May 17-19 - South Beach OR

May 17-19 – South Beach OR

The last 3 days have been pretty similar. There is a huge, flat, packed sand beach across the highway from the RV park and we walked a long ways a couple of days. Huge rocks placed at the bottom of steep slopes to keep houses from sliding into the ocean are amazing. We tried to figure out how they were neatly put in place and could only imagine cranes from above before the houses were built. We took the bike to Newport again and walked along the docks where we had excellent clam chowder. We rode south to Waldport (a drizzle of rain that day) and picked Subway for lunch. Another visit to Newport & Walmart for groceries and to replace a sewer hose with pin holes. There was a lot of traffic when we started back so we followed some vehicles towards the water and had a nice scenic detour back to the highway.

We haven't met anyone in the park. A lot of the people come to fish – many with their own boats. Like neighbors who left in a noisy pickup at 4 am!! We are leaving Sunday and going to visit Barb Names in the Long Beach WA area.

May 12 to 16 - Oregon

May 12 to 16 – to OR

Here we go again with late blog posts!!! We had a long drive on Friday as I couldn't find an RV site in Sparks, Reno or Truckee so we continued on to the casino at Colusa CA. The casino was not really nice to us but we had a “free”, quiet spot to spend the night.

Saturday we had a bit of a scare when the truck started and then stopped right away when we went to leave. A security guy came by just then and went to get mechanic's phone numbers for us. Then Terry had a brainstorm, plugged in the diagnostic gizmo, cleared a code that was displayed and the truck started. We fueled up and drove to Brookings OR. The 101 highway is really rough in many places. In a one-way section, I looked to the left past big concrete barriers and saw a section of the highway that had completely dropped away. Terry needed a break so we stopped at – where else – another casino in Coos Bay. We stayed overnight at the Elks club in Brookings. We went over to pay and ended up having a couple of drinks with a nice couple (Lynn & Melba).

Sunday morning we went back to the Elks club as they were having breakfast for Mother's Day. Sausage, ham, eggs, potatoes, pancakes, English muffins, juice & coffee! We continued on up the coast to a 1000 Trails RV park just south of Newport. This was our first experience with 1000 Trails and we weren't impressed. We made a reservation but when you get here you are handed a map and have to drive around and find a site. This park has lots of trees so the map shows how long the sites are and if you can get a satellite signal. What a pain! We finally found a site, backed in and started the generator to see if we could get satellite. Just barely so we stowed the dish, pulled out and unloaded the bike – in the mud – backed up again, checked the satellite and set up. Time to relax & have dinner. I have developed a nagging cough so hope it doesn't stick around.

Monday morning was clear but cool. I coughed a lot during the night so I stayed in bed to read for a couple of hours after Terry got up. When I finally got going and found some cough medication, we took the bike to Newport which is about 7 miles away. We drove down by the wharfs and through town. We stopped at Walmart for groceries and cough syrup. We are pretty good at figuring out how many groceries will fit in the bike as long as we are wearing our helmets and jackets that are normally stored in the compartments. Back at the rig, I put stuff away and started a stew for a late lunch/early dinner. Rain started before we went to bed and continued all night.

Tuesday – Intended to post this yesterday when I updated the blog but couldn't get a good enough internet connection and forgot to take the computer when we went to Lincoln City in the afternoon. My cough is much better – gotta love Dayquit/Nyquil for getting some rest! Rain seems to have quit for now.

May 10 & 11 – Las Vegas

Wed - After coffee & games, we unloaded the bike and rode down the strip. We made a couple of detours – one on purpose and one accidental – and ended up parking at the Excalibur. We wandered around and played some slots – this time it was my turn to keep us from losing any money. When we got back, we loaded the bike and I made a late lunch before we went back to Main St Station casino for a while. Another walk back to the rig where I made large servings of strawberry shortcake which was our dinner. Then we went to Fremont Street to see the light & music show on the overhead canopy. It wasn't as good as others we have seen. It is nice to be able to walk to Main St Station & Fremont rather than trying to find – and pay for – parking on the strip.

Thurs – A quiet day today. Lazy morning, then some slots & walking and Loco Moco for lunch. I decided we better do a couple loads of laundry since there is a small laundromat here at the park and who knows when another will be handy. Heading north tomorrow.

May 5^th - 9^th – Prescott to Las Vegas

Fri – We took the bike and did some shopping this morning. I made lunch when we got back and then we goofed off. We went to the Elks for dinner & music. I had really good fish & chips, Terry had a so-so stuffed green pepper. We were really looking forward to some dancing and danced to 3 of the first 4 songs. Then the female singer switched to undanceable bluesy music, Terry's stomach didn't react well to dinner and we left.

Sat – The wind really came up overnight and is predicted to last a few days. We walked to a flea market a short distance away and were amazed at the amount of totally useless “stuff”. Lots of guns & ammo (?), rusty tools, jewelery and ancient household goods. Bought nothing. When we left the merchants were reinforcing the tie-downs on their shelters.

Sat - I made a late breakfast and then Terry decided to modify the GPS in the truck as the suction cup that holds it on a little bracket keeps letting go. He wanted to put in a couple of screws so intead of finding & running an extension cord for the drill that he would us an inverter that we've had for some time. The truck was running, he plugged in the inverter and is not even sure if he used the drill at all when the truck quit – and would not start again! We checked & double checked fuses and searched the internet for ideas before deciding that we better get a tow truck and see about getting it fixed. Of course on Saturday the dealership shops aren't open or open only half a day. We made tons of phone calls and Terry took the bike to a dealership. One mobile repair guy probably could have helped but he is waiting for back surgery so can't work. A couple of fellow campers had suggestions which we had already tried. Finally got a tow service which was working on the weekend and a very nice guy showed up a hour later and took the truck to a Chev dealer. Terry followed on the bike and had the guy drop the truck right in front of the door so they would have to do something with it first thing Monday. Being wound up, Terry had eaten nothing all day so I had dinner in the oven when he got back. We were rocked to sleep by the wind moving the rig.

Sun – The camp host came over this morning and told Terry that we could use his truck to move our rig if ours isn't back in time for someone to move into our site. About an hour later he came back and said the new person was here so we needed to move. We looked at each other in disbelief and informed him that we booked for a week and were leaving Monday. He checked his records and said “my mistake, the new guy is in the site beside you”. Someone suggested that perhaps the truck had “lost its prime” so Terry made a trip back to the dealership but no luck. We were lucky enough that our site was empty tomorrow so we went and paid thinking that even if we get the truck back today it will be too late to leave. Remainder of the day very quiet.

Mon – Terry was up early and at the dealership at 7:30. They couldn't do anything as the batteries were run down so Terry came back to wait while they charged. I had everything packed up and optimistically ready to leave. We got a call just before noon saying they couldn't find any problem once the truck was charged, started and put on the diagnostic system. We picked up the truck, went to WalMart across the road for groceries, stopped for a burger for lunch and fueled up the truck before going back to the Elks and relaxing. Lots of rain & wind in the evening & night.

Tues – Luckily it quit raining long enough to finish packing up and get on the road. Lots of road construction once we hit I40 but no delays. We stopped for fuel in Kingman and pulled into Main Street Station RV park around noon. We had lunch before going across the street to register for 3 days. We made a donation to the casino and then walked up & down Fremont Street. A little early for all the crazies but entertaining anyhow. Back to the rig to relax & have an easy dinner since I put a roast in the crock pot when I got here.

May 1st to 4th - On the road again! Prescott AZ

2017 - May 1^st to 4^th
I'm back!! Time to try to keep up the blog for the summer. Hopefully we will do enough interesting things to post on a semi regular basis. We left VVV on Monday (1^st) morning and drove all the way to Prescott AZ (130 miles!). Kind of nice not to be under pressure to leave early and spend many hours on the road. Our street is mostly empty but Joe Sallot parked his 5^th wheel temporarily a couple of sites away and was having it washed so we had to get some trucks moved so we could get out. Terry did a great job of moving the 5^th wheel away from the concrete slab so he could pull out the “wrong” way. This allowed us to exit on a wider street and avoid taking out a stop sign. Good start.
We are parked at the Prescott Elks club RV park for a week. The host here has worked at the Elks club in Spokane and recognized us. I had my check list from last year and everything was OK when we got here and set up. After lunch we relaxed until it was time to go to the Elks for a drink & dinner. Not a lot of people there but a previous Exalted Ruler and his wife joined us to chat for a while.

Tues – A lazy start to the day with coffee, games & a light breakfast. The we donned our helmets and took the bike to Camp Verde and the Cliff Castle Casino. We took a route through Jerome which includes a very winding, scenic road. We have driven this road several times previously and didn't stop for pictures or shopping. The casino was kind of nice to us and kept us playing until we stopped for lunch at Johnny Rockets (in the casino) about 3. Unknown to Terry, I still had money so we had to play again and ended up getting everything back including lunch. We took the freeway back which is a bit longer but much faster. We stopped at Safeway for a few items and kicked back. The evenings here are wonderfully cool.

Wed – Getting into a little routine here – coffee, games, Facebook, breakfast – not a bad thing. We went to Best Buy for a new power cable for the GPS on the bike and then shopped downtown. Next at stop at Bucky's casino where we discovered that it was senior's day so we each got $10 to get us started. Didn't lose any money and had a decent late lunch. We went to the Elks to check out Bingo but nothing was happening after the posted time so back home.

Thurs – Tried to contact Clem & Sandy from VVV but no answer. We went to check out a museum which appears not to be there any more – just the signs pointing the way. I noticed yesterday that today was ladies' day at Bucky's so I had to get another $10. This time it was my turn to keep our losses to a minimum. Some day we'll get ahead later and actually take $ home!! So far cheap entertainment. We went to the visitor's center to check out a highway to leave here and found out that you can't always trust people working there. One lady gave us a number to check with ADOT before a guy said “don't bother ADOT, that highway is fine”. We'll let you know how it goes!

Turns out Clem & Sandy are in Canada so we won't get to see them. We chatted with some new neighbors before a couple of T-bone steaks were ready for the BBQ and an early, yummy dinner. We took the bike to a nearby lake & park and wandered around watching people drown worms. There were loons fishing and it was incredible to watch them disappear and show up FAR away.