Park Sierra and no Joshua

Park Sierra is an Escapees Park in the Sierra foothills very near the south entrance to Yosemite National Park. So after a potluck with all the SKP’s and a day enjoying a very nice RV site we headed off to see Yosemite. Kat hadn’t been there and we were going to go to the park in the car and then later take the big rig across the Sierra’s at Tioga Pass. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. We got stopped at the south entrance to Yosemite because of a snowstorm. I had checked the weather before we came this way knowing the pass closes in the winter. It looked good for a week or more, but somebody forgot to tell somebody ‘cause it was snowing and it was ‘no chains’, ‘no go’.

So we went south!

I have been through Joshua Tree National Park but never got to stop and enjoy it and it looked kind of like something I should do. Yosemite got cancelled so here’s my chance. Wrong answer! Somebody doesn’t want me to see Joshua Tree. At the park entrance and Visitor Center no less, we start having trouble with both the frig and the transmission lube pump on the car. The pump (which allows us to tow with four car wheels down) is blowing fuses and the frig won’t work on LP gas. It starts and runs for a few seconds and then starts burping and farting and we get an error message of “NO FL”, either ‘no flow’ or ‘no flame’. So we tried all day to get things fixed to no avail. We finally made appointments in Phoenix to have things repaired. We did stay at a nice RV park and Daniel at Yucca Valley RV Park in Yucca Valley even gave us a third night free. So if your in Yucca Valley give them a try. Anyway with electricity and no towing were OK and actually we did see Joshua Tree by car before heading out. It is neat and someday I’m going to go boon dock at “Big Rocks’, but not this trip I guess. Too much spoilage in the frig.

So before leaving for Phoenix we try the lube pump after buying and replacing the fuse and talking to Jim at Remco ( Jim was very helpful). He says it sounds like the death rattle for the pump, but if you do get a ‘green’ light its OK to tow. We catch a break and we’re off. The lube pump is hanging in there. We could disconnect the car and drive separately but its 300 miles to Phoenix and that would be the pits! So it’s working and we decide to drive without turning it off until the gas runs out, well almost runs out. We had to fuel up in Quartzsite but the pump was ‘hanging in’ and continued to all the way to Phoenix. And of course the frig was done farting and burping and it was working by now on gas too.

Breakfast at Libby's

It has become almost a tradition for us to stop in Fresno when we’re anywhere near the area to see Libby, our very good, keeping in touch, enjoying the lifestyle, and some day gonna’ join us for a trip, Oregon Dept of Fish and Wildlife volunteer, RV’ing friend. But I think the term tradition would diminish the fact that she is a real good friend, and, oh by the way, she fixes a really mean (meaning really good) breakfast whenever we stop for a couple of days in her driveway. This time by was no exception. Well, her driveway was a little shorter. Oh that’s right, we have a bigger, better, longer motorhome. BG!

Reorganization, Again

So in Winters, at Toni’s, while Kat and Toni went shopping I did some reorganization, ‘again!’ It’s not easy moving all your stuff from one RV to another even if is a little bigger. It’s still different and shape and configuration matter. I can hear what your thinking, “but you’re so good at this”. Yeah well “#&$#@”. Remember there are two of us with all of our worldly possessions and what I may think is important to be accessible may not be exactly the way it is. If you take my meaning? And remember the girls went shopping, so storage priorities can change, ‘in a hurry.’

I guess if your from anywhere near Sacramento or the Bay area you would know about Apple Hill. But we didn’t know about Apple Hill and it was the right time of year to go to Apple Hill, so Tony took us. If you go east from the ‘Govenators’ house it’s probably an hour into the Sierra foothills. And it is what it sounds like. Lots of orchards and produce and the associated farms and stands to sell it. But in some cases ‘stands’ does not cover it. Some of the farms have set up autumn or harvest festival areas. I guess an October fest setting would be an apt description. Vendors, eateries, crafts and the seasonal Halloween family stuff. All very nice. We had lunch, bought some stuff and had an adult beverage or two and didn’t come back with more than we can load into my reorganized RV. No small task with Toni!

Toni is an RV’er too, but in a little more permanent mode right now with some storage and way too much ‘stuff’ and a mentality that just demands more ‘stuff’. As I implied above, she is a ‘shopper’. Now I mean all this in the nicest way ‘cause Toni may have been just Kat’s friend when I met her, but now she is my friend too and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I can hear you thinking, here comes the ‘but’ and you are right. But! We have a really hard time controlling Toni’s urge to make sure we have more ‘stuff’ that we just gotta have. We did OK this time though. We controlled both her desire to share the wealth with what she already has and her desire to buy us something new. I didn’t have to empty any basement storage compartments or anything to fit it in. And it was nice to see her again. She really is a good friend!

Breaking it in

We didn’t get very far the first few days after Scenic Beach. Rick and Tina’s is about an hour away and then we met Toni and sisters Pat and Darlene at Ike Kiniswa State Park just off Hwy 12 near Mossy Rock and on Merriweather Lake, just another hour down the road. My apologies if I misspelled any of that. I don’t have the info in front of me at the moment and I’m not inclined to get it right now. The fact is I wrote this segment once already and then lost it to byte heaven and I’m trying to reconstruct it and I’m on a little bit of a role and don’t want to break up, “Breakin it in”! Either that, or I’m just filling space while I’m trying to figure it out.

Anyway, we got to Ike (for short) and got all set up in our new rig and got everything all lit up and running and it was cool, and bright. The Southwind has 50 amp service and just all kinds of bells and whistles, so to speak, and lights. I forgot to relate our first nights experience which is relevant right here. Right after we got the Southwind and on the way back to Scenic Beach we stopped at an RV park for one night just to try things out. It was near dark and we’re in a new rig, in kind of tight quarters setting up and its new and we’re being extra careful and then we realize we’re in a 30 amp park with 50 amp service and no 30 amp adapter. Damn! Kat went to the office but had no luck. So rather than do it somewhere else in the dark in a new rig ( our new rig) we decide to just stick it out. We are self contained and had battery for the necessities but we couldn’t try out all of our ‘bells and whistles’. And back at Scenic Beach we were running on 20 amps, so we just hadn’t been able to ‘light it all up’. Now we did!!

And it is neat! And bright! The rig has about ( I was doing a quick count) two dozen 12 volt lights in the living room/galley area and I swear if you turn them all on you need smoked glass for eye protection, well sunglasses anyway maybe? But wouldn’t you know; we had to put in a florescent light so you can see to do dishes. Go figure? So we’re making ice and playing with surround sound, making things in the convection oven, washing and drying Jade in the combination washer/dryer, and just generally trying things out. Way cool! Nice to look at, and lots of room. I played man servant for all the girls and did breakfast and dinner in the new galley. I guess things turned out OK because Toni was wondering if I had a twin brother. Maybe she was just being nice? But its all pretty neat.

So we continued an down the road and stopped in Woodburn to see Heidi and the Wendy and did a little more breaking in and organizing. We still can’t find stuff we know we put somewhere. We stopped in Lincoln City to see George and Janis on the way the down the coast and had a very nice visit. From there we had to kind of ‘beat feet’ south because of scheduling. Down through Crescent City and the Redwoods over the mountains to Redding all much too quickly. We passed too many places we would have liked to loiter a little longer. Next time! This time we needed to see some friends.

And I was just kidding about Jade.

The Seabeck Addendum

As you know I like a little history and there is some here. (Well duh!) Anyway Seabeck got off to a great start in the lumber industry and for a time around the middle of the 19th century looked like it might be the center of commerce in the Puget Sound area. There were those who thought it would best or at least rival Seattle. That was, until the big fire in 1873 ( I think ?). The fire wiped out the wood mill and pretty much the rest of Seabeck to the point that it did not recover. There is still downtown and uptown though. At least that’s what the sign says. I guess you can see from the pictures that it no longer compares to Seattle. But it was a long time ago and Nancy, Harry, and Barney weren’t around to bail them out.

Hugs all around

Or as the Other Kat would say, “we are so outa’ here”. It was finally time to leave Scenic Beach and head for sunnier, warmer climes. We had a pretty good send off as you can see, Linda (with Macy, not Tucker), Kat, the other Kat, and Shawn (with Bo). I suppose it was fitting that it was raining when we left. But it was a good summer. One of the warmest summers in a while according to the locals. But as Kat ( my Kat) would say “when’ you enter the gate to Scenic Beach you lose two hours and 20 degrees.” Not far from the truth. It’s dark and cool in the big woods here. I accomplished my Social Security goal which was a real biggy and we enjoyed all the folks we worked with in the park. Not pictured are Richard, Fred and Ruthie, all the Mikes, Art and Judy. And I must not forget that we got the new coach. A good and productive summer.

If you’re ever in the vicinity you should give Scenic Beach a try. It’s not big, nor are the sites, but you can squeeze a 36 footer into some of the sites and just sit back and relax for a few days. Stop at Barbies Café in Seabeck and if you’re lucky they’ll have apple dumplings the day you’re there. You might want to get a box of firewood from Harold, just up the road from Seabeck (pictured) before going into the park. They don’t sell firewood at the park. Then its sit around the campfire roast a hot dog or marshmallow and unwind a bit. The beach isn’t a long walk and the view of the canal and the Olympics is spectacular. Don’t try it on a summer weekend though, not without reservations. I can guarantee, it’s full. That’s because a bunch of other people had the idea before you did and they already knew what a little ‘jewel’ on the Hood Canal it is. And that’s because of the neat group of people I was talking about. We’ll miss them all.

Leaving the whole gang and the S’klallam’ tribe on the beach we headed south. We stopped in Tacoma to have lunch with Heather and Tom, who we had not seen in way to long. They are doing very well as are Birdie and the kids and the rest of the family. It was great to catch up! That was my side of the family. As I write this entry we’re parked at Rick and Tina’s in Alder WA visiting Kat’s side.



If you’re scratching your head about the S’klallam’ tribe I will clear that up a bit. They had come to the park the day we were leaving to harvest Oysters. Part of the treaty I guess. I suppose they’re entitled. But if they are entitled maybe they could be a little better stewards of the environment. And that’s enough politics for this entry and it probably didn’t clear anything up but……………. I’ll take comments as they come!

Social Security and the Southwind

I may not get much more than enough to pay my Medicare part B but I am now on the Social Security rolls. Ain’t it grand. I didn’t have enough earnings to get more than the minimum and I have to pay about 60% of that back because of the Windfall Elimination Provision for Civil Service retirees but I ain’t complaining. 40% of a little is still better than 100% of nothing. I think my math is correct there?

So with that windfall we decided to get a new motorhome. We had looked in Portland in the spring and had thought about it then. But at that time financing was difficult if not impossible and it didn’t work out. Now it has. So we have a new 2008 Fleetwood Southwind 35A. It’s one of the two we considered earlier. There was a Winnebago 35A and the Fleetwood. The 35A kind of refers to the floor plan with some minor differences. In the case of the 35A the major feature is the galley or kitchen and lots of counter space. As Kat says, “there are lots of really neat motorhomes with all kinds of bells, whistles, whiz bangs, and wine racks, but no room to make biscuits.” I may have embellished on that a bit but the point is that it is not the case with this model. I (the cook) have a kitchen now and we have lots of other doodads and neat things.

Now all we have to do is get it loaded. I know we have more storage space but when you are continuous travelers like us there’s lots of stuff that has to find a home. There may be more storage but its different and there is the rub. It’s been a week now and we’re still getting things organized. Thank goodness we have the Oyster Shanty. That’s the little house we’re parked next to where we stored a bunch of stuff during the exchange of coaches. But were about done I think. We’ll know in a few days. We pull out on the 14th.

Slight change of plans for our start direction. We’re going to do a little shake down of the new MH and head back through Oregon before we get too far away from the dealer. Then we’ll head on south and east slowly making it back to the RGV for winter. So we’ll get a chance to see all the kids again. And Toni is coming up this way for a reunion so we’ll see her here and in California on our way south. The only thing certain is that we won’t be anywhere that’s cold. Not if I can help it.

So now you’re probably saying to yourself or maybe to me. He didn’t update the blog with new pictures. All in good time, all in good time. Remember I’m a working man right now and need a little time to get things a bit more photogenic. OK, I went to the Olinger website and got pictures that are our MH. Just kind of sterile with none of our personal touch or surroundings. Later.

Oh! And that Social Security. I got my first check before Kat got hers and its killing her. Remember her birthday song and all that. She applied at least two months before I did. I told her I just have better SS people and am more eligible than she. But I wouldn’t ‘rub it in’ or anything. Well! Maybe just a little!