April 15 to April 18 2005 The MoHo Goes to Washington State

Transcribed from the old leather journal on June 14, 2018

Mo and I left Klamath Falls on a beautiful sunny morning after Mo went to her new doctor in Klamath Falls.  She likes the doctor.  Mo drove first, mileage was 17,725 via Highway 97 to Madras where we bought gas at $2.40 per gallon and calculated 11.6 mpg.  Great mileage!

We stopped for an ice cream cone in Shaniko and by the time we got to Biggs it was a little after five and was raining lightly.  Mo spent $22.for the full hookup site at Maryhill State Park and we settled in and then went for a walk along the river.

Quiet evening cooking dinner of rice and polish sausages, cole slaw, and boxed Chardonnay while we played cards.  Sleeping in the rain till after 8AM the next morning.  We spent a lazy morning, had a good breakfast of polish sausages, eggs, and potatoes, took a walk around the campground, visiting with MoHo admirers and then drove up to the Maryhill museum. 

It was a great museum with lots of art, gardens and peacocks, even a white one.

We drove on to Wenatchee via Highway 97, with a hot dog lunch at the rest area north of Yakima.  Pulled into Wenatchee at 4:15 or so.  Gas in Quincy was $2.45 PG and we got 12.6 MPG!

Deanna and Keith met us at their old house and we dug plants, then we went to see the new spec house.  The downtown building “legacy Square”, and then visited over Mexican dinner at Casa Mia’s, their treat.  Home to sleep out in the apartment parking lot.

The alarm went off at 5 and we left at 5:35 AM to Albany via Highway 97 over Blewitt Pass.  I-90 to 18 and Augurn where we got gas and ate a McDonald’s breakfast, then down I-5 through Portland to Melody’s theater.

We parked in the back lot to change and eat and visit with Deb and her friend Shannon.  Deb is doing a little bit better after her recent surgery.

We had great fun at the play “Rocky Horror” with Melody as Columbia.  Afterward home to Melody’s house for more visiting and a chicken dinner cooked by Kevin.

Gas in Albany was $2.39 PG and we were getting 10 mpg.  We left at 8am via i-5, Highway 58, and Highway 97.  We had lunch at Mollie’s Cafe and were home to my house by 2PM in the afternoon.

04-09-2005 Maiden Trip to Lost Lake

Transcribed from the old leather journal on June 14, 2018

We left Mo’s house around 1PM, driving over Highway 140 to the Butte Falls Road #321.  There still was snow over the pass, but it thinned out before we got too far.

We took Road 992 to Prospect then up 62 to Union Creek, but all the campgrounds were still closed for the season.

We stopped for a BLT lunch at the Union Creek Campground and then headed back toward Medford.  We found a really nice state park with electric hookups for only $12. per night  at Joseph H Stewart Recreation Area and Campground and settled in.  Mo has a spider bite and Sue has a sore throat, so we are a pretty low key pair.  We had a glass of wine while we relaxed before our evening stroll.  What a way to live!

Stewart State Park was great.  Lovely campsites with electricity, nice trails to walk, lots of space between sites.  We slept well for more than 10 hours!  It was nice to turn the furnace on in the morning to take off the chill.  We drove down to Applegate Lake but there wasn’t much there to see.

Gas was $2.49 , we drove 222.5 miles total, and our mileage was 11.35 mpg.

03-04-2005 Looking for a MotorHome

Transcribed from our old leather journal on June 14, 2018

We left my house at 3PM driving Mo’s Van to go to Salem. The trip turned out to be really successful.  We stayed at the Salem Motel 6 as planned and had dinner with Don near his hotel at Newport Bay.  It was almost 11 when we went to sleep.  They gave us a handicap room which we thought was funny.

Saturday morning was a little bit crazy with me driving to Albany to visit Melody while Mo watched Don’s drills.  Back together at noon and traveling south again to check out the RV Show.  Stopped first at Guaranty in Junction City to look at the Dynamax.  Then on to the show in Eugene which wasn’t that great.  Lots of big new diesel pushers and no class B’s.  We decided to drive back to Guaranty and look again and the rig really did look great and within an hour Mo had bought it for $15,000 less than they asked.

It is so great and even Mo was a little bit excited.  we will pick it up on Mondy the 14th.  We drove 120 over to Redmond and stayed at the Motel 6 there after a really strange dinner at Sheri’s with bad food and bad service.

Sunday morning we went back for breakfast and it was fine.  Checked out the RV show in Redmond but it turned out to be a sports show so we didn’t go.  On to Bend where we stopped at Target, GI Joes, and Alder River Co, where Mo bought our life jackets and Costco before heading home.  We tried to get up to Newberry but still too much snow. The weather was great, though, sunny and in the 60’s.

We stopped at Collier State Park Campground and walked around for ah hour, checking out the Williamson River and kayak possibilities.  Home to Klamath where we had pizza at Abby’s and then home to my houe for TV and the Sunday paper and early to bed.

On March 15th we made the long one day trip to pick up the MoHo.  I met Mo at Rocky Point and we left at 8am for Junction City.  I drove the van and Mo drove the Dakota.  We made good time over Highway 58 and arrived at the dealer at noon.

Mo finalized the sale and we did the walkthrough till 4pm.  Then across the street to trade the van and truck for a great 2002 white Blazer. The sale was easy, but the paper work wasn’t done till 8!

We drove to the Mexican Restaurant at Valley River Parkway for a great dinner and then decided to go home via I-5 since it was so late.  We took turned driving and both vehicles are great.  The V-10 on the Motorhome just cruises at 65 to 70 mph and climbs the passes so easily.

We got home at 1AM and celebrated with a quick soak in the hot tub under the stars.  Long and very successful day!

Traveling the California Coast

Copied from our old leather travel journal in April 2011

February 27 through March 7 2004

01friday010  February 7th, Friday morning we left Klamath in the Chevy van at 8AM and drove through snow and rain over Mt Shasta down I-5. Stopped in at the Rolling Hills Casino and then had breakfast between Corning and Williams. Drove to Calistoga via Clear Lake. The road was really curvy and narrow with a 16% grade! The valley was green and beautiful and Calistoga had great shops. We took Molly in the French shop for wine and hors d’oeuvres. Enjoyed a great dinner with wine and cheese in our Motel 6 room in Santa Rosa, a really small room. Gas in Santa Rosa was 2.09 per gallon.

02sat_northcoast013 February 28, Saturday morning we were up early and drove from Santa Rosa to the great pastry shop in Sebastopol. What a lovely little town! Drove out to Jenner, hiked around Blind Beach and collected driftwood. Drove down the coast, had lunch in Bodega Bay watching all the water birds from our table by the water. Drove over the Golden Gate, past the Presidio, and down HWY 1 to Pacifica and Moana’s old school, her ranch in Montera, the Moss Beach house, and then over 92 to Belmont. Had a great dinner at Fresh Choice and went swimming and hot-tubbing at our hotel.

03sat_drakes031 February 29 Sunday. We spent the day in San Francisco hiking up Coit Tower, walking Lombard Street, and down to Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf. Went to Pier 45 and the great museum with all the old arcade games. Went to Bubba Shrimp for a great dinner at a perfect table while we watched sailboats in the bay. Home to watch the Oscars in our motel room drinking wine and laughing a lot together at the silliness.

March 1 Monday. It was raining hard today.  Moana dropped me off at a fabulous mall in San Bruno while she did her taxes and took Molly to the vet. We drove highway 82 back into San Francisco, Union Square, with the great Williams Sonoma store where I bought some wonderful Valentine plates on sale05sat_bridge040 for only ten bucks. We took the cable cars up California Street to Chinatown and had a wonderful Chinese dinner at Yee’s. We were the only non-Asians in the restaurant. We had fun shopping at found dominoes at one of the little Chinese stores. Also explored some of the big hotel lobbies and took some linen towels from the Ritz. Bad! Home to our hotel for a hot tub under the moonlight again.

March 2 through March 7 Sunday

The little red journal goes silent for the last five days of this trip, so I went to the photos to try to figure out what we did and when we did it. I am so glad that we now have the blog and that I have learned to keep regular updates. The p2004_03_California Triphotos tell a bit of the story, but for some reason the dates aren’t set properly, and nothing seems to be in order so that was no help either. From the photos, it seems that we spent a lot of time in the Arboretum in San Francisco at Golden Gate Park, and then traveled down the coast to visit the roller coaster at Santa Cruz and then on to Monterey to have a great dinner on the wharf and join a morning history walk through the town. We traveled down Highway 1 to Carmel and Big Sur and went hiking along the ocean cliffs there. Mo took my photo next to the huge artichoke in the Artichoke Capital of the World at Castroville.

We stayed mostly in Motel 6’s because we had Molly with us and they are easy and inexpensive. It was a wonderful trip and a great respite from the cold wet late winter days back in Klamath Falls.

A long weekend at the Brookings condo

Transcribed in April 2011 from very sketchy notes in our old leather journal, with help from the photos.

03_Nov_Brookings003 03_Nov_Brookings004 Mo has a condo in Brookings that overlooks the Pacific from high on a cliff.  Although she offers it as a vacation rental, she can stay there for 17 days per year without losing any of the tax benefits.  We had to leave Molly at Double C for boarding, however, since the condo association has a “no pet” rule. 

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03_Nov_Brookings001 03_Nov_Brookings015 Mo’s brother Roger and his wife Nancy drove over from Corvallis to spend the weekend with us.  We had a great time walking the beaches, cooking and eating out a couple of times.  The condo is quite comfortable with two full bedrooms and an incredible view with a deck for sunset watching.  The beach is private, and there is a very long steep staircase leading down to the water.  We found three big old whale vertebra bones that we rescued for garden art back home. 

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03_Nov_Brookings038On the way home we stopped at the Jedediah Smith State Park, a cathedral of silent redwoods underlain by thick moss, ferns and shadowy paths.