FMCA NW Area Rally in Albany, Oregon

The FMCA NW Area Rally was held in Albany, Oregon from August 8-11, 2013.  We’d never been here before.  It was a medium-size rally at 3-400 coaches.  Here’s our parking spot:

We had to use our generator if we wanted any power.  We’re actually starting to get pretty good at that. This time we had a device we needed to run all night long on the inverter, and the generator wouldn’t start the next morning.  Note to self: make sure to run the generator for at least a couple hours during the day if you’re going to use the inverter all night!  Jim charged the house batteries with the car, and all was well.  What we did have here was great internet!  Verizon 4G – so our phone hotspot worked great (the problem from the last post cleared up on its own.)  They also had pretty decent WiFi if we wanted to use that.

Here’s our booth we opened up the divider between ours and TechnoRV … we like teamwork!  The picture was taken during setup.

And here’s one of our seminars:

We taught 3 classes: Technology for Travelers (an overview of the devices and applications we use and recommend for travelers), Smartphone Overview, and Picasa & Picasa Web Albums for digital photos.  All of them packed the room, and since there were orders from the Fire Marshall to not allow standing room – lots of people were turned away.  They said they’d give us a bigger room next time!

They also need to give us more time!  1 hour is not enough.  We had to speed-talk to get thru even a fraction of our Picasa class.  But, we still made sure to make a collage during the class and upload it to a web album so they could all see it back at their computers and remember how easy it is to do with Picasa!

All these pictures were taken at the rally – including the sunset!

When we left the rally, we went to a Thousand Trails park on the Oregon Coast, called Whaler’s Rest.  There we ran into some other people, with the Lewis and Clark TT chapter of FMCA, who had been at the NW Area Rally in Albany, but had not gone to our seminars – so we presented one just for them, using the Lodge at Whaler’s Rest.  Here’s the collage from that evening!

Just one more rally to go … The Country Coach Family and Friends Rally – Aug 21-25, then we’re off to the SF Bay area to do a seminar for the Golden Gate Computer Society.  After that, we’re turning east.  We’ll visit a friend in Reno, then we’re making a quick cross-country run in order to attend Jim’s Dad’s memorial at Arlington on September 16.

Oregon Maritime and Harvest Host Farm

Our two weeks at the Seaside Thousand Trails park was almost over and we hadn’t been up to Astoria and the Maritime museum.  On our last afternoon, we decided to fix that.  We lucked out and had gorgeous weather.

We thoroughly enjoyed the Maritime Museum, even though we only had one hour to see it since it was so late in the day.  Both Jim and I love history – so this is our kind of place.  I had a vague idea that there was a place called the Graveyard of the Pacific, but I thought it referred to the Japanese boats sunk at Truk lagoon.  Turns out it refers to this area of coastline in the Pacific Northwest, including the mouth of the Columbia river.  The area where the massive water flow of the Columbia River meets the unyielding power of the Pacific Ocean is referred to as a Bar.  The waves in the Columbia River Bar can reach 40 feet, and according to the Columbia River Bar Pilots Ass’n, it is one of the most dangerous and challenging navigated stretches of water in the world.  The video they show of big ships being battered by the waves, leaves no doubt why there are over 2,000 wrecks in this area!

Jim has a friend who was in the Coast Guard, so he knew about there being a training school here for rescue.  Jim loves to drive boats, but when I asked if he’d like to drive this one he said, “NO WAY!”

 

Outside of the museum we could see several different types of boats.  Coast Guard, a LightBoat, and even a Paddlewheeler that takes passengers on a 7 night Columbia River Cruise.

 

Just thinking about the people working those rescue missions wore us out and gave us a mighty thirst.  Luckily, the Fort George Brewery was an easy 2 block walk from the museum!

 

Such beautiful views along the Oregon Coast!

 

When we left Thousand Trails, we checked our Harvest Hosts listing hoping to find a farm to visit this time (we’re well stocked for wine at the moment.)  We found one just south of Portland – less than a 2 hour drive away – perfect!  That even gave us time to have one more soak in the hot tub before we left

Here’s what our parking spot looked like.

And, there were plenty of driveways to take a nice walk in the evening - past the Christmas Tree part of the farm.  We also enjoyed getting to know the locals!

There’s no hookups when we’ve stayed at wineries and farms.  We figure it’s good practice to be sure our generator is still working, and we understand our 12 volt system.  Everything worked great.  Since it was just south of Portland, we even had good 4G internet, and even broadcast TV.  We did have a problem with the hotspot feature on our phones however, I sure hope it’s not permanent, but we’re worried that FoxFi may have been banned by Verizon.  Here’s the message we’re getting:

Ruh-Roh

Luckily we have good Wi-Fi in this park, so we’re not worrying about it … yet.  We’re staying at Phoenix RV park tonight in Salem, Oregon.  We also stayed here 9 years ago when we worked for Coach Connect and Jim helped install the Wi-Fi here.  It’s been thru several re-installations since.  Here’s the post from 2004: first post, second post, third post.

Coast to Coast and Back Again

As much as I love the fulltime RVing lifestyle, I don't like leaving my Mom for so long.  We knew there would be a few weeks in July where we had no rallies and I planned to fly home for a visit.  And, so I did.  As beautiful as the Oregon coastline is, I still prefer the warm beaches of Florida.  To feel that warm ocean breeze is just wonderful.  I even went in the ocean for a quick swim.  I was disappointed that Mom would not join me - she used to be such a fish.

I was also supposed to take her to an oral surgeon to have a tooth extracted.  The night before the appointment she got sick and I was told to reschedule.  Darn!  This means it will need to wait till the end of October now.  I hope it doesn't cause her problems. I tried to make sure that everyone who takes care of her at the Assisted Living Facility was aware of the situation and would keep an extra eye on her.  I also have two friends who visit with her regularly.  I suppose I could always fly back again if necessary.  

The flight worked out great and only cost $720 including a week car rental (using Expedia.)  I was so glad I scored a window seat for the flight back to Portland.  Mount Hood was magnificent from the air.

Jim picked me up from the airport and we had a 1.5-2 hour drive back to the RV at Thousand Trails in Seaside.  While I was gone he received the part for our uncooperative slideout.  Today is the day it gets installed.  Keeping fingers crossed. 

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Slideouts and the Oregon Coast

We’re in Tillamook, Oregon visiting with Lynne.  Luckily she's right next door to Tillamook RV Repair, because on our last night before driving here, our bedroom slide would not stow properly.  The rear of the slide was a good 6 inches away from the coach, while the front of the slide was flush.
So our stay can easily handle a dual purpose – spend time with Lynne, and get our slide fixed.  The first day here, our motorhome was in the shop all day.  They put the slide in and out, over and over and all they could tell us was … yep!  There’s a problem! Luckily, we can live in it with the slide closed, so they manually closed it up and we drove back to the RV park for the night.  The next day they worked on it some more and determined that they needed a ‘sensor.’  This needed to be ordered from the manufacturer – Power Gear – and it would take a week or maybe more. So we wait.
Meanwhile … we went out in Netarts Bay early one morning to catch crabs.  Lynne’s friends, Bill and Carol, go crabbing and fishing all the time.  What a treat to get a boat ride on the bay.  It was an overcast morning, but it didn’t rain. We dressed for the cold and had a great time. 

Bill and Lynne did all the work, while Carol, Jim and I were spectators. 

We could get up close and personal with a bunch of seals on a sandbar.

We also got out for a little walk on the sandspit that forms the barrier for the bay.

It was a fun morning, and it made for some delicious eating later that night!

Then, another day, we took a drive up the coast to look at the Thousand Trails park called Seaside.  We plan to stay there for a little while too.
We stopped and walked on the beach at the town of Cannon Beach, with the famous Haystack rocks.

And, also at a stop called Hug Point.  A hug sounded like a good idea!


All you can say is WOW

More pictures on our July photo album.

Memorial, Celebration for John

Is it a sad, depressing occasion to mark the passing of someone who died too soon?  Or, can you celebrate a life well-lived?

Yes.

John Wrightson was 64 years old.  That’s young in today’s world, yet he lived a full, fun, and adventurous life. They found tumors in his brain in February of this year, and he succumbed in June. 

A San Diego surfer dude, guitar-player, craftsman, building contractor, husband, father, and all-around great guy – John was loved by many people, but no one more so than his wife, Lynne. I thought her words on the party invitation were so perfect:

See our photo album of John here.

And the party was perfect too.  A gorgeous day on the Oregon coast and lots of good people who loved and cared for John, and will continue to love and care for Lynne.

More pictures of John’s party at Happy Camp.

Lynne and John were the first full-time RVers we met in our new lifestyle, back in 2003.  We met up with them many times all across the country – Fort Lauderdale, FL; Austin, TX; Quartzsite, AZ; Redmond, OR; Gravity, IA; Celina, OH and many more I’m sure I’ve forgotten.  It’s a different, and wonderful, lifestyle.  We know how close you have to be to live this way.  We’re so glad that we were able to be here for the party.