Saturday, July 1, 2017

Visiting the Past (in more ways than one)

We had a great time while we were in our old hometown of Merrill, visiting with our across the street neighbors and going to dinner with a couple from FL who were parked next to us.
Our Merrill neighbors Terry and Nereo 
Then another couple who were parked next to us we saw again at Bend-Sunriver TTN a week later. We stopped in Klamath Falls to check out the new Harbor Freight store and the Coastal Store that bought out Big R and moved into the old K-Mart building on our way to Collier Memorial State Park. We just relaxed the three days we were at Collier and arrived at Cascade Meadows on Thurs June 8. The two weeks we were there we made several trips into Bend for mail and supplies as well as going to La Pine to check out the new Grocery Outlet. Our friend, Margaret, stopped to see us on Sat. June 17 as she was returning from Klamath Falls to Vancouver, WA. It was great to see her and we had a good visit ending by going to the Potluck at the park.

For Father's Day I did a shop at a fancy restaurant in Bend, one I have done before.
Larry on father's Day

My Father's Day Salmon Cobb Salad
Dawn sent Larry two gift certificates and a nice e-card for Father's Day and then called him later and they talked for over an hour. That was the highlight of his day.

June 22 we headed to John Day, OR for our first BMW Rally. There were 447 folks attending (John Day has a population of 1900) and we enjoyed two great meals on Fri and Sat nights and took rides to Baker City on Friday to see the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.  It really is hard to believe the trials those folks faced daily.

One of the many interesting displays inside the Oregon trail Interpretive Center
We then went the other direction on Saturday to see the John Day Fossil Beds. They have a lab there where they test all the items they find and that was most interesting.
Outside the John Day Fossil Beds Center

The lab at John Day Fossil Beds


Sunday June 25 after church and eats at Subway we headed to Sandy, OR to have our Espar furnace/water heater looked at as we have been having issues with it. We thought it was a leaking valve but it turns out not only was it leaking (replaced with a brass valve) but the circuit board was bad so that was replaced and then they discovered there was a water leak so that was fixed also. It is working fine now-yeah! It was 97º in John Day and Sandy so we ran the generator the entire way and into the evening until 11 PM, eleven hours straight in all, something we have never done before but we were so grateful to have A/C when it was so hot (showed 104º on the MH outside gauge). Then Monday morning it sprinkled and was much cooler for our trip to Bend-Sunriver TTN. We had awesome views of Mt Hood both going to Sandy and returning from Sandy.
Mt Hood as we were heading to Sandy, OR
The weather has been great for riding and we've gone to both Bend (for mail) and LaPine since we have been at TTN. We have a nice big site only 30 amp but we do have satellite reception amidst the many trees so that is a big plus.
Our site in the pines at Bend-Sunriver TTN
We have had a few nights were the temperature went down into the 30's but that seems to be normal for around here. The daytime temperatures are 75-80º, just perfect.