McMinnville & Silverton, OR - Jun 26 to Jun 30

We depart Forest Grove and begin our Northwest summer wanderings.

First stop is at the Olde Stone Village RV park in
McMinnville and nice evening and dinner with Rich and Peggy Rouse.

Then it's on to the town of Silverton, OR.

We discover that the there is a Frank Lloyd Wright home here: The Gordon House.

It is one of his Usonian designs and is a really interesting tour.

The next day we spent the entire day at the Oregon Garden.
Our Phoenix Botanical Garden membership got us in here for free.

This was one of the primary reasons for heading to Silverton and we totally wore ourselves out walking all over it.

They have an actual lodge as part of the garden with a really nice cafe.

Lots of interesting sculptures









And lots and lots of flowers.

The Oregon climate is just perfect for a gardening and growing just about everything.

The other major attraction near Silverton is Silver Falls State Park, the site of Mary's granddaughter's wedding last October.  We hiked here two years ago but missed a lot of waterfalls.  This year we finished the hike.  Another really full day of hiking in the glorious Oregon woods.

Winter Falls             Middle North Falls

Drake Falls



Double Falls

Lower North Falls




South Falls

Lower South Falls

And Lots and Lots of Big Big Trees !!

Depoe Bay, OR - Jun 14 to 17

Two years after putting down the deposit, we finally make our return to the Sea and Sand RV Park right of the edge of the Pacific Ocean between Depoe Bay and Lincoln City, Oregon.












We are located right on the edge of the sandy beach and are listening to the continuous thunder of the waves crashing on the shore.

First order of business is just a little bit of wine time.













Having just a wee bit of trouble picturing actually going swimming but that's what's happening!

On Wednesday, Rich and Peggy Rouse come to the coast to visit.
First was nice lunch at the Wildflower Cafe in Lincoln City.
Then a sweet afternoon and dinner in the trailer listening to the pounding surf right out front.
And yes, John needs some lessons on Selfies ....

Thursday we spend some time at the Outlet Mall in Lincoln City.

And then a good long walk on the beach.

And a really beautiful end to the day and our short stay on the coast.

Forest Grove, OR - Jun 8 to 26

We are parked alongside Mary's daughter Shelly's house in Forest Grove, OR.

The house comes with a pretty fancy shelter for the RV

And we installed our own pretty fancy Sun Screen to block the late afternoon sun.
It doesn't get dark up here until well after 9pm.

Dennis and Gloria Brousseau visit from Phoenix and help us enjoy the amazing back yard Raspberry bush.

Talk about getting into the Raspberries!

We go on a really nice Wine tasting excursion with Dennis & Gloria.  As a vineyard owner Dennis brings these visits to a whole new level.
The Willamette Valley is loaded with wineries and Dennis wants to learn more about Bio-Dynamic viticulture.
The Maysara and Montinore wineries are a real treat.

The next day we visit Portland's Hoyt Arboretum to get out in the really big trees.

And tour the Japanese Garden

We spend quite a bit of time just enjoying Shelly's beautiful back yard.

This is view we get from the inside of the trailer.

That's the Raspberry bush behind the ladder.

And I guess we can't forget the dinner outside at Pat's Corner at the nearby McMenamin's Grand Lodge.

On The Road - Pagosa to Oregon - Jun 1 to Jun 8

So the time has come to head North to Mary's daughter's home in Forest Grove, Oregon.
A stop in Flagstaff allows for a quick drop into Phoenix (without the trailer) to look at the house and pick up a few overlooked items.  Also a really nice lunch with John's daughter Jenn who will be staying in the house this summer.  We camped at the Black Bart's RV Park.  Not the greatest facility ever seen but it happens to be in just the right spot.

Dinner was at the Black Bart's Steakhouse Saloon & Musical Revue and what a pleasant surprise.  It's kind of spendy but as it happens, most of the wait staff are NAU students in music, opera and theater.  There was full time music with the staff taking turns singing Broadway show tunes, etc. and these kids were terrific.  Who Knew?


And then Friday was a full day of visiting with friends in Flagstaff.  Nice to link up again with Arctic Fox RV friends John & Kathy Schmadeke out at the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument Campground where they are Camp Hosting for the summer.  We hadn't actually seen Rick Ruess and Diana Henry in a whole lotta years going way back to our Sierra Singles days when we first got together.  And finally a wonderful dinner with Shawn Mahoney, Brigid Dineen & Rowan on their amazing patio in the woods above Flagstaff - many thanks guys!



Saturday and Sunday were back on the road again heading for Bakersfield where we are scheduled to pick up Mary's grandson Michael to take him up to Oregon.

Checked into the Bakersfield River Run RV Park which turned out to be a really nice place.
Many thanks to the Nunn Family for a really nice lunch at the local BJ's Brewhouse with Daren and Cheryl Nunn, Darion and Demi Nunn and Savannah Wedemeyer.  It felt really nice to be so welcomed to Bakersfield.

We got a really nice look at Mt. Shasta on the way north in California

And then it's trails end for this segment of our travels alongside Shelly's house in Forest Grove, OR.

Electric, water and protection from the elements - nice.

And the view out our giant rear window is really sweet.