Pigeon Key, FL

Today we stopped at the visitor center for Pigeon Key located at the east end of the 7 mile bridge as you are leaving Marathon. We had no idea what it was but it turned out that Pigeon Key is a 5.2 acre key located 2.2 miles west along the 7 mile bridge. It was a workers camp during construction of the overseas railroad during it's construction about 1905. Henry Flagler built the rail way down the east coast of Florida from St. Augustine to Palm Beach in the late 1800's when there was nothing but swamp & wilderness. In 1900 he decided to go from Palm Beach to Key West with it. After the railroad ceased operations from lack of profitability it was converted to a two lane hi way from Miami to Key West.

We also learned that there being no fresh water in the keys the bridge spans also supported the water lines that bring water all the way to Key West. The middle picture shows the old bridge on the right and the new bridge on the left with Pigeon Key in the distance. The top picture is looking under the old bridge at Pigeon Key.

Florida Sea Turtles Rally

Fri we went to the No Name Pub on Big Pine Key. This pub is south keys land mark started in 1931 as a store with a brothel upstairs. It is now known for the dollar bills stapled to the walls and the greatest Pizza in the known universe. Our waitress told us that the in latest Gueniss Book of world records that there are over 100,000 one dollar bills on the walls. Customers sign their $1 bill and staple them to the wall, ceiling or any available place.
Big Pine Key is also where the endangered Key Deer are located. these deer are the size of a large dog. We saw two of them on our way to the pub.
Sat. we went to the Florida Sea Turtle Hospital at Marathon. This hospital is the only sea turtle hospital that is nationally certified. They rescue injured sea turtles and nurse them back to health so that they can be released back into the ocean. Unfortunately some can't be returned to the ocean because the nature of injuries would not allow them to survive if released back to the wild.

Florida Sea Turtles Kountry Klub Rally

This morning after getting the flat tire fixed we traveled another 60 miles further south to Sunshine Key RV resort & Marina on Big Pine Key. We will be here 7 days attending the Newmar Kountry Klub Florida Sea Turtles Dec. rally. The resort is on a 75 acre private island located on the bay side of US 1 just after crossing the 7 mile bridge. The speed limit traveling from Key Largo was 45 and 55 miles per hour but we never exceeded 50 MPH. Even driving at 50 MPH there was never anyone trying to pass or riding your bumper. I guess this is an indication of the slowed down layed back life style here on the Keys.
We drove past miles and miles of the bluest water you would ever want to see. This after noon the temps reached close to 90 degree with really high humidity. They say that abnormally high for Dec.

Key Largo, FL

After spending 15 days at our home in Buttonwood Bay taking care of yard work, cleaning house, doing various other things and renewing friendships we got back in the motor home yesterday morning. We headed south on US 27 driving through huge orange groves, past open pastures filled with cattle, large sugar cane plantations, around the south side of Lake Okeechobee and the farming area at Homestead, FL. We then entered the Florida Keys driving on US 1 to John Pennycamp Coral Reef State Park at Key Largo, FL where we spent the night. The first thing we noticed upon arriving here was that it was really humid and there were lots of mosquitoes. Today after getting a tire fixed on the motor home we will go about 70 miles further into the keys for a week Long rally with our Florida Sea Turtle Kountry Klub friends being held at Marathon Key.

Lake City, FL

Yesterday it was east on I-10 out of Miss. into Ala. through Mobile, AL and on into Fl. past Pensacola and Tallahassee to the junction of I-10 and I-75 where we have spent the night at the Oaks & Pines RV Park. Today it will be a 250 mile drive south on I-75 and US 27 to Buttonwood Bay in Sebring, FL for the winter.
The drive across LA, Miss, Ala, & Fl the last couple of days makes one marvel at the ability to build elevated roads across so many miles of swamp and water.
Our trip since leaving Hazen Bay on Sept. 9th. has taken us nearly 6000 miles through some very magnificent and beautiful country in this great United States of America that we are so privileged to live in. We have seen many relatives and friends and made many new friends along the way. It will be nice to be home for the winter, however we do have several rallies to attend in Florida this winter so won't be setting at home.

Gautier, MS

This morning we departed Eunice, LA around 9 AM about 25 miles east we turned south on I-49 traveling about 25 miles before we turned east on I-10 traveling through the swamps of lowert LA. before arriving at Baton Rouge. Leaving Baton Rouge we traveled I-12 to Miss. where it became I-10 again. When we were going up inclines today we kept getting a check engine light and poor performance so we pulled of at Gulfport and went to Empire Truck They checked it out and installed a new fuel filter and performance is back to normal. We decided to stop at Gautier for the night as we still have over 600 miles left to Sebring so we won't arrive there until sometime Sun.

Eunice, LA

After spending the last 3 days at the Thousand Trails Preserve on Lake Conroe north of Huston his morning we departed about 10:30 driving north on I-45 about 30 miles to Huntsville, TX where we turned east on US 190 driving through the rolling tree covered hills of east Texas. Leaving Texas at Newton driving into LA we soon were driving by vast fields of pine trees that soon turned to flat irrigated rice fields. Most of the rice has been harvested but occasionally we did see a field that was still waiting for the combine.We are at the Cajun Campground about 50 miles west of Baton Rouge tonight. Since this is our 49th. wedding anniversary we went to a restaurant for supper. I decided to try Cajun so I had seafood gumbo. Nancy tasted it and said it tasted like dirty dish water. I have never tasted dirty dish water but it did have a taste that made me glad that I had only ordered a cup of it, however it wasn't to bad after I got past the oyster that was in it. Nancy had shrimp with french fries but the french fries were to spicy for her taste. Well so much for eating Cajun we will stick with Mexican.

Conroe, TX

This morning we started out driving SE on I-10 in a light drizzle. After about 20 miles we turned east on US 290 traveling through the Texas hill country covered with pecan trees and seeing some cattle and a lot of goats. We traveled through Johnson City home of LBJ population under 1200. Nearing Austin the terrain became flatter with green grass covered hills, with lots trees and cattle. Traveling east from Austin on US 290 it became somewhat flatter with green grassy hills sparsely covered with trees and cattle & goats grazing. At Brenham we turned NE on TX 105 to Conroe, Texas where we are staying at the Thousand Trails Lake Conroe Preserve. We will stay here until Tropical storm Ida clears the coast of Louisiana & Florida. I commended to Nancy that it seemed really good to see green pastures and lush growth as we really hadn't seen much since late Aug. in ND.

Junction, TX

Today was a long drive of 400 plus miles with nothing but sagebrush, mesquite, hills and then flat land and hills again and trucks, trucks, trucks. The most exciting things we saw were the border patrol checking cars & people along the road after we left El Paso. East of Fort Stockton we began seeing oil wells as well as lots of wind generators. Tonight we are at the KOA Kampground in Junction, TX

El Paso TX

This morning we traveled south on AZ 80 through Tombstone into the Mule Mtns to the town of Bisbee at an elevation of 5300 ft. Bisbee is the location for copper mining. Mining began in 1877 and continued without interruption until 1975. Hundreds of millions of tons of ore have been removed from 2 open pits and nearly 2000 miles of under ground workings. All within a zone of about 2 by 3 miles and 4000 ft. deep. This has produced nearly 8 billion lbs. of copper ( a cube of copper 241 ft.deep the length of a football field). They are still producing copper by a process of leaching the pits and the underground mines. Leaving the Mule Mtns east of Bisbee we entered into a broad valley that had some irrigated fields in it. At Douglas, AZ on the boarder of Mexico AZ 80 turned northward traveling through a broad valley with the Chiricahua Mtns to the west and the Animas Mtns in New Mexico to the east. After traveling about 80 miles to the north east (about 1/2 in AZ and 1/2 in New Mexico) through grass lands and ranches we turned onto I-10 east bound passing through mostly flat desert until nearing Las Cruces, NM where we began to see some farming. Today we actually saw a few herds of cattle and lands that would support them. Tonight we are at an RV Park on the south edge of El Paso, TX.

Tombstone, AZ

Yesterday we went to Tombstone, AZ where we toured the historic Cochise County courthouse. There we learned about the famous gun battle at the OK corral between the Earps and the Clantons. We also learned about the silver strike and mining as well as copper mines in the area. There was a section on the cattle barons in the area at the turn of the century. They had huge spreads and had herds of cattle that numbered as high as 25000 head. I don' think I have seen enough grass in the whole state of Arizona to support that many cattle, maybe they ate the leaves of the mesquite trees. One of the barons had 700,000 acres in Mexico as well as 200,000 acres in the states and reportedly had 75000 head of cattle. This area was also the home of the legendary Indian Geronimo. We also walked the historic town area looking into some of the many shops that are housed in the historic buildings such as the Bird Cage Theater.
Later in the afternoon we went to Sierra Vista where we had a nice 4 or 5 hr. visit with my cousin Bill Miller and his wife Susan. Bill & I reminisced about our childhood growing up living 1 mile apart in Nebraska.
For some reason I can't get any pictures down loaded from my camera so I guess we won't include any more pictures until I can get that fixed.

Huachuca City, AZ

On Mon. we drove to Sun City Grand on the north west edge of Phoenix where we enjoyed a nice visit with Lee & Leola German a couple that we knew from our years in Imperial. We watched a CD about the straw house that their daughter has built in Colorado and also one on their time in the Philippines as a missionarys and bush pilot for the New Tribes Missions. Both were very interesting. We then stopped by new friends David & Beverly Simmons at Sun City where we got a tour of their nice house and then we went out for mexican food. We arrived back in Cottonwood about 9:30 PM. Tues and Wed. we just relaxed and then this morning we left Cottonwood heading south on I-17 at Phoenix I-17 joins I-10. Driving SE we passed through a huge irrigated valley with lots of cotton that mostly had been harvested. After traveling through Tuscon and heading east the terrain becomes more rugged with mesquite covered hills and sparse grass, the Santa Catalina Mtns on the left and the Santa Rita Mtns on the right. Near Benson, AZ we turned south on US 90 for about 30 miles and then east on AZ 82 at Hauchuca City to the Tombstone Territories RV Park. We have a beautiful view of the Dragoon Mts to our east and the Santa Rita Mtns to the west.

Camp Verde, AZ

Yesterday after enjoying an eggs Benedict breakfast we went to Fort Verde State Park. Fort Verde was established in 1865 to protect the farm in the Verde valley from the Indians who were stealing their crops and livestock. Last evening we enjoyed a very delicious BBQ and then a Halloween costume party. This morning after a continental breakfast we said goodbye to new friends as well as a few old ones. We will be moving to the Thousand Trails Park about 10 miles away for a few days before we start east toward Florida.

This morning after a delicious breakfast of blueberry pancakes, sausage & juice we had a presentation put on by representatives of the Havapai-Apache Nation about their history. They are a tribe of about 2500 that live here at Camp Verde. After that our friends David & Beverley Simmons who live in Sun City went with us north on I-17 to Munds Park where they have a summer cabin. After enjoying a lunch at a cafe there we traveled down Shibbley road to Sedona. This is a 12 mile drive down a winding dirt rock covered road first through the ponderosa pine forest and then into the red rocks looking down on the town of Sedona as you continue winding your way on down the mountain.
If you can imagine driving on a road with rocks that regular car would probably scrape on going over them that took two hrs. to traverse with views like the pictures show then take that times 150% and you have the picture. This evening our group went to the Blazing M Ranch in Cottonwood for a cowboy supper and evening of country western entertainment.

Camp Verde, AZ

This morning we left Salome, AZ about 9:30 traveling east on US 60 through the valley between the Harcuvar Mtns on the left and the Harquahala Mtns on the right. The cantaloupe fields in the valley had either been harvested or were being harvested. Nearing Wickenburg we left the valley and entered into the rolling hills covered with bushy desert vegetation and Saguaro cactus. On the edge of Wickenburg there are a couple of dude ranches, however the only thing I see for cattle to eat are the leaves off from the desert bushes. A few miles after leaving Wickenburg we turned east on AZ 74 and the cactus growth became more dense. Turning north on I-17 the terrain became much steeper as we traveled up a long pass to an elevation of 4000 ft. The mountains began to have grass growing on them and we saw some herds of cattle. A few miles from Verde Valley we began the long 6% slope down into the Verde Valley where we are staying at the Distant Drums RV Park while attending the Newmar Kountry Klub AZ State Rally.

Salome, AZ

Yesterday we traveled US 58 & I-4 across the Mohave Desert to Needles , CA. This drive takes you past the Joshua trees east of Mohave into the sage brush covered areas on to the east always with rocky desert mountains on the horizon in front and to the sides of you. We turned south on US 95 traveling about 45 through the rolling desert and then east on US 72 crossing the Colorado River at Parker AZ. It was then south on AZ 95 and AZ 72 to Hope , AZ . Driving east on US 60 after leaving the small desert town of Hope you see a sign that says "you are past Hope". After a short 8 mile drive over the Harcuvar Mountains we arrived at Salome, AZ where we will be staying until Thus. morning. One forgets after being along the lush coastal areas of Calif & OR that in such a short distance to the east there is this vast area of arid desert.

California City, CA

Fri. around noon we left Morgan Hill after spending two weeks with Chris & David. We made a stop at Camping World in San Martin to get the oil changed but couldn't get it done as the last person to service the motor home had rounded the oil drain plug. From there we went on CA 152 over Pacheco Pass in the Diablo Mountain Range east of Gilroy. We made a stop at Casa De Fruita for fuel and an over night stay. This morning it was south on CA 25 through Holister past the vegetable farms in the valley then on up into the San Benito Mtn Range where we stopped at the Pinnacle National Monument. After stopping at the visitor center we decided not travel the narrow winding road on out to the monument. Back on CA 25 we drove through one of the most beautiful valleys with the tree covered mountains on the right and the green grass covered hills on the left, passing through green mountain meadows and many ranch head quarters. Upon reaching CA 198 we turned east traveling over the San Benito Mtns reaching an elevation of nearly 5000 ft. At Colinga we drove into the level flat valley. At this point we had been on the road for 3 hrs. and had only traveled just over 100 miles of very winding narrow roads. It slow going but the beauty made it all worth while.At I-5 we turned south through the Kettleman Hills with the huge fields on both sides of the highway. As we neared Bakersfield the fields turned into large groves of nut trees. Near Bakersfield we turned east on CA 58 through passing through Bakersfield the fields of nut trees turned into smaller groves of fruit trees. Leaving the farming area behind we started over the long passes over the Sierra Nevada Mtns again attaining an elevation of nearly 5000 ft. After topping the last pass and coming back down into the desert near Mohave the hills to our left and in front of us were covered with hundreds of wind generators.Tonight we are north of Mohave in the high desert at the Sierra Trails RV Park.

Big Sur, CA

This morning Chris, Nancy $ myself travelled south west over Hecker Pass in the Santa Cruz Mountains to Watsonville where we went So. on US 1 traveling along the coast past fields of brussel sprouts, strawberries & artichokes through the towns of Salinas, Monterey & Carmel. After leaving Carmel we started traversing winding mountainous tree lined road along the rocky Calif. coast. Much of the time our elevation was probably 300 ft. above the Pacific Ocean on our right side. The Santa Lucia Mountain range on our left made for a beautiful drive. Stopping at Big Sur we ate a very delicious lunch at a small Cafe. The meal was very reasonably priced but the gas that I had to buy was $4.00 a gallon and I had thought $3.01 was to much at Carmel. Leaving the Big Sur area the terrain remained just as rough but the trees were replaced by grassy hills and the ground became sandy
& clay like. A few miles north of San Simeon we stopped at a vista that was full of Elephant Seals laying on the beachs. The sign said at one time they were nearly extinct but in 1990 a few came to this location and the population has explode since then. By the time we had reached San Simeon the hills were much more gentle and less curvy. We stopped at the Hurst Castle visitor center but decided since we had all seen it in the past we would skip the tour of the castle. We continued on south turning left on Rte 49 which traversed the rolling grassy hills over the mountains to Paso Robles in the Salinas valley. Travelling north on US 101 we drove past miles & miles of grape vines until around King City where the valley is filled with vegetable farms all the way to Salinas. Along here we saw fields of onions, sugar beets, tomatoes and much more that I couldn't identify. We arrived back home having enjoyed a very long day of driving and seeing some more of this beautiful land that we call America.

Morgan Hill, CA

This past week we have enjoyed spending time with David & Chris as well as 6 plus inch's of rain that fell on Tues. as a steady 18 hour rain. Sun. We went to the Wilder Ranch State Park at Santa Cruz. A brother in law of Carol Greenburg, Chris's best friend is a docent there so we had a private tour of the ranch buildings. This was a 6000 acre dairy farm that dates back to the early 1800's when Calif was still in the hands of the Spaniards. The oldest building is an adobe that was erected in 1839. In 1871 Melvin D. Wilder acquired the ranch, he had been in the dairy business a little further north in Marin county prior to that. After the gold rush started he was able to sell butter for $1.00 per lb. in San Francisco about 70 miles to the north.
The Barn was originally built in 1849. It is built with mortise & tenon joints held together with a wooden peg through them as nails were not available at that time. By 1872 Mr. Wilder had lenghtened it so that it held 103 cows on each side for milking. The Victorian house was built in 1897 and had elec lights as by this time Mr. Wilder had brought the Pelton Water Wheels from New York to power tools and a generator. The Pelton Water Wheel was powered by water that was stored in reservoirs higher up in the hills and piped to the ranch. After the tour we enjoyed a delicious meal prepared by Bill & Kathy Fitzgerald at their home in Santa Cruz. Bill is the docent that gave us the tour. We are so blessed to be spending our retirement doing what we do and meeting and making new friends all the time.

Walt Disney Family Museum

Today Chris & David wanted to go to the Walt Disney Family Museum that had just opened the 1st. of Oct. It is located in the Prisidio area of San Francisco near the Golden Gate Bridge. Much to my surprise it was a great museum the I really enjoyed. It took you through the life of Walt Disney from his birth until his death. It also showed some of his parents ancestry. He was born in Kansas on a farm. He took his drawing talent and created an empire when he finally created Micky Mouse after he had been cheated out of a couple of earlier animated creations. His ideas were the basis for many of the cameras and movie making equipment that have been created over the years as he went from cartoons to his first animated movie Snow White. In 1940 the Army took over his studios in Las Angeles for military use so he made training movies for the military in order to stay in business. He created and built many of the pavilions for the New York Worlds fair. In the deal he was allowed disassemble many of them and move them to Las Angles for his theme park idea that was to become Disney Land. He died before his ideas for Disney World in Florida could be realised, but his brother Roy took them and created Disney World. It is not nearly as grand as he had envisioned as his dream was to create a completely self sufficient community on the 14000 acres that he had purchased near Orlando. I came away from the museum with the feeling that in addition to his drawing talents he was also a genius. As we were leaving the museum to go back to the car the Blue Angles were doing their annual show over San Francisco Bay so we got to see some of that also.

Morgan Hill, CA

Yesterday we made the 100 mile trip across the metro area from Navato to Morgan Hill in just 2 hrs. We traveled I-580 across the Bay on the long double deck San Rafael Bridge. Then down the Oakland side of the bay and back onto US 101 at San Jose. Mid afternoon we drove the 50 mile trip back up US 101 to Redwood City where daughter & son-in-law Chris & David live. The Thousand Trails RV Park that we are in here at Morgan hill has really gone down hill from 2 years ago. The weather here has been real hot & dry so there is not green grass anywhere. We will be here for two weeks spending time with David & Chris.

Point Reyes National Seashore

Today we decided to drive west about 30 miles to the Point Reyes National Seashore. We soon left the town of Novato behind us. Entering the rural area the terrain was rolling hills covered with dry grass and dotted with trees. This area has a lot of smaller family type dairies. We stopped at a cheese factory that specialises in Brie cheese. They told us that they use only milk from Jersey cows because it has a higher butterfat content. Upon reaching the quaint little coastal town called Point Reyes Station we turned north on Hi way 1. At the point Reyes visitor center we enjoyed the sandwiches and garlic stuffed olives that we had purchased at the cheese factory. On the 20 mile trip on out to Point Reyes Light House we passed many historic farms that were established in the 1850s. The majority of them seemed to be dairies with large herds of Holstein cows. Since this is all national park service land I assume that they are leased to local farmers. Point Reyes National seashore covers 70000 acres on a peninsula that juts 10 miles out into the ocean. It is mostly grass covered treeless rolling hills. Once we reached the the parking area it was a .4 mile hike up the hill to the light house area. After hiking up the hill I chose not to traverse the 330 steps down and back up from there to the light house. It is very rocky at the point high above the light house. The few trees there all seem to grow & lean inland due to the windy conditions (up to 100 MPH) on this high point.

Novato, CA

This morning we left Fortuna, CA about 10AM heading south on US 101 through the Humbolt Redwoods SP. This route was mostly 4 lane but every once in a while you would hit a strip of 2 lane road where we were winding through giant redwoods that were passing within a couple of feet of the motor home. We gradually moved inland away from the ocean. This area was sparsely populated and most of the road side attractions were closed. Nearing Legget the trees became smaller and grassy meadows began to line the roadside. Moving on south into the Napa valley we saw many grape vineyards as well as cattle and much more traffic. We stopped at Novato about 3PM and will stay here until Fri morning when we will be able to check into Thousand Trails at Morgan Hill. Even though it need trimmed I thought the topiary trimmed like an RV was pretty neat.

Fortuna, CA

This morning after about 30 miles on the road driving past more rocky ocean vistas and thru many more tree covered coastal mountains we left the beautiful Oregon Pacific coast. Almost immediately after passing through the California check point we started seeing small fields of irrigated crops. I saw something about this also being an area where they grow lots of lilies. About 20 miles into Calif we passed through Crescent City and then it was into the coastal mountains covered with huge Redwood trees. At Klamath we stopped at The Trees of Mystery. Here they offered a gondola ride up into the Redwoods witch we didn't take and have a very extensive collection of Indian artifacts and Indian woven bowls, baskets etc. They also had these huge concrete statues of Paul Bunion and Babe the Blue Ox outside of the building. Passing through Acata and nearing Eureka it became notable more populated with much more traffic. Hi way 101 turned into four lanes and travel speed picked up dramatically. We are at the River Walk RV Park in Fortuna tonight enjoying the 15 degree warmer temps than we have been having the last couple of weeks.

Gold Beach, OR

This morning we left Florence around 9:30 headed south on US 101 traveling along tree lined hills and curves with the Dunes between us and the ocean so saw very little of the ocean. At Coos Bay we took a 12 mile side trip to see Cape Arago Light House. When we got there it was about a mile across the bay so not accessible. Just about a mile further we came to Simpson Reef and had a wonderful view of the Sea Lions on the rocks between the shore and the reef. Unfortunately the road didn't continue on to US 101 so we had to get turned around and retrace our drive back to Coos Bay. Turning back south on 101 it was more trees gentle curves and hills with no view of the ocean.
About 25 miles on south we passed through the town of Bandon and began seeing cranberry bogs along the hi way. Nearing Port Oxford we began seeing the surf pounding against the rocky shores as we traversed the winding mountainous road. As we entered Gold Beach we crossed the Rouge River on the LL Paterson Memorial Bridge. This bridge built in 1931 was the first in the country to be built with prestressed concrete. After driving only 150 miles we stopped at the Turtle Rock RV Park where Hunter Creek enters the ocean. We spent a little time in town this afternoon at a Myrtle wood shop and at a book store that has over 80,000 books in stock. We missed the turn offs to two light houses that are accessible today so we didn't get to see all of the light houses along the Oregon coast.

Florence, OR

This morning we headed south on US 101 by car after about 30 miles we came upon the Umpqua River Light House. This light house marks the area where the Umpqua River reaches the Ocean. This river is navigable about 30 miles upstream by fairly large vessels. This is a carbon copy of the Heceta Head light house. It is still an active light house and there is a really good museum located here in one of the original light keepers residences. This is in the Oregon Sand Dunes area so it is very sandy here. In 1861 and 1863 floods severely eroded the sandy hill where it was located and it was deemed unsafe. In the winter of 1863 crews very carefully removed the lens and equipment, it then toppled into the ocean in Feb. of 1864. It was not rebuilt until 30 years later when they decided that the traffic up and down the river justified it.

The Oregon sand dunes are along the ocean from here at Florence to about 150 miles further south. They are constantly changing due to the constantly moving sand. About 50% of them are set aside for the use of off road vehicles. We saw hundreds of them using them today. After having a late lunch in a little cafe along the pier in Winchester we spent an hour or so going through the Umpqua river Discovery Center.

Florence, OR

This morning the sound of rain woke me around 5 AM. We have had rain everyday for the last week or more, they say that is normal for Oct. on the Oregon Coast. Temps have been in mid 60's daytime and mid 40s' nights. Mid morning we headed back north by car on US101 to see some of the things that we passed by yesterday. Our first stop was the Heceta Head light house (top photo) about 12 miles north of Florence. It was first illuminated in 1894 and could be seen 21 miles from land.
Moving further north our next stop was Yaquina Bay Light House (lower photo) at the north end of the Yaquina Bay Bay Bridge at Newport. This is the second oldest standing light house on the Oregon Coast. It was in service only from 1871 to 1874 when it was replaced by the Yaquina Head light house 3 miles up the coast. It is the only wooden light house on the Oregon Coast. It has been restored and is maintained by friends of Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. Moving on north across Newport we saw the Yaquina Head Light house (middle photo) that was first illuminated in 1873. It could be seen 20 miles from the coast compared to the 10 miles of the Yaquina Bay light house that it replaced. It is currently still in service, however it is now illuminated electrically instead of by oil as originally powered. Before leaving Newport we drove through the historic bay area, an area along the Bay that consists of small old store buildings on one side of the street and on the bay side old cannery buildings & piers that are being restored. This is a real tourisy area. We stopped at many scenic views as we moved back south. One of the most impressive was Cape Perpetua Scenic Area where we saw an long narrow area where the surf came up into the rocks known as the Devils Churn. Also in this area we saw Cooks Chasm as well as 100's of sea lions. We also got a very good picture of the Heceta Head Light House from here.

Florence, OR

After nursing a really sore knee for 5 or 6 days we are on the road again. After walking to the Cape Mears Light House on Fri. my right knee became extremely week and sore. Tues I went to the walk in clinic and on Wed. I received a shot of cortisone. Thur. we went to Astoria and walked through the cannery at pier 39 and ate lunch. On the return drive to the motor home we stopped at an antique store and a blown glass shop that Nancy had been wanting to go to. This morning we headed south on US 101 past the rocky coast north of Tillamook and then through the mountain meadows to the south that were full of dairies. From there on we had many beautiful views of the coast with the surf and waves splashing onto the rocky shores.
I believe the surf was much more violent and the waves much higher today than we had seen them earlier this week. Passing on through the towns of Newport, Yachats, Waldport and many other small coastal towns we were in and out of the coastal mountains and rocky shores. What a beautiful drive this was. Tomorrow we plan to drive back north in the car so that we can enjoy some of these areas and light houses.

Fri. Sept. 25th.

Today we drove south on US 101 about 45 miles to Tillamook, OR. Along the way we had many beautiful views of the surf washing in around the various rock formations and beach's. The route isn't always along the ocean but at times you are in the forest winding around hills really a very beautiful drive passing through many small seaside towns.
After arriving in Tillamook we went to the Tillamook cheese factory. This is a 100 year old co-op owned buy the dairy farmers in the area. They make cheese, yogurt & ice cream.
This is quit a tourist attraction in the area. we were surprised by the number of people there. This area has 90 inch's of rain annually so the grass grows very lush and it doesn't require a lot of land to support the cows. After leaving there we traveled west on what is called three capes scenic loop past pastures full of Holstein and Jersey dairy cows and then up into the coastal mountains.to Cape Mears light house. This light house is the shortest one on the Oregon coast being only 37 ft. tall. Like most of the light houses it is no longer in use. I did learn from the man that was there that the oil lamp that was in them wasn't that big. The lens in this one magnified the light 87%. I also learned that each light house beacon turned at different rates of speed. That way by timing the rotation the ships captain could consult his navigation maps and know where he was located as well as knowing were the shore line was. We had planned to continue on around this loop to two more capes but yours truly must have taken a wrong turn and we ended up back in Tillamook. On the way back we stopped in the small coastal town of Wheeler for an early supper of Prawns & chips. I thought this was kind of neat since my mothers maiden name was Wheeler.

Seaside, OR Sept. 24th.

Yesterday was a cold dreary day, about 25 degree's cooler than the day before and misty so we stayed pretty close to the RV Park and did a few repairs and caught up on cleaning etc.
This morning we headed back north on US 101 to Astoria where we crossed the 3 1/2 mile long bridge across the Columbia River into Washington ending up at Cape Disappointment south of the town of IlWaco, WA. This is the location of the Louis & Clark Interpretive center where Lewis & Clark ended their journey at the point that the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. After exploring the area the people of the expedition voted to go to the south side of the river for their winter encampment. This is the site of Fort Clatsop that we visited on Mon. The reason they went across was that the weather was better, food was more plentiful and they also make the salt that they needed to preserve the meat supply, this was done here at what is now Seaside. Cape Disappointment Light House is also located here on the north side of the river. This is the oldest light house still in use on the coast. Also located a short distance around the cape to the north is the North Head light house that is no longer in use. I found it interesting that this light house had two large light house keepers residences. Due to remote location these families had large gardens and raised chickens etc. The daily duties were to carry buckets of oil to the light house to keep the lamps burning and to keep the mirrors clean and shined for maximum light. On the way back we stopped in Astoria and went through the historic Flavel House built by a River bar captain for his family in 1886. He had other business interests in the area and had become the wealthiest man in Astoria by that time. The house was built at a cost of $37000, had electricity, indoor plumbing and flush toilets. There is a Sequoia tree still standing that was there at the time the house was built

sept. 22nd. Seaside, OR

Today we went north on US 101 about 15 miles to Astoria, OR the first established town west of the Mississippi. On the way we stopped at Fort Clatsop the site of Lewis & Clark's winter encampment at the mouth of the Columbia river and the Pacific Ocean. The fort is named after the Indian tribe on whose land it was erected. The lower picture is where they landed their wooden canoes. From there we went on to the Astoria Column erected on Coxcomb hill. From here you view Oregon, Washington, the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean. Next it was the Columbia River Maritime Museum to see & learn about the navigation and dangers of the Columbia River where it meets the Pacific Ocean. Every ship that goes in or out through this
area has to be boarded by one of about 40 trained and experienced river pilots to navigate it through these very dangerous waters. Over the years there have been many ships wrecked in area. This evening we went to the beach in downtown Seaside and enjoyed a very beautiful sunset.

Sept. 21st.

Today was a beautiful 80 degree day that we spent exploring Seaside and Cannon Beach located 8 miles south of Seaside. Several of the people we talked to said to enjoy the weather as this was not normal for here. We started out diving to the Pacific Ocean located a couple of miles west from the RV park. We then parked near the beach down town and watched people going out to the beach. We walked the beach promenade and went into the Harbor seal aquarium were we saw the harbor seals and several small aquariums filled with specimens of local marine life. This is an old aquarium but very interesting. We then looked in some of the shops and ate lunch at a small cafe. In the afternoon we drove south on US101 about 8 miles to the town of Cannon Beach. After driving about 1 1/2 miles on a narrow winding road under the giant white spruce trees that covered the road like a tunnel we arrived at one of the most photographed areas on the Oregon coast at Ecola State Park. From here we could see the Tillamook lighthouse located between Seaside and Cannon Beach but inaccessible from land. We could see Haystack Rock located to the south at Cannon Beach and many other rock formations. Driving another 1 1/2 mile through the same kind of tree covered road we arrived at Indian Beach where we enjoyed watching the surfers and other beach goers.

Seaside, OR

Here we are just a few blocks from the Pacific Ocean in a Thousand Trails RV Park in Seaside, OR. This morning we left Crooked Creek Ranch traveling west through the country side past the Alpaca farm to US 20 at Sisters, OR. From there we traveled west through the Cascade Mountains over Santiam Pass with 7800 ft. Mt Washington on our left. Then it was an 11 mile long winding 6% down grade on the other side. After we descended we drove along the Santiam River winding winding our way toward Albany, OR located in the fertile Wyamet Valley. There we turned north on I-5 traveling through the valley to Portland where we turned NW on US 26. We then traveled through the Clatsop State Forest ending up on US 101 at Seaside. I now know why Oregon has a pine tree on there license plate. After traveling clear across the middle of the state from east to west I believe nearly the whole state must be covered by some kind of evergreen tree and a sign that says curve 35 MPH.
I am again very disappointed with the Thousand Trails Park we are in. For what it cost to join and the cost of the annual dues, plus the glamorous descriptions and pictures in the preserve guide book I expected more of a resort type setting. Instead they all seem to me like second rate poorly maintained parks. If any of you RVer's that read this blog are thinking about joining Thousand Trails I would sure like to visit with you first. I wish we had visited with someone before we wrote the check. Oh well as Nancy says we did it so get over it.

Crooked Creek Ranch, OR

The River Rim RV Park is located about 8 miles north of Redmond, OR in a development area called Crooked River Ranch. It is a desert setting with the Crooked River running through it. The river is about 250 ft. below the flat sagebrush covered and scattered pine tree desert above. The cliffs and jagged rock walls are nearly vertical. This morning we drove about 25 miles south west to Sisters, OR. Along the way we went through an irrigated valley that had lots of small ranches along the road, one of them was the Crescent Moon Alpaca Ranch. I have never seen so many alpaca's, they numbered in the hundreds. When we arrived at Sisters we found it to be a trendy touristy town. While there we walked through a street fair.

Redmond, OR

This morning after leaving Baker City, OR we traveled Southwest on OR 7 and US 26 through the Umatilla National Forest up mountains down mountains and around winding curves and then through
mountain meadows along the Powder River. Traveling west Near Prairie City we left the forest and entered into the same kind of terrain only the mountains were covered with grass and sage brush and the meadows also had green fields of alfalfa growing in them. We passed many ranches with names like Widow Creek Ranch & Long Box Ranch. We saw many herds of cattle grazing in the meadows. About 30 miles west of John day, OR We went up a sharp winding road through tall steep fossil beds. After that it was more of the same and then west of Mitchell we entered the Ochoco National Forest exiting it near Prineville and entered what they call high desert area to Redmond, OR where we are staying at the River Rim RV Park. At the edge of the park it is a sheer drop off 250ft. to the Crooked River below. I have never went around so many curves at 30 MPH as we did today. It took us about 6 hrs to travel the 210 miles.

Baker City, OR

After spending a leisurely day yesterday at the RV Park playing cribbage with John & Mary and just relaxing we headed south on ID 55 this morning. Driving through the valley we passed herds of cattle grazing on the lush grass.
Leaving the valley and entering the Packer John State Forest the tree covered mountains were absolutely beautiful with the morning sun shining on them.









After topping the mountains at about 5600 ft. we traveled along the white water rapids of the Payette River as we descended to an elevation of 2500 ft. About 1/2 way down we left the forested mountains and traveled through grass covered mountain grazing lands before turning west at Horseshoe Bend on ID 52. As we neared the town of Emmett we suddenly entered into flat rich irrigated farm lands where we saw sugar beets, corn, onions and msc other crops being grown. We entered Oregon at mile marker 356 on I-84 and soon after heading north we left the fertile fields and began travelling up & down long hills covered with dry brown grass. At mile marker 302 (Baker City) we turned off and went to the Oregon Trail Interpretive center where we spent 3 hrs viewing the displays about the Oregon Trail. We also saw two very informative films about the Donner expedition and the entire passage of the Oregon Trail. Tonight we are at the Oregon Trails RV Park at Baker City