Oregon Living 2021 – Blog #58 – Visiting Old Haunts & Two Celebrations   

Tuesday, September 21st., 2021……  The Camping Squares party is today. They normally go on their outings from Wed or Thurs. through Saturday, leaving Sunday, so this one was different for all of us! We arrived on Sunday and leave tomorrow! We had the breakfast together yesterday and will have the potluck dinner tonight. Bill and Treasa get here today but don’t arrive until later in the day, so we had a chance to take a drive around the area so I could show Cathye my old haunts. We took the doggos and drove past the house in Long Beach and then stopped at Wardlow Park, just around the corner, so I could walk it again. We left there and drove to Smart and Final and then went through Weinerschnitzel for a must have lunch!  It was delicious!  We got back to camp and met Treasa and Bill, who were just walking in from their car. Perfect timing!  We had enough stuff for them to be able to make a salad to take to the potluck. Cathye made a triple berry cobbler. With blackberries from her place, blueberries from my place, and strawberries from a local Oregon field, it was delicious! We also shared a few bags of my grapes (which were picked just before we left Oregon) with the group and they were very well received!       

Wednesday, September 22nd., 2021…… Today is the day…. I had been thinking about this for 16 months and I was a little nervous. Arlene got her clubhouse for our use.  I brought all of the stuff that I could think was needed.  Tablecloths, laptops, tv monitors, and of course, Lydia’s ashes and picture. I had asked Randy to order and pick up subway sandwiches which he and Maryanne brought over, and we got to work setting everything up. I had plenty of help from Arlene, Bill and Treasa, Rick and Janie and we got the drinks chilled, and the chips and cookies out on the table. This was per Lydia’s wishes to keep it simple and with everything going on, we wanted self-serve items that were safe and easy to serve. We got al of that done and even had a chance to set down and preview the two video tributes I had made. 

One screen had 413 slides that I had digitized from photos and sorted from 1951nto around 1985-6 or so. The other one had about 85 slides that came from pics already in the laptop. I was worried that something would go wrong with the setup, but Randy and I got them all set up and working perfectly. I even added background music. The room was ready.  The idea was to have folks come in, visit, eat, and watch the videos, and then go about the rest of their day.  That didn’t exactly work out!  I found out that most of them wanted to stay for the entire 3 hours!  It was so crowded and loud in that small room, but it went very well. I only had two times when I was misting up. I was worried about that, but everyone kept it lighthearted, which I truly appreciated. I know that was what Lydia wanted and it worked out perfectly. I had asked Cathye to come by later in the day to pick me up. I knew folks would stay to meet her!  I was right and she quickly made friends with everyone in the room! They all said they were very happy for both of us. Here are some pics from the day…

We got back to the motorhome and rested from our day. I thought one of the cars had the leftover subway sandwiches but no, so six of us went out to Woody’s Wharf for dinner. We were outside on the patio with a great view of the harbor and had a very delicious meal (she had the baseball steak, and I had the scallops). After that, we headed back home and visited with Bill and Treasa for a while and then we went to the spa with them and Mike and Cheri. That was nice. It was a long day, but it was very rewarding for me. Thanks to everyone for your love and support and for making it a great tribute to a great lady!   

Thursday, September 23rd., 2021…...  Another tough day for me but one with less pressure. Randy had set up a back room at Joe Josts for Jeff’s celebration of life. It had been 6 months since we lost him and although he was in Florida, he had many friends in SoCal. I found that I had problems getting the word out. Randy knew some friends and I thought that most everyone was friends on his facebook page, so I posted it there. I guess that wasn’t the best idea, because not a lot of his guys showed up. It was held in the middle of a workday and unfortunately that made it hard for them to be there for sure. Or they didn’t get the message. But we did have friends and family there, and it was still a nice tribute to him.  I even bought a Joe Jost shirt and a baseball cap which I never got before!  The place was cold, so Cathye got a shirt too!

I gave Randy cash so he could keep a tab and he ordered beer and soft drinks and food for everyone.  They are famous for their pickled eggs and ‘the special’. That is a split polish dog with a pickle in the split, served on rye bread with a slice of cheese and mustard. It was delicious. Wait – I forgot to mention that I had mine without mustard. THAT made it delicious for me!  We got back home and rested. Randy and Maryanne came over later and picked up the electric bikes that he had delivered for us to use while in the park. They were a lot of fun and fast too!  We said our goodbyes to them and called it a day. 

Friday, September 24th., 2021……  Today we headed out. Good thing too. The park was being invaded by 110 vintage rvs for a rally!  They started coming in yesterday and occupied spaces that our group had vacated.  We did manage to get some pics of those that we liked. I especially liked this one which was the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine, complete with Scooby driving! 

Cathye found a couple of Shastas, which is what she has and visited and toured a couple of them.  We are moving today over to Bonelli Bluffs in San Dimas. I have always liked this park and Cathye did too!  At least what she could see of it today. Because she was heading to Phoenix!  I got us a nice site on the bluff which overlooks the municipal airport and the Pomona Fairgrounds. It was overcast and a little smoky (from the central Calif wildfires) but it was still very pretty. 

We sat out and had lunch on the grass and then it was time to go to the airport. I had gotten her a $49.00 round trip flight to Phoenix from the Ontario airport. We made the 30-minute drive and I got her dropped off with no problems and headed back to the coach. She said she had a tough time getting through tsa because she had that temporary driver’s license. Should have thought to bring her passport but neither of us thought about that! But hopefully she will be able to get through ok on the way back. I walked the dogs then made myself some dinner and fed them and we walked them around the park for a while. I came in and worked on the blog and talked a little with Cathye. She made it and got picked up by her stepson. They visited and then she went in and her room and called me. I really miss her, even though it’s only been a few hours!  I watched one of my Nascar races while working the blog and then watched part of the final motocross race but got sleepy and called it a night.     

Saturday, September 25th., 2021…… The plan today was to shower and walk the dogs and then head down to breakfast. Brackett Field is a little municipal airport just a short distance from the park and also across the street from the Pomona Fairflex. The have a little place there called Norm’s Hangar. I’ve been many times and I wanted to go check it out. Plus, I got to order some decent chorizo and eggs!  Yummy! 

Rick and Janie came over and spent most of the day with me. They brought their dogs so all of us sat out in the shade and enjoyed the grass and the view!

A bit later, we came in and fed the dogs and then headed off to find dinner. We all thought Mexican sounded good, so I looked up places nearby. We found Las Palmas and went there. It was really good. I had a shrimp and fish wet burrito. That may not sound good to some of you but trust me, it was delicious!  I saved some for Cathye. 

After we got back, they decided to head back home.  I talked with Cathye and she shared her day and evening with me. The reception was at her daughter-in-laws sister's house and it was really something. She said the reception went well. She even caught the bouquet!  

Looks like I'm in trouble now. No pressure!  Haha! I watched some more of my taped races and called it a night.  

Oregon Living 2021 – Blog #57 – One Last Day in NE, One Day Home & Then Heading South!

 

Tuesday, September 14^th., 2021…… We were up at 5:15am, packed and down for breakfast & then the shuttle to airport. Good thing we went early because our flight was 7:15am instead of 9:00am!  But we made it and had a nice 6-hour flight. We had to go via Seattle, but the good thing was that we had business class for all flights on this trip, so we had good legroom. Important for me for sure!  On the long flight home, we were lucky enough to get row 6 which was right behind 1^st. class, and there was no separation other than a curtain, so we only had two seats in front of us for even more legroom and no one in the third seat in our row. Score!  But still the flight was a long one. During the wait for the next leg, Cathye asked if I had her license. She said she handed it to me at TSA along with her boarding pass. I never saw it. Turns out that’s where we lost it!  We made the transfer and got the 29-minute flight to Portland and went through baggage claim and took the tram back to Cathye’s truck. On the way, I spotted a Toyota Tacoma the same color as hers and commented that some dummy had left his window open. She said, ‘that’s my car!”. Yep, turns out when I got the ticket going into the lot, I left the window down and we walked away from the car on the other side, so I didn’t notice.  Duuhh!  But nothing inside was touched so we were incredibly lucky. We made the drive home and, on the way, called Logan lost and found and left a message with her phone number. Hopefully, someone will turn it in. I stopped at the Lebanon DMV, and we saw there was no one there so she went in and was able to get a new one ordered and a temporary one for now. She needed to go anyway to make an address change, so it worked out. We got home at 2:30pm and I texted sis to let her know. I started unpacking my bag and she went over and got Jama from her friends, Lona, and Misty. We were tired and had some jet lag but managed to get everything emptied and sorted out. She needed to do her laundry and I moved some stuff out to the motorhome. We both have a lengthy list of things to do today or tomorrow before we leave on Thursday for the trip down to SoCal. Cathye made us a light meal using some items from the freezer that we needed to get rid of and we watched some of America’s Got Talent but gave up early and called it a night.         

Wednesday, September 15^th., 2021…… After our morning walk with the doggos, I started out early working on my blog. I had a lot to write about plus plenty of pics to insert. It took a long time! I also wanted to mow the grass before we left so I got the mower out and Penny came over and between her and Cathye and I, we got everything done and the truck loaded for a run to the dump tomorrow morning. There was so much to do but we do have a few hours before our planned departure around 9-10 tomorrow morning.

Thursday, September 16^th., 2021…...  The first hitch of the day occurred when I tried to start the motorhome! The battery was dead!  No worries though, I hooked up a charger and had it running and we were off.  The drive today was 287 miles, and we are in Weed, CA. I had never been to this park before, so I was apprehensive. But, after being given a nice pull thru (didn’t have to unhook the tow car) with satellite access, I went back and booked it again for the return home! It was a little noisy from the Pilot/Flying J next door, but we slept great!  The weather is nice and supposed to be that way all the way to Calif. We will miss the big front hitting Oregon and Washington tomorrow. They are supposed to get a lot of rain!  Tonight, we just ate in and enjoyed the evening and went to bed early. I do not have a directv box that will get abc, cbs, and nbc outside of the immediate Oregon area. Directv says per FCC rules ONLY New York and Los Angeles direct boxes can get those stations across the country. So, I have another box that will get those, but it stopped working and a new box was sent and will be received in Orange County and delivered to me on Sunday!  But we have plenty of stuff taped to watch in the meantime!

Friday, September 17^th., 2021……  This morning we got going and had 264 miles to drive. No battery problems. We stopped at the Weed Pilot/Flying J and fueled up and headed out. We are in Flag City RV in Lodi, CA. I have been here before, and this is a must stop on the 3-stop route. I have made the run to SoCal with two stops along the way and decided to do the 3-stop this time. I like that much better! We got into the park and set up early and had time to walk the girls and, since I had unhooked the tow car, we cruised the town. I was looking for the Hollywood diner, a place I had been to before that we liked. I found it but they were closed. We settled on Chili’s. Bad decision. Poor service and although my food was good, she had to send hers back. We almost walked out.   

Saturday, September 18^th., 2021…… Today, the drive was 245 miles to Bakersfield RV Resort. They had an early check in time, so we were there at noon and got set up. I had to unhook to get to the hookups but that was no problem. Stan (Lydia’s brother who lives in Bakersfield) came over to visit. We walked to the restaurant in the park and had a really good meal! We visited for a bit and went to bed early after he left. Tomorrow we hit Newport Dunes!

Sunday, September 19^th., 2021……  Again, I love the 3-stop trip. We only had 160 miles today to get to Newport Dunes. We had a space already assigned by the Camping Squares. We were joining up with them after over 4 years!  Man, I miss those guys!  There were 20 rigs and all but one made it in. We managed to squeeze in the skinny/short assigned site but once we were parked, it was ok. We got set up and rested for a while and watched the rest of the group come in. Later, we went out to Ruby’s Diner for diner with Rick and Janie and Gary and Lorna. Cathye is getting to know my friends and they all like her!  I told her they would!!! We got back and took the dogs out to the bay for a walk. They love this place!

 

We were late for the Meet and Greet but I know I am going to get fined for something anyway so what the heck! After that, we walked back and started the campfire and sat outside and enjoyed the evening with family and friends.     

Monday, September 20^th., 2021…… HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATHYE! The big 7 OH! I love this lady!  I had already picked out her birthday present and gave it to her. I think she loved it to say the least!

 

I wanted to take her out on her special day, so we took a cruise around the area, and I picked out a few places depending on what she was hungry for. We chose QuacAmigos, right on the beach. Randy and Maryanne came over and met Cathye. THEY also love her! Duuhh!  We visited for a few hours, and they went home. I had texted Sandie and, later, she and Ken came to join Randy and Maryanne at the restaurant. We had a nice time and a nice meal with a nice margarita!

 

Once back in camp, we started the fire and visited and walked the dogs and then everyone went home or back to their rigs, and we came in to bed. Nice day!

Oregon Living 2021 – Blog #56 – The New England Adventure Begins!....

 

Note: I also just posted BLOG #55 for the week of 9/1-9/7 so check that out first!

 

Wednesday, September 8^th., 2021…… We went downstairs early to the free breakfast buffet and then headed off to catch the Blue Line train to downtown (about 15 minutes) to meet up for the Freedom Trail Walking Tour in downtown (the Commons). Turns out we screwed up and left the printed tickets in the room!  We had to go back on the train to get them and so we missed the tour, but it turned out ok. We found the on/off tram tour pickup stop and showed them our tickets at stop 5 (of 18) and got seated. The guide was very good, and we enjoyed the trip from that stop all the way around the route back to the seaside stop (1) where we got off to eat. Here are some shots along the way up to that point…

So much history! Our driver told us they were working on Harvard and Cambridge so we missed that, but we got to see the group who received medals of honor at the state house so that was cool!  At the seaport stop, we had a lobster roll and clam chowder soup at an outside table at a nice restaurant called Provisions. The lobsta was great but the soup was too runny for our taste. Oh well, there are plenty more places to try!

We went back to the bus kiosk and found that our package included a harbor cruise, and she said one was boarding about 200 yards away in 30 minutes!  So, we joined the line and got a seat in the front row on the top deck. We discovered that neither of us brought sunscreen (and all the little shops in and around the docks were closed) but we found we could use lip balm on our necks and ears and feet. Hey, it’s still 30% spf!  Now that’s Yankee ingenuity! The cruise was excellent. The guide was very well spoken, and the weather was perfect! Here are some shots from the ship….

 

We got back on the tram and continued on. Here are pics up to stop 8….

Stop 8 was Cheers. The pics before were from the vehicle and we wanted to go in and get a t-shirt for one of her friends, so we got off and did that. 

We know – the inside is not the same as the tv show. So, we only were in there a few minutes. While I was in the bathroom, Cathye got hit on by some firemen and it turns out they were from Lake Oswego, which is just south of Portland OR!  They were on a job assignment of some sort and took time off after that to go to tour Boston.  Really - they were nice guys and happened to mention Lake Oswego when Cathye walked by, so she mentioned we were from Oregon too.  Small world!  We got the next tram coming by and went around to stop no 1 again where we could easily go underground to catch the blue line train and head back to the hotel. Highlights of the tour were Bunker Hill, The North Church, Paul Revere House, Gravesites of Paul Revere, John Hancock, and Samuel Adams, the USS Constitution, Converse shoes, Boston Garden, Boston Commons, and many more I’m forgetting. Seriously, if you go there, take the city tram tour.  Missing the walking tour was ok after that!   We rested at the hotel for a while and then headed out again. We had a list of the restaurants within walking distance from our hotel and we chose the Reel House. It was about 1.5 miles one way and we thought we’d never get there!  But it was worth it, and the food was excellent. She had the swordfish, and I had another lobster roll. This was reversed. I liked the other lobster roll better but this chowda’ was “wicked good”! 

Along with a couple of mai tais, we found the slow walk back was not so bad!  We turned in after a very long, but satisfying day!    

Thursday, September 9^th., 2021…...  Today was ‘get outta town day’! It was 120 miles and took 3 hrs. to Walpole, NH, where her daughter, Terisa and her husband Daniel and son Felix lived. Her son, Michael and his wife, Crystal, had driven up from Missouri and were already there. He brought some stuff from Jim’s collections that were given to Teri. Cathye visited with her daughter, and I rode over with Michael and Crystal to where Daniel was working. He and his brother, Ben, own a company that has equipment to move and crush rock. You’ve seen the large rock in landscapes and the smaller crushed ¾ rock used for gravel driveways and roads, and also the fine stone dust, which is used for base for patio pavers and such. Michael wanted Crystal to drive the loader, which is a massive piece of equipment and takes 3 cubic yard loads of large rock and deposits it into a hopper where it is crushed and re-crushed to get the different sizes. She had her turn and did an excellent job!  Then he asked me if I wanted to drive it. Duuhhh!  It was super fun

and I brought home some of the rock from my scoopful.

 

After dinner, they took us up the road to Daniel’s parents’ old home, used now as a guesthouse and they showed us to our room. It was super old, with floor planks over 15” wide!  Old dressers and modern conveniences, it was really great to be there!  

We settled in for the night and since we didn’t have any tv there, it was an early evening.     

Friday, September 10^th., 2021……  After a nice breakfast at Terisa’s, we took three vehicles and caravanned to a place called The Montshire Museum. This is just across the river in Vermont. Geared more for kids, this place was also fun for adults! They had interactive displays which kept us busy for sure!

We spent a good deal of time there and then we went across the highway for lunch to a place called King Arthur’s Baking Company. This is now in a new timber-framed building held together with the pegs that Daniel’s dad and third son makes on his property. After that, we kept going north and went to Ben & Jerry’s in Waterbury VT. It was a nice drive, but I sure wish we would have done more homework because they are not doing tours at this time. Bummer!  But we got our ice cream anyway and then toured the gravesite of dead flavors and had fun reading about some of them…  

Since we were out and about, we chose to find a place for dinner on the way home and chose Lui Lui’s which was Italian. We left and got back to the house so we could meet Teri’s other adult kids. Josh is 24 and Tatum is 22 (or maybe 25 and 23, I lose it sometimes!). Nice kids. After our long day, we called it early and went home to bed.

Saturday, September 11^th., 2021……  A Birthday party for 5 of us! September birthdays, besides mine and Cathye’s, were Daniel, Scott (Daniel’s father), and Crystal.  Terisa and Daniel have friends who run an rv park a few miles from them, and they arranged for us to have the group pavilion for the evening. We left after breakfast and went to The Vermont Trading Company and shopped in there. Yes, we bought a ton of stuff! We also stopped at a well-known bakery in the area (Grandma Miller’s) and bought favorite cakes for everyone’s birthday. Their friends had hauled over a bbq and Daniel cooked steak bites and fish and we had potato salad and cake.  Michael brought a bunch of firewood and we sat around til after dark and enjoyed the evening. It was a nice day!

Sunday, September 12^th., 2021……  Today, we were off to Maine!  We took three cars again and left about 7:30am and made the 140 mile, 2 ½ hour drive with little traffic. We went to a little village called Ogunquit (just like it reads oh-gun-quit) and had a nice walk around the rocky coastline. We took some pics of the houses around there as well as the shore and harbor area and beach hotels then walked to the boardwalk area and went to the Lobster Shack for dinner. We split a “Twin” (2-lobster) meal. With the requisite bibs, we dug in. It was delicious!

After that, we (our car was us and Michael and Crystal) drove down the coast to Neddick Lighthouse but couldn’t find parking so we headed back up to York Beach and walked around in the surf

and then went to the shops around town. On the way home, we found Sonny’s Main St. Pizza in Henniker, NH across the river from New England College, which we found out later is a private liberal arts college (Gina Davis is a graduate).  We shared stuffed shells which were really good! We hit a lot of traffic – due to an accident on the highway resulting probably from folks watching the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds at an air show at Pease Air National Guard Base at Portsmouth International Airport NH. We managed to get a couple of pics as they drove over us, almost parked on the highway!

 

We got through all of the mess and got home around 7:00pm.  It was a long day but so much fun!

Monday, September 13^th., 2021……  We had bought two quiches at Grandma’s and Teri heated those up for breakfast. We walked across and up the road to our house and by then Scott and his son Chris and helper Brian, were taking a break from their peg shop work.  We had coffee and Danishes with them, and I sat and talked with Scott about fishing for a bit, then they went back to work and gave us a vip tour. It’s really a small shop but they have a good corner on this market. They supply any tolerance peg, of any requested type of wood, ordered for timber-frame homes. They even have a shipping area and ups pickup and ship around the world!  Pretty good business. Chris showed us the machine operation and then Scott showed us some ‘special work’ machines that will make other custom order items. I was especially interested in the handles he makes for a guy in Idaho for custom wood chisels. With a piece of metal on the end, they can be used for years and years. He said the guy charges upwards of $100.00 for each one. I have the name and we will look them up next time we are in Idaho! 

We thanked them for their generous hospitality and said goodbyes to the rest of the family and then headed back south. We were headed to Boston but had one more stop to make. Cathye’s mom had been with a man, and he had a daughter that became Cathye’s “sister from another mister”. Her name is Roxanne, and she lives in Pittsfield, just a short distance from Concord NH, so we stopped in to say hi. 

After a really fun visit, we left and made the drive back into Boston. We were headed back to the Embassy Suites again and decided to not park the car there. I took us to the hotel entrance, and we unloaded the luggage and cleaned out the car. Cathye checked us in, and I drove the short distance around the block and turned the car in and just walked out the employee gate across the street to the hotel. Easy peasy! We rested a bit then headed back for another nice crabcake meal before calling it a night.

Stay tuned for the next post for the last day of the trip!