COOS BAY

We have a great campground here with lots of room between trailers, pull throughs and 50 amp power which is important for cooking on stove for this motor home.  I LOVE my washer & dryer and have done all our wash so far in here.  We have been to the beach a lot since it is just a short distance from our camp and Mattie LOVES running on the beach and yesterday found some shelties to run with.  The tide was way out and we got to see some beautiful star fish.  We ate my Birthday dinner early at the Casino.  We went for their prime rib special but it doesn't start till June.  We had dinner at the Plank House anyway and had prime rib.  We went to movies yesterday afternoon and saw Star Trek (good).  We also went to cranberry candy factory, checked out the small mall and had Mexican Food for lunch. Well that's all for now taking showers and on the move touring. JVP

COLD AND RAINY DAYS

Well, last night was very windy and rainy here in Port Orford.  We watched the Hobbit movie in our motorhome since sight seeing was out.  The RV park invited us to a potluck.  We had huge baked potatoes in the clubhouse.  We had all kind of stuff to put on it, lots of different coleslaws, jello salads, cake, flan and such.  It was very good and nice people here.  We played a game of Play Nine with the Manes, since we had an early dinner.  We leave in the morning (50 miles up the coast to Coos Bay).  It is rather tricky getting out of here as the street is narrow, with soft evergreen trees along the side and some curves to go around in the park.

Port Orford

We are in a pull through spot and Pat & Elmon are down aways from us.  People here are friendly, a lot of navy guys here and the guy next to us grew up in Glendora.  Mattie has met a lot of dogs here to play with.  Last night it rained and we have had some sunshine today.  We went to see the Cape Blanco Lighthouse, while it was sunny.  It is the oldest operating lighthouse here in Oregon.  It was interesting to look through the lens and see the light inside.  We had dinner in and watched the movie Argo on DVD.  Today is Sunday and cloudy this morning.  We went out to the Hughes House (picture) made in  1870 by a dairy farmer.  We also visited the Historic Life Boat  Museum. They saved a lot of people in stormy weather on the coast of Oregon. The port here is interesting since they take all the boats out by hoist and put them on trailers instead of leaving them in the water. We watched several of them put on the trailers.  We ate at the Griffs (picture).  Lady told us it had good food even if it didn't look like much.  It was good!  Today Memorial Day is a blustery, rainy day so we are in motor home until it clears up which is doubtful.  If it clears up we might go further up the coast to Bandon, Oregon, for a ride.  tomorrow is a moving day. Hopefully the rain will stop for the trip. Our destination is Coos Bay, Oregon. We have a lot planned there. Hope you all have a great day and thank a Vet for their service, it is because of them that we have the freedoms that we all share. JVP

BROOKINGS & CRESCENT CITY

We went to Fred Meyer (grocery and everything store).  Drove to Azalea park.  The azelea's are wild and tall and the rain pretty much did them in.  The Rhodea's as they are called are beautiful-I liked the yellow one which you don't see much. We walked along the pier which Mattie liked.  When we left there was a parade down main street and so we had a detour in some side streets.  Some of the corners were real tight and one street we had to wait for a semi truck to make the turn so we could go through and make the turn too.  FUN!  One of the other days we took a ride to Crescent City.  We drove out to see Battery Point Lighthouse (in picture).  You can only get there when the tide is out as you can than walk out to it and the tide was in.  Beautiful lighthouse, though. We had lunch at the Chart Room, out by the water.  There were seal lions and seals barking out on a dock. Clam Chowder & Fish & chips; Chips were good.  I'm about chowdered out!  We took a hike out through the forest, up the side of a hill to see the largest Mrytle tree.  It was worth the trip and a beautiful old moss covered tree.Here are some pictures you might enjoy. JVP

Brookings. Or

Wed, May 22nd.   Here we are in Oregon.  It has been raining off and on for the last few days.  We got here in our new park near the ocean and got set up and since then it has been raining.  Our drive here has been beautiful through the redwood forests.  We saw the Roosevelt Elk along the highway-not real big herd as we have seen in the past.  Yesterday was spent doing laundry=my washer and dryer work good.  After our group game we went into the town of Ferndale.  We walked through downtown but most of the stores are closed at 5.  There are a lot of beautiful Victorian homes here.  The flowers are beautiful-Rhodadendras, lialics, and camelas.  We walked up to see the cemetary which is on a hill and the grave sites are under stone and date back to the 1800's.  Then we went to the Victorian Inn for our group dinner.  John & ELmon had prime rib which was quite tastey and Pat & I had steelhead trout which was yummy too.  After dinner we gathered back in the clubhouse for dessert and farewells.  We have had a good time but ready to move on and see some new territority. JVP

fortuna, calif

We have been here for a few days and leave on Wed.  Weather has been cool in the 60's and the fog comes in a lot.  We went the small town of Loleta near here to visit their cheese factory.  They supply a small local area but make good cheese and Pat & I bought some.
 We have had a good time looking up at the big redwood trees here.  Today we visited Lady Bird Johnson Red wood Grove. Saturday, we walked across a board over a large stream to the other side to see a huge tree- 363 feet tall and 53 feet around.  What a beautiful big tree.  We took a small road for hours through farm land and down to the ocean.  We saw turkeys, deer, coyote, cows and horses and one house even had zebra's grazing in the front yard.  We have seen many Victorian homes-one is the Carson house (picture).  It belongs to a men's club so you can't go in but outside is beautiful. Today we got served breakfast, we've had a potluck and tomorrow go to Ferndale for dinner at a big Victorian hotel. Our time here has gone by quickly but we are ready to move up along the Oregon coast. The Rhododendrons are in bloom here and are beautiful. We also went to Samoa Cookhouse- it is just like when the loggers ate-big tables, lots of food, Family style. We had split pea soup, salad, home made bread, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn and peach cake along with coffee or tea for $12.00 for us seniors.  GOOD FOOD and as much as you can eat.

Petulama

We have arrived here in Fortuna, Ca and will be here for 5 days.  We spent the two days prior in Petulama on the North side of San Francisco.  The KOA park here has 300 some spots, lots of trees and a nice park.  We are parked next to one another and had dinner in our motorhome.  Pat had chicken from Costco, and I did mashed potatoes and gravy and vegetables.  Friday we took a tour which the park offers into San Francisco.  It was a small bus only about 12 of us so really nice.  Our bus driver grew up in the area and was very good.  Drove across the Golden Gate, saw the Presidio, the New Cliff House, Golden Gate Park.  We stopped at the De Young Museum and went up in their elevator to a spectular 360 view of San Francisco.  We ate lunch at Fisherman's Wharf and got our sour dough bread at Boudin's. We had a stop in Chinatown and bought Fortune Cookies-chocatle ones and regular.   We rode the Cable Car and rode over Nob Hill.  We boarded Mattie and she was in a play yard all day -no cages or pens.  She was very tired when she got home.  It was a wonderful day, nice weather and good food.  Today has been cloudy and cool in the 60"s.  JVP

Left Home and on the Way

Left home at 9:30AM and met our friends Pat & Elmon at the Lebec Rest Area on the I-5.  Got ready to leave and motorhome wouldn't start.  Everything was dead.  John called Tiffin to see what problem might be and we sent the Manes on to Paso Robles.  After a few calls and John trying out things he had to undo a wire off a solenoid and everything came back on.  We got here with no other problems.  It was warm or I should say a hot day of traveling(in the 100's).  Wine Country RV was a nice stop for the day.  We went into Paso Robles and had dinner at Big Bad Bubba's-the ribs were really good.  We are all tired this evening as we all were up early.  It has cooled off a lot here this evening-thats why the grapes love it here.  Hot in the day time and cool at night.  So far I have found everything I needed in the motorhome but I'm sure I'll be hunting for something and can't find it.  Around 250 miles to travel tomorrow to Petaluma which is on the other side of San Francisco Bay. That's all for now. JVP

Virginia and I have been busy with getting the Bus ready for the big trip. We cant wait to be on the road again. Our good friend took this picture for us. I have to give Joe many thanks.
   We leave on Monday morning, day after tomorrow. The last two weeks have been spent loading up and getting comfortable with all the bells and whistles, on our new rig. The first part of the trip we are going to Paso Robles, Wine Country RV Park, but just for the night then on to Petaluma, but more about that later. Right now I am going to Post and get this sent out to you all. JP

Getting ready for the summer trip.

Lots have happened over the last few months, I will try to bring you up to date. Virginia and I bought a new Allegro Bus, Manufactured by Tiffen Motor Homes in April. We ordered it in February. It seemed to take forever to get here. We also have a new addition to our family, Maddy, a small female Boston Terrier. Max and Buddy would approve. We got her just before Christmas.
   We are now loading the bus up for the trip. We are leaving on the 13 th of May, for a rally in Fortuna, Ca. That starts on the 16th of May.  I will post more later, right now I am at the dealer getting a little work done.  JP