Following the GPS to "home"

What a delightful surprise as we headed back to Kaizer and the coach when we ended up needing to cross the river - via a ferry! We enjoyed watch many playing in the river as we waited and fortunately we were on the second trip in our direction. There was a very long line going the other way!

This area of Oregon has many wineries and is actively growing many crops. This valley must be or was very fertile and has good irrigation available from the river.
Now to sample the local wine!

Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum

Next stop was McMinnville, Oregon to visit the Evergreen Aviation Museum and especially to see the Spruce Goose built by Howard Hughes and only having been flown once. This is a most interesting story and worth Googling.
We were most impressed by the story of Evergreen International Aviation Company and its founder. What an inspiration.

Portland

We crossed the bridge on the Willamette River and parked by the Museum of Science and enjoyed watching a city at play. We then stopped for a late luch at Elmer's Restaurant and not only were the flowers beautiful - the food was great.

A Day Sightseeing

On Friday we just hung out with our friends and did little chores around the coach and did some shopping. Saturday we headed off to explore Portland and our first stop was the Japaneese Garden followed by The Rose Garden. They are located on a hill overlooking the city and Mt. Hood is in the background - didn't show up well in the picture.

Traveling down the Columbia River Gorge

This morning we pulled out of our campsite and headed down to Portland to our destination in Keiser where we have met up with friends at the Elks Club for steak night,
Again, we were most impressed with the trains and then we saw Mt. Hood in all her 11,240 feet! How do you like that snow in late July?
We will be remaining here until Sunday sightseeing and doing RV maintenance (like cleaning) until Sunday when we will relocate to Eugene so the repair work of the coach's "boo-boo" can get done.

Discovering the Columbia River

Wednesday morning we went on an Undergrounf Tour of Pendleton which included old gambling establishments, brothels, and bars - was a fun time. We then departed and drove along I-84 which follows along the banks of the Columbia River. On each side of the river were railroad tracks and numerous long trains going and returning from somewhere!
We then drove down to the area of John Day Dam and camped at the Army Corps of Engineers Campground.What a delightful spot with swimming. The last two pictures where from our campsite and the first was the dam. To the left of the dam picture is the locks for the boats and the curved area is the salmon so they can swim upstream. The dam can produce hydroelectric power and if you look carefully you can see the numerous wind mills above the dam also producing electricity.

Welcome to Oregon!

Well folks, we made it! Oregon we have arrived! What a difference this has been traveling in a luxury motorcoach on great roads compared to the times long ago when the immigrants traveled to Oregon on the Oregon Trail! I am still readin the book and they are still struggling.
Our destination on Tuesday was Pendleton, Oregon - the home of Pendleton Woolen Mills which we toured. Can't believe that we were in the store and left empty handed!
We spent the night at the Elks Club which was across the streeet prom a pretty park and also along a walking/biking trail that ran along the river.

Afternoonin Boise

After lunch we visited the Capitol and it is beautiful! It has just had a major reconstruction that has taken a few years and they have added two wings - underground! We were happy to see the Georgia red marble that decorated the floors. This reconstruction came in ynder budget and ahead of time. It was fully paid for with cigarette tax money.This is an amazing state - zero based budgeting. If they don't have the money they don't do it! More states have been sending folks to learn how they do it.
We then visited the World Center for Birds of Prey. We saw our first Callifornia Condors and they have a big breeding program. This year they will release an additional 17 chicks in the Grand Canyon.

Falling in Love With Boise

Boise, Idaho is a wonderful city - Bill says he has fallen in love with it. We started off our morning at a park with a lovely rose garden and the departure spot for a Trolly Tour which we were on. We toured on the trolly for about an hour and then headed over to Boise State and Bronco Stadium so Bill coould check out the blue football field - and it was bluer than what you see on TV! It is so blue that birds come in for landings expecting it to be a lake!
We then had lunch downtown and then toured the Capitol.

Crossing Utah and Idaho

Yester day we traveled more than 400 miles. crossing Utah and Idaho (almost) and ending up in Boise, Idaho for two nights.
We witnessed at high speed a real cattle drive with cowboys on horseback crossing a huge number of cattle across the main Union Pacific railroad lines in Utah - unfortunately there was no pull off or exits to watch as we were traveling through a canyon.
We saw fields of potatoes and wondered how Dorothy's science fair project was doing! We had gotten off I-64 and had taken US 30 into Twin Falls and the area is well irrigated and producing lots of crops!
You younger ones most likely never heard of Evel Kenibel and his crazy stunts, including trying to jump this canyon in Idaho on his motorcycle! Did he make it? You might want to Google this or see on You Tube!

Camping in Evanston, WY

Tonight we checked into a campground and we were parked 50 feet from a highway - we ask for and received a refund and headed for Walmart! Half the trucks and campers were already there and we noticed a vacant Sonic Restaurant - and here we are for the night!
Shopping has been most convenient and we have yet to see how well we sleep with the trucks, railroad, and highway (but further away).