A Brief Foray Back into California to Close Out the Summer

Hi friends, our last episode concluded on Wednesday, September 5^th when we finally arrived back in California, stopping at the Redding, California Elks Lodge and meeting up with our great friends Peggy and Vernon Bullock. Thursday was a chores day for us. We left the coach about noon and drove south to Anderson, about ten miles, to get our mail from the UPS Service Center where we had asked to have it forwarded. We first wanted to get lunch and we had identified a Chinese place that had great Yelp ratings, however, when we found the place it was closed. We went to another Chinese place, also with high ratings, and found it to be a small take out place, kind of like a Chinese version of a taquaria. We finally settled on a place called Peacock Chinese which was right off the freeway in Anderson. It was a nice enough place with good service. The food was plentiful and not overly expensive and was good, just not great. It lacked a bit of flavor.

After lunch we went to the UPS center, only to find it still closed for lunch. We went out and located a geocache near the center, and by the time we got back it was open. We got our mail, which came by UPS, and we also got a package from Amazon with our Folger's low acid coffee that is getting hard to find in stores. We ordered it from Amazon, never thinking that Amazon now uses the U.S. Postal Service for a lot of it's deliveries, not just UPS. Fortunately for us, someone in the UPS Service Center must have seen the name and looked and their computer to see that we also had a UPS package delivered that same day. They accepted the mail package, even though they probably shouldn't have. Even the clerk in the service center was surprised that the two packages had been sitting on the shelf side by side. After we had our mail we drove back up to Redding and did a badly needed Costco run. With our summer travels we had pretty much exhausted our supply of meat in the freezer. The one thing we didn't need, surprisingly, was vodka. We still have one full case from the stock that we took on board before we left Las Vegas back in June. After Costco we went back to the coach and unloaded everything and got it all packaged up and put away, most of it in the freezer.

By the time we were done it was late afternoon and we decided to just stay in for the rest of the day. About 5:00 we had the Bullock's over for cocktails and then we did a BBQ for the four of us. Jackie and the Bullock's all had lamb chops which we had bought today at Costco and I had a nice rib eye steak since I don't care for lamb. We had a great meal and talked until about 8:00 when they went back to their coach and we watched some TV.

Friday, September 7^th, we woke up to find that the winds had shifted and were now coming out of the north, carrying all the smoke from the wildfire burning just 20 miles or so north of Redding. This is the fire that is burning up the canyon through which the Sacramento River, Interstate 5 and the main railroad line all run north and south. The freeway was closed in both directions on Wednesday when the fire started, only a couple of hours after we had passed through the area. When I first woke up this morning I got dressed to go for my morning walk, but when I went outside I could barely see across the parking lot because of the smoke. The smell was overwhelming and you could even taste the ash in the air. I decided to skip my walk. About noon we went out with Peggy and Vernon to do lunch at a little Mexican place across the river that they liked. The food was OK, but not outstanding. Peggy and Vernon had some errands to run, so after lunch Jackie and I did a Walmart run and then went back to the coach to hide out from the smoke.

We had already made plans to go to visit Peggy's son Matt, and his wife Roxanne, for dinner, so around 5:00 we left and drove to their house. The winds had shifted a little and the smoke had cleared a little bit, but it was still pretty ugly out. They live about five miles north of the Elks Lodge, just outside the city limits. They have a very nice house and quite a bit of property. The wildfire that ravaged the area around, and the fringes of, Redding about four weeks ago, had caused Matt and Roxanne to be evacuated from their house for a few days. Fortunately the fire stayed quite a ways south, so they didn't have any damage in their area. We were originally going to have hamburgers on the BBQ at Matt's, but Peggy and Jackie got to playing cards with Roxanne, Matt's daughter Trinity, and Roxanne's son Carver, and time got away from them. Matt ended up calling Round Table for pizza and we all had pizza for dinner. We stayed until about 8:30 and then drove back to the Elk's lodge. We watched a little TV and then went to bed.

Saturday, September 8^th, the Bullock's came over for lunch because we had almost a full pizza left from last night's dinner. We warmed it up and all had pizza for lunch. After lunch the four of us went out to do an hour or so of driving around some of the area burned last month during the Carr fire, which devastated a huge area. This fire burned over 225 thousand acres, much of it inside of Redding or in nearby suburbs. Nearly 1,100 homes were destroyed, along with dozens of business and hundreds of out buildings. In addition, eight people lost their lives as a result of the fire. We toured just a small area to the northwest of the Elks Lodge and saw hundreds of burned homes. After looking at some of the fire damage we stopped at a grocery store so Peggy could get a few things. We then went back to the RV park and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. The Bullock's came over about 5:00 for cocktails and their daughter Katie also came to visit. We talked and then Jackie served a nice dinner of chili relleno casserole. We had a great dinner and a nice visit. They left around 7:30 and we just watched some TV until bedtime.

Sunday, September 9^th, I went out and got the Sunday paper and we relaxed for the morning. Peggy and Vernon left the Elks around 9:00 to go out on an outing with their kids somewhere in Northern Nevada. We were going to go out today and do our laundry, but the winds shifted again overnight and the smoke was thick in the air. We decided to just stay in all day and stay out of the smoke. We played some games, watched some movies on TV and just had a relaxing day. Monday was another moving day. We were packed up and on the road about 10:00, heading about 175 miles south to Carmichael, a suburb of Sacramento. The smoke was thick again this morning and driving south on Interstate 5 we didn't get out from under the smoke until we were nearly 100 miles south of Redding. We also noted on the Internet that the Highway Patrol finally opened Interstate 5 north of Redding, with one lane north and one lane south. This 40 mile stretch had been closed since last Wednesday when the Delta fire started. We arrived at the Carmichael Elks Lodge around 1:30 and found that they had lots of sites open. We got parked, signed in and set up, then just relaxed for the rest of the day. It was hot, mid-nineties, but no smoke! Yea!

Tuesday, September 11^th, Patriot's Day, a day we will all remember in sad detail. We went out after lunch and did our laundry. After everything was done we went home and put everything away, then left again around 5:00 and drove to nearby Folsom and the Cliff House of Folsom restaurant. We went there to meet with one of Jackie's old friends, Kathy Yarbourgh and her husband Bill. Jackie was great friends with Kathy back in the 80's when they both worked in the Coachella Valley. Jackie has also known Kathy's daughter Julie since she was little. Julie, her significant

other Kevin, and their daughter Bella Bliss also came to dinner. We got there a little early and started a cocktail before the other five arrived. We had a great dinner and spent a couple of hours talking and catching up. We usually try to stop any time we are going up and down through California, but because of our travels back east last summer we were last here in July of 2016. After dinner we found our way back home in the dark, no easy feat in a strange city, watched a little TV and then went to bed.

Wednesday, September 12^th, we went out after lunch and did few geocaches, getting four new finds, including a milestone, find number 9,300. After caching we went back to the coach, cleaned up a little, and then drove over to our friend's Curt and Sharon Minard. They live only about a mile from the Elks in Carmichael. They invited us to dinner and also invited some other mutual friends, Dave and Karen Van Egdon. Both of these couples are RVing friends that we met through Peggy and Vernon Bullock. They all belong to a Central California RV club, the Gold Panners. We had cocktails and talked for a while. Sharon served some great snacks, and then a wonderful meal of lasagna and salad. We had a wonderful time catching up with these folks, who we also had last seen almost two years ago, although we do keep up with both couples through social media. We talked after dinner until about 8:30, when we went back to the coach and watched some TV before going to bed. Another great evening with friends. Thursday we decided to just have a stay at home day. Did a few chores and just relaxed.

Friday, September 14^th, another travel day. We left Carmichael about 10:00 and started south towards Fresno, about 175 miles. Although the weather was great, the rough California freeways and the very heavy traffic, especially big trucks, made it a long and stressful trip. Nonetheless, we made it safely to the Fresno Elks Lodge about 1:30 and got parked. We had made reservations and it was a good thing because the only open spot was the one reserved for us. As soon as we got plugged in and the basic set up done we left and went to a nearby Mexican restaurant, Plaza Ventana, for a late lunch. The food was pretty good, with only a couple minor complaints. After we ate we went back to the Elks and finished getting set up for our four night stay here. After getting set up we just relaxed for the rest of the day. We are here primarily to visit with Jackie's second cousin Stephanie Kopf and her family, another of our regular Central California stops.

Saturday, September 15^th, we left the RV park about noon and drove to a nearby In N Out burger restaurant for lunch. It has been three months since we had one of our favorite lunches, so we really enjoyed it. Oddly, when we pulled into the In N Out, one of several in Fresno, there was a big, gray Prevost bus parked on the street and the only writing on it was “In N Out USA” in orange letters. We thought maybe it was the owner of the chain, a young woman who is the granddaughter of the founders, or maybe an inspection team from the corporate office in Los Angeles. I asked one of the young clerks inside when I picked up my food, but he wasn't aware of any official visitors. Come to find out, it was a bus full of what appeared to be Japanese tourists who had been eating in the restaurant. Since we didn't realize it until they left, we weren't able to ask any of them, although they all seemed to only be speaking in Japanese. I guess we will be left wondering.

After lunch we went out and did a couple hours of geocaching, getting ten new finds, and one DNF, before deciding to stop. This is an active caching area with lots of caches, but most of the ones we got were by one caching team and they were all very clever and interesting caches. Although we really are about the numbers, we do like when a cache owner puts some thought into the design and placement of a cache. After we were done with caching we did a Walmart run. The closest Walmart to the Elks was a Supercenter, but it was one of the most uninviting Walmart's we have been to in a long time. A smaller than usual building made it very crowded because of the size it was organized completely differently. Finally, it had way more than it's fair share of what we call “Wall Martians”, the odd looking people you occasionally run across when shopping. We got our stuff, then went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Sunday, September 16^th, I went out and got the local Sunday paper and we had our normal, relaxing Sunday morning. After lunch we went out and did a few geocaches, getting six new finds. About 3:00 or so we drove over to Ron and Stephanie's house. They had driven down to Malibu yesterday for a family wedding, which was the reason we didn't visit them yesterday. They drove back today and texted us that they were now home. Home is different from where it was almost two years ago when we were here to visit. They moved from the rental house they had lived in for a number of years and finally got their own house in a brand new subdivision in a county area about five miles south

east of the Fresno airport. We arrived at the house and the whole family was home, Stephanie, the oldest boy Tyler, the next oldest Bryce, and their daughter Maddie. Ron was out getting their dog from “doggie daycare” when we arrived, but home shortly with Tucker, a very large, but nice looking and friendly Rottweiler. We sat and talked, catching up after not seeing the family for a couple years. Ron is still working out of town, now in San Francisco as an electrician. He is currently on a job renovating a hotel downtown. He stays in the bay area during the week and drives home on the weekends. Ron went out and got some pizzas for dinner and we had a nice family dinner with them We left about 7:30 because Ron had to get to bed since he gets up about 3:00 a.m. on Mondays so he can get to work on time. We drove back to the Elks, then watched a little TV before going to bed.

Monday, September 17^th, we had mostly a stay at home day. Stephanie, who works two hours a day over the lunch period at Maddie's school, came by the coach after she got off work. She and Jackie sat around for an hour or so talking and then decided that we needed to go to Sam's Club. Stephanie doesn't have a membership, but she could in on ours, so we drove to the Sam's Club which is only a few miles north of the Elks. We spent an hour or so in Sam's, getting most of the stuff that we hadn't been able to get at Costco last week. We then drove back to the coach and Jackie and Stephanie sat and talked for another hour or so. Stephanie left around 5:00 and we just relaxed for the remainder of the evening.

Tuesday, September 18^th, another travel day. We were packed up and on the road about 10:00, heading southwest to Santa Maria and the Elks lodge there. The trip was about 174 miles, much the same as the last one, but the roads were generally better and there wasn't as much traffic. All in all it was a pretty smooth drive. We arrived at the Santa Maria Elks about 1:30 and got parked in one of their full hookup spots. Full hookup, 50 amp sites are $25, quite the bargain considering what we have been paying at regular RV parks lately. Regular readers will know that the reason we come to the Central Coast so often is that Jackie's Aunt Donna, who is 93, lives in nearby Pismo Beach with her grandson Corey. Donna is Jackie's last relative from that generation and she has always been very close to her. We got set up and had expected that Corey was going to come over, along with John Perez, another of Jackie's younger cousins, who is visiting with Corey for a few days. John and Jackie are also quite close. However, Corey called and said that some things had come up and that they would not be coming over today and would see us tomorrow when we go over there. We had dinner and then relaxed with the TV for the rest of the evening. We are going to be here in Santa Maria for nine days, the longest we have been anywhere since Gillette, Wyoming back in July.

Wednesday, September 19^th, we left the coach around 2:30 and drove to the Santa Maria KFC to pick up a bucket of chicken for dinner at Donna's tonight. The KFC in south Santa Maria is the only one in the area. We then drove over to Pismo Beach and met Corey and John at Scotty's bar, Corey's hangout when he gets time off from caring for Donna. We had one drink and talked, then drove up to the house. Jackie's cousin Judy, who goes by Pia, was already at the house. Pia lives in Grover Beach, the next town south of Pismo. We all sat around and talked, catching up since we last saw most of the group back in May. We haven't seen John for over a year. Pia didn't stay long and left before we had dinner. About 6:30 we warmed up the chicken and fixings and had a nice dinner. We left about 8:30 and headed back to the Elks, watched a little TV and then went to bed.

Thursday, September 20^th, we left the coach after lunch and went out to do some geocaching, getting seven new finds and two DNFs in a little under two hours. About 3:00 we drove to Pismo and Donna's house where we had another nice visit. Donna, Corey and John were there. Pia had said she would try to come over, but she never did. We left about 4:30, drove back to the Elks and then just relaxed for the rest of the evening. Friday we went out after lunch and did a Walmart run. After Walmart we went back to the coach and spent the rest of the day doing a few chores and relaxing.

Saturday, September 22^nd, Happy Autumnal Equinox, also known as “Fall.” As of today the days will be getting shorter until the official beginning of Winter in December. We left the coach about 11:30 and drove to one of the movie theaters in Santa Maria to see a matinee. We saw The Spy Who Dumped Me, with Saturday Night Live star Kate McKinnon and Mila Kunis. It was, of course, a comedic farce about a couple of clueless friends when one of them inadvertently gets hooked up with an international spy. We like these kinds of movies and we enjoyed this one. It won't win any Oscar nominations, but it was pretty funny. After the movies we drove to Arroyo Grande and we both got haircuts. Jackie gets hers done about once a month, I usually go about six months between cuts. After we got our hair cuts we stopped in at Trader Joe's, which was conveniently right next door, and got a few things for the freezer. We then drove to Donna's and spent a couple of hours with the family. About 5:30 we headed back to the coach, had dinner and watched TV until bedtime. Sunday was a stay at home day. I got the paper in the morning and then spent most of the day doing office work. The Elks had a Family Day picnic on the grass field behind our coach, so we listened to the kids playing all day.

Monday, September 24^th, we left the Elks about noon and went to Costco for a few things. We got gas in the car and then had lunch at the snack bar. We then did our shopping and returned back to the coach. About 4:00 we left again and drove to Nipomo for dinner at Jocko's with family. Regular readers will remember that we call Jocko's the best steakhouse in the country and we try to come here at least once during each visit. We met Corey, John and Pia there and the five of us had a cocktail and then a wonderful dinner. Jackie had her usual lamb chops and I had my usual rib eye steak. The food was excellent, the visit with family great, and we had leftovers for lunch tomorrow. After dinner we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Tuesday, September 25^th, we went out after lunch to do our laundry and run some errands. We got the laundry done and then stopped at Lowes and Walmart for a few things before returning to the coach. We unloaded everything into the coach and then left again to drive to Donna's for a visit. John had left this morning so it was now down to just Corey and Donna at the house. We had a cocktail and visited for a while, then left around 6:00. We stopped at Juan's Cantina in Oceano, a pretty good local Mexican place, and had a nice dinner. After dinner we went home, put everything away from our chores this afternoon, and then relaxed with the TV until bedtime. All of the new TV shows, and returning shows that we already watch, are starting to record this week, so we will have a lot of TV to watch. Wednesday we went out after lunch and stopped at Office Max for a couple things. We then drove over to Donna's to visit for a couple hours and say our goodbyes for now. We are leaving Santa Maria in the morning. After our visit we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Thursday, September 27^th, we were packed up and on the road about 10:30, heading east. Our ultimate destination is Laughlin, Nevada, about 400 miles east. We are going there for a five day stay including a rally with one of our FMCA groups, Beat the Odds. This is a small chapter that only has two rallies a year, Spring and Fall, both now in Laughlin. As the name would imply, it is primarily centered around casinos and gambling. Our first leg, for today, was about 140 miles to Bakersfield. We arrived at the RV park in Bakersfield around 1:00, got registered, parked and set up then just relaxed. This is a one night stay, so we didn't even unhook the car. Friday we were on the road for stage 2, 150 miles to Newberry Springs, a small town just east of Barstow. We arrived at the RV park around 1:30, got registered and parked, only to discover that there was no power to the pedestal. The maintenance people came and checked, and after some looking discovered that one of the large fuses for the main supply to the park had blown. This was something that could only be fixed by the power company. It was just over 100 degrees and they had no idea how long it might take to fix, so we got our money back and backtracked 15 miles to an RV park in Dagget that we have been to several times before. They had a spot for us, so we got set up and again just stayed in for the rest of the day.

Saturday, September 29^th, we left Dagget around 9:30 and continued east on the final leg, 170 miles to Laughlin. We arrived at the Riverside RV park just before 1:00, got registered, parked and set up. We will be here for five days, with the rally actually starting on Monday we have a couple of free days. After we got set up we just rested for the rest of the day.  Our arrival here in Nevada, our home state, is pretty close to marking the end of this summer's travels. When we leave here next Thursday we will be heading to Pahrump for a two month stay at our “Home” park. Therefore, this also represents a good place to close out this chapter and get it published. Until next time remember that your bed is that magical place where you suddenly remember all the things you need to do. See ya soon.

Cruising the Northwest: Idaho and Oregon

Hello again, welcome back. Our last chapter concluded on Wednesday, August 15^th, when we arrived in Caldwell, Idaho, a suburb of Boise in Southwestern Idaho. On Thursday we left the coach about 11:30 and drove to the nearby city of Nampa to meet with Troy and Makayla Bullock. Troy is the grandson of our great friends Peggy and Vernon Bullock and we have seen them many times over the past few years. Until last year Troy was in the Marine Corps stationed in Yuma at the Air Station there, so we would see he and his wife every winter when we were down there. Troy's enlistment ended last summer and he and Makayla moved to Prescott, Arizona where he was going to helicopter flight school. After about six months and upon learning that Makayla was pregnant, they decided to move to Idaho, near Boise where Makayla's parents live.  They bought a house in Meridian, a small town just north of where we are staying in Caldwell.We met them at the Red Robin restaurant in Nampa and had a very nice lunch. We spent a couple hours talking about their new baby and new house and what they are doing here in Idaho. It was great seeing these very happy young people again. After lunch we did a Walmart run and then headed back to the coach for the rest of the afternoon and evening. We did do a few caches, getting four new finds, before returning to the RV park.

Friday, August 17^th, we left the coach after lunch and drove to the nearby town of Middleton, which happened to be the town that Troy and Makayla live in. We went up there to do our laundry as there was a laundromat there that had pretty good ratings. We spent a couple of hours doing laundry then started back towards the RV park, doing a few geocaches along the way. We got four new finds before arriving back at the coach. After we put everything away we just relaxed for the rest of the day.

Saturday, August 18^th, 8-18-18. Jackie got out of bed just in time to take a picture of the digital clock in the living room showing 8:18, to it was 8:18 on 8-18. Silly, but fun to think about. Today was another travel day. We got out on the road just before 11:00, going only a short distance today, about 56 miles north to an RV park called Catfish Junction. The park is technically in Huntington, Oregon, but it on the Snake river, which forms the border between Idaho and Oregon in this area. The closest real town to the RV park is Weiser, Idaho, about 20 miles east. The park was nice, we are parked within a hundred yards of the river with full hookups. I did go out and pick up a geocache that was conveniently hidden right on the RV park property. We kind of needed to get a cache today because it was International Geocaching Day and we got a virtual souvenir for finding a cache today. I know only other geocachers will understand all this, oh well.

The reason we came here was to see a friend of Jackie's from her early days in Indio in the late 80's and early 90's. Sandarah Lee worked with another friend of Jackie's in Indio and started hanging around Jackie and her other friends despite being 30 years younger. Everyone kind of took her on as a “kid sister” taking her to bars and parties even though she was only 20. Sandarah got married and left Indio around 1996 and moved to Idaho and Jackie lost touch with her. Jackie really started thinking about her again in 2009 when we relocated our legal residency to Pahrump because she remembered that Sandarah's family was originally in Pahrump and that was where she grew up. A couple of years ago Jackie was finally able to get in touch with Sandarah thanks to Facebook and learned that she and her husband Mabon Cornwell were living in, or near, Cambridge, Idaho, a small mountain town a hundred miles north of Boise. Since we knew that our travels this summer were going to bring us to within fifty or sixty miles from where they lived, we included a stop here so that they could have a reunion.

A week or so ago Jackie learned that Sandarah and Mabon were going to bring their camp trailer down today and spend Saturday and Sunday with us in the RV park. They would have liked to stay longer, but Sandarah works at the at a school near where they live and school starts this coming Monday, so they have to go home. We got parked and were about half set up when Sandarah and Mabon arrived and parked in the space right next to us. She and Jackie had a great reunion and we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening sitting outside with them talking and catching up. Their youngest son Parker also drove down to spend the day. He is now 18 years old. They are very “outdoorsy” people, living in the mountains and being caretakers on a game ranch in the mountains. They do a lot of hunting and fishing and real camping, not the “glamping” that we do. Mabon is also a former Marine and is my age. It turns out that he arrived at Boot Camp in San Diego within a couple weeks of when I graduated from Boot Camp. He was unfortunate enough to be sent to Vietnam and was wounded badly enough to get a disability retirement.

We had a great afternoon and for dinner we all five went into our coach to have some pheasant alfredo made by Mabon. I have never had pheasant and wasn't sure what to expect, but it was very good, no gamy taste at all. He also made some blackberry cobbler from berries they picked on their property. We ended up sitting and talking until after 11:00 when we finally went to bed.

Sunday, August 19^th, we spent some time sitting with Sandarah and Mabon in the morning. Parker left mid morning to head back to his apartment to study for some exam in his training to become a power lineman. Sandarah and Mabon left about 1:00 or so to head back home, so we were on our own again. We left shortly after they did and drove to the town of Weiser, Idaho, about 20 miles east, just to do some exploring and geocaching. Weiser is a town of about 5,000 that started back in the late 19^th century as a ferry operation crossing the Snake River. It came to greater prominence in the early 20^th century as a railroad town and agricultural support center. We drove around town for a while and got one geocache, after two DNFs, just so we had one for the area. After our exploring we headed back to the RV park and just stayed in for the rest of the evening.

Monday, August 20^th, we woke up to very poor visibility due to smoke. The wind had been blowing very hard all night and blown way more of the smoke from the numerous California and Oregon wildfires into the area. This morning is probably the worst we have seen so far this summer. We went out briefly after lunch to visit Huntington, Oregon, which is the nearest Oregon town and is the post office that serves the RV park. As it turns out, Huntington is a town of about 500 people and it looks like they have a combined income of about eight dollars, the town looks really poor and ramshackle. They had a little country store where we were able to buy a couple of bottles of water, which is really the only thing we needed to get. We did get one geocache at a State Park along the Snake River, then we headed back to the coach and just stayed in out of the smoke for the rest of the day and evening. We played some cards and watched some movies and just relaxed.

Tuesday, August 21^st, we left the coach about 1:30 and headed north on U.S. 95 to visit with Sandarah and Mabon at their house. They live in the hills on a ranch about six miles north of the little town of Cambridge, Idaho. On our way we stopped in Weiser again at the Bi Mart to pick up a couple of things. We then continued north about 30 miles to Cambridge. We stopped in the little town of Midvale and again in Cambridge to pick up one geocache in each place. We arrived at the Cornwell ranch about 3:30. They have an acre of land that they own, and then they are caretakers for an adjacent 3,000 acre cattle ranch that is owned by a trio of investor doctors. They live in an old wood cabin, probably dating back to the 40's, but they have it fixed up nice and it is pretty good sized.

We sat and talked for a while and then I went out with Mabon for about 45 minutes and he drove around the cattle ranch, showing me the various areas and equipment they have. After that tour we went back and talked some more and had cocktails. Mabon cooked dinner for us again, this time we had elk steak in a marsala sauce with boiled potatoes. The elk was wonderful, very tender and flavorful, with no game taste whatsoever. We had a wonderful meal and a great visit. We finally left about 7:00 and headed back towards the RV park. I didn't want to be out on strange roads after dark if I could help it, and we made it back to the coach before sunset. We watched a little TV and then went to bed.

Wednesday, August 22^nd, another travel day. We were only going a hundred miles north on Interstate 84 to La Grande, Oregon so we didn't need to leave early. In addition, once we are a few miles inside Oregon we go into Pacific time, gaining an hour. We left Catfish Junction right at 11:00 and started north. We stopped for lunch and arrived at the La Grande Rendezvous RV Resort about 12:30. We got settled into our spot and got set up, then just relaxed for the rest of the day. Thursday we left the coach about 10:30 to go out, do some exploring and a little geocaching. La Grande is a small city of about 14,000 in the Grande Ronde Valley of Eastern Oregon. The valley was a favorite stopping place for settlers traveling the Oregon Trail in the 1860's and the settlement was incorporated as a town in 1865. We toured the downtown area, which appears to be somewhat vital with many of the old buildings in use, but there were still a number of buildings in less good repair. It looks like a transitional phase for the city.

After a half hour of touring the city we stopped for lunch at a Greek restaurant called Yia Yia Nikki's. The actual building is probably 1,500 square feet or less and the interior is all kitchen and a small lobby for the order counter. All of the seating is outside on the patio. Jackie had the gyro platter, which was a huge portion of gyro meat along with a Greek salad and pita bread. Jackie said it was probably the best gyro meat she has had. I don't care for lamb, but they had a Greek meatball pita, which was all beef, and I had it with fries. It was fantastic. We are really glad we saw this place on Yelp, as it had four and a half stars with many reviews. We gave it five stars. After lunch we did one of the Oregon Scenic trails loops, which first took us southeast out of La Grande to the town of Union, about 19 miles
away. The first stop, just north of town, was at the Hot Lake Springs Hotel. This is a very large, three story brick building that has had quite a history. It sets on the site of a natural hot spring with 200 degree water and has been a destination since the late 1800's. The lake is small and is almost completely covered in moss and weeds, so it is not a swimming lake. They do bring the hot spring water into the hotel for the baths and pools. The hotel started as a wooden building in the 1890's and in 1907 the current brick section was built making it a huge structure with some 300 rooms capable of handling over a thousand guests. In 1934 the wooden part caught fire and burned down, destroying two thirds of the rooms of the hotel, along with the ballrooms and dining halls. The brick part of the building survived the fire, but business declined and the hotel ended up closing. From the early 40's until the 70's the building served as a nursing home, a hospital, and even an insane asylum. Starting in 1971 it has been owned by a number of individuals and companies and most have tried to make it work as a nightclub, convention center and small hotel, all of which failed. For most of the early 2000's it was simply abandoned and vandals trashed it. It has recently been resold, repaired and is now opened as a Bed and Breakfast, utilizing about a third of the available rooms. It is also considered one of the most haunted places in Oregon, and there are stories of piano's playing on their own at night, and the screams of the inmates of the asylum echoing thorough the halls. Spooky! We drove around the grounds but didn't go inside. There is also now a large RV resort on the other side of the lake on the property.

After checking out the haunted hotel we drove into Union. Union is a town of about 2,000 with a small, historical downtown area. The town was founded in 1865 and served as the county seat of Union County until the early 1900's when the railroad bypassed Union and went to La Grande instead. Union is now just a farming town and a tourist destination for those looking for an Oregon frontier town. After Union we continued on the scenic loop and went northeast to the town of Cove. Cove is a very small community of about 500 that is primarily a farming community. It was also founded in the 1860's during the height of the Oregon Trail migration. After Cove we continued north and then back west towards La Grande again. While we were touring we did get two geocaches, including a First to Find (FTF) in Cove. We don't get lot of FTF's, but fortunately for us there are not a lot of geocachers in this area, so even though the cache was put out and published a week and a half ago, no one else had gone to get it yet. Yea us! We stopped at Walmart just down the street from our RV park and then went back to the coach. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing in the coach.

Friday, August 24^th, we went out after lunch to get a couple of geocaches and do some shopping. Our coffee pot starting making weird noises this morning, so we decided it was time for a replacement. We drove around downtown for a bit, then did some caching, getting two finds and one DNF. We stopped at Bi Mart and then Walmart, where we bought a new coffee pot, along with a couple other things, then went back to the coach. We spent the rest of the day relaxing in the coach. Saturday was another travel day. We left La Grande about 11:00 and continued northwest 100 miles to the town of Boardman, Oregon. Boardman is located right where Interstate 84 finally meets the Columbia River as it comes down from Washington and turns west for it's final run to the Pacific. We arrived at the Boardman City Marina and RV Park and got settled into our spot. This is a very nice park right on the banks of the Columbia and, being a Saturday, the place was quite crowded. Lots of kids running around and having fun. It took a little longer than normal to get set up since our spot is buried under a couple of trees, meaning I had to dig out the portable satellite dish and get it set up. We finally got everything done and then relaxed for the rest of the day.

Sunday, August 26^th, I got a Sunday paper, albeit a very small, local one, and we had coffee and the paper. About noon we left the coach and went out to have lunch, do some exploring and get some geocaches. Our first choice for lunch, a Mexican place with good Yelp ratings, was closed. It was located in an industrial area and I suspect they don't open on Sundays because they are out of the mainstream area of town. Boardman is a small town, about 3,300 population, that is mostly light industrial. There isn't even what you would call a downtown with shops. A couple housing area, the big park and marina that we are in, and a huge industrial area. We found another cafe, called Sunrise, which had high ratings but was really just an average brunch place. After lunch we did some caching, getting four new finds until after about an hour the warning light on the car indicating a low tire came on. I stopped and checked the tires, they all looked OK and when I checked the pressure they were all the same, around 30 psi. Now the recommended pressure in these low profile tires is 38 psi, so they were all uniformly a little low, which I think is what triggered the light. Nonetheless, I didn't want to be stranded with a flat, so we went back to the RV park. I got out the air pump and brought all the tires up to the recommended pressure and they seemed OK. Since Jackie had some sewing to do anyway, we just stayed home for the rest of the day.

Monday, August 27^th, we left the coach again around noon and drove to the nearby Mexican place we had tried yesterday. Today it was open and it appeared that many of the customers already in the place were industrial workers based on the way they were dressed. This confirmed my suspicion from yesterday. The food was actually quite good. In addition to the usual red salsa served with the chips, they also served a cabbage salsa that was outstanding. I had chili Colorado and a taco and both were very tasty, although not quite as spicy as I am used to. Jackie had a chicken chalupa and a chili relleno and her only real complaint was the chicken was a little dry and chewy. All in all, pretty good Mexican food for the northwest. After lunch we did some caching, driving along the river through a couple of small towns to Umatilla, Oregon, which is where Interstate 82 crosses north across the Columbia River to Washington. It was the closest crossing to where we are parked. We drove across the bridge so we could get a few caches in Washington, then came back and drove south to Hermiston, the largest city in Eastern Oregon. We had visited Hermiston back in 2005 during our first outing in the coach. In Hermiston we stopped at Bi Mart just to see what they might have, then got on the freeway and headed back to the coach. We had a good day with lots of sight seeing and were able to get eight new finds, and one DNF, for the day. After we got back to the coach we relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Tuesday, August 28^th was another travel day. We were packed up and on the road at 10:30, heading west and then south into Central Oregon. We are headed for Madras, Oregon, about 155 miles from Boardman. We made a fuel stop on the way and arrived at the Jefferson County RV park, which is on the county fairgrounds, about 2:00. They have a large, full hookup RV park here and we got parked and did the basic setup, utilities and leveling. The park here is only $23 a night for 50 amp full hookup. After getting the basics done we drove into town for a late lunch, early dinner meal. We found one Mexican restaurant that had excellent Yelp reviews but when we went to it we found it closed. No explanation just a locked door, which had a sign on it with the hours that indicated it should have been open. We went to another Mexican place just down the street called Mi Casa that also had good reviews and had lunch. We both had fajitas, steak for me and chicken for Jackie. They were very good, as were the chips and salsa The service was good and it was a nice dining experience. After lunch we went back to the coach, finished getting set up inside and then just relaxed for the remainder of the day. We will be here for three nights.

Wednesday, August 29^th, we left the coach after lunch and went out to geocache and explore. Madras is a small city of about 6,400 located in Central Oregon. It is primarily an agricultural town. We drove around town a little, getting seven new geocaches and one DNF. After caching for a couple hours we stopped at Bi Mart for a couple things, then went to the Madras Elks Lodge #2017. We got there just as it opened, so it was just us and the bartender for while. It is a small lodge, around 300 members, that is in a building that used to be a skating rink. As we had a cocktail a few other members came in and everyone was pretty friendly. We even talked to a couple that wintered in Pahrump, so they knew all the areas that we were familiar with. We also gamed a little, since in Oregon most Elks lodges have state operated slot machines. Neither of us won anything. We had a couple drinks and got a new lodge pin for our banner, then went back to the RV park where we stayed in for the rest of the night.

Thursday, August 30^th, we went out after lunch to do a little more geocaching in the area. Our first stop was the cache we had DNFed yesterday. The owner of the cache emailed us a hint, so we went out, looked again and found it. Yea! We then did some caches south of town, ending up with nine new finds for the day with no DNFs. After caching we stopped at Safeway for some groceries, then headed back to the coach. We stayed in for the rest of the day. Friday was another travel day. We were out of the park about 10:15, continuing south on Highway 97 through Oregon. Out destination is La Pine, Oregon, which is only about 65 miles south. Of course, this section of Oregon has no Interstates, so it is a lot of two lane road through towns and cities. There was also a lot of traffic given it is the Friday before a holiday weekend. Nonetheless, we arrived at the Cascade Meadows RV Resort about 11:30, only to learn that we couldn't check in for another hour. They had a big holding area, so we just parked and had lunch while we waited. About 12:30 we went in and got settled into our nice pull through, 50 amp full hookup site. This is a private RV resort and we are here on RPI, one of our membership groups. The site is only costing us $16 a night, yea! We will be here for four days, over the entire Labor Day weekend. After we got parked and set up we did a couple loads of laundry. One of the resort's laundry facilities is right across the road from us, so we just walked over, put our clothes in and came back to the coach. Easy peasy. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the coach.

Saturday, September 1^st, another of anniversaries. It was September 1^st, 1998, twenty years ago, that I moved from Phoenix to Indio, California to take up a new life with Jackie. We have been together ever since. We left the coach after lunch to do some exploring and geocaching. La Pine is a small town, about 1,700 population, and is the most recently incorporated city in Oregon, having incorporated in 2006. We cached for a couple of hours, getting eight new finds and no DNFs. After caching we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the day. To celebrate our anniversary we did some nice rib eye steaks on the BBQ, along with sweet potatoes and corn. We had a great meal, then watched TV until bedtime. Sunday we again went out after lunch to do some geocaching. We were able to get six new finds before we ran out of nearby caches to seek out. We stopped at the grocery store in La Pine for a couple things, then went back to the coach and just chilled the rest of the day.

Monday, September 3^rd, Happy Labor Day. We left the coach about 12:30 and drove to Gordy's Truck Stop restaurant in La Pine to meet some friends for lunch. Mike and Wendy Lawrence are RVers and geocachers. We met through geocaching and keep up with each other on social media. We learned the other day that they are also staying in La Pine, so we made arrangements to meet for lunch today. The last time we saw them was at the FMCA rally in Gillette back in July. They also invited another couple that they had recently met and the six of us had a very nice lunch. We talked and caught up and got to know the other couple a little. We had about a two and a half hour lunch, then when we left we stopped at the Bi Mart in La Pine just to see what they might have on sale. I bought a pair of jeans and some canned goods that were on sale. After shopping we went back to the coach and stayed in for the night.

Tuesday, September 4^th, another travel day. We left La Pine about 10:30 and drove about 110 miles south to Klamath Falls, Oregon. Our original plan was to stay here for two nights, but Peggy called yesterday and asked us if we could come into Redding a day early so we would have more time. We really didn't have anything special planned for Klamath, so we said sure. We arrived at the Oregon 8 Motel and RV park about 1:00 and got parked for an overnight stay. We didn't even unhook the car, so we didn't go anywhere after we got set up. Wednesday we were out early, about 9:30, continuing south to Redding, California. The trip was about 145 miles and after a fuel stop we made good time with very little traffic. We arrived at the Redding Elks Lodge about 1:00 and got parked in a spot right next to Peggy and Vernon Bullock. We got set up and then Jackie went out with Peggy to get a pedi and a haircut. I stayed home and finished setting up, then relaxed. We had cocktails with the Bullocks around 5:00 and then Peggy served a nice dinner, her special penne pasta, which is my favorite non-meat meal. We talked for a bit after dinner and about 8:00 we went back to our coach and watched a little TV until bedtime.

As a side note, while watching the local news about 4:30 we learned that there was a major wildfire that had started along Interstate 5 about 30 miles north of Redding and was burning straight north up the canyon in which the interstate runs. As a result, about a 40 mile stretch of Interstate 5 is completely closed because the fire is burning on both sides of the freeway. A number of big rig trucks were reported to be burning because they could not get turned around on the freeway to get out of the fire's path. Had we been running two hours later we would likely have been caught in the stoppage. Had we stuck to our original plan of leaving tomorrow, we would not have been able to go south on the interstate and would either have had to stay longer in Klamath, or take a long, alternate route around the fire area. We really dodged a bullet by leaving today. Thanks Peggy.

Our arrival back in California marks a good point at which to close this episode out and get it published. Until next time ponder this. If we are not supposed to eat at night, why is there a light in the refrigerator? See ya soon.