Where (Almost) Everybody Knows Your Name!

Sea and Sand RV Park, near Depoe Bay

Hey Folks,  as I write this we are  close to wrapping up a four night stay at probably our favorite Oregon Coast RV Park, Sea and Sand, situated between Depoe Bay and Lincoln City.  This is an unusual post for me, spontaneous, and very short; but thought I'd  put this little ditty about Jack and Dia.... wait, that's a tune by John Cougar Mellencamp... completely off subject.  So basically what I meant to say is we've had a very pleasant stay here somewhat short of a "ditty"(whatever that means).  There were some whale sightings a couple days ago, right about where you see that streak of white out from shore in the above picture.  I watched a big whale rolling in the shore break; Lanie and I later saw probably the same whale spouting.  And just this morning I spotted what I think were two seals loafing in the surf barely 100 yards offshore.

Of course, A staple with us whenever we hit the Oregon Coast is seafood, lots of it. I mean whenever we're this close to an ocean we're almost exclusively on a a seafood diet, the fresher the better.

Grilled Oysters and Steamed Clams at Kyllo's, Lincoln City

Grilled Combo Plate at Tidal Raves, Depoe Bay

Also on this stay, we've noted some quite gracious folks co-inhabiting the RV park with us.  There were a bunch of folks whale watching the other day, as mentioned above; and nearly all took time to say hello and point out where and how the whales were being sighted.  Didn't catch any of their names then, though.  But did meet and talk with a couple chaps yesterday.

Larry, the unofficial "greeter" in this part of the RV Park, came by to introduce himself and ask our names.  He soon told me a few other tidbits about himself. He's a retired doctor from the Palouse Country of Eastern Washington (little town called Garfield); he owns about a thousand acres there, most of which I believe he said he leases out to local farmers/ranchers. The Oregon Coast seems to be a favorite getaway destination.   He and his wife were just getting ready to head home to help celebrate the 13th birthday of their oldest grandson this coming weekend.  Seemed like a familiar tune to us, though our oldest, Jonah, will be just 3 in early July; and yes, we'll be there to help celebrate with him.  Jonah and his folks and little Bro, Isaac, presently live in the Des Moines Iowa area.

Lincoln City Beach near the "D" River

Then there was Norman, no not that "Norm", who knew everybody back at the Cheers bar.  This Norman was more reserved, and German, from Hamburg, a port city way up in the Northern parts of Germany.  He and his wife and two young kids were traveling this part of the country in a rented RV,  one of those Mini Motorhomes you see all over the Western States, particularly,  especially during peak tourist seasons. Though they spoke solely in German to each other as a family, Norman spoke near perfect English when conversing with me ( I didn't try out any of my "fractured" German while talking with Norman, probably a good thing).  I learned that they were near the end of a 10 week trip to the US and Canada, had been in Florida and other parts of the Eastern USA, and then toured a good part of our American West in the mini-motorhome.   They headed out from here this morning (Friday, May 13th) for Astoria, then ultimately someplace in Canada that I didn't quite catch, where they will soon fly home.

Depoe Bay from Tidal Raves Restaurant

The little German family were very nice folks, as was Larry the Land Baron from the Palouse.  We will head out from here tomorrow, going a little further North up the Coast to Cannon Beach before going "home" (Eugene) for a few weeks.

Wild Pink Rhodies at Sea and Sand RV Park

So far, no sign of Cliff, the ultimate "know it all" back in the Cheers days.

Cliffy and that other Norm would be here, on that Other Coast

Bumpy Road to Iowa

Cutty Lake at our Campground in Iowa

I was originally going to call this particular post "To Hell and Back"; but decided the Hell part was a liitle mis-placed (well we did go through Amarillo, not my favorite Texas city, but still!...), given that we, and the truck and trailer, emerged safe and sound to enjoy the real treat at the end of the trail, namely our wonderful little family in Urbandale, Iowa.  So let's just call the "problems" enroute mere Bumps, some larger than others.

Sara with the Boys in Iowa

Drew and Jonah build a Lego Masterpiece

Around the middle part of April, we set out from Tempe for Iowa, hoping to arrive there a week before Grandson Isaac’s first birthday (on April 22nd).    Things went according to plan UNTIL they didn’t.  First “bump” in the road came in Heber, AZ, a little junction town up in the highlands of NE Arizona.  The trip up there from the Phoenix Valley was very pleasant, meandering our way up State Hwy 87 out of Mesa.  This is quite pretty country, reminiscent of Central Oregon in a lot of respects, albeit with blooming cacti, a sight not often seen in Central Oregon.  Anyhow, we needed to refuel old Bertha (the Chevy diesel) by the time we reached Heber, so pulled into a Chevron Station.  

 There was a diesel pump there, but it was a little tight maneuvering around some propane tanks on one side to line up with the diesel pump.  A little TOO tight as it turns out.  I thought I detected a slight bump from somewhere in the rear of the 5^th Wheel as we slid by the steel posts protecting the propane tanks.  Long story short, the trailer bumper, one of those extendable types used to hold bikes, storage boxes, the spare tire, and such, was fully extended behind the trailer, and one of its corners snagged a steel post.  The post WON this tug of war in an instant; and by the time we pulled up to the fuel pump, the bumper was dragging on the ground, broken and soon to be discarded.

Uh Oh! "Houston, we have a problem!"

We needed to take the stored items loaded on to the bumper off in order to discard the bumper; but there was a further problem; namely Lanie’s bike was locked to the bumper, and the key to the bike lock had apparently fallen off my key chain somewhere before we had taken off in Tempe.  But, we were out in the boondocks, and some grizzled rancher type came along in the nick of time to cut through the cable locks with his big bolt cutters.  I thanked him profusely, and we were off, absent the back bumper on the 5^th.   For the record, the spare tire now sat in Bertha’s truck bed, the cooler that used to reside there, was stuffed into the back seat, and Lanie’s bike rode the rest of the way that day inside the 5^th.  But we made our Eastern New Mexico destination, some lonely outpost called Santa Rosa, with no further problems.

The “Further” Problems would come the very next morning.  We set off from our Santa Rosa RV park, heading East on Interstate 40, our intended destination for the day a KOA park just south of Wichita, KS.  But barely 15 miles out of Santa Rosa, I noted some bluish smoke coming up from one of our trailer wheels.  We pulled over briefly to the freeway shoulder, then decided to limp down to the next freeway exit, some 4 or 5 miles away.  Made it there to a pretty much deserted little town, but at least it had an off-road parking area near the freeway.  Eventually we connected up with a repair shop back where we’d started our morning, Santa Rosa.  Joey, the owner of the company, Big Rig Truck and Trailer Repair, came out himself soon enough, stated the obvious, our one wheel was shot, as in shot bearings, and we soon made it 20 miles back up the freeway to Joey’s shop in Santa Rosa on 3 wheels, after Joey rigged the axle to keep it from dragging on the ground on its wheel-less  side; said he did this all the time with the Big Rigs (Semis).   

We spent the better part of the day there while Joey and crew replaced our wheel, discovering in the process that one of our other tires was also shot (see below)…

"What Next"?

 It was about this time that Lanie and I looked at each other and mutually stated the obvious, as in “What Next?”   But Joey and crew took care of all the problems, though it took all day; and at some point I contemplated trading in the old, wounded 5^th Wheel for this vintage rig, undoubtedly owned by Cuzzin Eddie of National Lampoon Christmas Vacation Fame.

Cuzzin Eddie's upgrade

Fortunately we didn’t have to go that route.  By 4 PM we were ready to go; and we decided to go as far as we could in the few remaining hours we had available to us; making it to Eastern Oklahoma after dark.  We didn’t even unhitch, getting up early the next morning (Friday, April 15^th), and deciding to make the big push to get into Iowa on time.  And we did, 660 miles, a new record length for us for a one day haul with the 5^th, bringing us into the Des Moines  area and a reunion with our little family there.

Our Campground in Iowa

Fun at the park, Jonah using a bike rack as a jungle gym

While Isaac crawls on Bertha's dashboard

  And it was a great visit, thankfully devoid of any further “What Next” questions.... for the most part..  Isaac turned 1 years old the following Friday (April 22^nd), and things were back to normal as we prepared to head West at the end of April.  But the morning of our planned departure West, the “What Next” question re-surfaced all of a sudden as Bertha barely turned over when trying to start her.  Batteries, both of them (Diesel pickups have two) were soon replaced at a Firestone tire shop and we were only slightly delayed getting out of Iowa.  Despite all the equipment problems enroute from Arizona, we enjoyed a nice, long visit with our little family there.

Birthday Boy Isaac (1 yr old) goes all "Green" all over!

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                            Jonah at a nudist camp for toddlers, Urbandale, IA

         

                                                                                                                        

One of the Goose families at our Iowa campground

Circle be Unbroken

Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado

It suddenly came to me, as we were making a Westward turn onto Interstate 90 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota last Friday (April 29^th) that we had just completed sort of a Really Big Circle… with numerous smaller “swirls” in between… in the two and a half years since we’d left our, then, new first Grandson, Jonah (and his parents too) in Colorado, and headed East on our GREAT RETIREMENT TRAVELS, a period in which we lived full-time in the 5^th Wheel for much of that time.  

Orange Tiger Kitty, Briscoe, King of the 5th (or so he thinks!)

For it was, indeed, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, after a few days touring the natural and man-made wonders of that State…. Mt. Rushmore, Black Hills, Badlands…  back in the late summer of 2013… that,  to me at least, we officially headed East on a long anticipated Grand Tour of this Great Country (and a little bit of Canada as well). 

And then, just last week, we were back in Sioux Falls, turning West this time on Interstate 90 on our way back to Oregon.  It had been quite a ride, and continues still (more on that, as well as the “Trip to Hell and Back” to Iowa that preceded our latest return, in later posts)

So these are the raw numbers on our really big, make that “Ginormous”, 2 ½ year Circle (with numerous Swirls)  of the Country:

Took a Left off I90 in Sioux Falls on   9/12/2013, headed North and then EAST.  Took a left onto I90 in Sioux Falls on 4/29/16, headed WEST.

In between those two opposite direction turns in Sioux Falls, we traveled   31,530 miles with Bertha towing the 5^th to/through:

States/Provinces in order (some states visited more than once… HOME stays Capitalized): 

South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Ontario, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, New Mexico, ARIZONA, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, OREGON, Washington, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, ARIZONA, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, OREGON, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, ARIZONA, California, ARIZONA, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and South Dakota again at the end of the Ginormous Circle of the USA.

Whew, gotta catch my breath after that.  But here are a few pictorial highlights from our grand tour:

 

Headwaters of the Mississippi River, Lake Itasca, MN

Niagara Falls

Live Maine Lobster at a "Pound"

Cheers Bar, Boston

Beautiful white sand beach at Biloxi, MS

Saturday morning live Cajun Music, Fred's Lounge, Mamou, LA

Real Texas BBQ, No sauce, none needed, deep smoke flavor Pleez!

Luckenbach

Thorncrown Chapel, Eureka Sprgs,Arkansas

For every trip, or any period in time, there has to be a few down moments.  Most of ours were equipment related, but also TWO VERY PERSONAL LOSSES. I’ve commented on many in previous posts, and will elaborate on the latest in the anticipated “Hell and Back” post to come.  Here is a brief summary (not all inclusive, the old memory dims over time):

  

 Two Flat Tires on the 5th  (In Texas, and Colorado)

   One Tire Blowout (at Freeway speed in Missouri), also on the 5th

   Entire Wheel falling off, and another nearly falling off (in Oklahoma and New Mexico),               yes, 5^th Wheel  again.

   Broken water pump, trailer brake failure, leaky roof, all on the 5^th.

   Rear bumper on the 5^th peeling off, a self (that would be Moi!) inflicted wound..

   And finally, on a much more PERSONAL, and IMPORTANT, level, the loss of our Mother’s, Mine in March 2014,   Elaine’s in August, 2015

My Mom, Beth Ventura, with her big brother, David, Fall, 2012

Aug 2015, Grandson Isaac says hello and goodbye to his Gr Grandma, Mavis Jones

 Re: the equipment problems, here are a few folks who helped us at various times that make my personal HONOR ROLL for service (to us) over and above the call of duty:

1.           unknown “Good Samaritan” who took it upon himself to call a nearby tire dealer in rural Missouri and arrange everything for our getting a new tire and continuing our trip after our blown tire.

2.       .    Discount Tires in Broken Bow, OK, for coming 20 miles out to our RV Camp to deal with our first wheel (falling off) problem;

3.          The Father/Son team of Will and Will from Lone Star Services, Seguin, Texas, who came out to fix both our trailer brakes and water pump problems.

4.          Mike’s Auto Repair in Ely, Arizona, who diagnosed and replaced problems with Bertha’s (the Chevy Diesel) fuel filter just recently after we lost power while attempting to pass a couple Semis north of Tucson, AZ.

5.          Joey and his crew from Big Rig Truck and Trailer Repair in Santa Rosa, NM who replaced our 2^nd problematic Wheel just last month as we were heading from Arizona to Iowa.