Saturday August 30. 2014 Hawthorne, NV

Frank, Maddy, Gerri and Shannon

 We didn't have to get started early this morning.  The plan was to meet Kathleen and the kids at Peg's near their house for lunch at noon.

We had our coffee and were ready to leave the RV Park by 10:30.  It was too early to leave, only about 8 miles to Peg's.  We spent the time on the computers. Gerri drove the Jeep and I followed in the coach.  I parked the coach at a Scolari's shopping center and Gerri picked me up and took me to Peg's.

Maddy, Gerri, Kathleen and Shannon

It turned out only to be Kathleen and the girl's, Sean slept in.  Maddy had a 1 o'clock job interview so the meal and goodbyes were quick.   We parted company  at 12:45.  Gerri and I were back to the coach, hooked up and on the road by 1:30.

I had decided to take US-395 through Carson City and then go through Yerrington and on to Hawthorne.  It turns out that with congestion that way took longer than taking I-80 to Fallon to pick up US-95.  Because the road turns north after Topaz Lake and goes north nearly to Silver Springs, that way was also further.  Of course the idea was to see some different country.  It had been many years since we went that way and we had forgotten how beautiful the drive is, especially along the West Walker River.  Like every where we have been the communities in Smith Valley have grown.

We arrived at the Whiskey Flats RV Park in Hawthorne at 4:30 and were all set up by 5.  Since we will be here 2 nights I hooked up all the utilities.  That way we will dump the sewer Monday and arrive in Las Vegas with nearly empty tanks.  As was pretty normal the wind was blowing hard in Hawthorne, so we stayed in and watched TV and read.  We had snacks for dinner since we had a big lunch earlier.

We were in bed a little after 11.  I am hoping to sleep better tonight.

Friday August 29, 2014 Verdi, NV

 We started our morning with coffee and computer time.  Around noon I went out caching.  I found 5.  I drove around a lot to get to them since we have stayed here several times, I have done the easier caches that are nearby.

At 5 we went to see Judy and Ed Pitchford who live in Verdi.  We visited with them until dark. The sunset was spectacular.  It lit up the clouds all around, not just in the west.

Sunset in Verdi, looking east.

Gerri, Kathleen and Maddy

After our visit with the Pitchfords we went to Kathleen's and visited for awhile.  We made plans to meet them at Peg's near their house for a late breakfast before leaving for Hawthorne.

Even though it was late when we got back to the coach, we ate the leftovers from Casale's.

Some computer and then reading brought us to bedtime.

Gerri, Maddy, Kathleen and Sean  

Thursday August 28, 2014 Verdi, NV

We started our day as usual with coffee and computer.  We were supposed to meet friends for breakfast, but they cancelled.  By the time they had cancelled we were already near the restaurant. We went ahead and had breakfast alone at Peg's Glorified Ham and Eggs. http://eatatpegs.com/ Gerri had corned beef hash with eggs and I had the huevos rancheros.

We made another stop at Costco on the way back to the RV Park. Gerri spent some time hunting her eggs while I went caching.  I tried to find a way to get to one without trespassing.  I didn't find a way.  I walked to another and had no luck finding it.  I was trying to find a road to another cache and ended up on an I-80 on ramp headed west. I had to go six miles to turn around.  I did find one cache on a river access road at a turnout on the Interstate.  By then it was time to hurry back to the RV.

The front of the menu

 We went to Kathleen's and visited with her and the kids.  We decided on Italian food for dinner and settled on a restaurant named Casale's Halfway Club.  Kathleen found it on Yelp; http://www.yelp.com/biz/casales-half-way-club-reno.  I have no idea where it is halfway to or from.  Maybe they mean it's not quite a club.  It fit the description given by one of the reviewers and it only lacks a block of being in Sparks instead of Reno. The kids choose not to go out for dinner.

Despite the outwardly appearance, our first impression was good. We were met and welcomed at the door by the owner.  He introduced us to his Grandmother Inez, who took over the restaurant with her family in 1969.  Under previous owners the restaurant was started in 1937 and claims to be the oldest restaurant still operating at the same location in Reno and the oldest restaurant in Nevada.  Kathleen and Gerri had the Lasagna and I had spaghetti and meatballs.  The dinner came with soup or salad and plenty of garlic bread.  We really liked the place, it had character and great food at reasonable prices. 

Back of the menu with a history of the restaurant

Grandmother Inez

Gerri's baked Lasagna

Thasa sum bigga meatball

Back at Kathleen's we visited for awhile before returning to the RV.  We caught up on computer activities and read until an early bedtime.

Wednesday August 27, 2014 Verdi, NV

Last night was another cool night great for sleeping.  We had our coffee and just relaxed during the morning.  I checked the Jeep to see how well I had cleaned it in the failing light yesterday.  It wasn't too bad.  I redid the hood and the windows.

At noon we headed out for lunch with Eric and Linda Cooper in Carson City.  We met them at 1 at the Casino Fandango.  We had breakfast and chatted until the place was closed and they were finished cleaning up around us.

On the way back to Reno we stopped at Costco for some grocery items.  We then went to Kathleen's and visited.  I played Civilization with Sean on the computer for awhile.  I didn't know the game and couldn't keep up with Sean.

For dinner we had Grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and salad.  We visited for awhile after dinner and then headed back to the coach.

We caught up on computer activities and Gerri went to bed and read for awhile.  I read until almost midnight, finished the novel I was reading.

Tuesday August 26, 2014 Verdi, NV

We are really in the "end of the trip mode."

After the rain storm in Verdi

We didn't get up and have our coffee until after 9.  We didn't do much in the morning.

I did check for nearby caches that I hadn't found. There was a new one near the Lotto Store, 477' away.  I walked over there but wasn't able to find it using my iPhone.  A little later I loaded the coordinates on my GPS and walked over there again.  No luck this time either.  I logged it as a DNF.  Sometimes a cache owner will contact me after a DNF log.  This one hasn't done that yet.  Oh well, it's not like this was my first DidN't Find it.

At three we went to Kathleen's.  She was supposed to get off at 3:30 to take Shannon to an Improv session.  We visited with Shannon and Sean until Kathleen got home.  Maddy was out for a job interview.  We will catch up with her later.  Mostly we visited with Shannon, Sean was engrossed in an online computer game with a friend.

Gerri and Kathleen took Shannon to Improv and I went to a nearby CVS to get a prescription filled.  I didn't have any refills left so they have to fax Dr. Wirtz's office.

Shannon

After dropping Shannon off Gerri and Kathleen came back to the house and we visited for an hour or so.  Kathleen had a dish to take to a potluck so we agreed to pickup Shannon.  After picking up Shannon we stopped at a Dickey's BBQ Pit and had  BBQ for dinner.  They have free serve yourself soft ice cream so we all had a cone.

We dropped Shannon off at the house and returned to the RV Park.  It was twilight but I decided to clean up the Jeep.  That took until dark.  I will see how well I did in the morning light.

We spent some time on the computer and reading before going to bed at about 10.

Monday August 25, 2014, Verdi, NV

Our first view of Crater Lake

 Since we decided to leave Diamond Lake early, I got up at 7 and started the coffee.  I had  done everything outside but unhook the power cord.  Gerri got the inside ready to roll while we had coffee and I unhooked and stowed the power cord.

We had 340 miles to go to Verdi, so we were on the road by 8:15.

The Pumice Desert at Crater Lake

 Our route took us back to US97 and then south to OR-39 which turned into CA-139.  Highway 39 was narrow.  Highway 139 was narrower and rough until we got to US-395.







After Susanville we ran into rain.  We also had rain when we arrived at the Gold Ranch RV Park in Verdi, west of Reno.

We only stopped briefly for fuel and then for a sandwich.  I have posted panoramic pictures from Crater Lake.  We didn't take any pictures during the drive.

We got to Gold Ranch and bought fuel and were set up by 4:45.  We were assigned site 73 a large back in site.  Gerri got me started into the site before the rain drove her inside.  I backed up to the back of the space and we got set up in stages between showers.

Television and computer time rounded out the evening.

Sunday August 24, 2014 Diamond Lake, OR

We didn't hurry with our coffee today.  All we had planned was to see Crater Lake.

We got started on our drive around the lake in the early afternoon.










We stopped at most of the viewpoints and at the Rim Village.  There were a lot of cars and pedestrians at the village and most of the viewpoints.  The buildings at the village didn't look well maintained, the landscaping certainly wasn't kept up.

A beauty in a beautiful place

A crater within the crater

We went back to a couple of the viewpoints after making the rim drive.  Until the second stop we didn't realize there was a small crater in the largest island in the lake.

Phantom Ship, really a small island

Look close you can see the crater in the island

During our drive to and around Crater Lake, I gathered the information for two Earth Caches and a Virtual cache.

Some snow is left in the crater

Diamond Lake

Dinner at South Shore Pizza, Diamond Lake, OR

Before returning to the RV Park we went to the lodge at Diamond Lake.  After we checked out the menu we decided to go to the Pizza restaurant near the RV Park.  The pizza had been recommended by two of our neighbors in the RV Park.

We found two traditional caches before returning to the RV Park.

During our stay we experience poor or non-existent internet.  I complained to the office.  They made several excuses including that they weren't responsible for the poor internet connection.  I told them we were leaving a day early and asked for a refund.  They had no excuse for no refunds except that was the company policy.


We read and and tried to get on line for awhile before calling it a night.

Saturday August 23, 2014 Diamond Lake, OR

Odell Lake, OR

No early start this morning.  We only had about 200 miles to drive to Diamond Lake, OR.  I made coffee and we started it while getting the coach ready to travel.  We left the Phoenix RV Park at 10:15.

Our route was south on I-5 for 67 miles to OR-58 and then east.  We stopped at a rest stop before reaching the turn off of I-5.  I found a geocache there.

Once on OR-58 the road went uphill and was curvy.  We climbed from 200' to 5000' in about 80 miles.  At first there was some farmland and that gave way to forest as we traveled.  There were streams and reservoirs along the road after we got into the higher elevations.

We think it's the pointy one

We intersected US-97 and went south for awhile before turning west again on OR-230 toward Crater Lake.  We came to this area to see Crater Lake but we are staying in an RV Park in Diamond Lake.  Diamond lake is about 25 miles from Crater Lake National Park.

We arrived at the Diamond Lake RV Park at 2:30 and got set up.  I had scheduled 3 nights here but we may cut that short by one night and head on to Reno early.  The park uses Tengo Internet and they only allow access by one device.  Plus, the connection is spotty and slow.  I don't know why RV Parks put up with this type of service.  No service at all would be a lot less frustrating.  At our site we have no TV reception and the Verizon MiFi internet service is weak, we can only get e-mail and that is sporadic.

For dinner, Gerri fixed a salad and we had that with leftovers and a cottage cheese and peach plate.

With no TV and very little internet, we read until bed time and called it a night.  It was warm during the afternoon but by bed time it was under 60 degrees.  It promised to be a nice cool night for good sleeping.

Friday August 22, 2014 Salem, OR

We were up and at the coffee and computers at 8.  Not much was planned until dinner with Walt and Cindy Myers at 6.

I only went out for a while to get some things for Gerri at Sallys beauty Supply.  I did a couple of caches while I was out.

We met Walt and Cindy at La Hacienda Real for dinner at six. After dinner we went to their house and played a couple of games of scrabble while we visited.  It had been 12 years since we were last at their house.

We returned to the coach at 10 and after a little computer time, retired to the bedroom for some reading.

Thursday August 20, 2014 Salem, OR

Gerri and me

Oregon Capitol Building

 I was awake during the night thinking about my lost car keys.  Lamenting the hassle of replacing the keys on the ring and kicking myself for losing them.

I had planned to check at the office and see if they had been found and look in the dumpster to see if I could see the outline of the shoe box that was in the bag I threw away.  At 7 I heard what I believed was the trash truck, so I was kissing that possibility away.  After making coffee I did go to the office and ask if the keys had been turned in.  They hadn't been.  I did look in the dumpster and it hadn't been emptied.  I turned over some of the top bags hoping to see the outline of the big shoe box.  I didn't.

At 11 we met Walt Myers downtown for lunch at a Mexican Restaurant, The Margarita Co. Walt still works so it was his lunch time.  We ate and talked for longer than his lunch hour and made plans to meet for dinner tomorrow night and then spend some time at his house.

David and Iva Starke

When we got back to the park I started to head for the Jeep dealership to have a new key made. The ignition key has a chip in it and is integrated with the key fob.  I was dreading a $200+ bill.  I stopped at the office and ask about the keys again.  When I told my story  the maintenance man said he would look through the garbage bags.  He tore open 8 or 9 bags that were near the top of the dumpster.   We didn't see the shoebox or the Tillamook Cheese bag that it was in.  For some reason we then looked in the recycling bin. There was the Tillamook bag and my keys were in the bottom.  Al's willingness to dumpster dive had saved me some money and a lot of hassle.

Gerri contacted Iva and made arrangements for them to come over and go downtown with us.  Our first order of business was to see the State Capitol Building.  After walking around the capitol grounds for awhile we went to Da Vinci's Italian Restaurant.  We were seated but there was such a loud piano playing we left.  We ended up at a restaurant called The Brick.  It was much quieter and offered a varied menu.  Gerri had a French Dip Sandwich and the rest of us had fish tacos.

Back at the RV Park we said goodbyes and agreed not to wait another 3 years before we met again.

Before going to bed we caught up on computer activities, read and did Sudoku puzzles before bedtime.

Wednesday August 20, 2014 Salem, OR

We only had to travel about 100 miles today.  We anticipated that the road wold be curvy.  So we had our coffee while getting ready to travel.  We left Whaler's Rest at 9:10.  We had to back track on US-101 to Newport and then head west on US-20.  It had been several years since we had traveled this route and we were correct in our anticipation.  There were a lot of curves and hills.  After  getting to I-5 we headed north to Salem and the Phoenix RV Park.

Our main purpose in going to Salem was to visit our old friend and co-worker Walt Myers.  Walt and his family moved to Salem a number of years ago when he got the job of Police Chief.  He had been a Deputy Chief at Las Vegas Metro PD.  We had also been in contact with a couple we met in Bailey Harbor, WI.  Iva and David Starke.  We met them at an RV rally in 2004 and had sporadic contact with them over the intervening years but had not met with them.  They have their coach at a shop in Junction City, just south of Salem and are staying at a hotel near the RV Park where we are staying.

The travel today was through farm and forest.  When we got on I-5 there were also a lot of grape fields. We got to the Phoenix RV Park and set up in site 105 by 1:30.  Gerri went shopping while I set up the coach.  I hooked up all of the utilities since we will be here 3 days.  They have 50 amp electric service here so we were able to run all the AC units to cool the coach down after traveling.

I called David and Iva and we agreed that they would come to our coach at 3 and later decide on where to have dinner.  I also called Walt to let him know we had arrived.  He was in a meeting and said he would call me back.

I went to a nearby Walgreen Pharmacy and dropped off a prescription that I needed to be transferred and filled.

Gerri, Iva, David and me

David and Iva arrived at the coach a little after 3.  We had snacks and quite a gap fest catching up since we were last together.  We went to dinner at Schroder's Guest House.  This restaurant was recommended by the park staff as a good place for comfort food.  Gerri and David had Liver and Onions, Iva had a hamburger and I had a Chicken Fried Steak.  All the portions were large and we had leftovers.  The Chicken Fried Steak reminded me of one I had years ago in Texas, it overlapped the edges of the plate.

From the restaurant we went our separate ways, us back to the coach and David and Iva back to their hotel.

Some time during the evening I missed having my Jeep keys.  Back at the coach I searched in places I had been, including the car.  I even went to the trash can across the street but it had been emptied since I had put a bag of trash in earlier.  No luck in finding the keys.

We went to bed at 10:30.  Except for the car keys it was a good day.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014 South Beach, OR

I got up and checked out the fog.  There was plenty.  I made our coffee and Gerri announced she wanted to go to breakfast at the Pig n' Pancake.  So it was off to Newport.  The Pig n' Pancake is a chain of restaurants we have seen along the Oregon Coast.  I had Chicken Fried steak with gravy, two eggs and a short stack of pancakes.  Gerri had biscuits and gravy with two eggs, bacon and a potato pancake on the side. Gerri had leftovers.  I did two nearby geocaches after we left the restaurant.

Yaquina Bay Bridge

We returned to Whaler's rest.  We went to the north lodge and caught up on internet activities. The MiFi doesn't work well in here and the park wifi doesn't reach our site very well.  Gerri stayed at the lodge and after saving some caches to my iPhone I went caching.

I found four caches.  The last one was on a beach and I had trouble finding it.  I noticed that the last person that logged the cache we our friends Gary and LuVerne Underhill, user name GaryAZ.  I called for help and spoke with LuVerne for quite awhile.  After talking to her I walked directly to the cache.  It was two feet from where I had looked before.

Working boat basin in Yaquina Bay.

 For dinner we decided to go to Mo's.  Mo's has been highly recommended by several friends who have eaten there before.  The last time we were here was during the 4th of July week 5 years ago.  There was a long line at Mo's so we ate across the street at Mo's Annex.

On the way into Newport we pulled over at a spot where we had good internet.  We connected on Skye with our Granddaughter Vanessa in Texas.  Today was her 6th birthday and we watched her open her presents.  Most of the presents were Frozen related.  Frozen is a movie that Vanessa likes.

Is tat Mo?

At Mo's Gerri had steamed clams and I had cioppino.  We both had a cup of clam chowder.  A very good meal.  The clam chowder was good but I think we had better in Seaside at both Norma's and Dooger's.









After eating we walked around the Bayfront area and watched a couple of people crabbing off the pier. We didn't see anyone catch anything although one man had three crabs in a bucket.  We then drove along a loop around Yaquina Bay.  The road goes along the Bay and then meets US-20 near Port Toledo.

Upper Yaquina Bay

As with other places along the coast there were a lot of old pilings in the water.  We can only imagine the industries that once thrived here.  At Port Toledo there was a large forest products mill. We assume that a lot of the old pilings were associated with the lumber industry.

At a couple of points we saw the remains of old railroad trestles.  There must have been a track to the shore, long gone now.

An old Railroad trestle near Port Toledo.

We headed back to Newport along US-20 and then back south on US-101 to Whaler's Rest.  We crossed the Yaquina Bay bridge several times and it was always foggy.

E-mail that came in during the evening told us that Farley and Donna, from our Alaska caravan, were staying at the RV Park at the Marina in Newport.  Since we were leaving for Salem the next morning there was no time to get together with them.

We plan to visit Walt Myers while in Salem.  We also talked to Iva and David Starke, who we met in Door County at a rally.  They will be in Salem on Wednesday and we plan to visit with them.


It was a full day and we called it a night at about 11.

Monday August 18, 2014 South Beach, OR

Home of good stuff

It was foggy again this morning.  We didn't hurry with our coffee or getting ready to travel.  We only planned to travel 125 miles.

We left Seaside at about 10:30 traveling south on US-101.  There was a lot of farming country, mostly dairy farms.  We were near the water at times and it ws foggy.

We stopped at Tillamook Cheese.  It was crowded so we didn't go on the self guided tour. Problem was if you don't do the tour you miss the free cheese curd samples and other cheeses. Gerri bought some cheese curds, summer sausage and crackers.  We both had an Oregon Black Cherry Ice Cream Cone before leaving.

Second cheese stop

Our next stop was the Blue Heron French Cheese Factory.  It was less than 2 miles away.  This place has several farming exhibits outside and a couple of rows of old vehicles .  Only one has been restored, we didn't get a picture of that one.

At the Blue Heron Cheese Company

The newest vehicle in the collection

We didn't stop again until we reached Whaler's Rest in South Beach, OR.  It is a Thousand Trails Park just south of Newport, OR.

We were set up in a small pull through site by 4:30.  We had DirecTV put not a good MiFi connection.


After setting up we went to one of the activity centers where wifi was available and pretty much got caught up on internet activities.

Dinner was the leftover fish and chips from Norma's last night.

TV, reading and Sudoku puzzles finished off the evening.

Even the logs are old

Sunday August 17, 2014 Seaside, OR

The dawn brought another foggy morning.   We were up and had our coffee before watching the webcast from Oakey Blvd. Church of Christ.  The video came in better today than it ever has and the sound volume was better than usual.  Randy's message was very timely.  The topic was, "Praying for the peace of Jerusalem."  The question that brought up was who and what are we praying for. The message I got was that we need to pray for everyone.  Jew, Christian and the Muslim.  Beyond that we need to pray for all mankind, especially the sinners.

After worship service Gerri wanted to stay at the coach and enjoy her egg hunting and continue washer woman duties.  I downloaded a few more local geocaches and went cache hunting.  The first four were relatively easy ones north of Seaside.  They did take me to an area of dunes and beaches that I hadn't seen.  There was one area of beach that allowed driving on the sand.  A lot of families were out enjoying the beach even though it was cool and foggy.  The next two caches were south of Seaside near a graveyard.  I never found them.  I did notice that one of them had been found in May by our friends Gary and LuVerne Underhill.

We tuned into the 6 PM service from Oakey Blvd., but the internet connection kept breaking and we were unable to follow the services.



Towards sunset we went to the promenade along the beach in downtown Seaside.  This area caters to families, there are even indoor bumper cars and miniature golf.  There are also restaurants of every kind, from hot dog stand to fancy dining establishments.  We parked off Broadway and walked to the promenade.  Broadway ends in a circle at the promenade where there is a statue commemorating the Lewis and Clark Voyage of Discovery.  Lewis and Clark wintered near here in preparation for the return journey.  They had a salt making operation in what is now Seaside.  http://www.seasidemuseum.org/lewisclarksaltworks.cfm

We got some excellent shots of the sunset.  It was surprising how many people gathered to see the sunset.  As we were leaving there were some people running to see the sunset finale.

For dinner we chose a restaurant that we had been to years ago, Norma's.  Norma's is a family restaurant and serves varied menu from steak and seafood to hamburgers.  We both choose to have fish and chips.  We had the Cod dinner which included a cup of Clam Chowder.  Gerri had her fish batter dipped, I had mine lightly battered. The chowder was excellent.  The fish was very good but after the chowder we both ate about half of the serving.

Back at the coach we watched some TV while catching up on computer activities.  I started a project several days ago of uploading pictures from this trip to Shutterfly.  I have gotten up to Washington, all of Canada and Alaska are uploaded.  Now I have to figure out how to share them.

Bedtime was about 11.  Tomorrow we move to Newport for two days.

Saturday August 16, 204 Seaside, OR

This morning dawned with sunshine.  There was a marine layer to the west but it was sunny in the RV Park.  Today was our scheduled departure day.  After making coffee I went to the Ranger station and they were able to extend our stay until Monday morning.  The rangers here have been extremely helpful. Our original plan was to stay here a week but I was only able to get two nights on line.  The rangers are on top of cancellations and no shows and we have been able to stay all week.

Site 20 Seaside 1000 Trails Park

I got a call back from Walt Myers in Salem.  We will be visiting them next week.  We have decided to only stay in Newport for two days.  It is nearly 100 miles from Newport to Salem, so we made reservations for Wednesday through Friday at an RV Park in Salem.  We also changed our plans and instead of going home via I-5 and through Bakersfield we will be visiting Crater Lake.  We will then continue onto Reno and return to Las Vegas via US-95.

Sunset through the fog

Gerri choose to relax during the afternoon at the coach.  I went caching.  I took the camera with me in case I could get sunny shots in town.  I found 4 caches before returning to the coach. The sunlight never reached the town and by late afternoon it was foggy and cloudy again.

I did get a picture of the sun setting from our site.

Gerri fixed a salad to go with the left over Pasta and we had a good dinner.  We, mostly me, watched a couple of bad westerns on TV before going to bed.