Oregon Living 2022 – Blog #36 – Getting Some Family Time!    

 

Sunday, September 4^th., 2022…… We only have a 160-mile drive today, but we have to go over I-5 past the fire. We knew that southbound I-5 was open, but we weren’t sure how many lanes plus it’s a weekend. So, we decided to leave around 9ish. I won’t need fuel for a while so only a rest stop is planned. Turned out I changed my mind!  I thought it would be better to top off at Frazier Park Flying J and that way I could go in and out of SoCal without worrying about finding a diesel station large enough for the motorhome. That was a smart move!  Traffic was ok then it wasn’t – ok again, then it wasn’t!  But, we made it in ok and got there at 12:37pm, a little early but they were ok with that and my site was open. We got in and parked and set up. We have a terrific view of the bay. But there are tons of folks out there for the day, using popups for the sun. They were almost solid all around the bay! Looking out and looking back at our rig…

We got ready and fed the dogs and then left to drive over to The Crab Cooker to meet up with the family. Only 19 of us for dinner there tonight!  There were 4 or 5 that don’t like fish (or the smell of it) and went to the Spaghetti Factory. We had a nice meal. Thanks Chris! Here are shots of that group. Little Sophia decided to sleep through it all!

After dinner we walked back to their rental. It was really awesome!  Three stories, 5 or 6 bedrooms and right on the beach!  Their view was majestic! After a visit to meet the rest of the group, we coordinated our next few days and I downloaded our tickets and parking passes for Disneyland from Angie’s phone onto Cathye’s.  We walked back to our car and went home and relaxed. But we did have to set up the remote DirecTV satellite dish!  The roof dish is toast and Gary’s guy will be getting one first thing Tuesday morning and will come install it in the afternoon! We got the dish pointed (first time for Cathye to go through this process with me!) and everything is working well. 

Monday, September 5^th., 2022……  Today we had SoCal friends and family in for the day. We did a potluck with chicken wings and hot dogs. It was nice to see everyone. Ed, Rick and Janie, Mike & Cheri, Gary & Lorna, Ken & Sandie, and Randy & Maryanne. Here are pics of that group….

After everyone left except Randy and Maryanne, we took the bikes out for a little ride. Chuckie and Bella like to ride in the transit ship with Randy!

Once we got back and they left, we cleaned up a bit and relaxed for the rest of the evening. It was a great day! Thanks to everyone for visiting!  

Tuesday, September 6^th., 2022…… Today was the AZ day.  All of the group was coming for beach day here on the bay. The crowds were all gone and they literally had the place to themselves!  I am going to try to get everyone listed here once. Chris and Angie (Cathye’s son (step); their kids Dillon and his friend Torie, Ashley and her husband Caleb, and little Sophie; Brandon and his wife Emily, and their three kids, Royal, Liam, and Kylee, and Angie’s mom, Ferrell (GG to the grandkids). The rest of the family (7 more – Brandy and her husband Brent and their kids Dalton and his wife Julie and Torie and Torie’s friend) were here just for the beach vacation and were headed back this morning. Most of these guys have only known Cathye as their Grandma so it was great for everyone to get together again! I am still struggling to remember everyone’s names!  She rented three paddleboards and a peddleboat for everyone to use and they had a ball. Cathye tried to stand up on the paddleboard but didn’t get too far before bellyflopping! But, the hot weather (temps in the high 90s) made it perfect for being in the water. Randy came by later with enough food to feed an army!  He owns a company specializing in refrigeration and services cooler units in restaurants and supermarkets and such. One of his accounts is The Newport Rib Company and he volunteered to supply the food for today. We had piping hot baby back ribs, chicken, brisket, and sausage, plus all of the fixins’!  As I said, we had plenty of food!  It was a fun day!     

Wednesday, September 7^th., 2022…… We were up and out of the motorhome at 7:15am!  We met up with them at the park around 8:00am and picked out where we will meet again. We went to the scooter rental booth and Cathye got one for the day. Her knee is really sore and this would be the best way to get through the parks! It was a good move!  We met them all again for pics at the pumpkin at the town square (Disney is all decked out for Halloween!) and then split up for most of the day. They had all of the ‘littles’ and would be going to the fantasyland rides. My goal was the Rise of the Resistance at Disney park, so we headed for that. We went through the 45minute line and got in. We only made it about ¾ when the ride shut down. We were given lightning pass tickets for later. We headed over to the Haunted Mansion and found we could use their scooter service entrance and we were given a ‘come back’ pass for 45 minutes. We hung around the area and then went straight in. The ride was really nice given that Tim Burton’s ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ theme took over the ride!  Next up was Pirates of the Caribbean and then Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, both of which we got in the same way with very short wait times. We hit the Tiki Room and then moved on back to the Resistance ride and got right in with our pass. Problem was that it broke down again! They said this lightning pass would work on any ride in Disneyland and we were headed over to Calif Adventure and would use it for Cars over there. We made the walk across the parks and hit Soarin before Cars. Soarin was the best! I had ben before when it was Soaring over California but it’s now world views and was really nice – although too short! We hit Cars next and found that they don’t honor lightning passes from Disneyland in Calif Adventure! The line was 65 minutes and we didn’t want to wait so we were done for the day. We got the scooter back and found everyone again so we could say goodbye since we would be leaving in the morning. Thanks again to Angie for setting up this wonderful day and the trip for all of the family and including us in it all!         

Thursday, September 8^th., 2022……  We had a bunch of stuff to do this morning to get ready to head out. I started around 8:00am and we pulled out at 10:00am. The drive today was 252 miles but it was up the coast so the ride was nice. Still pretty hot. Temps got into the low 100s but we made it with only a couple of traffic delays. We are at Wine Country RV Resort in Santa Paula. We will be here for two days. They had us up on a rise sharing a common area with the rig next to us so Cathye went and complained and now we are in a section all by ourselves!  We got the dish out and set up and then relaxed and watched tv for a while before feeding the dogs and then heading out for dinner. I have been here many times so I took us to Cool Hand Luke’s for drinks and a nice steak dinner. Very relaxing since it’s only the two of us. A late night walk in the cooler temps and then TV until bedtime.

Friday, September 9^th., 2022…… Nothing on the agenda for today. We hope later to be able to get Rylee in the Honda for a drive. First off, she doesn’t like riding in that car, plus we have the bikes on the rack on the back so she has to go in through one of the back doors. Not happy so we have to lift her up and in!  Later, we actually managed to do that quite easily and we were off!  We drove west on Hwy 46 to Cambria and drove through that little town, then went up the coast. We stopped at several beaches and pullouts but all were posted no dogs!  We drove up to San Simeon to cruise by Hearst Castle. We couldn’t get reservations back when but it sure didn’t look crowded when we arrived in the parking lot.  But we had the dogs, so we just stopped for a quick pic which Cathye blew up and did a screenshot.

Then we drove across the road to Hearst St. Beach. We saw that dogs were allowed on the beach on leashes. That would work!  Rylee has been in salt water before but this was her first outing at a beach with waves!  They scared her for a few minutes but once she got used to it she was ready to lay in the water! 

Jama not so much! A wave got her totally soaked so Cathye had to hold her for the rest of the time. We got cleaned up and left. Both of us left the dog leashes on the top of the Honda but I saw the first one fly off and was able to go back to retrieve it. The other one was still up there! Whew! We made it back home and hosed off the salt water off the dogs and rested for the afternoon. Later, we walked over to the clubhouse in the campground for the wine tasting that they do here each afternoon at 4:00pm. Tomorrow they are supposed to have tamales here in the morning. We’re not sure what that’s all about but we’ll check it out before we leave. The wine tasting was ok. Some we liked some we didn’t. But that’s why you taste! e went back later for entertainment. They had a couple playing 60s music. Terrible! - but the beer was good! We came back to the coach and watched tv for a bit. We had the results show for America’s Got Talent to catch up on. I think the finale is going to be very interesting! There are a few acts I really want to see win. More on that as we get there. As we were watching tv, I heard a noise. It was raining!  It lasted only a minute or so but the drops were huge! It cooled it off enough for a nice night’s sleep.        

Saturday, September 10^th., 2022…… On the road again today. But first up was tamales!  They have a van that comes on Saturday mornings with fresh-made tamales. Cathye was first one there and got 6 pork and 3 corn tamales. We each had one for breakfast. Yeah, I know – but we had to try them!  I liked the pork one but Cathye didn’t care for the corn inside hers. She said it was like creamed corn and was too sweet!  But we have 5 pork left so that will work! We only have 120 miles to drive today, so we were in no hurry. Check-in at Betabel RV Resort in San Juan Bautista was after 12:30pm. We got out of the park around 10:00am and made the drive with no issues. We had a glitch in the parking assignment (someone was in our site and had extended their stay) but we got another site and got in and parked and got set up. We are in a nice spot and will be here for two days. This is the closest park to Santa Cruz and Watsonville where Cathye grew up, so we were glad to get checked in early enough to be able to take a drive. Today was just around Gilroy. We needed to go to Walmart and we found the one in town. Saturday in Walmart! Once we got back, we were in for the evening.

Oregon Living 2022 – Blog #35 – Getting Ready & Hitting the Road!

 

Sunday, August 28^th., 2022…… We were up and going early even though it was a Sunday. We walked and fed the dogs and decided that, since it was early, we would go to breakfast at Kevin’s before she left for church. Today was a ‘relax’ day for me. I spent most of it watching races and the finals for the Little League World Series. Hawaii won it all. Funny though that all of the time we were in Honolulu, nobody mentioned it and we didn’t see it on any of the bar screens while we were there! Anyway, I needed to get caught up on everything before we leave.  When she got back, she worked on loading up her stuff in the motorhome. She also needed to rearrange some of the pots and pans and skillets to make better use of the space. I have a list too but will work on that tomorrow….

Monday, August 29^th., 2022……  We slept in this morning. But luckily, I remembered that I needed to get going to my 8:00am acupuncture appointment in Corvallis!  I jumped in the shower and got dressed and out of there and was only 1 minute late!  I got back from that as Cathye was meeting Robin for breakfast here in town. Robin will be helping Jamie pack up his stuff and Cathye wanted to talk to her about that.  While she was gone, I worked on getting 90% of my stuff out to the motorhome. I have to wait on my laptop and a few other things but I was glad to get started. Tomorrow, I plan to get the Honda set up with the bike rack and get all of that gear out and loaded. We also needed to meet with Russ and Leon today. I wanted to ask a few more questions because they seem to think they will be able to get the engineer’s report back and get the permits so they can finally get to start work over here! Even though we’ll be gone, we’ll be ok with that. That only took a few minutes and we had everything set for them if/when they come.  We also had plans at a friend’s house for dinner but that got postponed, so we went instead to Seeds for a nice meal and drinks. After that, it was back to the house and the doggies and some tv before bedtime.  

Tuesday, August 30^th., 2022…… We’ve both been working a little at a time to get things together then out to the rig. Like I mentioned before, there are some things that have to wait – but, for the most part, we are getting things done. I did get the Honda washed and then got the bike rack installed and got the bikes mounted. For this trip, I decided to remove the batteries, even though they are locked in place. I got helmets and chargers and locks and keys all together and ready. Then I parked the car in the garage. We won’t use it until we hook up on Thursday.

Wednesday, August 31^st., 2022…… Penny came by to make sure she knows what to do while we are gone. Mostly, it’s mail and newspapers. We didn’t stop either one because she will be coming by to check on the house anyway. Cherrelyn also came by to visit before we leave tomorrow. It’s always nice to see her. I told her she could come stay here if she wants ac for a while!  She may come stay for a few days.   

Thursday, September 1^st., 2022……  We have a check-in time after 3:00pm at our first stop today, so we were in no big hurry to get out and going. Cathye got all of her last-minute items loaded and so did I, so I think we are good to go. We pulled out at around 9:45am. Our drive today was 287 miles and the longest of the whole trip!  The weather is hot!  Temps all day in the high 90s. We are at Friendly RV Park in Weed CA. This is one of only two parks on this trip that only has 30 amp electric. That was a problem when we were trying to cool down the rig. The other problem came when I had issues getting the satellite dish up and running. I kept getting an error message about no lnb voltage. I tried cycling it a few times and gave up. We watched a dvd instead and went to bed early.

Friday, September 2^nd., 2022…… I found that the satellite dish wouldn’t retract and ‘stow’ for travel so I got out the manual and found how to remedy that. There is now an error message that the motor is bad. ?  We left around 9:00am and went around the corner to the Flying J and fueled up. I started with ¾ of a tank and was just under ½ when I fueled. But – I found that my gauge is off!  It took 110 gallons and it is a 150 gallon tank. So, halfway is 100 gallons and from halfway to empty is 50 gallons. Funny, I am just now figuring that out! Diesel in Weed was $6.31 a gallon.  But we are good to go and headed out around 9:30am. The stop today was Flag City RV in Lodi. That was 265 miles. We always try to stop at a rest area for us and the dogs so that put us in around 2:00pm. No worries, this park is almost empty. We can’t walk the dogs yet because the asphalt is still too hot so we just let them out on the grass and then back into the rig. We changed into our swimsuits and hit the pool!  It was really refreshing. Cathye is VERY susceptible to the heat and doesn’t do well after she gets to that one level. She hit it today so the pool really helped! I tried the dish again but had the same problem. I had talked to my satellite expert, Gary Fields, and we analyzed that I had a bad coax cable to the lnb. I had one that would do in a pinch and tried that. Still got the EL motor error. I told Gary that I think I fried the base motor because the other day I didn’t unplug the unit and I’m thinking it was cycling all night and caused the motor code. Another night of DVDs. When we walked the dogs, we stopped by the office and they had some to look through and take so we borrowed Maid in Manhattan and watched that again.    

Saturday, September 3^rd., 2022…… Today’s drive was 243 miles. We left around 9:30am and got to Bakersfield RV resort around 2:00pm and got checked in and parked. We immediately hooked up power and turned on both ac’s. That helped cool the motorhome but it's still plenty hot!. The dogs got walked on the grass and they were good to go so we hit the pool here. Very nice!  I texted Stan, my brother-in-law, who lives here in Bakersfield, and he said he was on his way to come visit for a while. We met him in the rv park's restaurant and had a nice meal and a nice visit. Cathye was worn out again from too much heat so we had an early night. I did get a number for one of Gary’s friends who has done satellite installs for him. Bottom line – I fried the base motor and Winegard doesn’t sell internal parts and since my unit is over 10 years old, he said I needed a replacement. But because I am going with the same make and model, he can'get one and the install would only take a few minutes!  We made arrangements for him to come to the campground in Newport Dunes on Tuesday for that. Yaay!    

Oregon Living 2022 – Blog #34 – Mowing, Moving Furniture, a Birthday Party, & Date Night!

 

Sunday, August 21^st., 2022……  Today was church and mowing!  After breakfast, Cathye headed off with Jama to church and I hung around the house for a few hours and then went out and got the mowers out and gassed up. Penny was coming over and we agreed on 12ish. I got started early and had most of my part done before either of them got here. Then I helped with the rest of the field while Cathye went back over my stuff and tried to mulch in the clippings. We had way too much grass so we’ll need to do another run just to bag up the rest. But it’s done!

I had forgot to mention it in the previous blog, but we had a moving task with the truck. Cherrelyn had bought a recliner/loveseat and I volunteered to go pick it up and deliver it. Long story, it needed to go back and that would happen soon. But, later in the afternoon we all met at Game Time for dinner. We wanted to treat Cherrelyn for staying here and Penny for always stepping up when we mow. Fun time!       

Monday, August 22^nd., 2022…… Today we ran some errands. After going to Albany to see Jamie, we hit Elmer’s for German pancakes, then went to Lowes for sprinkler parts. I have some old sprinkler heads that had filters that were completely clogged up and needed to be replaced. Lowe’s had those. Yaay!  When we got home, Cathye went grocery shopping and I got everything installed. I still need to fix a couple more but now the grass is getting the water that is needed now since we haven’t had much rain this summer. We headed back to Salem for another round of chair exchanging. Turns out the only one they had was damaged (cut on the fabric), so she will try to get it elsewhere and let us know.  

Tuesday, August 23^rd., 2022…… We were supposed to meet with Russ and Leon, our contractors, at Ace Hardware to pick out the deck color and grade (which affects the price) but Leon had some medical to tend to so that will now be later in the week. So that meant that we were able to go down to the store in Springfield and get the next chair. No worries on that. Oops, yes there was! They had two in stock and I insisted on looking at them before to see if they were ok. I got to choose the box I wanted.  Turns out I picked wrong!  It was missing a part. BUT, luckily, the second box was a winner and tested out perfectly!  We loaded it and dropped it off on our way back home and all was good. This new chair completes Cherrelyn’s living room set and we all think works well for her!

We went home and rested and talked a bit with Sandie and Janie. We will be in California next month and wanted to set something up with them to meet up while we’re there. I also want to let everyone reading this to know that if you want to come visit, we will be having a little (potluck) party at our motorhome on Monday, Sept. 5^th. We’re staying at Newport Dunes and have sprung for a large upgraded rv site so we can host her Arizona family coming in on Tuesday. We’ll have plenty of room. So, if you’re up for it and can come by on Monday, please let us know!  We plan to be there all day!

Wednesday, August 24^th., 2022…… We find ourselves back in a routine again. Walk and feed the dogs. Fix breakfast Cathye went off to SHEM. I hung around the house working on the rv for next week plus I wanted to catch up on my little league world series games this week and next. Nothing much going on after that, so I asked her if she wanted to go to ‘dinner and a movie’?  I had already seen that the movie 'Where the Crawdads Sing'

was playing at my favorite theater in Eugene (recliners in every seat!).  And we could go to Newman’s Seafood Grotto beforehand!  She was happy to do that! We had a nice evening and it turned out to be a great movie, even for a ’chickflick’!  We got home and called it a night.  

Thursday, August 25^th., 2022……  Today was haircut day! We hung around the house until around 9:30am and then headed over to the other side of town to see Dianne and got in and out by 10:30. On the way home, we got a call that Russ was available to meet with us at Ace. Leon had back surgery and won’t be able to join us for a few days. It was a good meeting and we got a lot of things covered and picked out the decking material color plus signed a contract and got on their start list. It’s most likely that they will be breaking ground while we are out of town – but hey, it’s all good – we’re just glad to get started! We had decided to go to the Alzheimer’s Benefit again this year. Cathye lost Jim to Alzheimer/Dementia so that is near and dear to her heart and we wanted to go to donate to a good cause. They do this in the Community Center/Library park and use the gazebo there as the stage. We got there early enough to put out our chairs in the shade. We chose to be just in front of the beer pavilion!  We found the raffle tables and signed up for their prizes and then I hit Brian’s food truck. Yeah, they were there!  I got us an order of yakisoba with chicken and we shared that. Always yummy!  We had a couple of homemade cookies but that wasn’t the best to go with the beer!  This year they had the first group up that was there last year. We couldn’t figure out why they were asked back!  But we were glad we stayed for the feature group. Gabriel Cox Band was really good!  They played classis rock and blues and kept the energy up through the whole show. We met a few folks we knew and thoroughly enjoyed the night. We only regret not bringing the pups with us because we were on the grass and they would have enjoyed that!

Friday, August 26^th., 2022…… Penny was up early and headed over to the fairgrounds in Albany for the annual NW Art and Balloon Festival. She had a great time and got some good shots...

We had a 9:00am appointment with the groomers so we walked and fed them and took them in for their appointments. We came back to the house and Cathye had me back my truck up to the blackberries so she could have another go at the ripe ones. She’s wanting these to made jelly before we leave for SoCal next week. I got the truck parked there with no problems. Oh yeah, I forgot - one problem! I got stuck!  Cathye always teases me when she has to go get her truck to pull out my truck! 

After we did that, I worked on the sprinklers one last time.  I think I’m satisfied now that everything is getting watered like it should at least on the west side of the driveway! If I could only get the darn thing to follow the timed schedule. It’s supposed to water during the night but it will come on as many as three cycles a day! Oh well, I’m not paying for water and our water table is high so no worries!  

Saturday, August 27^th., 2022……  Happy 60^th Birthday to Jamie!  He always gets his choice of what to do on his birthday. Choices are pretty much going to the coast or going to pizza. This year he chose pizza. So, we put together a little surprise party for him at his favorite place, Abbys.  But that wasn’t until 4:00pm tonight. So, we spent some time working on getting a few things organized for our motorhome trip next week. We each made our lists for things we each need to get done.  I also typed up a letter that Cathye had asked me to do for her and Jamie. We need to give a 30-day notice at Jamie’s apartment complex. I got that done and he will sign it today. He has a meeting on Monday with his mental health counselor and the folks at the new place to meet and see where he will be living. We are so hoping that he likes it!  We all met at Abby’s later and had a really nice time. All that were there were very happy that he could get into a home care facility and made him feel better with all of the encouragement they gave him. A fun day!