Monday, June 24, 2013

Back to the Coast!

Odometer  35647
Trip 191 miles

June 18th
Our stay in Medford allowed us time to sneak in a trip to Salem last Tuesday and Wednesday, to see Jeff's family again, and to continue north to Lake Oswego and see our dear friends Marla and Kermit.  We drove to Salem in our car.

The weather on the way up was pretty wet- however the next two days were just cloudy and a lot drier.   My brother Thane and his wife Kathy made us welcome again- this time in their spare bedroom.  We realized that it was the first time in a year that we had slept anywhere other than our own bed in our motorhome.
Jeff was able to spend some time with his 92 year old mom who has an apartment in Salem, and enjoys the ability to live for the most part on her own.  Thane showed us his latest purchase, a military surplus 2-1/2 ton truck that he purchased at Fort Lewis, WA and drove home last week.  Thane uses his spare time to recondition the vehicles and to turn them for a profit.

June 19th
Marla started out as Joan's boss at the Audiology Clinic at Southern Oregon ESD and ended up being a life-long friend.


Today (Wednesday) we drove to Lake Oswego to re-conect with Marla and Kermit.  We got to see their newly renovated townhome and even got a driving tour of the area in, and around Lake Oswego.  After a wonderful afternoon of conversation, a sumptuous meal, and some very fine wine we said goodbye for now, and drove back to Salem for the night.  We had so much fun we hope this will be a regularly scheduled stop for us.

Thursday we drove back to Medford and our lovely home on wheels.

June 22nd
We wanted to be back in Medford for a memorial "celebration of life" for our friend Paulette Davis, who died unexpectedly last winter while we were traveling.  Friends of the family hosted a very nice rememberance, and served food and drink at their home on Old Military Road- just outside of Jacksonville.
A wonderful rememberance for a very dear friend, and a pleasant afternoon with a great group of my Adroit friends.

June 23rd
Packing up again-  we are out of practice, and grouchy- bird poo and mud on the patio rug - we have to  wash and dry it before stowing, all the window sun screens have to come down and get rolled and stowed, the tire covers get collected, folded and stowed in their zipper case, chairs folded and stowed, gas grill cleaned and stowed- then all the items we got out on the inside of the MH have to be put back and secured-well, you get the idea.  Don't get me wrong, we are excited about the going, just getting used to being in one place for a while... and Medford, well it's home.

We rolled out of Lakewood RV Park at our early start time (10AM) and headed west.  Fuel stop at Fred Meyer in Grants Pass and then down US 199- one of my favorite roads in the world.  The Smith River canyon should be one of the wonders of the world.

We stopped along the river for lunch and I was mesmerized by the clarity of the water- I could see myself standing out there in my waders with a flyrod ( This may be a strange fantasy- I don't even own any fishing gear)

The river has 2 stages- it's in it's low flow quiet stage in the summer.  Winter rains will fill the banks to a raging torrent of frothy blue water.

After lunch we continued down 199 to Hiouchi, CA where we enter into the Redwoods.
 These giant sentinals dwarf our bus on this foggy, slighly rainy afternoon.

Joan and I hiked through a grove, in a light misting rain.  As much as we drive through this area we hardly ever stop.  Today we have the time to stop and marvel at these towering giants.

US highway 199 ends at Crescent City, CA where you can go either north or south on  US101 the Pacific Coast Highway.  We took a short-cut down Cal 197 North Bank Road, which follows the river from Hiouchi to the tiny town of Smith River, CA on the coast.  Cal 197  allows us to bypass Crescent City and short cut to the Oregon border at Brookings.

We stopped again at Meyers Beach for a quick stretch and snapped a few photos on this wind swept overlook


The clouds and rain could not diminish the awesome beauty of this place with it's sandy beaches and towereing sea mounds (rocks)

Okay- it looks a little better on a sunny day- but hey! this is pretty awesome too.

We pulled into the Port Orford RV Village and were greeted by the owners Tim and Cindy who showed us to our spot and assisted in getting us positioned just right.  We were here 2 weeks ago and loved the friendly people and beautifully landscaped park.

After hooking up the utilities, we pulled on windbreakers and set out for a walk.  Joan had a house she wanted to see on Dee Terrace which wasn't far from here. When we got to the house, it wasn't what we wanted, and a light rain started to fall, so we hustled back to the RV.  Time to turn on the heat and make dinner.

After dinner we took the car out in a light misting rain and drove along the lakeshore checking out the  realestate.

Tomorrow the hunt starts in earnest!

Your Traveling Friends,

Joan and Jeff

1 comment:

  1. I am really enjoying your blog. Most of the areas I have read about so far are familiar to us, so it's fun to read.

    Funny thing, we inspected the house on Dee Terrace and we inspected the new home for the owners of One Lump or Two. Port Orford really is a small town!

    It's late and I am working on your home inspection report, so I'd better get back to it!
    Sue at Absolute Home Inspection

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