Christmas Pictures

Hi all...we've had a wonderful time here in Sampson County this Christmas.



We also have enjoyed visiting with family and friends in Durham and Hillsborough.

Long overdue

As you know by now I've very delinquent in updating our blog. We've had an eventful late summer and fall. We spend most of August in Oregon and Washington. Both were beautiful states that we hope to visit again someday. About the first of September we put the petal to the metal and took off for Michigan. We paused for a week of so in Montana, long enough to visit Glacier National Park..then continued on east.

We spent a wonderful 3 weeks with our friends Gary and Sue Tomlinson in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Run Ragged Tours had an amazing itinerary for us. It was outstanding. We saw more beautiful waterfalls than anywhere we've been before. And walked and hiked more than we had for some time. It was awesome. Our last week together was spent in Ohio at the Gypsy Journal Rally. This small rally is put on by our friends Nick and Terry Russell. We had a great time visiting with Eascapee class of 05 and 07 friends too.

The last day at the rally found me on the phone with my sister. My Mom's health had taken a turn for the worse so we decided to head on back to North Carolina. We pulled out of Celina Ohio about 1pm on Friday and arrived at their home in NC by about 6pm on Saturday. The only problem we had making the quick run was Gary started feeling poorly and I actually drove us through the mountains in Virginia. Yipes, the first time I'd pulled the house in some time. We made it though...no bumps or bruises. :)

We spent about a week with Mom and Dad helping out. Mom got better so we headed up to Mount Airy, NC for the Autumn Leaves Festival. We'd been planing this for some time. We enjoyed a long weekend with our friends, Van and Rita and their son Daniel, Ken, Laverne, along with Steve and Robin. Other than it being a little bit rainy on Saturday we had a very good time.

After the weekend we moved down to Durham to stay at Russell and Tootsies home. They are Rita's parents and have welcomed us to their back drive every time we return to Durham. We spent the next 3 weeks there taking care of various appts and catching up with friends and family in the area.

Gary went to his primary doc a couple of days after we got there and told him he had started to have chest pain. His doc immediately scheduled him for a stress test, which was positive. Two days later he had a cardiac cath and a stent placed. The very good news was he didn't have a heart attack. They caught it in time. He is doing very well now, and hasn't had any more pain. He is going to Cardiac Rehab three times at week at Betsy Johnson Hospital in Dunn and will continue with this until January. Today we went back up to Chapel Hill to see his Cardiologist and all was well. Just keep exercising, eating right and taking all his meds.

We're going to stay here in Dunn for now. Mom and Dad need our help and we're enjoying the time spent with them along with time spent with our daughter Jennifer and others. We hope to be back on the road at some point, we're just not sure when that will be.

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone. Love, Deb

Our route from Texas to Here...April to August

Our route since leaving Texas on April 1st. If you click on the Larger Map it'll open so you can scroll out and see the entire route.

View Larger Map

July in the North West-Lincoln City, Oregon

After leaving the Thousand Trails near Bend we moved west to be near the shore. Lincoln City runs about 7 miles along the coastline. This small town was very welcoming and we enjoyed our stay. It's a bit pricier being on the shore but wasn't too bad. We paid $13.00 a night for a week's stay at Chinook Bend RV Resort. This was another membership park where we get a discount rate thru our Resort Parks International. Another perk of owning a Thousand Trails membership. The park was OK..very tight spaces. I'm glad we only paid the lower rate. It is located on the Siletz River. They rent canoes and boats. We had planned to take them up on this, but the weather was pretty cool and rainy for much of our stay.
One day we drove south route 101. This route follows the coastline. It is winding very busy.
Along the way are many many very small state parks. These are usually located at the top of cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The views were outstanding. Another day we drove north on 101. Not as many state parks, but a beautiful scenic drive. I love the Oregon coastline. If I were ever to live on the coast..of all we've seen so far, this is the most beautiful.

More July in the Pacific North West-Crater Lake

One day was spent going about a 100 miles south to Crater Lake National Park. Crater Lake is located on the crest of the Cascade Mountain range, 100 miles east of the Pacific Ocean. It lies inside a caldera, or volcanic basin, created when the 12,000 foot high Mount Mazama collapsed 7,700 years ago following a large eruption. Generous amounts of winter snow, averaging 533 inches per year, supply the lake with water. There are no inlets or outlets to the lake. Crater Lake, at 1,943 feet deep, is the seventh deepest lake in the world and the deepest in the United States. Evaporation and seepage prevent the lake from becoming any deeper. The water is crystal clear blue that reflects the mountainous rock cliffs and the two islands.

July in the North West- In and Around Bend, Oregon

We also took a couple of short trips from the preserve to and around Bend. It is about a 20 mile drive right through the middle of volcano country. We spent several hours traveling up and around the volcanic mountains.

July in the West

At the end of June we left California and took a short detour into Nevada.
Gary felt the need to check out Reno since we'd been to Las Vegas earlier on our trip. Reno is called the Biggest Little City of the World. I'm not really sure what that means but it's their motto. The city is like Las Vegas..but smaller and a little "less refined" (imagine tongue in cheek here)... if that is possible. We visited Scheels, a very large sporting goods store while there. Ever been in a store that had it's very own ferris wheel? Pretty cool!!



Please note Gary's very creative support system for the sewer hose. County law required it be off the ground completely.

We also took a drive down to Carson City and the north shore of Lake Tahoe.
To quote the Offical Lake Tahoe Visitor Bureau website...
"About 2 million years ago, a shift in tectonic plates caused the Tahoe Basin to drop down between the Sierra crest to the west and the Carson range to the east. Volcanic activity, also caused by the tectonic shifts, led to expulsion of magma up through the faults, filling in gaps and damming the valley.

Ten thousand years ago, at the time of the last ice age, individual glaciers formed at the area’s highest elevations, on the north, west and south ends of the Lake. Movement by the glaciers scoured out basins and formed Donner Lake, Emerald Bay on Lake Tahoe and Fallen Leaf Lake, which sits up and to the West of Lake Tahoe.

Today, erosion and weathering is causing a slow, undetectable lowering of the Sierra, the mountain range that houses Tahoe. It is believed that Lake Tahoe is filling in with sediment at a rate of one foot every 3,200 years, so that in 3,158,400 years the lake will be replaced by a meadow."

Wow..pretty impressive..I'm just glad I wasn't around when all the action was occurring. And won't be around once it's reduced to a meadow..
Its a beautiful place..but filled with gated homes worth $$$$$ ...way more than our tax bracket for sure. We also saw one of the ski slopes..very different looking than the winter I'm sure. There was still some snow around but nothing you could ski on.



The picture of the pole is a snow marker. These are placed along the road so that when it snows, folks can find the road...this give you some idea of the amount of snow they get???


We left Reno after a week and moved up near Bend Oregon. On the way we traveled thru the Oregon Outback. This area is unlike anything we expected in Oregon. In many areas it looked more like the southwest, New Mexico or Arizona. Very desolate for miles and miles.




We spent 1 night at Lakeview Oregon..this small town in Lake County is called the hang gliding capital of the west (self proclaimed). Lake County is a land of stark beauty where we appreciated broad expanses of desert, sagebrush, high bluffs and rim rocks, plus the solitude of mountain forests. We looked for their crystal clear lakes...most of which seemed to be dry this year. Lakeview was a nice small town with a pretty good Mexican restaurant that we enjoyed for dinner. Or at least I did..Mr P had his usual hamburger...the only American food most of the Mexican restaurants seem to offer.

Before we left in the morning we drove down the street to the Old Perpetual Geyser. This geyser was supposed to go off every 90 seconds. We later learned that we arrived during it's summer vacation. Evidently it stops erupting when the water table for the area drops in the summer. Oh well..we looked at pictures on the web instead. And it still doesn't compare to Yellowstone's Old Faithful. See below..




We stayed at the Thousand Trails near Bend for two weeks. Most of that time we spent sick. We missed all the 4th of July festivities at the park and in town. Gary started out with a cold/flu and we took him to a local doctor's office on Friday. By nightfall, I was sick too. We had all the symptoms of cold/flu and it was no fun. We were glad to know that the Swine flu had been and gone in the area before we arrived. We spent a lot of time going from chair to bed and back for over a week. My cough is still lingering.

More to come..I know I'm behind...I'll catch up soon. Love to you all. Deb

Around Lake Mendin Thousand Trails

Lake Mendin was one of the smallest Thousand Trails Preserves we've visited. While there we went down to visit Sacramento. The capital of California is a busy place. Even on a Sunday afternoon. We went by the capital building but didn't see the Governor. Or the Governator as we heard Mr Schwarzenegger called.

In downtown Sacramento we visited Old Sacramento. This 28-acre town of historic buildings constructed in the 1850s, on the Sacramento River contains several museums dedicated to educating us about the history or the area. To quote the Chamber of Commerce Web Site "The discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill capped off the greatest human migration in history. Thousands of hopeful pioneers headed towards Mexican California on the Oregon Trail in search of a better life. From the settlement town of Old Sacramento, to the supply center and trade post of Sutter’s Fort, the Sacramento region is rich in Gold Rush History. "

There are wooden sidewalks, horse-drawn carriages, old-fashioned candy shops and even a Mississippi-style riverboat. There are many shops and restaurants to collect the tourist $$$ too.

We eat a barely passable lunch at Annabelle's Pizza. Cheap and filling but I wouldn't go back. CiCi's Pizza shouldn't worry. Noooo competition.

We also saw the Tower Bridge which crosses the Sacramento River nearby. The bridge is painted an odd gold color. It is supposed to be representative of the gold leafed cupola on the nearby State Capitol. I'm not sure they succeeded in that.



The Lake Mendin Thousand Trails is surrounded by farm land. And for the first time we saw rice growing in the flooded fields. There are also many groves of walnut trees.

Gladys is SOOOO funny...enjoy this video from Ellen

Gary and the Street Entertainer

Along The Embarcadero and the Wharfs of San Francisco there are many street entertainers. On our way back to the hotel one night, Gary got "caught"..and became a participate.

If you click on the pictures, it'll open in a larger screen.

Check List for San Francisco

We had a list..
See Alcatraz....check
Eat Sourdough Bread in San Francisco...check
Ride a Street Car...check



Take a boat ride on the bay...check



Visit Fisherman's Wharf...check
Visit Haight Ashbury..check
See Coit Tower...check
See the Golden Gate Bridge....check
Ride across the Golden Gate Bridge...check
See the Sea Lions at Pier 39...check



Ride down American's crookedest St..Lombard Street...check

We spent 4 days in San Francisco. It isn't nearly enough time to enjoy this wonderful city.

Alcatraz Tour

When we were planing our trip to San Francisco one of the first things I said was, " I want to see Alcatraz". Having seen movies over the years like "The Rock and Escape From Alcatraz", I was curious to see how the "real" rock looked. I was surprised to learn that Alcatraz was actually used for several purposes other than a Federal Prison.

While there isn't a charge to visit the island you must take a ferry to get to the island. The ferry company offers many choices of times and we decided to go in the evening so we could see the lights of San Francisco from the island and boat. It was difficult to get a clear picture at night while on the boat.





In 1775, the Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala was the first to sail into what is now known as San Francisco Bay. His expedition mapped the bay, and named one of the three islands Alcatraces. Over time, the name was changed to Alcatraz. While the exact meaning isn't really known, Alcatraz is usually defined as meaning "pelican" or "strange bird."

Alcatraz became the first long-term Army prison. The first prisoners to be brought in to Alcatraz were Civil War and Spanish American War Prisoners during the 1800s. As the number of inmates increased, the prison structure was also extended and renovated. By the 1920s, the three-story building was almost at full capacity.

Alcatraz Island was declared a military reservation in 1850 and troops had arrived by 1859. For almost eighty years the Island was the site of the first fortress and military prison on the west coast.

Due to its isolated location and the extremely cold San Francisco Bay waters, the authorities considered Alcatraz as an ideal place for holding dangerous prisoners. Criminals like George "Machine Gun" Kelly and Al Capone are some of the most famous inmates to claim residence on Alcatraz.

Alcatraz operated for a full 29 years and during that time, there has been no known case of any successful escape attempts. In 1962, three prisoners - Clarens Anglin, his brother John and Frank Morris – disappeared from the premises and were never found. But nobody knows if they ever reached the shore.

From the mid 1930's until the mid 1960's, Alcatraz was America 's premier maximum-security prison, the final stop for the nation's most incorrigible inmates.

On March 21, 1963, when the prison was closed, Alcatraz had already accommodated 1033 prisoners.

From November 1969 until June 1971, the American Indians inhabited the island. Since October 1972, Alcatraz has been a historic site and is part of the "Golden Gate National Recreation Area" ran by the National Park Service.

Happy Birthday Amy

On Monday June 1st my niece Amy turned 16. And...promptly went and earned her driver's license. Congratulations Amy. You are very special to us and we love you dearly.

We're back in Thousand Trails

After lots of hugs, we left Nikki and Bill on Monday and moved to the Thousand Trails park at Lake Mendin near Nicholaus. Compared to the parks we've stayed in previously in California this is a small preserve. With only water and electric at the site conservation is the word for our stay. They offer sewer pump out twice a week for $15.00. Since we're going up to San Francisco tomorrow for the weekend without the house, we should only need it once before we leave here on the 15th.

We're taking a vacation tomorrow and going up to San Francisco. We have reservations at the Sheraton at Fisherman's Wharf. Love those credit card points. Thanks American Express. We have tickets to see Alcatraz on Friday evening. We're going to eat sourdough bread and seafood, ride a streetcar and walk Fisherman's Wharf. I can hardly wait.

Love to you all...Deb

Massive, ancient giant sequoias live in three groves in Yosemite National Park. The most easily accessible of these (spring through fall) is the Mariposa Grove near the park's South Entrance, off of the Wawona Road (Highway 41). On Saturday Gary and I along with Miss Ellie drove back to visit. When we arrived we learned the parking lots were already full so it was necessary to drive down to the Wowona Hotel to park. We walked Miss El, and set her up with water to wait for our return. We caught the free shuttle provided by the park service and went to the grove. There are several self-guided trails thru the grove. We walked about a mile up (yes..up..up..up) and then back down to get up close with these awesome trees.

Many of the trees have been recently changed by fire. I don't say damaged as we learned fire is a normal and desired part of life in this forest. It helps to clean out the undergrowth to allow the tress to continue their own growth.

Park of the Sierra with Nikki and Bill

This past week we had a wonderful visit with Nikki and Bill Sage. Nikki and Bill were our next door neighbors in Texas at Rustic Cove. They invited us to visit Park of the Sierra Escapees SKP park in Coarsegold. This park is a Co-op where Escapee members can buy a lease to use a site for their life (or until they want to leave). The park is beautiful. So far it is the prettiest Escapees park we've stayed in.

When we arrived on Friday evening, they prepared a great steak dinner to share with us. We enjoyed visiting with them on their patio surrounded by flowers and bushes. They have landscaped their site with many bushes and flowers. It is very cozy and pleasant. There was even a hummingbird that flew by occasionally on it's way to the flowers. It buzzed Gary's head one time.



On Saturday the town of Coarsegold had a Memorial Weekend antique and craft fair. Gary and I went down with Miss Ellie for a few hours. Lots of "stuff" to see. We didn't buy anything, but it's always fun to look.

On Tuesday we rented a car with Nikki and Bill. They shared Yosemite National Park with us. They both were born and raised in California and are very familiar with the park.

Our first stop was at the Wowona Hotel. This beautiful National Historic Landmark, rests near flowering meadows and beside a rushing stream. The white Victorian-style lodge seemed a very peaceful place to visit for a while. There aren't any TVs or phones in the rooms. That would sure be peaceful to me. Nikki and Bill have their 60th wedding anniversary coming up in June. They wanted to check on reservations for a visit to celebrate.









Next we took the 16 mile mile up to Glacier Point. Once at the parking area we hiked up about a quarter mile to the peak. The views of the surrounding valley and mountains was incredible. Yosemite is home to countless waterfalls. And we saw many of them during our visit. Yosemite Falls is actually 3 falls, 1 above the other. Wow!!! May was the best time to visit as the snow runoff increases the size of the falls.




We enjoyed a tasty lunch at The Ahwahnee® Hotel patio. While there Gary saw a bear...yes, a bear. It ran across the meadow right near the dining area. Several other folks saw it too as they started running over to the area with cameras in hand. But, that bear was running fast and was quickly gone for sight.
This is a picture of the hotel from the overlook. It was built in the early 1920's to accommodate the affluent and influential traveler. It's still serving that purpose today. It looks like it's built of redwood but because many of the earlier hotels burned it is actually made of poured concert stained to look like wood.






Very large fireplace in one of the setting rooms.



After lunch we continued our exploration of the valley. It started to rain but we stopped and visited Bridalveil Fall anyway. What's a little water??? It is 620' tall and even in the rain very beautiful.

Around Hollister and San Benito Thousand Trails.

San Benito TT is located in the valley with acres of farm land surrounding it. They are growing everything from grapes to artichokes. It is great to see all the activity as crops are harvested and new crops are planted.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Last week we spent the day at Monterey Bay Aquarium. This is the best (and most expensive) aquarium I've ever visited. The displays are very well done. It is clean and well designed. There are many interactive exhibits that help make learning easy and fun. We spent an entire day exploring and enjoying. Their new Seahorse exhibit has the most varieties of seahorses on display I have ever seen. We enjoyed a decent lunch in their restaurant. Watching the sea otters in the exhibit and out in the bay was great.

This was one of the highest $$$ days for us in a while. $29.95 per person admission, almost $30.00 for soup and pizza lunch and $11.00 to park. I have no regrets. I enjoyed the beautiful day at this wonderful aquarium.

The slide show is a bit long with over 50 pictures..but I had a hard time choosing..so much to see. I hope you enjoy it.
If you want to learn more about the aquarium check out their website.
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/news/

San Benito Thousand Trails Horseshoe Tournament

When we arrived here at San Benito we learned there was a Horseshoe Tournament scheduled for this weekend. Gary was invited by some of the guys to join in. So, after practicing several mornings he did. He qualified for the tournament on Wednesday with an average of 24%. To qualify he had to thrown 50 horseshoes and count the # of ringers he got. So, he threw 24% of his throws as ringers. Not too bad for someone who hadn't thrown a shoe for at least a couple of years.
Yesterday's play was singles. He played 6 games and won 1. Not as good as he would have liked, but better than a couple other guys.
Today he was matched with Bill as a partner for the doubles games. He played 5 games and won 3 of the 5. Overall, they came in third place. And he won $ 35.00. Since it cost $30 to play he made his money back and them some. That was great. I think he feels pretty good about his first tournament. And is already planning to play another one in July.

Hollywood, LA and Santa Monica California

We spent the better part of two days exploring around Hollywood, Santa Monica Beach and Los Angeles. It was interesting but there was way too much smog, traffic and people for me.
We saw the Hollywood Blvd Walk of Fame, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood Forever Cemetery, the Captiol Records building, the El Capitan Theatre and of course The Hollywood Sign. We saw the Kodak theater (home of the Academy Awards) and the Hollywood Bowl too. And we saw a few strange sights on the streets too.
We just had to drive down Rodeo Drive. It was pretty quiet with no celebrities visible.




We visited the Santa Monica pier and saw the Pacific ocean for the first time. It was a bit too cool to get in the water. The sun was shining but it was cool and the wind was blowing.




On Wednesday we were audience (show enhancers) for the Late Late Show. Gary is a big fan of Craig Ferguson. This show is taped in the late afternoon for showing at 12:30am.
It was very interesting, fun and actually a little tiring. Clapping and cheering for about 2 hours takes a lot of out you. We were on the front row and at one point could have touched Craig. I don't have any pictures to share as CBS doesn't allow cameras in their studio. :(

LA and Hollywood was fun to visit but I wouldn't want to live there.