Timely Christmas Gifts

Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect.

 

After all that Christmas shopping it comes time to mail those packages.  Actually, that’s not always as easy as you might think especially if you’re going to the post office.  We’ve been in those lines.  Some are very, very long just before the holidays.

It’s not just the standing in line.  There’s the preparation for shipping.  First, you need to figure out the size of the shipping box, padding and tape.  You also need to be timely.  Mail services have cut off dates if you need that package to arrive before Christmas.

The good thing about it this year is we didn’t have so much to mail.  Sometimes we were frequent customers of FedEx.  Sometimes we would check packages with us on an airplane.   We’d just put them in a box and figure the packages would arrive the same time we did.  However, after my experience last year flying back from the holidays and checking luggage, I doubt I will ever count on a package making it when I do.  If it does, I’ll be happy.  If it doesn’t, I certainly know the process and will start replacing items faster than I did last December.  Remember I rarely, rarely check anything …. this time Southwest took my suitcase but never returned it.

Sunday we were ready to send our packages via Santa Claus Express.  With only a few days before Christmas, we weren’t about to send them via ground mail.  Besides we wouldn’t want to.  This way they’ll get there a few days early to allow for little flukes in transportation but not too early.  One box was going to Florida for Justin and the other box was going to Arizona for Terry’s folks.  FedEx normally isn’t open on Sundays but it  was this Sunday and we beat the crowd.  They were at the door and coming in as we left.  Packages will fly out on Monday and be delivered on Wednesday – we hope.  At least that’s the plan.  It’s the 2-day plan.

After staying two nights at Tammi’s we moved to Lee’s house Sunday.  We also checked out a couple decorated homes with Christmas lights.  We used to set aside a night each Christmas when the kids were little to ride through areas with lots of Christmas lights.  A very popular area in Portland is Peacock Lane.  It was popular then and still is popular today.  Every house on that street is decorated to a “T”.  The lines of vehicles viewing are long and slow.  It’s a spectacular show of homes decorated for the holidays.

‘Tis just life on the road.

Countdown to Departure

You can find your way across this country using burger joints the way a navigator uses stars.

This is winter.  Traveling in the winter can be less than exciting.  Well, it could bring some excitement to your travels.  That kind of excitement nobody wants.  I don’t care if you’re traveling by car or by plane, weather delays can play a major part in your departure or arrival time.  We also know the accuracy of weather forecasts.  In other words …. an unexpected storm could certainly ground you along the way.

I don’t like traveling in bad weather.  I especially don’t like traveling in the winter time.  However, about the only way to get from one point to another is to travel.  We have spent more than our fair share of time on the tarmac at airports waiting for runways to be opened up after a storm or waiting our turn to be de-iced.  We’ve also spent our fair share of time inside the airport after our flight has been cancelled.  What we did learn is if you have a choice and can figure it out, pick the flight on the schedule where that plane will be heading to a very popular destination after it drops you off.  That’s the plane that the airlines will put ahead of other flights before cancelling.  As an example, if you’re heading to Miami or Chicago, get on a plane that they need in Miami or New York for an international flight after you land.  More bucks are made on those flights than the one that will just head to another in-state airport.  Been there, done that, lots.

However, it’s not so easy if you’re driving.  If you’re driving, you’re in charge. You need to check the weather reports and road conditions.  That’s just what we’ve been doing.  Driving a vehicle with a dog is a lot different than driving with an RV.  With an RV you have your motel accommodations with you.  In a vehicle, you don’t.  In your RV you can have a dog.  Finding a motel that will accept your dog in the exact place you want to stop for the night could be a different story and takes a little more research.  Then, you’re also not sleeping in your own bed with your own bedding. We’re not fond of the idea of boondocking in our Jeep at a Wal-mart on our up coming trip.  No, we’re not fond of that idea at all.

Our original departure date was going to be on Thursday.  We have a couple stops we want to make in California along the way.  One is in Cabazon (do you know what’s there?) and the other might be in Stockton.  If we left on Thursday, we figure we’d arrive in Portland on Saturday.  However, Terry is getting more and more antsy to get on the road.  The problem is if we pull out on Tuesday, there’s a good chance we’ll run into some snow over the Siskiyous and possibly on into southern Oregon.  When we’re ready to go, we’ll go but we don’t even have chains.  We didn’t want chains.  We had no plans of traveling through snow in the winter.  Absolutely no plans of doing that at all.

I had been so busy focusing on the weather through the mountains in northern California and Southern Oregon that I never bothered to check southern California until now.  Guess where and when the storm is due.  Southern California is the target with snow expected through the Grapevine just about the time we were thinking might be a good earlier departure.  Geez … you just can’t win, can you?  Tehachapi is looking at 2 – 4 inches of snow on Tuesday.

There is a window.  There always seems to be a window even if it's not the one we want.  With snow expected on the southern part of our route on Tuesday and snow expected on the northern part of our route beginning Wednesday evening, we found a window.  We don’t necessarily like that window and aren’t even sure if we’re going to use it.  Knowing the accuracy of the weather forecasts, trying to use that window could be worse than just winging it.  Storms seem to rarely travel at the speed they are forecast.  Many arrive earlier and many arrive later.  Thus, we have a dilemma. 

‘Tis life on the road …. we just hope it’s a dry road.  My guess is that we'll be on that road before this is posted.

Finally – The RV Migration South

Inflation is when you pay fifteen dollars for the ten-dollar haircut you used to get for five dollars when you had hair.

For the same reason birds want to  leave the northern states in the winter months, so did we.  During the winter it’s cold up north and supposed to be nice and warm in the south.  We had already started to feel the dampness and coolness in the air.  The leaves were turning and we knew it was time to get out there.  So we finally did.  Normally we pulled out of Washington State in the first few days of October.  However, we had a lot of unfinished business.   Besides, we’ve had so much fun with both kids and their families this year that it’s been a little harder to leave.  Now it’s almost the first of November!!!

Our trailer was ready and so was everything else …. we hoped.  The only thing left to do was program the GPS.  Our trip is always planned using Microsoft Streets and Trips.   I have all the Wal-Marts, Flying J’s, Pilots, Loves, rest stops, Elks and every place else we might want to stop with markers.  However, not so sure why I’m always surprised that we don’t stick to our route.  We never seem to.  We sometimes stop earlier but normally stop later.  At least we thought we had a general idea of what the plan was. 

Snowbirds in Cactusland by Steven Morath  ----->

(purchase print here)

The first intended stop was only

20 miles down the road.  We definitely needed to dump and that was where we were heading first -- the Clackamette County RV Park which was 20 miles south from where we were parked.    Check out the satellite view of this park.  What a gorgeous setting and so close to the Portland area.  Maybe next year we’ll really stay there … maybe.

Do I really need to tell you we bypassed that park and didn’t dump?  We also bypassed the alternative dump location in Salem.  Farther down the road we stopped at Love’s.  That wasn’t even included in our trip planning.  Oh well .. it worked and that’s what counts most.   Tuesday was intended to be a short day with only 216 miles traveled and stopping at the Seven Feathers Casino.  So much for planning because that didn’t happen either.

< -- Clackamette RV Park

We had also agreed that since we wanted to stop and walk Duchess every few hours that we would make these walks at truck stops topping off each rig every couple hundred miles.   Remember we’re driving the motorhome and the Jeep pulling a trailer.  Again, so much for planning.  At one point old habits creeped in.  As Terry was filling up the motorhome I pulled my vehicle AND the attached trailer out of the way … and front first into a parking spot.  I had forgot about the trailer on the back until I got out.  Oops.  I am learning to back up but I’m really, really bad.

Since we kept on going right past the intended casino, we weren’t sure how far along we would get. It was still daylight and we weren’t really ready to stop at 2:30 in the afternoon.  We had also discovered a taillight was out in the motorhome so we were also sure we didn’t want to drive after dark.

One thing we did want to get behind us were some of the mountain grades around Roseburg and Grants Pass.  Those grades are like a yo-yo.  It’s a 6% grade up and down but the grades are short.  The biggest grade on I-5 is the one at Mt. Ashland which is almost right at the Oregon-California border.  The climb is steep and seems to go on and on for miles.  Well, it does go on and on for miles up to an elevation of 4,310.  Then, it goes down and down for miles.  The closer we got to this grade, the more we wanted to get it behind us.  We did.  There were lots of Snow Zone signs but thank goodness no snow!

Our destination ended up being Yreka which is still in the Siskiyou Mountains with more yo-yo like grades ahead of us.  The weather was expected to dip down to 27 degrees but no precipitation expected so we were good. 

Stopping at the Yreka Park threw havoc into our planned schedule.  If I had a shredder, that’s where it would have gone.  However, I remember the time when I would have said that I would never pay that price for an overnight park and I would never stay at a park when I could stay at a Wal-mart or Flying J.  I ate those words for dinner and they didn’t taste good.

Stopping in Yreka meant that the next planned stop-over at Rolling Hills Casino wasn’t going to work either since it was only about 150 miles south.   Plans were changed and Santa Nella became the intended overnight stop but we weren't sure whether it would be the TA Travel Plaza or the Santa Nella RV Park.  Either way we figured Wednesday would probably be about a 375 mile day …. maybe.

Of course, this meant that the Orange Grove RV Park outside of Bakersfield might not work either and so on.  Needles is still on our list because we really want to check out Laughlin.  However, that might even be subject to change.  Remember my one-worry-per-day rule?  I’ll worry about that on Thursday.

Some folks make reservations for every night along the route of their migration south.  I’m sure you can tell by now why we don’t do that.  If we did, we’d spend half the time on the phone cancelling them. I guess you'll have to check back in a day or so to see what other changes took place with our schedule.

Great Day – Dilemmas Solved

 

There is no dilemma compared with that of the deep-sea diver who hears the message from the ship above, “Come up at once.  We are sinking.”

 

Thursday was a good day.  Matter of fact, Thursday was a really good day.  We got to put an end to our two dilemmas. Such is life.

First trailer  --- big quads, little trailer.

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Dilemma #1 - This is our story and we’re sticking with it.  By this time you all knew we had made a fast purchase of a quad trailer.  By the time we loaded quads and drove it a bit, we came to the conclusion it wasn’t a good choice for a long road trip.  Thus, we had to replace it.  It was back to the internet and Craigslist to see what we could find.  One of the biggest requirements we felt was good 15” tires for freeway travel.  We also visited several trailer lots and had come to the conclusion that our best bet just might be to have one made.

It's a two-man job.

I found a trailer online that was exactly what we had thought would be perfect.  However, no response from the seller and by Thursday morning we had decided to move on and possibly have one built.  The manufacturer could do it in less than a week so that would work.  Then, we got a call from the Craigslist seller.  The trailer was still available.   We were out of here (with our RV neighbor, Steve) faster  a speeding bullet.  Okay, I may have been embellishing a tad regarding the speed that we were out of here but I think you get the picture.

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Steve's important job was testing quads out.

This trailer was exactly what we would have had built but by buying this one off Craigslist, we would save $500!!  Now $500 would go a long ways towards our fuel purchase heading south.  The online picture made the trailer look brand new and perfect.  As you might imagine, it wasn’t.  The trailer was filthy and needed a paint refresh but everything else was near perfect.  Plus he even had a spare.  Whoopee!  After the negotiating process (Terry does that while I walk away), we ended up saving close to $700!!  Now we still need a little welding job done to tweak it for two quads but we would have had to do that even if we had a new one built.  For now we’re as happy  as two little clams with our purchase and can get that work done when we get to Arizona since we will only be taking one quad to Arizona and purchasing another one down there.

Easier to load -- without a doubt!

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Dilemma # 2 …. on our way to our son’s house to drop off another trailer in his yard, we got a call from a lady wanting to look at the quad we had for sale AND the trailer as a package deal.  She would meet us there.  Yippee!  She plunked down a $200 non-refundable deposit and we smiled from ear to ear.  It certainly turned into a very good day even though we knew we weren't making money on anything.  There was no way either one of us wanted to count the money we were losing.  Those stats we certainly aren't interested in knowing about.  We're happy campers.

Terry and Steve cleaned up the trailer.  Steve tested all the quads for us and then we were off to dinner at Rib City Cafe!  Oh my lands …… ribs to die for.  They were so good, so wonderful and so many.  There were so many ribs to eat that I needed a doggie bag  …  breakfast I thought.   Wrong!!  Terry ate my leftovers before we even left the restaurant.  Next time he can just order his own ribs.

Here's Carol riding the local pig.  Fabulous food and my new black jeans stretched as I pigged out!

It was a great day ….  down to watching Steve’s slideshow later that evening.  Weather looks good next week and California here we come (we think)!

Waterfalls Along Historic Highway 30

Joy in looking and comprehending is nature’s most beautiful gift.

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Monday rolled around and we figured it was time to show Steve a Carol a few waterfalls.  The Oregon Gorge is home to about 77 of them along the old highway.  However, not all of them are accessible without a good hike back off the road.  Some of the waterfalls can be found a short distance from Historic Highway 30.  A few are right along the road. Vehicle pull-outs are usually pretty full in the summer and on the weekends.  However, this was a Monday and we figured it would be a good day to go.  Besides, they were only about 30 miles from where we were parked.

I've taken this trip down the old Columbia River Highway in the Gorge to view the waterfalls several times.  It's amazing that when we were actually living in the area, we never really took the time to do this.  Oh, we visited the biggest and the most famous one of all  - Multnomah Falls -- but that was about the extent of it. We just had not taken the time on the old highway to visit any of the other waterfalls. We had to wait until we moved to Texas to get our interest peeked.

Maybe it was because at that time we realized how much we missed all the scenery we had taken for granted while in the Pacific Northwest.

I've taken my grandkids on this outing twice -- flying in from Texas with them and off we went. Once they were quite young and we enjoyed the time together and the activity. They pooped out several times on the mile hike up the hill at Multnomah Falls though but finally made it.  Thank goodness several benches were strategically placed along the trail.  When they were a little older, they got a little bored with all my adventuring to view yet another waterfall but we still had fun together  --  memories in the making.  By the time we got to the last waterfall, I remember one time they didn't even want to get out of the car.

This time we stopped to visit 4 or 5 of the waterfalls but we also let Steve and Carol know there are many more to visit if they want to do a return trip.  On the way back into town we also made a stop at the Vista House.  The house sits on a hill above the Columbia River.  It’s a beautiful place to visit.  Lots of marble was used in building the Vista House.  It has marble floors, marble staircases and marble restrooms.  The views are absolutely gorgeous.

Afterwards, we literally drug them to check out another quad trailer with us.  Thank goodness for GPS units or I’m sure we never would have found the place.  As it turned out, it was a wasted trip because it just would not be a good replacement for the trailer we currently thought was ideal.  It was a long trip and a long day but at least they got to see the waterfalls.  I think we tuckered Steve and Carol out because on Tuesday, they hid from us.

  

Our quad dilemma?  Well, it’s still a dilemma and I’m not sure how to make it go away.  We decided by Tuesday afternoon we didn’t want to think about it anymore for that day.  Will this delay our departure south?  It could.  Thank goodness we are flexible with our schedule because that’s exactly what we’re going to have to be. 

We did pay for a couple more nights at the Elks but plan on moving out on Thursday.  After all, our tanks are only so big and there is no dump here.  We have decided to only allow ourselves to worry about one thing a day so we’ll worry about moving on Thursday.  On Wednesday we’re going to worry about getting new tires for the car.   We will also probably make a trip to measure and photo the trailer because we just might decide to go ahead and sell it. We won't worry about it though.  The worry about the quad trailer is going to have to wait.

Ever notice how the little worries make $$$ add up?

Arrival in Phoenix - An ATV RV Park

A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.

Isn’t it amazing that when we go to bed knowing we have to get up early that we wake up often and many times very early?   I had a flight to catch Wednesday morning.  It was an early flight.  I used to like early flights but now even though I get out of bed early, I don’t like getting ready before it’s even light outside.   Just to be sure I wouldn’t oversleep my iPhone alarm was set for 3:00 AM, 3:15 AM and 3:20 AM.  That should do it.  Right?

My intended flight departed from the Portland airport at 6:00 ... about 40 miles away.  I still had to park and go through security and that obviously takes time.  At least that’s what I planned.  I’m sure you know about my planning and sticking with the plan.

First of all, by 2:30 AM, I was wide awake.  It wasn’t too much after that that I was on the way to the airport.  By the time I arrived at the Portland airport I had decided I didn’t want to fly to Phoenix via Dallas.  My task was to find a flight that would go non-stop and move my arrival time up by several hours.  Not a problem.  I found one flight after another.  Just as soon as I put my name on one airline’s list, I’d find another I liked better.   By 10:30 AM I had arrived in Phoenix on Alaska Airlines.

I took a picture of the picture on the wall of a prior ATV event.  This was a photo of everyone getting ready to take off from the back of the resort.

Sometimes it pays to be flexible.  It took four separate airlines and four separate listings to secure myself a seat but I was flexible and obviously it paid off.  What a morning that was but I was several hours earlier than planned and everything worked out.

As mentioned a few days back, we had originally planned this trip to check out a couple winter destination RV parks.  This is what we wanted to do.  There were several reasons for changing our mind about wintering in Arizona over Texas.  One of those reasons was that Terry would be close to his mom.  You know what they say about the best-laid plans.  Well, our original planning for the trip was changed and Terry was already in Phoenix when I arrived due to a medical situation with his father.

Yes .... the temperature was a chilly 103 !

The temperature was HOT.  It was certainly a bit warmer than we had been experiencing in Washington State. 

Gold Canyon is just a tad east of Apache Junction.  Now Apache Junction is a tad east of Mesa and even a bigger tad east of the Phoenix area.  That’s actually not a bad thing.  This time it is exactly what we wanted.  We wanted to be outside of all the traffic.  Gold Canyon is definitely outside of all the metropolitan traffic.  That’s where we went.

A little putting green at the park ..... the green will be greener once the temperatures go down.

There are a few other RV parks in the Gold Canyon area and lots of them in the Apache Junction area.  If one were to choose Apache Junction over Gold Canyon, there would be so many choices from super fancy to super drab.  And, as you might guess, the monthly cost varies according to the park.

We had a few necessities and a few wants.   As you know by now, we were actually looking for a park where ATVs were welcome and there were lots of areas to ride without loading and unloading them all the time. On top of that I really wanted a pool and a hot tub plus a paved road for riding my bike.  That’s a few of the things we were looking for.  Well, the park also had to welcome Duchess.  Perhaps, that was our #1 priority.

Yippee!  A pool and a spa is available.

We were also hoping our first stop would be our last stop.  And, it was.  We visited the Arizonian.  Actually, everything listed above was at this park.  Perhaps, that’s why it was first on our list.  With temperatures over 100 degrees, you could guess that it was certainly empty at this time.    Not much was there.  Well, there were a few folks who had already moved in but most were smart and were still up north where it was cooler.  However, winter is just around the corner and this place will be full in a few months.  In addition to rows set aside for RVs, the park also had a dedicated row just for ATV trailers.  We thought that was pretty darn cool because we hadn’t thought of that but definitely needed it.

There was a new recreation building under construction.  Not that there wasn’t already a nice one because there was but  the new building will be huge when completed.  At the rate they are going, I’m sure it will be done way before we get there.  

Will we have to take up tennis since there is a tennis court ??? 

We were happy.  We were pleased.  It was time to pick out a spot in the pet area.  Now that took a little doing.  It’s not often we really have this much of choice.  It took a while but we finally selected one on a corner across from the ATV trailers and close to the pet walk.  Actually, Terry picked it out.  You always have to have someone to blame and he wanted the trailer close.  The only thing left to do was plunk down the bucks.  We did that too.  Whee!  I’m glad that’s behind us!  Mission accomplished.

Inside the de la Cruz Restaurant

We also found a little “hole in the wall” Mexican restaurant just a short distance away.  It was de la Cruz.  We loved it.  The food was great and cheap!  Obviously, in a few months we’ll drag Jim and Sandie there and maybe even talk Doug and Toni into joining us.  Who knows?

 

Speaking of Toni … guess what I found for her?    I believe these are close to her favorite little refreshers.  Well, we’ll throw a couple at her as they pass by us on their way south … maybe.  Since I never check luggage on an airplane, do not ask how I got them to Washington for her from Phoenix.  What we do for people!!

Later that evening it was more food.  Terry’s mom had her heart set on Olive Garden so that’s where we went.  If we’d known that, we probably wouldn’t have had lunch.  Well, maybe we would have.   On Thursday I HAD to make a stop at IN-N-Out.   I couldn’t imagine leaving the Phoenix area without a stop at IN-N-Out.  That would have been horrible.  

Leaving Terry behind, it was to the airport to catch a flight back to Portland.  This was definitely a whirlwind two days for me.    Come to think of it, it wasn’t even two days.  The trip was uneventful.  I love trips that are uneventful.  In another six days we have another trip on our schedule.  This time it will be to Chicago to watch Justin "graduate" from bootcamp.  

Terry and his mom

RV Show and Gun Show

How many roads must a man walk down before he admits he’s lost?

No.  This isn't really a man from outer space.  This is Terry trying on a new helmet before he actually purchased it.  So, if you see someone that looks like this, you'll know who it is.

I’m doing a little backtracking with this one.  There was a 4-day RV show at the Portland Exposition Center.  Sometimes these are really fun things to go to.  It’s not so much looking at the same ole type of RVs as it is checking out the different vendors and unique RVs.  Tammi, Terry and I went.  The parking lot was packed with trailers, 5th wheels, tent trailers and motorhomes.  Two huge exposition halls were also packed.  However, there were so few vendors you could count them on your fingers.  We were a tad bit disappointed.  Terry did find the sewer extension he needed without running all the way over to Camping World on the other end of Portland to buy it.

This unit had an outside patio.  I guess that's if it's muddy, you don't really have to step outside.

The only unique RVs we found were those that had added porches and outside “kitchen” areas.  Not sure why these would be popular but obviously everyone likes different things.  Thank goodness!

We also intended on going to the Gun Show in Centralia.  We had intended on going to the one in Las Vegas too when we were there.  This one was just like that one.  Something else came up and we never made it.

Remember a few weeks ago I had to visit Fry’s in Portland to get the receipt for the Sony camera I had purchased just a tad less than a year ago?  It was under warranty and I needed to mail it to the Sony repair center before that year was up.  Well, yesterday I received a call from their technician.  They wanted to make me an offer.  Oops …. I was waiting for them to ask for my credit card number.  They didn’t.  Since they had taken so long and the needed part was still on back order, they were going to offer to BUY it back from me at the original price I paid!!  No way!!  Talk about customer service … I was ecstatic especially since I was so happy with the new little purse-sized camera I had purchased. “Send the check”, I said.  I didn’t tell them I had already planned on selling it via Craigslist.  

Guess what I embroidered on a shirt?  The more I do this, the better I get.  It's just finding the time to do it.

I certainly know where that Sony refund will be applied.  It’ll go to all the ATV stuff I want.  It’s amazing how expensive everything is once it becomes a specialized item.  We all know the same products are at Wal-Mart for less than half the price. 

Today?  Well, now we’re off to visit the State Patrol for an inspection of the Polaris.  It's never been titled so that's on the calendar for today.  Then, another doctor’s appointment in Portland.  It’s certainly been a busy summer.

UPDATE:  Tammi starts her NEW position on Monday!  Yippee ... in this market having a job is a good thing.

Labor Day is Behind Us

Those who live by the sword... get shot by those who don't.

WOW!  You can really lose track of blogs when you write a whole bunch and then you set them to automatically post instead of writing them as you go along.  That’s just what I’ve done.  Well, it’s not all my fault really.  Most of it is, however.  The deal is we have been busy doing the things that most people do.  To top it off we’ve really had intermittent internet.  I’ve tried to stay off of it when we’re in the motorhome because it’s been horrible.  It seemed to have been okay early in the morning and very late at night. Taking my computer with me when we head into town worked for responding to emails and a few blogs I read but that’s been just about it.  Without good internet it’s been hard.

Our neighborhood beggars have been active.  We’ve had many deer stop by to visit.  At one time we had over a dozen looking for a handout.  I have tons of pictures.  We also have a few resident cats that visit.  We buy deer food, cat food and dog food now.  Duchess isn’t too thrilled when they actually come knocking at the door but they try to do that.

It’s still a little slow and the satellite is even acting up.  The worst culprit was that summer vacation wasn’t over and everyone and their neighbors thought they would head to the lake.  With only one cell tower around, they used up the bandwidth that had been specifically reserved for us.  At least that’s how we viewed it.  We may actually get ready to move into town to improve reception and signal.  Labor Day did roll around and the people went back to what they should be doing … work and school.  Obviously, we’re certainly glad they’ve left but our techie items still haven't improved as we would have liked them to.

The best way to figure what we’ve done is to look back at the pictures.  That little camera is always around.  The more I use the new one, the more I’m really glad I bought it.  Eventually, the other one should be returned from the factory and it’s refurbishment. 

Selection at Mongolian Grill When the kids were little we lived close to a Mongolian grill.  We loved the selection and watching the cooks toss the food around on the grill.  Well, Terry and I tried one in Vancouver.  Terry loved it and I didn’t so much.  I guess I got turned off by the shrimp that hadn’t been cleaned, the sticky floor and orange chicken that was a poor second to Panda Express.  Maybe I’m watching too much of Gordon Ramsey.

Fabulous food and wonderful company.

As I mentioned Labor Day did roll around and this place was packed. The weather around here has been absolutely crazy.  It’s been cool through most of the summer.  Then, August is over and September arrives.  Temperatures have been registering in the upper 80’s and 90’s.  There is no relief in sight!  What’s up with this?  After the cool summer, even some of our deer friends have already shed their summer coats and are fully protected for winter in their new ones.

Sandi and Sabrina taking turns feeding Mr. Buck.

Our little community even had a Labor Day craft fair that Tammi, Sabrina and I visited.  We didn’t buy a lot but did walk away with a few crafty ideas.  I guess that’s what we need … something else to do.  We did find a few treasures though.

Craft Fair -- Tammi and Sandi are checking out items.

We barbecued, ate and did a lot of talking.  The kids (teenagers and friends really) went swimming in the pool and then visited the lake.  Every place was packed.

Cool lake waters

We’re glad Labor Day arrived.  For RVers that means campgrounds will be less packed and, of course, internet usage should be better.

Flowers, flowers and more flowers

There is a really, really huge outlet mall just south of Portland in Woodburn.  It’s a gorgeous mall decorated with flowers all around.  Michael, Sandi, Jordan and I decided to visit the mall on Labor Day.  We figured there would be huge back-to-school sales.  The sales were there and so were the people.  Finding a parking spot was a challenge in itself and the temperature was soaring.  We were out of there before many folks probably even found an empty place to put their car.

They were ready to go!

(August 27 - September 5)