From Quartzsite, we spent a night at Laughlin, NV, had dinner and "paid to play" a few machines so they could pay off for someone else. Don't know why we bother...computer games are just as entertaining and are free :-).
Then we arrived at Las Vegas and stayed at our friend Wally & Sylvia's while we picked up a few things that our daughter, Jan, had not had room to take back to Washington when she moved. Wally needed some help getting his new house ready to move into, so we stayed a few days longer. Heat was in triple digits, and RV only cooled to about 83 cuz we were plugged into 30amp and only one AC would work, but we were comfy, and the price was right.
We enjoyed the great neighborhood there and had good visits with Wally & Sylvia, Buddy, Ziggy, Lenny & Jeri, Martin & Jean, and "Homeless John" who has been watching over Jan's property.
Al also put new combo locks on Brent's house there, as Chris is moving back to Bellevue and getting married, so they are going to try their hand at having a vacation rental.
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| Gilroy Elks RV Park |
From Vegas, we stayed at Primm, Daggett (near Barstow), Kingsbury, then to Gilroy Elks. Beautiful lodge with great view right next to the golf range. 8 RV spots,, which had at most 6 RV's the 5 nights we were there. Had lovely home-cooked dinner and visit at Morgan Hill with my cousins Mary Ann and Ken, and 3 of their children. Shane 22, Hannah 8-1/2, and Cameron 6. Lisa, their oldest has 3 children, but we didn't get to meet them. Mary Ann homeschools the 2 younger children, and has done a great job. We thoroughly enjoyed our evening including a selection of the kids piano recital music, but I am really kicking myself for not thinking to take pictures while with them. Mary Ann is quite the artist, and I was in awe of her work!
Next day was Mushroom Mardi Gras in Morgan Hill, so we wandered around the street vendors enjoying the music and people-watching. Weather was perfect for their festival!
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| Sylvia, Kevin & Justin |
Then, Memorial Day we attended a very short and respectful service at Gilroy cemetary, then cousin Kevin & his son Justin, age 11, (and oh, yes, his great bulldog, Matilda!) joined us at the Gilroy Memorial Day Parade, followed by great lunch with them at Black Bear Diner. Justin is a great kid! So in tune with our conversation, the TV, the background music, etc., and SO well-behaved. They hope to come to the PNW this summer, and I look forward to seeing them again.
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| crossing Golden Gate in RV |
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Then, on to San Francisco! Parked at Marin Park across the Golden Gate Bridge from SF. Took the passenger ferry (Clipper Ship 4.50pp each way Sr. Rate) across the bay, then took bus (75 cents each) to Fishermans' Wharf. Walked all over looking in shops, people--watching, etc., got T-shirts, and I got a nice reversible jacket. Al couldn't find one to fit or he would have gotten a matching one. Had awesome chowder in bread bowl for lunch at Boudin's, walked some more, then caught bus back to ferry. Had to walk about 1/2 mile to and from the ferry, but well worth it. 2nd day, we took the bus into town, and had ride on the famous San Francisco Cable Cars ($6 each), then walked more, found Chinatown, (oldest Chinatown in the country) and had a great lunch there. Rode on the running board of the cable car, so had to hang on too tight to take photos, but was fun. Walked some more, figured out where to catch the bus back and it must have been across a pay line, as it was $5.50 each on return trip, but we were happy to be on it and sitting!
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| Al shows proportionate size of Redwood! |
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This shows the dimensions of the tree I
am standing by in photo below. |
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| Sylvia by Founders Tree |
2 days of SF was enough for this trip, so we headed up Hwy 101 towards the Redwoods. Stayed at Garberville and took day trip in the car through the "Avenue of Giants" (31 mile road through the "Avenue" to see the amazing Redwoods). Our God is such an amazing gardener!!
Some of the Giants are over 2000 years old!!!
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| This was first stop on the "Avenue of Giants" |
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| Travel Log |
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| Travel Log |
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| My camera just does not capture their magnificence |
At the Visitor Center, we read about the lives of the people who first inspired to save the Redwoods, the loggers and their families,
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"One Log House" across from RV park in Garberville
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| Inside "One Log House" at Garberville |
and an RV made out of a hollowed log which was taken around the country to promote the preservation of these giants.
We stayed 2 nights in Garberville, then up the California Coast to Crescent City where we parked at the Elk Valley Casino. The RV parking there is in a secluded lot a little ways away from the casino. Had a nice quiet evening there, and I awoke to see 6 Bull Elk and 1 Cow Elk about 20 feet from the RV. The Bulls all had huge racks ad were i n velvet. Such beautiful animals. They grazed there for about 20 minutes until a passing car scared them away.
From there, we went to Grants Pass, Oregon and visited with Terry & Darlene
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Driving out their drive, Darlene spotted a tiny fawn in the bushes.
Can you see it? All you can see is its eye! |
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| Lori |
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| Al & Terry |
Leaving Grants Pass, we parked at Veneta by the DQ and got to see our good friend Lori and went to dinner. Portions were huge, and food was excellent. "Our Daily Bread", I think the place was called.
Next, went to Wood Village to see our good friend Chuck Snuggerud who is still recouperating from complications after his ATV accident. It was great to see him. Darn! Didn't get his photo. We parked at Camping World for the night with electrical hook-up and they had a dump station. On the way to Washington, we stopped and had lunch at Olympia with our friend Mark Parker! So good to be seeing familiar faces and good friends.
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| Jessica & Elise |
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| Jim & Dao |
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| Vanessa |
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| Camden being silly! |
Not being ready to go home, we headed to Washington to see our 3 kids, the grandkids, my brothers, etc. Stayed first for 3 nights at Lynnwood, to see son Jim and family and see their new home.
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| What better toy than a moving box! |
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| Brent & Cara |
From there, we spent 3 days in Bellevue with son Brent and family, staying at an RV park with a pool which the grandkids really enjoyed even though the water was COLD.! Hot tub was good and hot, though, so we did enjoy that.
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| Al & Nathan |
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| Meredith |
Then, over across Puget Sound to Poulsbo where daughter, Jan has moved into the home I grew up in. The home has had very little attention since my parents passed away, and it was pretty sad, but she has done miracles painting, patching and decorating! Mom and Dad would be so happy and proud, and SO am I! She fixed a wonderful welcome home/birthday dinner for us, and invited many of the family. Then, the HIGHLIGHT of the evening: Jan put together and printed all the blogs I have written on the trip and had them bound into a book! I had intended to try to do this, but I KNOW I could never have done the BEAUTIFUL job that she did for us!
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| Glenn & Gary Watland |
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| Gram Yvonne, DJ & Tuesday |
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| Sylvia & Billie Jo |
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| Jan's beautiful dining room |
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| Sylvia & Tom |
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Jan's redecorated living room
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After 3 days in Poulsbo, we headed for Oregon, and got as far as Hillsboro, which is only about 1-1/4 hrs from home, but we decided to stay over and get fresh start next morning. We arrived home June 16, which was just shy 6 days of being gone 2 years. We have been home for 10 days, and have been sorting clothes, getting rid of many and trying to get organized again. Came to the reality that we have not missed much of this stuff and overwhelmed with how much we have!
The kitties are delighted to be home and having room to run and play again. They sniffed out every square inch of the house at least once.!
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| Rusty couldn't quite fit, but he tried! |
Well, for those of you who have faithfully followed our blog, this is the end of this trip! It has been an amazing adventure, and we are so greatful to have had the opportunity and our health and look forward to seeing some of the spots we missed on another trip. Our housesitter, John Coughlin, has just bought a house in Tualatin, OR, so he is busy getting ready to move. We are so thankful he was able to stay the whole time we were gone.
Hugs to all,
Then, on to San Francisco! Parked at Marin Park across the Golden Gate Bridge from SF. Took the passenger ferry (Clipper Ship 4.50pp each way Sr. Rate) across the bay, then took bus (75 cents each) to Fishermans' Wharf. Walked all over looking in shops, people--watching, etc., got T-shirts, and I got a nice reversible jacket. Al couldn't find one to fit or he would have gotten a matching one. Had awesome chowder in bread bowl for lunch at Boudin's, walked some more, then caught bus back to ferry. Had to walk about 1/2 mile to and from the ferry, but well worth it. 2nd day, we took the bus into town, and had ride on the famous San Francisco Cable Cars ($6 each), then walked more, found Chinatown, (oldest Chinatown in the country) and had a great lunch there. Rode on the running board of the cable car, so had to hang on too tight to take photos, but was fun. Walked some more, figured out where to catch the bus back and it must have been across a pay line, as it was $5.50 each on return trip, but we were happy to be on it and sitting!
We stayed 2 nights in Garberville, then up the California Coast to Crescent City where we parked at the Elk Valley Casino. The RV parking there is in a secluded lot a little ways away from the casino. Had a nice quiet evening there, and I awoke to see 6 Bull Elk and 1 Cow Elk about 20 feet from the RV. The Bulls all had huge racks ad were i n velvet. Such beautiful animals. They grazed there for about 20 minutes until a passing car scared them away.
Not being ready to go home, we headed to Washington to see our 3 kids, the grandkids, my brothers, etc. Stayed first for 3 nights at Lynnwood, to see son Jim and family and see their new home.
