Grants Pass (plus, new Add Comments instructions)

Hi Folks, drove down from Florence, Oregon yesterday. Scenic show continues. Jim asked that he be honored for his ability to start fires with wet firewood. Since the wind was still that night it was very pleasant enjoying the fire even though the temperature was in the low 50's.

Drove down to Grants Pass and after visiting with Susan Vannice and her father, Charles spent the night in an RV park.

Now on to California through the Redwoods and Route 1 all the way to Southern California. Our plans are in flux for now since we have both visited San Francisco before we are unsure if we'll stop this time.

I know some of you have left comments which have not shown up on our blog. I will ask Brenda, our editor, to look into this and post "How to Add Blog Comments" on this web site.
All for now Janet and Jim....Thanks Brenda.

[* Hey folks, this is Brenda. I just checked the default setting and it set to restricted comments so only comments could be made by people who had certain google accounts---and even then, you had to be logged in. I changed the default settings so this is open to anyone.]

1) click on Comment link after the article
2) add your comment in the Post a Comment box and be sure to include your salutation if you want Janet/Jim to know it's from you.
3) click on Comment as:
4) Click on Anonymous (the default for everyone).
5) You will see a Word Verification (just type the word you see in the box, this is to prevent spammers from leaving comments)
6) click on Post Comment

Portland still

Tuesday Morning. Hi folks, Jim and I walked to the neighborhood business district--number of eclectic restaurants and shops--for breakfast. With my eggs I had a vegetable hash which was delicious. Among other veggies and seasonings were beets.

This afternoon Karlin Cross, my niece, will pick Jim and I up for a tour of the town and, of course, lunch. Believe it or not, Jim and I are trying to moderate our intake and not buy a new wardrobe.

Portland has an interesting system for disposing of the abundant leaves falling from all the trees in the fall. Residents are asked to pile them on the curb in the parking strip and prepare them for curbside pickup. Clear leaves and debris from storm drains then city crews will come through for two scheduled leaf removal pickups. First the crew will push leaves into piles at intersections, load leaves into trucks, and haul them away to a recycling facility. Secondly, the crews will again push load and haul leaves plus street sweepers will sweep your street and flush it with water.

It's remarkable how little litter we see on our walks around Alison and Mark's neighborhood--almost none.

Weather here is, we're told, typical for late fall--rainy. Weather doesn't vary much night to day. 50's to 60's in the day and 10 degrees cooler at night.

Tomorrow we're on to Grants Pass. Will post later. Love Jim and Janet

Portland At Last

Like Meriweather Lewis and George Clark we followed the Columbia to the Pacific. As usual, we always eat first so we dined at a wonderful Thai Restaurant near Alison and Mark's home in Portland. Since Mondays are traditionally dark days for museums we will probably do a little sightseeing of this much talked about progressive city.

Jim says to let you all know that our luck holds and Saturday night we lost power at the campground; in fact, the entire area near and around the Columbia River Gorge. So, after waiting several hours on Sunday to resume power, we moved to the other side of the River into Washington and found a beautiful campground.

I'm sure my thesaurus would be inadequate to provide adequate adjectives to describe the Columbia River Gorge. It swallows all within its walls up and at the same time provides an opening to the sky that is limitless.

Everywhere there are trains and I mean long trains with often four engines to carry and push these 100-car trains up the mountains.

On Saturday on our way down from Boise we drove on a switchback road that was six to seven miles in length and thousands of feet high.

We're tried to stay in state parks when possible as the RV parks are like parking lots. Since we are now traveling south we should not have a problem finding a park that's open and it should be warm enough to enjoy an evening campfire.

Will write more later. And, let me have your comments. Love Janet and Jim

Boise, Idaho and Ann McClanahan

Hi Everyone,

Now in Boise after a spectacular drive Northwest through Wyoming across the bottom tip of Utah and into Idaho. Here we are visiting my friend Ann McClanahan whom I have known since the mid-eighties in Norfolk. Ann lives in a charming apartment overlooking a pool and large park. From her patio you see trees dwarfed by the mountain range in the background. The trees are wearing their autumn colors of brilliant yellows and red-oranges. Her apartment is the former home of the manager of the clubhouse and pool of this apartment complex. Her building is a two-story building which stands between two high rises at the bottom of a hill. Our RV is plugged into an outlet in the parking lot. As usual, Ann's home is tastefully decorated in a simple, homey fashion which includes momentos of her family such as her mother's lamps and her father's desk. Ann looks terrific and as usual is involved in many activities.

Last night we ate dinner in an authentic Basque Restaurant in downtown Boise. Today we will tour the city and visit a birds of prey park. Oh! let me not forget the wonderful breakfasts Ann has cooked for us. Tonight Jim will grill salmon Ann has on hand. While I'm at the library updating our blog, paying bills, etc. Ann and Jim are at the AAA getting info on the next leg of our trip. As I've said before I have taken lots of pictures so hopefully I can share them with you on our return. Typical of the West not until we were within the Boise city limits did we see any sign of a community where people live, work and play. Fortunately Boise has kept many of their old, public buildings and business houses. In fact, the library where I am now is a storefront space.

We decided to visit Boise and then return to Salt Lake City when we make the loop going back East since it is near the Grand Canyon. When I say close it is 250 distance apart and when you're traveling 1000's of miles that's a short distance. Jim has worked out most of the kinks in the RV either through paying a mechanic or his knowledge of mechanical things. We visited a mechanic about a kink in the transmission and he made an adjustment added a part and said, "act like you were never here." This morning we took Jim's wedding ring to a jeweler for sizing and she said if she just needs to size in down by 1/2 size no cost. People are unbelievable!

Will try to write more later. Let me have your comments. Janet and Jim

Boise, ID

Brief update. Will be back later and post complete blog. Janet and Jim

Rock Creek, Wyoming Sunday Evening

Left Casper, Wyoming taking Scenic Route West toward Continental Divide passing over Oregon Trail, Pony Express Route with pictorial vistas or, as Jim described it, "Wide open, desolate but beautiful spaces."

While in Casper went to fill LP Tank and noticed antifreeze leak. Put in stop leak an it appears to have worked.

Saw split rock and Independence Rock and we greatly appreciated the courage and tenacity of our forefathers who made it all the way to Oregon--what a Hell of a Journey!

Couldn't find a desirable campground so we are camped for the night in Rock Creek which is a typical RV Park without trees or a fire pit. But they have cable TV, internet access, etc. Hopefully as we continue our journey tomorrow toward Salt Lake City, Utah we will be able to find a campground where we can relax and commune with nature.

Give us Your Comments

Hi family and friends, make this a two-way conversation. Scroll down while reading our posts and at the bottom click on the Comments link (it's right after the time that the post was made). This will open and you can add your thoughts and questions, etc. Thanks Jim and Janet

Wyoming

9AM Mountain time. We're back! Last Thursday while driving south to Lusk, Wyoming (population 1,500) the transmission on the RV went out. We were literally in the middle of nowhere with no cell phone service! Fortunately, men were working on some fencing down the road and Jim was able to hail them and one of them came to our assistance. This man drove Jim 40 miles round trip to nearest town where oil and phone service were available and all Jim could do for him was buy him a soda. This man is an example of the type of person we have encountered as we travel accross this country.

Jim put four quarts of transmission fluid into the engine, it started and Jim said to me "Take your seat we're moving!" We drove on the 40 miles to Lusk where we planned to camp for the night and were 30 feet from the camp site when the RV wouldn't move. Again, fortunate for us the man who owns the campground is a mechanic and after pouring more oil into the RV then he towed us into the site where we sat until yesterday afternoon when we were towed to Torrington, Wyoming (population 4,500) for repairs. The name of the campground is BJ's in Lusk and we would recommend that place of everyone. They even gave us a ride to the grocery, loaned us a heater for our water pump and loaned us DVD's. Jim and I are now staying in a Holiday Inn in town and hope to be on our way West to Boise to spend a few days with Ann McClanahan.

Torrington and the surrounding area is very historic as it was part of the Oregon Trail. We plan to rent a car today and tour the area. We are right next to a truck-stop facility where there is a restaurant which provides good home cooked meals cheap. We've learned that truck plaza's (as their called) are very nice with food of all kinds, showers, supplies, place for RV's to park and overnight if needed--and they're safe. Jim mentioned to me that next to the truck service facility is an art gallery--quite a juxaposition! I'll let you know our impression.

We plan to take the scenic route to Boise hopping over to the interstate if weather is bad.

Mount Rushmore---This national monument is impressive. Imagine hanging hundreds of feet in the air over rock and creating such a masterpiece. I took several pictures and do hope I got a good one to share. We didn't stay in the area as long as we'd like because there was a cold front moving in with snow accumulation predicted. As it turned out, we were smart to get on our way as the next day began a weather pattern bringing unusually cold weather and snow. We were in Lusk for 3 days but safe not stranded on a deserted road.

Now that I've caught you up I'll sign off and try to report again tomorrow after having had a chance to tour the surrounding area. We are having a wonderful time and expect to be on the road for another 4 weeks. Love Jim and Janet

Mt. Rushmore, SD
It snowed last night. We will tour Mt Rushmore this AM and then head south as cold snowy weather is predicted. We will see Ann McClanhan in Boise in 5 or 6 days. Boise is 1,200 miles from here. Drove through the state of South Dakota yesterday to get here at, say, the Missouri River. Herds of cattle grazing on the endless miles of prairie. Sunsets are gorgeous here for this is really Big Sky Country. The muffler went out on the RV yesterday so it's pretty noisy traveling. Plan to have muffler replaced in Billings, Montana (I think).

Learned lots about Meredith Wilson. He was hired by Toscanni as first flautist and played in Sousa's band. His sister Dixie was also creative wrote books and marketed a children's game kit to produce plays.

Jim's hurrying me, so will write more later.

We're here at Library in Mason City and will tour Meredith Wilson site after 1PM opening time. Rained hard last night so put out our camp fire. Jim and I played rhummykub and he beat me two games out of three. Oh well, have to try harder. Back later. Janet and Jim
(In case you don't know who Meredith Wilson is, here's a hint: 76 trombones)

Near Mason City, Iowa. Camped last night in a beautiful park--only 3 other campers there. Had camp fire and Jim grilled steaks--on our spare grill. First one left under camper and met its demise when got in way of 41 FT Pace Arrow RV. We're here at Library in Forest City, Iowa. A charming small 1900ish town. In addition to updating the blog we are getting supplies like groceries, etc. I also will have my hair washed--'bout time!

Don't know when I'll get back to update blog so we'll tour Mason City tomorrow--Meredith Wilson Music Man fame. Then on to Kennebeck, SD for a night near Black Hills. Next to Mount Rushmore where we plan to stay in a motel if too cold. Although the RV does have a furnace and we turn it off at night as it gets too warm. After Mount Rushmore we'll visit Ann McClanahan if she 's home in Boise, ID. Then on to Grants Pass, OR to visit Susan Vannice and after that its Portland, OR where Alison and Marc Dillon live.

Land of Lincoln

Here’s a quick update. We left Virginia and headed up to Toledo, Ohio where we spent time with relatives. A little something we need to remember: turn out the RV lights. A dead battery affects many things, even being able to re-tract the steps. One of the highlights was spending time in Springfield, Illinois, birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. After reading so many good books about him and going to the Smithsonian exhibition marking the 200th anniversary of his birth, it was special to be able to view these historic places in person. For example, his tomb (photo) has a fascinating history---they couldn’t make up their mind where to bury him so he was moved several times and someone even tried to steal his body in 1876. Now it’s time to move westward again. We're at a campground, Jim is out building a fire and we’re in either Iowa or Missouri. (this entry submitted by Brenda Barrera, per call from Janet who hasn't been able to get online).