The Holidays

Here it is December 31, 2010. This year has seemed to have flown by. Wayne is now 12 weeks post hip surgery and doing great. We are still waiting to find out about the problem with his lungs but will hopefully find something out next week. The good news is that they have totally ruled out cancer and are leaning to a Valley Fever type diagnosis.

On Wednesday, this week it started snowing and didn't stop until about noon on Thursday.

It is really pretty and the temperature is not supposed to get out of the 30's until next week so it will probably be around for a while. Last night it go down to 13 and is now all the way up to 20!

We will be pulling the trailer down to Phoenix on Monday for a month. Our 8th grandchild (Savannah Kay Schroff) is due on Jan. 21 and we want to be there for the happy day.

I will try to be better with keeping up the blog in the New Year.

Have a very happy and safe New year.

September 2, 2010

It has been a while since I have updated our blog. Since we arrived home we have been to Missouri to spend some time with my parents, brother and sister and had a great time. We are now back home for a while. Nothing really exciting to share. Wayne is set for hip replacement surgery on Oct. 6 so will be hampered a bit while he recovers.

June 27, HOME

We are home!! We spent yesterday and last night in Laughlin, Nevada so we just had a very short drive today. We got up this morning and cleaned the trailer while we had electricity and water so now we won't have to worry about that. We pulled into Yarnell about 12:30 and stopped at The Ranchhouse for lunch. We got to our storage area and found that someone else was parked in our spot; we called the owners and they came, apologized (someone parked there without letting them know) and found another place for the trailer. It works out great for us because it is a bigger space so we can leave the slides out for a bit while we get everything unloaded. It is currently 94 degrees here so we are waiting till it cools down a bit to unload.

It is great to be home and everything was in good shape. So nice to be able to be gone so long and come home to find everything okay.

June 23, 24; Yosemite

We arrived at the Midpines KOA on Wednesday. The site we had was so level that we didn't have to unhook the trailer while we were there. We just lightened the load some for the truck and left it hooked up. The bus system in the Yosemite National Park area is called YARTS and stopped right at the entrance to our KOA. For $10 a piece it took us into the park (about 30 miles) and dropped us off at the Village Center where we could catch the park shuttle system (which is free) that took us all over the park. The park was extremely crowded so we were very happy that we didn't have to try to park the truck or drive around the park. We spent the entire day there on Thursday and had just a great time.

These are the Vernal Falls which are really spectatular - this picture doesn't do them justice but it was the best picture we could get. It was a 2 mile (round trip) hike to get up the bridge to see these falls and it was really steep the whole time going up to the Falls. Luckily this was our last hike of the day so we just went straight to the bus to take us back to the KOA.

This is Mirror Lake which normally dries up by this time of the year but because of the heavy rain they have had we were still able to see it.

These are Yosemite Falls and are just amazing. It was just a short hike (level) to see these and they are beautiful. We were told by several people that the falls were really amazing right now because of all the rain they have had - guess that was why there were so many people there!

We left Midpines area this morning and are now at another KOA in Barstow, CA. It is really hot here but the air is working great and we don't have to pay the electric bill! Tomorrow we are going to Laughlin, NV for the night and then will have a short drive home on Sunday. What a great trip we have had.

June 22, Pacific Grove Golf

Today we played golf at the Pacific Grove Golf Course which was a lot of fun and beautiful. As you can see from the above picture, the back nine runs along the ocean and was great. We played with a really nice couple that were a lot of fun so it was a great day. After golf we went to Fisherman's Wharf at Monterey Bay and had dinner. We got to sit at a window and watched seals play the whole time we ate dinner. The perfect way to finish our stay in Monterey.

This lighthouse was in the middle of the golf course so I thought I would take a picture.

Yes, these are deer that were on the golf course and didn't seem to mind when we drove by - they didn't even move. I guess they must be used to all the people around.

We leave here in the morning for Yosemite and then will head for home.

June 21, 2010

U. S. Open week is now over. What a week it was. We are so tired this morning, it was a long week for all of us. We did not get home from the course until about 9 every night which meant that we weren't eating dinner until 9:30 or so. However, it was definitely worth it. Yesterday we did not have to work so we got to the course about 10 and found a spot next to the 18th green right in front of the ropes. We just stayed there all day and saw some great shots. It was cold all week but yesterday we were protected somewhat from the wind by all the people standing behind us. Nick left this morning about 5:30 and is on his way home. We will be here until Wednesday when we will head out for Yosemite and then home. We plan to be home on Sunday - it will be great to be in a house that doesn't rock when you walk!

June 18, U. S. Open

I am writing this on Saturday morning because we didn't get home last night until around 10:30 p.m. It was another great day on the course. If you happened to be watching the open on tv yesterday and saw Phil Mickelson's shot from the grass in the sand trap on the 18th hole you probably saw Nick. He was the marshall who showed Phil where his ball was. He was wearing a white floppy hat (he has been getting to much sun so quit wearing his baseball cap). Wayne and I were right in the same area so we got to see the shot but didn't make it on tv. Wayne and I are now done with our work assignments so will now become spectators for the rest of the tournament. Nick works today starting at 1:45 and will be on the 18th hole until the last golfers come through. If you watch, look for a tall guy in a floppy white hat and it will be Nick!

Tonight will be another late night as the last group doesn't tee off until sometime around 4 p.m. our time.

June 17, U. S. Open

Today Nick went to play golf and then came by and picked me up and we went to the golf course for about 4 hours. Wayne stayed at the trailer because he needed a day to recuperate. Nick and I had a great day at the Open. We saw some really good golf and a lot of good players. Tomorrow it is suppose to be cloudy and cooler so we are planning on dressing warm for our shift. I probably won't be blogging much the next few days as we can't take pictures and will be at the golf course most of the time. Today I rode the bus both ways and didn't have any problems ! !

June 16, U. S. Open

Here we are starting day 3 at the Open. Once again we had fun on the shuttle bus. This time a young girl started having seizures so they had to stop the bus and call for help. Apparently she was pregnant, had gestational diabetes and just had a donut for breakfast!! Anyway, where we stopped was right across the street from an entrance to the course so they finally let us get off the bus and go to the course. Wayne and Nick are now afraid to get on any bus that I am on although coming home we didn't have any trouble at all.

This is Kenny Perry signing autographs. He must have stood there and signed autographs for 15 minutes. This is the nice thing about the practice days, the players are much more relaxed. Today we worked up by the green which was a totally different view from what we have had before. This was the 3rd day in a row that Wayne and I worked so we are looking forward to a day off tomorrow.

This is the sun setting at the beach right where we are staying. Sunsets are weird because the sun just disappears all of a sudden. Tomorrow Nick is going to play golf again and Wayne and I are going out the course to watch some golf. We are not allowed to have cell phones or cameras on the course anymore so there won't be any more pictures. Television coverage of the tournament starts today. All 3 of us are working tomorrow starting at 1:30 so if you happen to be watching look for us on the 18th hole.

U. S. Open Day 2

Another wonderful day at the Open. The picture above is on the 17th hole and I just posted it so you could see the crowds. There were more people today and I am sure that it will continue to grow. They limit the number of tickets to 37,000 (plus the 5000+ volunteers) so the crowds are nothing like what you would see at the Waste Mangement Open in Phoenix where they get 100,000+ a day but the course is much tighter so it would not be possible to have that many people here. Today Nick played golf and Wayne and I worked the fairway at the 18th hole. It was a fun day we saw several of the popular players and saw some good golf. We all work tomorrow and are thinking we may be on the green which will be a totally new look at this hole. Yes, that is Tiger and yes we did see him. He was at the practice green this morning when we got there but he had already played so we did not see him play. Every day we just have more fun and just can't believe that we are really here. This morning our bus driver actually knew how to get to the course so we didn't get lost. However, this evening we were not so lucky. Once again our driver got lost but not only did he get lost he tried to make a sharp right turn and got the bus stuck in the middle of the road! Luckily there was an empty bus that came right away and this bus driver actually knew the way back - can't wait to see what happens tomorrow when we try to get to the course and home from the course!

June 14, U.S. Open

What a day! The above is the 18th hole at Pebble Beach where we will be spending our afternoons. The weather was cloudy (marine layer came in) and cold.

Getting to the course and getting home from the course was a little scary. Both times our bus driver got lost! 17 Mile Drive which is where Pebble Beach is located is a curvy, narrow road and the shuttles are big buses so it is really hard to turn around if you go the wrong direction! We did drive by some beautiful homes and scenery but I sure felt sorry for the bus drivers. We think they maybe need a little more training plus they do not have the route marked very well for the drivers. When we checked in and were having our meeting the captain asked for someone tall with good eye sight so Nick volunteered not knowing what they needed. Turns out he got the prime position standing behind the players and waving the yellow paddles to let people know they were hitting and which direction their drive went. The 18th tee box is on a little pennisula and behind him were rocks with probably 50 seals laying around so he had a great time watching the seals when there weren't golfers around. Since it was a practice day the players were all pretty relaxed, would hit 5 or 6 balls instead of 1 and were just having fun. Nick thought that he must have died and gone to heaven!

Wayne and I were positioned just down from the tee box doing crowd control which just means we stand inside the ropes and make sure the spectators stay outside the ropes. Our instructions were to have fun, talk to the spectators and answer questions. Since it was a practice day the crowds were small so we had a great time. The NBC crews were setting up the TV towers right behind me so that was also interesting to watch.

We arrived at the course about 10:30 in the morning and left about 7 p.m.; it was a long day but we did not mind. Since we are on the 18th hole we are the last marshalls to leave and the course was pretty empty so we pretended we were players and walked down the 18th fairway. What a treat. This is one of the things on all of our "bucket lists" and it is amazing.

Nick is playing golf today at a different course and Wayne and I are working again but are not leaving here till about 11 p.m. The sun is out today so it should be a beautiful day.

June 13, U. S. Open

The Open is finally upon us! Today we went to the course to go to the Merchandise Village because it was open to the general public today and was not crowded. Everything is all set and ready to go and we can't wait.

This is the main entrance into the course and all the tents, etc. that go with it. Since we are volunteers we will be able to ride a shuttle which picks us up about 5 miles from where we are staying so we don't have to worry about the traffic. We will be able to ride the shuttle even on the days that we are not working so that is a really nice benefit. Nick is with us and we all have our uniforms ready to go as tomorrow at 1:30 is our first shift.

After we left the golf course we drove around Monterey and Carmel and found this rocky beach. The water was really cold but really clear and was beautiful. After we got back to the trailer Nick and I went for a walk on the beach and saw lots of jelly fish. I have never seen a jelly fish, it looked like a big chunk of ice and I almost touched it because it was so wierd looking. Luckily Nick knew what it was a stopped me before I had the chance.

While we were out driving we went down to Cannery Row and walked around and had lunch. The weather was beautiful until about 3:30 when the marine layer came in. It is now about 8:00 and the marine layer is gone and it is clear and beautiful. What a fun day we had.

Here we are in Marina, CA. We are staying at the Marina Dunes RV Park which is really nice. We have a private patio with picnic table and chimea (little fireplace). The only draw back is that we back up to a road and we hear traffic but other than that it is great. We got here with no trouble today and are here for 12 days. Nick will be joining us tomorrow for the next week as he is also volunteering at the Open.

The beach is a 10 minute walk from our trailer, however, it is over a sand dune so it is quite a walk (only about 1/3 mile) just hard to walk in the sand. We think the next time we go we will probably drive so we can take some chairs with us. The weather for the next week is suppose to be sunny and nice.

You probably can't tell from this picture but these are strawberries. They are in the middle of the picking season and we bought some strawberries today that were picked in these fields. They are big and beautiful and taste great. There are lots of vegetables fields around here - lots of artichokes but apparently it is a bad year for them because of the cool temperatures and the rain.

June 9 and 10, Vacaville, CA

Well yesterday and today were really fun days. The best news is that we got the truck back this afternoon and it is working fine and it was all covered under warranty.

Yesterday we went to Napa Valley to our favorite wineries - Milat, Sterling, and Vincent Arroyo. We tasted some great wine, spent too much money on wine but had a great time.

Today we went to the Jelly Belly Bean Factory and the Budweiser Brewery. What better way to spend the day then eating free jelly beans and then sampling free beer. Budweiser has a new beer out called Shock Top and we thought it was really good.

Not sure what we are doing tomorrow. Laundry and cleaning the trailer are top on our list and I'm not sure what after that. We have had sunny weather for 3 days now - looks like we have left the rain behind!

June 7, Vacaville, CA Day 1

Wayne and I are both strong believers that there are angels always watching out for us and today was further proof of that. We pulled into our RV park for this week and went inside to register. When we got back in the truck it would not start. We waited for a while to see if it would start after it cooled down but no luck. Luckily there was a Ford dealer about 10 minutes away; they sent out a tow truck which pulled the truck with the trailer still attached to our site (which was a pull through); got it level on the first try and then unhooked the trailer and took the truck to the dealership. The truck is now at the dealership while they try to figure out what is wrong and we are driving a black Ford Fusion! We are so thankful that it happened after we were at the RV park and not out on the highway. It is covered by warranty (which runs out in July so would not have been covered if this would have happened after we were home) and it happened today and they have till Friday to get it fixed. And to top it off there is a really cool outlet mall really close to us so we went shopping this afternoon. Tomorrow we decided we would drive up to Napa Valley while we have the little car that is good on gas. I didn't think to get the camera and take a picture when the tow truck was pulling into our site - it was something to see. At this point they don't think there is any relationship from the last time we had to have the truck fixed, this seems to be something new. Off to Napa tomorrow and hopefully we will find out what is happening with the truck and it will be fixed!

June 6, Redding, CA

We are now in California and the sun is shining!! We only drove about 200 miles today so got to our campsite early. We have the windows open and warm DRY air is blowing through the trailer - what a nice feeling. We drove by more amazing countryside today including driving by Mt. Shasta which is 14,000 something high and was covered with snow. We are chilling out here this afternoon and are going to grill outside for dinner for a change. Tomorrow we are off to Vacaville, CA which is in Napa Valley. We plan to stay there until Friday then we will go to Monterey where we will be for 12 days and the U.S. Open.

June 5, Wildlife Safari

Today we went in search of covered bridges, wild animals and wineries and we found them all. We saw two covered bridges; the one above is the Neil Lane Bridge and is one of the shortest in Oregon (only 42 feet) but it was really neat. We found two wineries; both of them were really small and in one of them (Spangler) we got to talk to the owner which was nice.

We took a drive through the Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon. It is a non-profit facility that works with injured animals. They are also nationally known for breeding cheetahs. We finally got to see bears. I tried to take a picture of an ostrich but in was hitting the window of the truck with it's beak and the only thing I could see through the camera was the beak! I just thought the pictures of the giraffe and llama were nice pictures so thought I would share. We thought we would have a sunny day but no - no rain but just a grey, cloudy day. We are off to California tomorrow so maybe we will see some sun.

June 3, Crater Lake

We were hoping that we could find a tour to go to Crater Lake but they were incredibly expensive and the starting point was about 100 miles from us so we decided we would be our own tour guide. It was a round trip of about 285 miles but we saw some amazing stuff even though it rained on us for the last half of the day. We started out on Highway 138 which is nicknamed the Highway of Waterfalls. The first waterfall we saw was called Toketee Waterfall and it was beautiful.

A few more miles down the road we came to Clearwater Falls. Toketee Falls were spectacular but Clearwater Falls were beautiful and we didn't have to hike a mile to see them.

We then made our way up to Crater Lake which is the deepest lake in North America. There was about 8 feet of snow on the ground and you could only drive 1 mile along the rim because the rest of the roads were closed due to snow. It was also raining when we got there and I guess we were lucky to get this picture as it had been covered in fog for most of the day. The island in the middle of the picture is called Wizard Island.

On the way back from Crater Lake we accidentally found this which is the Rogue River Gorge. There is an amazing amount of water flowing through "lava tubes". The information on this said that you could fill an olympic size swimming pool in a minute from the amount of water that comes down these tubes. We also found a natural bridge which we thought would be a boulder with a big hole in the middle for the water to come through. Not so; it is actually underground and the water goes underground for about 25 feet and then magically appears again. Since there has been so much rain it was actually flowing over the bridge as well as under it but we could see the water coming out at the end of the bridge. It was a little crazy. We finally made it back to the trailer about 5 p.m. after a long but very cool day.

They are now forecasting more rain tomorrow but it should be slowing down tomorrow afternoon and they are predicting a sunny, warm day on Saturday - could our soggy trip be drying out!!!

June 2, Canyonville, OR

Today we drove from Albany, OR to Canyonville, OR and it rained on us the entire time. The countryside was beautiful with lots of agriculture. We saw lots of sheep and cows on the 135 mile ride.

This is our campsite for the next 4 nights. It is 7 Feathers RV Resort and is the nicest resort we have ever stayed at. We were planning to just spend 3 nights here but it is so nice we decided to spend an extra day. There is a casino here that is really nice and they pick you up in a shuttle so we don't have to drive over. Crater Lake and Diamond Lake are close by and we have heard that there are tours to go to them. We haven't been able to find out any information yet but are going to see what we can find. It would be nice to go on a tour so Wayne could actually enjoy the scenery instead of having to drive all the time. It is almost 5 o'clock here and the sun is trying to come out. It is supposed to rain for the next two days, however, so we will see.

June 1, Albany, Oregon

We played golf today at a course called Trysting Tree in Corvallis. It is the Oregon State Beavers' home golf course. It was a really fun golf course and it only sprinkled on us a couple times. Once again, we forgot the camera so have no pictures.

We did find out today that it is illegal to pump your own gas in Oregon! We had wondered because when we stop for gas here someone always comes out to pump the gas. We asked someone why this was and they said it was creating jobs. Crazy!!

Tomorrow we are off to Canyonville which is in southern Oregon. We plan to stay there for 3 nights and then will be moving into California. The forecast for the next 3 days is heavy rain, more rain and rain!! Can't wait.

Albany, Oregon May 31

We are now in Albany, Oregon which is about 60 miles south of Portland. I posted this picture because you can actually see the blue sky. It has rained on us a couple times today but we were able to sit outside and have a glass of wine this afternoon which was really nice. We went to see a couple wineries today. They are all small and privately owned here and most of them don't grow their own grapes but bring them in from somewhere else. We are here until Wednesday and are thinking about playing golf tomorrow if the weather is good.

Hope you all had a great Memorial Day.

May 29, Tillamook, OR

Today we went to the Latimer Quilt and Textile Center here in Tillamook. The above quilt was called "Window to the World" and it was just beautiful. This center is really something amazing. They have weaving classes, spinning classes, etc. The quilts that were on display when we were there were all small and miniature. There were a couple that were really tiny. It was a pretty cool place.

While at the Latimer Center we learned that there was a Quilt Trail through and around Tillamook. There were 14 of these quilt squares on barns all around the town. They are also in the process of doing this throughout downtown Tillamook. It was fun to drive all over looking for these squares. There was also a quilt fair going on so we stopped there and saw some more amazing quilts.

These flowers are Rhododendron (spelling ?) and are all over the Northwest. They are beautiful and come in all different colors. We also have been traveling in and out of Tsunami hazard areas. There are evacuation routes posted and instructions what to do in case of an earthquake and/or tsunami. The instructions for a tsnuami are pretty simple "head for higher ground as quickly as possible".

One more day here in Tillamook - will be a very quiet day as we are just going to take it easy and watch the Indy 500. Happy Memorial Day.

Tillamook, Oregon May 28

Yes, today we left Washington and entered Oregon. In Washington it was cold and rainy most of the time and so far in Oregon it has been cold, rainy and foggy! We drove down Hwy 101 today which is a beautiful drive but not much fun in the rain when you are pulling a trailer. We arrived at our campground about 1:30. It is nice but close to the Hwy so are hearing lots of traffic but it should slow down tonight. We went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory today which was fun but we didn't get to see as much as I had hoped. We got to see the production line where they packaged the cheese but that was all. The cheese samples were good, however. Also, much to our surprise, Tillamook cheese has really good ice cream which we had to sample - it was hard to choose from 38 flavors but wouldn't you know that Wayne and I picked the same one (Caramel Toffee Crunch) and it was really good.

We took a drive after the cheese factory to Cape Meares which is where the above pictures are from. This was really beautiful today, can't imagine what it would be like on a sunny day. There is a chance that the weather will clear some tomorrow so maybe we will take a drive out again. There is a quilt museum here that we are going to see tomorrow. We found the local Elks club and had a great dinner and are now back home ready to go to bed. That is the really nice thing about pulling this trailer all over the country - you always get to go home at night!

May 27, Day 22 Ocean City Beach

We had a very quiet day today. For the first time in a couple weeks we had a sunny day; the high just barely made it to 60 but the sun was really nice. These pictures are from our walk on the beach at Ocean City today. There are not very many seashells on the West coast it seems. We also saw this star fish just laying on the beach.

We picked up the truck and it is running really good. We were suppose to stay here one more day but have decided to head to Tillamook tomorrow instead of Saturday. Actually, we both thought we were leaving tomorrow anyway; we had lost track of what day it was.

May 26, Quinault Rain Forest, Day 21

Today our day started with a 9:00 appointment at the Ford dealership in Aberdeen. The truck has been working fine but was making some strange noises when we drove down from Seattle so Wayne thought we should have it looked at while we had the opportunity. It was a good thing because the turbo charger was in the process of going out. They said that we could probably make it through the trip but it was covered by the warranty and they could do it today and have it done by tomorrow at noon so we decided to go ahead. They are replacing the whole turbo and changing the oil so it should be like a new truck when we pick it up tomorrow. We rented a little car and decided to head up to the Quinault Rain Forest and the above picture is what we drove in. Once again, it has been raining all day but has stopped now. This rain forest is only about 50 miles from Forks so I kept seeing vampires coming out of the woods!

This is the largest spruce tree in the world and is in the rain forest. It is 1000 years old.

These falls are called the Merriman Falls. We drove down this deserted road for about 5 miles and there it was. We had been told by a local that it was there, good thing or we would have never gone down this road.

This is Lake Quinault which is right in the middle of the rain forest. It was a good day and we are so glad that we took the truck in to have it checked. One more day here in the rain than on to Tillamook, Oregon to see what we can see.