Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Trailer progress at last.



Location, At home, CA

Latest news on the trailer from this morning is that most of the work is done but tires and rims need to be purchased and installed. The plan is to drive to Fresno on Friday morning and pick up the trailer. I will either drive direct to Atascadero and stay at the Elks club or if it is too late in the day I will drive to Bakersfield and stay with Budd and Brenda again.

We have a campout starting Monday so that should all work out. Clyda will ride with friends to the campground.

Updates as they happen.

Monday, July 28, 2014

No news on the trialer.



Location, At home, CA

No new news on the trailer.

I will call them tomorrow to see what the status is. We need the trailer as we have a camping trip planned starting Monday. Also, most of our stuff is in the rig, things like medicine we take, cloths, etc. We only took with us what we thought we needed for a few days.

Will post when we know more.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Trailer problem photos.

Here are the few photos we took of our trailer problems.


 Uuuuuh, I don't think this is right
At least we have sunflowers.
Mechanic is working.
That is how close the trucks got to us.
Some times you just have to walk away.
After the tire blew.

The trailer is parked in Fresno at a repair shop. As of Friday afternoon not all the replacement parts were available. We decided to then come home and wait until the repairs are done. Unfortunately, most of our cloths and many things we use are in the trailer. We will survive I guess.









Friday, July 25, 2014

Headed home today - NOT!



Location, Bakersfield, CA

We are in Bakersfield with Budd and Brenda but the trailer is not.

Bad day on Wednesday. Headed south on I-5 for Bakersfield around lunch time north of Kettleman City when I looked back and saw the trailer crabbing to the left followed by smoke. I pulled off and checked the trailer. I broke a rear axial shackle which allowed the rear axel to move forward on the passenger side and the two tires rubbed.

Long story - short. Called Good Sam and 2 plus hours later a service truck from Fresno showed up. Two more hours and not much progress made due to the design of the trailer frame. No place to tie up the axial.

Finally welded the broken pieces to the frame and headed to Fresno (closest shop). On the way blew a tire on the passenger side and tore up the side pretty bad. Got the tire changed with difficulty and by now it is dark. Got to the repair yard at 9:15 and parked outside the fence for the night. It looks like I need axle work, new tires, new rims, new brakes, and who knows what else before we are done.

The trailer is parked beside the shop while they assess what needs to be done. We packed a few cloths and headed for Bakersfield yesterday and will stay until the trailer is ready to travel. I am leaving the decisions to the shop. They are supposed to call me today with updates.

Photos later.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Moving south after visiting friends.



Location, Patterson, CA

We left Kelseyville this morning after a brief rain shower.

On Sunday we drove from Redding to Kelseyville, CA to visit Jack and Judy. The last 50 miles from Williams, CA to Kelseyville are trying at best when pulling a 32 foot RV as it is a 2 lane road with lots of steep hills to climb and then steep descents. Traffic backs up behind you until a passing lane comes up. Maybe if I drove this every day I would get used to it but I doubt it.

Fortunately I had called Jack before I drove the route and he gave me some hints as to what to expect. His last comment was that the road to his house had a very steep hill and was a real “son-of-a-b_ _ _H” and to put the truck in low gear and “gun it”. I really didn’t think the truck would pull the hill but it did, barely.

Parking the rig in his driveway was another matter as it slopes down to the garage requiring lots of blocks to raise the rear and not have the front of the trailer on the ground. That took about an hour to accomplish.

Look at the "hi-tech" blocks we used.

We had a nice visit and had dinner last night with Connie and John. Connie is Judy’s sister and we renewed old times from the winters in Bouse, AZ. Judy’s daughter Jessica, husband Mark and granddaughter Lilly were also there. It was nice to put faces to the names we have known for years.

We had a fairly easy drive today to Patterson, CA. We did have a brief heavy rain shower north of Sacramento and took a long lunch stop north of Sacramento at a rest stop. I wanted to let the lunch hour traffic around Sacramento die down before we got there. The freeway through Stockton is under construction and is a mess. Very rough and narrow lanes.

Tomorrow, on to Bakersfield where we started our trip.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Moving south.



Location, Redding, CA

Continuing with Wednesday in Eugene – We spent the morning at the RV and took a walk around Armitage park. This is quite a large park with a lot of open space and areas for large groups to meet, BBQ, and play. After lunch we drove to the east side of Springfield to meet Debbie from Portland who had driven down for the day, and to meet her mother. We had a pleasant hour with Debbie’s mother.

From Springfield we drove to Dick and Barbara’s house and they took us on a tour of Eugene. Again, we had a very nice time talking over old times. We really need to stay in touch better with people we know from days past.

Nice Oregon Ducks football stadium.
 
Nice deck over looking the lake at Dick and Barbara's house.

We left Eugene on Thursday morning and drove down I-5 to Roseburg, OR where we had reservations at Twin Rivers RV Park west of the city on the Umpqua River. We have stayed in this park before and it is quite nice. Lots of green grass. We were only able to get reservations for one night so decided to move to our friends Gary and Judy’s dead end street for the last night.

We had 2 enjoyable days of conversation and playing games of Sequence. The ladies won last night so we need a re-match. We will get them next time. Having the trailer parked in the street worked very well as it allowed us to push the midnight hour with our game.

Gary, Judy and I playing Sequence.

Gary and I were old Navy buddies while Clyda and Judy met when they were 3 years old and went through school together.

Tonight we are at Sacramento River RV Park in Redding, CA where the temperature was about 100 degrees today. Tomorrow we will be in Kelseyville, CA for a few days.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

This past weeks activities.



Location, Eugene, OR

Much has happened this past week.

On Wednesday we left Lynden, WA and drove to Coupeville to take the ferry to Port Townsend. We have taken the Washington State ferries before but only with a car, not the RV. Because of the height and length of my RV I made a reservation for 2 PM.

We arrived early at the dock and were measured for length (just under 50 ft), paid our fee of $68 plus $1.60 for the extra passenger (Clyda) at a senior discount and put in line behind some small commercial trucks.

The ferry arrived within 10 minutes and we proceeded to board which was very easy. After we left the dock we went up to the passenger deck to take some photos but it was very foggy. We could see the water next to the ship but nothing else, Bummer.

Waiting to load on the ferry at Coupeville, WA
Aboard the ferry.
Driving off at Port Townsend.

After a half hour we docked at Port Townsend, drove off and proceeded south several miles to the Jefferson County Sportsman Club where we parked next to our friend George who is the caretaker at the club.

We took photos when the boat George is a partner in was hoisted from the water so a new through the hull transducer could be installed.
 


We spent 3 days with George catching up on old times. It was a very nice visit.

On Saturday we drove south to Portland, OR and parked the rig at Pheasant Ridge RV Park in Wilsonville south of Portland on I-5. We have stayed here several times in the past. This time we just parked the rig and drove to our friends Thomas and Debbie’s house in Beaverton and stayed with them until Tuesday morning. While there we visited the Japanese Garden in Portland. Very nice and peaceful but lots of people around.

Tuesday morning we drove to Eugene to visit friends Dick and Barbara. They had made reservations for us at Armitage State Park which is near where they live. We spent the day with them catching up on old times.

Monday, July 7, 2014

The fireworks are over.



Location, Lynden, WA

The 4th of July is over with lots of fireworks, none of which were sanctioned by local authorities.

The fireworks actually started on July 3rd as some folks just couldn’t wait I guess. There were firework sales at a large stand near the town limits of Lynden but it was illegal to sell or set off fireworks within the city limits. This did not however deter many folks from setting them off as some very large displays were visible in the night sky in all directions from the RV Park. Some folks spend huge sums of money on fireworks judging by the large and loud stuff we heard and saw nearby.

We did try to see the fireworks display put on by the town of Blaine which is on I-5 at the Peace Arch entry to Canada but it was not to be. We did actually drive to Blaine but it was raining and the few folks waiting were huddled under trees and easy-ups hoping the sky would clear enough to see something.

We waited about ½ hour and then returned to the house and watched what displays we could find on TV.

The last several days have been laid back but we are making plans to head south, possibly as soon as Wednesday.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Run for the Border!



Location, Lynden, WA

Back in the USA!

We are back in Lynden at the RV Park. We arrived on Sunday about 12:30 PM.

Our time in Whistler was very relaxing. We had planned to ride the Peak 2 Peak Gondola but weather kept us from doing it. We might have had a chance on Saturday but the lifts were closed for a private event at 3 PM which didn’t allow us time for the ride before then. 

 Peak 2 peak sight seeing route.

Peak 2 Peak gondola between Blackcomb and Whistler Mountains.
Gondola cars on Peak 2 Peak route. Each holds 10 to 12 people. Compare size to photo above.


 We had rain showers most of the 3 days we were at Whistler but it didn’t stop us from strolling through the 2010 Olympic village and checking out all the shops, etc. It is a very nice village modeled on the European ski resorts. There are several large chain hotels as well as chain shops catering to shoppers. Included in the Village is a marketplace area just for grocery stores. McDonalds is tucked away in this area very much out of the normal traffic areas.
 Checking the chair lift map.
 Inside the condo.
 
Olympic rings in Whistler village from 2010.

Village street scene.
Watching mountain bike riders, Ed, Mark, and Candi.


Whistler and Blackcomb have a very busy summer program of mountain biking, bungee jumping; zip lining, programs for little kid’s right at the base gondolas and chair lifts, and skiing on the glacier at Blackcomb. Yes, they are still skiing and snowboarding on Blackcomb Mountain.

Mountain biking is the big thing with riders putting their bikes on special chair lifts and then riding the next lift up themselves. There is a special tool area where free tools are available to make any repairs you might need. All very nice for the riders. Riders usually wear full safety gear as any falls can be very bruising to the body.

We made our own breakfast each morning but ate out for lunch and dinner most days.

The First Tracks Condo was very nice and is located about 5 minutes south of Whistler Village. It has its own gondola at the back door of the lodge which connects with ski runs at Whistler Mountain. There is also a private gondola which connects the homes at Kadenwood a private development for the rich and famous to use.
 Private gondola.

When we first checked in we noticed a pile of bear scat near the back door of the lodge and were told that there are black bears on all the ski slops. We did see some one evening but they were far up the mountain. Clyda and Candi walked out the back door to take photos and one bear was very nearby eating grass. It was Candi’s first bear sighting in the wild. She was really excited.