Day 32-34 ~ Homeward Bound

Coquille River Lighthouse
On Saturday we drove South on the scenic road along the coast. We stopped at the Coquille River Lighthouse. We were able to go to the top and view the surrounding area including the town of Bandon. This lighthouse was decommissioned in 1939.
We continued South for views of coastal rock formations including Face Rock. The fog was rolling in so the picture is not clear, but you can still make out the facial profile.




Face Rock

Sunday morning we strolled Bandon Old Town. We had lunch along the marina - delicious Prawn Basket and Clam Chowder!

We then headed East to I-5 along the Coquille River.

We made reservations at Seven Feathers Indian Casino's RV park. It is very large and very nice with many trees and beautiful plants.

Of course, after dinner, we had to pay a quick visit to the Casino. Although we came out ahead on our previous casino visits, we are now about even.

We have been to four casinos on this trip. In the past 20 years we have probably been to three. Let's hope this is not a new trend!

So now we have a straight 7 hour shot to home.

We will most likely spend the night in Redding and be home tomorrow.

Thank you for taking the time to read our Blog.

It has been fun for us!

Kathy & Chig

Day 27-31 ~ The Oregon Coast

It is hard to believe we have been gone for so long. Monday we had a relaxing day in Portland. It started with Chig's visit to the local Honda dealer. The Fit battery was checked and again pronounced "dead". This time it was replaced. Finally! I fixed "Taco Dinner" that evening at Kevin & Leslie's home.

On Tuesday we left Portland for a scenic drive to the coast where we traveled South of Cannon Beach on Highway 101 to our Oregon State campground at Nehalem Bay. The highway is VERY narrow and my side of the motorhome felt like it was suspended above the ocean. Our site backed to a large dune covered with trees and vegetation. After setting up, we took a walk to the beach. It was beautiful and expansive with many families strolling, building sand castles, playing in the surf (burrrrr) and flying kites. Later we had a nice fire and enjoyed the outdoors.

Wednesday morning we continued down the coast to another state park, South Beach, just South of Newport. Irene followed us in her car. When we arrived at the park Irene called to say she was still in Newport and had been involved in a minor accident. While attempting to merge from two lanes to one lane, at the approach to the Yaquina bridge, she was sideswiped by a large dump truck. Her car suffered significant damage to both driver's side doors. Fortunately, she was not injured and her car is operable. Not a scratch on the dump truck. The park at South Beach was not our favorite. We didn't like the beach, it was foggy, chilly and there were lots of mosquitos.

The Jaquina Bridge from Old Town Newport

Thursday we continued 17 miles south to Beachside. Our RV had an ocean view - well almost. The fog continued. This is one of our favorite stretches of beach on the Oregon Coast as it is a great place to search for agates. We don't really know what we are doing but we have fun finding pretty rocks, and just maybe, some of the rocks are actually agates. They all end up in our Rock Garden at home.

Today, Friday the 13th, Irene left us to visit with Sacramento friends who recently relocated to Grants Pass. We continued our trip 100 miles south to Bullards Beach. Enroute we stopped for lunch at a nice day use park in the Dunes area south of Florence.Once set up at our site we saw a 3/4 mile trail to the beach. Off we went.

The Sandy Trail

This was not a hike but a trudge! We went up dunes and down dunes then back up again. The path was made up of soft sand - and the mosquitos were back. It was worth the walk. Once we got to the beach we found agates! I even found the energy to make it back to our RV.

Chig filling his pockets with agates.

Day 26 ~ Portland

Kevin & Dane

Yesterday we left Seattle and traveled to Portland without incident! Hoorah! Irene followed in her car. We got settled at the RV park located about 5 miles from Kevin & Leslie's house. We went out for a delicious dinner with Irene, Kevin, Leslie and Dane to del Inti, a Peruvian restaurant owned by their friends Ignacio and Erin.

Today was spent getting ready for Dane's 4th birthday party at nearby Irving Park.

Dane's Party theme was "Transformers". Dane (in the blue Superman shirt) is getting ready to blow out his candles. There were 13 children plus parents and friends. We had morning clouds but the weather improved for a perfect party.
Cory drove down from Seattle to help celebrate.

Day 24 ~ Needing sleep in Seattle

The past few days have been very busy. Irene came and met us at Lake Sammamish on Wednesday. In the evening we headed across Lake Washington on the floating bridge to downtown Seattle. This is a very beautiful place and we have been blessed with amazing weather. We first went to the home of Craig & Deanna on Queen Anne Hill. We last saw Craig & Deanna at the reunion in Gooding. Deanna was in Chig's graduating class. Craig designed their home which was built four years ago. We were treated to a wonderful tour. It has picture-perfect west-facing views of the Seattle area. Later in the evening, we all went to Cory's restaurant, Pintxo, for a relaxing dinner on the back patio.

Yesterday Charlene and Sabrina drove to Lake Sammamish to join us for lunch at the motorhome. This is Seafair Fleet Week in Seattle, and we saw the Blue Angels fly overhead as they practiced for their upcoming performances.

When Charlene left we drove to Bremerton to visit Chig's niece Toni and her husband Bob. They live in a very nice home overlooking Kitsap Lake. Toni's daughter Tasha and granddaughters Deon and Taya, joined us for dinner on the deck. Another evening with perfect weather and eye-pleasing views. Since our last visit to their home eight years ago, they have completed a beautiful remodel.

Today was cloudy and cooler and was a travel day (14 miles) from Lake Sammamish to Kent.

We spent the afternoon at the 11 story Seattle Central Library. Completed in 2004, it is a very unique and interesting building. Chig was very excited to learn there is an entire floor dedicated to genealogy!

This evening we again went to Pintxo. Then Cory joined us for Pizza and Beer at Calozzi's Italian Kitchen ~ it was very good! The evening ended with a visit to Cory's apartment where we saw our granddog Lucy and grandcats Cloe and Chelsea. We made it to the rooftop deck just in time for a spectacular sunset and more views of the city.

Day 21 ~ Evening

Monday morning we were on the road once more. We left our wonderful RV site in Wenatchee heading to Chig's sister Charlene's home in Marysville, WA, just north of Seattle. Since planning our trip, I had been looking forward to visiting the town of Leavenworth. We would be passing through the town enroute and planned a stop for a few hours. The former logging town was tagged a "welfare town" during the 50's and in the 60's started a plan to transform the town into a Bavarian Alpine Village to attract tourist trade. The town is now a thriving destination. Unfortunately, as we approached the town, I told Chig to turn on the wrong road and it took us over one hour to find a place to turn around. We ran out of time and continued on our trip to Marysville without a stop. The reward was the stretch of road starting with miles of rolling apple orchards and later large stands of pine trees. We travelled over Steven's pass along a canyon following the Wenatchee River. The beauty was breathtaking. We will save Leavenworth for another trip.

Chig's brother Keith and his wife Alice took the ferry from Kingston to meet us at Charlene's. Keith's son Ron, Charlene's son Jeff, Leanne and their two children, Sabrina & Quentin also came to visit.


Back row:
Chig, Jeff, Keith, Alice

Front row:
Me, Charlene, Sabrina, Quentin




Charlene's second son, Todd, works as the lead facilities engineer for the Space Needle. Monday night he met us for a special needle tour.



Here is a picture from the observation deck.






Then the tour became very special. Todd took us in the bowels of the space needle. We climbed up a flight of stairs, then ladders, through a hatch to the very top roof. The interior felt like we were in a submarine, 600 feet in the air. On the very top roof, I took this picture of the needle.
Chig & I stayed very close to the center of the roof. Cory joined us for the tour and was comfortable standing at the roof's edge. The sky was clear and the view was spectacular.






This commercial picture was taken before went to the top.

Todd, Charlene, Me and Cory.

Today we moved closer to Seattle to Vasa Park Resort on the shores of Sammamish Lake.

Our Honda battery quest continues. On Monday morning Chig went to the Honda dealer in Wenatchee. They confirmed the battery has dead cells but did not have the right replacement in stock. I called ahead to a dealer in Everett and confirmed they had the battery. This morning Chig took the car in and they tested the battery 4 times and said it is fine. By the time he drove back to Charlene's it was dead again. We may wear out our jumper cables before we make it home. There are definitely frustrations when traveling.

Day 19 ~ Evening

Wenatchee Confluence State Park

We are staying at a very nice state park. The sites are manicured and there is plenty of room between each RV. There is a 10 mile bicycle trail that goes through the park and across the river at two points. This evening we walked along the river to the beach and boat ramp.







The park is at the confluence of the Wenatchee and Columbia rivers. Our weather has been very nice but the surrounding skys of this entire area are heavy with smoke. A fire started in a nearby canyon on Friday and has now burned over 1500 acres. The resulting haze reminds us of the skys in L.A.
The scenery in this area is a stark contrast to the beauty we found in Northern Idaho. Here the hills are brown with few trees.




We started our day with a visit to Auto Zone where it was confirmed, our battery has dead cells. With only 10,000 miles on our car, we will be making a visit to the dealer tomorrow for a replacement. We headed to Lake Chelan, about 40 miles north of Wenatchee. It was one of the busiest areas we have visited on our trip. We tried to eat our lunch in one of the lakefront parks but there were no available parking spaces and every table was taken. The water was full of toys, boats and people. We headed up the East side of the lake to the town of Manson. We ended up eating our lunch in the car in the parking lot of Blueberry Hills Farm. We then went into their restaurant and each had a piece of pie (1 mixed berry and 1 apricot). The view was beautiful but the pie did not hold a candle to my sister Irene's pies!

On our return drive to Wenatchee we made the last stop of the day at Ohme Gardens. They are perched high on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River. The gardens were started in 1929 and have meandering stone paths throughout many acres of plantings.

Here we are at one of the bluff overlooks at Ohme Gardens. The Columbia River is in the background.

Day 19 ~ Morning

Steamboat Rock ~ Banks Lake

Friday was a travel day heading towards Wenatchee, with an overnight stop in Coulee City. At noon, we met Chig's 2nd cousin Stacy for a nice lunch in Spokane. In Coulee City, we stopped for the night at a city park along Banks Lake, a water storage lake, south of Grand Coulee Dam. Chig's first cousin Shery works at the dam and recommended the evening laser light show.

The 27 mile trip to the visitor's center followed the shore of Banks Lake. The amazing rock formations caused by glacial flooding and volcanic activity included Steamboat Rock.

Grand Coulee Dam is instrumental in providing flood protection and controlled irrigation along the Columbia River.

Chig was named after his Aunt Frances and Uncle Raymond Chigbrow(Francis Raymond). Raymond worked as an inspector at the dam for over 30 years.

At 10:00 p.m. the light show started. The 11 flood gates were opened one by one. The show took place against the white backdrop of the water spilling over the dam.

Although we have experienced great weather, during the night on Friday, we had heavy rain & very loud thunder.

On Saturday morning we met Shery and her husband Quincy for breakfast and had a very nice visit.

Our trip continued to Wenatchee. On the way, we stopped in Waterville and visited the cemetery where my maternal Great Grandparents are buried. They arrived in the U.S. from Canada in 1893 and moved to the Wenatchee area in 1900, where they lived until their deaths.
The battery problems with our tow car continue. Les Schwab - here we come!

Day 16 ~ Coeur d'Alene

Our day was filled with a trip around the entire lake. We started on the North end and traveled along the lake's edge. The lake is very long and narrow with a jagged shoreline. For lunch we stopped at the historical town of Harrison which is right on the border of the Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation. Harrison was a center for rail travel and the lumber industry during the late 1800's.
The entire Southern end of the lake is within the reservation. The scenery changed on this portion of the lake with rolling farms extending to the water's edge and the ponds of St. Marie growing wild rice.

The lake was formed by a glacier and in many ways reminds me of Lake Tahoe. One of the travel maps describes the Eastern shoreline as "one of the most beautiful drives in Idaho".
We were definitely not disappointed.
We stopped at the Coeur d'Alene Indian Casino for a little over an hour. We (Chig) doubled our small investment.

As evening approached we decided to drive to the Coeur d'Alene Country Club. This is the home of the "floating" 14th hole. It was an amazing sight. The tee is on shore and the players are then taken by boat to the green to complete their play. We watched four golfers take two shots each and did not see any of their balls reach the green, 218 yards away. The island is complete with sand traps!

Day 15

Today was a travel day from Grangeville to Coeur d'Alene. For the past few days I have looked at the scenery and wondered "Where am I?" The beautiful landscape has been totally unfamiliar to me. As we left the prairie, the rolling hills of wheat looked like a giant bright green golf course covering miles and miles. Once we crossed the mountains towards Lewiston, we found the hills to be covered with brown grass and reminiscent of Northern California.
Of course we had to have our little Problems of the Day! We pulled over on the side of the road and Chig went back to the bathroom. I was reading and suddenly had an odd feeling. When I looked up, I realized we were moving backwards. The motorhome was in reverse instead of park. I jumped into the driver's seat, hit the brakes and put the RV in park. Poor Chig had no idea what was going on as he was bounced around the bathroom. Fortunately, we were only on a slight incline and no harm was done to the tow car (or to Chig).
Our next problem came when I checked the travel binder and could not find the confirmation of our reservations for Couer d'Alene. I quickly called the park and learned we did NOT have reservations. I was initally told they were totally full but with some encouragement from me (begging) a site was found but only for two instead of three nights.
Our final problem came when we realized the battery in our tow car had drained. Fortunately one of the workers here in the park got it started for us.
After getting situated we drove into town. I was surprised at how large the downtown area is.
We then drove to Sandpoint (about 45 miles), walked around for a while and had dinner at a waterfront restaurant on Lake Pend Oreille.
During our drive we noticed the highway notification boards have the message "Look Twice, Motorcycles are Everywhere" - it is true - this area has many many of them!

Day 14

Today we drove from Grangeville North to the town of Kooskia where the Lewis & Clark Trail crosses from the Bitterroot Mountains towards the Cascades. We then continued West to the site of The Heart of the Monster (pictured on the left). It is a large rock outcropping whish is part of an ancient Nez Perce Indian legend. In this area Lewis & Clark stayed after barely surviving the trip over the Bitterroots. On their return trip, they again stayed in the area before returning to the East.
We continued in a circle back towards Grangeville. We stopped in the town of Cottonwood and went to the Historical Museum at St. Gertrude then visited the chapel at the Monastery of St. Gertrude. As we headed back to the RV the sky turned black and it poured. The sky was thick with clouds and we had quite a display of lightening. The storm quickly passed and within 2 hours we were sitting in the sunshine eating our dinner.
PS I took the picture on my cell phone. I am going to add a picture of the prairie to yesterday's post.

Day 13 ~ evening

The Camas Prairie

This morning, before we packed up, Chig spotted a Golden Eagle at our camp site. It landed in a nearby tree and was really beautiful.
Today was another short driving day. Thank goodness Chig is a good driver or I would not have survived the 3 hour journey - much of it at 25 mph. The highway was narrow, windy and at many points there were concrete barricades that made the narrow lanes even narrower. Our 8 ft wide motorhome barely fit and I am certain my body language is all that kept us in our lane. The Whitebird Grade along the Salmon River is the longest steepest uphill grade I have ever been on. But when we reached the summit and headed down into the Camas Prairie, I knew it was worth the drive. I have decided driving a trip in a huge loop is really a good idea. When you are a nervous rider, it is comforting to know you will not be returning on the same roads.
We are staying in Grangeville, ID, a very small town. The huge prairie is surrounded by mountains. It was once the home of the Nez Perce Indians and is also very close to the Lewis & Clark trail. This afternoon we visited a small park that has a skeletal replica of the Mammoth found here in 1994 in a nearby drained lake. We then took a drive on a country road and enjoyed the beauty of the vast landscape.

Day 12 ~ Evening

Today, Chig's birthday, got off to a slow start. Joe (9) and Sam (6) ended their camping adventure in our motorhome. We returned them safely to their Aunt Andrea's home where they are awaiting the return of their parents from Montana.
We washed the car, finished packing, fixed lunch, stopped for gas and headed North at 1:00. The highway from Boise is very windy with many elevated passes. We decided to make it a short day by stopping for the night in the resort town of McCall. Payette lake is beautiful and the area reminds me of Lake Tahoe on a smaller scale.
The state park where we wanted to stay was full so we ended up at a KOA. There was a manuever difficulty at the park entrance and we once more disconnected our tow car before we could continue. We picked a site on the bluff right above the Payette River. After struggling with an electrical breaker that kept tripping, we set up our table and chairs and watched deer at the river's edge. It is really pretty here, very quiet and very relaxing.

Day 10 & 11

We have kept very busy for the past two days. Thursday Chig & Royce took Joe & Sam to play 9 holes of golf. When they returned we picked up Joe & Sam's newly adopted brother Ethan (2 1/2 years old) and went out to lunch. We had to bribe him with promises of ice cream to get him in the car. The boys picked Burger King followed by Dairy Queen. Royce & Chig were in 7th Heaven! (Actually Royce was hoping for Applebees)
Thursday evening we celebrated five July birthdays at Royce's house (Kathy 7-19, Cord 7-20, Chad 7-22,Chig 7-25 and Jaxon 7-26). We had a great steak dinner cooked by "birthday boy" Chad. Although Cord was in Montana, we managed to eat his share of dinner and cake. The chocolate cake was decorated with a back hoe and truck. It was picked out by Jaxon(age 3). Friday, while Royce & Chig watched four children, our niece Andrea and I went out to a nice lunch. That evening our niece Jennifer, nephew Sean, Sean's wife Karma and their daughter Addie came to Royce's for dinner. I fixed tacos. Royce and the children made brownies for dessert. We had a nice visit with everyone.
This morning (Saturday) we went out to breakfast with Cayden (Age 4 and #3 son of Cord & Dani)followed by a visit to a park. Monday Cord & Dani will be returning from their trip to reality and gathering up their four boys.

Day 9

We are enjoying nice warm weather in Boise. Joe & Sam continue their stay with us in the motorhome. Yesterday we did not leave the RV park until a quick shopping trip in the afternoon. We then went to Royce's house to fix a ravioli dinner with fresh corn from California! After dinner we toasted marshmallows on the bar-b-que and made S'mores.
Chig's nephew Chad stopped by and brought golf hats for Chig & Royce from the Reno-Tahoe Open where he played in the pro-am golf tournament. His dream is to become a professional golfer.

Day 8

Yesterday we left Blackfoot and headed towards Boise. We stopped in Burley and met with Chig's cousin Jack and his wife Pat. At 80, Jack is the oldest living Chigbrow. Greg & Marla followed us to Burley and joined us for lunch.
After lunch, Chig had a moment of panic when he thought he had left our tow vehicle in park. We made an emergency stop on the highway shoulder and found all was well and the car was in neutral!
We arrived in Boise and went to dinner with Chig's brother Royce, his niece Andrea, her two children, Markala(6) and Jaxson(4), and Chig's two great nephews, Joe(9) and Sam(6). They wish our grandsons, Jacob(9) and Jackson(7), were with us!
Joe and Sam's parents, Cord and Dani, are headed to a resort in Montana where Cord will be best man at a close friend's wedding. They will be gone for 6 days. This is the first time they have been away from their children for more than a few hours. The boys spent the night last night in our motorhome and we had a great time.

Day 7

As mentioned yesterday, it was my birthday - one year left until I qualify for Medicare. Hard to imagine when I feel so much younger : )
We had a busy day. After a great breakfast with fresh off the farm cured bacon, we headed to the Potato Museum with Greg & Marla. It was very interesting and I learned that the Idaho Baker is a Russet Burbank Potato. We then had lunch at Rupe's, a local hamburger place.
Next we headed out of town past Idaho Falls to Yellowstone Bear Country. Here we drove through acres where we saw Elk (including a white Elk), Bison, Wolves, Moose, Bear (including many cubs). Next we drove on to Lower and Upper Mesa Falls along the Snake River. The cayon was beautiful and the falls were spectacular. We ended the day at Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que in Idaho Falls and had a fun dinner. It was really a great day. We are now headed to Burley for lunch with Chig's cousin then on to Boise.

Day 6

We safely arrived in Blackfoot, ID yesterday afternoon.
We spent the afternoon enjoying Greg & Marla's side patio and beautifully landscaped yard as we visited and got caught up.
Last evening we had a power issue in the motor home and I could not start my computer this morning. We called a computer technician and he pronounced it "dead".
I said a prayer and played with it after he left. Suddenly it came back to life and is working again!
Today is my birthday and we are going to head out on an adventure!

Morning #4

Another beautiful sunny morning. Temperatures here have been in the high 90's but not much different than Sacramento.
Last night's dinner was nice. Chig had fun visting with his "old" classmates. Some he could recognize but many he did not.
The final event is breakfast this morning at "Rowdy's". We will then head to Chig's sister Marla and husband Greg's house in Blackfoot where we will spend two nights.

Gooding, Idaho

We arrived in Gooding yesterday afternoon. We encountered a lot of construction between Wells, NV and Twin Falls, ID. Our only travel event was when we stopped for gas and got in a tight parking lot which required disconnecting our tow car so we could get turned around.
It is so sad to see this small town. Like many California logging areas, this farming community is another "has been" town. Most of the downtown area has homes that are not being maintained and many storefronts are vacant.
We are staying at a campground at the County Fair. It is suprisingly nice with big concrete pads and large grassey strips. We are surrounded by pastures. It feels like camping out on the farm. The only sounds are the moos of cows and the whistle of passing trains. There are approximately 60 sites and the only other campers are in some tents.
Last evening we attended a Bar-B-Que for Chig's "Class of 1960". Most of his classmates are scattered throughout the western states. Tonight is dinner at the Country Club.

Day 2

We just completed our second day/night of our trip. We spent last night at Iron Horse RV Resost in Elko, NV. Our drive here was uneventful with the exception of stopping at a roadside rest and ending up heading the wrong way on the highway. I was reading my email and looked up and saw the mountains on the wrong side of the road. I don't know when Chig would have realized we were headed back home. Last night we went to a casino for dinner and the net cost was $12.00. I actually found a $3.00 blackjack table and won $31.

Our first day

Welcome to our first blog.
Yesterday July 14th we left for our VBLT (Very Big Long Trip - our BLT - Big Long Trip, was in February). We have borrowed the name from Marg when she and Allen had their BLT last year.
After a late start, caused by me, we made it to our first stop in scenic Fernley, NV. When we arrived our temp gauge showed 111 degrees. Hwy 80 between Truckee & Reno had a long stretch of one NARROW lane. I closed my eyes and imagined we were driving down the long runway of a closed airport. Chig wanted to do the same thing : )
We met two couples here from Texas doing the reverse of our trip. They are heading up the CA, OR coast then into Wash state. Their trip will be 3 months - now that's a VVVBLT!
We are now off to the exciting city of Elko, NV. We have traveled this road nearly 100 times in our lives but have NEVER taken this long to get to Idaho.