Air Force One - used by 7 Presidents from 1972-2001
Newt G. signing his book at the Reagan Library
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Northern/Central California
Nov
19th – 28th …We
drove in some pretty high winds out of Medford to Redding, CA. Also
some mountainous terrain. After a 191 miles drive we arrived in
Corning, CA at the Rolling Hills Casino around 2pm. The large lot
was quite empty so we thought it would be a good place to overnight.
We drove the car just over 30 miles to Chico and went to the movie,
'Lincoln'. After the movie we shopped at Trader Joe's and then had
pizza and beer at a local place called 'Woodstock Pizza'. We arrived
back at the RV's around 930p to a lot packed with trucks. There was
a refer parked just across from us that had his running all night
long! It was a bit noisy!!!!
On
Tue. the 20th
we headed down the road 175 miles to Santa Rosa where we stayed at
the Sonoma County Fairgrounds RV park. The park was ok but our check
in experience was not. We encountered one of the the rudest camp
hosts ever. He was definitely on a power trip. Once we got settled
in everything was ok.
On
Wednesday Doug drove use around. We made a circle trip through
Sonoma, Napa, Calistoga....We had lunch at a great local Mexican
restaurant (Taqueria Maria) in Napa While in Napa we drove by the
Cedar Gables Bed and Breakfast that we stayed in several years ago.
We walked around Robert Modavi Winery but decided against the tour
and tasting as they were pretty pricey....it's not like it used to be
when they were all free. We went down the road a ways to Whitehall
Lane Winery where we did do some wine tasting. The charge there was
$15 but they waived that when Fran bought 2 bottle of wine. The next
stop was at Berringer (the oldest winery in the valley). They were
closed early due to the holiday so we weren't able to go inside. We
did walk around their grounds and took many photos...their house and
grounds were beautiful!!!! The road home was quite windy but scenic.
Thanksgiving
we drove into San Francisco. We crossed the Golden Gate bridge and
then Doug took over the driving. We drove around the Golden Gate
park, to the beach near the 'Cliff House', though Haight/Ashbury,
down Lombard Street and then headed to the wharf. We parked the car
(free for the holiday) and purchased a ticket for the cable car and
street car($14 ea). We had a lovely ride to downtown – the end of
the line. We walked around a bit and then caught the historic street
car, where we followed the piers to our stop at Pier 39. We walked
around there a bit and saw the sea lions sun bathing! From there we
walked the wharf and stopped for a beer ($31 for 4). Next stop was
Ciopinno's, a neat Italian Seafood Restaurant. We had a wonderful
Thanksgiving dinner of Seafood.....Crab/Shrimp Louie for Doug and I,
Clam Linguine for Fran and Blackened Snapper for Mike...too finish it
off we split an excellent apple dessert. Afterwords we walked to
Ghirardelli Square and sampled the chocolate. We had perfect weather
for our San Fran trip and thoroughly enjoyed our day!!!!
Friday
we rested a bit and then in the afternoon we went to Costco, a couple
of Thrift stores and a quick Walmart stop. We barbecued tri-tip
steaks that evening.
Saturday
we checked on Fran's mail which didn't arrive. Then we drove to
Korbel Champagne Cellars where we went on a wonderful tour, did some
tasting (once before and once with the tour) and then had a great
lunch at their deli. We also had to make a few purchases. At least
the tour and tastings were free here. After leaving there we
continued on the curvy river road to the beach coming out near
Jenner. We headed north and made a couple of overlook stops to enjoy
the beautiful ocean view. We then headed south to Bodaga Bay. It
was another scenic day in Sonoma county!
On
Sunday it was a 200 round-trip into Sacramento where we went to Old
Sac. We met Tracy and Larry Park from Placerville for lunch. They
are friends of Doug and Fran – Larry is a guitarist that lived and
played in Great Falls. Old Sac is a neat historic place. We had
lunch on the river and enjoyed our visit.
On
Monday Mike & I left at 930a and Doug & Fran waited to pick
up the 'general delivery mail'. We worked our way through the San
Fran/Oakland area crossing the Richmond/ Rafael bridge. We made a
quick fuel/lunch stop in Gilroy. We arrived at Santa Maria Fairplex
around 430p. Today's drive was 315 miles. Doug and Fran arrived at
6p.
On
Tues. we drove the car to Solvang, a small Danish town out of
Buellton. We were there in 2005 but Fran has Danish roots so we
wanted to go again! We had a good danish lunch at 'The Red Viking'.
Went to the Bethania Lutheran Church which was built in 1912 and was
made to the look of a danish church of the 1600's. We wondered
around town and finished off the visit with a danish pastry and
coffee! On the return trip we stopped in Buellton at Andersen's
Split Pea Restaurant where we walked through their gift shop and
little museum which told of the history of Buellton.
On
Wed. we moved down the road 140 miles to Simi Valley. We toured the
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum.. When we visited
in 2005 they were just ready to move 'Air Force One' to the library.
We enjoyed our visit and got to see several new exhibits. Getting
there was a bit of a challenge for all. Doug & Fran had a
difficult time finding a diesel station that they could fix into –
they ended up detouring on a narrow curvy road to get turned around.
We couldn't find a place to stop to use the 'facilities' – exited
twice and had to detour around as well. We had planned to park at
the Reagan Library but there wasn't room for the car/motorhome so we
went to the nearby Walmart where there was also not enough room to
park. From there we went to the Oak Park RV park – a county park
we stayed at the last time. Doug & Fran arrived about an hour
after we did and just parked the RV and jumped in with us so we could
get to the library/museum. Neither of us had lunch so we were pretty
starved by the time we left. We headed to a local Mexican place
called Chuy's where we had fish tacos. The rest of the evening was
spent relaxing! Tomorrow, the 29th we drive to Indio to spend 5 nights.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Oregon 2012
Nov
9th - 18th...OREGON...We
drove 110miles from Chehalis, WA to Hubbard, OR on Friday the 8th.
We arrived at Fran's Mom's (Camilla) place shortly after noon. We
parked both RV's in her yard making it quite handy for visiting!
That evening we had dinner at the Colony Pub in Aurora.
On
Saturday we celebrated Mike's 'big' Birthday! We all did a bit of
shopping and then came back home and made a wonderful shrimp dinner.
A good time was had by all. Doug & Fran bought a neat little
electric fireplace at Camping World for their RV so all enjoyed our
drink there.
Sunday
we visited at Fran's cousins house (Pokey & Dick) where we were
introduced to many of Fran's cousins. One raised Falcons so we went
to his yard to see them. It rained most of the day but we had a
great time visiting!
Monday
the 12th Dixie worked on Medical Acct Services stuff.
Tuesday
we all took Camilla to the Dermatologist in a suburb of Portland.
Afterward we had lunch at Roarkes….. where we had their special
coney island dog & hand cut fries. From there it was a stop at
the Goodwill. We then drove around downtown Portland. Next stop was
Camping World where we purchased an electric fireplace for the
motorhome...it's different from Doug and Fran's...ours is black and
looks like a wood stove.
Wednesday
afternoon Doug, Mike and I drove to Salem. Fran took her Mom to a
doctor appt in Salem. We toured the capital building, shopped a bit
downtown and then all met for dinner at a Mexican restaurant back in
Woodburn.
Thursday
we made a Walmart run and stopped at the Woodburn Goodwill. Pokey
and her Mom Betty (Camilla's sister) came that evening for dinner.
Friday
Doug and Fran visited with her Uncles and Mike & I took a trip to
Costco and Camping World. We couldn't find the digital TV booster at
the first Camping World so we drove 20 something miles to Hillsboro
(east of Portland) to get one there. We also found a Dish Network
retailer to pick up an item for Doug. That afternoon Dixie worked.
Saturday
we prepared an early Thanksgiving dinner. We enjoyed our turkey,
dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, red cabbage, brussel sprouts and of
course pumpkin pie! Camilla set a beautiful table with one of her
many china collections. Speaking of china collections – we put two
of Camilla's items on Ebay. Hopefully we can sell them for her!
Sunday,
after 9 days we departed Camilla's around 1030a. We had a wonderful
time during our stay and are thankful we could camp out in her yard.
We had planned to head to the coast for a couple of days but the
forecast was for heavy rain and high winds so we changed plans!
Today's destination is now Talent, OR (5 miles south of Medford).
The drive was 257 miles. We stayed at a Passport park called
American RV. The rain let up after about 45mins into the drive.
Tomorrow
the 19th we will depart Oregon!
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Winter Trip - Idaho & Washington
Oct
27th – Nov 7th...We
finished packing the motorhome in the snow. It warmed up for us the
morning we left - Sunday the 28th.
Levi was in Great Falls for the weekend so he followed Doug &
Fran and us to Missoula. We all had lunch at Hooters and we then we
continued west to Coeur D'Alene, ID. We stayed there for 2 nights at
Tamarack RV park. We drove around the town and took a drive to the
Spokane Valley area where we stopped at Cabela's and Camping World.
On the 30th
we drove through more rain and arrived at Tall Chief RV in Fall City,
Wa around 430p. This park is pretty much in a forest so we didn't
have satellite TV and Doug and Fran didn't have cable!
On
Wednesday we met Micheala during her break at Costco, stopped at
Trader Joe's and then drove with Doug & Fran to Snoqualmie Falls
& Issaquah. On Thursday we all went to Redmond where we drove
around and finally found Microsoft's Visitor Center. Microsoft has a
HUGE area (miles) of many, many buildings. We also made a thrift
store stop. That evening we all met Micheala, Tim, Adriana and
Dillon for a burger at the XXX Drive In in Issaquah. We had a great
time celebrating the kid's birthdays!
On
Friday around noon we headed out for Seattle. We explored Pike's
Place market, the warf and downtown. We took the monorail to the
Seattle Center and walked around in the 'rain'. We met Gene, Tamar,
Gena, Gita and Alexa (Uncle Howard's nieces) for dinner at the
Steelhead diner across from Pike's Place. We had a wonderful dinner
and a grand time spent with friends. Dixie drove home in the
rain...have we mentioned that it has rained everyday since we've been
in the pacific northwest???
Saturday
afternoon we attended Adriana's soccer game at Mt Si high school in
Snoqualmie. More rain but they won the game! After the game they
came to the motorhome where we had Papa Murphy's Pizza and visited!
Sunday
we left the RV's around 930a headed to the ferry in Mukilteo where we
caught the 1030 ferry to Clinton on Whidbey Island. Our destination
was Gene and Tamar Feltons' house. They have a beautiful home on the
southern point that overlooks the bay and the Pacific Ocean. The
outside area has a spectacular view of the water and their vineyard!
We delivered Uncle Howard's camera collection that he willed to them.
We snacked a bit and then they took us to Langley where they own
“The Star Store”...a grocery, clothing, wine and basic store(s).
It was very cool and they carry just about anything you might need
and then some. From there we went to the Italian restaurant above
the store where we had a nice lunch. Once back to the house we
visited, sampled their wines and later ate a delicious dinner. We
finally had to leave shortly after 8pm to catch the 830p ferry back
to the mainland. Whidbey Island is a quaint area with wonder views
of the water! Thanks to Uncle Howard we met some wonderful friends!
(actually Tamar, Dixie and Doug played together a couple of summers
in Hogeland about 50 years ago!)
Monday
it was time to depart for the next adventure. We drove the 110 miles
to Elma, WA which is out of Olympia on the way to the beaches and
Olympic Natl park. Mike & I stayed at Travel Inn RV (one of our
membership parks) and Doug & Fran stayed at Elma RV Park (a
Passport park). We drove to Aberdeen and Westport that afternoon and
checked out the beach, WA's tallest lighthouse, a winery and a crab
cannery. Tuesday the 6th
(Election Day) we drove the Olympic Peninsula (320 miles around). It
was an all day trip over varying scenery and weather. Our lunch stop
was in Forks! We also stopped at Ruby Beach on the west side and
Port Angeles. We even looked up the house of one of Fran's ex doctor
clients. They weren't there but she left a note for them. The drive
down the east side followed Hood Canal so it was a pretty drive right
on the water. Of course we had to have rain off and on throughout
the drive.
We
decided to stay one extra day so we could catch up! We had a
wonderful rib dinner at Doug & Frans and planned the adventure
for the next couple of days!
Thursday
we drove the RV's all of 35 miles to the Walmart in Chehalis where we
overnighted. Today's car drive was to Mt Rainier. It started out a
bit foggy and cloudy. The drive to the park was scenic. We arrived
at Longmire (the southwest entrance around lunch time)....just in
time for it to start snowing! We went through the visitor's center
and then ate our picnic lunch in the car watching it snow. The
ranger told us a place that we may get a good view of Mt Rainier –
no such luck. From there we decided to make the winding, uphill
drive to Paradise. The snow was sticking to the road at this level.
We stopped at a pull over along the way a caught a break in the
clouds and snow and actually saw the edge of Mt Rainier (with clouds
covering a lot of it). We took a few pictures and moved to another
stop at Narada Falls, a beautiful large water fall. It was very
picturesque with the light snow on all the greenery! Once we made it
to Paradise which is the base of the mountain it was very cloudy and
snowy so we didn't see much of anything. We took a different route
back, arriving at the motorhome around 430p. We met Janet Simons
(lived in Turner) for dinner at a restaurant called The Thai Dish.
On Friday we completed our trek through Washington!
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