I’ve written about Rally’s before. Kind of like a big fair for RV’ers. Vendors, seminars, RV’s for sale, food, and entertainment. But this was the Grand National and it was huge! We walked through RV’s until my knees didn’t work anymore. Maybe even saw a couple (RV’s I mean) we liked. But then we’d need to win the lottery. I guess even before that we would have to start playing the lottery. I’ve learned you can’t be guaranteed a win if you play, but you can be guaranteed not to win if you don’t play! We went to some good and not so good seminars. Seminars on safety, cooking, maintenance, exercise, even one on romance. And even if we didn’t need that seminar I had fun. I probably embarrassed Kat a little though. I played in the golf tournament and had a great time. I played with a couple and their friend from Montana. They were very nice but a load to carry for 18 holes (golfers will understand) so we didn’t finish in the money.
Another important aspect of Rally’s is that it’s a huge opportunity to spend money. “It’s Like pouring sand down a rat hole.” Our big expenditures were two “Fantastic” exhaust fans and a supplemental brake system. The brake systems are for the ‘toad’ (see previous entry). Because of insurance liabilities they have become mandatory. Most states are requiring it now. Ironically Oregon does not. Police are being trained to investigate at accidents. So if you don’t have an aux braking system and you are involved in an accident you can pretty much bend over and grab your ankles. So we got one! And even if it was expensive we did save some on the deals at the “Rally”.
We enjoyed the whole experience.
Who wants to join us in Perry, Georgia, next year for “The Rally”?
This was the write up in the Good Sam Magazine.
Many Good Sam Club members were among those in the 3,852 rigs that gathered in the high-desert town of Redmond, Oregon for The Rally, July 19 through 22, 2007, joining what has grown to become the definitive annual gathering for RVers.
Organized by the Good Sam Club's parent company, Affinity Group, The Rally put almost every facet of the RV experience at attendees' fingertips on the 132-acre grounds of the Deschutes County Expo Center. Participants could choose from a broad range of seminars, RV displays, parts and accessory exhibits, fun activities, tours and live entertainment from some of the hottest performers in the country. TV game show emcee Bob Eubanks even joined the fun to host the Good Sam Club's Almost Newlywed Game on The Rally's final day.
The Rally had something for everybody. Like kicking tires? You could have spent days touring the hundreds of 2008 RVs from more than 15 manufacturers. Just about every RVer could find the rig of his or her dreams, from lightweight trailers that sold for around $15,000 to diesel-pusher motorhomes with million-dollar price tags. One of the most popular rigs was Country Coach's 2008 Rhapsody, which featured four slide-outs, one-and-a-half bathrooms and a host of high-tech features. The price: a cool $1.3 million. Visitors could also browse the aisles of RV accessories - everything from cookware to trailer hitches to handcrafted art - in three large indoor-exhibit areas.
The RV hardware on display was rivaled only by the lineup of more than 150 seminars on topics that ranged from personal safety in an RV to how to set up a satellite dish and tips on planning a trip to Alaska. The impressive roster of instructors included Highways columnists Joe and Vicki Kieva and Bob Livingston.
Beyond the seminar halls and exhibits, Good Sam members found plenty of ways to have fun. Pet lovers got a chance to trot out their four-legged traveling companions during Friday's Rally Dog Show, which featured a swimsuit competition, a singing contest and - we're not kidding - a competition to see which pet owners bore the closest resemblance to their pooches. The event was hosted by Robin Dickson, CEO of Dogs for the Deaf.
On Sunday, the Good Sam Club sponsored the Almost Newlywed Game, hosted by longtime television host Bob Eubanks. Scores of Good Sam Club members watched as four couples chosen at random squirmed under the hilarious questions and double entendres posed by Eubanks.
It's a good bet that the awesome surrounding scenery inspired a sense of wanderlust, and The Rally's tours proved to be the perfect tonic. Throughout the day, buses took Rally guests to such destinations as the Deschutes Brewery in nearby Bend, the Newberry National Volcanic Monument and Crater, and Mount Bachelor, where tour guests enjoyed a high-altitude lunch at Pine Marten Lodge.
You didn't even have to have a driver's license to have a good time. The Rally's Youth Program offered a full slate of activities for young people ages 6 to 17. Participants kept busy with an Oreo cookie stacking contest, face painting and trips to some of the area's surrounding attractions.
The fun didn't stop as the sun dropped. Evening entertainment at the Hooker Creek Event Center included performances from Suzanne Somers, Gary Puckett, BJ Thomas, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Beatles tribute band, Ticket to Ride.
Of course, a special thanks needs to go out to the 291 RVers who volunteered for activities, parking, registration, seminars, transportation, security and attendance duties during The Rally. As Marty Hayes said, "I like to help out, but I also made sure that I took some time to have fun."
Friday, July 20, 2007
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Before the Rally
As I have said, July was "Rally" month for us. But we had to hang around for a while before they started.
Because it is summer and about a 'zillion' RV's are headed this way for the "Grand National Rally" in Redmond Or. we made some advance reservations where we could. That started in Milo McIver state park. It's just down the road from Clackamas and Oregon City. We did some relaxing, got some sun, did a little walking and some reading. All that retired RV'ing stuff we're supposed to be doing. McIver is on the Clackamas river which is home to a substantial population of Ospreys. I sat on the river bank for a time one afternoon and watched an Ospery dive for fish. They fly into the wind along the river at maybe 50' and look for fish. At times they will come to almost a hover and when they see something they fold their wings and dive straight down into the water. Most of the time as I watched they were coming up with what I assumed was a trout. Hard to tell exactly? Then they would fly off to eat. Fun to watch!
Woodburn was next. Woodburn is near the heart of the Willamette valley and as a result very much an agricultural center. It's also home to a decent RV park with a pool that happens to be right next to the Woodburn Factory Stores. Guess who went to the pool and who went shopping. Need I say more?
Then it was LaPine State Park. When we pulled into the park we realized our reservations were for the same site we had stayed at coming through here from Goose Lake. Jade liked it! She knew where to hide and watch the chipmunks. We did some bike riding and walking. But this is where Kat started to suffer from sciatica.
We went to the lava cave and didn’t make it all the way in. Maybe it’s really called a lava tube. They’re tubes (go figure) that lava flowed through and then receded to leave a long tunnel (Of course that was a couple bazillion years ago). I think in this case it may be a quarter to a half mile long? I did the whole distance a long time ago but can’t remember for sure. Anyway we couldn’t do the cave so we went to Bend and did dinner and a movie. We saw the latest Bourne movie. Pretty good but of course nothing like the book. The books are great! Just a side note there.
We also drove up to Newbury Crater and National Volcanic Monument (or something like that). Newbury crater is home to East and Paulina lakes and a couple of campgrounds. In the last few years, since it became Federal, they have made several improvements to the area. There’s a huge obsidian flow in the area. Just lot’s of things to do and look at if you’re into the outdoors.
Another day, and on the advice of the Park Ranger, we drove a couple miles up a dirt road to see some waterfalls. The trip and the falls were good but not something to write home about. The dust however was memorable. We got back to pavement with enough dust on the bumper to grow potatoes. That was after getting up to speed and trying blow some of it off. Of course “up to speed” in our little “toad” maybe not be enough to blow much dust off. For those of you not in the know a “toad” is a car towed behind a motorhome.
Our last stop before the big event was Sun Rocks, a private park south of Prineville not too far from the reservoir and state park. And only about 45 minutes from Redmond and the site of the “Rally”. This was just a few days in a 3rd rate RV park. This close to the Grand National Rally in time and space we couldn’t be picky about where to stay. We were seeing motorhomes from all over the country. But Sun Rocks did have a first rate pool and we both got lots of pool and sun time. Kat was even getting into it. We have already started to make reservations for next years Rally in Perry, Georgia. But before that, IT’S ON TO THE “RALLY”.
Because it is summer and about a 'zillion' RV's are headed this way for the "Grand National Rally" in Redmond Or. we made some advance reservations where we could. That started in Milo McIver state park. It's just down the road from Clackamas and Oregon City. We did some relaxing, got some sun, did a little walking and some reading. All that retired RV'ing stuff we're supposed to be doing. McIver is on the Clackamas river which is home to a substantial population of Ospreys. I sat on the river bank for a time one afternoon and watched an Ospery dive for fish. They fly into the wind along the river at maybe 50' and look for fish. At times they will come to almost a hover and when they see something they fold their wings and dive straight down into the water. Most of the time as I watched they were coming up with what I assumed was a trout. Hard to tell exactly? Then they would fly off to eat. Fun to watch!
Woodburn was next. Woodburn is near the heart of the Willamette valley and as a result very much an agricultural center. It's also home to a decent RV park with a pool that happens to be right next to the Woodburn Factory Stores. Guess who went to the pool and who went shopping. Need I say more?
Then it was LaPine State Park. When we pulled into the park we realized our reservations were for the same site we had stayed at coming through here from Goose Lake. Jade liked it! She knew where to hide and watch the chipmunks. We did some bike riding and walking. But this is where Kat started to suffer from sciatica.
We went to the lava cave and didn’t make it all the way in. Maybe it’s really called a lava tube. They’re tubes (go figure) that lava flowed through and then receded to leave a long tunnel (Of course that was a couple bazillion years ago). I think in this case it may be a quarter to a half mile long? I did the whole distance a long time ago but can’t remember for sure. Anyway we couldn’t do the cave so we went to Bend and did dinner and a movie. We saw the latest Bourne movie. Pretty good but of course nothing like the book. The books are great! Just a side note there.
We also drove up to Newbury Crater and National Volcanic Monument (or something like that). Newbury crater is home to East and Paulina lakes and a couple of campgrounds. In the last few years, since it became Federal, they have made several improvements to the area. There’s a huge obsidian flow in the area. Just lot’s of things to do and look at if you’re into the outdoors.
Another day, and on the advice of the Park Ranger, we drove a couple miles up a dirt road to see some waterfalls. The trip and the falls were good but not something to write home about. The dust however was memorable. We got back to pavement with enough dust on the bumper to grow potatoes. That was after getting up to speed and trying blow some of it off. Of course “up to speed” in our little “toad” maybe not be enough to blow much dust off. For those of you not in the know a “toad” is a car towed behind a motorhome.
Our last stop before the big event was Sun Rocks, a private park south of Prineville not too far from the reservoir and state park. And only about 45 minutes from Redmond and the site of the “Rally”. This was just a few days in a 3rd rate RV park. This close to the Grand National Rally in time and space we couldn’t be picky about where to stay. We were seeing motorhomes from all over the country. But Sun Rocks did have a first rate pool and we both got lots of pool and sun time. Kat was even getting into it. We have already started to make reservations for next years Rally in Perry, Georgia. But before that, IT’S ON TO THE “RALLY”.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Bear Baiting
One of the highlights of our Hosting stay at Clackamas Fish and Wildlife was the experience of Bear Baiting.
The State of Oregon has identified a need to better determine the number, currently estimated at 25,000, of Black bears in the state. As a side note there is no other variety of bear in Oregon. Just the Black bear; Ursus americanus, "American black bear". They are the most common and smallest bears in the country. They are sometimes honey-colored, blond, brown or black. They may have a tan muzzle or white spot on their chest. In Oregon they are mostly just black. No more than 20% are shades of brown. Black bears weigh between 125 and 450 pounds. The male is usually larger and weighs an average of 275lbs and the female averages 175lbs. They are about 3' tall at the shoulder and may be 5'tall standing. They are agile and can run as fast as 35 mph, even up and down hills. As I read sometime ago in the book "Night of the Grizzlies"' that means if you see a bear standing on a ridge line 200 yards away, they can be standing next to you in about 20 seconds. Impressive! And Black bears swim and climb trees reasonably well.
Our introduction to Bear Baiting started with the "Bear Bait Wrapping Party". We were told to wear old clothes so it started rather ominously. That plus the fact that we covered all the tables in the conference room with butcher paper in preparation for the event. We showed up with a dozen or so other volunteers. I should point out that ODFW has many volunteers for different projects. Some of the things that come quickly to mind are habitat restoration of river and field, youth fishing, hunting checkpoints, fishing creel checks, bird banding, bird box making, and monitoring projects of all variety of critters and creatures. In this case there was a mixture of men and women and one child. She may have been 10 or 12(?) and did a very good job. The party started with an explanation of purpose and instructions. As I mentioned this is to determine bear population. That is done by the introduction of tetracycline into the bears system which stains the teeth. The teeth of harvested bears (that's state biologist talk for shot and kilt bears) are turned in by hunters. Then through some mysterious and magical algorithm bear population can be guessed at. We were told we wouldn't understand and I wasn't that interested anyway. It all kind of sounded like throwing darts or a just a plane old WAG (wild ass guess) to me. Definitely ODFW job security. I'm kidding! So! Let the party begin. Our job was to make Bear Bait sandwiches. That is done be wrapping/rolling tetracycline tablets in a strip of bacon; placing nine of these vertically on a slice of bread; topping it with another slice of bread; and then placing that in a mesh bag and closing it with a knot. "Viola!!" A Bear Bait sandwich. Why nine tablets? Another part of that mysterious formula? Or maybe because nine fit and ten wouldn't, or eight is just not enough to attract any self respecting glutton of a bear? Nine it was! As I recall, and Kat confirms it, we (the party) made some 400 sandwiches in three or four hours. We had refreshments if you didn't mind a little pork fat mixed in. Not a job I'd want but it was fun for the experience and, I'd bet lots of money on the fact, I'm the only family member who can say they've done it. And probably ever will do it!
Next came putting out the baits. They are placed all over the state in locals where there are or have been bears. I really have no clue how that is determined. But we put them on private timber and state land. I don't know about federal land , but I'm guessing they are placed there also. It wouldn't be a very accurate count without that. Kat and I went with Doug, the same Doug I mostly worked with. He is a fun and easy going guy and popular with the volunteers, especially for bear baiting. And he is quite knowledgeable about how it goes. So we're off in Doug's great big state pick-up truck to put out some bear bait. Baits are placed in selected areas by use of a Global positioning system, in what I think is a three square mile pattern with the baits being equidistant from each other, nine baits in a pattern. Pretty sure about that. I recall looking at the placement on the exploded GPS view. Nine baits is about all you could do in a day. Getting there is the fun part. We used local maps and GPS but the roads out there in bear country are not that good or reliably mapped. We encountered many gates which most of the time Doug had keys for, sometimes not. There were fallen trees, windblown trees with roots exposed leaving huge holes, boulders, and sometimes roads that ended abruptly in space. That happened once in some heavy fog and it was kind of scary. We determined many times that "you can't get there from here!" We traveled lots of logging roads, in a couple of cases Doug used the CB radio to warn log truckers of our position to avoid being run over. Some roads were nothing more than a pair of ruts, and some just really weren't there anymore. We were always running through lots of vegetation and taking lots of it with us. It was a rough ride, particularly for Kat who was in the back jump seat. But she was short person out, or back, in this case. This was one of those pick-ups where people like me and especially Kat needed a parachute to exit and a ladder to get in. Doug had added a little step stool with a string for pulling it in so that helped Kat some. Still it was difficult sometimes in the rough terrain. Baits are placed in Alder trees when available, about eight feet off the ground. Alders are picked because the claw marks are left making identifying "hit" baits easier. I think? Something like that. But we did have to use other types of trees a couple of times. A 2' long 2" by 4" is nailed to the tree with the mesh bag and bait attached. The idea is that the bait is out of reach of smaller critters and bears have to climb some into the tree making it easy to determine that it was a bear that took the bait and not something else. The baits are left out a week or so and then recovered. We did both but in different areas. Unfortunately, we saw no "hits" in the area that we recovered in. We did see lots of wildlife and beautiful country. At one location where we were placing a bait I thought I saw a bear as we were approaching. It was some distance but it was black and squat and to big for anything else I thought. When we got to the point Doug took a short walk to look around and came back rather sheepishly in a hurry. He said he had heard some 'rustling' in the brush. Based on what I thought I saw he said he was "just being cautious". As it turned out that bait was "hit" by a bear. So I feel justified in thinking that I did see one. And it's kind of neat thinking you saw a bear in the wild. Not something everybody gets to do. All in all it was a very rewarding and fun experience. One of those things you never in your wildest thoughts imagined you would do. And thanks to ODFW, the old "Hook and Bullet", and especially Doug, for allowing it to happen.
The State of Oregon has identified a need to better determine the number, currently estimated at 25,000, of Black bears in the state. As a side note there is no other variety of bear in Oregon. Just the Black bear; Ursus americanus, "American black bear". They are the most common and smallest bears in the country. They are sometimes honey-colored, blond, brown or black. They may have a tan muzzle or white spot on their chest. In Oregon they are mostly just black. No more than 20% are shades of brown. Black bears weigh between 125 and 450 pounds. The male is usually larger and weighs an average of 275lbs and the female averages 175lbs. They are about 3' tall at the shoulder and may be 5'tall standing. They are agile and can run as fast as 35 mph, even up and down hills. As I read sometime ago in the book "Night of the Grizzlies"' that means if you see a bear standing on a ridge line 200 yards away, they can be standing next to you in about 20 seconds. Impressive! And Black bears swim and climb trees reasonably well.
Our introduction to Bear Baiting started with the "Bear Bait Wrapping Party". We were told to wear old clothes so it started rather ominously. That plus the fact that we covered all the tables in the conference room with butcher paper in preparation for the event. We showed up with a dozen or so other volunteers. I should point out that ODFW has many volunteers for different projects. Some of the things that come quickly to mind are habitat restoration of river and field, youth fishing, hunting checkpoints, fishing creel checks, bird banding, bird box making, and monitoring projects of all variety of critters and creatures. In this case there was a mixture of men and women and one child. She may have been 10 or 12(?) and did a very good job. The party started with an explanation of purpose and instructions. As I mentioned this is to determine bear population. That is done by the introduction of tetracycline into the bears system which stains the teeth. The teeth of harvested bears (that's state biologist talk for shot and kilt bears) are turned in by hunters. Then through some mysterious and magical algorithm bear population can be guessed at. We were told we wouldn't understand and I wasn't that interested anyway. It all kind of sounded like throwing darts or a just a plane old WAG (wild ass guess) to me. Definitely ODFW job security. I'm kidding! So! Let the party begin. Our job was to make Bear Bait sandwiches. That is done be wrapping/rolling tetracycline tablets in a strip of bacon; placing nine of these vertically on a slice of bread; topping it with another slice of bread; and then placing that in a mesh bag and closing it with a knot. "Viola!!" A Bear Bait sandwich. Why nine tablets? Another part of that mysterious formula? Or maybe because nine fit and ten wouldn't, or eight is just not enough to attract any self respecting glutton of a bear? Nine it was! As I recall, and Kat confirms it, we (the party) made some 400 sandwiches in three or four hours. We had refreshments if you didn't mind a little pork fat mixed in. Not a job I'd want but it was fun for the experience and, I'd bet lots of money on the fact, I'm the only family member who can say they've done it. And probably ever will do it!
Next came putting out the baits. They are placed all over the state in locals where there are or have been bears. I really have no clue how that is determined. But we put them on private timber and state land. I don't know about federal land , but I'm guessing they are placed there also. It wouldn't be a very accurate count without that. Kat and I went with Doug, the same Doug I mostly worked with. He is a fun and easy going guy and popular with the volunteers, especially for bear baiting. And he is quite knowledgeable about how it goes. So we're off in Doug's great big state pick-up truck to put out some bear bait. Baits are placed in selected areas by use of a Global positioning system, in what I think is a three square mile pattern with the baits being equidistant from each other, nine baits in a pattern. Pretty sure about that. I recall looking at the placement on the exploded GPS view. Nine baits is about all you could do in a day. Getting there is the fun part. We used local maps and GPS but the roads out there in bear country are not that good or reliably mapped. We encountered many gates which most of the time Doug had keys for, sometimes not. There were fallen trees, windblown trees with roots exposed leaving huge holes, boulders, and sometimes roads that ended abruptly in space. That happened once in some heavy fog and it was kind of scary. We determined many times that "you can't get there from here!" We traveled lots of logging roads, in a couple of cases Doug used the CB radio to warn log truckers of our position to avoid being run over. Some roads were nothing more than a pair of ruts, and some just really weren't there anymore. We were always running through lots of vegetation and taking lots of it with us. It was a rough ride, particularly for Kat who was in the back jump seat. But she was short person out, or back, in this case. This was one of those pick-ups where people like me and especially Kat needed a parachute to exit and a ladder to get in. Doug had added a little step stool with a string for pulling it in so that helped Kat some. Still it was difficult sometimes in the rough terrain. Baits are placed in Alder trees when available, about eight feet off the ground. Alders are picked because the claw marks are left making identifying "hit" baits easier. I think? Something like that. But we did have to use other types of trees a couple of times. A 2' long 2" by 4" is nailed to the tree with the mesh bag and bait attached. The idea is that the bait is out of reach of smaller critters and bears have to climb some into the tree making it easy to determine that it was a bear that took the bait and not something else. The baits are left out a week or so and then recovered. We did both but in different areas. Unfortunately, we saw no "hits" in the area that we recovered in. We did see lots of wildlife and beautiful country. At one location where we were placing a bait I thought I saw a bear as we were approaching. It was some distance but it was black and squat and to big for anything else I thought. When we got to the point Doug took a short walk to look around and came back rather sheepishly in a hurry. He said he had heard some 'rustling' in the brush. Based on what I thought I saw he said he was "just being cautious". As it turned out that bait was "hit" by a bear. So I feel justified in thinking that I did see one. And it's kind of neat thinking you saw a bear in the wild. Not something everybody gets to do. All in all it was a very rewarding and fun experience. One of those things you never in your wildest thoughts imagined you would do. And thanks to ODFW, the old "Hook and Bullet", and especially Doug, for allowing it to happen.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
The Hook and Bullet
Sometimes better known as the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. ODFW. I use the term humorously and with a degree of respect. I think that is not the origin. Actually, it is my understanding that the term derives from the two largest contributors to its coffers. That would be fishing and hunting. Licenses and tags. And it is used somewhat derogatorily by folks in the organization who don't get as much money or respect as they think they should. Maybe just a bit of 'sour grapes'. Oh well.
So! We're here at the Hook and Bullet in Clackamas Oregon. This is the NW regional office and mostly administration and laboratories. No hatchery but it's right near the Clackamas River. Right down the road from Oregon City where we began. We decided to volunteer here for two months and try to get rid of all the stuff we have in storage. As I have said several times, "were just having too much fun to give this up". We have a real nice site for the motorhome all to ourselves with very nice trees and surroundings, a small building with a shower, washer and dryer and some storage. We're just a few minutes from Fred Meyer, Clackamas Town Center (a very nice, very large shopping mall), and several latte stands and coffee shops. Even though we're close to all that we're isolated and gated so we don't have any misgivings about being back in the metro area. And with all the shopping and stuff, Kat is in 'hog heaven'! She has participated in several rounds of recreational shopping. We've seen the kids and all is well. Everyone is doing what they should be doing and nobody is doing anything they shouldn't. At least as far as I know!
We had success getting rid of it all! Our stuff is no more! All that's left is on wheels except our mailbox. As a matter of fact the U.S. government now considers us homeless. Now we need to find a way to tap into some of those available government financial resources. Crap!!! I forgot!! I guess first we'll have to find a way to become 'illegal'. It was a thought!
We used Craig's List to sell a few things and even made a few bucks. Although 'a few' is the operative phrase. It's still tough to see all your cool, neat, and good stuff go away for pennies on the dollar. Even though we should both be use to it by now. We've both downsized enough. Kat's son Troy came down and took a bunch. He just happened to be moving and was able to use it in his new 'digs'. It worked for us. And now he has to get rid of all the crap. The 'crap' of course being the stuff that wasn't priceless! Anyway; next time I bet he won't show up with such a big truck! We really filled it up.
We had a good stay at the "Hook and Bullet". Kat did the majority of her work in the office helping Jennell, our Volunteer Coordinator and I helped Doug with the outside stuff. We had a couple of major projects; Passport to Fishing, and bear baiting. I'll cover the bear baiting in a separate post. Passport to Fishing is an ongoing yearly project to introduce kids in Oregon to fishing. It takes place yearly at the Bonneville Fish Hatchery on the Columbia river. Pretty much the whole event is run by volunteers and private sponsors and donors. The Shakespeare company donates fishing poles and gear for instance and the Oregon Steelheaders and Oregon Panfish Clubs send volunteers. Of course there is fishing for the kids, handouts, information, and prizes. Kids are separated by age, the upper limit being 12. They fish in either seined off areas of Mitchell creek or in stocked swimming pools in the case of the little kids. There is even an area for the tiniest that use little wooden poles with magnets to catch metal fish. There are volunteers at all the stations to help bait, coach, and bag the catch. This year there were close to 800 kids and probably upwards of a 100 volunteers. Kat may know more about the numbers than I. She helped put a lot of this together on paper. A couple of days before the event we put event packets together that included handouts on all things fishing, and bags for taking the fish home. I folded 3000 or so donated Baxter Auto Parts plastic bags all day, while Kat and Jennell folded and stuffed all the other things. Then we made several 90 (?) mile round trips up the Columbia Gorge to Bonneville. We had to haul over 200 fishing poles, tables, chairs, all the packets and registration stuff for participants and volunteers, along with some of the food for the volunteers. We sat up the maintenance shop as the volunteer break and lunch area. That was our primary function for the day. Kat made about a hundred gallons of coffee and shuffled donuts all morning while I sliced tomatoes and onions for sandwiches. Then we sliced sub sandwiches and served those for lunch for all the volunteers and ODFW staff who attended. Jennell had a prize drawing for the volunteers while Kat and I sliced and served cake and more coffee. We got a chance to look around and see the kids. We determined that some of the volunteers went 'above and beyond', especially those working Mitchell creek where hooks and bait were flying. I didn't see any, but hard hats and face shields would have been appropriate. It was all fun and interesting like it usually is working for the "Hook and Bullet". A few days later we spent several hours untangling and cutting away hooks and gear to re-bundle the fishing poles for next year. I got a few too many hooks in my hands but other than that the whole experience was great!
We got to do some other fun stuff too! I got a look at the inner workings of the Portland Audubon Society when I took a load of dead fish over for them to use as food for their Osprey and eagles. We've made miscellaneous deliveries to elk sanctuaries and fishing ponds and one trip with an abandoned baby Great Horned owl to a volunteer animal rehabilitation center. We spent one long day traveling all the way to Roseburg and back delivering some volunteer awards. That was close to 500 miles. Of course I get to drive state vehicles. Speaking of driving vehicles. In our volunteer adventures we get to drive all manner of trucks, cars and equipment. We got to drive a Prius, the new hybrid; that was in Corvallis. I've been on most types of lawnmower and a few tractors. I was using Doug's new tractor in Clackamas and telling Kat how much fun I was having learning to use the front loader and rear pallet jack and haul stuff around. She said, "it must be kind 'a like being at the arcade without spending the quarter". I said "yup", that's exactly what it's like.
So! We're here at the Hook and Bullet in Clackamas Oregon. This is the NW regional office and mostly administration and laboratories. No hatchery but it's right near the Clackamas River. Right down the road from Oregon City where we began. We decided to volunteer here for two months and try to get rid of all the stuff we have in storage. As I have said several times, "were just having too much fun to give this up". We have a real nice site for the motorhome all to ourselves with very nice trees and surroundings, a small building with a shower, washer and dryer and some storage. We're just a few minutes from Fred Meyer, Clackamas Town Center (a very nice, very large shopping mall), and several latte stands and coffee shops. Even though we're close to all that we're isolated and gated so we don't have any misgivings about being back in the metro area. And with all the shopping and stuff, Kat is in 'hog heaven'! She has participated in several rounds of recreational shopping. We've seen the kids and all is well. Everyone is doing what they should be doing and nobody is doing anything they shouldn't. At least as far as I know!
We had success getting rid of it all! Our stuff is no more! All that's left is on wheels except our mailbox. As a matter of fact the U.S. government now considers us homeless. Now we need to find a way to tap into some of those available government financial resources. Crap!!! I forgot!! I guess first we'll have to find a way to become 'illegal'. It was a thought!
We used Craig's List to sell a few things and even made a few bucks. Although 'a few' is the operative phrase. It's still tough to see all your cool, neat, and good stuff go away for pennies on the dollar. Even though we should both be use to it by now. We've both downsized enough. Kat's son Troy came down and took a bunch. He just happened to be moving and was able to use it in his new 'digs'. It worked for us. And now he has to get rid of all the crap. The 'crap' of course being the stuff that wasn't priceless! Anyway; next time I bet he won't show up with such a big truck! We really filled it up.
We had a good stay at the "Hook and Bullet". Kat did the majority of her work in the office helping Jennell, our Volunteer Coordinator and I helped Doug with the outside stuff. We had a couple of major projects; Passport to Fishing, and bear baiting. I'll cover the bear baiting in a separate post. Passport to Fishing is an ongoing yearly project to introduce kids in Oregon to fishing. It takes place yearly at the Bonneville Fish Hatchery on the Columbia river. Pretty much the whole event is run by volunteers and private sponsors and donors. The Shakespeare company donates fishing poles and gear for instance and the Oregon Steelheaders and Oregon Panfish Clubs send volunteers. Of course there is fishing for the kids, handouts, information, and prizes. Kids are separated by age, the upper limit being 12. They fish in either seined off areas of Mitchell creek or in stocked swimming pools in the case of the little kids. There is even an area for the tiniest that use little wooden poles with magnets to catch metal fish. There are volunteers at all the stations to help bait, coach, and bag the catch. This year there were close to 800 kids and probably upwards of a 100 volunteers. Kat may know more about the numbers than I. She helped put a lot of this together on paper. A couple of days before the event we put event packets together that included handouts on all things fishing, and bags for taking the fish home. I folded 3000 or so donated Baxter Auto Parts plastic bags all day, while Kat and Jennell folded and stuffed all the other things. Then we made several 90 (?) mile round trips up the Columbia Gorge to Bonneville. We had to haul over 200 fishing poles, tables, chairs, all the packets and registration stuff for participants and volunteers, along with some of the food for the volunteers. We sat up the maintenance shop as the volunteer break and lunch area. That was our primary function for the day. Kat made about a hundred gallons of coffee and shuffled donuts all morning while I sliced tomatoes and onions for sandwiches. Then we sliced sub sandwiches and served those for lunch for all the volunteers and ODFW staff who attended. Jennell had a prize drawing for the volunteers while Kat and I sliced and served cake and more coffee. We got a chance to look around and see the kids. We determined that some of the volunteers went 'above and beyond', especially those working Mitchell creek where hooks and bait were flying. I didn't see any, but hard hats and face shields would have been appropriate. It was all fun and interesting like it usually is working for the "Hook and Bullet". A few days later we spent several hours untangling and cutting away hooks and gear to re-bundle the fishing poles for next year. I got a few too many hooks in my hands but other than that the whole experience was great!
We got to do some other fun stuff too! I got a look at the inner workings of the Portland Audubon Society when I took a load of dead fish over for them to use as food for their Osprey and eagles. We've made miscellaneous deliveries to elk sanctuaries and fishing ponds and one trip with an abandoned baby Great Horned owl to a volunteer animal rehabilitation center. We spent one long day traveling all the way to Roseburg and back delivering some volunteer awards. That was close to 500 miles. Of course I get to drive state vehicles. Speaking of driving vehicles. In our volunteer adventures we get to drive all manner of trucks, cars and equipment. We got to drive a Prius, the new hybrid; that was in Corvallis. I've been on most types of lawnmower and a few tractors. I was using Doug's new tractor in Clackamas and telling Kat how much fun I was having learning to use the front loader and rear pallet jack and haul stuff around. She said, "it must be kind 'a like being at the arcade without spending the quarter". I said "yup", that's exactly what it's like.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Summer Lake
Between Goose Lake and Oregon City/Clackamas there is quite a bit of Oregon to pass through. Much of it goes pre
tty much unnoticed. I'm referring to what I suppose is typically thought of as Eastern Oregon. That part east of the more popular areas around Bend where so many folks go to ski or play golf or stay at nice resorts. The large eastern half of the state out a ways from the beaten path without much of a real destination spot to speak of. I don't know how it would be properly described? Some of it is mountainous and tree 
covered. Pine and fir I guess? Some is semi-arid with dry lake beds or shallow almost dry lakes. Some of it is cattle county. The area near Summer Lake is cattle country.
As you can see by the photos, we got caught up in some of that. When we came up on this cattle drive there were two cowboys working the herd. Just as we got behind them a little maverick took off over the hill and one of the cowboys gave chase. He almost got the little critter back and going with the flow when it broke again and the last we saw of that cowboy was him going over the ridge swinging his lariat and screaming "you little %&*%^&!!!" We had to laugh. The other cowboy disappeared in the same general direction for a while and things kind of deteriorated with the herd. I think mostly the herd was kind of going along with traffic although they were somewhat restricted by fences along the highway. We had a good time just following along. Wasn't much point in trying to hurry. I think these guys are pretty gentle for the most part but we didn't want any horns, hoofs, or big ol' cow butts in or on the motor home. Going with the flow seemed the prudent and enjoyable thing to do. One cowboy made if back and we followed the herd for a few miles and probably a good 30 or 40 minutes. We ended up no worse for wear other than some dust and cow plop on the rock guard. It washed off.
tty much unnoticed. I'm referring to what I suppose is typically thought of as Eastern Oregon. That part east of the more popular areas around Bend where so many folks go to ski or play golf or stay at nice resorts. The large eastern half of the state out a ways from the beaten path without much of a real destination spot to speak of. I don't know how it would be properly described? Some of it is mountainous and tree 
covered. Pine and fir I guess? Some is semi-arid with dry lake beds or shallow almost dry lakes. Some of it is cattle county. The area near Summer Lake is cattle country.As you can see by the photos, we got caught up in some of that. When we came up on this cattle drive there were two cowboys working the herd. Just as we got behind them a little maverick took off over the hill and one of the cowboys gave chase. He almost got the little critter back and going with the flow when it broke again and the last we saw of that cowboy was him going over the ridge swinging his lariat and screaming "you little %&*%^&!!!" We had to laugh. The other cowboy disappeared in the same general direction for a while and things kind of deteriorated with the herd. I think mostly the herd was kind of going along with traffic although they were somewhat restricted by fences along the highway. We had a good time just following along. Wasn't much point in trying to hurry. I think these guys are pretty gentle for the most part but we didn't want any horns, hoofs, or big ol' cow butts in or on the motor home. Going with the flow seemed the prudent and enjoyable thing to do. One cowboy made if back and we followed the herd for a few miles and probably a good 30 or 40 minutes. We ended up no worse for wear other than some dust and cow plop on the rock guard. It washed off.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Two Goose
In one of my previous letters I had mentioned that I had driven across the southwest US about as close to the Mexican border as you could. I was wrong. You can get closer to the border. This time we did! At least in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Eagle Pass, Amistad Reservoir, Seminole Canyon, Big Bend National Park, Bisbee and Douglas Az, Tombstone, Patagonia, and a couple of Wal-Mart parking lots, and a real nice rest area in New Mexico. We just kind of moseyed. Kat still isn’t wild about the desert and hot places, but I’m working on her.
We walked along the Rio Grande in Big Bend and took a look at Boquillas, Mexico. It used to be that you could cross the river and walk into town and maybe buy a few things. Now the Border Patrol is watching. We watched two Mexicans on horseback ride along the Mexico side of the river with bundles of walking sticks that they try to sell to us ‘Gringos’. But this day the Border Patrol was watching too closely. They asked but we had to decline. Boquillas seems almost like a ghost town after 9/11. There is no crossing at Boquillas and it must be two hundred miles on a dirt road to anything south in Old Mexico. It seems a shame! It was dirt poor before, now maybe it’s worse. I think their livelihood was trade with the Gringo tourists of Big Bend and now that‘s pretty much gone
Tombstone was great! Well, it was great if you discount the RV park we picked. We stayed at Stampede RV park. Kat said “I guess something sure went on a stampede through here.” But bad choices happen and we don’t let it get us down. It’s not like we’re pitching a tent. We are self contained! Anywho! Kat liked Tombstone. We walked Main Street and did some shopping, ate dinner at one of the old saloons. Six Gun Charlie’s or some such. Then we spent the evening at Big Nose Kate’s drinking margaritas and watching karaoke. We met and talked with some soldiers down from Ft Huachuca destined for Iraq. We wished them luck. I didn’t see Wyatt this time. (My last trip I met and talked to Wyatt Earp. I still think of how much my dad would have loved that. He loved to watch the old westerns on TV, especially anything about Wyatt). But we did meet an ‘old timer’ playing his role as an ‘old timer’. If you don’t remember, lots of folks in Tombstone dress in period costume and entertain the tourists. It’s a ‘cool’ spot and we’ll get back. We’ll just pick a different RV park.
We visited Post Office friends Bob and Jan and Paul and Pam in Green Valley and Phoenix, respectively. They are well and it was good to see them. We spent a few days in Quartzsite and at Buckskin Mountain State Park. Buckskin is on the Colorado River. I got a few days of sun there. That and a little bit of hiking. Although next time I need to take a little more water so I can make it ’all the way’ to the mines back in the hills. I came up just a bit short this time. Then it was through Nevada into California. We stopped at Laughlin, Sam’s Town, Pahrump, Death Valley, Bishop, Silver City, and Border Town. Along the way we had some snow, lots of wind, and too &*% much dust. The snow I’m sure is a result of global warming. Yeah, Right! We were coming out of a coffee shop on Main Street in Bishop, CA when it started blowing snow off the Sierra Mountains above us. One of those really neat quiet times that you just don’t get often enough. Mind you, it had been 70ish the day before. Some guy came out on the street just after we did and yelled, “Yup! Must be some of that “global warming”. Our sentiments exactly! It shattered the moment but we had to laugh. We really got a dusting of sand in Death Valley. It’s several weeks later and we’re still finding dust. Just no way to keep it out when the wind comes up in the desert. What a mess! Kat’s still pissin’ and moanin’! Kat’s best friend (and now one of mine), Toni came over from the Bay Area to spend a night with us in Carson City. We had a good dinner and lost a few bucks in the casino. And then it was time to head for Oregon and Goose Lake.
This part of the “Two Goose” segment was cut and pasted from an email I sent to someone. So it’s in the present tense or whatever and not written in the past tense like the rest. It’s been a long time since 8th grade English and maybe I’m not explaining this properly but I think you get the idea. Which is, I don’t want to go through and do a rewrite.
……….Goose Lake State Park is right across the CA border in central OR. We can hit CA with a rock. When you cross the state line you have to make an immediate left turn or you miss it. Anyway, we're volunteering for the month. It's a small park and we're just getting it opened up after the winter. It was supposed to open on the 15th but we've had water well problems. Bad pump. So we're still not open. Don't expect it would be busy anyway. Yesterday we woke up to snow. That's gone now but it's 7AM and only 23o. It’s been a mite cool! But we've been feeding and watching the birds and deer. Lot's of wildlife. One day we got to herd some cattle out of the 'day use' area. We have a little gas cart to drive around, a "Gator", and we used that. Just happened to find them there and said "what the heck"! We were laughing and yelling and herding them little "doggies". It was a first for both of us. So we're having fun and hardly working. Goose Lake has geese! Lot's and lot's a' geese! And lot's of other wildlife. So far we've seen deer, they wander through by the herds, 20-30 at a time, the aforementioned cattle, we have a badger in the woodpile, or did?, coyote, golden eagle, a great horned owl, who seems to be a resident in these parts, gray and ground squirrels, herons, millions of quail at the feeder, we have a billion Evening Grosbeaks, and zillions of LBJ's (that‘s ‘little brown jobs‘ for the uninformed). I might be forgetting something? I had a list but threw it away.
Now I’m back to real time! Whatever!
We had a couple of real ‘birders’ come by our site one day. They were attracted to ‘our’ birds. We talked for some time. While we were watching they identified 3 or 4 birds we didn’t even know we had. Cassin’s finch, lesser Gold Finch and a couple of somthin/somethins ( I recorded them but can’t remember off the top of my head). But these two were really experts. They would kind of cock there heads and listen and tell us what kind of birds were in the trees, what sex they were and which side of the mountain they came from. He was some kind of professor and gave birding classes and she was just as good. It was impressive.
There were a couple of other notable events at Goose Lake. We came up with a new sport. It’s called “Fire Ring” golf. Pretty simple really. One club of your choice and one ball. The object is to get the ball into or hit the fire ring. The winner of the ‘hole’ gets to pick the next hole (fire ring). With 47 sites and fire rings we had choices. We were kind of loose on the rules. It was a nice day and nothing to do, so we improvised. And we didn’t have any visitors at this point. Then we did some ‘penny squishing‘. There were train tracks down by the lake and I thought it would be fun to ‘squish’ some pennies. So we did! One turned out shaped like a heart. Kat sent that one to Toni (see above) who collects ‘squished’ pennies. (FYI, we found that old dirty pennies work best. They have more character) We were going for something bigger when we left. I put a quarter down, but we hadn’t had any trains by the time we left. I told our replacements who are going to be at the National Rally we’re going to in July. They are going to try to bring me my quarter.
We did have jobs at Goose Lake. I helped with the plumbing and cut grass. Kat picked up cow ‘plop’ and did some computer and office work. We both did some clean up and just kind of what needed done. We’re just volunteers remember. I tell all of the folks we work for that this motor home rolls both ways, in and out. So be nice! And they always are. We have worked for some good folks and have lots of fun too! Goose Lake was no exception. What a life!
We walked along the Rio Grande in Big Bend and took a look at Boquillas, Mexico. It used to be that you could cross the river and walk into town and maybe buy a few things. Now the Border Patrol is watching. We watched two Mexicans on horseback ride along the Mexico side of the river with bundles of walking sticks that they try to sell to us ‘Gringos’. But this day the Border Patrol was watching too closely. They asked but we had to decline. Boquillas seems almost like a ghost town after 9/11. There is no crossing at Boquillas and it must be two hundred miles on a dirt road to anything south in Old Mexico. It seems a shame! It was dirt poor before, now maybe it’s worse. I think their livelihood was trade with the Gringo tourists of Big Bend and now that‘s pretty much gone
Tombstone was great! Well, it was great if you discount the RV park we picked. We stayed at Stampede RV park. Kat said “I guess something sure went on a stampede through here.” But bad choices happen and we don’t let it get us down. It’s not like we’re pitching a tent. We are self contained! Anywho! Kat liked Tombstone. We walked Main Street and did some shopping, ate dinner at one of the old saloons. Six Gun Charlie’s or some such. Then we spent the evening at Big Nose Kate’s drinking margaritas and watching karaoke. We met and talked with some soldiers down from Ft Huachuca destined for Iraq. We wished them luck. I didn’t see Wyatt this time. (My last trip I met and talked to Wyatt Earp. I still think of how much my dad would have loved that. He loved to watch the old westerns on TV, especially anything about Wyatt). But we did meet an ‘old timer’ playing his role as an ‘old timer’. If you don’t remember, lots of folks in Tombstone dress in period costume and entertain the tourists. It’s a ‘cool’ spot and we’ll get back. We’ll just pick a different RV park.
We visited Post Office friends Bob and Jan and Paul and Pam in Green Valley and Phoenix, respectively. They are well and it was good to see them. We spent a few days in Quartzsite and at Buckskin Mountain State Park. Buckskin is on the Colorado River. I got a few days of sun there. That and a little bit of hiking. Although next time I need to take a little more water so I can make it ’all the way’ to the mines back in the hills. I came up just a bit short this time. Then it was through Nevada into California. We stopped at Laughlin, Sam’s Town, Pahrump, Death Valley, Bishop, Silver City, and Border Town. Along the way we had some snow, lots of wind, and too &*% much dust. The snow I’m sure is a result of global warming. Yeah, Right! We were coming out of a coffee shop on Main Street in Bishop, CA when it started blowing snow off the Sierra Mountains above us. One of those really neat quiet times that you just don’t get often enough. Mind you, it had been 70ish the day before. Some guy came out on the street just after we did and yelled, “Yup! Must be some of that “global warming”. Our sentiments exactly! It shattered the moment but we had to laugh. We really got a dusting of sand in Death Valley. It’s several weeks later and we’re still finding dust. Just no way to keep it out when the wind comes up in the desert. What a mess! Kat’s still pissin’ and moanin’! Kat’s best friend (and now one of mine), Toni came over from the Bay Area to spend a night with us in Carson City. We had a good dinner and lost a few bucks in the casino. And then it was time to head for Oregon and Goose Lake.
This part of the “Two Goose” segment was cut and pasted from an email I sent to someone. So it’s in the present tense or whatever and not written in the past tense like the rest. It’s been a long time since 8th grade English and maybe I’m not explaining this properly but I think you get the idea. Which is, I don’t want to go through and do a rewrite.
……….Goose Lake State Park is right across the CA border in central OR. We can hit CA with a rock. When you cross the state line you have to make an immediate left turn or you miss it. Anyway, we're volunteering for the month. It's a small park and we're just getting it opened up after the winter. It was supposed to open on the 15th but we've had water well problems. Bad pump. So we're still not open. Don't expect it would be busy anyway. Yesterday we woke up to snow. That's gone now but it's 7AM and only 23o. It’s been a mite cool! But we've been feeding and watching the birds and deer. Lot's of wildlife. One day we got to herd some cattle out of the 'day use' area. We have a little gas cart to drive around, a "Gator", and we used that. Just happened to find them there and said "what the heck"! We were laughing and yelling and herding them little "doggies". It was a first for both of us. So we're having fun and hardly working. Goose Lake has geese! Lot's and lot's a' geese! And lot's of other wildlife. So far we've seen deer, they wander through by the herds, 20-30 at a time, the aforementioned cattle, we have a badger in the woodpile, or did?, coyote, golden eagle, a great horned owl, who seems to be a resident in these parts, gray and ground squirrels, herons, millions of quail at the feeder, we have a billion Evening Grosbeaks, and zillions of LBJ's (that‘s ‘little brown jobs‘ for the uninformed). I might be forgetting something? I had a list but threw it away.
Now I’m back to real time! Whatever!
We had a couple of real ‘birders’ come by our site one day. They were attracted to ‘our’ birds. We talked for some time. While we were watching they identified 3 or 4 birds we didn’t even know we had. Cassin’s finch, lesser Gold Finch and a couple of somthin/somethins ( I recorded them but can’t remember off the top of my head). But these two were really experts. They would kind of cock there heads and listen and tell us what kind of birds were in the trees, what sex they were and which side of the mountain they came from. He was some kind of professor and gave birding classes and she was just as good. It was impressive.
There were a couple of other notable events at Goose Lake. We came up with a new sport. It’s called “Fire Ring” golf. Pretty simple really. One club of your choice and one ball. The object is to get the ball into or hit the fire ring. The winner of the ‘hole’ gets to pick the next hole (fire ring). With 47 sites and fire rings we had choices. We were kind of loose on the rules. It was a nice day and nothing to do, so we improvised. And we didn’t have any visitors at this point. Then we did some ‘penny squishing‘. There were train tracks down by the lake and I thought it would be fun to ‘squish’ some pennies. So we did! One turned out shaped like a heart. Kat sent that one to Toni (see above) who collects ‘squished’ pennies. (FYI, we found that old dirty pennies work best. They have more character) We were going for something bigger when we left. I put a quarter down, but we hadn’t had any trains by the time we left. I told our replacements who are going to be at the National Rally we’re going to in July. They are going to try to bring me my quarter.
We did have jobs at Goose Lake. I helped with the plumbing and cut grass. Kat picked up cow ‘plop’ and did some computer and office work. We both did some clean up and just kind of what needed done. We’re just volunteers remember. I tell all of the folks we work for that this motor home rolls both ways, in and out. So be nice! And they always are. We have worked for some good folks and have lots of fun too! Goose Lake was no exception. What a life!
Thursday, March 1, 2007
One Goose
I guess I’ve been remiss in my duties as chief correspondent for this expedition. I could apologize and say it will never happen again……………….but then……………, well, you can figure it out. Anyway, I hope this brings everyone up to date. Sorry if it’s a little long.
We left the Corps of Engineers and Piney Point park on the 1st of February. We’d like to think we left it in better shape than when we arrived. Pretty sure we did! It will always feel kinda’ like a little bit of ours. It was all cleaned up and ready for people to start coming in.
We worked our way down the Gulf Coast. Rockport, Port Aransas, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, and into the Rio Grande Valley and Mission. We spent a little more the a week at Goose Island, just north of Rockport. We had to wait for a part for our water heater which cost a few extra days. But then in our situation, what’s a few days. The gas element still worked but we had lost the electrical side. We still had hot water, but it was made by gas.
But now we were all fixed and good to go. The weather had improved after some cold spells and that was nice. I know we really have nothing to complain about but it wasn’t as good as it could be for a while. Still, it was good to get back to shorts and sandals. Tough break huh?
We had a good stay in Brownsville. We walked across the border to Matamoras and did a little shopping and sightseeing. Came back with a bag full of drugs. Just in case “big brother” is monitoring my email, I’m talking about what would be prescription medications in the U.S. In Mexico it’s over-the-counter stuff. We took a look at our co-pay cost and got some of what was cheaper. And I got a supply of 800mg ibuprofen. We spent a whopping $20 on two sixty day supply prescriptions and a large bottle of ibuprofen. I thought about getting my teeth cleaned for $20 but didn‘t. We took a Mexican taxi back to the border from the Plaza in Matamoras. I think Kat left some claw marks in the back seat. The driver took us on a little detour through the “rich” part of town. I think both of us were a little too occupied with watching the driving to notice what part of twon we were in. But we did make it back to the bridge and Customs. A word to the wise here about going through Customs. When the Customs Inspector asks what you have in the bag, it may not be a good idea to tell him “it’s just a bag full of drugs.” I think that is usually going to illicit the response I got. I quickly corrected myself but I still had to show him what was in the bag. But he was nice and we both had a laugh. Mine was just a little more nervous. We also went to the Gladys Porter zoo in Brownsville. A very nice small zoo that specializes in endangered species. I was happy just to see the gorillas. They have a good size (12-15?) family unit in a very visible setting. We watched for some time and I think I may have seen some friends and relatives. We also enjoyed the many unusual birds. Lots of them were not even the captive residents of the zoo. Several were just native species you just can’t see anywhere else in the US. Like Green Jays, Kiskidees’, and parrots. Free to come and go as they chose.
From Brownsville we headed west down the Rio Grande Valley to Mission, TX. We stayed a week at Bentsen Grove RV resort. This may be the spot for many of our winter days. Bentsen Grove is a good size RV resort and I guess it’s pretty typical for what you would call a “snowbird” destination. There is a large hall that serves as a rec room, pool hall, cafeteria, office, card room etc. It probably holds 200+ folks for meetings and shows. There are partitions for changing arrangements depending on need. Another building houses an indoor pool and exercise room. There is a facility called the “Hanger” with an indoor tennis court, ping pong tables and other rooms for things such as wood carving, a rock shop and some others activities that escape me. There is a another building that has three or four rooms for meetings, dance lessons, Spanish classes, etc. There’s an outdoor pool (which we took advantage of), horse shoe pit, shuffleboard, a decent size lending library, laundry facilities, and a wood and metal shop. They don’t have a golf course but there is a “par three” next door and a there are men’s, women’s and mixed groups that travel to nearby courses. Within reasonable driving distance there is every kind of shopping you could want. As always in the RV community there are just lots of nice folks. So as I said this may be a place we spend lots of time in the winter. Either this resort or one very much like it. There are lots to choose from. Some with more amenities and activities and some with less. Some a little fancier and some not quite so. We kind of like the idea of being “Winter Texans”. Y’all know I’ve always been kind of partial to Texas. This is one of the reasons.
At a wide spot in the highway west of Mission we went down to the Rio Grande river and took a ride on the only hand pulled ferry in the U.S. Just four or five Mexicans pulling on a rope dragging that ferry across. The ferry holds three cars and “walk-on’s“. We just walked on, rode across, and came right back. There really isn’t a town associated with this border crossing so that‘s all we could do. Well, Kat had to feel the muscles of the old guy taking the money. He helped some with the pulling. Anyway he was all flexing and everything and he said Ohhh! Senorita! Just pulling Kat’s chain. Well, she did feel his muscles, and he loved it! Does everybody know that the Rio Grande is called the Rio Bravo in Mexico. And all this time I thought it was just a John Wayne movie. Just a John Wayne movie! Pardon my terminology!
OK. This is just getting too long. I suppose I could ‘shut up’. Maybe just do a little less bloviating. (Bloviate: to speak or write verbosely and windily). Well, that’s not going to happen. I am compelled to do this! That doesn’t mean you have to read it. But someday, somewhere, someone will look upon this and be glad I did it. Maybe? But for now, I gotta' go.
Next: Two Goose
We left the Corps of Engineers and Piney Point park on the 1st of February. We’d like to think we left it in better shape than when we arrived. Pretty sure we did! It will always feel kinda’ like a little bit of ours. It was all cleaned up and ready for people to start coming in.
We worked our way down the Gulf Coast. Rockport, Port Aransas, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, and into the Rio Grande Valley and Mission. We spent a little more the a week at Goose Island, just north of Rockport. We had to wait for a part for our water heater which cost a few extra days. But then in our situation, what’s a few days. The gas element still worked but we had lost the electrical side. We still had hot water, but it was made by gas.
But now we were all fixed and good to go. The weather had improved after some cold spells and that was nice. I know we really have nothing to complain about but it wasn’t as good as it could be for a while. Still, it was good to get back to shorts and sandals. Tough break huh?
We had a good stay in Brownsville. We walked across the border to Matamoras and did a little shopping and sightseeing. Came back with a bag full of drugs. Just in case “big brother” is monitoring my email, I’m talking about what would be prescription medications in the U.S. In Mexico it’s over-the-counter stuff. We took a look at our co-pay cost and got some of what was cheaper. And I got a supply of 800mg ibuprofen. We spent a whopping $20 on two sixty day supply prescriptions and a large bottle of ibuprofen. I thought about getting my teeth cleaned for $20 but didn‘t. We took a Mexican taxi back to the border from the Plaza in Matamoras. I think Kat left some claw marks in the back seat. The driver took us on a little detour through the “rich” part of town. I think both of us were a little too occupied with watching the driving to notice what part of twon we were in. But we did make it back to the bridge and Customs. A word to the wise here about going through Customs. When the Customs Inspector asks what you have in the bag, it may not be a good idea to tell him “it’s just a bag full of drugs.” I think that is usually going to illicit the response I got. I quickly corrected myself but I still had to show him what was in the bag. But he was nice and we both had a laugh. Mine was just a little more nervous. We also went to the Gladys Porter zoo in Brownsville. A very nice small zoo that specializes in endangered species. I was happy just to see the gorillas. They have a good size (12-15?) family unit in a very visible setting. We watched for some time and I think I may have seen some friends and relatives. We also enjoyed the many unusual birds. Lots of them were not even the captive residents of the zoo. Several were just native species you just can’t see anywhere else in the US. Like Green Jays, Kiskidees’, and parrots. Free to come and go as they chose.
From Brownsville we headed west down the Rio Grande Valley to Mission, TX. We stayed a week at Bentsen Grove RV resort. This may be the spot for many of our winter days. Bentsen Grove is a good size RV resort and I guess it’s pretty typical for what you would call a “snowbird” destination. There is a large hall that serves as a rec room, pool hall, cafeteria, office, card room etc. It probably holds 200+ folks for meetings and shows. There are partitions for changing arrangements depending on need. Another building houses an indoor pool and exercise room. There is a facility called the “Hanger” with an indoor tennis court, ping pong tables and other rooms for things such as wood carving, a rock shop and some others activities that escape me. There is a another building that has three or four rooms for meetings, dance lessons, Spanish classes, etc. There’s an outdoor pool (which we took advantage of), horse shoe pit, shuffleboard, a decent size lending library, laundry facilities, and a wood and metal shop. They don’t have a golf course but there is a “par three” next door and a there are men’s, women’s and mixed groups that travel to nearby courses. Within reasonable driving distance there is every kind of shopping you could want. As always in the RV community there are just lots of nice folks. So as I said this may be a place we spend lots of time in the winter. Either this resort or one very much like it. There are lots to choose from. Some with more amenities and activities and some with less. Some a little fancier and some not quite so. We kind of like the idea of being “Winter Texans”. Y’all know I’ve always been kind of partial to Texas. This is one of the reasons.
At a wide spot in the highway west of Mission we went down to the Rio Grande river and took a ride on the only hand pulled ferry in the U.S. Just four or five Mexicans pulling on a rope dragging that ferry across. The ferry holds three cars and “walk-on’s“. We just walked on, rode across, and came right back. There really isn’t a town associated with this border crossing so that‘s all we could do. Well, Kat had to feel the muscles of the old guy taking the money. He helped some with the pulling. Anyway he was all flexing and everything and he said Ohhh! Senorita! Just pulling Kat’s chain. Well, she did feel his muscles, and he loved it! Does everybody know that the Rio Grande is called the Rio Bravo in Mexico. And all this time I thought it was just a John Wayne movie. Just a John Wayne movie! Pardon my terminology!
OK. This is just getting too long. I suppose I could ‘shut up’. Maybe just do a little less bloviating. (Bloviate: to speak or write verbosely and windily). Well, that’s not going to happen. I am compelled to do this! That doesn’t mean you have to read it. But someday, somewhere, someone will look upon this and be glad I did it. Maybe? But for now, I gotta' go.
Next: Two Goose
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