A little issue on the way home.

This post is a little late but.... just had to post it.





This is the result of a tire exploding at 55mph. We were 25 miles North of Redding, Ca on our way home. I was able to stop the truck and trailer safely and change the tire. As you can see, the tire is almost gone and we rode on the rim for a little ways. luckily, we were on a straight stretch of road and we stopped without incident. The truck sustained body damage to the tune of $2000 and is now in the shop being repaired.













When I got the wheel off this is what it looked like. I put on four new tires and the trailer is in the yard. The trunk is being fixed and so we're all set to head to Arizona in February.

Oysters on the BBQ

We're enjoying Grayland Beach State Park as we always do. This morning the sky is grey and it's sprinkling a little but that hasn't dampened our spirits in the least.

Yesterday we stopped at Brady's Oyster farm and got a dozen Oysters for the grill.

This area is wonderful for seafood and fresh Oysters are just great here.
It's so easy to grill them ..... about 3 minutes to a side and then shuck them and.....







This is what you get...... Oysters cooked in the shell and delicious.
We'll  do this again before we head South on Friday. Today we'll walk on the beach and have lunch in Westport.

It's great just relaxing at the beach and this is one of our favorite spots.







Just thought I'd add a picture of our campsite at
Grayland State Park. It's really a great park with lots of space, full hookups and the beach is close.
Love it here.

Washington State

We spent a couple of great days farming with the Omlin family near Quincy, Washington. A great time as usual with cousin Ginny and family. We left with all of Arnie's produce.... watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn and onions. They have nothing left in the garden. Thanks again Ginny and Arnie!

We then moved on to Issaquah near Seattle to visit Kris.
Saturday we drove up to Evert to tour the Boeing factory. It was worth the drive up there to see the large aircraft on the assembly line.

At the end of the tour you can have your picture taken in front of a blue screen and then choose your background. So we did the tourist thing.

Sunday we took a walk on Tiger mountain and were rewarded with great scenes of the woods. I had to take a picture of this fungus on a dead tree stump. Lots of pretty things in the woods.

Scenes like this were everywhere we looked.
About 4 miles brought us back to the car and a relaxing Sunday afternoon.





We are now in Grayland state park on the beach.
We'll relax here for three days and then off to Woodburn, Oregon to see family.

September in the Pacific Northwest

It's September and the kids are back in school and we're in Oregon. All is well with the world.
We drove to Sisters, Oregon last Thursday (a long day for us) and have spent the last three days doing fun things in the area.

We spent a day at the Newbury National Volcano Monument. The Newbury Volcano erupted here some 7,000 years ago and it's impact is still readily apparent. Here the lava flow is dramatic when viewed from the top of the butte formed by the eruption.





From the top of the butte we looked West  and were treated to this view of the lava flow and the Cascade mountains in the distance. Mt Bachelor is on the left and the three Sisters are on the right. The Cascades are part of the pacific ring of fire and run from the California border to Canada.






We hiked the lava flow and got up close with the Basalt lava rocks. Lots of volcanic cinders all around. I thought about Ella and if she were with us we could have had a "cinder-Ella" Sorry about that Ella. This is really amazing place and something we have never experienced before.






We left the lava flow and hiked the Deschutes river for a couple of miles. The scenery was wonderful and we enjoyed the hike. Back at the trailer we relaxed and sat in the spa for a while and got a good nights rest.








Today, Sunday, we hiked the trail along Whychus Creek. It's a rugged hike and we did just 2.5 miles of the entire hike. Then we headed back to Sisters for another 4 miles of hike and then back to the trailer for lunch and a relaxed afternoon. Off to central Washington and Arnie's acres RV park for two days.
Great to be back in the Pacific Northwest again.