Prime Rib in Hopland

We are in Hopland off SR101 parked in the parking lot of the Sho-Ka-Wah Indian Casino.  A small casino with a great Prime Rib dinner and and even greater price for player club members. One pound prime rib with salad, potato, vegetable for only seven dollar and something cents.  The parking lot here is sloped but the very top is fairly level and marked for RV parking.

Last night we parked in the at the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Casino. One of the friendliest casinos we have been to. On the down side, the RV parking lot does NOT have a level spot anywhere.  Using all my blocks I was still afraid Debbie was going to have a hard time staying on her side of the bed.

Down to Brookings

We left Florence around 10am this morning. It started snowing in Colberg this morning so we got out of there in the nick of time. And there was snow on some of the passes, so glad we decided to take the coast route.

The drive down to Brookings was a real challenge. We encountered heavy rain, wild wind and a curvy roadway, stretches of which were hung on the edge of the ocean, but no snow.  We arrived the the Elks around 2pm to an empty campground. We had to approach the lodge the round about way because a large sinkhole had swallowed both lanes of the road leading up to the lodge.

Tacos are on the menu at the lodge tonight but Debbie cooked a pot roast yesterday, love that crock-pot, so I’ll pass on the tacos. Love the crock-pot operator also!

We have a pull-through site so we were able to leave the car connected. We’ll leave in the morning for Trinidad, CA.

Finally Florence

We’re finally in Florence and settled in at the Florence Elks RV park.  The drive here was an easy hour and a half through some very beautiful scenery.

This morning Cummins we got in and out right away and now we’re all back to normal, except for the two engine batteries.  I found them 22 miles away down in Reedsport and drove down to pick them up. Installed between rain showers and without starting any fires. I’m certainly getting a workout lugging these 60-70 pound batteries back and forth.  I also had to take out the inverter to change the charging program for AMG house batteries . That thing is really heavy and I almost had to come home with it lying on its side in it’s basement compartment.

I need to post a few pictures that I didn’t include in a few of the previous posts. This is the sunrise at Ocean Shores just before the hydraulic pump motor burnt up.  The ocean view is behind me.

Here is our camp site at Cape Disappointment.

While we were there we drove over to Long Beach.

We passed by this lake on the way to the beach.

This is our site in Coburg. We received the morning paper on our step each morning.  I didn’t get a picture of Camp Cummins.

Here in Florence, Ty tries out a tree.

And here he’s showing off his new spiked collar. He really gets an attitude when he gets to wear it.

Repair update

If everything checks out tomorrow we should be on our way back to California.

Friday they finished installing the new unit from HWH. It appears to be working ok. Cummins didn’t have time to finish calibration so we’ll be staying at least till Monday. We don’t want to get too far from Cummins until we we’re sure it’s working properly. Unfortunately, because of the big game here in Eugene, WA vs. OR, we weren’t able to continue staying in the RV park. It’s full with Duck (UO) fans who came from all over the state for the game. Cummins’ has about ten spaces with 30 amp electric, a couple of water faucets and a dump station. We didn’t stay here before because the sites are on a slope and our leveling jack weren’t working but now we can level the RV and the price is right, free! We also will be close for our 8am appointment. When that is complete we will head toward the coast. We decided to head that way because Oregon requires all vehicles to carry chains after the 1st of November whether they are needed or not. A storm is coming in today and may drop snow on the passes. The way our luck has been going lately we decided to take the cowards way out. Route 126 from here to Florence is not under the Oregon snow chains require law and a couple or other ‘campers’ here at the Cummins Resort said the road is good and is not be a problem for an RV.

During the repair and testing I discovered one of the house batteries bulging and thought bad house batteries might be part of the problem so I started looking for replacements. Despite being in the center of RV land I couldn’t find three Lifeline AMG batteries. We drove up to Junction City to Guarantee RV, Oregon's largest RV dealer but they only had two. I settled for Trojan AMGs and got them installed and the core returned. Now I have discovered the house batteries don’t run the hydraulic pump, the two engine batteries do. They are original so are at least six years old and due for replacement also so I’ll look for some of those over on the coast. They should be easier to find and we’re ready to get going!

Friday evening we went out to the local Elks Lodge for dinner. They were serving Prime Rib. It was very good and a bargain to boot.

Coburg, OR

We are at Premier RV Resort in Coburg just outside of Eugene. We arrived Sunday evening without incident. The site is level enough that we can finally dial in the satellite. This is a nice park with good satellite and cell reception. Sites have full hookups and the patio is in the right location for a change.

This morning we dropped off the MH at Cummings for them to diagnose our problem. Around two pm they called and confirmed what I had guessed, a burn out pump motor.  HWH doesn’t make this model any more so we have to replace the unit that the new motor can mount to in addition to the motor. Of course they don’t have the assembly in stock and will have to fabricate one and then overnight it to us. The soonest we can expect to receive the unit is Friday morning. 

Well we’re here until at least Friday then we have to move because OU is playing a big game with their big rival Washington and the campgrounds are all full. We can stay at one to the sites at Cumming which has electric and a dump station and if we have to stay here over the weekend I guess that’s what we’ll do. The problem is the sites are not very level and we have no jacks.

On the positive side the weather has been good, overcast but warm, and so far no rain. That may change because the RV park has a wash area and I ran the car, which was imitating a potato field, over to it this evening and washed it.

Tomorrow, well she wanted to do it today, Debbie wants to try to manually slide out the bedroom slide. I am a little apprehensive because we already have one slide hanging out about four inches. But I guess we’ll give it a try.

Leaving Cape Disappointment

Today is Sunday and we are leaving for Eugene, OR where the Cumming shop is located. They are one of the HWH repair facilities and where we hope to get the hydraulic system repaired.  

We have enjoyed our stay here even though we have no jacks and no slides. Its so cramped with out slides that even the cat is getting cabin fever.

Saturday weather was sunny and beautiful  we went over to Astoria and did some shopping. I picked up a set of nut drivers so, if necessary, I will have the necessary tool the release the slide valve in the event it creeps out further on our drive down. When we got back to camp it was so nice that we sat outside with Ty, who was on his leash connected to the door handle. He was also enjoying being out and was sitting in the grass under the pine trees waiting for one of the many crows to come over for a visit. We weren’t paying very much attention to him, Debbie was weaving and I was reading, when our next door neighbor yelled at us that there was a raccoon approaching our cat. Looking over Ty and the  raccoon were nose to nose about a foot apart. We rushed over and the raccoon retreated and we saved Ty.

This park is beautiful. the sites are paved and level with full hookups. There is no cell service in the campground but with the antenna and amp we had slower than dial-up internet.  On Friday we were in #24 which is close to the beach but we wanted to stay and extra night and that space was reserved so we moved to #56. The campground is less that a third full only two other units are in our circle of ten sites.

Leaving in a few minutes. Wish us luck!

Slides and Jacks, oh-no!

We are at Cape Disappointment State Park, WA

We have been exceptionally lucky that our MH for the most part has been pretty trouble free. We have had a few minor problems but nothing major until yesterday.

We were at the Quinault Beach Casino parked in their RV lot about a half mile from the casino, all by ourselves, over looking the ocean. We were scheduled to drive a couple of hours down the coast to Cape Disappointment SP where we had reservations for Thursday and Friday nights.

I had retracted the bedroom slide and the large living room slide and started to bring in the small living room slide and nothing happened! I also found the leveling jacks were not operating. This was followed by a hot electronics smell. Investigation revealed the motor for the hydraulic pump was very hot and apparently had burnt out. Unable to bring in the slide or get the jack up we were stranded in a very isolated spot.

I called our MH road service, Winnebago, the hydraulic people, HWH. I also pulled out all the reference materials and manuals I could find.

I knew the theory on manually raising the jacks but I had no clue on how to get the slide in. The Winne manual covered in detail where and how to crank in the large slide and how to slide in the bedroom slide, but of course it didn’t mention the small slide at all. The road service called back and had a service tech scheduled arrive sometime before 4pm, its 10am now. The call to Winnebago was little help as they apparently didn’t have the slide in their manuals either. HWH took a message and said they would call back. Surprise they did about an hour later. They knew more about the MH than Winnebago did. I got some good information on how to release the pressure in the hydraulic lines and where the valves were to accomplish this task. They said once the valve was opened we could just push the slide in.

About 3pm the RV tech arrived. He wasn’t that familiar with our specific equipment but had worked on similar stuff. I showed him where the motor was under the front steps and after checking for voltage, using my meter because he left his at the shop, he jumped the solenoid on the motor and nothing happened confirming my original thought that it was burnt out and probably the source of the electrical smell. Next he opened the valve to the slide and the three of us tried to push it in. It didn’t budge a fraction of an inch! He tried a second valve, there are three , one for each slide. Still no luck. He opened the third and still no movement. He then opened the valves for the jacks and they retracted. Hooray! As I was looking over his shoulder I thought he was missing the valve that HWH indicated should be opened. He had been opening something in the back of the assembly and HWH said it should be in the front under the jack valves. I told him this and he opened that valve. The three of us again pushed on the slide and lo and behold the slide started in and we were able to push it all the way.

We finally got started toward Cape Disappointment around 5:30pm. As we started driving out of the parking lot the MH tilted to the right and the slide moved out a little. Oh! Shit! I had visions of the whole right side of the MH flying out and landing on the side of the road. After a very tense 2 hour drive we arrive in the DARK to the SP. Found our site and parked.The slide is still about 3 inches out but didn't appear to move any further.

We’re staying here at Cape Disappointment SP until this Sunday when we will cut over to I5 and drive down to Cummings in Eugene, OR. where we hope to get the hydraulic stuff fixed. Then we’ll continue down I5 and save the coast till next year.

Ocean Shores

Quinault Beach Resort and Casino - Ocean Shores, Washington

The Casino has a large, dedicated RV lot with about 100 marked spaces at the south end of the regular parking. We are in space 47 and there are only 2 other RV (might be the storm with 30mph wind and driven rain, although it’s hazy sun right now and no rain). One of the other RVs left so now, we are parked across spaces 96, 97 and 98, all by ourselves at the extreme south end of the lot and a million miles from anything. Haven’t seen any casino security in the RV lot but, although it’s desolate at this end, there doesn't appear to be a security concern. The lot is gravel and the spaces are designated with white spray paint and there is no utilities, but the price is right, There is parking along either side of the center access road. The spaces on the ocean side are sloped up so if you pull in facing the ocean it’s difficult to level the unit. This casino lot has a spectacular view of the ocean which is about 600 yards away.

The casino is way back there by the end of the Horizon

As mentioned before it been a windy, stormy day. We had heavy rain off and on as we headed south from Mount Vernon. And, our windshield wipers worked the whole way down. We’ve had a problem with them just suddenly stopping and ourselves and Freightliner have been unable to find the problem. Our workaround is pulling the wiper fuse and replacing but that’s hard to do on the side of I5 since the fuse in outside in one of the bins.

We had originally planned to go as far as the Little Creek Casino near
Shelton, WA but when we arrived around 1pm and there’s we decided to continue on to Ocean Shores, just another couple of hours.

The view from our door.

Getting Ready to Leave Port Susan

We’re in the parking lot of Valley Freightliner in Mount Vernon for the night where we had the Horizon serviced before heading for California. We dropped it off this morning and they had it finished late this afternoon. We’ll spend the night in their lot and leave tomorrow toward the Washington coast. We will be traveling along the coast all the way down.

We always look forward to heading up here and are always reluctant to leave. Especially leaving all our friends who live here through the winter.

Brad flew up for a week-end visit. While he was here we went over to Whidbey Island to see Deception Pass. A bridge spans the narrows where tidal currents rush through.

Kayakers flock to this area during tide changes due to the tidal rush.

2010 Aug 02 Sunday – Port Susan

We’re here. Les Ann left us a bouquet of flowers after a small dinner Debbie made with Rich’s crab. Crab fondue and crab cakes.

Debbie is decorating the environment with bird houses.

Saturday evening we went to a birthday party for a neighbor who lives on our road. Debbie made a birdhouse using Jose Cuervo tequila labels. It was really neat and appropriate as he love tequila. No picture yet as I forgot my camera, (got out of the habit) but will grab one soon.

Sunday was just a small get together at Bev’s, our next door neighbor. As it turned out we met some important people of the area. The Glen, assistant park mgr for Port Susan and Larry, a Tulalip tribal elder and member of the tribal council. Glen brought a dog with unique blue eyes.

Trip to Town (Pahrump, NV)

Sunday, April 11th, we drove into town where there a Quilt show was in progress, what else?

We stopped for a good lunch.

On the way back to the resort we stopped at Smith’s market. Next door a carnival was in progress. The flags flying are not part of the carnival but displayed by Pahrump businesses.

The next day there were rain showers in the area but they missed the resort.

Death Valley – Day 3 of 3

Tuesday, April 6th took us south of Furnace Creek to our first stop, the Natural Bridge Canyon. The bridge is about a mile up the canyon. Blake and Stacey check the info kiosk which has a map so we don’t get lost. Behind the kiosk you can see a carpet of yellow flowers. We were fortunate to see the flowers in bloom because they only bloom in a year the valley receives enough rain. Sometimes going ten years or more without blooming.

Blake and Stacey at the mouth of the canyon.

Nearing the bridge.

Finally we arrive. The walk is only slightly uphill but the floor of the canyon is loose debris so its like walking in the sand at the beach. You don’t notice it as much walking to the bridge. When you start back and have already discovered the secrets of the canyon that's when it really gets tiring.

A polished groove carved into the side of the canyon.

Walking back out of the canyon.

Next stop was was 282 ft below sea level, Badwater, the lowest spot in North America. Mount Whitney, the highest point in the US, is only 76 miles to the west. Blake and Stacey walked out to the salt flats in the distance. I didn’t want Debbie to be alone so I waited with her for the kid to return.

Next was Devil’s Golf Course. “Immense area of rock salt eroded by wind and rain into jagged spires. So incredibly serrated that “only the devil could play golf on such rough links.” The unpaved road starts on Badwater Road and is often closed after rain.”

Death Valley – Day 2 of 3

Monday, April 5th was the trip to Scotty’s Castle. We arrived in time to wait for the 11AM tour. We also signed up for a new tour: the “Underground Tour”.  This is a tour of the basement and the mechanical accruements.

This is a picture of the clock tower on the equipment room and the unfinished pool. The green grass is growing on the bottom of the pool which was the victim of the depression.  Blake and Stacey are standing on a bridge which crosses over the center of the pool.  A circular driveway led to a parking area and guest would have crossed over the pool to the front door.

Looking back at Scotty’s Castle from the base of the clock tower .

The front room looking down from the balcony, toward the front door. The room has a large fireplace on one end as well as a waterfall on the other side to cool and add humidity during the summer.

The house was heated by this hot water heater.

 

We luck out again and score a picnic table for lunch.

Mean while back in the valley we visit Furnace Creek Ranch. We visited the gift shop and checked out the Steak House and Cafeteria.

We also visited the outdoor museum which has a lot of equipment used in the area.

 

Look out from Furnace Creek at the wonderful colors.

 

On the way home we drove through 20 Mule Team Drive.

 

Death Valley – Day 1 of 3 (Pahrump, NV)

Sunday, April 4th, we got an early start and headed over to Death Valley. Stacey has wanted to see DV and dragged Blake down with her. Blake has already been dragged to DV several times by his dad.  I planned three full days which will allow us to see most of the major sites.

First stop, Dante’s View which overlooks Badwater below. Cold and windy up here today.

 

Next, Zabriskie Point.

 

The Zabriskie Point parking lot is down below. Stacey and blake are walking down.

Down to Furnace Creek we traded our Jeep Cherokee for a model more suitable to the back roads.

We stopped at Artist Pallet and hiked up to the colors.

Debbie was still recuperating from the hike up to Zabriskie Point so she met some new friends on the bench. Our new jeep is in the center.

 

Up in the color area.

 

You can see Blake walking back.

Back at Furnace Creek Visitor Center we were lucky to nab one of only two picnic tables for lunch. Debbie did a great job of planning and preparing the lunch. Actually all of the meals!

Next stop was to the ghost town of Royolite. Several structures are still partially standing. Here is a somewhat restored mercantile and the bottle house.

Now we’re going through Titus Canyon. Starting on the east side of the Valley we enter from the Armargosa Desert.  Into the back end of the canyon and follow it down and out into the valley.  Here we are crossing the desert.

Out of the desert we stopped before entering the canyon.

 

   

Next day two.