On The Road Again

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We’re two days in to a trip that is scheduled to last for about six weeks and already it’s been a ton of fun. Really.

The first stop was Memaloose State Park near The Dalles, Oregon. It’s not far from home, a few hours, but that’s the way the trip was planned. Short driving days so Jerrie won’t get all tuckered out so quickly. He’s nudging 80 and is the only one on the trip who knows how to start the motor home so his well being is critical to a successful trip. During our two days here we met up with Cliff, Susie, Les, and Sophia who were tethered to power at The Dalles Eagle Lodge. We spent the day together and then they came to the park where we had dessert on the shores of the Columbia River. Well, it was almost on “the shores”. All that kept us from dipping our toes into the river where the salmon play was a very busy railroad track and a couple of steep gullies. The view was still magnificent and enjoyable as we visited on a fairly level spot behind the RV.

Space B-21 Memaloose State Park

On this trip we’re pulling a 1/2 ton pickup instead of the little Equinox we previously had so doing that was an experiment of sorts. The RV is 35 feet long and the truck is 20 so we’re pretty long on the road.

The brownish RV is us.

The first time we hooked the truck to the RV was in the Fred Meyer parking lot in Scappoose. That’s where we rendezvoused after Diane went to the post office then to the gas station, and I visited the fuel station near home for a few gallons of diesel.

Not having ever hooked the rigs together turned out to be quite an education involving shifting the truck transfer case to neutral and disconnecting the battery. It only took three attempts to get the sequence right so it would tow properly. The first try revealed that the emergency brake was engaged on the truck. The RV could still pull it but it would have rubbed off the bottom halves of the rear tires. So, round two was better but the steering wheel on the truck was locked with the front wheels turned a bit to the right.

The third effort was successful because Jerrie read all the instructions and discovered how important it is to perform all the steps in the sequence provided. Doing so makes things a lot easier.

Then, we were off. Getting on to Highway 30 was not a problem. Things went very smoothly all the way to Pendleton where we stopped to top off the RV tank at the Wildhorse Casino east of town. That’s just before I-84 heads uphill into the Blue Mountains, a trip I knew was going to be slow.

Not only was it slow, but the added weight of the truck caused the diesel to run hot and the “Check Engine” light to shine brightly. We were over halfway to the top when that happened so Jerrie made the decision to push on to the finish line. Stopping, he felt, would just prolong the agony of wondering if the rig would catch on fire.

It didn’t, and as the Highway leveled out, the “Check Engine” light went out and the engine temp went down quickly. Things were looking up. There was hope for a successful trip after all. We smiled at each other and did a couple of high fives while sitting at a turnout, waiting to see if anything would happen. Nothing did.

At this point we were only a few miles away from Emigrant Springs State Park, our destination where we will spend the next two nights as we wait for the remainder of our convoy to arrive. While waiting we’ll visit the village of Meacham, Oregon. We need some glue to fix a couple of things.

Next entry will be from somewhere in Idaho.

Cheers.

A few days of excitement …

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I’ve made numerous attempts to sit myself down and greet everyone, to bring you up to date on what’s happening in my vicinity. Every time I move this direction, something of extreme importance pulls me away, then I forget. In my defense, please note that it was a distraction that prompted the forgetfullness. Had the distraction not happened, there’s a very strong possibility that I could have remembered all on my own, sooner than how I did that just now. Yes, there was no distraction today. I must, however, say what’s on my mind before I leave the computer because it’s possible I might not come back right away. Especially if the bathroom is the reason I might have to leave.

I take Max out back, when he asks, so he can go lay in the yard and listen to the creek rolling slowly past us. He’s also out there so he can keep a close eye on any strange deer that dare to wander close to his yard. He kind of sits there, daring them to invade his space. While on guard duty, this guy was bouncing into the ground about 3 inches in front of Max’s nose. He was fascinated. He could have easily chomped it in two, but he just watched. The reason for his bouncing was because he was dying of some dreaded dragon fly disease as he promptly ceased fluttering as soon as I gently placed him in an open mason jar in a vain attempt to save him. It took me a while to figure out that it was some sort of extinct Dragon Fly. A scary looking dude, for sure. To give you a sense of size, he was laying in the bottom of a quart jar for this photo.

On another eventful day, I moved the RV out of our driveway in anticipation of receipt of our tonneau cover for the truck. It was to be a freight delivery and I wanted it in the carport which was blocked by the RV. All I had to do was back it into the street, then place it in the public area next to our property. Unfortunately, someone erected the mail boxes right in the perfect spot where I couldn’t see them. I was more concerned about not running in to one of the six cars parked in our neighbor’s driveway. I was about 2 seconds too late in putting on the brakes to halt my progress. So, I knocked the structure over and didn’t feel a thing. But I knew it was done.

After parking the RV I dragged the structure across the street to the car port and dismantled it. After looking in the wood shed for a viable 4×4 to replace the vertical post, I gave up and called Jeff who just happened to have one about 5 feet long. Perfect. I told him there was no hurry as I had to dig out the old post, and whatever held it in place. As I chipped away I discovered that I was apparently the 4th person to knock it over as the remains of two installs still existed next to the one I broke. Learning this made my involvement in the mishap more tolerable. Kind of like a right of passage for the neighborhood. I guess I can mark this task done on my list of things to do.

Yesterday, while walking around the block with Max, I came upon an elderly lady who was retrieving groceries from her car. I thought, “I can help do that”. I my effort to move toward the car I had get myself from the street onto the sidewalk. This is when I discovered that when moving to a higher elevation, even 6 inches, one is required to lift both feet, one at a time, at least as high the desired destination. In the past, doing this was second nature. Something I didn’t need to think about at all and it seemed reasonable that I didn’t need to think about it then. Balance and gravity defied my efforts and my attempt to give this lady a hand resulted in a spectacular tuck and roll tumble leaving me laying on my back near the back of the lady’s car. There was a silent moment, as she looked down on me, when I was tempted to ask if she could use a hand. Then reality took over and I thought a better idea would be for me to regain a vertical position and see about recovering a little dignity. Yes, I fell down in public. A few people inquired about how was I, and did I need help. I knew nothing was broken because I’m an expert tuck and roller. I just skinned my right elbow and right knee in the process.

Max insisted that we return home immediately to seek medical attention. I agreed. By the time we made it to the house my elbow was bleeding quite nicely but the knee not so much. Since I didn’t think about it, and Diane is all business when it comes to stopping someone from bleeding, we have no photographic evidence that this event ever happened. So, I just found a skinned knee on the internet. Mine is worse than this.

Image result for What Does a Skinned Knee look like. Size: 238 x 206. Source: www.flickriver.com

I couldn’t find a suitable photo of a skinned elbow so most of you will have to recall one from your childhood.

Max, though a little dog, right at 20 lbs, has made it known that we need a king size bed. Before he showed up, the queen bed seemed like the proper size, and we already had one, so that’s what we’ve been sleeping on. Then along comes Max.

The photo is deceptive because he’s lined up properly but when the lights go out he lays crosswise, making both of us move out of his way.

When you look at the next photo you can help but wonder how he can sleep with his head jammed against a table leg, next to a paper shredder …

… or like this …

… and still find it necessary to make sure everyone in the bed with him knows you’re there. I know, we could banish him from the bed but it’s really difficult to do when he looks at you like this…

Stuff

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It’s been a while since my computer called to me so let me first apologize to those of you who find it hard to get through a day without something from me to get you going. Or, maybe it’s called to me when I wasn’t wearing my hearing aids. That’s probably more likely. As for you who suffer minor withdrawal pains due to my neglect, you seriously need to get a life. Or, read an old post from 2012.

During my absence we did things. As soon as I figure out what they were I will share with you. Until then, I’ll ramble on. Perhaps doing that will release the lock my mind has on significant events that you are dying to hear about.

Max, our dog, has a weight loss program that works perfectly for me. I didn’t know dogs could do that. I suspect that all dogs can if their adult friends just pay attention. For me, it’s around the block at least twice a day that amounts to about 1/2 a mile or 3000 steps. Sometimes we take adventurous routes that require many extra steps. Max doesn’t care and it’s good for me. I’ve lost 20 lbs somewhere along those streets. That loss worked out to a loss of four inches around my waist. I can pull my belt tighter to indicate a 5″ loss but it’s a bit uncomfortable. We keep looking for those lost lbs but apparently someone else needed them more than I did. Truthfully, I’m not looking very hard for them and I’m pretty sure Max could care less. He’s not looking for lbs. He’s looking for places to pee. So far he’s pretty much staked his claim to the entire block by anointing every telephone pole, power pole, fence post, bush, and garbage can near the sidewalk. He wears me out.

Once we get back to our house I let him off the leash and he leisurely strolls to the creek and wades in until the water is halfway up his side, then lays down to cool off. It’s been very warm lately so can’t blame him. The excessive heat is helping algae/moss grow like gang busters. After his cool-off period, he wades out to the long strings of moss, sticks his head in the water to get a mouthful then he pulls it up and shakes it like he’s trying to get rid of it. Very strange. Sadly, all this wading in the creek and trying to kill the moss causes him to smell like an Everglades swamp monster of some sort. He doesn’t mind, but Diane gets a bit testy when he jumps in her lap to share.

Last Sunday we drove to Albany to support Jeran as he gave the sermon at his church, North Albany Community Church. He’s been serving an internship there since graduating from Corban University. He did an excellent job and it was very satisfying to witness the growth in his faith. Max had to stay home but he would have enjoyed it, too. It was outside in the church amphitheater.

After a nice lunch at one of Jeran’s favorite places …

… we headed back up the freeway to release Max. We were gone about 6 hours and Jeff took him out for a run at noon so he wasn’t abandoned. He’s just got a way of making me feel like I’m abusing him, the way he hangs his head and looks over his glasses at me. He’s very convincing.

Diane’s busy studying maps, and making reservations on what’s going to be a marathon trip in the RV. Making it more interesting is that we traded the Equinox, our tow car, for a large truck. So, now the truck needs to be set up to tow. We haven’t decided if the RV is going to to the truck or vice versa. Maybe we’ll just switch it around randomly as we travel. Wouldn’t that be fun? Actually, no it wouldn’t.

Watching the news is pretty sad lately what with all the hot weather. Most of that is happening along the route Diane is plotting for us through Idaho, Utah, and Arizona. Things can change quickly, however, and we’ve got a ways to go before we head out. Still, plans need be made and that’s one of main things Diane loves about traveling: studying maps and making reservations. She’s really good at planning for us.

On the way back from Albany this guy passed us. Looks like he’s pretty serious about his squirt guns …

Now I must stop and do something productive. Diane said.

Golfing

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I called Doug a few days ago and we talked for a while. Since the weather is going to be so nice for a while we decided to take our tired old bodies to the golf course for a little activity. Neither of us had touched a club in nearly 2 years so we felt it was time.

The first thing I had to do was dig out my bag of clubs and find my shoes. Last time I saw them they were in the garage. I actually looked directly at the bag but, some unknown reason, I got the one stored in our little shed. Yes, I have two bags of golf clubs and both are black. The one in the shed was the easiest one to extract so it’s the one I took. It’s been so long since I’ve golfed that I actually forgot the reason the one I got was in the shed. It’s the one I used to store all the extra clubs I’ve accumulated over the years and don’t use any more for one reason or another. Consequently, there are a lot of clubs in that bag.

I didn’t realize this problem until I was strapping the bag onto our cart at the golf course. While doing that I looked for a my driver, a Ping that belongs to Cedric, and a few other favorite clubs like the putter I like, and my 56 degree pitching wedge … stuff like that. They weren’t there. Instead the bag had an oddball assortment of 22 clubs, none of which I could use very well. But, I certainly had a lot of choices.

As you might have suspected, I didn’t do very well, but that’s not a surprise. I never do very well, and that’s OK. I have low expectations when golfing with Doug. He’s pretty good and I gave up trying to beat him many years ago. We just have a good time enjoying an occasional good shot, or putt, and move on down the road.

That was yesterday, and it was a good day.

Happy Mother’s Day

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I know, this is a little late, but I didn’t forget. Honest.

To celebrate this important event, Diane and I made a 5-hour round-trip to Albany, Oregon on Sunday to visit a little dog she found on the internet. We lost our last fuzzy family member a couple of years ago and she thought it was OK to look for another. I can’t call the new one a replacement because that’s hard to do. Dogs are different from each other in so many ways so you can’t just pick randomly. She’s been checking various animal shelters every day for a few months now so I knew this was coming. When she saw the photo of Max on one of her web sites it was a done deal before the adoption process was even considered.

After submitting answers to an incredibly complex questionnaire, I had no doubt we’d be making a trip somewhere soon. That was late last week. She got the call on Saturday to drive to Albany, Oregon for a visit with Max. Nothing wrong with a road trip. We’ve driven over 3 hours to destinations that were less important than this one.

The rendezvous location was at a Petco store, a public venue where random spies and snipers would have difficulty singling us out to prohibit a successful adoption . . .

Sorry. I’ve been reading a lot of spy stuff lately and it seems to have seeped into my unconscious thought process. Let me regroup a little.

It was a beautiful day for a ride and it was easy for me I’m just a passenger as I no doubt have explained many times before. I’m not allowed to drive, ever, when we go somewhere together, or I go alone, or if the weather is extremely bad. Like lots of rain, snow, stuff like that. I always find it humorous that she trusts me to drive in bad weather. At the same time, I’m honored that she trusts me in situations like that.

We arrived early for the meeting so turned back to visit a KFC we’d seen not fr away. We almost made it a whole block before spying an Arby’s, a place we like, but rarely get to visit. So KFC lost out to Arby’s. We ate our sandwiches then returned to the store to spend the next 25 minutes anticipating the meeting. You know, like, what if Max didn’t like one of us. Would we need to live separately to appease his fickle notions? Would he like us both, but one more than the other? That would create tension on the homefront, right? None of these possibilities were discussed because it was all in my head. Diane was pretty sure he was going to be great. She knew this as soon as she saw Max’s photo. She swiped ‘right’ for sure.

After visiting all the fish in the store, who were looking for a home, about a dozen times, we went to the car and sat there with the engine running so we could be air conditioned. Did I mention that the temp was in the high 90’s in Albany? Very warm. Not comfortable enough to be standing around on tired feet.

Finally the Foster Mom showed up and I recognized Max immediately. Diane had shown me the photo and I have to admit he was pretty hard to pass up.

We followed them into the store and approached with totally unnecessary caution. We didn’t want to scare Max, or seem to eager to take him home in case he found something wrong with us. Turns out he’s a totally nonjudgmental people person and climbed right into Diane’s arms. The ended the interview process.

While Diane took care of the necessary paperwork I trotted Max around the store, teaching him new tricks, then we stuffed him into our car and headed north. Turns out that riding in cars is one of his favorite pastimes. Just like driving cars is Diane’s favorite pastime. They were obviously made for each other.

Although it’s only been a few days since he appeared in our lives things have perked up around here. Being a kept man, it’s my job to take him for walks. Actually, one of Diane’s motives for getting him was to serve as one of my exercise machines that require a lot of walking. The other one is my walk behind mower. The difference is that I can control the speed of the mower, but not Max. He thinks it’s his job to stretch the leash to the breaking point or it isn’t fun. So far, as we’ve made the circuit around our block, he’s anointed every telephone pole and all but 3 of the brown yard debris containers people leave out, and there’re a lot of them.

Now, let’s talk about the water issue. He kinda loves it and seems very pleased that a creek is running through his new back yard. He also loves mud puddles. Being mostly white, that’s a problem solved by a quick rinse in the creek. He doesn’t just walk through the puddles. No, he stops, turns around 3 times, then lays down ensuring he gets the majority of his little body covered in whatever lives in puddles. Then I take him to the creek where he wades out far enough to cover about half his height, then he lays down, facing upstream, leisurely lapping the water headed his way. Thankfully, he rinses off nicely. That’ good because our chosen pet groomer can’t see him for another month or so. By then, he’s going to be a mess.

As you can see he’s very busy. What you don’t see is how fast he can run. He’s like the wind and likes to run willy nilly around the yard seeing how close he can come to people before dodging away to make another circuit. There’s no photo of this activity yet because we’re never ready for it. This is what he looks like when he’s done.

Then we go inside and he does a lot of this.

Then we go back outside and do it again.

You’d think it would get boring pretty quick but so far it hasn’t. He’s fun and funny and he’s our new family member. The proper name is Maximillian which looks better on paper but he’ll only ever be called Max. That’s who he is. I’m sure he’ll be appearing in future posts.

Time to stop, so I will.

The Cruise – Day 21

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Day 21 – April 29, 2023 – Seattle, Washington

Tied up around 0700 and begin the debarking process.

Diane reserved a couple seats on the 0845 airport shuttle that took a leisurely trip through downtown Seattle, just to show us what we were missing, I’m sure. We got to the airport about an hour later, checked in for our flight, got our overweight bags checked, flew to Portland, and Jeff & Jerrie picked us up.

It was a fun trip, but we’re happy to back in America.

That’s it, folks.

The Cruise – Day 20

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Day 20 – April 28, 2023 – Vancouver B.C.

Inport 0700 to 1700.

This is packing day for us because we’ll be in Seattle early and we have a shuttle bus date at 0845. We put the bags outside our cabin before midnight. Stewards will pick them up and deliver them to the pier in Seattle. Makes getting off the ship a little easier.

Many new passengers embarked for the one day ride to Seattle. They turned our nice quiet ship into a booze cruise. Also, the ‘new’ folks did their best to make anyone using the Lido Marketplace miserable.  It wasn’t fun.

So, we just hung out on our balcony when we weren’t eating something.

The sunset was nice.

We’re ready for departure.

It’s been a hoot. Now all we have to do is navigate SeaTac airport to find our departure gate. So far, in our experience, wherever it is, it will be the furthest gate away from where we enter the airport. It always happens. Still, we endure.

The Cruise – Day 19

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Day 19 – April 27, 2023 – Victoria B.C.

We entered the Juan de Fuca Strait early morning and had a pretty pristine sail all the way to Victoria. Here’s what we saw. Snow covered mountains and a lot of tankers.

Then there was this guy.

I’m sure it was headed back to Bangor with it’s escorts.

Inport 1200 to 2300. That means our trip to Vancouver through the San Juan Islands will be in the dark.

And see, we’re still happy and having fun.

We stayed aboard to eat and lay around doing nothing.

The Cruise – Day 18

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Day 18 – April 26, 2023 – At sea

Got up later than 0800 and took the treacherous trip to Lido with our platter to get food for Diane. We both felt it was best that she stays away from folks. There are 29 people on board with COVID symptoms, so Diane’s been wearing a mask, as have most other folks, when not in the cabin. So far, I haven’t worn a mask because I’m a daredevil. But I avoid people, too, and that’s one reason we’ve chosen to eat at “home”, so to speak.

At 1000 we went to the Main Stage to watch a presentation about how this ship works from the people who run it. Very informative. Most interesting, to me, was that the 4 huge diesel engines – two 12 cylinder, and two 8 cylinder – only run generators. The electrical power they create runs everything else, including the propulsion system. Yes, the propellers are connected to 3 very large electric motors that can rotate 360 degrees to direct the ship making a rudder unnecessary. Pretty cool. The captain takes control of those motors when entering a port and uses them to gently approach the assigned pier and place the ship within inches of the designated spot designated. The captain said docking without tugs is done in all types of weather up to 40 knots. Above 40 tugs are used.

Had a hotdog from the Dive In Grill. It was really good.

A great many of the original passengers debarked in San Diego and were replaced by a much younger crowd that includes many children. We know this is true because we’ve seen them throughout the ship, running up and down passgeways, and through the food line at he Lido Marketplace. None of their parents seem to think this is a bad idea.

Here’s something fun. There are four outboard elevators that have an ocean view. What fun.

Tomorrow we will be in Victoria BC for the day.

The Cruise – Day 17

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Day 17 – April 25, 2023 – At sea

Diane got up at 0800 or later. I’m not really sure. She was feeling better but still not ready to meet her public so I took the challenge, and the tray from our cabin, and made the trip to Lido in search of food and coffee. I did good and didn’t spill a thing.

In the evening she was better yet and wanted to see the entertainment. It was a quartet of singers, 3 guys and a girl, called Major Fourth. They were the best entertainment we’ve seen this trip. Really good.

Other than reading our books, and watching a little TV, this was pretty much it for the day.