Hurricane Ridge

Our base camp for the next two weeks is the Escapees Evergreen Coho Park in Chimacum, WA.  It is one of our yearly, seasonal stops and offers nice accommodations at an affordable price.

Clubhouse

When we first pulled in we were parked next to another Country Coach MH and soon realized they were folks we had met at Oregon Motorcoach Center.  Bonnie and John have become great friends in a short amount of time.  It's always amazing how full-time RVers know each other's life story after a couple of get-togethers.

Bonnie & John, off on a kayak adventure

 After several days of "spring cleaning" projects and cloudy, overcast weather the sun came out and we decided to take off for a day of adventure which also provided the most spectacular scenery; a visit to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park was in order.

We traveled from 0 to 5242' on 17 miles of paved road from Port Angeles to the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center. Views of glacier-clad mountains crowning sub-alpine meadows of wildflowers awaited us at the summit.

Black-tailed deer grazed on lupine and a buck meandered by in the snow.  

We pulled off at all the viewpoints to capture the moment.

Cloud over the Olympics

Our kind of road!

On a clear day; Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC

A Service Experience

A while back I briefly referred to upcoming motorhome repairs which included replacing a leaky slide-out seal and new awning canvas, about a $1500 job, that was scheduled at Oregon Motorcoach Center near Eugene.  We pulled into their parking lot a week ago Thursday, got out to unhook the jeep and gazed at gallons of coolant pouring out from under the engine.  We optimistically reassured ourselves it was just a hose.  The next morning on schedule we vacated the MH as the coach was driven into the service bay. 

We love the Eugene area, the town, the University; there just seems to be a vibrant spirit associated with a college community.  There are great shopping opportunities, restaurants and movie theaters, not to mention the twice-weekly, huge Farmers' Market.  One of our favorite parking places is the Valley River Mall, where we have boondocked in the past, and offers great access to walks along the Willamette River trail.

Great trails along the Willamette River

 We were about a mile into our 6 mile hike when the phone rang and I could tell from the tone of Howard's voice it was not good news.  We needed a new radiator; parts and labor approx. $6,200!  I can't even begin to describe the range of emotions that hit me, but the first was, OMG we'll have to cancel our upcoming sailing cruise from Barbados to Costa Rica on the Star Clipper!  I think the next 5 miles was fueled by pure adrenalin as we tried to think rationally.  The bottom line is, and I'm sure you would agree, we can't afford NOT to go...period.

Our little home is broken..sigh!

Now that we have accepted the inevitable, we relax and go with the drill.  It soon becomes evident that we are dealing with an extremely reputable, highly experienced team of service techs with Bob Vinson at the helm. Dave, our radiator guru, had been with Country Coach for 25 years.  There were probably 10-12 motorhomes there on any given day and we met a wonderful group of folks with varying degrees of repair issues; many quite major.  Our surroundings were comfortable and accommodating, with 50 amp. electric, wifi for those who needed it, a very comfortable lounge with coffee, snacks, TV and reading material.  This is a full service RV center offering everything from engine and chassis work to decorating and remodeling.

And we had fun!  Saw two great movies at the Regal Cinema at Valley River Mall, Larry Crowne and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 3D and IMAX.  We drove over to the coast at Florence and met our good friends, Don and Joan, for a great seafood lunch at the International C-Food Market.  We had the best pizza ever from the Market of Choice in Eugene.  We shopped at Target, Costco, and Trader Joe's!  We drove around the University of Oregon campus and admired the track stadium.

Florence Harbor

 

Pizza from Market of Choice, even better than Dempsey's!

U of O track

We do have one pretty item to show for all the money we spent.  Millie's Draperies is close by so we had our front privacy drape replaced - it was about time.  Millie's also did the canvas for our awning and does much of the upholstering and window coverings for OMC, Country Coach, and other motorhome facilities in the area.  They made the window boxes for our coach when it was new 11 years ago!  We will soon be recovering our sofa so are beginning to look at fabric choices and will definitely be back here for the work.

Highly recommend!

Of course, I bonded with Bogey!

So now, a week later, we have been welcomed to the State of Washington and are heading for the Escapee's Park in Chimacum until our August 8th date with Port Townsend.  My glass is definitely half full!

Silverton, OR

Silverton is one of those small towns we drive into and I immediately think...I could live here!  It is just so charming and attractive, with interesting shops, a good assortment of restaurants, old oaks and flowers, much to see and do.  For starters we stopped by the Visitor's Center to get maps for a list of sights-to-see in Oregon's Garden City.

I also needed to find out how the town got it's name.  It soon became obvious that the local environment was planned by a female Founding Mother, Polly Coon Price, in 1854.  Instead of the rigid North-South grid of the township and range system she decided to plan the town around a large old Oregon White Oak tree, locating the town square around it, with Silver Creek flowing several hundred yards to the west.

Davenport's Arabian Quest

Silverton wears its history on its walls. Walking through town we admire many of the 19 murals that adorn the sides of many buildings. This mural features world-renown political cartoonist Homer Davenport who helped elect presidents and expose business corruption.  He was born in Silverton in 1864 and worked for the Oregonian in Portland and later newspapers in San Francisco.  He is also famous for traveling to Arabia and returning with 27 pure desert-bred Arabian horses.

We spent one afternoon walking the many paths of the Oregon Gardens.  There are more than 20 themed gardens the likes of which include the Market Garden, Rose Garden, Pet Friendly Garden...even the Lewis & Clark Garden.  The variety, blooms and colors were sensational!

Art and architecture go hand in hand at the only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in the Pacific Northwest which was relocated at the Oregon Gardens.  The Gordon House was built for Conrad and Evelyn Gordon for their farm on the south side of the Willamette River in Wilsonville in 1964 where they lived for 30 years.  The house was designed to follow Wright's "Usonian" model, a concept that included an open-floor plan, gravity floor heat, carports and cantilevered roofs with broad overhangs and floor-to-ceiling windows.

The Gordon House

We got a good workout for both the legs and camera at the Silver Falls State Park about 14 miles out of Silverton.  The popular trail takes us down a steep incline, behind the cascading 177 foot South Falls, in a mossy lichen-covered grotto, across the creek, with a steep climb back to the top.

Just 4 miles away  Mount Angel is a German community in true Bavarian style with a world-class, working Glockenspiel, fine German cuisine (though we did not partake), a Benedictine Abbey and, of course, their own Oktoberfest.

The Glockenspiel

We stayed in town at the Silver Spur RV Park, a half-price, full hookup, Passport America Park.  We did loads and loads of laundry, interspersed with side trips to sight-see.  Yes, I could live in Silverton for at least 5 days!

Harvest Hosts First!

We happened upon Harvest Hosts earlier this year at an FMCA rally in Indio, CA.  The concept is brilliant and especially tailor-made for RVers. Overnight parking at a vineyard or farm for a very low yearly fee is offered by many member/hosts throughout the country.

As luck would have it, we headed out in need of repairs, with Eugene, OR and Oregon Motorcoach Center as our destination.  More on this later.  After checking in and getting lined up for work to start in a week, we checked out the Willamette Valley area.

This is where the good karma kicked in and we found Emerson Vineyards in Monmouth, OR in our Harvest Hosts online guide.  I called Tom, the owner, and we were more than welcomed.  The online map provided "door to door" directions and  the drive north along 99W was an easy two-lane, scenic hour or so.

We've arrived!

The countryside

Elliott, the winemaker, working the vineyards

Around the property

Surrounded by a field of orchard grass

Old oaks & wildflowers

Our first reaction, and you can see why, was utter amazement at the location and beauty surrounding us.  How could we be so lucky in our first experience and does it get any better than this?

Tom greeted us outside and pointed us to our parking place in a nice, secluded location surrounded by a field of orchard grass, then met us in the tasting room after we got set up.

Tom educates us about the Emerson wines

We're ready!

Horizontal barrels are a good thing!

Emerson Vineyards is a family operation evident on many levels:  the namesake is Tom's great-grandfather Emerson Waldo Fisher.  Tom and Jane are the owners and live on the estate with Tom acting as business and marketing director, and I might add, social and people specialist.   Their son Elliott is the "vines and wines" man, having graduated from the Oregon State University's Fermentation Science program.  We mostly saw Elliott on his tractor tending the vines.

Emerson's winemaking philosophy is vineyard-centered. They believe that the key to world-class wines is beautiful, carefully farmed grapes grown in the best possible conditions. If successful the wines almost make themselves; they just take care of them.  The wines we tasted were excellent, though the pinots, both gris and noir, were our favorites.  The Reisling and Brother Red (named after Emerson's brother, Red!) also got rave reviews from our fellow tasters!

Tom told us that last year was their worse in terms of growing and environmental conditions.  The shortage of rain coupled with some very aggressive migratory birds and a crop disease which blew in from property to their east caused their production to fall from 50 tons to 10! This year, if the healthy thriving vines we saw are any indication, will be a very good year.

To top off this very enjoyable experience and these beautiful surroundings, we were just in time for Friday night music at the vineyard.  This night featured music by folk singer Larry Kenneth Potts who, coincidentally, is from Petaluma.  A good crowd gathered bringing along their picnic goodies with Emerson's wine (of course) and beer available for purchase.

Entertainer, Larry Kenneth Potts

Howard has us all set up!

Having a great time!

The Blue Light Anomaly

We have this very strange occurrence concerning our electric toothbrush.  After weeks of being plugged in to a proper 30/50 amp service,  the blue light goes out and the battery discharges.  It has become our signal that it is time to leave because as soon as we unplug and are running on the inverter, the blue light returns and the toothbrush happily does its thing.  Howard, the engineer, finds this very disturbing and pulls out all his electrical testers.  The voltage coming from the inverter is the same as the AC current.  The sine wave is true.  So in lieu of an explanation we have decided to follow it's lead and head out on the road again!

Fond Farewells!

We needed to see the Half Moon Bay family one more time and headed there for the 4th of July.  The usual summer fog parted and we enjoyed an afternoon of sitting out in Terri and Clint's backyard, barbecuing tri-tip and enjoying Liliana and baby Damien.  We decided against an attempt to see the fireworks over Pillar Point Harbor as Highway 1 traffic was in gridlock mode and the fog started rolling back in around dark.

Precious baby Damien & his binky!

Clint & Daddy's girl!

Liliana in a colorful sandbox

Terri with addition project in background

 We are now on our way north on I-5 heading into Oregon.  First on the itinerary are repairs:  the jeep needs new brakes and rotors, and the slide-out awning needs new canvas and springs; all work much cheaper outside of Cali!

Dog Day Afternoon

Not intending the usual meaning of the Phrase, nor the 1975 Movie, but a true afternoon with a dog, namely Annie, the Grandlab.  It was a beautiful day in the Bay Area, Christina was at Day care, the babies in Half Moon Bay, the teenagers out to lunch, so we picked up Annie for a jeep ride to San Francisco and Crissy Field near the Golden Gate Bridge.

In the wake of the Golden Gate

Crissy Field is an "off leash" dog area as well as a beautiful place to picnic, photograph, and watch the always impressive marine traffic.  On this particular day, the America's Cup Oracle 45' catamarans were racing on the Bay right in front of us.  What more could we ask for!

These are Oracle, the host/winner boats, practicing...notice the news helicopter!