The Oregon Trail

Seems we know our way around Oregon now. The road back to Grants Pass from Elizabeth, CO was quick - one night in Wendover, UT/NV, and then back to our home, which was parked at Leroy and Carol's home. Due to a leaky water problem, we opted to head for Junction City, OR first thing Saturday morning. This was no problem except for one minor detail - before we left Colorado, we had requested our mail to be delivered to General Delivery, Grants Pass. It should have arrived Friday, but it didn't. And just about every post office in Oregon is closed on Saturday! We don't get our mail all that often, since we get almost everything electronically via the Internet. Unfortunately, our absentee ballots for TX were in the packet.

We couldn't chance it - I'd have to drive back down to Grants Pass on Monday after ensuring that the packet did indeed arrive (it did, and I did!).

We are getting very familiar with the road between Grants Pass and Junction City, almost to the point where I don't need our Garmin to get around. All's well, we found our way back to Camp Country Coach.

Colorado

It was time once again for us to return to Colorado. Every 6 months, whether we like it or not, we go back: for family, friends, doctors, dentists and storage. OK, we got 4 out of 5 this visit. We love Colorado, and still call it home, even if our licences say Texas. This time around, we had set a goal: eliminate our storage. Storage costs are wasted money, and it's been almost 2 years now since we've been on the road.

Prior to getting back, we ordered an 8' x 10' shed from Costco. It was waiting for us at Todd and Victoria's when we arrived. I put it together, and we set out for our storage place in Castle Rock. We had rented a 15' x 45' unit when were selling our home, and, even after selling and donating, it was brim full from top to bottom when we left in January of 2007. Every trip back, we sell some stuff on craigslist, donate a whole bunch to local charities, and then still moan and groan about how much we have. This was to be the visit where it all went away, except for the small shed at Todd's. The usual stuff happened - we sold a bunch of stuff on craigslist, and donated a bunch more to the Castle Rock Task Force and Goodwill. But...it didn't all get done. We filled about 3/4 of the shed, but still had a bunch of stuff. Soooo, we downsized - down to a 10' x 24' storage unit. Progress!!

To all of our friends in Colorado, we apologize for not contacting any of you. The storage stuff was every day, for much of the day. In between that, doctor stuff. We were just too tired in the evening to even think about visiting.

Next time through, in April-May of 2009, we promise to do better about seeing all of you. This visit was restricted to seeing family (Todd and Victoria), and enjoying their hospitality. I think they were able to put up with our tired and grumpy moods, and we thank them again for allowing us to stay with them.

Emma update: she is growing, and the hair on her head is turning silver. And she is keeping us very, very busy!!

We're heading back to Oregon to pick up our coach. A quick trip back to Country Coach to repair a leaky AquaHot, and then we're heading south for the winter.

Meet Emma!

One thing we never travel without is our camera. It records remarkable things! Except this trip...we left it in Grants Pass, Oregon, in our haste to head south and see our daughter, son-in-law, and our two grand-daughters. Luckily, our daughter had a camera to lend to us for the big day.

Hi - I don't know you, but I am EMMA!

October 1, 2008 couldn't come quick enough. Emma is 12 weeks old today, and is finally ready to be adopted by us. We arrived in Livermore promptly at 11:3oam, and Georgina escorted us out back to see Emma again. The last time we had seen her, she was only 8 weeks old.

Her development has progressed quite a bit since then. She was a little shy and nervous then, but now she is outgoing and lively. We spend quite a while in the pen with her - she warmed right up to us, as we had sent Georgina an old t-shirt that we both had worn - she knew our scents well!

We spent a lot of time with Georgina, going over question after question, and making sure we had answers for them all. The ride back to San Jose was fun, and Emma calmed down after a few miles. Upon arriving back at Jenna's, we relaxed and let Emma check things out. She found a mirror, and growled and barked at herself for quite a while.

Who is that puppy behind the glass?

I'll watch a while and see if that puppy moves...

We will have a challenge to potty train her...it will come in time. We even had some limited success today. After she ate her dinner, she pooped, pottied, and appeared ready for sleep. We put the old t-shirt in her crate with her bed, crossed our fingers, and put her in. Shortly thereafter, she barked and then pooped on the shirt. Oh boy...it's going to be a long night!!

I'm pooped!

Heading South (we hope)

We left Country Coach on the morning of the 23rd (my birthday!), and headed south to Grants Pass, OR. Some longtime (25 years) friends have some property there with an RV pad for visitors. The ride down was uneventful, as we were keeping a close watch on the engine temperature. CC found that our fan motor had given up, and replaced it. Thankfully, the fix worked, the engine did not overheat at all, even on some steep grades.


We pulled in, got hooked up, and settled in. Our friends, Leroy and Carol, were in the process of loading up their motorcoach, as they were leaving the morning of the 24th, for an extended trip back to Branson, MO, and then back to their winter place in Benson, AZ. As they would be gone, he was planning to turn the water off, so I hastily filled our water tank. We all went out to dinner at a local buffet place, then settled in for the evening. I kept the rig on city water supply for the evening.


On the 24th, L & C finished up loading, turned off the water, and headed out. We switched on the water pump, and...the water lines did not fully pressurize. The ticking of the pump indicated a water leak somewhere. Sigh...we had just left service! I looked around the rig, and found 2 locations that had a slight water leak. After tightening them up, we flipped on the switch, and, unfortunately, same problem. Upon further investigation the next day, I located the problem - a connection or hose (not accessible) on our AquaHot heating system was leaking. Doh! When we return, I'll try and locate and fix the problem. Otherwise, we're back to CC AGAIN.

On Saturday the 27th, we headed south in the Jeep - destination: San Jose. Grandkids! And Emma!!

ABC

All finished at Camp Country Coach! Our service time was 10 days - we're here on day 11 because we had some cabinetry work done offsite. Most of our items were completed. Once we light for a few weeks, I have to send our odometer cluster to Country Coach for reprogramming. In addition, the monitor for our backup camera didn't come in, so they will send that to us.

Bees. Our air horn was sounding like a goose with asthma, and Country Coach said they'd check it out. Upon removing the cover, they found a nest of bees had taken up residence.

Camp Country Coach will be a memory soon (well, until the next time!).

Tomorrow we're heading for Grants Pass, OR, to visit friends before they head for Arizona for the winter. And tomorrow is my birthday!!

Camp Country Coach

After the rally, we headed 30 miles south to the Country Coach facility. It was time for our 1 year service. We had sent in our list of about 32 items, some of which were a carryover from our May visit.

After we left CC for Washington State last May, we experienced an overheating engine. When the temperature reaches 227, an audible alarm sounds in the coach (think of a turn indicator beeping on steroids). Immediately thereafter, the engine starts de-rating itself - what that means is it starts shutting down. The result is that the engine loses power. That is the nice thing about a big diesel engine - it protects itself! Since we were only going 500 miles, we decided that this item would be added to our list. At this time, they are thinking that a solenoid connected to the fan motor has failed. We've also had a problem with warning and instrument lights not working. That, we're told, is part of an odometer recall - our odometer cluster controls all of the lights and gauges, and will need a programming update.

Our service is supposed to take 2 weeks - we came in on the 8th, and will probably be here until the 22nd. A couple of days over, but not bad. While we are here, a cabinet company will be installing a new desk/credenza. We need more file storage, as well as a permanent place for the computer and printer. We had seen some of this company's work last year when we got our coach, and again this summer up in Blanchard. This will be a great addition to our coach!

One of the challenges of having service at the factory, is that they take your rig around 8:00am each morning and bring it back around 4:00pm. So you have no home all day. Last Monday, we headed up to a BLM campground called Alsea Falls. It's a great hiking place, at a little higher elevation. It was in the 80's in Junction City, but, only 20 miles NW, it was 53.

Alsea Falls

Donna exploring

Donna at the falls

Meet The Puppy

We are so excited! A new puppy will be joining us in October. Once we decided to move forward with this decision, we had a daunting task - a name! Our first two dogs, Taffy and Sasha, got their names quickly. Had them in 15 minutes or so. Abbey's name was fate - the breeder had renamed the rescue dog "Abbey", which was the first name on Donna's list.



This time it was not easy. No lightning bolt. We started compiling names. We looked on the Internet, wrote down names we liked. We had a list of about 30, which seemed to grow and change constantly. Maybe when we met her something would hit us instantly. Of course, it didn't, but we narrowed the list down to 6 favorites. This was even difficult - we ended up writing our favorite four names on a paper, then compared them. There were 4 matches, and we added 2 that weren't on the original list. Finally, after living with the six, we both agreed that her name will be EMMA.

Yorkie pups are typically black with brown on their face and legs. As she matures, the black will lighten to silver, and the brown will also lighten up. Right now, her ears are taped to ensure that they heal upright.


Bonding with me


Bonding with Donna


Yeah, I'm cute!


So are you going to be my new Mom?


I'm big and mean...I think