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Showing posts from August, 2010

On the Road Again...

After having the most marvelous time at sister Sandra's we all headed on down the road from McCall on Hwy 55 s to Boise.  They have a short season in this state to get all road repairs done to planned with extra time on clock which went fine.  One thing we did not bank on was the section of road that was gravel and unfortunately guess we did not slow down enough. Ugh.  After arriving in Boise we found the windshield on our towed pitted from the rocks and even a few good cracks that are still small enough to get fixed if we can get done before they grow. After dropping Sandra off at airport we just dinked around the town a bit and left this morning for ride to Twin Falls.  Actually we are staying in Jerome but did go into Twin Falls and restocked the shelves!  They have a very nice Costco; & WinCo so we really stocked up!  The weather is a bit cooler (high 70's) so that is a blessing and a bit hazy (think from wildfires).  Allergies are still with me but not too bad.  It

Smoke Jumper Base, McCall, ID

While visiting with sister Sandra here in McCall, she gave us the grand tour of the area and took us out for a tour of the Smoke Jumper Base located here in McCall.  We found the tour very interesting and informative.  A young rookie from TN was our tour guide.  He was so friendly and well informed.  We watched a movie explaining how the smoke jumpers main responsibility is to try to get to remote forest fire early enough to try to keep fire from spreading ... unfortunately this is not always the case.  These people have to be in excellent shape and it is a long waiting list.   Our guide was a fireman for a number of years before ever being able to be accepted as a smoke jumper.  Only around 200 in the U.S.  They have to keep all their equipment in top shape and be ready to roll on a moments notice.  Of course forest fires are not a year round threat so many of these people have other jobs or schooling or other things they do in the off-season.  All at his base either had a college edu

Visiting McCall, ID

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A few of the critters from McCall. While taking early morning stroll thru neighborhood we saw 3 of these wonderful buck! Across the street were these two wonderful puppies - very well behaved I must add. They did not move an inch although the smaller one quivered a bit it did not move... they just sat there (as they must have been trained) while we took pictures of the buck.

Crossing into Idaho

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A new state for the map! Although we have been the "Roadrunner" now for a few years this is our time to Idaho since purchasing this rig. The snake river divides Oregon and Idaho and couldn't resist the walk across the bridge to the new state. ha! Hopeful that allergies that have been plaguing me all spring will go away once we gain some altitude.

Running down the road heading east to Burns

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Moving on down the road from Bend, we made our 1st stop at Burns, OR. Stayed overnight here at the Casino. Out here in the high desert and very warm but not too bad. Enjoyed the day! Back on the road early next day pushing east.

Thunder, Hail and Blessed Rain!!!

This has been a crazy year on the west coast and allergies attacked me early in spring and still hanging on even over here in Central Oregon where it is dry... problem is may be just too dry and very dusty.  The Lord heard my plea and man o man... the sky opened up yesterday evening with hail that sounded like it was ready to break thru the roof any second!  The rain wasn't far behind and it really poured.  So loud we couldn't hear each other speak in the rig... So happy to see pretty clear blue sky today and the dust tucked away for a little bit.  didn't help much but am sure any little bit is better than nothing...  No telling when we will have internet again but will log on when possible... happy to be on the road again and off to new adventures...

Owl Pellet

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Dissecting an owl Pellet! You never know what a day will bring. We were very happy to see our Singer friends show up here in Sunriver and they brought an owl pellet they found in another campground. For those of you who don't know what they are; it is simply the parts of the rodent the owl cannot digest and therefore spits up (sort of like a cat's hairball). This one proved to be very interesting as we found leg bones, jaw bones with teeth and various vertebre and lots of hair and whiskers. Guessing which type rodent and no clue as to what owl but how cool is this? Very interesting to be sure!  

Frogs and Toads

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Frogs and toads - both here at Sunriver, OR. This little toad was about the size of a nickel we found while walking down a very dusty road. The new little green frog is at waters edge in park. This is such a pretty place and we just love seeing these little critters.

FMCA Rally, Redmond, OR

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The FMCA rally is now over and everyone is moving on… Over 2000 coaches in attendance which was fair for these bad economical times.  This year was very good for us; we enjoyed the seminars very much and all the very friendly people!  The nightly entertainment was good except for 1 night and what the heck, is anything perfect? Ha!  It was warm; in 90’s but never over 100 like we had in 2001.  Sleeping was great; not only were we tired every night but the temps dropped down into 40’s so made for good sleeping.

FMCA Rally (Family Motor Coach Assoc); Redmond, OR

Here it is now the 2nd official day of the rally and we have already been here since Monday!  The sun shines each day with clear blue sky and sometimes in the afternoon a slight breeze kicks up and really cools things down but the nights are cool and make sleeping wonderful!  There are somewhere around 3000 motor coaches here and although a much smaller rally (fewer vendors and seminars); we are having a wonderful time.  People are so friendly and the weather so great; what more can you ask for?  The entertainment has been GREAT!  I loved movie night "The Long, Long Trailer with Lucy; Debbie Reynolds who is now 78 and just as spry and cute as she was in the Unsinkable Molly Brown; and last night we had a wonderful treat; the Texas Tenors!  They were on America has Talent.  We had never heard them before but I can tell you their music brought tears to this old gals eyes!  They were so good.  We were too far away to get up to stage to get a cd but I want one!  Loved their show.  Tod

What we have here is a convoy!

Left Mt Hood yesterday morning for a nice easy drive down to Redmond, OR to the fairgrounds to join with thousands of fellow rv'er's for a fun few days at the Family Motor Coach Assoc rally.  This is our 5th National rally and were were fortunate to get on the grass.  It is only 2400' here but considered high desert and we have been here when temps run over 100!  Very nice day, lovely with slight breeze and pretty blue sky.  Cooled down quite a bit over night so good sleeping and another perfectly lovely day out side!  The FMCA sponsored "movie night" providing free popcorn and lemonade to watch Lucy and Dezi in  "The Long, Long Trailer".  Wonderful movie with so many laughs from audience.  Tonight is special with Debbie Reynolds.  I am very interested in that since I have read her biography and she has been around since I ever remember. ha!  Should be fun. So many nice and friendly folks here.  Happy to see Viv and Jerry Sullivan are here.  Met them l

Crossing the border - onward to Oregon

Our first stop in "The Beaver State" was Les Schwab.  After purchasing two new tires in January needed to get the other 4 replaced so scheduled this for Sandy, OR.  Stopped in Les Schwab and 4 hours later left with 4 more new tires - $2300.00 later (without sales tax) Ouch!  Although old tires still had a lot of tread it is more an issue of sidewalls breaking up from weather etc.. Anyway, we are good now.  Earl's not happy with valve stems but checking on getting that fixed while in Bend. Stayed at Mt Hood Resort near Welches in Mt Hood area on Hwy. 26.  Lovely park. Was lovely in early spring and very nice even later in summer.  Much fuller with so many children riding bikes and all just having a ball.  So much fun to see so many happy folks.  While on walk here we discovered a trail over to neighboring BLM wetlands trail.  Fun trail with vey nice board walk and fun carved benches.  (Guess I haven't downloaded camera yet) oops.

The beginning of our Fall trip has begun!

Before starting out for our journey we were fortunate to meet up with old boaters Herbie and Sarah.  Met for lunch and enjoyed it so very much!  They both look great!  Just as fun as ever and so glad we were finally able to get together.  Afterwards stopped by (in same neighborhood) to say bye to daughter Scarlett again.  She works at dental office just across street so worked out well.  The "bug" hit in evening and layed me flat for a day or two.  Not sure what it was but I was one sick little puppy and so did not get opportunity to say final goodbyes.  Earl was able to get over to see Alex so that was good. Left Wednesday morning on schedule with easy drive to Chehalis.  Took about 3 hours but not too bad... sun came out so that was a real plus! Our last night in Washington and it's official... we are on the move..

In Celebration of the "Wolfes" tieing the knot

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A group shot of part of the family anyway.. ha! Scarlett and Kenny's reception was held Sat., July 31st in Lynnwood, WA at the Lake Stickney clubhouse. We had a good crowd and more food than could possibly be devoured! My sister Mary made the long journey from Calif and sister-in-law Therese from MT. We had a hard time gathering this many together and missed a few others in the photo shot but at least they were part of the celebration!