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Wayne & Barbara have "Gone Walkabout"
# 17 December 10, 2011
Today is the 6 month anniversary of our Walkabout. We are currently at Wilderness Lakes TTN near Menifee, CA and enjoying nice sunny days and cool nights, but I am getting ahead of our adventure.
The hydroplane boats were in several classes & it was fun to watch as they raced up & down the lake. They had drivers as young as 14 and one driver in his 80s. The RC boats were out the next weekend & raced around their course at one end of the lake.
While we were at Lake Minden we spent a couple of days geocaching & we found some very entertaining caches. The people who put out the caches are very creative in where they place the caches & some of the caches themselves show a lot of ingenuity, creativity & workmanship. We also usually learn something about the history of the area in the descriptions of the caches.
After our 3 week stay at Lake Minden we went to Oakdale, CA where we stayed at Ron & Jan's. They have a driveway with 2 very nice rv pads next to their house and graciously allowed us to spend 2 nights with them. While at their place we took an afternoon to do some geocaching (do you see a pattern developing here?). Anyway, we found some interesting caches with Ron & Jan, who are also getting involved in geocaching.
On Oct 25 we continued on our Walkabout to the Morgan Hill TTN. Morgan Hill has a large flock of resident wild turkeys who wander through the canpsites.
We had a nice campsite & we noticed that fall had arrived. The preserve is full of broad leaf trees that were changing color & the leaves are falling to the ground.
After we had been at Morgan Hill for a week we got an email from Ron with information about a used toolbox for the pickup bed that someone he knows wanted to sell. We decided it was something we could use so we drove back to Oakdale & with Ron's help installed it.
Guess what? we did some geocaching while we were at Morgan Hill. Several of the caches were at Mt. Madonna County Park. One cache was near a pen where there were a herd of White Fallow Deer.
In 1934 William Randolph Hearst donated 2 pair of these deer to the Henry Miller estate & these are descendant of those deer.
I had spent quite awhile looking for the cache with no luck while Barbara took pictures of the deer. After she finished with her picture taking she came to the ground zero area & quickly found the cache in a place I had already searched.
Another cache we found told the history of Charlie Parkhurst. Charlie was a well known stagecoach driver in the 1800s, after Charlie died in 1879 it was revealed that Charlie was a woman. We found out that Charlie was buried in Freedom, CA just down the hill between Monterrey & Santa Cruz so the next day we drove over Mt. Madonna to Freedom & searched the pioneer cemetary until we found the grave.
We saw an article in the Escapee magazine about a camping club called "Harvest Host". This is a group of farms, wineries & ranches across the US & Canada that allow rvers to stay on their property overnight at no cost. We looked into the organization & decided to join for an annual dues payment of $30.
We did not want to make the trip from Morgan Hill to Rancho Oso in one day so I found Rio Seco Winery at Paso Robles that participates in the Harvest Host program. I called them to confirm that they had space for us & they said to come on down.
They showed us to a nice level place near their guest house where we had a pleasant view overlooking their vineyard. After we got setup we went to the tasting room & while tasting their wines were told the history of the winery. They gave us the run of the place. That day they were bottling wine from 2007. The owner told us that she had emailed wine club members, family & friends to ask for volunteers to help with the bottling & they had a fantastic response. More people showed up to work than they needed so they were able to lighten everyones work.
We were up early the next morning Nov 16 & continued to Rancho Oso TTN. Rancho Oso is a working ranch raising cattle & they have a large area for boarding horses.
This preserve is on tiers so you overlook the tier below.
With the large window in the back of our Big Country we enjoyed our view of the hill across the Santa Ynez River. We did some geocaching along Paradise Road from Hwy 154 to Rancho Oso.
We had an excellent Thanksgiving dinner put on by Rancho Oso. They catered a full meal & every group was asked to bring a potluck dessert to share. Barbara made an excellent blackberry pie.
We went into Santa Barbara & had lunch on Stearnes Wharf. After lunch we visited the Presidio and learned about the founding of Santa Barbara. We joined a 4th grade class from Ventura for part of their tour & heard some interesting facts about the Presdio & life in the late 1700s & early 1800s.
Then we went to the Old Mission & took the self guided tour.
The gardens & cemetary are peaceful & serene. In the cemetary is a very large Australian fig tree.
On Dec 3 we went into Solvang & went through many of the stores. Solvang is very picturesque but we did not take any pictures. On Dec 6 we left Rancho Oso and came to Wilderness Lakes TTN. We will be here until Dec 27.
Today is the 6 month anniversary of our Walkabout. We are currently at Wilderness Lakes TTN near Menifee, CA and enjoying nice sunny days and cool nights, but I am getting ahead of our adventure.
My last post was back in October as we were moving from Lake of the Springs TTN to Lake Minden TTN near Yuba City, CA. While we were at Lake of the Springs the days were generally in the upper 80s and surprisingly when we went to Lake Minden on the valley floor the days were in the upper 70s. While we were at Lake Minden they had 2 special events. The first was hydroplane boat racing and the second was radio control boat racing
While we were at Lake Minden we spent a couple of days geocaching & we found some very entertaining caches. The people who put out the caches are very creative in where they place the caches & some of the caches themselves show a lot of ingenuity, creativity & workmanship. We also usually learn something about the history of the area in the descriptions of the caches.
After our 3 week stay at Lake Minden we went to Oakdale, CA where we stayed at Ron & Jan's. They have a driveway with 2 very nice rv pads next to their house and graciously allowed us to spend 2 nights with them. While at their place we took an afternoon to do some geocaching (do you see a pattern developing here?). Anyway, we found some interesting caches with Ron & Jan, who are also getting involved in geocaching.
On Oct 25 we continued on our Walkabout to the Morgan Hill TTN. Morgan Hill has a large flock of resident wild turkeys who wander through the canpsites.
I had spent quite awhile looking for the cache with no luck while Barbara took pictures of the deer. After she finished with her picture taking she came to the ground zero area & quickly found the cache in a place I had already searched.
We did not want to make the trip from Morgan Hill to Rancho Oso in one day so I found Rio Seco Winery at Paso Robles that participates in the Harvest Host program. I called them to confirm that they had space for us & they said to come on down.
We were up early the next morning Nov 16 & continued to Rancho Oso TTN. Rancho Oso is a working ranch raising cattle & they have a large area for boarding horses.
We had an excellent Thanksgiving dinner put on by Rancho Oso. They catered a full meal & every group was asked to bring a potluck dessert to share. Barbara made an excellent blackberry pie.
We went into Santa Barbara & had lunch on Stearnes Wharf. After lunch we visited the Presidio and learned about the founding of Santa Barbara. We joined a 4th grade class from Ventura for part of their tour & heard some interesting facts about the Presdio & life in the late 1700s & early 1800s.
Then we went to the Old Mission & took the self guided tour.
The gardens & cemetary are peaceful & serene. In the cemetary is a very large Australian fig tree.
#16 October 6, 2011
On Sept 7 we had a nice drive from Cave Junction to Redwood Acres Fairgrounds RV Park in Eureka, CA. I was a little nervous about pulling the Big Country along the Smith River because the road is narrow & winding. I was surprised at how well the coach pulled.
We visited with Kathy & Dennis, our daughter & son-in-law. They were very gracious hosts & we were able to give Kathy several more items of family memorablia that we had forgotten before. After a pleasant stay of 5 nights we continued our travels.
Sept 12 we drove 300 miles to Lake of the Springs Thousand Trails Preserve in Oregon House, CA. It was way too far to go in one day. Now I remember why we much prefer travelling around 150 miles or less per day.
We stayed at LOTS for 3 weeks & had a very good time. Some of our activities were: Barb went to line dancing, I assembled my pontoon boat & motored around the lake, I was practicing fishing, but not practicing catching fish, played the flute a little, swimming in the lake & in the pool. The days were warm with several in the mid 90s but the evenings were comfortable.
Sept 24 our son Mike & granddaughter Lindsey came to visit us for the day. We had a lot of fun showing Mike around LOTS. He had never been here before, Lindsey has spent several weekends with us here as this is one of our favorite places.
Near the end of our stay, with the weather cooling off, we decided to do some geocaching. There were quite a few caches near us. We were able to find enough to get our total up to 101 finds.
Here I am signing our 100th cache find. You can see how excited Benji is about our achievment.
On Oct 3 we made the short drive to Lake Minden Thousand Trails. Mike called to let us know Lindsey was playing volleyball at 3:30 on Wednesday Oct 5. We drove into Carmichael through several heavy squalls to watch her & her teammates compete. They won 2 out of the 3 games they played.
After the games we went out for dinner with Lindsey, Simone, Mike & Nicki.
We have had to change some plans for various reasons so there have been some changes to our itinerary. That is all for now. Cya later.
On Sept 7 we had a nice drive from Cave Junction to Redwood Acres Fairgrounds RV Park in Eureka, CA. I was a little nervous about pulling the Big Country along the Smith River because the road is narrow & winding. I was surprised at how well the coach pulled.
We visited with Kathy & Dennis, our daughter & son-in-law. They were very gracious hosts & we were able to give Kathy several more items of family memorablia that we had forgotten before. After a pleasant stay of 5 nights we continued our travels.
Sept 12 we drove 300 miles to Lake of the Springs Thousand Trails Preserve in Oregon House, CA. It was way too far to go in one day. Now I remember why we much prefer travelling around 150 miles or less per day.
We stayed at LOTS for 3 weeks & had a very good time. Some of our activities were: Barb went to line dancing, I assembled my pontoon boat & motored around the lake, I was practicing fishing, but not practicing catching fish, played the flute a little, swimming in the lake & in the pool. The days were warm with several in the mid 90s but the evenings were comfortable.
Near the end of our stay, with the weather cooling off, we decided to do some geocaching. There were quite a few caches near us. We were able to find enough to get our total up to 101 finds.
Here I am signing our 100th cache find. You can see how excited Benji is about our achievment.
On Oct 3 we made the short drive to Lake Minden Thousand Trails. Mike called to let us know Lindsey was playing volleyball at 3:30 on Wednesday Oct 5. We drove into Carmichael through several heavy squalls to watch her & her teammates compete. They won 2 out of the 3 games they played.
#15 September 4, 2011
We have had an exciting time since the last post. I will try to remember all that we did.
Monday, Aug. 22, we went to Bend DMV to take our knowledge tests to get Oregon driver licenses. We had studied very hard, I think Barbara read the driver manuel at least 4 times & had studied some parts more than that. I read through the manuel twice & we quizzed each other. We both passed the test with over 90% correct. DMV issued us our temporary licenses with the permanent licenses to come in the mail within 10 days. Our residence address is "Continuous Traveler".
Tuesday, Aug 23, I went back to Bend DMV & registered our Ford Focus & received Oregon plates.
Wednesday, Aug 24, we drove to Junction City by way of the Willamette highway. It was a nice drive & my first drive with the new Ram pulling a trailer. When we got to Junction City we received our walkthrough on our new home.
We were very excited to finally get to see the 5th wheel coach we had special ordered.
Next they brought the Big Country over to where we had our Sprinter parked so we could start transferring everything from one to the other.
It was very hot & humid in Junction City & we were looking forward to spending our first night in the new coach, but the front air conditioner was not working, so we spent the night in the Sprinter. Thursday the repair tech figured out what was wrong with the AC & we spent our first night in the new coach. Thursday, Friday & Saturday we continued to move stuff from one unit to the other. It was so hot & sticky we only moved things in the morning.
Sunday, Aug 28, we hitched up the Big Country to the Big Horn & took a test drive for a few miles through the countryside around Junction City. Everything went smoothly & Barbara also drove for several miles on the backroads.
We had a very nice visit with Jacquie & Bill Ghormley, folks we knew when we were in Sierra Sail & Trail Club in Sacramento. They moved to Eugene 15 years ago.
Monday, Aug 29, we were very anxious to get on the road to Cave Junction. We were waiting for the wire transfer of the money from the finance company to the dealership. I found out that would not take place until mid-afternoon so we got permission to leave & we hit the road.
We had a very good drive from Junction City to Grants Pass. There are several good hills along I5 & the Big Horn pulled the Big Country very well & the Mor/Ryde pin box really stops the jerking. At Grants Pass we had a test to see if I could get the 39+ft coach through the Fred Meyers fuel station. No problem.
We got to Mountain Man RV Park in Cave Junction & got set up in a very nice site.
We are here until Wednesday, September 7, when we will continue our walkabout.
We have had an exciting time since the last post. I will try to remember all that we did.
Monday, Aug. 22, we went to Bend DMV to take our knowledge tests to get Oregon driver licenses. We had studied very hard, I think Barbara read the driver manuel at least 4 times & had studied some parts more than that. I read through the manuel twice & we quizzed each other. We both passed the test with over 90% correct. DMV issued us our temporary licenses with the permanent licenses to come in the mail within 10 days. Our residence address is "Continuous Traveler".
Tuesday, Aug 23, I went back to Bend DMV & registered our Ford Focus & received Oregon plates.
Wednesday, Aug 24, we drove to Junction City by way of the Willamette highway. It was a nice drive & my first drive with the new Ram pulling a trailer. When we got to Junction City we received our walkthrough on our new home.
We were very excited to finally get to see the 5th wheel coach we had special ordered.
Next they brought the Big Country over to where we had our Sprinter parked so we could start transferring everything from one to the other.
Sunday, Aug 28, we hitched up the Big Country to the Big Horn & took a test drive for a few miles through the countryside around Junction City. Everything went smoothly & Barbara also drove for several miles on the backroads.
We had a very nice visit with Jacquie & Bill Ghormley, folks we knew when we were in Sierra Sail & Trail Club in Sacramento. They moved to Eugene 15 years ago.
Monday, Aug 29, we were very anxious to get on the road to Cave Junction. We were waiting for the wire transfer of the money from the finance company to the dealership. I found out that would not take place until mid-afternoon so we got permission to leave & we hit the road.
We had a very good drive from Junction City to Grants Pass. There are several good hills along I5 & the Big Horn pulled the Big Country very well & the Mor/Ryde pin box really stops the jerking. At Grants Pass we had a test to see if I could get the 39+ft coach through the Fred Meyers fuel station. No problem.
We got to Mountain Man RV Park in Cave Junction & got set up in a very nice site.
We have had a nice visit all week with Barb's Mom & Stepfather Bill.
We are enjoying our new home very much. Each day we get more things put away in permanent places .We are here until Wednesday, September 7, when we will continue our walkabout.
#14 August 21
We are back at Bend/Sunriver TTN after a very enjoyable week out at Prineville Reservoir with our friends Larry & Jeannie.
We parked next to their home which is only a couple of hundred yards from the beach of this lake. They were very good hosts. We spent one day at the beach & on the water using their SeaDoo. It was a lot of fun & a first for both Barbara & I to ride & drive a jet ski.
Another day Larry launched their boat & gave us a very nice tour of the lake.
We have been playing pickleball most mornings & enjoying the pool & hot tub. The weather has been very nice, both at Prineville Reservoir & here at Sunriver. Not too hot during the day & not too cold overnight.
We are starting to get very anxious for the next step of our walkabout. Next week we go to Junction City to pick up our new 5th wheel trailer. We are looking forward to the extra room we will have. At the same time we are kind of sad to be trading in our Sprinter travel trailer that we have had for the last 10 years. We have pulled it many miles & spent a lot of time in it.
Our shake down trip with the new coach will be to Cave Junction, OR to see Marie & Bill. It will be an interesting drive with the new Ram truck pulling the new Big Country 5ver.
We are back at Bend/Sunriver TTN after a very enjoyable week out at Prineville Reservoir with our friends Larry & Jeannie.
We parked next to their home which is only a couple of hundred yards from the beach of this lake. They were very good hosts. We spent one day at the beach & on the water using their SeaDoo. It was a lot of fun & a first for both Barbara & I to ride & drive a jet ski.
Another day Larry launched their boat & gave us a very nice tour of the lake.
We have been playing pickleball most mornings & enjoying the pool & hot tub. The weather has been very nice, both at Prineville Reservoir & here at Sunriver. Not too hot during the day & not too cold overnight.
We are starting to get very anxious for the next step of our walkabout. Next week we go to Junction City to pick up our new 5th wheel trailer. We are looking forward to the extra room we will have. At the same time we are kind of sad to be trading in our Sprinter travel trailer that we have had for the last 10 years. We have pulled it many miles & spent a lot of time in it.
Our shake down trip with the new coach will be to Cave Junction, OR to see Marie & Bill. It will be an interesting drive with the new Ram truck pulling the new Big Country 5ver.
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