was busy, but not like October.  November was all about family with some medical and dental appointments thrown in the first two weeks.

    In the middle of the month we brought David’s 98 year old dad down for a visit.  He lives with David’s youngest sister and her husband.  So the siblings trade off spending days or weeks at a time with him.  Because of David’s surgery and recovery, we hadn’t had a chance to host him since Christmas last year.  By bringing him down in the middle of the month he was able to celebrate David’s 71st birthday with us.  We really don’t pack these visits with a lot of entertainment – just us.

    We pretty much took it easy the first week.  I did manage to escape for some alone time at The Eugene Holiday Market.  The Market should not be missed.  I quite often get gifts for out-of town family here.  I purchased a wonderful candle from Mad Candle Company that was intended for a gift, but it’s mine now.  The young woman who makes and sells these heavenly candles actually delivers within Eugene for free! I was unable to go back before we left for Colorado for Christmas.

    The week after David’s birthday was Thanksgiving – it usually is.  We were going to the Seattle area to celebrate with my sister-in-law, J, her husband K, our son and daughter-in-law, and our daughter-in-law’s parents.
    David volunteered the turkey and dressing.  I got busy baking my grandmother’s ginger bread and cream cheese dainties. (I don’t cook, but I will bake.)  Since we were traveling with our stuff, my father-in-law’s stuff (including his dog and all that comes with her), David decided to bone the turkey on Tuesday and refrigerate it until we left . Wednesday morning.  He made cornbread dressing on Tuesday also.  My daughter-in-law’s family is from the south and David was hoping the dressing would be a kind of homage to their roots.

    When we drive to Seattle we usually stop for lunch after we cross the Columbia.  This trip we left earlier than we usually do so we were hungry before we crossed.  Thanks to F&A Vanlife we had a new stop – Jubitz! All the trips we have made across the Columbia since 2011 and until we saw F&A’s vlog we never knew Jubitz was just east of the bridge. We learn a lot when we watch our YouTube couples.

    Jubitz is an incredible truck stop.  There is a full restaurant, a deli, a laundromat, a movie theater, a chapel, a post office, a hotel,  and probably more.  There is also a massive parking lot for overnight stays. David, his dad, and I had deli sandwiches that lasted all the way to Snohomish County. Good thing too since our normal 5 hour drive ended up being 8 hours.  It was the day before Thanksgiving and I-5 was congested. 

    Thanksgiving

    Busy day.  Lot’s of cooking.  Lot’s of cooks. While things were cooking David and I took grandson #2 and #4 across the street to ride bikes. When that got boring we taught them how to play Red light Green light. Red light Green light can be very interesting with a five year old and a three year old.

    David’s cornbread dressing was a hit with everyone, including our son’s southern in-laws.  We also celebrated our son’s father-in-law’s birthday.

    Black Friday David and I babysat while our son and daughter-in-law took her parents out for her father’s birthday.  When they returned we had dinner and then all piled into the car.  We were on our way to Woodland Park’s Zoo Lights. 

    This is something I always wanted to take our kids to, living in Whatcom County we were about 100 miles too far away.  Grandson #4 was our Christmas lights spotter on the route there just to occupy his 4 year old mind.  He did a great job.  We saw all the lights, had some hot beverages and quickly walked back to the car.  None of the adults were prepared for how cold it became.

    Saturday we spent the night with David’s sister, brother-in-law, and his dad at his sister’s house.

    December 1st we said good bye to. family and Seattle.  We would return sometime in January to celebrate Christmas.

    Christmas was scheduled for Colorado with the other half of the family.

    I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday season.

    I’ll be back next year.

  • October

    Adventures, and some Shenanigans

    We approached October brimming with excitement.  David was finally ready to travel and I had a severe case of cabin fever.  So armed with a voucher for a free (almost free) week somewhere in the US we started looking for a place to go.  Unfortunately, the voucher was on the verge of expiring so choices were limited.  

    We chose Las Vegas.  It was on the way to Colorado – our ultimate destination – and an easy stop.  We reserved our week, booked tickets for Wizard of Oz at The Sphere and Penn & Teller at The Rio, notified our daughter of our estimated date of arrival in Colorado, found a spot to spend our first night via iOverlander, and packed the van.

    We left Eugene on October 3rd.  This would give us two days to reach our scheduled check-in date of October 5th at Tahiti Village Resort in Las Vegas.

    Friday

    Our first stop, once we got to eastern Oregon, was Klamath Falls. We needed lunch and to stretch our legs. The town of Klamath Falls is in south eastern Oregon at the south end of massive Upper Lake Klamath and north of the head waters of The Klamath River. Although we didn’t spend much time here I was impressed by the abundance of outdoor art. I took so many photos, but chose only a few to show you. You’ll have to see it for yourself someday.

    Saturday

    On our way over to the east side of Oregon I told David I was still hearing and feeling a rhythmic thumping in the van.  It wasn’t too bad until we started driving I-97 and it got really bad the further south we drove.  By the time we reached the Diamond Mountain Casino in Susanville, CA it was feeling like I was sitting on top of the washing machine during the spin cycle. We sat in the smokey bar and had dinner and beer while we watched the NWBA game between the Aces and the Mercury. ( We were pulling for the Mercury since there is a former Oregon Duck on the team.) 

    We vowed that our first stop in Las Vegas would be a Ram dealership. But first, Tonopah, Nevada for our second night on the road. 

    David found a star gazing park online located in Tonopah, Nevada. Tonopah is located southeast of Lake Tahoe at the southern edge of the Humbolt Toiyabe Forest.  At 4,332 feet the park is at a pretty high elevation for us valley dwellers; but offered a gradual way to adapt to the extreme elevations of the Rockies.

    Our plan was to join the other star gazers and attempt some night photography.  I had even watched a couple of YouTubes on the subject and taken notes.  After stopping for groceries we followed the GPS to Clara Blackburn Star Gazing Park.  

    You know how you look at a place online and you get all excited about getting there and fulfilling a dream,and then you arrive and find the online image was kind of distorted.  So it was with Clara Blackburn Star Gazing Park.  The actual fence-in park with tables one could put their tripod on was about the same size as our 1,388 sq ft home – maybe smaller – and it was empty of any people and it was locked.  To top it off, October 4 was the night of a gigantic, super moon.  Needless to say, my first attempt at night photography failed.

    Humbled by that gorgeous super moon we backtracked to the west side of town and spent the night at Love’s.

    Sunday

    The next day was the last leg to Las Vegas.  It was a good thing too.  The shaking of the van had reached an almost intolerable intensity.  

    First we detoured at Silver Springs, Nevada.  Just a few miles south of here is Fort Churchill State Park.  We just happened to arrive on the Grand Re-Opening of the park following storm repair, so no fees.

    Fort Churchill was not only a former army outpost but also a Pony Express way station, a re-enactment we were treated to before we moved on. There were several booths set up with historic information on the Fort and its function during the 19th century.  Several of these people were dressed in period costume and all were very knowledgeable in the day to day life of the period.  We probably spent a couple of hours at the Fort just walking through the ruins and listening to these people who knew so much.  One of my favorites was Rebecca Van Sickle.  This young woman knew every detail of the life of a 19th century housewife she may have lived as one n a former life.  For instance; I now know what a chatelaine is.  Rebecca is wearing one on her belt.  Rebecca shared her email address with me if you would like more information: hearth.and.sickle@gmail.com.

    And we were on the road.

    To make life more interesting, I noticed David had taken his glasses off and was fumbling for a pair of sunglasses in the compartment under the steering wheel.  (David never pulls over in these situations).  When I asked what the heck (my grandson might read this so it’s pg) he was doing he said his lens had just fallen into his lap.  He gave the glasses to me to pop the lens back in and I discovered the glasses had broken at the nose piece.  Something else we would need to take care of in Las Vegas before we could let fun begin.

    Check-in time at the Tahiti Resort was 4:00 PM.  We arrived at 2:30.  They were gracious enough to let us check-in early since our room was ready.  Of course they may have taken pity on us since we probably looked a little stressed.

     When you travel in a van and find yourself checking into a hotel it’s not like you have a suitcase to put all your stuff in, there is no room in the van for a suitcase.  You travel with canvas tote bags.   Also when you travel in a van with clearance at 11 feet you park in the furthest and largest parking space.  Therefore, it takes multiple trips to get all the necessities and valuables into the room. There were many of these trips throughout the week. 

    We were pleasantly surprised by our accommodations.  It was a large suite for the two of us.   The bathroom also contained a large soaking tub that I had prepared for ahead of time when I stuck some bath salts in the van.  You must understand that when we remodeled our Washington home my husband made sure we had a soaking tub.  I haven’t had a decent size tub in 14 years.  I was definitely taking advantage of this tub.  We were pretty exhausted so rather than make dinner we ordered pizza from the pizzeria in the resort and settled in on the couch to watch the Mariners.

    Monday

    The following morning we searched online for a Les Schwab since David was convinced the van’s problem was tire related.  Well there are no Les Schwab in Las Vegas or anywhere else in Nevada.  So once again David and I found ourselves at a Ram dealership.  As soon as one of their older employees came out he pinpointed the problem – from ten feet away.  The left rear tire was separating.  Not sure how we made it from Eugene to Las Vegas without the tire blowing. 

    While the folks searched for the correct tires for our Promaster – turns out both rear tires needed replacing – we sat in the waiting room playing games on our phones.  Eventually, Jesus Pena at Chapman Chrysler, the young man doing the search, came out to inform us that although they didn’t have the tires at the dealership they could have them at their store the next day.  After a bit of hemming and hawing we decided this was the obvious solution rather than trying one of the other dealerships in the area.  Besides, we knew where this one was.

    David found a same day glasses place on the northwest side of town, the opposite side of town from where we were.  We needed a late lunch first.  On the way we stopped at Letty’s de Leticia’s Cocina, a diner in the art district we had seen on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.  Wonderful food.  Just what we needed to get through the day.

    We arrived at the glasses store 30 minutes before they closed.  Just enough time for David to choose a pair of frames.  The store was having a special so 30 minutes later David walked out with a pair of regular glasses and a pair of sunglasses.

    Tuesday

    The next morning Jesus called to let us know the tires were in.  After an hour or so we left with two new tires and were on our way to Hoover Dam.

    This was not our first trip to Las Vegas but, we had never explored the area outside the city so took the opportunity of not having a set schedule to see Hoover Dam.  

    This is a huge engineering feat full of history as is evident from the original art work in the form of architecture and tile and marble work.  At the same time it’s smaller than we expected.

    Due to the ongoing drought the west has been enduring for several years, the water level of the Colorado River is very low as one can see in the photos I took. 

    When we got back to the resort we were hot, tired, and needing refreshment.  The solution; hot tub followed by the lazy river. It was just what we needed.  Unfortunately, the furniture in the resort was doing a number on my low back so water therapy was perfect.

    Wednesday

    This was Wizard of Oz day.  I was a bit skeptical.  I mean, this was a lot of money!  I was not disappointed.  In fact I was pleasantly surprised, once we finally found the theater, stood on line, and found our seats.  The search for The Sphere was interesting and included lots of walking. My advice: Uber. 

    I’m not going to say much about the Wizard of Oz since everyone who has been has either shared video or detailed descriptions online.  I’m so glad I didn’t see much before I went.

    After the show we ate at  Surgarcane in the Venetian.  The food and the service were delightful.  When my husband pulled out his yellow debit card with the big green O on it our server got very excited.  He was so grateful to the U of O for Bo Nix.  Apparently this young man is a huge Denver Broncos fan.

    Thursday

    Penn & Teller night. That meant a lazy morning and another trip to the Lazy River.  Great way to start the day.  We spent the rest of the day being lazy and storing up energy for the evening.

    After the previous night’s experience we Ubered to the Rio for Penn & Teller.  I know we ate dinner at the Rio but, honestly I don’t remember the meal.  I’m sure it was great.  

    Penn & Teller had just returned from their 50th Anniversary show in London.  And that was the show we saw.  They are incredible performers.  Objects were flying out into the audience.  People were desperately trying to catch them.  Although we didn’t catch anything I did get bonked in the head with a giant yellow die.  David saw them at WSU when he was in college in the 70’s. This was probably the highlight of Las Vegas for him.

    Friday

    After four days of beautiful weather we woke to rain.  This is not a problem for us but it is for Las Vegas.  The streets do not drain well or quickly.  When we pulled up to the Pinball Museum the parking lot resembled a small lake.  We hopped from curb to curb in the rain to the door.  
    The Pinball Museum is amazing.  Located in a very large hangar-like metal building there are all kinds of pinball machines with a few old video games in the mix.  There are pinball machines so old they have no flippers.  The coolest thing about this place is that all the money you spend goes to charities.

    Las Vegas is not fun in the rain, especially with all the Formula 1 construction. So we headed to Freemont Street  –  always a strange trip.  

    I’m afraid I didn’t take any photos of Freemont Street.  Like I said; Las Vegas is not fun in the rain. 

    We landed at the Golden Nugget in time for dinner and the Mariners game.  This was the one that went 14 innings.  Funny, when we arrived at the sports book there were probably a dozen Mariner fans in the room.  By the time they hit the 12th inning Mariner fans were spilling out the doorways.  No one wanted the Tigers to win.  It was great and all those people made it that much more exciting.

    Saturday

    Our only goal this day was to find a spot to watch the Oregon/ Indiana game.

    David found a sports bar in nearby Spring Valley, a suburb of Las Vegas.  When we arrived the Ohio game was on all screens and Ohio Buckeye memorabilia was all over the walls and the bar and the patrons.  We walked in dressed in Duck shirts and needless to say we became the talk of the bar.  The Ohio game was almost over so it wasn’t hard to catch the attention of Heidi, our server.  She was wonderful.  Eventually, Scooter, the owner, came over to talk with us.  If you follow the Ducks closely. This was the only game the Ducks lost all season.  A lot of sympathy was sent our way from the remaining folks in the bar.  But…the food was good, the beer was good, and the people were good.

    Sunday

    Half way to Utah on Sunday I realized I’d left one of my two digital cameras in the bedroom closet. We had checked every room twice. I called the resort and left detailed information where they could find the camera.  Long story short five days and $75 later my camera arrived at our daughter’s house in Colorado.

    Back to the road. 

    We had Harvest Host reservations for the night at Bar 86 in Richfield UT.  This is a little bar on the edge of a little town.  We were surprised this was Utah.  Chelsea and Vanessa greeted us with big smiles and happily put on the Mariners vs Blue Jays game on the best TV.  Great food again.  The parking lot was very flat gravel and we spent a very quiet night.  

    Monday

    Breakfast was at The Little Wonder Cafe in Richfield, thanks to my good buddy Angi for the recommendation.  It was very cute.  On the wall above the table were wood signs indicating which famous person sat in that booth. 

    Time to get on I-70 and drive to Colorado.  We stopped at view points along the way and took lots of photos.  The landscape is so different from the Pacific Northwest I know from growing up and raising kids in northwest Washington and living in western Oregon for 14 years.  It is its own kind of beauty.  I love to photograph it.  I hope some day to paint it.  However, I could never live here.  ( Puget Sound does that to you). 
    The weather turned pretty nasty as we got closer to Colorado.  We spent the night at Love’s in Grand Junction, Colorado.  Boy did it rain.

    Tuesday

    On the road again and the terrain was once again changing as we entered the Rocky Mountains. 

    One stop of note here was at a rest stop called Grizzly Creek.  It was right below I – 70.  I say below because this section of I – 70 is actually an elevated road.  It’s long and impressive. 

    At Grizzly Creek I was taking photos of the trees and creek when I noticed a couple just putting their fishing poles into the water.  Within a few minutes the man was excitedly calling to his companion.  She rushed over with a net and helped him pull a good sized trout from the creek.  They noticed me taking pictures.  When I asked if it was alright for me to be shooting them they were happy to oblige with a pose.  This was my introduction to Jackson.  After exchanging contact information I agreed to send him the photos.  Once I got home and figured out the tech I sent him the digital copy so he could send it to his mom.

    Next stop: Brighton

    Gotta tell ya; there is no feeling like the one when your grandsons greet you on the lawn with a big  hug from the seven year old and “Grandma! I really missed you!” from the four year old.

    It had been a year almost to the day since we’d been here. 

    We spent the next seven days playing games, working puzzles, and just hanging out with our daughter, son-in-law, and the boys.

    Wednesday

    Then, sadly we were on the road again with promises to come back at Christmas.  

    On our way through Wyoming we stopped in Rawlins for fuel for us and the van.  

    Lunch that day was courtesy of Pinchi’s Tacos.  If you blink on your way into Rawlins you will miss it – and you don’t want to miss it.  Our intention was to have one taco each.  You know what they say about best intentions.  Once we tasted the green chili sauce we had to have a burrito.  Needless to say we were over full when we left.

    And we were back on the road with plans to stop for the evening at the Love’s in Green River WY.  Since we were still full from Pinchi’s we decided light snacks would work for dinner.  We just had to find a grocery store.  The town of Green River is interesting.  The historic section of town is on the north side of the river and the extensive train tracks.  To reach the south side of town where the grocery store is you must cross the bridge to the south side – apparently the only bridge.  After the hunt for the grocery store it was time for refreshment – a beer.

    There were several places we could have stopped in the older section of town.  So David chose Badass Beers in the Historic Tomahawk Hotel.  We were greeted by Becca, the friendly, smiling  hostess.  Becca was helpful to us in choosing our beers and interesting to talk to. This place had so much history on the walls. Pictures of miners and ancient mining equipment on shelves. We probably could have spent hours sitting there talking to Becca, but we were feeling the day so we made our way to Love’s on the west side of town.

    We had spent the night at this Love’s before and remembered a quiet peaceful night.  However,  it was far busier than the previous time.  Our fervent hope was that most of the folks were just passing through and the people with the howling huskies would be among them. Most the people did move on and we eventually got to sleep.  That is until some yahoo decided 3:00 AM was a good time to rev his (no muffler) engine.  

    Thursday

    The following morning we were off to Idaho to visit my brother and his wife.

    Traffic along I – 80 was pretty heavy due to a lot of construction.  About an hour or so east of Boise the construction dissipated but we were getting into rush “hour” traffic so there was a lot of jockeying for that perfect spot.  During all this jockeying a rental truck had been shifting lanes with very little room shifted in front of us, also with very little room. The next thing we know there was a large pop sound.  A rock hit the left edge of our windshield and it was spreading fast. 

    A few inches to the right and higher and it would have hit David.

    I got on my phone with the insurance company who helped me set up an appointment to have it replaced in Nampa the next day.

    Friday

    Friday while my brother and my husband took the van for the new windshield, my sister-in-law took me to one of her favorite quilting stores.  After making 4 quilts for 4 grandsons I learned that I am not a quilter.  I definitely do not enjoy quilting.  Embroidery is my thing. However, I can get lost in a good fabric store regardless of size.  This was heaven. 

    I think I’ve mentioned before that I hate cooking.  As it happens I am the only adult in two families that does not cook.  (I do not include my brother-in-law, Kevin.  He bar-b-ques.)  I am fortunate that all the cooks in the families do it well and my brother and his wife are no exceptions.  We enjoyed wonderful meals at my brother’s house.


    Saturday

    Saturday my brother took us up into the Bitterroot Mountains.  His goal was to get me up into higher elevations for photography.  Although the weather was not very cooperative I did get some nice shots.  I appreciated his efforts.

    Sunday

    It was time to head for Oregon, about 30 minutes from my brother’s house.

    I made David promise before we left Eugene  there would be no 7 hour drives on this trip.  So he agreed we would stop in Bend for the night before driving to Eugene.

    We had made Harvest Hosts reservations at Bridge 99 Brewery.  This place is on the north end of Bend and a bit difficult to find mainly because you keep telling yourself it couldn’t possibly be where GPS is telling you it is.  It really is there and most definitely worth the effort.  Laura and Eric were friendly, gracious hosts. Great pizza. Great beer.  And David has made both so if we say it’s good; believe us.

    We had a very quiet night and pulled out the next morning as the brewing crew arrived.

    Monday

    We had a 2.5 hour drive home and were really in no hurry, so we stopped in Sisters.  We don’t usually stop here because of the tourist crowd.  Wouldn’t you know the one time we did want to stop we passed it and had to turn around on the highway and go back.  The DOT had routed through traffic around the town.  Surprise!

    Lunch was leftover pizza in the van.  After lunch we browsed a bit looking for a birthday present for Buddy Angi. Then it was time to head for the barn.  

    Home

    I know this blog was long, but we really packed a lot into 24 days.  I hope you found something that interested you enough to want to explore yourself.  I really hope you enjoy the photos.

  • September

    Isn’t it funny how August always just seems to roll into September without much fanfare – at least for retired folks.  I mean there you are enjoying bar-b-ques, evening walks, summer sunsets and before you know it; kids are starting school, sunsets are at 7:00 PM, the leaves are turning, and we’re all wearing sweaters on evening walks in the dark  wondering what the weather is going to be the next day.   

    We were still home in Oregon in September, although we did have a mini adventure during the second weekend.

    Adventure for the month.

    We hadn’t seen grandsons #2 and #4 since March and #2 just started kindergarten, so there was excitement.  We walked in the door at our son’s house and #2 wanted me to go upstairs with him to see the plant he “grewed” at school.  ( I think this was pre-school since kindergarten just started).  We aren’t able to spend much time with these boys so I was loving this special time.   While in his room he showed me all his special things in a special box Momma had given him. His dad always loved little boxes as a child.  He gave me a “jewel” which I am going to find some way of keeping in the van.

    The following day it was old people time with J, David’s dad, and us.  David was set on buying me a nice camera backpack for my birthday, even though I had already dropped off my 52 year old high school graduation ring to be repaired so I could wear it again.  

    David being David had researched camera shops in the north Seattle area.  We ended up at Kenmore Camera where Jim showed me several camera backpacks.  I settled on a  Shimoda Explore More Ladies style.  It has pockets in pockets for most of the gear my son and son-in-law have given me.  Left on my own I would have purchased something a lot less expensive.  David, however, wanted more for me.

    We also went to J’s favorite nail lady and all four of us got pedicures.  The ladies were very sweet, especially since we did not have appointments.

    This was a short trip because of David’s rehab schedule.  So we arrived on a Saturday and left on the following Tuesday.

    More shenanigans in September

    One of David’s former co-workers/ boss had moved to the midwest a few years ago.  She and her husband are both musicians.  Her husband Matt is well known among the blue grass community in Eugene.  They were returning to Eugene for a visit and invited us to join a private event at Viking Brewing – a favorite brewery of ours. 

    What a fantastic evening. 

    The music community in Eugene is pretty tight.  This was a huge bluegrass jam session with as many as ten musicians playing together for the sheer joy of making music together.  A very magical evening indeed.

    We decided since we were home this summer to grow a few vegetables and herbs.  I had to have a tomato plant and both of us wanted a pepper plant.  So in September David harvested his basil  and made pesto.  Yumm!  The tomatoes and pepper weren’t really ready until the end of the month.  But that was ok.  We took those with us on our October van trip.

    One more project in September. Finishing the 2,000 piece puzzle David bought me in the spring.  I had started it in March, it was put on a back burner so I could finish the pillow I was making for my son-in-law’s niece.  Then I pulled it out again knowing I would need something to distract me while David recovered from surgery. I finally put in the last piece on September 4th.

    My husband insisted I pose for the picture.


    Guests in the garden

    I decided to include a couple of photos of some of our garden visitors this year.

    I have never seen a praying mantis or a cicada before this year. This year we found 3 praying mantis, 2 praying mantis egg sacks, and a cicada

  • August

    Adventures

    The first week of August was the 6 week post-op check for David.  The physician’s assistant was very pleased and answered the many questions we had been adding to a list.  With that milestone out of the way my cabin fever had reached a pretty high temperature.  Time to get out of Eugene – even for a day.

    The following Monday we took off for the coast.  The Oregon coast is dotted with state parks.  Some are day use only others are day use and overnight camping.  And it’s all one to 4 hours away from our house.  

    We ended up at Carl G. Washburn State Park, 14 miles north of Florence OR.  We had never stopped here before.   This was a very unusual beach and quite frankly not my favorite.  The tide was out revealing that the beach was made up of sandbars.  There was an area that was covered with crab parts.  It was molting season, but this was not just shells.  It was almost as though something happened out at sea and the crabs were washed up on the beach and it stunk.  We did get our walk done and considering how deep the sand was in places it was a workout.

    The beach is my retreat. 

     
    This is where I clear my head and refresh my soul.

    On our way home we stopped in Florence for an early dinner at Homegrown Public House & Brewery.  Homegrown is located in Florence’s Historic Old Town.  The restaurant looks impossibly small with indoor and outside eating areas.  I was surprised when we were shown our table.  There is a room down a short flight of stairs with several tables, including a table for 6.  We had been here before and I didn’t even know this room existed. Needless to say, the food was yummy.  I don’t eat hamburgers often but I am so glad I ordered this one.  Nothing fancy but so good.  Although we didn’t have any of the House brews, they did offer a couple of our favorites.  I settled on a Monkless Belgian White from Bend Or.  Yumm!

    Here is where we jump to the end of the month. With my 70th birthday approaching and David healing so well it was time for a trial run with the van.  It had been sitting in the RV lot for two months and we needed to see how things were working before taking it out of state.  This meant embarking on one of my favorite birthday activities: camping with my sister-in-law, J, and her husband, K.

    We made reservations at Sunset Bay State Park and started getting the van ready.  I washed linens and rugs and just did some basic cleaning.  One of our checks is restarting the ICECO refrigerator freezer that had been off since June.  And this is where we hit the snag.  The ICECO would not cool below 65F.  We were about 10 days away from our leaving date.  David could not lift more than 30lbs and we needed to move this 80lb steel box from the van to the AC in the house.  Fortunately, one of our neighbors was able to lift the heavier end and with me on the other end we moved it into the house and sat it on top of one of the air vents.  The idea behind this is to cool it down.  After 24hrs David restarted the fridge and waited.  It cooled down to 63F for both the fridge and freezer.  Time to contact the company.  ICECO’s customer service is wonderful.  After a couple of phone calls and emails it was obvious this ICECO was not coming back to life.  We would just have to use our old tent camping ice chest for this camping trip. We were set. 


    J came down to our house on Saturday and we left when I got home from church on Sunday. On our way down I5 we stopped in Creswell to visit the famous Creswell Bakery.  You cannot miss the billboards on I5.  We’ve been hearing about this place from our friends Dan and Rebecca for years but have never had the opportunity to go there. Oh what we had been missing.

    We each got a meat pie and coffee – or in J’s case, tea. These were huge pies.  If you’re thinking British pasties you’re thinking too small.  They’re more like the pasties in the UP of Michigan substituting a filo crust for the bread bowl with the dough handle.

    The weather gets a bit weird on the coast when the rest of the state is experiencing a heat wave.  What happens is while the rest of the state is hot – too hot – the coast becomes very cool and foggy.  It’s as though the interior is so dry it tries to suck all the moisture from the ocean.  We were just fine with this.  After all, this is the Pacific Northwest and if you let a little fog and cooler temperatures dampen your spirits you are living in the wrong section of the universe.  To be honest, I was very grateful.  I was escaping the 90’s and triple digits of Eugene.

    Once we arrived at Sunset Bay State Park (yes we were here in June) we found our neighboring sites.  J and I walked around the campground checking out other sites and taking notes for future camping trips. 

    We spent the rest of the evening playing a game while eating snacks.  Our lunch at Creswell was large enough that there was no room for a proper dinner.

    Monday morning was a slow start. After a late breakfast we walked down to the bay, which was pretty fogged in.  We returned to the campsite as K arrived.  He had been in Central Washington for his mom’s birthday and some scouting for a bow hunting trip a few weeks later.

    Now that all four of us were in the same place the fun could start.

    So we climbed into K’s car and went to Bandon via the scenic route.  Once in Bandon we did a little shopping.  J & I directed this portion of the trip and we directed everyone to a gallery.

    One of my biggest disappointments in traveling is going into a gallery like this and not being able to afford anything. Or finding nothing created by local artists and craftsmen.   The Second Street Galley is not the case.  J and I each left with 11 x 14 prints by Spencer Reynolds, a painter and illustrator from Brookings on Oregon’s southwest coast.  Spencer has his own gallery in Brookings OR: Semiaquatic Gallery. This took a long time, it was very difficult to choose. By the time we had made our purchases we were all ready for beverages and food.

    Fortunately for us Foley’s Irish Pub was right next door on Baltimore street.  I know I mentioned Foley’s in my June blog, however, at that time David and I only stopped for a pint.  This time we were having food.  Three of us decided on the meatloaf.   Holy Cow!!  That was divine

    Before we all had too much fun – K and David were getting a head start – we headed back to the campsite.  Here we could have more fun safely.


    Tuesday was the best day for weather.  It was still foggy but not nearly what it had been.  K and  I were set for the hike from the beach up to Shore Acre Gardens.  When we were here in June David and I passed on this.  His health and the weather were not going to allow that activity.  David, J, and I had all done this hike in the past, but K had not been with us.  He’d heard about it and wanted to do the hike and I wanted more photos.  David was still in post-op mode and J’s health has not been great so they drove up and met us near the top of the hike. 

    Even in the fog this hike is great.  Yes, David and I had been here in June; but this was August and different plants were in bloom.  The rose garden alone made the trip worth the effort.

    Wednesday was time to pack up all the fun and head home to Eugene where Shenanigans would ensue.

    Shenanigans

    We did come home to find our brand new ICECO waiting on the carport. YEA!!!!!

    Since we had been home for so long and no trips planned until October, I felt we needed a little something else in our lives.  A little  more fun.  A little more socializing.  A celebration of David’s recovery.  And summer wasn’t over yet.  What to do?

    Bar-B-Que!  Always a good idea, especially if you aren’t the one cooking.  Seriously though, David has always loved bar-b-quing and when we lived in Washington we did a lot of bar-b-quing with neighbors and friends.

    About a week before we went camping I sent out a text to some of the neighbors and a couple of outside friends that we were having a backyard bar-b-que.  Before I knew it people were texting back to tell me what they were bringing.  This threw David into a bit of a planning panic.  He was worried he wouldn’t know what people were bringing and how many people were coming even though I had included him in the text. 

    I’m sure at some point in our life together I told David that from age 16 on my birthdays sucked – big time.  Until I was 23 and David threw me a birthday party – I’m sure my onsite landlords were horrified – and proposed.  Ever since then he’s been determined that my birthday was going to be a special time.  This meant the backyard bar-b-que became my birthday party. 

    And that is how we closed August.  Considering how the summer started, this was a fantastic finish.

    August was a busy month. I hope you enjoyed my August blog. There will be more months like August, now that everyone is feeling so well.

    A little note in closing. It’s been 3 months since David’s surgery. He and I have been doing 30 minute bike rides (4.7 miles) almost daily. So life is back to normal.

  • July

    There were no travel adventures in July.  The adventure in July was nursing David after open heart surgery.  This proved to be far more exhausting than I expected.  Much of that exhaustion was probably due to the emotional drain of watching him go through this very painful, very dangerous surgery and recovery.  There was a feeling I hadn’t had since I brought my first newborn home.  If you have ever had a newborn you know what that is:  I was afraid of breaking David.   And then of course there was the stress of cooking

    I am so glad I am no longer cooking.   I don’t mind yard work.  I don’t mind housework (ok, after 46 years I’m pretty sick of housework).  But cooking!  I hate the stress of cooking.   Somehow David and a good many relatives find this activity relaxing.  There are too many balls in the air at one time.   I am very good at multitasking – I never could have survived the job I did for 28 years if I weren’t  – but there is just too much going on while cooking a meal.

    However, I will say that after I got used to the idea that I was not going to break David I slept like a baby during July. 

    What I did do was go out in the yard and take pictures of my beautiful flowers.  So I have made a sort of album of the photos I took.

    This azalea has been trying to eat my backyard patio for a couple of years. I will prune it this year the way Ellen (my late mother-in-law) taught me. In other words; I will butcher it.

    These crocosmia came from a dozen (approximately) bulbs that sat in two pots in the backyard for 2 years after my neighbor was going to toss them.

    Day lilies in the front yard. I forgot I planted these and then a few years ago they popped up.

    The other day lilies in the front side yard. These popped up a couple of years ago from origins unknown. Lavender in the background.

    This hydrangea had no blooms last year. My sister advised me that I had probably pruned it too late. This year I pruned it in late February. There is also a clematis in the background. This is the north side of the house, our side yard as it were.

    The wisteria climbing the planter in the backyard. I usually use this as back drop in my Instagram posts. It’s pretty and provides the only shade in the backyard until about 4 o’clock. When we came home from our two month adventure last October this wisteria was climbing out of the planter and across the patio heading across the patio toward the house.

    Those are the stunners from my yard. I took these while David was passed out on pain killers in the recliner.

    There will be adventures in the August blog.

    Enjoy your Labor Day adventures. See you next month.

  • June

    Whoa!! July is almost gone and I’m just getting started on June.  In my defense, July has been busy, just not with many adventures.

    Adventures

    Back to June. We did have a wonderful adventure in June.  With David’s surgery looming at the end of the month we had to get out of town but not far.  This of course meant the coast. 

    Side note here:  I spent nearly 56 years in Washington state and we always referred to going to the Pacific as going to the ocean . In Oregon you go to the coast.

    After days of perusing different campgrounds we found a site at Cape Lookout State Park.  The park is located just south of Tillamook and north of Pacific City on Oregon’s north coast.  The tent camp sites are all surrounded by high shrubbery on three sides giving privacy.  The RV sites across from the beach access not so much.  We knew nothing about the park when we reserved it.  Since we are completely self-contained we took a tent site.  Best decision we could have made.  The bushes around us were full of birds.   I spent hours just listening to and watching birds; robins, red wing black birds, what may have been swifts or swallows, and a cedar wax wing (thank you Rebecca for the identification). 

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    Fortunately, the weather was lovely the first  two days. The beach is flat leaving it quite shallow and relatively warm when the tide starts coming back to shore.  Walking southward there is a small waterfall from the bluff above. We could hear it from the tide line. It was so pretty.  Further south is a cave we were too late to enter safely. 

    We walked the beach the first day for over an hour, about the maximum David could tolerate.  He also sunburned the top of his feet.  The following day David had a problem with shoes and was still tired from the previous day’s activities, so we kept the walk to a much shorter trip.  

    Much of that second day was spent at the campsite reading and listening to birds. We also managed a camp fire that evening.  One of the few we’ve been able to have over the past two years of travel. Fortunately, it was early enough in the year that the fire hazard was low for the coast.  Fires have been burning in Oregon since our May adventure.

    Our last day was our leaving day.  We took our time since we knew this would be the last trip for a very long time.  The weather was cool and overcast, which is perfect for the day you leave such a beautiful place.

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    Since we were heading home and we had time we stopped for lunch at Pelican Brewing in Pacific City.  If you like beer or just good food in a beautiful setting this is the place.  We stopped here with our daughter and her family – at that time there was only one grandson – back in 2019. It was August, the height of summer, and a very beautiful warm day at that time.  The wait was long but did not disappoint.  Much shorter wait in early June. 

    As I mentioned; this was the last trip for a very long time. Once again we found ourselves waiting again.  This would be the biggest, scariest  adventure we’d ever faced together.  I think it may have topped the birth of our first child on the scary scale.

    On June 23rd David had open heart surgery.  There were a few things going on that I will not reveal as I know David would not appreciate that but the surgeon gave him his life back.  

    Shenanigans

    Let me go back a bit in the month.

    Our adventures for the summer may have come to an end with Cape Lookout, that does not mean we were done with shenanigans,  

    Our anniversary is smack in the middle of June. When this happens we usually go out during the week to avoid crowds.  This year it was on a Monday.  There are very few restaurants open on a Monday evening in Eugene. So we decided to start our celebration the Thursday  before Father’s Day with pedicures.  That’s right, pedicures.  David had never had one and I hadn’t had one in 10 months.  It was great. The ladies at Tippi’s Nail Bar were wonderfully sweet and wanted us to pose for photos.  I think David is sold on pedicures. 

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    Dinner was planned for Friday night at a  favorite restaurant , one we rarely go to since it is out of our usual price range:  rye. (proper spelling and punctuation, look it up) The restaurant is under what may be the management of the third owners.  When David and I first found rye the owners were a chocolatier and a whiskey expert. Two of my favorite sort of people.  They served preprohibition drinks as well as the usual spirits.  (This is where I first had one of my favorite cocktails – the Mikado or also known as a Japanese.).  They pair their hand made chocolates with whiskeys for dessert.  Chocolate and whiskey.  How could a person go wrong? The current owner/management team no longer offers my favorite; dark chocolate peanut butter cup topped with cayenne pepper.  The milk chocolate peanut butter cup with chipotle salt was an  adequate substitute.  And it is still served with a short shot of Red Breast Irish Whiskey ( yes it’s from Northern Ireland but still a heavenly Irish whiskey. 

    Even though David  is still in the recovery period I can already see dramatic changes in his health.  We can’t wait to get back on the road again. So stay tuned in and I will post alerts on Instagram.

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  • May

    We are already in May.  The seasons are starting to whip past and we are still in Oregon. The phone call we had been waiting for from the cardiologist finally happened. Actually, David decided to be a squeaky wheel and called two days in a row. So he has an appointment and we can get out of town for a bit. We checked out Harvest Hosts and made a reservation for May 8th at Bridgeview Winery off the Redwood Highway.

    Little side bar here: If you travel the country in or with an RV and you’ve not looked at Harvest Hosts you really should.  It’s not just wineries and breweries, it’s also golf courses, farms, and monument sites that you can stay over night.  There are churches also.  So do yourself a favor and at least look at them.

    The van was pretty much ready. It was clean. The linens were clean.  There was propane.  The composting toilet was back in place.  But it was empty.  The day after the doctor call we topped off the water and loaded our clothes.  Food – for some reason – never goes in until the morning of take off. 

    We are not morning people. Not since we retired. Let me rephrase that last statement.  I was always a morning person until David retired a month after I did. Now we are NOT morning people.  I miss it.  And since we are not morning people we rarely leave the driveway before 10:30AM. May 8th was no different.  Fortunately, our destination was only 3 hours away. 

    As I said we rarely leave the driveway before 10:30.  That does not necessarily mean that breakfast is always late. It’s usually before 9:00 AM because I am hungry and I start the coffee. This means by the time we hit Roseburg it was really and truly time for lunch. Because we’ve been home for 7 months I’m a little rusty at being “lunch finder”.  However, I did not disappoint.  I pulled up at Little Brother’s Pub in old town Roseburg.  This was a wonderful little pub east of the river.  It was quiet – Thursday afternoon – only the cook and presumed owner and the barmaid.  Lunch was great!  Hamburgers and salad. Took us all the way to Cave Junction and Bridgeview Winery.

    What a serene setting. The winery is off the road far enough that you barely hear the occasional passing car.  When you pull up the pond is in front of you with two swans gliding along the surface.  There is a large outdoor deck.  Can’t get much more romantic. 

    The wines were unexpected.  David and I live in the Willamette Valley, known for it’s pinots.  We are not big pinot folks and I didn’t expect to find it so far south in Oregon. But the two pinots we had were interesting and I could see myself opening a bottle of the pinot noir some afternoon, before dinner.

    Following a very quiet night the morning was beautiful.  We discovered that swans sleep later than we do.

    After breakfast and coffee it was time to head west to the coast.

    David and I have not driven the Redwood Highway since 1995.  Due to fires in recent years the highway was not how we remembered it.  Many areas on both sides of the road were seriously scarred by fires. So not quite as beautiful as we remembered.

    The Redwood Highway took us to Crescent City, CA. We spent some time on the pier across from the lighthouse. At this point our empty stomachs took us to Seaquake Brewing for lunch.  We’ve been here before on our way down south, so there were no unpleasant surprises.  Very yummy food and great beer.  While we were having lunch we took advantage of the wifi to book a campsite on the Oregon Coast.  Well that was my goal anyway.  David – because this is the way he rolls – decided it wasn’t necessary to book a site ahead since it was still off season.  

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    Before crossing the California/Oregon state line a stop at All Star Liquors was required.  This is always a must stop location if you live in Washington or Oregon and you are returning from California.  We stocked up for most of the summer here.

    My first choice was Harris Beach.  It was full and driving by I could see why.  It’s beautiful. 

    Onward to the next campground: Humbug Mountain.  

    Humbug Mountain had vacancies, but; you still need to make reservations online. This is why you stop at a brewpub in a town with wifi.  The Humbug Mountain campground is in what might be considered a ravine or a canyon between Humbug Mountain and another foothill (mountain). The wifi at was sketchy to say the least.  So after finding a campsite that suited us we drove back to the entrance to make our reservation before someone else did.

    We spent a quiet, peaceful night.  The next morning we left for Bandon OR and Sunset Bay Beach State Park – a favorite spot for us.

    Once in Bandon we perused a couple of shops, because that’s what you do in small coastal towns.  This is where I usually pick up a pair of earrings.  Earrings are a safe souvenir purchase because they are small and non-breakable.  Not a lot of room in the van.

    As I stated earlier; a brew pub, or tavern, or some sort of eating establishment is a good place to find free wifi for making camping reservations.  Wanting to avoid the previous night’s shenanigans with connecting to wifi, I steered us toward Foley’s Irish 

    Pub. We found a couple of stools at the bar and ordered a Guinness each.  

    I love sitting at the bar when we travel.  It’s an opportunity to talk with local folks or fellow travelers.  I struck up a conversation with three local women.  I mentioned that David is my cook and had been cooking since he was a kid and from that point it became a conversation about cooking and I was out of the conversation.  Folks that know me well know that I do not enjoy cooking or cooking shows.  Therefore, I have no recollection of this conversation.

    Because we were still off season we were not able to get a site deep in the campground.  The park was still undergoing cleanup from some major winter weather events.  One campground loop was completely closed off for construction.  When we spoke to a park employee we learned the campground had suffered three major floods during the winter.  Along with this cleanup the park was having to remove several large evergreens due to disease and end of life for many of the trees.  It is definitely sad to see this but absolutely necessary for safety.  No one wants a dying 50 to 100 foot evergreen landing in their campsite.

    Sunset Bay is a favorite for a few reasons.  The first being in the name.  The photos I have taken of the sunset are beautiful.  This beach can be empty all day and all of a sudden right before sunset the day use parking lot fills up and the beach is full of people just waiting for the sunset.  The second reason is the campground itself.  It’s large wooded and has dozens of sites including; full hook up rv, tent, group, and yurts.  Last but not least is the trail to Shore Acres State Park. The trail s is two miles with non-stop breathtaking, jaw dropping views of the rocky cliffs and the Pacific Ocean.  The end of the trail brings visitors to the remains of the remains of the Simpson estate.  First you encounter a wide viewing area where – in the correct season – you can see migrating Grey Whales and off to the south on a large rock off shore massive sea lions in large numbers.  When we would come here tent camping we could hear the huge beasts barking at night.
    If you follow the walkway south and slightly east the Gardens are waiting.  Louie Simpson, a timber baron, purchased this land and built a mansion (no longer standing) for his wife.  Then he brought in plants from all over the world.  The plants were planted in the fashion of the elaborate gardens of Britain and Europe.  There is something in bloom all year.  There is a gorgeous rose garden.  There is also a lovely pond with coi fish in the Japanese Garden.  Also onsite is The Cottage.  The park used to raffle off New Years Eve lodging at The Cottage.  I don’t know if they still do.  During the Christmas season the Gardens are lit with thousands of lights.  We still have not seen this, but I hope to some year.

    Of course we had a relaxing trip.  This was the break we needed.  It is truly a blessing to be so close to so much beauty.  This, along with the weather, is why I cannot image living somewhere other than the Pacific Northwest and since we started traveling the country we have seen some incredible natural beauty.

    Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you enjoyed the read and the photos. There will be more coming in June.

  • April

    The other day my husband commented on how weird it is that just as I started this blog, we ended up staying home for months.  He’s not wrong here.  I decided to start the blog before we got home in October 2024.  My first couple of months were fairly easy to produce some content.

    Not so in April.  I really had to dig deep to find anything to publish.  In the end it may be excruciatingly boring.  So here goes.

    To be honest, April was a pretty good month.  A lot of positive things happened – well a lot of frustrating things happened with positive results.  

    As I stated last month, I ran out of rick-rack for my daughter’s apron.  I went back to Michael’s where I bought it and they were closing out all their trims.  While I was looking for the rick-rack I met a woman – Robin (R) – who was just as frustrated with Joann’s dying and lack of any suitable replacement in Lane County.  We started talking and ended exchanging phone numbers. Jumping to the end of this story, R and I have been texting ever since. The night she performed at Gratitude Brewery’s Open Mic Night, we discovered we are neighbors on opposite ends of the neighborhood.

    Back to the apron.  I received rick-rack I had ordered online from the big A (you know what I’m talking about) and surprise, surprise the color was not what was pictured on the computer.  I called around and no one in Eugene and Springfield had rick-rack – before you say it, Hobby Lobby has an off brand and discontinued the color I needed.  

    This turned out for the best also.  Michael’s in Beaverton OR had the color I wanted and held it until the next day.  It’s a really boring 100 mile drive, especially in the rain, but this offered me the opportunity to stop in Mount Angel at the Abbey bookstore and have some alone time.  Happy April.

    I arrived at Beaverton only to discover Michael’s is  right next door to Mill End, a fabric store a woman at church told me about. Really happy April.  You know those moments in movies and TV when the main character finds what they’re searching for and there is music and birds sing and…you get the picture.  That’s what happened – in my head – when I entered Mill End.  I will return, since there is, essentially, no fabric in Lane County.

    Apron finished and sent off to my daughter; it was time for another trip to Seattle.  We were heading up to pick up David’s dad, Lloyd (L).  The plan was to arrive at J’s house Sunday evening, spend Monday with J and her husband, K and pick up L Tuesday morning on the way back to Eugene. Amazingly enough, all went according to plan.  

    We had dinner Sunday night at Demitri’s on the Edmonds waterfront. The weather was cool but beautiful. The walk back to the car provided some pretty amazing views of northern Puget Sound.

    L spent Easter with us and we had a very quiet, lovely Easter.  We took L home on Tuesday after Easter and came back to Eugene the next day.

    On our way back up to Lynnwood The Mountain Was Out.  So was Seattle.

    In the middle of all this mundane stuff my laptop died and the house computer stopped updating.  So a new laptop for me and new computer parts for David to build us a new computer, before the dreaded tariffs go into effect.

    David had the first of two cardiac procedures that Thursday. The second was May 2nd. Once he has a follow up appointment we find out what our summer will be like.

    Like I said; April was not very exciting.   Hopefully, it won’t be long before there will be more interesting content.

    Sorry about the boring format. I couldn’t get the format to work. Another reason I need to post more often. I’ll just have to try harder to dig up more content.