Kolab Canyon, St George and Camp Verde

Along our way back home we made a stop at the Kolab Canyon in Utah for a Harley ride up into the canyon. We have been here before but not on the Harley. Not the red pavement. They somehow use the native red rock in their road paving. So is this still called “blacktop”? The red mountain picture is the sun coming up lighting the already red mountain. This was our view from our campsite in St George Utah. After the stop a few days in the area we moved on to one of our favorite RV parks Camp Verde along the Verde River in Camp Verde, AZ. We spent 2 weeks there and made new friends Larry & Orlene that live not far from us at home and Helen & Bill with their little black dog Lucifer. Both couples we will stay in touch with.

Pendleton Woolen Mills, factory tour

Our next day tour in Pendleton, Oregon was of the well known Pendleton Woolen Mills. They have been in the same building since 1909. We saw how the wool was cleaned, carded, dyed, and spun into thread. Then we moved on to the giant weavers that make the material, blankets and rugs.

www.pendleton-usa.com/jump.jsp?itemType=CATEGORY&itemID=198

On to Utah and Arizona………………

Pendleton, Oregon - Underground & Brothel tour

What a contrast !

On the way home we spent a a couple days in Pendleton, Oregon to see the sights. We took the “City Underground” tour that included some above ground sights. There was almost a complete restored ChinaTown underground, with a jail, several stores/shops, laundry, meat market and along side all this a SpeakEasy complete with a pool hall and bowling ally all hidden below the downtown streets of Pendleton. Above ground we toured the historic restored “Madame Stella’s brothel”. Tour parts are obvious by the pictures. Some of the girls that worked in the brothel also lived there in with very basic furnishings. They did their own laundry, cooking and housekeeping. The fancy room with the satin bed cover was Stella’s private room. Tour money well spent.

http://www.pendletonundergroundtours.com/main/

Lunch with Tracy

On our way back through Portland we had lunch with daughter Tracy at one of her favorite restaurants in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

Cool and wet on the Pacific Coast

A few weeks in September on the NW Washington coast (Copalis Beach) experiencing cool, wet, fog, wind was all we needed to head inland and into warmer dryer weather. Next time we visit it will be late July or early August in hopes of a warmer dryer visit. Good times were had with our friends Joe (green plaid shirt) & Bonnie, and Lee & Kolleen (red blouse).

As far West as we can go

This is about as far West as we will get this trip. Copalis Beach, Washington. Nice when we first got there but the weather changed and sunshine was a memory. We did get a ride on the beach and a one nice walk on the beach.

Oregon happenings Aug 07

While in Oregon this summer we spent time on the coast with a visit to the Tillamook Cheese Factory, Lincoln City, went to a car show, air show and went to see the Spruce Goose. Also made time to visit our friend Kerin. Time to head North to Washington state.

Betty’s friend from Intel. Aug 4th, 2007

This is Betty’s friend from Intel, Nancy, her husband James, and the kids Megan and Nick. We spent a nice afternoon and dinner at their new home in Hillsboro. Betty and Nancy worked together for several years prior to Betty retiring.

They also met us for seafood night at Spirit Mt Casino when we were staying there in their RV lot. We all picked black berries on the casino property. The berries have since turned into a cobbler (now gone), and 5 or 6 containers of freezer jam that will come home to Arizona this fall.

July 29th 2007, Noisiest night so far

Camping World, Troutdale, OR (under construction!)

We arrived at camping world just before they closed and were told, sure no problem, park in our lot, lots of room and we will take you in first thing in the morning for your service (new slide out topper measurement & generator service). All went well till about 4am. Huge very bright lights turned on creating daylight right next to us and a cement truck pulled in with huge rocks tumbling in the drum “right next to us”. Add to that, 6 more trucks were lined up to dump their cement. No more sleep for us and decided we better move before we got hit. Note the white pickup and the 4 orange marker cones? We were parked between the two when the first truck pulled in about 6 feet from our bedroom window. Very loud!

How do we haul the Harley?

A few of our friends have asked how it is that we take the Harley and the Jeep at the same time. The Harley (2006 Heritage Softail Classic) rides on a hydraulic lift that has been welded to the back of the coach. (www.hydralift-usa.com) The Jeep Liberty hooks on under the motorcycle with a tow bar that goes into a receiver on the lift.

Questions about the Jeep, it is a 2004 Liberty Limited.

We just spent a day at Mac Welding in McMinnville having the lift removed and raised 4" so it doesn't drag as easily. One very nice spot we visited recently had a sharp slope that caused us to gouge up the blacktop a little. So now hopefully we will be welcome back without damaging their blacktop.

July 28-29 2007 Rufus, Oregon

Here we are at the Giles French Campground, Dufus, OR., just below the John Day Dam on the Columbia River.


This is a Corp of Engineers park. Camping is free with no hookups. We are parked about 10 feet from the Columbia River on the Oregon side. This is the state line for Oregon and Washington. The whole time we were here the wind blew, nonstop. The area just to the east of us is also known as wind surfing capital of the world. Note the trees that seem to only grow in the direction of the wind. The drive from here to Troutdale, Oregon was the worst wind we have driven in since we bought the coach 4 yrs ago. Sometimes head on and worse sometimes from the side. Never want to do that again!
One picture shows the river traffic in the gorge, barge traffic headed for the locks on the dam, and train traffic on the Washington side of the river. Another picture shows us parked alongside the river with the John Day Dam behind us. Another of the pictures is of a Indian fishing pier. The local Indians come down to the river at night and set out their nets in the river, returning the next night to pull in their catch. We are told the Indians are the only ones that are allowed to fish this way.

July 25, 2007 Cheney, Washington

Ponderosa Falls RV Park just outside Spokane in the little town of Cheney.

Someone told us this was a crummy park but we found it very nice, green, level with lots of open areas. We did find that one small row in the back was mostly dirt and not level. While in Spokane shopping we got caught in a traffic jam due to a fuel truck catching fire.

Picture of our rig through the trees. Nice park, nice people. We took part in club house games 2 evenings. Very friendly folks here.