Bar view

Good morning from Barview, OR, where it is sunny and cool, looking across the jetty.



We parked next to Jim and Carol, grabbed our jackets and headed to dinner...that was mediocre, but hey, we didn't have to cook it.

The spot we are in is dry camping, and it has the best view in this city park. Strange way to run a park! There is a US Coast Guard watch tower next to us, so we have enjoyed seeing a bit of CG activity around us (MM served 4 years in CG aviation).

The jetty has been surprisingly quiet, with little boat traffic to entertain us. Bugger.

MM is checking his camping apps to find us a place to camp further south. We need to be in place somewhere before the busy weekend starts. He and Carol have been comparing apps and info...this from a recent flip phone convert! He cracks me up...yes, I am easily entertained.

A small boat is going out...and I see a bit of fog rolling in. The landscape changes rapidly here. Interesting. We love being on the water!

I'm sure we will find some neat places today. WYWH, y'all!

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Mt. Rainier

We packed our picnic lunch and headed to the mountain yesterday under sunny skies. We were not disappointed, entering the park in the SW corner, shaded by majestic old trees that smelled like Christmas. Srsly. Douglas fir trees, laden with green moss...ferns galore on the forest floor...but not the first critter anywhere. Bugger.





We stopped at the visitor's center, but the power was out, so the park movie was not possible to see. Stuff happens, and we roll with it.

It was a good day. The sleeping giant remained asleep, and for that we were grateful.

We head south again today, meeting Jim and Carol on the Oregon coast. Yeah, that sounds like a plan. And two deer were by the CG entrance as we left, I'm sure wishing us safe travels!

Poking along...and enjoying life on the road. WYWH!

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Tuesday near the lake

We did indeed find a CG with a lake and this awesome view, but not from the CG:




After we got settled in, we walked down to the lake to check out what was happening (lots of day-use visitors), and to see if we could find "the" mountain. We did. It is still there, and beautiful.

The last time we saw Mt. Rainier was way back in 1975. I'm sure it is just older and prettier now. We plan to go check it out today. The weather is sunny and clear, so we will take lots of photos.

The power company CG is nice, but pretty much full of folks and trees. With no satellite reception, we enjoyed a Celine concert on DVD last evening.

We plan to stay here one more night, then move on tomorrow. No destination yet, but we shall find something interesting.

That's life on the road...and the way we roll. WYWH!



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Monday moving.

Goodbye to Monroe and to Jean and Bill. It is time to head south. My guy has found a lake to go visit. He needs a water fix. Check.

So last night during our fabulous dinner, Jean and I were discussing the need for a reunion...Bee, Barb, Sandee...who is in and where??! Blogger's cruise in January maybe? Put your thinking caps on! The more, the merrier! Srsly.

It's another sunny, perfect day in the Pacific NW. WYWH!

Miles and smiles in our beautiful country. Get out and enjoy it!

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The road to Paris...

Stage 21, final stage of the TdF, is drawing to a close. The guys are doing the mostly ceremonial ride to Paris. Congrats to Nibali for putting Italy back in the winner's circle. It's been a long, hard ride. Enjoy these final Tour moments, guys! Well done.

We two made a short ride through wine country yesterday. We pulled into one very busy winery, then decided it was entirely TOO busy, and made a hasty retreat. MM is having some "sweet" tasting issues, so wine tasting is not appealing to him right now, and crowd jousting is even less appealing. Bugger.

The noise level here at the fairground/speedway CG wasn't too bad during the race last night, despite our closeness to the action. The kitties did well. We enjoyed people watching, and seeing some of the race cars being trailered in. We are easily entertained.




Cool mornings and warm days are a winning combination. This is beautiful country out here. Plus, we get to have dinner with Jean and Bill tonight. Lucky us.

And now, back to my visual trip to Paris...

Happy Sunday, y'all! Cheers!!!


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Planes and a boy

Tour director Jeanie highly recommended the Boeing factory tour. MM's arm didn't need to be twisted for that.

We found where we needed to be for the tour, then looked for lunch that didn't have to be unwrapped. Found a great Hungarian bistro that uses a white board for their daily menu, because the cook only fixes whatever she is in the mood to cook each day. Sounds just like home! And it was good.

The tour was excellent. MM always enjoys plane porn...and plane toys bring out the little boy in him:






We discovered Jim and Carol from the caravan did the same tour (and toy playing) right after we left! Small world. We will meet up with them again for real...soon. Too bad we missed y'all yesterday.

Laundry and a little sightseeing later is today's heavy agenda. It is a sunny, cloudless day that boasts a high of 79. Sweet.

Life is good here in paradise. Happy Saturday, y'all!

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Friday, and friends

Rather than camp for a single night and with it raining, we decided stopping and staying put in our intended W WA destination outside Seattle made more sense. Set up/take down once. Check. See Jean and Bill before they leave for the weekend. Check.

A quick email to Jeanie-Weenie and we had dinner plans!



She and Bill picked us up, much to the delight of two kitties being able to see new folks, and we went out for a tasty Greek dinner, with a lot of gab thrown in.

We have several suggestions of things to do and places to see this weekend, and will meet Jean and Bill again for dinner Sunday night. We do that well!

Oh boy, where to begin? I think planes are on the agenda today. Big planes. MM is in charge of the itinerary...which would naturally include planes, boats, and water. He's so predictable.

Have a fabulous Friday. I'm sure we will, too.

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Cool Coulee

Good morning from the Grand Coulee Dam area...as we roll west.

We checked out the dam yesterday. It is big...and supplies power to a huge area along with providing fishing, recreation, and other benefits.

There is a nightly laser show, starting at 10, so went back and enjoyed that presentation. It didn't photo well. Use your imagination, or google the dam for more info.

This is a high desert area. Translation: few trees, and acres of sage brush filled hills. And a farming area. Wheat appears to be the main crop. We just spied two deer with nice racks near the road.



So now we are just killing time and avoiding fire areas, waiting for our Sunday date with friends near Seattle. It has drizzled on us all morning. They need all the rain they can get.

Miles and smiles, y'all!

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Tuesday through the forest

We decided to spend another night in Kettle Falls and go sightseeing on a scenic loop road over Sherman Pass.  Look at what we saw…mom and her spotted fawn enjoying lunch:

Colville National Forest boasts over a million acres, filled with elk, moose, rattlesnakes, bears, cougars, and bobcats, making it one of America’s great, untamed wilderness areas.  We agree…and were happy not to experience any rattlesnakes, thankyouverymuch.  But this crossed the road right in front of us:

We were thankful there was no traffic behind us so that we could watch him/her cross to the other side of the road.

There are more road closings reported due to the WA/OR fires, so we are changing course and heading S instead of W today for another grand adventure…that involves a laser light show.

Check back tomorrow for photos and info!

Enjoying life on the road, seeing our beautiful country and her critters.

Neighborhood entertainment

Watched this couple go from this:



To this:















He turned around to lead the way, and they were off. Safe travels. Thanks for the entertainment! Glad our set up/take down is easier.

So, the fires have closed even more roads but a bit of rain is on the way. Yay for rain! We will head more south and away from the problems and continue on. We re-group rather well, and the kitties are happy.

That's life from the road, and another day in paradise.

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Westward bound!

First stop this morning was back at the truck service place to pay them for their service work, and pay the freight on the part they ordered that we now don't need. D fer done, and we are westward bound.

We will take a scenic route, headed for Washington. Montana has been nice, but we are ready to move on. That's what this Moho was made to do.

Have a happy Monday.

Miles and smiles, y'all!

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Location:US Highway 2 W,Kalispell,United States

Success!!!

 

Moho Man doesn’t appear to be happy, but he was tired after working all morning on the engine, and he was ready to take it for a test drive.  He put the slides in, I said a prayer, and then we were off.

No sputtering!  It ran beautifully!!!

He is enormously thankful for the Internet.  He took the computer code problem that the truck place found with their diagnostic program, Googled the possible causes/fixes, then tried the recommended fixes.  That MM is one determined man! 

There was air in a line that shouldn’t have had air in it.  A trip to the local hardware store for a clear hose, and voila, there it was…guilty air bubbles.  He isn’t sorry for the lift pump replacement that we had done because that is an item that frequently causes problems, so that purchase is A-OK.

We need to go back to the truck place and pay them on Monday, and now don’t need that ordered sensor.  Oh well.  We’ll deal with that.  We can get on the road on Monday.  Hallelujah!

Life is never dull on the road.

Moho woes

 

Poor thang.  The moho sat ALL day yesterday here at the truck fix-it place.  The engine was acting like it was fuel starved (we had at least 10 gallons), and filling up didn’t solve the problem.  Rut roh.  MM searched out a big truck place and found one about 3 miles from the CG, and they said to bring it over.

MM and the shop guys swapped out a fuel lift pump, then we took it out for a disappointing test spin.  Still not fixed.  A sensor had to be ordered from Portland, so we are stuck here in Columbia Falls, MT, till Monday…hoping the new part will fix the problem, and that we can resume our journey.

We are at least grateful that this didn’t happen during the Canadian caravan, and that we are now back on US soil with local phone service, etc.  This is all part of the moho life.  There has to be a time for fixing stuff…and this is our time.  The guys will get the problem solved, and we’ll be on our way.

So, we are kicked back here at the CG, grateful for wifi and TV, watching the Tour go through a small village where we stayed and watched the ‘03 Tour, bringing back good memories.  The kitties are doing what they do best—sleeping.  They didn’t particularly like the loud noises at the truck place yesterday, but they also adjust to whatever comes along.

Have yourselves a ginger peachy day.  We plan to turn our lemons into lemonade, and will find something interesting to do and see.  Why not?!

W Glacier NP

While we are off trying to fix the moho engine today, enjoy our visit to W Glacier’s Going to the Sun Highway yesterday:

Put this on your bucket list!  No critters were spotted in the 84 degree heat (although it was 72 up at Logan Pass).  They were smart to stay bedded down in the cool shade.

Life is good, well, except for that pesky engine problem.

W Glacier NP

Going to the Sun Highway was open, so we drove all the way up to Logan Pass. No bear or deer sightings at 84 degrees. They were enjoying the shade.

My guy wanted a root beer float afterward. Yuck! Nasty stuff. He gets to eat the whole thing all by himself.



So tomorrow we will be at a truck place at 8 AM. Changing the fuel filters didn't fix the problem, so we are taking the coach in for a computer check up. Or something. It is sluggish, but we are happy it happened after we got back to the States.

Life goes on. MM will get it figured out. Wish us luck!

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On the road again…

So long, everyone!  The caravan adventure was fabulous.  Just fabulous.

Moho Man and I are heading to W Glacier NP today, and we probably won’t have phone service…at least for awhile.

I will look forward to catching up with everyone soon.  We will be happy to be back in the U.S. of A!

Miles and smiles, y’all!

Down the river

It was a first for MM and me to go down a river with NO paddle.  Easy peasy.  Our guide did all the work:

The Fraser River section we were on was strictly a float trip; another section is a true rafting trip, complete with rapids.  We pretty much all stayed dry the whole way down.

Our raft got to see a bear , but the second group didn’t see him.  Too bad!  Here he is:

It was fun, but as with all good things, fun must end…or at least change.

Tomorrow morning, Moho Man and I will head to W Glacier NP for a couple of days.  We will only have ourselves as rally masters to plan our next adventure.  I think we can handle that.  As a matter of fact, doing nothing but soaking up nature sounds like a mighty fine plan!

Life is as good as you make it, and we are making memories.  Miles and smiles, y’all!

Busy day in Jasper NP

This guy heard we had girls in our CG:

We had these three and about four or five others at the CG last night:

This cub was in the tree looking at his mama and sibling down below this morning:

We got to see another powerful waterfall:

Another glacier:

And more stuff in town:

It was another great day in the Jasper area, where life is good…and we are wishing a very happy birthday to sweet Faith today!

Grizzly, glaciers, waterfalls and elk

We finally got to see a grizzly this morning:

And ride in a snowcoach:

Walk on a glacier:

See more waterfalls:

And Missy got to inspect an elk from the safety of her inside perch:

It’s been another beautiful day in Jasper NP, but there are only three more sleeps here…with lots more to see and do before departing.

Life is good, y’all!