Leaving Washington State

Left the coast Fri. morn and had a long drive(relatively). We passed Yakima and made it to a city called Richland, Wa. The park we found is very nice, neat, clean, well maintained and well appointed. Horn Rapids RV Resort. Worth a stop if you're in this neck of the woods. So we got here Fri. 5pm and had a good nights rest. Sat we trekked around town and went to the Columbia River Park. We tour and walked and enjoyed the clear skies. Not for long, started raining last night and it's still raining on & off. This city was built because of the Hanford Company. Hanford was a refiner of Uranium to make Plutonium. The plutonium refined here was used in the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan. They built as many as ten reactors here and employed thousands of engineers. Dupont was the anchor company and did the most R & D. With all those reactors you have to know what the result was. All the nuclear waste is still being treated here and they have developed a method to turn it into Glass particles. (So I'm Told) The development process to clean up the waste has kept the Tri-City area alive and growing. Watched some football today, saw the Fish lose to the Raider's. We went to the Home Depot late today and noticed they have Christmas Decorations on the shelves already. We enjoyed dinner at the Olive Garden.
Tomorrow we will depart for Baker City, Or. stay for a day or two and then on to Boise, Idaho.
Love to all, Cris & Bob

Annacotes, time over

Hi All, today was supposed to be ferry day to Orcas Island. When we got up and were having coffee we could see the fog rolling across the bay. The weather report said rain by 10 am, so we chose not to venture out too far. Later that day proved the weather report was accurate. Got a substantial amount of rain that day and into the night. Got some new neighbors with some interesting hobbies. They moved into the park with the normal RV stuff but with some boats on top and sides. They like to fish for crab. They set traps and harvest them with the high tide (every 12 hours or so). One of the crabbers was a whole lot more successful than the others. He came back with buckets full. As a side note, the crab boat The Wizard set sail from the harbor near Seattle and is heading for Alaska to compete in The Deadliest Catch. We had a nice day, we got to have a nice walk during one of the rain breaks. We received our new DVR but I won't set it up until all the recorded shows have been watched. We are going to head toward Yakima, Wa or a little further and stay there for a few days before heading to Idaho. The coast is getting cooler all the time, time to head inland to the warmer climates. Enough for now. Love to All,

Cris & Bob

Fidalgo Bay, Wa.

Before I tell you about today's venture I need to tell you a story. A few years back I retrieved the letter "R" from commercial remodel. I carried the "R" with us, installed lights in it and run it with a timer. I've located it outside near the front on the fifth wheel. Yesterday the neighbor to the north asked if we had stayed at Jantzen Beach RV Park in Portland,Or. He recognized the "R". I suppose it's the little things in life that we really appreciate. The park is nice, well maintained and it has some great walking paths. The ducks, geese, and gulls are always flying around and picking up shellfish to eat. These birds are adept at opening shells and their beaks and feet. They drop them from the air onto a hard surface to crack them open and then proceed to eat them. They would also land on top of our trailer and then we would hit the ceiling with a fly swatter to scare them away. We enjoyed the trekking around here. Love to All,
Cris & Bob

Anacortes, Wa. Vancouver, BC. Canada

Left southern Wa. and headed to Anacortes, Wa. Arrived Mon. afternoon after a 210 mile trip. Good trip. This place is Great. We are in Fidalgo Bay RV Park on Anacortes Island. We have this great spot backed up to the bay. Neighbors are nice and keep to themselves. This park in owned by the local Indians. The Samish Indian Nation and they also have a casino. Tues we went to town and did some looking in the shops and stores. Wednesday we went to Vancouver, B.C.. Getting across the border was another trip to customs. They searched our truck pretty exhaustively looking for contraband that they knew we were smuggling. Took about half hour to get into Canada. We drove to Vancouver and parked in Yaletown. Finally we were in Downtown Canada. Vancouver has about 6 million people according to our waitress.Had some lunch at a nice riverside upscale diner and then walked around. After returning to the border the customs officer was upset that we had to drive to Canada to have lunch. He thought that was an excessive drive from Nevada. We had a chuckle with that. Easy border crossing coming back. We got back to our hood and here I am. Couple of beers and viewing the bay, doesn't get much better. Tomorrow is our trip to Orcas Island, Wa. Love to All.
Cris & Bob

Start of our Journey, Post 2

We left Kristi, Victor and the Babies house in Menifee, Ca. heading to Atlanta, Ga. Departing at about 4pm and towing a cargo trailer we drove to just past Tuscon, Az. We stayed at Comfort Inn and Suites as we did throughout the rest of the this trip. The first day's travel was about 300 miles and the next two days we did just at 700 miles each. The last day was only about 500 miles, so we got in in late afternoon. Lex was still in LA so we met up with Dory and Eamon. The reason for pushing across the country was because we had to leave for Fla. on Fri. the 11th and we were in a caravan with Jack, Dory, & Eamon. We left Ca. on the 7th of Aug. and scheduled to leave for Fla. 11th. Hence the crazy trip. After day two, Cris had no Idea where she was. We left for Fla. about 11am on Fri and arrived in St. Petersburg Beach at a bout 8pm and stayed at the Travelodge on the beach. Most of the hotel had poor Air Conditioning, luckily our room was okay. We met a lot of Dory's family and had a great time. I got to visit some of my old haunts and see the areas and schools I went to. Visiting family was good. The baptism was on Sunday after mass. The reception that followed was at a Greek Rest. and it was good. We got Eamon welcomed to our faith and we were able to visit with family and friends, Good Trip. We left Monday and headed back to East Point Ga. to help Lex with her house. I will continue the catch up blogs at another time. Love to All,
Cris & Bob

Washington, & Mount St. Helens Volcano

We left Oregon and proceeded to Washington on our trek north. Our locale change and relocation were kind of minimal. Total of about 53 miles to Mt. St. Helens RV Park. Not a bad place, very busy with the traffic (in & out) but relatively quiet. Stayed there Fri, Sat, & Sunday and left for points north on Monday Morn. We wanted to leave early ( 9 am ) got on the road at about 10:30 am. Oh Well. Arriving at the park early in the day left us time to go exploring Fri. afternoon. We tripped over to the first visitor center on Hwy 504. It was closed but the surrounding areas and marsh were open for a few more hours. We hiked around for some time through the marsh and wooded areas. The day was clear and cool. Mt. St. Helens was just amazingly clear that afternoon. That was the last time. Sat. we toured the whole road to the volcano (50 miles) and stopped many times at visitors centers. We saw movies, displays maps and much literature as to what took place May 18, 1980. We took it all in and it is hard to tell how we felt, and what our thoughts were. We both had a poor night of sleep, very restless. Sun. we toured the city of Longview, Wa. Nice small city with all the necessary things for a nice sustained living. We checked out a local pizza place and it was good. Also checked out a Fred Meyer chain store, very much like a Walmart but a little more upscale. We relaxed Sun. night to get ready for our next trek. Our Direct TV DVR has been having some issues, a new one will meet us in Anacortes Wa. Should get it on Tues. or Wed. That's all for now. Love to All,

Cris & Bob

Portland, Oregon #2

More about Oregon. Oregon has no sales tax, surprised a number of times when making purchases. Another quirky thing is fuel. At the stations there are attendants who fuel your vehicles. The first time was a shock when I started filling the tank and the attendant told me it was illegal for me to operate the pump. This was okay, today I went to a Chevron station and an attendant took my CC and then said that diesel was self serve. They need to get organized about which is which or what. Anyhow, we fueled up so we can travel tomorrow. We are going to a park near Mount St. Helen's in Washington. Think back a long time ago about what happened at Mount St. Helen's. We will let you know what has been the progress since then. We will leave Oregon in the morning, have spent a lot of time here. Nice state. The weather has been cool, but not too drastic. The locals love it.
We went downtown today and had a bagel from Kollblatts Deli. Very Good. Downtown is like other large urban areas like New York. Lots of traffic and lots of small shops. Cris was happy.
Must close for now, Survivor is on. Love to All,
Cris & Bob

Portland, Oregon

Thursday, got here Tuesday and will leave tomorrow. Left Lincoln City and came inland and away form the coast. The coast is very breath taking and we enjoyed it immensely, but it was time to travel some straighter roads. Took Hwy 18 from Hwy 101 and connected to I-5. Along the way we stopped at a DQ, and for those that know the story it was totally for Cris. We passed through a town named McMinville, Or which now has the Spruce Goose. It was moved there from Long Beach, Ca. and they built a hangar for it. The front of the hangar is glass, and you can see the plane from the street. We didn't stop for the tour, I think it wasn't open yet. Barbara Peterson reminded us that it was here. Portland is a very large city. We are in a park on Hayden Island in the middle of the Columbia River. The park is named Jantzen Beach RV Park. Misnomer. No beaches on this Island. The island is mostly commercial with dredging, house boats and boat slips surrounding the place. The number of boats both large and small is phenomenal. The traffic is another matter. We kind of roll with it. Travel at times that others don't. The park is under a flight path for PDX, next to I-5 and Amtrak is close. The train trestle is really amazing. Tall boats that need to pass under under the trestle must wait for the bridge to open. The bridge actually spins on a pylon and move the tracks to open the the area for the ship passage. We saw it happen a few times. The horn that alerts people to the opening and closing is loud enough to hear a long way off. Need to tell you more about Oregon. Next Blog.
Love to All, Cris and Bob

Lincoln City, Or

We left Coos Bay, Or and proceeded up the coast to our next stop. We didn't make reservations and decided we would find a place along the way. We stopped a number of times along the way at vista areas and a couple of coffee shops and ended up in Lincoln City, Or. We stayed at Ocean View RV Park on Hwy 101. Nice park, pull thru's are a joke and the back ins are not bad. We stayed for a couple of days and saw some of the local fare. They have some nice beaches with very rough waves coming in for a long way. Didn't see any surfers and didn't see as many hippies as we did further south. The trip north was cool and mostly cloudy, and it was all along the waters edge. We went through an arched tunnel that the center height was 14'4" and the edge was 11'1". Our fifth wheel is 13' , so we had to encroach into the other lane for the length of the tunnel. No on-coming traffic until the very end of the tunnel. We got lucky. We only travelled 140 miles on this leg of our journey, but it was enough. With all the twists and turns it kind of wears on you. Lincoln City is long, about ten(10) miles, four little towns that merged to become Lincoln City, Or. We relaxed there except for our walk on the beach with the stairs coming up to the street. The folklore is there are 80 steps down and 280 coming up. Good time was had by all. Love to All,
Cris & Bob

Arcata, Ca To Coos Bay, Or.

Leaving Arcata and heading toward Coos Bay was another interesting trip. After arriving we had one heck of a time parking our house. The Internet drawing showed the roadway to be twice as wide as the space is deep. Not even close. The road was about 23' wide and the space is about 50' deep and perpendicular to the street. Well we had a time, I thought Cris was going to have a coronary. After some struggling we finally made it. It was a park, Midway RV Park. We had a good time in Coos Bay. The town is small and the people are nice. We were there for a parade and saw the school bands from the town and all the farming machinery and logging items that are used around here. This is a big fishing town and the river is always busy with small boats. One of the neighbors in the park showed me the type of tackle that is used. Don(neighbor) gave us some Salmon filet's that we prepared on the grill. Great. We got to tour some coastal towns and saw the crabbing and clamming industry that goes on here. So all in all Coos Bay was nice and we enjoyed. The weather was good and we finally saw some sun. Next stop will be somewhere up the coast and another post awaits. Love to All,
Cris & Bob

Start of our Journey, Post 1

This will be tricky to catch you up and not confuse you. Cris and I sold our house in Riverside, Ca. and closed escrow on June 28, 2006. The escrow (30 days) actually took about 110 days with much concern and stress. We learned a ton about escrows and the real estate bus. That will be another story. With the help of friends and loved ones we moved the majority of the items we are keeping to Pahrump, Nv. With Barb and Les Peterson's help we are now residents of Nevada and we stay at their house when home. The moved was finalized on July 4th weekend 2006. Mark & Rita made the trek with us and they also towed a trailer with our belongings. We took possession of our Alfa 5th wheel on July 17 at Whiskey Petes in Stateline Nv. Drove to Pahrump and stayed in the unit until the end of July. We babysat at Kristi & Victors house until Aug.7, 2006 and then we took off towing a cargo trailer to East Point, Ga. and Alexia's house. The trailer had some antique furniture and some stuff for Alexia. The next posts will highlight the first trip across the U.S. and it will eventually catch up to today. Love to All.
Cris & Bob

Arcata, Ca

We've been here since Monday and we are leaving tomorrow am. Hope to get on the road by 9am and travel to Coos Bay, Or. Not too far(210 miles) but it's hilly and we will have to stop and view some of the ocean and coast.
We came through Redwood Forests on the way here and this is to some degree a logging community. Not much lumber is harvested but the logging trucks are still on the road. Some towns close to here are Eureka, Samoa, Manilla, and Mckinleyville. I guess you can tell some of the ethnicity of the area. The still have the Samoan Cook House, where the food is designed to please the lumberjacks.
Today we toured Arcata and Eureka, did some shopping and then went for a hike through the Redwood Forest on the so.east portion of Arcata. It was truly amazing to see a tree with a stump 20 feet across and as high as you can see. The darkness was sometimes disturbing but fun never the less. The weather here has been cool. Highs in the low 60s and low in the mid 40s definitely jacket weather. Overcast most of the time, good snuggling weather. Must go now to get some handsome sleep and prep for the journey tomorrow. Love to All,
Cris & Bob

Caspar Beach 2

Sunday Night. We have been here since Fri. afternoon and have enjoyed it tremendously. We rested when we arrived, went for a short walk to the beach, had dinner and slept very well. On Sat. we went to the city of Mendocino, Ca. Great touring and the cliffs over looking the ocean were awesome. At the inn, the movie Same Time Next Year was filmed. The town is small and somewhat trendy, with lots of hippies hanging around. We did the tourist trek throughout the town, got some post cards, coffee, and trinkets.
Before we left I started a crock put with the fixins for some Beef and Barley soup. Cris said it was the best I have ever made. I enjoyed it too.
Today we went back on Hwy 128 toward Booneville and the wine country in this area. We stopped frequently and had some nice tastes. At one winery Brutocao Cellars and tasted some good wines. They also had a BBQ with chicken, sausage, slaw and fruit. The highlight was that is was freeee. Couldn't believe it. We had a good time bought some wine, met some people, had some food and all in all had a very good time. We came back to the campground the long way(we stopped a number of times) and filled up with fuel for a fresh start tomorrow. Looking forward to another adventure tomorrow. Will update soon. Love to all, Cris & Bob

Caspar Beach, Ca

Travel day, and quite an experience. We left Morgan Hill about 10am and drove through some nice territory and some helacious traffic. We went through Oakland on the 880,80,580 and some roads that we cannot name. Over the 580 we crossed a bridge (toll $8.50) San Rafael Bay bridge and was close to San Quentin. When connecting to the 101 hwy we had a traffic jam due to bridge construction, same delays we had 7 years ago when we came through here. Just amazing. We traveled the 101 to Cloverdale and then took the 128 to the coast. What a ride. We had some great scenery and drove through a lot of redwood forests. Cris was really impressed, not with the roads but with the surroundings. We were lead astray by Mapquest and had some very challenging maneuvers to make. We found a local who was able to guide us in the right direction. We made it to the campground and were nicely surprised. This place is in a cove and the water is real close. Dirt spots with all the things needed including wi-fi. No cell service here, so we can really relax. We arrived, set-up, had a beer and went for a walk to the beach. Quite nice. After we had some dinner we started to bundle up,about 50 degrees. I can see there be a lot to tell you about from here, so I will write more later. Peace and Love to All.
Cris & Bob

Today Is Friday 09/07/07 and we are getting set to travel. Our week here has been fun. We got to visit with some family family and to hear how their lives are going. Saturday the BBQ went great at the Cisneros house and we enjoyed it tremendously. Sunday we went with Danny and Irene to Capitolla for the Begonia Festival. There is a parade of boats that go under the bridge and the boats are dressed up like floats. The whole town is very flush with Begonias in every shape,size and color. We also toured Santa Cruz and had a nice fish dinner on the wharf. Traffic was terrible.
On Monday we had another party at Gus & Aracelias house with their chidren and other relatives.The rest of the week we spent exploring Morgan Hill, sometimes afoot and other times mobile. There is a big fire still raging close to here and the smoke cover is getting thick. Cris had a minor battle with allergies but is okay now. Yesterday was maintenance and modification day, as always we continually try to find ways to make our home more efficient and livable.
Morgan Hill is a nice little city located just south of San Jose, Ca. This suburb has started to grow with all the peeps moving away from the fray of big and busy city life. There is still some farming here but a lot has been covered by houses and apt. bldgs. Nice place though, a valley surrounded by some nice rolling hills to the east and some coastal barrier mountains to the west. Worth a visit if you have the time.
Must go for now, will have another story in a few days. Love to you all.
Cris and Bob