Mesa , AZ

We are finally back in the Mesa area. We will spend about 4-5 days at an rv repair facility to have some minor damage repair on our motorhome. We are pleased that they are allowing us to live in the motorhome while they are working. Views are of other motorhomes needing repair and smells are of paint and dust from sanding. But at least we can stay here and not try to find another place to live for the few days.

We are hoping that by Friday we will be able to go to our winter home in Apache Junction.

Love and hugs,
Linda and Barb

Our adventure into Death Valley

Our experience in Death Valley was an adventure not to forget. Our expectation was that it was a desert, flat and expansive, with many desert plants. Well, we found out there is more to Death Valley.

First off, we discovered the sand dunes. The colors were layers of red, yellow and shades of lavendar. But that was not our adventure.

Using the National Park map as our guide, I saw a small road that was labelled Titus Canyon. Thinking that a canyon in the midst of Death Valley would be extremely interesting, I suggested we take that road. Since it was my birthday, Barb said we could go or do anything I wanted. It was a one way road and gravel.........no problem with that, so we thought. As we drove, the road got narrower and more uneven. In fact, there were sections with pot holes and large rocks that we had to go over. We were beginning to realize that this road really needed a jeep or other high clearance vehicle. Fortunately, at least, our Honda had relatively high clearance and all wheel drive. And since this was a narrow one way road there was no turnng around. So, we continued bumpy road and all. Until.................we began to climb. Looking ahead we realized we were going up the side of a mountain, with switch backs and S-curves and drop offs, all on a road which required going over large boulders and ruts. That's when fear set in.

For two hours we worked our way up the mountain pass, around the curves, over the rocks, into the ruts. I imagine the view was wonderful but have no idea since all I could look at was the narrow road in front of me. There were several parts of the trip that were especially frightening. We had one switch back that was only as wide as the car, that had several large ruts in it as we made the curve. As the car rocked its way through these ruts, our only thoughts were that it would not rock too much and go over the side. This could have been the Death Valley for us.

But we made it up the mountain and down the other side into the canyon. And finally we could look around. It was beautiful and refreshing and cool.

Three hours later we were back on the main road. Safe and sound :) Barb has now told me that for future birthdays, I cannot do anything I want.............

It was an adventure we will not forget.

Love and hugs,
Linda and Barb

Death Valley National Park

Beatty is the gateway to Death Valley. So off we go today to take a drive into Death Valley.

Last night we splurged as a beginning celebration of my birthday. We found a saloon in town that makes delicious BarBQ. We had smoked chicken wings and ribs. Absolutely delicious. And then we found a candy store with chocolates..........mmmmmmmmmmmm good. All the good thinks in life.....BarBQ and chocolate.

Love to all of you,
Linda and Barb

Oct 13-16: Today Mina, tomorrow Beatty

Today and tomorrow are travel days. Tonight we are in Mina, NV and tomorrow , Beatty, NV. Mina is a small, small town with a very nice campground. We were very pleasantly surprised and pleased.

Tomorrow we go to Beatty for two nights. There is a casino there..........what more can I say.

Our plan is to be in Mesa, AZ by Monday to have some more work done on the motorhome.

Love , hugs, and safe travels to all of you,
Linda and Barb

Oct 10: We stayed at a Likely Place

We had a two day drive from La Pine to Reno. We stopped in Likely at a Likely Place in California.

More than likely we will visit Likely again.

It is likely that we will also send you hugs,

Linda and Barb

Oct. 11-12: Reno and Lobsters

Today is Reno.............poker tables and penny machines.

Last night I played penny machines and had an absolutely successful adventure. Ended up being $100 ahead after about 3 hours of play. That does not happen to me often so I was quite thrilled.

Boomtown Casino was having a special buffet............all you can eat lobster. And for seniors, it was only $14.99. So that was dinner last night. We each ate 3 lobsters. What a treat!

Today is blogging for me and poker playing for Barb.

Safe travels. Love and hugs to all of you.

Linda and Barb

Oct 4-9: La Pine, OR: Repairs on motorhome

We have spent about 5 days in La Pine which is about 20 miles south of Bend and have not done any sightseeing the whole time. We know that the Bend area is beautiful and there is much to see. We put aside this time to have work done on the motorhome.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, n Monday Dave Root's Glass Repair showed up to fix most of our windows that had fogged up inside the double pane. We know this is a common problem but did not expect to have to deal with almost all windows. We had the option to replace these windows but the cost for this over twice as much as having them resealed. So all day Monday Dave took out all the windows in the living room area first, resealed them and then reinstalled them. The temp outside was in the 40's. Very cold inside. Bailey and I were able to go to the bedroom area and shut door while he did the living room area. Barb was in the laundry room, which was also unheated. Then when he did the bedroom, we moved to the living room. It took him the entire day. We now can see outside. What a pleasure !

Then we had a repair person out to work on the water heater, slide out replace lights to LED's, etc. He was here almost two days. The biggest job was the slide out which was not coming in evenly and left a gap. To fix it, he had to get under the bed and rebolt all of the slide mechanisms. Never before has our motorhome been in such disarray with all of the bed stuff, mattress included sitting in the living room.

Yup, that is the mechanism under our bed that was installed crooked and was causing slide to come in at an angle. It finally pulled away from several of the bolts. Had to drill new holes and screws. But it is right now.


And that is our mattress, bottom of bed, drawers, etc. in our living room.

The good news is that everything work correctly now.

Love and hugs,
Linda and Barb

Oct. 4: La Pine, OR

We left Newport on Saturday, Oct 2 to get to the Bend, OR area to have work done on our motorhome. The drive from Newport to Bend was about 200+ miles on a windy, narrow road through the mountains with many hair pin curves. To make matters worse, as we drove up the mountain to about 4000', the fog came in. And so for periods of time the fog was so dense tha we could not see more than 10' in front of us. It felt very pecarious driving windy roads in the fog. But Barb did a wonderful job driving. We drove through some beautiful forests and countryside. We decided to stop halfway in Sweet Home, OR for the night. I found a nice campground at Foster Lake and could relax after the stressful drive.

Today, we are having our windows fixed. Many of our double paned windows have fogged over and we cannot see out of them. Dave Root RV Glass Repair will take the windows out and reseal them. So I am sitting here in 40 degree weather with the windows out and trying to keep warm. Barb is in the laundry room with no heat trying to get our clothes clean for the rest of our trip.

So it is a cold day in the mountains of La Pine, OR................we will be here until Saturday and hope it warms up.

Safe travels to all of you. Stay healthy.

Linda and Barb

Oct 1: Depoe Bay, OR

Yesterday we decided to drive to Lincoln City so that Barb could play in the poker tournament again. On our way back, we stopped at Depoe Bay for a few minutes just to watch the waves. The water was a lot more turbulent than the previous day and the water rushing into Spouting Horn rock formation caused spouting plums of water that was awesome. Lots of oooooh's and aaaaah's from the spectators.



I had not brought my camera so I took this photo with my phone.

Love and hugs,

Barb and Linda

Pacific Surf RV Resort-Newport, OR

As we were driving around and sightseeing in the Newport area, we spotted this rv resort with only 6 sites on it that faced the ocean. We just had to stop to see what it was all about. This resort was developed to be similar to a time share where you would purchase the site to use for about 1/3 of a year at three different 4-6 week intervals during the year. We were very interested and the host at the park offered us the opportunity to stay here for a few nights.

We had been staying at Whaler's Rest, which is a Thousand Trails park. Due to the rain of the past several days, the park was very muddy and very gloomy. We were very happy to move.



This photo is the view of the Pacific Ocean from our site.

I took this photo with my camera from the front of the motorhome. Without doubt, this rv resort has a magnificient setting with breathtaking views.

We will be staying here until Saturday, Oct 2, and then we leave for La Pine, OR, which is near Bend.

Love and hugs,

Barb and Linda

Otter Rock and Yaquina Head Lighthouse

Another day at Otter Rock and another day of looking at the Yaquina Head lighthouse. The waves were exceptionally high again today. Guess it is the beginning of the winter storms though the weather today was perfect.

What a what a wonderful experience the Oregon coast has been for us. We are nearing the end of our visit here, but we know we will return.

This lighthouse was built in 1873 and is 93' tall; it is the tallest in Oregon.

The views today of both the lighthouse and the waves were wonderful.

Newport, OR

Today we drove 10 miles north of Newport to see the sights of Depoe Bay, Otter Rock, Port Foulweather. The waves were exceptionally high.. All of the locals were commenting on how high the waves were and how far back the cresting of the waves began. It was truly a glorious experience.

Depoe Bay



Whale watching boat.

Viewpoint along the drive



View from Otter Rock

Driving day from Pacific City to Newport

Today is a non-photo day. We will have about a 45 mile drive today, so we are being leisurely this morning. Well, not exactly leisurely. I am working on my photos and Barb is working on making this household neat and organized. We will stay at this campground in Pacific City until 3:00 pm so that we can get propane. And then we will be off. If we don't stop at viewpoints, it will probably take us about an hour to get to Whaler's Rest, the campground around Newport.

Safe travels to all of you.
Love and hugs,
Barb and Linda

Three Capes Scenic Drive

We spent today driving along what is called the Three Capes Scenic Drive.....Cape Lookout, Cape Meares, and Cape Kiwanda (which we did previously). These views are from Cape Lookout State Park.

Barb and Bailey spent time viewing the waves. They were exceptionally high and rough today.

And Linda of course spent time taking photos.

View from Cape Meares, the second cape we viewed today. The three rocks in the distance are called the Three Arch Rocks because they each have an arch at the base.

Cape Mears lighthouse was at the very lowest point of Cape Meares.

On the way home we saw a sign for Munson Creek Falls. We had not read anything about it so decided to veer off the highway, drive down a narrow road for about 2 miles and then walk 1/4 mile. It was certainly worth the effort and a very pleasant surprise. We finally found information on it; it is 319 feet high and is the highest waterfall on the Oregon coast.








Love and hugs to all of you,

Barb, Linda and Bailey

Tillamook Cheese Factory

After all of our driving and viewing and photo taking and seeing the ocean, we had to take a break and do something different.............and what could be better than cheese and ice cream. The Tillamook cheese factory has tours and samples.

It was interesting to watch them package the cheese. Those large yellow box-like looking objects on the lower left of photo are actually blocks of cheese. It is then sliced or cut into sections and packaged.

Sampling the ice cream. Barb did enjoy it........and so did I.

Love, hugs and much happiness to all of you,

Barb and Linda

Rainy Day , Chinook West Casino

Another rainy day............not just a drizzle but real rain. No sightseeing today. Had to figure out what to do on such a day.

Guess what, there is casino near by in Lincoln City.............so off we went.

There was a poker tournament in the afternoon. Barb made it to the final table; she was the table leader in chips. They decided to "chop" (split the winnings). She had a great time.

Linda, however, played the penny machines and gave lots and lots of pennies to the casino.

Another great day.

Love and hugs,
Barb and Linda

Dinner at Pelican Pub

Today was a project day...........working on blog, laundry, cleaning, etc.

And we celebrated our accomplishments by going out for dinner at Cape Kiwanda. It was a beautiful night with a great sunset over the haystack rock.

And then we splurged. After the sun went down we moved inside and had one of those fancy coffee drinks....kahlau, grand marnier, and who knows what else............Now that was good !

Love and hugs. Stay well,

Barb and Linda

Pacific City - Cape Kiwanda, Neskowin

Another beautiful day driving along the Oregon Pacific coastline. Cape Kiwanda is the fishing port where the Dory fishermen first developed the Dory fishing boat. It is a flat bottom boat that goes out to sea directly from the coast line rather than from a dock. There is monument to the Dory fishermen at Cape Kiwanda.

Haystack Rock at Cape Kiwanda

The waves were very high and the surfers had a grand time.

We next drove to the town of Neskowin where we could walk onto the beach .

Proposal Rock....not sure why it is named as such. I am sure there is a story but we do not know it. We were there when the tide was low and many people walked out to the rock.

But because it was an overcast, foggy day the waves were very high, we just stood on the beach and viewed the magnificient scene of waves, rock, and fog.

On our way back, we saw a sign for the Sitka Art and Ecological Center. We could not resist and so turned off the road to see what it was. It is an art center where artists in all fields from watercolors to weaving to photography to sculpture offer their skills. Below are some of the sculptures that were on the grounds.

Love and hugs to all of you,

Barb and Linda

Drive from Seaside to Pacific City

Our plan was to leave Seaside early in the morning so that we would arrive in Pacific City in time to do some siteseeing. After all, the drive was supposed to take only 2 hours. It was raining in the morning and the forecast was for it to clear up by noon. So we waited and left Seaside around one.

But along the way, there were many viewpoints that we had to stop at.




Another view of the Seaside Haystack



Another view of the Tillamook Lighthouse, aka "Terrible Tilly"

After many stops and more picture taking, we finally arrived at Pacific City around 4:00 pm.

Hoping your day has been delightful,

Barb and Linda

Seaside - Day 4

On this day we returned to Astoria. After reading all of our tourist information, we realized that there was much to see in Astoria. The above photo is a view of the famous Astoria bridge that connects Washington to Oregon over the Columbia River. It is one of the longest bridges in the US. On our drive to Oregon we had to drive the motorhome over this bridge. The ascent seems to be straight up and a bit scary when you first see it in front of you.

One of the sights not to miss in Astoria is the column that was erected as a commemoration to Lewis and Clark.

Barb walked over 300 steps to get to the top.

After leaving the columns we drove to one of the piers just outs side of Astoria. We had been told that the sea lions that were migrating were resting there. What a great experience to see all of them. They were all over the piers. If I had to estimate, I would say there were over 50 sea lions just lying around, stretching, swimming and having a great time.

This guy just had a terrible itch.