We’re in Santa Clara, California

August 17, 2014                                                                                                                     Lorraine’s report

Well, we are now at the Santa Clara Elks Lodge in Sunnyvale, CA.  What a grand time we had there in Bellingham!  I loved being back with my family and friends.  And birthday week was a blast!!!  Many thanks to my sister, Thelma & John, my nieces and nephews for the grand time spent with you!  I loved visiting with each one of you..

I loved being with John & Breta, and Richard & Sandy, too. Dinner was great, loved being with each of you.  It was fun to catch up with you and hear about your families.  Thank you again to Breta & John for getting us from the airport at midnight.  Wow, that was pretty incredible, for me to call you and have you change your plans to get us.  Thanks again!!

So Chuck wrote about our many problems.  Guess that’s what happens when you sit and rest all summer, not using the rig…problems happen!  It was pretty hard driving down the I-680 with no right hand mirror and the day/night shade all the way down. Thank God no one ran into us and we arrived safely!!!

So we got in to Sunnyvale on Tuesday, set up and went over to Susy’s.  From there it was a marathon to finish packing her up and the “Big Move”.  Susy had done a lot already, but needed help with the rest.  From the time we got in until today, she is now in her new home.  Wow, so fast, with most things set up and ready: now for the water and TV guys to get in there and complete the move. Susy said back in March she finally finished all her unpacking from her last move, 3 years ago.  Probably why she had to move. 

We are so sorry to hear Uncle Keith passed away last week.  We are so happy he made it to Chuck’s family reunion in Osseo, MN last year.  Many thanks to Aunt Lila for getting us together. 

I want to wish my sister, Thelma & John a very happy “HAPPY ANNIVERSARY” on the 21st of August.  It will be 49 years for them.  Sure do hope they enjoy their day.

That’s it for me.. See you..down the road..

Hugs,

Lorraine

8/16/14                                                                                                                                  Chuck’s report

Ok, we didn’t get a blog posted last week so this will be covering two weeks.  We received the bad new that my Uncle Keith passed away this week.  He lived in Minnesota and we were able to visit with him during and after the family reunion we attended last summer.  Unfortunately we are unable to attend the services but wish his family all the best during this trying time.  Sure glad we had a good visit last year, you just never know.

Our last blog report had us planning a combined birthday party for Lorraine and her sister, Thelma, at their house on Sunday.  This turned out out be a great time and one of the many birthday celebrations she had during the week.  Guess you could say she had a great birth week??

Monday we invited Thelma and John to join us at the casino for senior day lunch.  Once again we had a good time, especially knowing our time with them was running short. 

Tuesday we continued with the birth week celebration by meeting our friend John for dinner at the Mexican restaurant in Ferndale.  His brother, Charles, was planning on coming also but he was unable to make it.  Anyway, we had a very good visit with John. 

Wednesday was Lorraine’s actual birthday and we ended up going to an early dinner with our friends John and Bretta at a steak house near their home.  We did meet at their home first for a short visit and stopped by again after.  We really had a good visit with these two friends once again.  Maybe we’ll see you down South this winter after John’s knee replacement. 

Thursday we continued with more of the same, this time we met our friends Richard and Sandy at the casino for dinner at the steakhouse.  We’ve been here a few times before and believe this to be one of the best steakhouses North of Seattle.  The food, service and atmosphere makes for a good dining experience and with our good friends along, it can’t be beat.  Sure had a good time with you two, thanks once again. 

Friday we had plans to attend the annual picnic at the refinery.  The picnic is a two day affair and we were only going to be there on Friday.  In year’s past, we’ve made chili for the chili contest, served as chili judges, served as pie judges (maybe my favorite), helped set up and run the games for the kids, volunteered as needed and mostly just had fun.  This year we were just planning on attending, eating hamburger and hot dogs and visiting with some of the folks I’ve worked with over the years.  We were not disappointed, had plenty of food (but they did run out of hot dogs) and visited with lots of friends.  A good finish to our time in Washington state!

Saturday we got everything ready for travel, we had done most of the stuff already so only had the last minute stuff to do.  We did get to see Joe and Alice before we left, they stopped by to get the keys and say our “so longs”.  We hope to see them down South sometime this winter, we usually make arrangements to visit with them somewhere along the way. 

So back on the road!  We don’t usually stay in one place as long as we’ve been here, we got here in late April and here it is early August, wow.  We haven’t had to run our air conditioners while we were here so I guess I wasn’t too surprised to have them struggle when we first turned them on.  But after everything ran for a few minutes, them seemed fine.  Of course, the temperature was forecasted to be in the upper 70s and with the sun on the coach, we knew we would need to run the generator so the air conditioners could run too.  But the generator wouldn’t stay running, it would run about a minute then turn off.  I had it set on auto start, when the thermostat for the air conditioner needed them to come on, it would send a signal to the generator to start first and would send a signal after the air conditioner shut down to turn off the generator.  But with the generator not running correctly, we couldn’t run the air conditioner as desired, shoot.  We do have regular dash air but it is not enough to cool down the whole coach, especially when it’s this warm.  But we were on our way and heading for our daughter’s place, all is well.

Boy was the traffic bad going through Seattle.  I sure didn’t expect it to be so bad on a Saturday morning, Seattle always has bad traffic but it’s usually not too bad on the weekends.  But we were doing just fine until  --- a class C motorhome in the lane to our right decided to move over to our lane.  Only problem, he didn’t see us already there.  Can you believe he didn’t see a 40’ motorhome with a tow car just to the side of him?  As he started to move over, we noticed the movement, said a couple of bad words and tried to move over to our left to avoid him.  We almost made it, he contacted our mirror on the passenger side, broke it off at the adjustment swivel joint but the glass was still intact.  I managed to move over to the side of the road and was almost surprised to see that he followed and parked right behind us. 

Lorraine called 911 while I got out to exchange information with him.  The guy was from Canada and was driving his father-in-law’s rig so he has ICBC insurance.  The only damage to us was the mirror and he only had a long scratch on the side of his coach.  After exchanging info with him, I got out a step stool and a roll of duct tape to attempt to put the mirror back in place enough to use.  I wrapped it as best as I could but it didn’t help, every time we got moving, the wind would know it back and render it useless.  I stopped twice to put on more tape but it just wouldn’t stay in place, it flopped over every time.   Luckily for us, we have a rearview camera that’s on all the time and side view cameras that activate whenever one of the turn signals is used so we had partial view.  With Lorraine’s help looking out the window whenever we had to change lanes, we made it to our planned stop, about 100 miles down the freeway.

After we got set up, I tried making a more permanent repair.  I cut a couple pieces of wood, put them under the mirror so it wouldn’t flop in the wind so bad then duct taped everything together, used up the whole roll of tape.  It felt like it might work and we found we could “make it” without the mirror is need be. 

We were at the Lucky Eagle in Rochester, WA. and were planning on visiting with one of Lorraine’s classmates from high school who was unable to attend the reunion this summer.  We met with Judy and her husband Bruce on our trip North in April and we were looking forward to another visit.  We met them at the casino for the buffet, a very good one by the way, and had a good visit with them, their grandson and a friend of theirs from Alaska.  Of course, after we ate we tried our luck on the slots, nobody won enough to have their picture taken for sure but we did have fun and really enjoyed our visit.  Looking forward to seeing you next time we are in the area. 

I also checked into the problem with the generator not running right.  As with lots of stuff nowadays, it has protection built in to shut itself down if problems occur and flashes a code to indicate what the problem is.  In this case, it was showing high coolant temperature causing it to shut down.  I was unable to check the level in the reservoir so I just overfilled it to make sure it was full.  I checked it again the next morning before we left and found it to be still full, here’s hoping that makes a difference. 

Sunday morning we headed out, our planned stop was at 7 Feathers casino in Southern Oregon, about 325 miles.  As soon as we got our speed up to about 40 MPH, the tape job on the mirror showed its shortcomings, it started rotating in the wind but at least it didn’t flop over like the first repair.  At least I could see something out of the bottom, concaved mirror.  But that soon went away, it wasn’t long until it moved over the side to where I had a good view of the roadside beside us and could see a car as it got alongside us at the door, pretty worthless.  So I reverted back to using the rear and side view cameras as needed to get us to our next stop.

But a bit of good news, our generator was working just fine and running our air conditioners as needed, YEA.  At least that problem was fixed at least for awhile. 

Once we got set up at 7 Feathers, I got out the step stool and removed all the duct tape, cut the wires and removed the whole mirror.  It would ride in the car until we got it replaced, I had read that we couldn’t just repair it with new parts but have to replace the whole assembly.  So the rest of the trip we were without any sort of mirror on the passenger’s side.  Not really looking forward to the California traffic or backing into our spot here at the Elks lodge without a right side mirror.

We headed over to the casino to find the machines we had enjoyed (and won on) last time we were here.  We found them back in the corner but this time I was the only one to have any luck.  Later, Lorraine found a couple that were better to her but no luck on the ones we liked. 

Monday morning we got back on the road, our planned stop was at Rolling Hills casino near Corning, CA.  We figured the temperatures might be pretty high in the Sacramento valley but it was only in the 80s, not too bad considering what the temperature usually is in August.  After getting set up, we caught the shuttle over to the casino and once again we tried our luck on the slots.  This time both of us came away with some of their money, in my case less than $2, Lorraine a bit better.  And once again, the generator/air conditioners ran fine, much better with air.

Tuesday was our last travel day, only about three hours drive time.  Didn’t have any problems except for the rough roads, boy California needs to do some road repair!  About 15 miles from our planned stop here at the Elks Lodge, our front windshield screen unrolled and come down to the dash.  We have both a day shade (we can see out but no one can see in) and a night shade (almost a black out type, no one can see through it, either in or out).  Luckily for us, it was the day shade that came down so we could still see just fine.  So now we don’t have a mirror on the right side and the windshield screen is down. 

Let’s see, between the generator/air conditioners,  the mirror being knocked off and the windshield screen falling, I think we’ve had our three things and hopefully will be good for awhile. 

After we got set up here at the Elks, we headed over to Susy’s place and started helping her with the packing.  She had been packing for a while but we decided to postpone getting the moving van the next day but instead we would try to finish the packing. 

So that’s what we did on Wednesday, finished packing, she had plenty of boxes so that wasn’t an issue.  We decided to take a break and drive over to see her new place, pretty nice.  She managed to get a nice three bedroom home with a yard even.  Sure couldn’t have got one like that around here, especially for that kind of rent.  Between here and North to San Francisco is some of the highest home prices in the nation and rents reflect home prices for sure.  But prices are a BIT lower in San Jose, so are rent prices. 

Thursday morning we headed over to Susy’s place then we drove over to get the U-Haul for the day.  On the way back, we stopped in Home Depot parking lot and hired 4 day workers to give us a hand moving.  I spent the morning taking furniture and beds apart while everyone else was more involved with the actual moving.  Lorraine and Susy supervised the workers, who were hard workers by the way, to get the proper boxes moved and loaded on the truck so when we we started unloading, it would make sense and be easier at the new house.  I was surprised but it only took about 2 hours for them to get the first truck loaded and ready to head out.

We had both beds and other furniture on the first load so Lorraine and I headed out to get ready at the new place.  Once we got enough stuff unloaded, I started putting the beds together so they would have a place to sleep that night.  By that time, Susy had returned with the second load so they put most of that stuff in the garage or on the back patio.  After we got the beds put up, we started unloading boxes, starting with the kitchen and bedroom.  We somehow couldn’t find the box we had just packed with bedding for Katie’s room, things were a bit unorganized in the garage.  But we worked until late that evening and got enough unpacked that the new place was beginning to look more like home.  Her old place only had two bedrooms but they and the living room was larger than the new one.  She also doesn’t have a dinning room, just a place in the kitchen for a table, too small for the table she has. 

We also were unable to get water to the kitchen sink although there was a leak in the cabinet under it.  The landlord had just left for Australia so Susy left him a message.  Also the natural gas had been turned off because they had the whole house fumigated and it wasn’t hooked up yet.  That meant no gas for the cook stove but more important, no gas for the water heater so no hot water for showers the next morning. 

Friday morning I had a doctor’s appointment at the VA in Palo Alto so Susy drove over to our place to take a shower and pick up Lorraine so they could continue with the unpacking until I got there.  I had a bit of a run around at the VA and worked with a local repair place to get a new mirror.  By the time I was done and just started down to Susy’s, she called to remind me that she had a doctor’s visit that afternoon and they were just leaving for that.  So I headed over to the hospital where she had her appointment.  It didn’t take long before we were on our way back to her new place but by now the rush hour traffic had started.  Katie was riding with Lorraine and me so we could use the carpool lanes but it was still heavy traffic.  It took us about 30 minutes to go 10 miles on South 101, sure glad we weren’t farther North as it is REALLY heavy I’m told. 

Anyway, we got to Susy’s place and waited about 10 minutes for her to show up, she couldn’t use the express lane and it took that much longer.  And this is part of the commute she will have to drive every day, UGG. 

We spent the rest of the day unpacking and storing stuff.  We also tried organizing the boxes in the garage a bit better, making it easier for them to send me out to get a box for this or that room.  Even with the time off for our doctor visits, we did make a huge dent in the boxes in the garage. 

Saturday was more of the same, we got started unpacking and I finished putting all the furniture together, at least with all the parts I could find.  Lorraine and Susy had to make a run to the store and stopped at IKEA to check out kitchen tables, they found one that would fit and work just fine in the available space.  I continued putting stuff away and getting things ready for their return.  I started putting the new table together but we took a dinner break and headed over to Chili's.  After dinner I completed the assembly of the new table, it looks real good and has an added bonus of 6 small drawers for her to use, the kitchen is pretty small and the cupboards don’t have many drawers. 

So that brings our two weeks review to a close, whew, busy times for us.  Katie starts school this Wednesday so we want to get all this move finished by then.  Susy has to turn over the old place by the following Monday and it will need some cleaning time there too.  So between the two, I don’t see us leaving here in time to meet with our friends Richard and Sandy who are going to be in Las Vegas, sorry guys. 

The temperatures over the past two weeks have ranged from nice to hot.  We didn’t need to run the air conditioners while we were in Birch Bay, temps were in the 70s most days.  We did have some hot (99F) temps in Oregon, glad that was the day after we got our generator problem fixed.  It’s been getting into the upper 70s, lower 80s while we have been here, we are running the air conditioner when we’re in the rig. 

The San Francisco 49ers have built a new football stadium just a couple of miles from us and today is the first game in the new stadium.  We aren’t sure how this will affect our ability to stay here at the Elks, there may be some folks who want to stay here just for the game.  There are only 7 sites available here and only one of those is 50 amp, that’s the one we like.  Guess we’ll have to see how it all turns out and have a plan B in our pocket. 

Our travel plans are still non-existent, really need to look for ideas when we leave here.  But we still don’t know when we are leaving so can’t make firm plans.  Right now, I’ll guess we head down 101 and check out that area again, we liked it this spring when we headed North.  But we’ll know for sure the day we leave, ha. 

Now for some pictures then get this posted and get on with our day. 

 

Sunset over Birch Bay near where we were staying. 

  

 

  

The front mirror on our coach before I attempted to duct tape it.

  

This is the only damage to the guy’s rig who hit us. 

 

Flowers at 7 Feathers rv park. 

  

These show the low water levels in Lake Shasta. 

  

  

 

Thanks    Chuck

 

 

469

We’re in Birch Bay, Washington

 

August 3, 2014                                                                                                                     Lorraine’s report

So the time for visiting here is almost gone, and it is with sadness that we leave this area.  It has been fun to see all our family and friends.  Wishing we could still have a bit more time, but it’s time.  Susy needs us to help her move. 

This morning the preacher talked about what we were going to do as we age for today’s sermon.  He said to go and live life till God comes for us.  I guess that is what we are doing, and what a life it has been.  Who knew when I let go, what was in store for us.  It has been a wonderful  time for us.  Thank you Lord for all you have given us.  

I can hardly wait until we see Susy and Kaitlyn.  Should be fun moving into a new place. 

I want to wish Thelma, my sister, a very “Happy Birthday”.  We have celebrated birthday parties most of our lives!!  It was hard for me to be away from her last year, on her 65th year.  Hope she has a nice day. 

I think that is it for me.   Until next time,

Hugs to all,

Lorraine

8/3/14                                                                                                                                   Chuck’s report

I’m guessing this will be a short blog plus we don’t have any pictures to add either.  After all the pictures from our trip to Alaska in last week’s blog, that’s probably a good thing.  By the way, an update for last week’s blog, John did win an award for his ‘55 in the car show, congrats.  Once again, sorry I didn’t get a picture of it. 

Last Monday Lorraine called our friends Ray and Barb and invited them to meet us at senior’s day at the casino for lunch.  We had a good visit with these two fine folks and may see them down South this winter as they have a house in Yuma.  After lunch, Ray and I made a quick run to our shop, I had to put some items we don’t want to carry with us in storage. 

Lorraine had her hair appointment on Tuesday morning, I got some items done at the coach before I returned to pick her up.  Then it was my turn for a hair cut, was getting pretty long and shaggy.  Later we ran a couple more errands then called it a day. 

One item we picked up was the cream the foot doctor had prescribed for Lorraine to put on her foot, the pharmacy had finally gotten it mixed and ready for us.  Lorraine put some on that night and noticed an immediate relief, the doctor had said it might take up to three days before she noticed any improvement, glad it was better earlier.  She has been using it for a few days now and says it was a BIG help, glad we got it for her.  Unfortunately, it isn’t cover by our insurance but if it works, I’m glad to pay for it.  We decided to have them give us one refill before we leave so she has enough and picked that up yesterday.  

Wednesday we made it back to town for Costco and Wal-Mart.  Glad to have them out of the way once again. 

Thursday was a quiet day, we didn’t go any where.  I did manage to get the car washed and checked/filled the air in the motor home tires, getting some things ready for travel next week.  Will work on more items this week, don’t want to over work myself or anything, ha.  I did pull out the BBQ to cook a couple of steaks and Lorraine pulled out a package of lobster she had been saving for a special occasion.  So we had a nice day and finished it off with a great meal. 

Friday we made a run into Lynden and called Tim to see if he was home.  Of course, he was out having fun at the tractor show but made it home before we had finished with our errands there.  So we stopped to see him and once again, thanks for watching Misty while we were in Alaska. 

Later we met Richard and Sandy at the casino for a visit, we haven’t seem them but one time since we’ve been here this trip.  We made plans to go to dinner with them on Wednesday for Lorraine’s birthday this week. 

Saturday Lorraine wanted to attend the Anacortes Arts Festival so that’s what we did.  It was sure crowded, I don’t do well with that many people.  I dropped her off and found a place to park about 5 or 6 blocks away and was ready to leave before I even made it back to where she was.  We made a quick trip through the vendors before I told her I was going to get the car and meet her back at the beginning, I’d had enough.  She only found a couple items she wanted and remarked how the items the vendors sell had changed over the years.  But there are sure lots of talent on display here, even if some is just their ideas and the actual items are made overseas or whatever. 

Today we are going over to Lorraine’s sisters’ house for a combined birthday party.  Thelma’s birthday is on Monday, Lorraine’s is on Wednesday.  They have had a combined party many times over the years so that won’t be anything new but looking forward to it just the same.  As always, there will be too much good food too.

The weather here has been really nice, we’ve had the daytime highs get into the low 80s every day and the nighttime lows are only in the upper 50s/low 60s.  Sure can’t complain about this weather and more of the same is forecasted.  The average temps are usually somewhere in the mid 70s for this time of the year so it’s a bit warmer than normal.  I think it will probably be a record run of 80F + days before this breaks, nice, no complaints here.

Our travel plans remain the same, heading out next Saturday.  The only unknown is when we will head towards Susy’s place to help her move.  We can modify any plans we have and get there soon if that is when everything works out or can sort of take our time and take 2 or three weeks to get there, tough life.  Either way, Lorraine is already getting excited to be a Nana and wants to see Katie.  If it was only up to her, I think we would have been there this week, and just stay until Susy moves. 

I just looked at the camera and see that Lorraine didn’t take any pictures this week.  I know she has some on her phone but I won’t go through it just now.  So guess that’s all for me.

Thanks   Chuck

 

366

We’re in Blaine, Washington

 

July 27,2014                                                                                                                        Lorraine’s report

So it was with a heavy heart that I leave Alaska, my home!  I guess I will always be an Alaskan, through and through.  I love that land, the people, and the romance/adventure that you find there! When we left Rick and Donna at the airport, tears slowly made their way down my face as we left Anchorage.  I don’t think I will be going back to Ketchikan.  Mom wasn’t there this time, and they say when Mom is gone, you can’t go home again.  Well, she is gone, and with her, a whole different way of life.   It was a lot of fun though to go back and see where you came from, what you’ve made of your life etc.  Chuck and I have come far….

I have to say I loved being with Rick and Donna!  Everything we did gave us so much J O Y!!!  It was GREAT after all this time to see you once again.  Chuck loved fishing!!! I was happy just to be together with you and Donna.  Thank you both for all you did for us!!!  I loved the whole thing, the trip, the fishing, the tours to town and the trip to Whittier, Alaska.  All…All was great!!!  Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.   And yes, Donna, I feel like moping, now that the trip is done, so you’re not alone with that. 

So Chuck wrote about the trip for us.  I want to thank a few people for all their help in getting us up there.  Thanks to Joe and Alice for using our car to get us to the airport to leave.  To Tim, major “Thanks” for taking care of our dog, Misty.  To Gail,  many, many thanks for the invite to you beautiful home to have dinner with you and your family.  What a nice family you have!  And to good friends, Breta & John, “Thank you” for getting us at midnight, only 7 hours late.  I can not say how much we appreciate you picking us up so late at night.  

What a long day for us, we got up at 6 am to drive to Anchorage for our flight, only  to find it changed and moved, and they were having problems with the engine.  So glad we didn’t have to go the next day, though!  We finally got to bed about 1:45 am, on the 22nd,  a very long day.  Especially after being out on the Kenai River for over 10 hours the day before.  It took me several days  to recover from the sea sickness I get when I go on the plane or on a boat, both of which I did before the return home.  Oh well, some one has gotta pay sometime…that would be me.

So I’ve been telling people what a great trip we have had for my 50th year of graduating high school.  It was fun, loved it, and seeing my son and Donna.  All great…

So we are close to ending our time here in WA.  We will be leaving on August 9.  Not sure where the winds will blow us, but we are always open to new and exciting things. 

I would like to wish Joy, of Joy & Rick a “very happy birthday!”  Her birthday is the 2nd of August.  Thelma’s birthday is August 4th and mine is August 6.  We will leave after that.  So that is it for me.  Have a great week everyone…Hugs,

Lorraine

 

7/27/14                                                                                                                                 Chuck’s report

Yep, vacation is over and we are back home once again, in fact, we’ve been here since early Tuesday morning.  But what a vacation, three weeks in Alaska, the first week in Ketchikan for Lorraine’s 50th class reunion and greeting old/new friends, then two weeks at our son’s place in Kenai.  Our last blog covers our first week at Rick’s place, this one will be our last week there and what’s happened since we’ve been back.

I don’t have a record of what we did each day but will try to cover the highlights..  I think it was on Monday that we headed out to try our luck salmon fishing.  We talked to a few folks and Rick checked with his guide buddies and found most folks we not having any luck, the reds just weren’t in yet.  We tried a few places and only caught two so soon decided it would be better if we tried a different day. 

I believe on Tuesday we picked up Rick’s Explorer from the shop, the bearings in the differential (rear end) and one wheel bearing needed replacing.  The gears all looked good so no replacement needed there.  Later we decided to head up river in the car to visit Cooper Landing area.  We saw lots of fishermen along the shore but didn’t have our gear and that wasn’t our mission for the day anyway. 

We drove around and admired the views and finally stopped for lunch at the Princess Hotel, this is where the cruise ship folks get bussed to for a day’s shore excursion.  Seeing as how it was for the cruise folks, it was really nice, the food was good, service excellent and lots of stuff to see there as well.  Glad we made the stop there.  Rick knew about this place because he worked out of the area as a fishing guide for a couple of years. 

Wednesday we toured Soldotna and Kenai a bit, stopping at some of the major stores in town.  With all the fishermen in town, everything was crowded, at least in Rick/Donna’s world but we didn’t think it was that bad compared to crowds we’ve had to put up with in other places.  Lorraine did find a couple of items she wanted but nothing big as we don’t have much room in our luggage. 

Thursday morning we saw momma moose again but she only had one baby with her.  Rick’s neighbor told him there was a brown bear in the area and we figure it got one of the babies.  We also saw two caribou in the area again.  We took off in the car once again, this time with Wittier as our destination. 

Once again, it was a cloudy day with on/off rain and showers but even then we enjoyed the views and scenery.  I didn’t know the only road in/out of Wittier was by driving though an active railroad tunnel, 2 1/2 miles long with only one lane.  We had to wait for about 1/2 hour for traffic from our side to enter then drove through.  I’m really claustrophobic and had a time, the walls were close enough but in my mind they were closing in even more.  I couldn’t see the entrance or exit and was getting pretty antsy, even had to open my window a couple of times.  I tried closing my eyes, counting and whatever I could to take my mind off the tunnel, no luck.  Finally (seem liked an hour to me) I could see light at the end and started to get better, whew, wish I had brought and taken my chill pills I use when I fly. 

But when we got out of the tunnel, everything was fine although I knew we would have to go back thru that tunnel and every time I thought about it I would start to worry.  But we did have a good time in town, a small town to be sure but a town just the same.  I heard a clerk in one of the stores tell a tourist there wasn’t much to do in town except to charter a fishing or tour boat, check out the few tourist stores or drink.  He said there were lots of bars in town. 

We walked the short main drag along the harbor, checking out the shops and stuff.  Then we drove thru the other section of town and the short section of unpaved road to the South.  The town was originally one of the spots where the gold miners came in by ship before heading to the interior and was a military complex during WW 11.  Two huge buildings dominate the town, one is abandoned while the other is called the “city under one roof”.  This is where most of the residents live as there are no single family homes in the area.  Inside this building are all the normal things in a town, grocery store, bowling ally, beauty shop and such.  These two buildings were at one time the two largest buildings in Alaska.  The town was damaged by huge tsunamis during the 1964 earthquake, up to 43’ waves is what I read.  And they have a total of 35 students in school, that includes all grades from preschool through high school. 

Whittier is a popular port of call for cruise ships, as it has connections to the rest if Alaska by road and railroads.  And it is very well known for it’s fishing, hunting and especially shrimp.  The shrimp are caught a few miles away and because of their food supply are said to be the sweetest shrimp available. 

We drove back to the harbor area and found a restaurant and of course had to order/try some of the local shrimp.  Lorraine and Rick had halibut while Donna and I had hamburgers.  Lorraine and Rick both agreed the shrimp were good, so good in fact that we ordered a pound to go so they could have some later. 

We made it back to the tunnel waiting area shortly after it opened for traffic from our direction.  I asked if I could drive through instead of sitting in back, hoping it would help and it did, no problem as I could see the light at the entrance in the rear view mirror or the light at the end all the time. 

Once thru, we stopped at the Portage Glacier visitor's center for awhile.  A very nice center with lots of info plus we were all able to get in using my National Park Access Pass.  There was a large lake just outside the center that had some large ice chucks floating that had calved off the glacier a few miles up the lake.  We could have taken a cruise ship up the lake and seen the glacier up close but needed to get back on the road, maybe another time. 

After we got back Lorraine and I took off to visit with a friend of ours who lives in the area, Gail.  We met her at Palm Springs 1000 Trails a year ago.  She is from Sterling and has another place in Arizona.  She invited us for dinner and we got to meet her daughter and son-in-law and grand kids.  Thanks for the invite and it was nice to meet your family too.  See you back in Arizona somewhere this winter, probably. 

Friday we headed out for more trout fishing in the drift boat as the salmon reports were still not very good.  We had a great time once again and even caught a couple but not as many as the first time in this area.  We did see a few folks catch some salmon and decided maybe we would give it try on Saturday.

After we got back to Rick’s house, Lorraine put started laundry while Rick and I were working on getting everything ready for salmon fishing the next day.  But the washing machine decided to quit, wouldn’t spin or agitate, now what.  So we decided to work on it the next day instead of going fishing and go fishing on our last full day, Sunday instead.  So that evening we did the majority of our packing, just keeping out clothes from the next day, fishing and traveling clothes and of course, personal items for bathing and such.  That filled up two of our four suitcases and made it easier when we left on Monday morning. 

So that’s what we did on Saturday morning, tore into the washing machine.  I first had us take the back of the machine off but soon found that was un-necessary as the motor and pump were accessible from the front instead.  So with a quick check online and two u-tube movies, we figured out the problem, parts needed and how to repair it.  We put the back on then took off the front section where we could get easier access.  It wasn’t too hard to get the pump and motor off and find the coupling was bad, wouldn’t transmit movement from the motor to the tub.  The gals made a run into town to get a new, improved coupler for us.  After we got the part, it only took an hour to install it and put everything back together.  And even better, the washing machine worked just fine after our repair, yea.  I learned something on that job too Rick!

Sunday morning we headed out for our last chance to go salmon fishing on this trip.  Rick had the boat at a friend’s dock on the river so we loaded up the gear in the car and took off.  We didn’t attempt to get a real early start but were in place before 9:00.  We were using a fly pole, standing in water about knee deep, putting the weight and hook in about waist deep water then moving it along downstream.  Each cast took about 15-20 seconds before we would use the “Kenai flip” and put the gear back upstream for another attempt. 

Fishing was slow for awhile then picked up and shortly after noon it got really exciting.  I don’t know how many fish I hooked but didn’t see or catch but I did keep track of the ones I hooked and released, 48 salmon.  That’s right, I caught and released 48 sockeye salmon in one trip, I think it was 14 in one hour even.  Boy was my arm sore and tired but it was a good sore.  In fact, my right hand, the one I mostly used for the “Kenai flip” cramped up on me a couple of time.  But it was sure fun, just what we’ve heard about when the fish come in. 

And what action, as I said, we were using fly rods so there wasn’t much between me and the fish and they did lots of jumping and such.  Because we were catching/releasing, I was able to play the fish for all the were worth, much more than someone who wanted to keep them.  Once I was almost at the end of my cast when a salmon jumped right in front of me and almost hit my leg.  I didn’t know yet but I had hooked it and it was trying to throw the hook.  Exciting and fun, what a day.  The limit is 6 keepers per person per day but we only kept two but ended up giving to a friend of Ricks.  In fact, fishing was so good, Rick called a good friend of his to come out, picked him up and he went fishing too.  He caught at least 10 fish and hasn’t caught more than one per season for the last two years. 

But finally we decided we had to quit and call it a day.  Everyone got back in the boat and we headed back to the dock, like I said, tired and sore but happy.  Soon enough we were were home and resting and before long heading for bed.

Next morning we had to be up by 6:30 as our plane left at 12:30, we needed to be there two hour early and we had a drive of about 2 1/2 hours.  We got on the road and once again drove through some of the best scenery around, the rivers and streams, all the mountains with the glaciers and Turnagain Arm just to name a few.

We got to the airport about 10:45 where they dropped us off and everyone said their goodbyes.  We headed inside to check in, Rick and Donna headed out for some errands while in town before they drove back.  We got to the check in counter and that’s where we first found out there was an issue, the plane we were scheduled on had it time changed, it was leaving just as we were at the counter.  The next plane was due to leave at 1:00 but it was having some mechanical issues.  They told us the next plane would be leaving at 4:30 and put us on it, shoot, that meant getting into Bellingham at 11:30 instead of 6:30 as originally scheduled.  And the gal at the counter was telling me how lucky we were that she was able to get us on this flight instead of one the next day.  So much for two hours early and thanks for keeping us informed.  If we had known about the delay, we could have spent a couple of hours fishing in the morning. 

We called Rick and they returned back to the airport and we spent a couple more hours with them, toured Anchorage some and had a good lunch too.  Then back to the airport to make sure the plane was repaired and on time.  Everything seemed to be good to go and soon they called for early boarding. 

I helped Lorraine get on board, took my chill pill and stepped off the plane to wait until most folks were on board before I got back on.  Guess I was standing in an unauthorized area as I had the head of security, the gal from the gate and the pilot come and talk to me.  I explained why I was there and they said no was supposed to wait there, just outside the plane on the walkway.  I didn’t see any problem but agreed next time I would return to the gate and wait out there.  Then the pilot was worried about what I might do if I had a problem with claustrophobia during the flight.  I managed to convince him that the chill pill was working and I would be fine.  Sheese, do I look like a terrorist or something?  And once I got on board, I took another pill and didn’t have any issue although the pilot did have the stewardess check on me to be sure. 

Our good friends, John and Bretta had agreed to pick us up at the airport when we got got in but that was when we were scheduled to be there at 6:30.  Lorraine called to let them know we would make other plans, a taxi or something we figured but they wouldn’t hear of it, said they would be there and pick us up.  And they were!  Thanks, that was sure a nice thing to do, sure appreciate it. 

But it did make for a long day plus Lorraine was feeling a bit sea sick from sitting in the boat all day the day before along with the flights.  We didn’t get to bed until about 2 am plus we had lost an hour traveling East.  Next morning I headed out to see our friend Tim who had been watching Misty for us.  Thanks again Tim, sure do appreciate it.  I’ll probably call you tomorrow. 

Back home, we finished unpacking and putting stuff away, I even had to re-install the kitchen sink we took with us, ha.  Actually for bringing casual clothes plus dress up clothes for the reunion, heavy and light coats and such I was pleased we only had 4 suitcases. 

Next morning, Wednesday, we made our re-supply trip to town.  We, of course, sort of cleaned out the fridge when we left so didn’t have a lot in house.  Plus we needed to make a couple of other errands while we were in town.  But it was a quick trip, Lorraine still wasn’t feeling up to par.

Thursday was the last scheduled doctor visit for us while we are here, Lorraine was seeing a new foot doctor.  She had surgery on her left foot a year ago while we were in Minnesota and has been experiencing pain in the surgery area since.  Our family doctor suggested she visit with this guy, said he was very good and might be able to help.  We got there, filled out paperwork and before she was finished, got called into the office.  Shortly thereafter, the doctor shows up and talks to us. I happened to be wearing a tee shirt from upper Michigan and that’s where he had practiced for 12 years.  Plus he was really interested in talking to us about our full time RV lifestyle.  Then he started talking to Lorraine about her foot.

He checked everything out and told us it was probably a pinched nerve, caught in the scar tissue.  He gave her a couple of options, surgery being one Lorraine ruled out pretty quickly.  He said he could have the pharmacist make up a special cream/salve that would help with nerve pain.  She could try this and see if it helps before moving on to more drastic remedies.  The doctor then left to call the pharmacist and print out her prescription.  Here’s hoping this works although we still haven’t heard from the pharmacy that the cream is ready.  But with all the time he spent visiting with us, I’m sure he was late for his next appointment. 

We then stopped by to pick up a birthday present for Lorraine, it’s on the 6th of August.  But it’s wrapped and she can’t open it yet even though see knows what it is. 

Friday one of Susy’s school girl friends came by for a visit. they live in Oregon and were here visiting friends.  Deanna had two of her kids with her plus another boy from the friend they are staying with.We went down to Birch Bay beach, the tide was way out and the kids had a great time.  Then we came back here and they all went swimming in the pool.  It sure was a good visit, we haven’t seen Deanna for probably 15 years, thanks for stopping by. 

Saturday morning we had plans to meet with John and Bretta in Ferndale at the Old Settlers Picnic Classic car show.  They have a ‘55 Chevy he’s had since new and they were entering it in the show.  There is also a parade in town and they close off some of the streets so we wanted to get there and find a parking spot before the parade.  We make it and had a visit with them for awhile then walked over to see part of the parade. 

Shortly after, we headed out to get a hamburger at the Ferndale Rainbow’s booth.  Susy was a Rainbow girl from age 12 –18 and we try to support them when we get a chance.  We ate there then toured the few booths around, Lorraine was happy to find a Avon booth and get a few things she’s been looking for. 

We returned to the car show area, John and Bretta sat out by their car while Lorraine and I walked the field to see the cars.  I think we must have meet 15 friends from the area while we were walking, some from my work, some from Lorraine’s and others.  Boy, old home week for sure, thanks for the invite and visit John and Bretta and good to see all the others we know. 

The weather during our last week at Rick’s was really nice for a couple of days.  We did have some rain, mostly at night and in the morning but the afternoon were usually clear.  On Sunday when we went fishing the weather was clear and warm all day with the same forecast for the next several days.  But we had to leave and return here where the forecast was for rain.  And we did get that on Wednesday/night, I heard we set a record for one day’s rain in July.  But it’s been nice the last few days and more of the same scheduled for the rest of the month. 

Our travel plans have us leaving here on Saturday, August 9th after Lorraine and her sister’s birthdays.  We hope to attend the annual picnic from the refinery on Friday afternoon too.  We will be heading to a FMCA rally in Redmond, Oregon for that week.  We haven’t decided on our plans from there, maybe the Oregon coast once again, we really like that.  But Susy called and the condo she is renting is being sold and she has to move and we may head down to help her is she needs/wants.  So back on the road and once again, no set plans. 

Now to go through the pictures, I know Lorraine took a bunch and she has probably many on her phone too.  Hope I can keep it down to a manageable amount. 

 

Rick’s three dogs waiting to be let in.  Rick’s new dining table and chairs that he picked up while we were there. 

   

Momma moose and one baby, heard there was a bear in the area, must have gotten the other one. 

  

  

One of the boat launches on Kenai River.  Smooth water on the lake. 

  

  

  

We’re at the Princess Lodge near Cooper Landing.  Donna and Rick.

  

Mom, Rick and Dona.  All of us on the right. 

   

How about those Nut Crackers, Katie?

   

Kenai River near where the Russian river joins. 

 

Launching Rick’s power boat. 

  

Fun fishing for all. 

  

We’re not the only one fishing. 

  

Homes along the Kenai River. 

 

Some of the trout we caught and released. 

  

 

 

More homes and even a float plane landing. 

 

A bar and dance place on the Kenai called Moosequito. 

   

Glaciers in the mountains on our drive to Wittier. 

  

  

Entrance to the 2 1/2 mile tunnel, the only road in/out of Wittier. 

  

  

Lots of boats here, however.  Plus this is a stop on the Alaskan Highway for their ferry boats. 

  

Most people in town live here, there are no single family homes in Wittier. 

 

The old, abandoned barracks that used to be home for some of the residents. 

   

 

We saw this neat little fishing boat, looks like a seiner only smaller. 

  

More boats in the harbor and the launching ramp. 

  

Only picture we got of the grey whale in the harbor. 

  

That’s ice that calved off the glacier behind us, notice the blue ice in it.   

  

  

 

More glaciers in the mountains. 

  

Gail and her house, we didn’t get pictures of her family, bummer. 

  

Heading out for a day’s salmon fishing.  That’s Donna, me and Rick on the right. 

  

Donna finally caught one!

  

I continue to catch and Rich helps release, notice Donna watching to learn how, ha. 

  

Donna keeps fishing while we show off one of my catches.  Rob, that dock in the background is Tower Rock where we fished.

 

 

Everyone gets in the action. 

  

  

 

Donna caught a very nice Dolly Varden. 

  

I could add lots more pictures like these ones but you get the idea, we caught fish and had fun!

  

  

 

We moved upstream to allow some other fishermen room.  The only two fish we kept but gave those away before the day was over. 

  

Last of the fishing pictures, look at those smiles. 

 

Last morning at Rick’s house before we head to the airport at Anchorage. 

  

  

Some of the views along the way. 

  

That’s a field of fireweed on the right. 

  

  

An over look of Anchorage. 

  

A few of the cars at the car show, don’t know why we didn’t get a picture of John and Bretta’s ‘55, sorry. 

  

  

  

That’s Kimmie with the red apron in the background at her first Rainbow booth. 

A couple more random pictures. 

  

  

Thanks enough for now,

 

Thanks  Chuck

 

289