Home - June 23, 2014

David had checked the air pressure in the tires and found that one of the rear tires was very low.  So we stopped in Sisters at the Les Schwab tire store to have it checked.  It turned out to be a defective valve stem.  While they were working on it, we walked into town.  It's always a fun place to visit. 

When the RV was ready, we drove home, looking for dippers in the usual spots along the river.  No luck. 

It was a nice trip, no surprises or disasters, unless you count the windshield that will need to be replaced.  Everything worked as expected.  We're already planning our next outing.

Sisters, Oregon - June 22, 2014

We drove along the John Day River on Highway 26, another very scenic route.  We stopped at an overlook to view the fossil beds, then went through a spectacular cut in the mountain along the river.  

We stopped in Prineville to look for a place for lunch but didn't find anything interesting.  But we did find the Crook County courthouse, which was worth the stop. 

We drove on to Redmond but still no luck finding a place for lunch.  We finally got to Bend, where we had lunch at Cafe Yumm.  After lunch, we drove toward Sisters.  As many times as we've seen them, the Three Sisters are still breathtaking.  

We stayed at Bend/Sisters Garden RV Resort.  It was very luxurious, with very extensive gardens and nice amenities.  We decided this would be a nice place to come and stay for a few days.  

John Day, Oregon - June 21, 2014

From Hermiston we drove east, looking along the way for the famous Hermiston watermelon fields.  We didn't find a single one. 

We drove to Pendleton, then south through LaGrande.  We stopped in Baker City, which is another really neat small town.  We got out and walked around the downtown.   

We had lunch in a rest area, then continued on.  Almost the entire day we were on a scenic route, through Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.  

 The road went through Prairie City, so we got out and explored. 

We stayed at the Grant County fairgrounds in John Day.  Not much there, but clean and quiet, except for the evening's bull riding competition.  We walked a few blocks into town, but there wasn't much to see.

Hermiston, Oregon - June 20, 2014

We drove east, then south, the first part of which was on the Columbia once again.   

We stopped at Wild Horse Overlook for spectacular views of the canyon and river.   

We found a small city park in Mesa, Washington, where we had lunch.  We then continued south on Highway 395, back across the river and into Oregon.   

We spent the night at Pioneer RV Park in Hermiston.  It wasn't fancy, but clean.  We had a tiny strip of lawn.  Along the way we had a small rock hit the windshield and we now have a crack. 

Wenatchee, Washington - June 19, 2014

We drove north on Highway 97 through lovely farmland, with Mt. Adams in the background.

We stopped in Yakima, Washington, to walk around and find lunch.  We had a really good grilled sandwich at a bakery/cafe and bought a loaf of artisan bread to take home.

Downtown Yakima is very nice and looks very much alive and well. 

From there we continued north to Wenatchee, Washington.  The drive was very scenic.  We stayed at Lincoln Rock State Park for two nights.  This is another really nice state park, on the Columbia but the part that runs north/south, so it wasn't as windy.  This is a very family-oriented park, with lots for kids to do.  We did some biking around the park, but the new bike path into town wasn't open yet.

This is the view from our backyard.  The cliff is Lincoln Rock because someone thought it looked like President Lincoln's profile.

One of the neatest features of the park is the resident yellow-bellied marmots.  They were everywhere, quite bold until someone tried to approach them.  

Late in the evening of the second night, a young couple from Lebanon (now Seattle) arrived in the space next to us.  After watching them struggle with a new tent, we went over and offered to help.  It took a while, (and one of us actually reading the instructions!) but we finally got it up.  They thanked us profusely and rewarded us with a bag of delicious roasted nuts that her family produces in Lebanon. 

RV Trip to Eastern Oregon and Washington - June 17, 2014

We set out on our first real RV trip.  We had spent two days at Cannon Beach, but that was just to make sure everything worked and we knew how to operate it. 

We left Salem at 11:30.  We had packed a lunch, and we ate it at the Aurora rest stop on I-5.  After a stop at Camping World in Tigard, we headed north, then east on I-84 through the Columbia gorge.  It's always a beautiful drive.  We crossed the Columbia and camped at the Maryhill State Park near Goldendale, Washington.  As it was right on the river, it was windy as expected.  But otherwise it was a very nice park.  

Lost Bag Update - April 14, 2014

I had a call last week from an investigator for Fedex, who said my bag had been found.  It arrived today, in excellent shape. 

So now, I guess we need to do another cruise so I can wear all my fancy clothes.  Or not.

Home - April 7, 2014

On the morning of the 6th we wandered around downtown Santa Barbara and had lunch.  We found a huge tree that we'd never seen before, right next to the Amtrak station.  It's a Moreton Bay Fig tree and was planted in 1876.

At 12:40 we caught the Coast Starlight for home.  We arrived home the next afternoon. 

Spring has come to Salem.  It looks a whole lot different from when we left in February.  

 

But the bad news is my bag is not here.  I suppose it's gone forever.

So here are some statistics from our cruise.

Cruise days:  49

Days with the same bloody guitar music in the Horizon Court restaurant:  49

Distance sailed:  16,597 nautical miles

Ports visited: 20

Countries visited:  13

High temperature: 93

Low temperature: 34

New bird species:  60

San Pedro, California - April 5, 2014

After two pleasant days at sea, we arrived in San Pedro.  At the pier we caught a bus to take us to the Amtrak station in Los Angeles.  There we had lunch and waited for our train, the 3:00 local to Santa Barbara. 

We spent the night at the Franciscan Inn, where we have stayed several times before. 

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - April 2, 2014

Two more very warm, muggy days at sea.  Highlights included David's second haircut and lots of large jumping fish, followed by lots of leaping dolphins, followed by flocks of birds looking for the odd left over bits.

On the second day, at about 10:00 at night, we were awakened by a shrill alarm and a message from the bridge for the first aid response team to report to the incinerator room on deck four.  We waited to hear more, but nothing happened.  So we went back to sleep.  About 45 minutes later the captain came on to explain to us that there had been a small fire in the garbage silo next to the incinerator.  It had been quickly put out, but they were still working on clearing the smoke, which affected only the crew quarters. 

We arrived in Puerto Vallarta at noon, after a very pleasant morning at sea.  The weather was very nice and sunny, not too hot.  We had visited here just last year, but then we didn't go into town.  So this time, we took a taxi, which cost us $6.  We had a nice map, but mostly we just wandered the streets.  There's a very interesting old church, with a filigree crown on top, held up by angels. 

We found some nice old stone steps and followed them up the hill into an old neighborhood. 

There we found the pink bridge that spans the street between the houses that Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor had there.  Both houses appear to be in the process of renovation. 

We walked back down the hill and through a craft market.  We ended up on the Malecon, a very nice walk that goes along the beach.  It has many works of art along it. 

We decided to walk back to the ship, which turned out to be rather strenuous.  It was three miles, and a bit rough in spots.  And by the time we returned, it had gotten warmer.  But we made it back to the ship in time for tea.  We left Puerto Vallarta at 7:30, headed for Los Angeles.

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua - March 30, 2014

Today we were anchored off San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.  We were here just a year ago, and there wasn't a lot to see.  We also remembered gunfire on the last visit, so we just stayed on board.  The town itself is pretty small and undeveloped, but there are a number of fancy new houses on the surrounding hills.  We figure they are probably vacation homes of wealthy people who are hoping this will be the next Puerto Vallarta.  They may have a long wait.

It was another hot day (low 90s) but there was quite a nice breeze, so we spent most of the day outside on the Promenade Deck. The most exciting thing today was lots of whales spouting in the nearby waters.

We left fairly early for two days at sea.