Sizzling in Fresno!

We are in Fresno.  It's a bit warm, it's been over 100 degrees!  I felt bad for Ted having to set up the RV yesterday afternoon in the heat!  But he did it!

I had texted Chip and Stephen, two of the three nephews to see if they were available for dinner.  Chip has been working out of town so didn't know if he would be around.  Stephen answered and we thought we were meeting he and Marissa for dinner.  We had a nice surprise, Chip was there too!  It was fun catching up with the kids and what they have been doing since we saw them in May.  Marissa surprised me with a Starbucks card for my birthday...my favorite!

This morning we were supposed to meet Chip for brunch but he cancelled on us.  We had a good breakfast at Huckleberry's without him!  After Stephen gets off work today he and Chip are driving to San Francisco.  They will pick up Craig and Claire from their honeymoon trip and spend a few days in San Francisco with them.  Stephen said they called from the ship and said they were having a great time but sounded a bit homesick too!  Can't wait to hear about their trip!

We head out tomorrow.  We will be in Menifee tomorrow night and have an appointment at our Ford Service place that we like for the first oil change and to have them take a look at a couple of things.  We have 6,000 miles on our truck which means we have driven over 5,500 miles since June 13th!  Wow!

Spending time with Chip, Stephen & Marissa..."Ain't Life Grand!"

A nice 60th Birthday!

I had a very nice birthday!  It was nice to be able to easily slip into 60 years old! 

Ted and I ran some errands and I had a white chocolate mocha for lunch (my favorite)!  We visited with our friends Joel and Lale who live in Sacramento and we went to a local Italian restaurant.  We had a good salad and shared a pizza!  All very delicious!

Today we went to see the new Harry Potter movie and really enjoyed it!  It's a wrap and done very well!  To me it's amazing at how they made those movies.  I'm sure they couldn't do it without computers, but it is very impressive!

Tomorrow we leave Sacramento and will be down in Fresno tomorrow afternoon.  Craig (oldest) is still on his honeymoon.  Chip (middle) may be on the road working so we may only see Stephen and his girlfriend!  We will be there until Sunday morning.

Turning 60 years old..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Back in California!

On Sunday we headed south on the Redwood Highway 101 into California.  It is such a beautiful drive along the coast!

Our destination was Arcata, California, to visit our friends Denny and Sherry.  Sherry picked us up yesterday and we went to the town square for lunch at the Big Blue Cafe.  After lunch we walked around the shops in the square (skipping the several local taverns)!  Then we went to the movies to see "Midnight in Paris".  In the beginning of the movie they show you all around Paris and it brought back some great memories!  We really enjoyed the movie! 

We then went to see the new house Denny and Sherry recently purchased.  Denny is a professor at Humboldt University.  Sherry has her own computer business.  She installs software for her clients and handles their computer problems.   They are both planning to retire at the end of the next school year and now have their "retirement home"!  It is a lovely two story home nestled in the redwoods.  We took some pictures off of one section of their several decks overlooking the forest!

We then went back to the square and had a delicious Italian dinner with them.  It was great visiting with Denny and Sherry for the day!

This morning we were back on the road south on Highway 101, headed for Sacramento.  It is a twisty, winding road.  You see some ocean, then mountains, trees and the Eel river!  We turned east on 20 over hills and past Clear Lake (I was driving so no pictures).  The lake is the largest natural freshwater lake entirely in California!  It is 19 miles long by 8 miles wide!  It seemed to have a lot of algae around the edges of the lake.

It was a lovely drive and we are now in Sacramento.  We have some friends we will visit here for a few days.

Enjoying the California coastline..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Sightseeing in Florence!

Yesterday we visited the Oregon Dunes, about a mile down the road from our campground.  The dunes are so large you can't even see the ocean!  At the end of the road is the inlet to the Suislaw River and about 4 miles east is the bridge and Old Town Florence.  50 years ago European Beachgrass was introduced to help keep the sand from blowing away.  Unfortunately, it takes over and is hard to get rid of.  They can't dig it out, it grows back.  They can't burn or flood it out.  No animals like to eat it and it is impervius to bugs!  It is keeping the sand in place however, and there were people out enjoying the dunes with ATV's and dune buggies!

Then we drove north up the coast of Oregon to see the Heceta Head Lighthouse.  Pronounced “Ha – SEE – Ta” by most, “HECK – ah – Ta” by others, yet everyone agrees Heceta Head is one of the most beautiful lighthouses in the world. The Heceta Head Lighthouse and Light Keeper’s house are circa 1894. Both are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The lighthouse is closed for a year or two to visitors for rennovations but is still a working lighthouse.  It is 205 feet above the ocean and casts a beam some 21 miles out to sea, the brightest light on the Oregon coast. 

It is a beautiful drive along the coast.  As we came back in town Ted noticed the Hot Rod Grill!  Had to take a picture!  Have no idea if the food is any good, but it sure is fun!

Seeing the "light of the seas"..."Ain't Life Grand!"

A day in Florence

Yesterday was a fun day in Florence.  We took off from the campground crossing the Florence Oregon Bridge that was built in 1926 by Conde McCullough.  The bridge is celebrated for it's Art Deco arches and romanesque design. Gracefully reaching across the Siuslaw River, the bridge is 4 miles inland from the Pacific.  We had lunch in Old Town Florence right on the river at Traveler's Cove.  I had the crab caeser salad with beer bread, yum!

We walked off our lunch with a little shopping!  They have some great little shops.  Ted bought me a pretty and unique pair of earrings and neclace for my birthday, we found a couple of gifts for friends and enjoyed talking to the shop owners.  We ended up our shopping with coffee for me and a smoothie for Ted! 

One of Ted's high school classmates, Ben Hatheway and his wife Diana, live in Florence.  We gave them a call and they were available to meet us for dinner.  We had dinner at the Firehouse Restaurant in Old Town Florence.  We had a good dinner and then had a visit in their lovely home.  They have beautiful gardens both in their front and back yards.  Ben has a super duper communications center set up with ham gear and more.  Diana creates beautiful greeting cards in her lovely studio and sells them at two stores in Old Town.  Ben took us for a drive and showed us around town.  They are really enjoying retirement in Florence!

Spending time with old and new friends..."Ain't life Grand!"

Florence, Oregon

Yesterday we got two new tires on the RV and then headed to Florence.  It was another beautiful drive! We drove by Fern Ridge Lake which has six parks, including Perkins Peninsula, and offers a variety of day use recreation  such as picnicking, swimming, sailing, powerboating, jet skiing, skiing, fishing, and hunting. The lake and surrounding extensive wetlands provide habitat for several species of wildlife and waterfowl. This Wildlife Refuge is home to an assortment of fish: crappie, bass, trout and catfish, carp; over 200 varieties of birds; and a lot of beavers, muskrats, nutria, otters, raccoons, opossums, deer and ground squirrels.

We drove through many beautiful pines, saw a deer on the side of the road and caught up with the Suislaw River.  The river followed us all the way to Florence and to the Pacific Ocean.  We are about 2 miles south of Florence and our campground is very wooded with lots of pine trees.  I was reading the campground info and they had two notices about bears; what to do if you run across one and how to keep the garbage bins closed so they can't get in.  This surprised me, and Max and I will not be out walking at night.  We will also make lots of noise when taking our walk!

Ted and I are going into Florence and will look around the town today.  We will be here until Saturday and we are so thankful to be in a cool part of the country.  We feel bad for those suffering the heat around the country!
 
Watching out for bears..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Harrisburg Oregon

We left Sunriver Oregon this morning and traveled over the Cascade Mountain range toward Eugene.   It was sunny one minute and then cold and cloudy the next.  It rained on us several times.  It was such a pretty drive over the mountain.  Lots of pine trees and the McKenzie River runs along side a lot of the highway!  I found out that Oregon has 51 covered bridges, the most of anywhere west of the Mississippi River.  We actually saw one of them today and I captured a picture as we drove by.

We got to the River Bend campground in Harrisburg.  It is a nice campground right on the Williamette River.  When I was walking Max, a lady walking her dog mentioned seeing a muskrat eating grass.  Max and I found it eating away!  It wasn't even too bothered by us.  I didn't get too close but did get it's picture.  The Freightliner chassis that is in the picture, is parked in an RV spot.  Apparently they are having some sort of class so it is set up for the demonstration.  The RV park also has a hotel and lots of banquet rooms!

Tomorrow morning we go south to Junction City, about 5 miles, to Camping World to get two new tires for the RV.  From there we will go back down to Eugene and then west to Florence on the coast!

Taking a beautiful drive over the mountains..."Ain't Life Grand!"