Day...Whatever....Seven

Must be getting in to this vacation thing as I have no clue what day number it is today. If Saturday was day one and today is Friday this must be day seven. Anyway, there has not been much exciting to report compared to the first couple of days. After Redding the weather cleared up and we had an uneventful trip to Palm Desert, staying one night in Bakersfield along the way. Two nights in Palm Desert visting with Dad and Win then yesterday we made the long climb up to Las Vegas where we will be for a few more days. It has been warm enough to need the air conditioners on in the afternoon. We still marvel at our ability to keep electonically in touch from almost anywhere on our route so far. We can do e-mail and phones almost at will. Pretty Cool!

The pictures are of Central California and a crew that washed the coach in the place we stayed in Palm Desert plus one of the lovely road to Las Vegas.

DAY TWO

Well day one was not pleasant driving. It was windy and rainy most of the way - especially around the Columbia River. But we made Eugene in fair time and had a good night's rest. TODAY, day two, was another matter entirely. Let me quote the weather report in effect as I write this.

Northern California:
CHAINS ARE REQUIRED ON SINGLE AXLE DRIVE VEHICLES TOWING TRAILERS FROM 3 MI SOUTH OF DUNSMUIR TO WEED (SISKIYOU CO)

A HIGH WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT OVER THE ELKHORN BRIDGE & OVER THE ELKHORN CAUSEWAY /NORTH OF SACRAMENTO/ (SACRAMENTO CO)

A HIGH WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FROM 2.5 MI SOUTH OF THE JCT OF SR 89 TO YREKA (SISKIYOU CO) - TRAVEL IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CAMPERS, TRAILERS OR
PERMIT LOADS

NORTHBOUND TRUCKS ARE BEING SCREENED 10 MI NORTH OF REDDING /AT FAWNDALE/ (SHASTA CO) - DRIVERS MUST HAVE MAXIMUM CHAINS IN THEIR POSSESSION IN ORDER TO PROCEED - PERMIT LOADS ARE PROHIBITED

Click on the link below to see a 20 second video we have posted on You Tube--only 20 seconds captured from a very stressful two hours in blizzard conditions,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSFTNgNwYhg


We are now safely sitting in our assigned campsight in Redding but we should have listened to the forecast and the winter storm warnings and stayed in Medford. We did not want to screw up the schedule so we pressed on and were almost sorry we did. We got over Syskiyou Pass no problem but around Dunsmuir we hit a blizzard and I am not kidding. We have video to prove it. Heavy snow and winds in excess of 30 knots. We got lucky and fell in behind a snow plow and followed it until it left the freeway to turn around and go the other way. From there on it was more or less down hill and we eventually got back in the good old rain. Here in Redding the rain and the wind continue but at least we are safely "camped" for the night. We will see what tomorrow brings but another day in high winds and rain does not sound like much fun for a third day in a row.

On the plus side the coach has performed beautifly. Still, driving a billboard in heavy cross winds is a challange. The main trick is to just slow down.

Day One, Mile Zero

Today the trip begins. Here is what the weather man had to say as of yesterday (Friday) evening:

With all the warnings and advisories issued today, I think we forgot one: The "Kitchen Sink" Advisory.

I think we've pretty much hit everything today: Rain, wind, mountain snow, lowland snow, and even a few thunderstorms off the coast.

The storm will continue to be a factor through the daylight hours, with a secondary wave of winds possible later in the evening.

The National Weather Service has extended the Wind Advisory for Seattle/Puget Sound and Southwestern Washington area until 9 p.m. , and the High Wind Warning has been extended until 9 p.m. for Northern Interior, and until 6 p.m. in Hood Canal Area and 7 p.m. along the coast. We still have potential gusts to 60 mph possible through these time frames.

So far, gusts have been generally 45-55 mph but there have been a few in the 60 mph range, with Kirkland and Bangor reporting 62 mph and Bellingham hitting 61. Out on some poor lighthouses off the coast, it was really nuts: Tattoosh Island hit 86 mph while Destruction Island hit 78 mph and Cape Disappointment hit 74 mph. See full list of peak gusts here.

As of 3:30 p.m., the storm was lollygagging its way into south/central Vancouver Island. The storm's slower pace is what caused the delay for a few hours and thus the need to extend the advisories. The wind will continue to gust in this general 35-45 mph range in the city with a rogue higher gust near the water and then taper off after sunset

This morning we hoped to awake to calmer winds but it is still blowing, not as bad as yesterday but enough to mean we will probably average 50 mph or so for a good part of day one. At least we will be on our way. Expect to leave around 9:00 am.

Preparing for Spring Road Trip - The SRT

Well things have been kind of quiet here at Lake Pleasant this winter. Thankfully it was a mild one except for a few weeks of very cold temps where the lake here froze over. We are busy getting ready for the SRT, our Spring Road Trip. This will hopefully cover about 3000 miles. After visiting Grandpa Dews in Cathedral City, CA and the Clark family in Las Vegas we will spend a few days at the Grand Canyon, then to Holbrook, AZ to see the Petrified Forest and the Meteor Crater. From there we head to Phoenix (actually Mesa) for a few days to include attending a live concert by the Eagles downtown. From Phoenix we will head north through Flagstaff and NE Arizona and in to eastern Utah seeing the Painted Desert, Monument Valley, Arches and Canyon Lands National Parks then working our way home via Salt Lake City, Twin Falls Idaho, Pendelton, then down the Columbia River Gorge and back up I-5 to Port Susan arriving home May 7th.

This will be a nice long break-in run for NORV and some good driving experience for the Pilot and Co Pilot. I expect Arlyene will get plenty of time behind the wheel too, in fact I am counting on it. We bought a new telephoto lens for our camera so we are hoping to take some great pictures and share them here along the way with a short progress report as we move along. Of course we are also counting on good internet along the way - keeping our fingers crossed. It looks like we will be good in all the places we are spending the night but we will be driving through some fringe areas along the way. I guess that is the "cost" of getting out and away.

We leave April 3rd so between now and then there is lots of work to do to get ready, especially for me at the office. I will actually be taking some of my office with me, otherwise I could never be away for so long. This will be our longest vacation EVER! Cool !

Stay Tuned!

A SHORT "FALL" TRIP

I guess it is not officially winter until December 21st but it sure feels like it. We needed to get the coach out and put a few miles on it. Not good for these things to just sit. We decided to head up to our local home campground which is north of Bellingham,near the Canadian border.

The sun has been shining the whole time but night time temps have been in the upper 20's. Daytime temps depend on if you are standing in the sun or not. The last couple of days had high wind advisories. We got hit by some wind gusts coming up here that were significant enough for me to have to slow down to 45 - 50 mph on the freeway to keep control of the coach.

With temps in the mid 30's and wind gusts also in the 30's the wind chill factor gets down to around ZERO. Like I said that sure "feels" like winter.

The pictures are of MOUNT BAKER, Arly on the beach, the Canadian Rockies where the Winter Olympics are soon to be held and the sparsely populated campground.

CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE.

Our Winter diggs.

Here are a few pictures of where we will be for the winter

Cruise to Hawaii

We celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary by going on a cruise to Hawaii with our good friends Craig and Janet Wilkie, and Larry and Linda Bergo.