It's Moving Time! Heading South from Quincy, WA - September 13 - September 20, 201

Our 3 weeks here at Crescent Bar TT Park is coming to an end, and our time in Washington too. Tomorrow is moving day ... at last! We will stop by Pasco, WA and say our good-byes to our daughter Kimberley. Then on to the Elks lodge in Vancouver, WA for a couple of days.

During this past week, we did get the RV leveling jacks fixed ... finally. After waiting for the control board to come in, they replaced it and there was still something not working corrctly. Seems the right-front jack motor was drawing 40 amps when operating and 'locking up' the control board. They replaced that motor and finally, everything is working as it should (knock on wood). The bill was over $1600.00. We will see how much the extended warranty folks pay. We should get a call in a few days.

We spent some quality time with our grandson Erik, and our Great grandson Oli too! McDonalds, the park, and of course a toy store too! A fun day!

Donna's background check came back and she had her interview. She definitely has the job here at the park next year. We will be back here in the middle of April.

We have spent time with our good friends, lunch with Bruce & Carol, Seahawks game with Randi & Andrea, food & happy hours with Karen & Cliff, and Wayne & Sharon.

On my morning walk this morning, I took Fergizmo (the gnome) with me and got one final picture of the Columbia River.

We had a great stay in this area. It will be good next year too, but the American Southwest is calling us.

Toodles!

Itching Like Crazy in Crescent Bar - Quincy, WA - September 4 - September 12, 2015

Yep, we are still at Crescent Bar TT Resort in Quincy, WA and 'hitch itch' is here for sure. The control board for our jacks isn't here yet. Maybe the 18th they say. Pftttt!

We have been here almost 2 weeks. Monday, we would have started our migration south. We just extended another week here. Even though it is a Thousand Trails and it is free, ... scratch..scratch.. well, you know!

Meanwhile, here at the park, they had several employees quit and they are pretty short handed. They are working Karen, my sister to death. She has over 40 hours this week. Donna filled out the background check paperwork, and if she comes back clean (not an axe murderer), they will train her and put her to work. I'm thinking they won't get it back in time before we leave; scratch, scratch...

Well, one day while it was pretty hot here, we decided to get out our kayak and do a little paddling.

We have to do this more often. We had a good time, and didn't even get 'dunked' this time.


Did you notice the hairless kayak dude?


And - lo and behold - yep, I cut my hair off. Actually, quite a bit. Tail and mustache, too!

Besides getting together with my sister (next door to us) for happy hours and BBQs, we went to the annual Quincy Farmer Consumer Awareness Days in Quincy. There were vendor booths, music, horses doing tricks, a tractor pull, and car show. My brother Jim was there with his Triumph TR-8. It is pretty cool cuz it has a V-8 in it. They didn't make too many of them. There were a lot of nice cars there.

Jim, and his 'British Corvette'.

Before we left, we picked up some fresh veggies. They have the best corn on the cob.

That's about it for the last 8 days. In a holding pattern. Lots of time to tinker around the RV and Jeep. A little fix here, a little maintenance there.

Scratch... Scratch....

Two Years On The Road Recap - September 5, 2014 to September 4, 2015

September 5th, 2014, we found ourselves at the St. Clair Thousand Trails Resort in St. Clair, Michigan, we had been on the road for exactly 1 year as full time RVers. And thus began our second year.

While in Michigan, we spent the day biking on Mackinac Island, and exploring cemetaries. I am into genealogy and have distant relatives buried there. We even found some!

Then we attended our second RV Dreams rally at the Elkhart County Fairgrounds. Howard & Linda Payne, www.rv-dreams.com, put on a great rally as usual. Had a great time and met lots of new friends. After the rally, we had some repairs done to our Bighorn fifth wheel at MasterTech RV Service in Elkhart. We were there 10 days and not only got our rig fixed, we met another group of RV friends.

Donna's brother, Gene, called and said Cyndi (our sister-in-law) was in hospice and was soon to pass. We started our flight toward Fort Mohave, AZ. Five days later, we were with them. We spent the next month and a half with them.

Our Grandson, Chase, was graduating from Boot Camp in San Diego, CA and we had made arrangements to be there. So we headed for southern California. We stopped at 3 Thousand Trail parks on the way. The Palm Springs area was really cool. We will be back there for sure. The day of his graduation, Cyndi passed. We enjoyed our visit with Chase and our daughter, Candy, but hurried back to Fort Mohave, AZ after San Diego.

We spent Christmas with Gene, adopted Tinker Belle, then headed south. We spent New Years Eve boondocking just outside of Quartzsite at Dome Rock. It was very cold. It got down to 28 degrees and there was snow all around the hill tops. We decided to go a bit further south.

So we visited my sister Karen in Tacna, AZ, just west of Yuma. After a week there, it was time for the annual Christian Fellowship rally in Quartzsite on Plamosa Road. We spent 11 days with good friends there. And somehow, I became the Western Vice President. Had a ball with them.

Then back to Fort Mohave to check on Gene and get Tinker Belle fixed.

We then boondocked another month in Q. Then it was off to Organ Pipe National Monument to meet up with our Christian Fellowship group. That was a great place. Then to Phoenix for the National Good Sam Rally. We even met up with my brother, Jim, there,

We then celebrated Donna's 60th birthday with our Christian Fellowship group at Kartchner Caverns. Another wonderful place.

After that, we did the Escapade in Tucson. It was there, that we traded in our Bighorn fifth wheel and truck and bought our Fleetwood Southwind motorhome. Yes, we love it.

We then headed back to visit Gene in Fort Mohave. And to have a couple of yard sales. We realized we were carrying way too much 'stuff'.

Then it was time to head north. We made a stop in Las Vegas. It was a little difficult traveling without a toad, but doable. Over Donner Pass we went and represented our Christian Fellowship group at the Escapees WARE rally in Yuba City, CA.

We stopped and visited Donna's brothers, Larry & Garry, on our way north. Then in Bend, Oregon, we decided, we have to get a toad soon. We are missing so many opportunities to explore our surroundings.

Finally entered Washington. We traveled all over the state, visiting our kids and grandkids...and great grandkid. Even attending two Washington State Good Sam Rallies in Lynden and Moses Lake. While in Washington, we completed our bucket list item of staying in all the Thousand Trails (in WA). We now have Washington, Oregon, and Nevada done.
Candy & I.

Donna, Ryker, & Roman.

Kim & Donna.

Erik, Oli, & Donna.

Roman & Tim.

Last month, we hit Idaho and even a Music festival in Newport, WA. Now we are in Crescent Bar TT Park, waiting for some repairs. Then we will start our trek southward.

Year Two Stats
Miles traveled  -  8830
States visited  -  14    New States  - 5
Number of times camped  -  71
Average days camped per stop  -  5.14
Campground fees for the year  -  $2173.74    $5.96 per night
Highest average camping fees Month  -  $12.24 per night for September
Lowest average camping fees Month  -  $0.97 per night for August

Highlights  -  RV Dreams Rally, Michigan & Mackinac Island, Changed to motorhome,   National Good Sam Rally, Escapade, Hiking at Organ Pipe MN, Boondocking                

Lowlights  -  Death of Sister-In-Law Cyndi



We are ready to go!
What a year!
Starting year three now! 

Music Festival & Crescent Bar - Quincy, WA - August 27 - September 3, 2015

We left Joe's house and traveled the 44 miles to Newport, WA for the Newport Music Festival. There were 4 rigs on our 'convoy'. We arrived at the Newport City park and parked in an area reserved for the Wash-Pan Chapter 39 of the Escapees. For $10.00 a night, we have 20 Amp and water hookups. And we are very close to the stage where the music is played.

Along with the Chapter 39 group, there were 10 members of our Christian Fellowship BoF too.

Here is my pictures of the 'goings on'.

This is where all the bands will play.

To our camping spot with the Escapees.

Our area.

Just getting started.

Steve and Ed.

Some of the vendors.

One of the musicians was walking through and stopped off to play for us. He played a 'right handed' guitar left handed, and played his harmonica too. He was good.

Here is Steve playing the washtub bass.

  

One of the vendors was a little different. Had to get a picture of him and his tent.

The first day, Friday, the bands started playing at 3 PM and there was a different band every hour. The last group ended around 1030 PM. There was some good music.

Day 2 of the festival, it was stormy. The first band started up at noon, and before they finished their hour, the wind went nuts. Some of the vendor's tents, with all their wares, just took off. Crazy wind. And they cancelled the whole event. Wow, what a shock. Do we get our $40.00 weekend pass ticket per person back? No! The vendors tore everything down and left. They disassembled the stage and everyone left. There still were many RVs left and lots of musicians. They were determined to make a good weekend out of all this.

We did have a good day of music, and a good weekend of fellowship. Donna and I learned to play a new game called Fast Track. It is pretty fun.

On Sunday, it rained off and on. Between showers, we moved out and stopped at Little Diamond TT Resort. It was only 14 miles away and parked in the same spot we were in just 7 days before.


While we were there, we (and our cats) saw lots of wild turkeys, deer, and chipmunks.

Then Monday morning, we travelled another 188 miles back to Crescent Bar TT Resort and even parked right back in the same spot next to my sister Karen. We will be here till we get our jacks fixed .... I hope.

Our time in Washington is winding down. We are getting a little 'Hitch Itch'. For now, our departure date is September 14th. We'll see how that goes.

Later ......