A Turkey!

NOT! It is a turkey buzzard! We took a nice drive through J.W. Corbett and saw hundreds of these things standing in the road and sitting in a couple of trees!  The trees were just black with them. At least they keep the area cleaned up. The old timers like to tell the story about the hunter who tried to check out a turkey buzzard, claiming that it was a turkey.

On our Own!

Today was our first full day of work as check station attendants on our own. We only tagged 1 hog.  A lot of hunters came and went but not a lot of game was shot.  There was a lovely sunset from the front porch of the check station kiosk.  It was a lovely shade of pink, orange and purple. By the time I clicked it,  I only had a faint glow showing, but it is a good picture of the habitat around us. 

A Swamp Buggy

A Swamp Buggy!

Today they opened up the area for archery hunters to enter and set up camp.  The actual season starts tomorrow.  We are enjoying viewing the hunters and all manner of vehicles, campers, trailers, motor homes and ATVs coming into the area.  It started at 8:00 AM and the first hour was a long stream of vehicles, one after the other.  Check out the preferred mode of transport:  a swamp buggy! There were hundreds of them, some larger and some smaller!

Parked!

Our campsite!

J.W Corbett WMA

We have landed at our winter position - Check out the history.  We have been warned about the rattlesnakes, water moccasins and gators.  We are just getting settled today. I should have some pics to post tomorrow.

Hello Irene

I-95 Florida Storm

I-95 Florida 5 min later

Well, since Irene has decided to possibly bypass FL and head to the Carolinas, we decided to head south.  Check out our drive:

Crooked River State Park, GA

We have had a wonderful day.  Laton was able to order a new vacuum pump Sunday in Dublin.  It came in this morning and he had it installed in 45 minutes and we have AIR CONDITIONING!  It is heavenly.  We were getting ready to head on down to West Palm Beach, FL and we got a call from the Ranger with Fish and Game suggesting we take our time due to the impending Hurricane Irene scheduled to visit this week. 

We dropped anchor (travel trailer jacks) around 3:30 PM at Crooked River State Park, GA.  It is very lovely. It was so nice to stop and set up camp in the daylight. LOL We had a bit of wind, rain and thunder the first hour or so, but now the evening is calm. 

Dublin, GA

Tim & Laton

We got in late yesterday evening.  It has been a harrowing trip.  Our AC quit blowing out of the dash vents. We still had AC from the defrost and floor vents.  Laton thinks it is something to do with the vacuum pump but no time to stop and fix since we spent so much time in AZ.  We bought a 12 V fan at a truck stop and it moves the air around pretty well and keeps our truck livable while traveling.  We do wet the dogs down in the mid afternoon and it seems to help them be more comfortable traveling. So we are surviving the drive. We will be glad to get settled in FL next week.

In the meantime, we have stopped off to visit our friends, Tim & Stacey.  They camp hosted with us at the State Parks in Northern California.  We had a chance to get together in OK and TX last year on our trip to see the USA.  

Chewalla Lake

Chewalla Lake

Last night we pulled into Chewalla Lake. We wanted to get through Memphis while the traffic was light.  We did have a panic attack on the way through, as we drove under 2 train trestles marked 13' 11", and it looked like 13 foot 1 inch at first (You may recall we lost a roof on our last See the USA trip). Yee Ha! We made it!
Here is the view we had the next morning. 

Peace Reigns

Sadie and Maggie

Our solution to hogging the middle of the seat.  We tucked the edge of the dog bed under the seat so Sadie can't drag it to the middle. We also added Laton's red tool bag to the middle of the seat so Sadie can't drag that around either. Now they can share the back seat.  Ahhhhh, sweet peace!

Mom, she touched me!

Maggie

Finally we are making some legs on our trip.  We made it to Santa Rosa, NM.

Maggie

Traveling with our dogs is like traveling with children.  They actually fight over the back seat.  The old basset is pretty set in her ways and the two and half year old chocolate lab bows down to her.  The basset likes to lay in the middle of the back seat and stretch out.  This forces Maggie into one corner or the other.  Maggie will sit stiffly, not daring to step over Sadie and quietly whine.  If I try to move Sadie, she will stand up, step over a couple of inches, then flop back down pushing her self back at least 3 more inches.  I had some children that would do that. Now, I let Maggie into the front seat, which really upsets Sadie, and now she wants in the front seat. I will finally put both of them in the back seat and the whole scenario of flopping in the middle and sitting in the corner and whining begins anew with these two. Eventually, they settle down and sleep butt to butt in the back seat just like siblings.

Good News

The fix is not really expensive and Big Blue was released from the truck doctor by 2 PM. It was a little late to hit the road so we stayed one more night. This evening was not nearly as quiet since we had the extra gas in the truck so we could run the generator for some electricity.  Plan an early start tomorrow.

On the Road Again

We were on our way to Flagstaff, AZ to catch the I-40 and head east to FL when our truck, aka. Big Blue or sometimes Big Boy began to waver on our onward and upward ascent. By the time we reached Flagstaff, we were barely able to roll into the nearest Campground; Fort Tuthill. It is a rustic campground, much cooler than Phoenix.  Cooler was better since there was no electricity available.  Laton unhooked the trailer and Big Blue got to spend the night in town at Babbitt Ford for repairs.  We spent a very quiet evening hoping for a cheap and easy fix.

More Friends and Neighbors

Cindy, Carrie, Paula, Lana, Judy

Phil, Laton, Jim & Bill

We enjoyed a wonderful luncheon at Popo's Mexican Restaurant. I met several sorority sisters (some brought husbands to help entertain Laton) while we giggled and laughed like we always have.  It was a great time.

Later that afternoon, Laton and I followed our usual M.O. of stalking our old neighbors.  We ended up at Cory and Margie's one more time for burgers and dogs, then we rolled on back to Lake Pleasant RV Park to sit in a food stupor until it was time to go to bed.

Unfortunately, we did not get to spend much time with our son, Steve, since he is working nights and sleeping days.  But we had lunch with him and he did come out to Lake Pleasant for awhile yesterday evening.

Oh Baby!

Grammy & Diesel

Spent the afternoon with our daughter and grand baby today.  We had so much fun. We had dinner with our friend, Tom. He baked his famous Shepherd's Pie...So good.  Our former neighbor, Victor came for dinner also.  Then we spent an hour swimming in Tom's pool.  A pool is a real asset here in this hot weather.
I know everyone is tired of pictures of the baby, but we sure aren't. LOL  We had suggested the name Dalton when Lumara was picking a name. She choose Vance, so we call him Diesel Dalton just to tease her and it is becoming his nickname.

Lumara & Vance in the pool

We love our kids

Lee & Carrie

The reason we stopped in Phoenix was to visit with our sons Steve and Lee and grab another grand baby cuddle with our daughter's baby.  Lumara had to work so no baby fix was available.  Lee had the day off and Steve was off work at 11 AM so we had lunch with the boys. While at the restaurant, we ran into some old neighbors, Bill and his brother Jim.  It is a small, small world after all. Steve went off to spend the afternoon helping his dad work on our truck.  It is a diesel and Steve is going to school to be a diesel mechanic so they are doing some troubleshooting for a check engine light that has come on.


Lee and I took off for the movies.  An air conditioned movie theater is the way to go on a hot Phoenix afternoon (101 degrees today).  We saw Captain America and really enjoyed it. 

Laton & I ended up hanging out with our old neighbors, Cory & Margie, for the evening, drinking beer and eating pizza. 

Do you sense a theme here with us and our neighbors?  Once you are our neighbor you will end up being our lifetime friend.

What can I say, we stalk you all over the country, no matter where you move. LOL!

HOT! HOT! HOT!

We left Yuba City yesterday and made it to Beatty, NV late last night.  We found an RV Park and dry camped for the night.  We were too tired to hook up everything. We got up early and started driving to Phoenix. 

We set the GPS for fastest route instead of most use of freeways and we ended up touring the strip, towing our 28 foot 5th wheel behind us.  It was a lot of fun! NOT! But we finally figured out what we had done, reprogrammed, hit the freeway and arrived at Pleasant Harbor RV Park this evening.  Vegas was only 115 degrees, Kingman was 114 degrees and Lake Pleasant was 100 degrees. WOW!

We stopped between I-40 and Wickenburg, AZ to let the dogs pee.  They tip toed quickly, squatted and raced back to the truck door and stood under the truck in the shade so they could get right back into the air conditioned cab. 

We are going to look for some neoprene dog booties tomorrow.  These poor puppies have webbed feet from 2 years of living in the Northwest.

Yuba City, CA

We stayed another day with Alan & Kirsty. They went to work and we hung around, swimming in their pool, taking naps and just generally relaxing.  Poor Kirsty rushed home from work to make us Lasagna.  We told her we would get KFC, but Kirsty loves to cook and she is awesome at it. So last night we had lovely steaks and salad and tonight lasagna. YUMMMY!  We felt like we were staying at a 5 star hotel. 

Towing 101

Mt. Shasta in August

We left the family reunion today and began our trek to Florida.  Our first stop was to visit our nephew, Alan, and his wife, Kirsty.  I had my first towing experience as I towed our utility trailer with our new (to us) jeep.  Everyone said just go and it will follow, but there are things like turning wider, allowing more stopping room, shifting down to 2nd on the hill so you don't use your brakes so much, and remembering to take the parking brake off. (yes, I know, ouch!)

Alan and Kirsty have graciously offered to store it for us this winter (along with our ATV).  I think Alan has a few plans to take the ATV out and keep the battery charged. LOL  The drive down I-5 was lovely.  This is a great view of Mt. Shasta.

Sunday Picnic

It is traditional to have the big potluck picnic on Sunday at 1 PM.  The reunion is always held the 1st Suday in August, so everyone always knows when to show up.  The only thing that changes is the where.

Our daughter, Lumara, and the grand baby, Vance, left early Sunday morning.  We gave Lumara my little red PT Cruiser and I was sad watching my little red car and my cute little grand baby drive off together with Mama. (Visualize a really sad face here with a few tears!)

Here are some fun pics.

Caleb trying to decide if he can eat another bite

David and a dollar!

Good Friends, Good Food, Good Times

Yesterday, our dear friends Rich and Doris drove down from Olympia to visit us and stayed until Saturday evening.  They were our former neighbors when we all lived in Albany, OR back in 1975.  We have always kept in touch and visited when we could.

Today, our dear friends, June and Kara drove down from Salem, OR to spend the day with us.  They worked with me at QWest Communications in Phoenix, AZ for years.

At almost the same time, some long time friends from the Portland area showed up, Margie and Al. We had a wonderful time visiting, getting up to date on each others lives and sharing a wonderful dinner. 

They all left around dark.  (It was going to be a long drive for most of them!)

Myrick, Jackson, David and Caleb

We then retired to the campfire for a s'more bar.  There were plates of cut up candy bars, chocolate frosting, graham crackers and marshmallows.  There was a grown-up twist; vanilla icing with Irish Cream Liquor and triple chocolate icing with Kahlua.  We had to monitor the frosting to be sure we did not give it to anyone under 21 in error. LOL

Family Reunion

Baby David, Caleb holding Vance and Carolyn

 

Well, everyone is pulling into the family reunion. Here are some fun pics! You can see our cousin Kristina in the background. Carolyn is great aunt to Vance and grammy to David and Caleb. They call her Muh!

Lumara and her favorite grandpa, Wes

He is a cutie!

Baby Vance & Grammy!

Our daughter Lumara flew into Medford to attend the family reunion. I picked her and our grand son up at the airport. Check out this picture of my first cuddle with this sweet baby.

Stanton Park

We drove to Canyonville, OR today and have a great site here at the park. Check it out - Stanton Park. Laton is fixing little things on the trailer and I am actually making cards.  The weather is wonderful, warm but comfortable with a nice breeze. We are right above the Umpqua River.  It is very quiet and peaceful here.

Elk River

Our maintenance host position with the California State Parks at Dry Lagoon ended today. It was bittersweet to leave so soon. We had planned on staying until end of September and spend the month of October in Oregon for hunting season, then head to Arizona to spend the winter.

"The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, gang aft agley, an' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, for promis'd joy!" (The best laid schemes of Mice and Men oft go awry, and leave us nothing but grief and pain, for promised joy!)  Robert Burns, To a Mouse (Poem, November, 1785) Scottish national poet (1759 - 1796) 

We are off to a family reunion in Canyonville, OR and then to Arizona to visit our children and then off to Florida for our winter position with the Florida Fish & Game.

We are spending the night on the coast at a favorite campground on the Elk River, just north of Port Orford.  Here is some info, if anyone is interested: Elk River RV Park, 3363 Elk River Rd, Port Orford, OR 97465, 541 332-2255