Almost Ready to go

The new TV in the front of our motorhome



The new 'brush guard' on the back of the motorhome



The beefed up wheel on the trailer



Near Bonanza,OR the view from our first OR property

After a month at our home base repairing, maintaining and customizing the motorhome and trailer, we are ready to ‘hit the road again’.

We have stayed pretty close to home, making weekly ‘runs’ to Klamath Falls for items we couldn’t get in Merrill. Since there is no sales tax in OR, we like to stock up on paper goods and other consumable items to last until we return to OR. That makes for a very full motorhome!

Larry’s projects included putting in a new 32” TV in the front and modifying the cabinet around it as well as beefing up the support in the back so hopefully this TV won’t be “jarred” to death like the last one. He also put in a central vacuum cleaner, something I didn’t particularly want, but he wanted to get the dust and noise out of the living space since allergies bother him so much. I have to admit it is very handy and I do like the less noise and heat. He put a new ‘brush guard’ on the back of the motorhome in place of the heavy mudflap that came on it. He is hoping it will improve the mileage as well as protect the front of the trailer better. He put a bumper on the back of the trailer so, if need be, he can push the trailer with the car when it is disconnected from the motorhome, as well as beefing up the trailer wheel so it will roll easier when it is disconnected from the motorhome. He also changed the oil filters on the coach and repositioned the oil filters for the Aqua-Hot and generator so he could get to them easier in the future. Since we use the Amsoil by-pass filter system on both the car and the coach, we don’t change the oil, just the filters, so we have been “green” long before “green’ was the “in” thing!

I spent the time cleaning and sorting our clothes, the cabinets and closets so we have the right mix of things for the next 10 months or so. I also spent time in the yard weeding, spraying and picking up the neighbor’s cats ‘droppings’, not a job I enjoy! I did lots of laundry so everything is nice and clean, ready for our trip.

One Sunday we did take a ‘Sunday afternoon drive’ as a dry run for our upcoming trip. We wanted to be sure there were no ‘surprises’ like a low bridge or an overload bridge on our planned route since we have never gone that way before. Since we were out we decided to ‘visit’ the first property we owned in 2000 in OR. It is a long way from anywhere and the road is definitely not suited for our motorhome, so God knew what HE was doing when He had us sell it in 2001! The views are great but would have required a lot of work to make it doable. Besides that it gets A LOT of snow each year.

Lots of water in Oregon

Paulina Creek Falls located just outside Newberry National Volcanic Monument



Larry at Foster Lake near Sweet Home for our pre-rally with Oregon Coaches for Christ



Dining Hall at the Northwest FMCA rally where our group did the decorations. Had great meals here throughout the rally



Getting ready for the "West is Best" parade. We collected canned goods and paper items for the local food bank in the truck.



Our club banner for the parade and some of our group



Jack and Bev on a modern day 'horse', ready for 'camping', one of the entries for the 'West is Best' parade



Lowell covered bridge outside of Eugene on Hwy 58, taken as we were going down the road.



Scenic overlook on the Paulina Highway. Note the snow on Mt. Bachelor!



Paulina Lake near the lodge. They get around 12 feet of snow here in the winter!


Us surrounded by the Big Obsidian Flow overlooking Paulina Lake. The Big Obsidian (black glass) Flow is located in Newberry National Volcanic Monument and is the youngest lave flow in OR (1300 yrs). A nice hiker stopped and took our picture.


We started out the month of June going to Foster Lake RV near Sweet Home for our Coaches for Christ pre-rally. There were 20 rigs present and we had a good time preparing for the NW FMCA rally in Albany. We caravaned to Albany and spent six days in Albany. We had a great time and great food. It rained several days while we were there but we didn't let that dampen our spirits. It was sunny the day of the parade.

We changed our plans slightly and stayed in La Pine before going back to the Eugene area for new tires and shocks for the motorhome. We now have new tires and shocks all the way around and a very flat pocketbook!
While in the La Pine area we visited East Lake, Paulina Lake and Falls and the Big Obsidian Flow.

We came home a different way through Grants Pass where we met with friends and stopped in Medford at Costco to stock up on paper goods for the next year.

Since getting back to Merrill, Larry has been very busy with his new projects.

Lovin' Life in Oregon

The awesome view from the coach outside of Gerlach, NV where we stopped for lunch



The iris blooming at the back of our place in Merrill



My beautiful peonies in full bloom



Mama Duck and her 10 ducklings trying to get out of our yard. (the tenth duckling is just behind mama)



The 'Field of Honor' with 1000 flags flying in Veterans Park in Klamath Falls with Lake Ewauna in the background



Larry receiving his medal for service in the US Navy at the 'Field of Honor' over Memorial Day weekend


We have been at our 'home base' for three weeks and tomorrow head north for a Coaches for Christ pre-rally and then to Albany, OR for the Northwest FMCA Rally. Since we will be very busy the next ten days, tonight is the night for an update.

I drove some each of the two days it took to go from Pahrump, NV to Merrill, OR. We had lunch the second day outside of Gerlach, NV and had an awesome view of the mountains topped with snow.

The past three weeks have gone by quickly and while we haven't gone any place except to Klamath Falls to Wal-Mart and for Chinese we have done a lot. We sold extra 'stuff' on both E-bay and Craig's List with an e-bay item going to Japan! Guess that makes us international traders. Larry put up a weather station which we put to the test yesterday when we had a storm 'blow' in (41mph wind gusts), hail and we accumulated .22 in. of rain in 20 minutes! Of course we had just washed the coach and the trailer the day before!! He also installed vents in the sides of the trailer for better ventilation.

For the first time since buying this place in 2001, I saw both my iris and peonies bloom and they are beautiful!

Sunday of Memorial Day weekend when we came home from church, we had a Mama duck and 10 ducklings caught in our yard. We don't know where they came from or where they went when we were finally able to get them out of our yard. At one point Mama did the classic 'broken wing' flop around and around to get my attention away from her ducklings. Unfortunately, Larry had gone inside with the camera so didn't get any pictures of that great act.

Also on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, Klamath Falls had a service for all veterans called "Field of Honor" with 1000 flags flying in Veterans Park and gave out metals to honorably discharged vets. Larry received a metal. The service was quite impressive, especailly for Vietnam vets who were not welcomed home as they should have been.

Enjoyin' Life

Us on the hill by Girard in San Clemente, CA


The coach getting a new awning at the Girard factory in San Clemente, CA


Near Camp Pendleton when we were in San Clemente



Enjoying the campfire at the birthday party



Making s'mores over the campfire in the backyard at the April birthday party


The birthday boys, Todd and Vince, getting ready to blow our their candles


The fire that was very near our campground. If you look close you can see the flames.


Awesome picture Larry took from the top of the coach of a plane dropping retardant on the fire that finally put it out.


Taken the next day of the aftermath of the fire. (we changed the batteries in the camera and forgot to correct the date, really was taken April 12,2009)



Looking up at the London Bridge at the crowd gathering around the gazebo where the speeches and music took place.



Some of the crowd on the London Bridge during the speeches at the 'Tea Party'


Larry wearing his 'Uncle Sam' hat at the 'Tea Party'




Sign at the beginning of the Front Sight road leading to Front Sight Firearms Training Center


One of the many buildings where training takes place at Front Sight


We met with the kids and three grands for May birthdays (in Apr. since we won't be in AZ in May) and had a good time. We were disappointed the two older grands had to work at the last minute but that is life and we are glad they at least have a job! We went back to the Colorado River for a week and had some excitement as a wildfire broke out about a mile north of us. It took over five hours to get it under control and Larry was able to get some great shots of the planes that dropped retardant that finally put it out.

We left the car and trailer in AZ and drove the coach to Girard in San Clemente, CA to get the automatic awning fixed. We took a hike up the hill in front of Girard and could see the back side of Camp Pendleton while they were working on the awning. We saw a lot of Apache helicopters coming into Camp Pendleton.


We went to Lake Havasu City a day early so we could attend the 'Tea Party' on April 15 at the London Bridge. There were over 2,000 folks at the party! We thought that was a great turnout.

We are currently in Pahrump, NV and will be here another week before heading back to our home base in OR. We visited Front Sight Firearms Training Center just 20 miles from our campground. It is an awesome place and we hope to be able to take a class in the future.

Keeping busy in AZ

Juggler at the Renaissance Festival



Jousting at the Renaissance Festival



The group at the Festival



Larry at the Viet Nam Wall



Releasing the black balloons signifying the POW/MIAs



The family at the March birthday party



Fixing and eating s'mores in the backyard



The birthday boys, Colby and Alex



Us in front of Canyon Lake (one of three lakes on the Apache Trail)
(can't really see the lake as the guardrail blocks it)



One lane bridge on the gravel part of the Apache Trail



Bridge over Roosevelt Lake by the dam



Cliff dwellings in Tonto National Monument near Roosevelt Lake



On the way to the cliff dwellings. There are eight rooms altogether.


We are back in Apache Junction, AZ for five weeks and are keeping very busy. We've seen many friends, planned and unplanned encounters, visited with family and toured parts of AZ we have not seen before. Dawn and Vince stopped by and we followed them out to the Renaissance Festival. The festival has been held in AZ for 20 years but we had never gone before. It was 'interesting' but not something we will do again.

The Viet Nam Wall made a trip to Apache Junction and we visited it just in time for the POW/MIA ceremony. It was very moving especially when they released hundreds of black balloons as a local gal sang 'Wind beneath my Wings' (very well I might add).

We all met at Todd and LaTia's home for March birthdays but one grandson couldn't come at the last minute, a real disappointment to Grandma! We still had a great time and enjoyed their firepit in the backyard by making s'mores. We are going back for a repeat in April.

We took a trip on the Apache Trail (22 miles of washboard 'gravel') from Apache Junction to Roosevelt Lake and back via 'regular' roads. The scenery was awesome with many spring wildflowers in bloom and the mountains and saguaros at their finest. We discovered there are cliff dwellings in the Tonto National Monument near Roosevelt Lake and we hiked up to them. We certainly have a new appreciation for the Salado Indians who built them and lived there several hundred years ago!

Hanging out in the AZ Desert

Pilot Knob RV Park, looking southeast towards Mexico


Larry working on the back-up warning system on the car


We're in the back corner so have lots of room to spread out


Sunset that was really much prettier 'in person'!




We spent two weeks along the Colorado River in Ehrenberg, AZ and visited Quartzsite, AZ, a place we had seen from I-10 many times but never visited before. Based on what others told us, the economy slowed many folks down and there were not as many folks as vendors there as in past years. It is basically a BIG YARD sale on sand and you need to be careful where you buy. It was interesting but not something I care to do again anytime soon.

We are currently near Yuma, AZ so we could visit Algondones, Mexico where Larry bought new glasses and had a broken crown replaced by a partial. His gum is still sore but he is hoping it will heal/toughen up soon.

The weather has heated up to the 90's in the last two days so we are grateful for air conditioning! We head back to the Phoenix area this week to see the kids and grandkids again before heading north for the summer.