Let’s Go Fishing

When life gives you lemons, instead of making lemonade we went fishing! LOL

It has been a very good month since our last blog post! Here is a recap of what we’ve been up to.

Did someone say “Let’s go fishing”? Yip, that’s what my brother said to me numerous times. So we loaded up his boat and headed up to Paulina Lake. I had never fished for Kokanee and got some real good lessons on what to do. You just anchor and start jigging. What is jigging you ask. There are certain lures that you attach to your line that has a treble hook on it. Apply three kernels of tuna oil soaked corn to the treble hook for bait. Drop the lure to the bottom and reel up a couple of feet, then move the lure up and down to simulate a small fish in distress. We did pretty good and caught our limit of 5 each. It was a gorgeous day on the lake! I learned how to filet fish and ended up with fish taco’s for dinner! Yum Yum!

A few day’s later we headed up to East Lake with a friend of my brother and his boat. It was a lot cooler and experienced a thunder storm when we arrived. We sat in his Jeep for about an hour until it let up and finally launched his boat. Mind you, my brother and his friend know how to fish for Kokanee and I’m just learning. We found a spot in about 30 feet of water and anchored. The fish finder showed lot’s of fish in the area so we knew that this was the spot. Well I’m here to tell ya, it took us a whole 1 1/2 hours to limit out! We spent another hour or so just messing around catching and releasing. My brother tested 9 Kokanee lures he had and caught fish on every one of them. This is a true story, you know fishermen never lie……. That is Paulina Peak in the background.

We took all of our catch over to Salem yesterday and had a fish taco lunch with our Mom, younger brother, his wife and their youngest son. What a great lunch we had with Family! Mom is doing very good at 89 years young and was so good to spend some time with her. Our brother and his wife live with Mom and take care of her needs and do improvements to the house that Mom and Dad built over 40 years ago. As we drove up the driveway we noticed the front deck was missing. Pete had almost removed all of it to replace it with new lumber as the old one was just worn out and tired. I had installed 2 x 4 clear cedar decking back in ’84 and it had seen so much wet weather over the years it was not safe. They have completed several projects over the last couple of years since Dad’s passing and have done a great job on the property.

I’ve also been helping my brother Dan do a few things at a Woman’s Shelter run by The Shepard’s House here in Bend. In order for them to be able to house more Women who need help, they have to make the house ADA compliant. We built a wheel chair ramp and layed some pavers.  That was a fun project that went very well. Dan has also done quite a few projects around the property and there are several more things that we’ll do to help them reach their goal. Becky and I also have spent some time helping serve meals at the Family Center. What a great way to spend some of our retirement time, helping others!

There is just so much to do and see in the Bend area of Central Oregon. Several high lakes to go fishing in and campgrounds all over to park your RV or pitch a tent for a few days and enjoy nature. Numerous hiking trails and home to many lava beds and tubes. The Newberry Crater is just southeast of Bend. You can read about it here. It’s a National Historic Monument full of interesting history. We have yet to uncover all there is to see. Hopefully we will take in the sights before we leave the area and head south in late September.

So you see, when life hands you a detour, you just walk through the door and follow the trail to new and exciting adventures!

Happy Trails!

 

 

 

 

Life’s Detour

We left our workamping gig at Crane Prairie RV Resort a couple of weeks ago. There are many reasons why it didn’t work out, let’s just say, it was a blessing in disguise. I’ll share some of the details below and present a few thoughts about what to do in the future when looking for a workamping gig. (Some may call it a Workamping Job, I don’t like the word job so I’ll use gig. I left my job when I retired….)

The work was supposed to be combined 25 hours per week, which was fine with us. It ended up being that we only got two weekends off during a two month period, worked opposite each other and was expected to be available on our off days.  Schedules were changed without prior notice and on and on. We are retired and felt like we were back in the work force again. The owners were not honest about what was expected of us and for that we were left in the dark about our responsibilities. Even those changed as the owners would say do things one way and they would do them another, very difficult to follow. We vacated our spot and went to Bend to park at my brother and sister in-law’s place, which they graciously let us do until we could get our bearing’s on our next chapter in life.

If you are thinking about Workamping, make sure to get a list of responsibilities or job description. If the owners will not provide you with one, I would suggest you look elsewhere. We felt like we didn’t dig deep enough into their business and will take partial blame for what ended up being a bad experience. We definitely learned a lot, and will leave it as a learning experience. Just do your due diligence when looking for a workamp job so there are no surprises that await you.

While we are parked here in Bend it has allowed us to spend quality time with my brother and his wife, which is one of the reasons for being here. I’ve been helping him work over at a Woman’s Center building a ramp for ADA compliance to house more women. We also helped to serve a meal at the Family Shelter one night. This is what life is all about, not working, just living and doing for others. What a blessing! We’ve also been able to go to their church the last two Sunday’s, now that was a true blessing. It’s called the Founders Church, the first church in Bend. They had a BBQ picnic lunch last Sunday after church. The dress is very casual which fit’s into our lifestyle.

I’ve also been able to do a few things to the bus that I have put off for a long time. Fix a leak in our fresh water tank, move the tank and hot water heater, organize my tools and parts and get rid of unneeded stuff! I was able to find a parts bin built out of wood with 4 sliding drawers in it at the Restore store in Bend. Plus I found other a few other goodies that I just couldn’t pass up!

I’m hoping to gain some space in our bays by better organization. I’ve never changed anything in our bays since the initial purchase almost 13 years ago, it was time to make it our own. Plus I’m also planning for some future upgrades that will start to take place late September.

Bend is located in Central Oregon with a lot to see and do. We plan to take advantage of that as much as possible. Fishing, hiking and sightseeing is a good place to start. We went to Smith Rock last weekend and hiked for a while around the rim looking down on the Crooked River canyon. Saw a few climbers on the face of one of the rock walls. The weather was perfect and the scenery was gorgeous!

My brother Dan and I, along with one of his friends Gary, attended a car show at the Bend Elks yesterday. There was a great showing of some old iron. This pic of a ’56 Chevy shows my brother reflected in the side of it and his friend in the blue jacket. I didn’t notice that until I looked at it later, pretty cool.

Becky, Charlene and Gary’s wife Pam went to Sisters yesterday to enjoy their annual Quilt Show. They had a great time looking at all of the quilts on display, and I’m sure came up with a few ideas for their own projects. The guys did their thing while the gals did theirs.

So you see, sometimes things may not work out as planned, but look at what we would have missed out on. When circumstances in life take a detour, look at the positive side, it may turn out better than expected. That is what happened to us!

Happy Trails!

 

We Made it to Crane Prairie RV Resort

After we left Eagles Nest RV Park, we stayed for two nights at Crater Lake RV Park, where we had workamped during the summer of 2012. It was great to see the owners, Pam and Jim Lee again. A lot has changed since we last saw them. The park looked great due to the hard work of Ron who has pretty much taken over the duties of the day to day operations. Jim had spent several weeks at the VA Hospital in Vancouver and Portland due some medical issues, so Ron had to take over the responsibility of running the park.

Of course I just had to go down to the Rogue River to see where I learned to Fly Fish. The river was rushing due to the snow run off from the winter. I was amazed at how much water was flowing down the river. It’s a beautiful place to just sit and observe nature at it’s best. Here are a couple of pics of the park and the Mighty Rogue River.

We arrived at our final destination, Crane Prairie RV Resort and Park on April 13th to start our summer Workamp job. As I drove Dreamscape around the park to find our parking spot, I was amazed at all of the pine trees that had blown down due to a severe storm they experienced last December. I also noticed the same thing driving around the north side of Crater Lake over to Hwy 97. It must have been a very powerful storm that rolled through.

Here are a couple of pics showing our location and what happened the day after we arrived, that white stuff that we are not that familiar with!

In the bottom photo of Crane Prairie Reservoir, you see 3 distinct mountains. The left one is South Sister, Broken Top and Mt. Bachelor to the right. What a gorgeous scene to wake up to each morning!

We will be getting the park cleaned up and the Lodge stocked with all kinds of goodies from fishing lures to groceries. Plus getting all of the rental boats cleaned up and moored in the lake. The park officially opens on April 22 at 7 am, so we have a lot to do to prepare for that.

Dreamscape ran flawlessly on our trip from Murrieta to Bend, 1,350 + miles total. No other incidents to report except all of the good times we had along the way. Our Bus Nut friends that we were able to spend time with during this trip were very memorable. We are so blessed to be able to call all of them, friends! They made the trip so much more enjoyable.

Almost forgot, while we were in Parker, AZ I was coming out of Walmart and saw some dear Bus Nut friends, Arlette and Bill Klein. We last saw them at Quartzsite in January. Small world for sure!

It’s going to be an unforgettable summer as we Workamp in the beautiful Pacific Northwest!

“Happy Trails”

Day 10

We left the Bowers place yesterday heading to our next stop, Eagles Nest RV Park.  Our GPS tried to direct us on the shortest route when we arrived in the area, don’t believe it! Then we headed up 139 a little further and followed Lucy’s direction again, wrong! We should have driven down County Road 97 A a little farther. Ended up going through a field following the park’s owner. I was worried about it not being on a gravel road due to our weight. It all ended up just fine. One reminder, follow this link for their directions ( I confess, I didn’t do that). It’s a very nice well kept RV Park, with lots of green grass and pine trees. The owners are very nice and want to make sure you enjoy your stay. Highly recommended!

The route through US 395 to CA 139 into the Modoc National Forest was spectacular! This by far is the route to take when traveling to and from Reno. Wow!

A few words about our stay with Paulette and Daniel in God Hill, NV. We originally planned to stay one night, but ended up staying for four. The area has so many things to see and do it demanded a longer stay. The best part of this was getting to know our hosts better and of course I was in Silver Eagle heaven with 4 of them in various stages of construction. The white Eagle shown below is the one that they do some extensive traveling in with a great solar system that allows them to boondock for long periods of time. One of their trips took them to Alaska, where Paulette spent many years before they got married. They do enjoy their bus conversion! They are such gracious hosts and have invited us back anytime. I’m sure that next year we’ll end up visiting them again. Thanks for such a great visit!

We visited the train museum in Carson City the day before we left. This is a must see, add it to your bucket list. What a great collection of locomotives and cars that helped to bring the masses to Nevada. We were blessed to have a personal tour by one of the volunteers. He was very knowledgeable and shared the rich history of how train travel was so important to the many aspects of mineral rich Nevada and the growth that was allowed to happen due this form of transportation.

We are headed to Crater Lake RV Park today, where we workamped during the summer of 2012. It will be great to see old friends again. We can’t wait to get up there and the weather looks to be great!

“Happy Trails”

Day 8

We spent most of the day in Virginia City, NV. (The previous link is the best I found). What a great little town that is rich in history. I must confess I didn’t know that much about how it got started and the many famous people that either lived or visited there. From Mark Twain to Hearst family. We first drove around town to see all of the old buildings and found a museum that had an old locomotive inside. They have train rides from Virginia City to Carson City during the tourist season starting in May. Unfortunately it was closed while we are here.

We just had to stop by the Delta Saloon to get something cold to drink. Becky had a Sarsaparilla and I had a Ginger Ale, I should have chosen her drink as it was fantastic. This Saloon has the famous Suicide Table on display.  One of the wait staff also shared some great places to visit while we are there. I can see us coming back tomorrow as there is so much to see and do.

We decided to take the trolley tour to get more information on the history and it was well worth it. The operator was very knowledgeable and added some colorful history about the area.

We walked around the Cemetery to view the different dates on who lived and died in this rich mining town. Some made it past 60, while others died early in life from infants to folk in their 30’s. It must have been a hard life working in the mines and also all of the saloons with gambling and drink available. The miners pay was $1 per day and they worked in 140 degree Fahrenheit temperatures as this is a geothermal area. Can you imagine working in those conditions while the mine owners raked in millions!

If this destination is not on your Bucket List, it should be! We will go back today and enjoy many things we didn’t have time for yesterday.

“Happy Trails”

 

Days 5, 6 and 7

What a great time we had with Pam and Tony in Pahrump, great friends that are superb hosts. We just had to have lunch at one of Nevada’s oldest businesses, Sheri’s Ranch and here’s a pic to prove it.

Pam and Tony had just moved from Cody, WY and purchased a piece of property that has a manufactured house on it along with a garage and a concrete slab that they will build a bus barn on. They are remodeling the house inside and out. It is going to look very nice when it’s completed. The bus barn will come in handy when they remodel another Silver Eagle they bought. It’s a project that will look like an oasis in the desert when they finish it. We will stop by again when we are traveling through the area, you can count on it!

“Until we meet again” Pam and Tony!

We headed up 95 N to Tonopah Station to spend the night. Very nice highway and not much traffic along our route. It was a tight fit but we made it in one of the RV spots behind the building. We had breakfast at the restaurant on the morning we left, the food and service was pretty good. The building had a lot of memorabilia from the early days of gambling and mining. A very cool place to visit. No reservations accepted, first come, first served.

After breakfast we headed up the slab to Gold Hill, NV to stop and see our bus nut friends, Paulette and Daniel. The drive was very scenic as we meandered through some small towns along the way. Several towns looked like they had been ghost towns for years. Then we saw Walker Lake, now that was something to see in the middle of the desert. It is a salt lake with evidence of salt all around the perimeter. We  even saw a few RV’s camping along the water front.

Here is a good shot of what we saw along our path, snow capped mountains near Lake Tahoe. We will save visiting that area for another trip.

We drove through Dayton, NV on our way to Gold Hill. This town was the scene of Nevada’s first Gold discovery back in 1859. We didn’t stop as we were almost to our friends place in Gold Hill. One more place to add to the Bucket List for a later adventure.

Our arrival at the Bowers place was nothing but spectacular! They spend considerable time boondocking in their 1967 Silver Eagle and have 3 other Eagles in their nest. An Eagle lover’s heaven it is! We spent some time looking at these Birds in various stages of their lives, one was almost a bare tube frame while the other two are just sitting their resting. I’m sure I’ll find a part or two we can use………. (Big Grin)

While we are here, Becky and I are going to take a short drive to Virginia City and do a little exploring. So stay tuned on what we find in this cute little town rich in history.

“Happy Trails”

 

 

Days Three & Four

I got a little behind in my posting due to the poor cell reception in Parker. One minute you would have 1 or 2 bars, the next minute nothing. I guess that’s because it’s in the desert with no WiFi available at the county park.

Let me preface this post by adding this Workamp story we wrote back in November 2012. This will give you an idea about what workamping is all about. We are asked many times about it as not many people have heard of it. Click on the link below to download this Free issue of Bus Conversion Magazine. You also can access their Facebook page by going here. They have a few items in the BCM Store from Bus Conversion Magazines to E-Books, designed for Bus Conversion enthusiast.

Nov 2012 BCM – Paul Lawry – Work Camping

Our friends, Kat and Perley took us on a desert adventure by taking us to a remote location off the beaten path up into the desert. This 5 mile journey was not on a paved road, but one that is curvy, bumpy, not maintained, dirty and dusty. It took us about 45 minutes to get there, meeting dirt bikers, 4 wheelers, ATV’s, cars and pickups along the way. The final stop was a place called The Desert Bar. They are only open on Saturday and Sunday after 1 pm until dusk. The man that built it wanted to have a place that was completely off grid, and he succeeded. He has solar panels on each large roof, enough to feed the power hungry little watering hole he created. There is a stage for live entertainment, full bar for just about any kind of cold beverage you can think of to wash down the dust. Food is served on two different levels with lots of umbrellas to protect the patrons from the sun. Here are a couple of pics of what you will see when you get there.

After our experience at The Desert Bar they took us to several watering holes along the Colorado River. We saw some very unique restaurants along the river including one that had a huge dance floor and stage, with a duplicate room upstairs. Then we got to enjoy some Karaoke Saturday evening, meeting some memorable new folks in the meantime. (Will not forget sweet Gabby!) Thanks Kat and Perley for a very memorable time!

We arrived at Pam and Tony’s place in Pahrump, NV around 5:30 pm yesterday. Going through Las Vegas on a Sunday went pretty well. (Perley suggested that we unhook our toad so we could climb the long hill on the 160 that takes us to Pahrump and I’m sure glad we did.) It was a long pull in 1st gear with a mid eighty’s temperature. I kept the RPM’s up and the temperature down. Pam had prepared a delicious meal of her special meatballs and sauce. This lady knows how to cook – scrumptious! We spent great bonding time catching up on our lives since we saw them at the SoCal Mini Rally in San Dimas last month.

I’m having a tough time uploading some pics so I will try again later when I have a better internet connection.

“Happy Trails”

 

Day Two of Our Trip to Oregon

We spent our first evening with our good friends Debbie and Eddie Barrella in Indio, CA. They treated us to a fantastic BBQ out in their newly built outside eating area complete with a grill, ice-maker, sink and table. This was their first grilled meal and they chose to share it with us. They live in a very nice house with an attached RV garage where  their Silver Eagle rests when they are not on the road. What a great way to keep the coach out of the elements and also a place to do some maintenance when needed. The Barrella’s own a Marathon Silver Eagle Conversion and have been busy remodeling the interior with new carpet, fixtures and upholstery. Their coach is absolutely gorgeous!

Becky and I are so grateful  for their amazing hospitality! We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in their courtyard the next day sharing fellowship with one another while listening to a very nice water feature in the background. We are so blessed to have such good friends!

 

We don’t like saying goodbye so we said, “Until we meet again”! Thanks Debbie and Eddie for such a wonderful time!

We departed to our next destination, La Paz County Park just north of Parker, AZ along the Colorado river. While we were driving along I-10 we noticed some black smoke in the sky and all I could think of was it looked like an accident and hoping it was not on our route – but it was. We headed north on 177 and came to a complete stop as they had the road shut down. We found out a fairly new motorhome pulling a pickup and caught fire and was completely destroyed. Fortunately it looked like no one was hurt. After about a one hour delay we continued on.

We arrived at the county park after our GPS (Lucy) took us on an extended tour of the wrong side of the river taking us up to the Parker Dam. Of course when we arrived at the dam we noticed a sign that said “no RV’s allowed” on the dam! Fortunately there was room to turn around so we didn’t have to unhook our toad. Oh well, at least we got to view the AZ side of the Colorado … from the CA side!

At least we finally made it to La Paz County Park after a slight, unplanned detour. We finally parked and hooked up in the second row back from the river. What a nice view of boats and other water craft enjoying the water.

We contacted our friends, Kat and Perley who are staying about 1/4 mile south of us. They own and have lived in their Silver Eagle Bus Conversion for over 19 years. We first met them in person at the SoCal Mini Rally held at East Shore RV Park in San Dimas on March 6th for 3 days. We had been Facebook friends for a few months and felt like we had known them for years. We enjoyed their fellowship last night and will continue to do so again today while they take us around to see the sights and get the flavor of this area.   Stay tuned for tomorrow’s update to find out just what we did!

 

Our Trip to Oregon 2016

We have enjoyed our stay in Murrieta, CA since we arrived last October. The owners at the ranch where we have been staying have been wonderful! I’ve enjoyed working on several projects and will be leaving my mark here on this property for many years to come. Sincere Thanks to Lorelei and Marc Lehman for providing us with a place to park for the last several months. We’ll miss them, the beautiful property they own and of course all of our friends, new and old.

We have enjoyed being able to see our SoCal families while we have been here. It was a joy to see how the kids have grown and visit some of their activities. Shea, Jade, Saige, Jeff, Katie, Michal, Mirian, Shanna, Christian, we will miss you so much. Maybe some of you can plan a trip to the Bend area for a visit this summer. We hope to make it back to SoCal later this year and enjoy more fun times with them.

We were so happy when brother Dan and his wife, Charlene, came from Oregon to visit us here in November. While we have been here we have also been able to visit with some of our Bus Nut Friends at rallies in Quartzsite and San Dimas. We made several new Bus Nut Friends that will be life long friends – that is what makes our journeys so memorable.

We begin our journey in 6 days to Oregon! First stop is Palm Springs to see our friends Debbie and Eddie Barrella, then on to Parker to spend a couple of days with Kat and Perley Benson. Then we’ll head up to Pahrump, NV to see Pam and Tony Saracini for 2 days. Next we head to Gold City to see our bus nut friend, Daniel Bowers, who has a plate for our power steering box. On to Reno for a couple of days, then up to Crater Lake RV Park where we workamped back in 2012. We’ll go down to see Becky’s cousin in White City while we are there.  Our final stop is  Crane Prairie RV Resort just SW of Bend, OR. So stoked to hit the road!

In planning this trip, we decided to travel along some roads we have never been on. We are looking forward to seeing many more new sites along the way.

Bookmark this blog so you can follow along in our journey.

Happy Trails to everyone!

Quartzsite 2016

We finally got to experience Quartzsite for the first time last week. We left on Thursday and met up with some bus nuts for the first time, Art and Cindy Wales in their Silver Eagle, Sun Chaser. We had chatted online for several years so we felt like we already knew them. We exchanged handshakes and hugs for a few minutes then headed out to Palm Springs to meet up with another couple, Eddie Barrella and Debbie, in their Silver Eagle, Salt Wind. Eddie and I had been friends on Facebook for a long time but had never met. It was like seeing old friends for the first time! We met them in a parking lot and discussed how we would roll. It was decided that Art would be first to lead the way, then our Eagle with Eddie following behind. Red White and Blue was the order and it felt fitting!

Cindy was taking the pic – too bad we didn’t have a tripod to get us all in! L to R, Art, Debbie, Becky, Myself and Eddie. We were about to embark on a new adventure, 3 Silver Eagles rolling down the 10 heading to the Q.  (Someone said “pose”, so Becky did.  Notice she was the only one!)

I can imagine what others thought, seeing 3 Silver Eagles in a convoy rolling down the highway. What a site to see!

As we were driving into the area leading us to Rice Ranch I was in awe seeing all of the different RV’s parked along the highway with vendors of every kind displaying their wares. We made it to the Q about 3 pm and found out where to park. Initially we had decided to park with the GM group but they were full, so we pulled into the Silver Eagle group and were met by Buck Bolding guiding us as we parked. We nestled in between Sun Chaser and Salt Wind.

After we got settled, Becky and I walked around meeting and greeting bus nut friends, some we hadn’t seen for a few years, others we had never met before. Parked next to Eddie’s Eagle were some friends, Randy and Kelley Coons. Next to them was our good friends Wilbur and Laura Bradbury. After our hand shakes and hugs we went to the GM side to greet Tony and Pam Saraceni and Mike O’Rourke, head of the GM group.

I believe we ended up with a total of 85 coaches in both groups. The most I had never seen before in one place, so it was a sight to behold. I saw more Silver Eagle Model 1’s than ever before, 6 or 7 I think. One 01 was black with flames on the side. I never did get a picture or meet them as they had to leave due to a water main break at their house in Half Moon Bay. They were pulling a box trailer with the same paint scheme, absolutely gorgeous combo. They also had a big motorcycle on a lift on the back of the Eagle. We heard them as they crossed over the overpass as he was going through the gears making some noise with that 8v92T pushing it.

We had a potluck dinner that evening with the GM folk and got to meet a few new bus nuts. There was a lot of very cool old iron on display, from Scenic Cruisers to an old 1946 GM PG 2904. There will be a nice story about the owner and this coach in an upcoming issue of Bus Conversion Magazine – look for it.

Here I am over on the GM side waiting for Art to fire up the drone to take some movies of the buses on display. Those are 2 old GM Scenic Cruiser’s in the background. I was probably talking to Pam or Tony at the time.

Here are a few more pics from both groups.

The Silver Eagle below was from Temecula, CA. They had just finished building it, gorgeous!

The Silver Eagle 01 with the US Flag belongs to LeRoy and Anne Willis, good friends from Tucson.

The red Silver Eagle belongs to our good friends, Bob and Sandi Gilbert, from Oklahoma. The Eagle with the stripes going up the side belongs to a couple from Switzerland. They travel the US 6 months a year and work the other 6 at home.

As there were no hookups we used the genset for power when we needed it. Our water pump was acting up so it wouldn’t work all of the time. We do have an inverter installed but it is not hooked up, as were are needing some house batteries to make it all complete. We were not the only one running a generator, which felt good that we were not the only one. Hopefully the next time we go we won’t have to use the generator so much but only to charge the battery bank.  As the pictures show, the weather was great the whole time.

As always, these trips never last long enough. We had to say our farewells on Sunday, never do we say goodbye. Until we meet again!

I can now scratch going to the Q off my Bucket List!