EXPLORING CHARELSTON

 Today was cold and overcast here on the Oregon coast but that did not keep us in.  We did a little shopping around Coos Bay and then headed for Charleston.  The best picture of all is the first one which I took with my phone.  The sea gull was at the marina.  If it had not been  so cold we just might have checked out some of the boats in the marina. 
 Was told by a caching friend that the fish at Fisherman's Grotto was good.   Well it was just OK the breading was really different, make me think that it was made with flour and water????  The chowder was OK but thin..... must admit J's in Lincoln City has me spoiled they are the best on the coast as far as we are concerned.

Tomorrow we move to the Dunes for the next 5 days.  Not sure how the Internet will be there, this year we will be at the beach so maybe there hope. 

B

FLORENCE OREGON

 Tested my geocahing app on iPhone while we were in McMinnville, made the find.  That is me holding the cache in the first pix...... the second pix I am telling Wayne he is "number one"! 

On to Florence, parked at the casion, had heard Three River Casino had a great seafood buffet, well last week was there last seafood buffet for the season.  On to one of our favortie places  "Seafood station"  What a dissappointment, the clam chowder was almost to salty, and then it went down hill from there.  Sorry to say we will not be back there again. 

Breakfast was at Bliss Hot Rod Cafe........ it was good just to much for me.  Todays special was mushroom, sausage scramble and of course W had to have his smotherd in gravy. 

Now parked at the Mill casion RV park, will be here two nights and then Monday everyone will be here and we will be at the sand dunes. 

Tell you next week about the Mill's seafood buffet.    B

EVERGREEN MUSEUM MC MINNVILLE McMinnville

Wayne had some work done on the motor home, while that was being done we headed to Mc Minnville to the Evergreen Museum. Hughes Flying Boat Spruce Goose is huge!!!! SG was built entirely of wood due to war time and metal was not available. The OR code will give you more info.
So much to see, exhibits from early flight, commercial aircraft, specialized aircraft, Private aircraft and Helicopters. For years we have been driving by this museum and I would comment "we should stop". Now I would recommend everyone to take the time and check it out.

In both collage I have a QO code, if you have a QO reader on your smart phone you can scan the code and it will tell you about that exhibit, you might need to enlarge the collage.

FAMILY FRIENDS FOOD FIREWORKS

makes for a successful 4TH of July celebration.  We had so many good salads and deserts and 4 different kind of meats.  Here is Father and Son manning the BBQ's .  We celebrated a Doug and Tami's house this year, what a great time we had.
After dinner we had time to visit while Doug and the Kids got the fire works set up.  There were a few that they could light off before dark, like the "pooping puppy".  OMG What a hoot!!!!
 After dark this neighborhood sounded like a war zone.  So many fire works but so hard to capture with my camera.  Took 555 pix and ended up with  103 usable pictures.  Now that the 4TH is over it is time to think about this years Coos Bay trip.  Anyone notice the pretty moon?


Now that the 4TH is over with it is time to think about  this  years Coos Bay trip.   We will be at the beach camp grounds this year.  Looking forward to ocean breezes and fresh crab........

Will let you know how that goes. B

PREPARING FOR THE 4TH OF JULY

Here is Cassidy and Trace practicing for the 4TH.  Of course "Chief" has to make sure the kids are doing it right.  Tonight the big fireworks are set off.  Tami and Doug are hosting a family BBQ tonight and then we will all bundle up and watch the festivities.  
Here we are once again at Gartner's, was here on Sunday bought hamburger, onion and cheese hot dogs and beef short ribs. The meat was so good we decided we needed more, this time hamburger, and pork ribs. The closer to the 4th the busier the market gets, the store was so busy they had people directing traffic.  Our number was 83 and they were waiting on 32 when we walked in.  25 minutes later we were out the door.  Oh so worth the wait.  
Here is Willamette Falls Locks. Opened 1873 and was partially subsides at the cost of 450,000. Hope you can zoom in and read more....if not Google can tell you more.

FIRE WORKS SHOPPING

 This afternoon we all got together and went fireworks shopping.  Doug and Trace have been checking out the ad's all week planning our trip.  We had to go to two different places to get everything  we needed.
 Could not resist the hat, I will let Trace wear it only for photo ops.....   Now the countdown to the 4TH.

GOD BLESS AMERICA B

PORTLAND EXPERINCE 2012

 eating
 what we ordered
 where we shopped

AS SEEN ON FACEBOOK

Fireball is all ready to go to work with Mom..... but around noonish she had to take FB back home to the boys.  What a spoiled little thing she is, if I was there I would not spoil her.


Today started with breakfast at "Powderhorn" which was so so, then on up the road to Seven feathers for a little bit of gambling.  I broke even and Wayne won a little.  


Plan on being on the road by 8am tomorrow will overnight it in front of Doug's house.  


HUMMMMM wonder if they know that?  B

FIREBALL NOT SPOILED

JUST BECAUSE I GO TO WORK WITH MOM DOES NOT MEAN I AM SPOILED

 Here is the newest Pearson, she is a 8 week old Yorkie.  Needless to say the whole family's excited.  Rhonda believes Fireball will only be around 4lb, full grown.  


WOW my second post for the day.  Oh well had to introduce you all to Fireball.   B

  

BEARS AND MORE BEARS ON MY!

Today was spent exploring Grants Pass's Old town.  What a fun day all the bears, as you can see all shapes and sizes.  Wayne sure got a work out in the walking department.  Here is Pirates of Bear Cove,  Captain  "Rouge" and his trusty Monkey. 

As you walk down the street you see more and more statues.  Some have a baby with, below are the babies so you can match them up....or not.  The pie bear was at the "Powder Horn".  A gentleman on the street told us how good the Marionberry pie was so we had try some.  To Wayne it was not sweet enough and to me it was perfect.  Looked like a lot of home cooking at the Powder Horn. 

Here are the babies, some do not have Mothers above. 
More bears, but not as many as they had in years past.  No way can I pick a favorite.
Rouge River even decorate there fire hydrants, my favorite is the one on fire.  The hotel is only a mural of a hotel..... hard to tell from the pix.  


Wayne walked to much today, so he now has heat on his knee.  It was good for both of us to get out and walk but we over did it for him.


It has been so long since I published a blog, they have changed things all around.  I finally hit a right button and it took me to my draft...... that was after going from page to page, almost hit the button to delete the whole thing.  SOOOOOO will just have to play with the site, publish blogs more often to get use to the new format...... so check it often since we are back on the road and doing stuff!!!!


Thanks for checking in.......B

DESERT ART

You never know what your going to find when your in the desert. Not sure what kind of art you would call this but you must admit it is interesting.

Our day started with us meeting the McNeese's, and the Smith's for breakfast at Ligurta Station. As usual breakfast was good and the coffee only a nickle.

Did not know if we would be caching today since rain had been predicted. Well we got our caching in, 30 or more finds. Just as we found our last cache we saw the bad weather on the way.

We are now home and the MH is a rockin' and a rollin' but no rain yet. Rhonda sent a picture of snow coming down in Paradise CA. What is with all this weird weather all over the county?

That's all folks............... B

DAY ON THE BERRY GOLDWATER RANGE

Old men at play on the bombing range, here is Wayne, Dave and Frog checking out a tank.... they all decided tanks were not for them. The rock pile that Dave is standing in the middle of looks as tho it might have been a rock home at one time. Of course everyone has to have there picture taken with a catus. We found a few caches and manged to put 100 miles on the jeep. Make for a long but fun day.
Took a while but finally found an Ocotillo in bloom. Sometime you have to really look close to find the flowers. We did find a Gecko and a catus in bloom. Nice long day in the desert. Had a wonderful time showing Frog and Dave our Yuma. B

COMPANY IN TOWN.....

Today Dave and Frog arrived, a couple of Wayne's high school buddies. Fun hearing stories of high school days and none of them sounded execrated. Had to take the "boys" to Lutes for lunch.

On to Pivot point so Frog could play with the train, he so loves his trains. It was fun hearing him talk about the controls. We even found a cache and introduced them to the game.

Next the Yuma Territorial prison each time we go there I enjoy it as much as the first time. Always something new to see. Great pix of the prisoner "Frog". On to the Q casino in CA for a little gambling. Not BIG winners or losers in our group.
Drove around Yuma and found a few more caches. Starting to get dark and it had been a long day for the "boys" . Now they are all snug in there motel room and am sure they are sound asleep since they have had a long day. Who knows what tomorrow will bring...... B

YUMA EVENT #9

Getting ready for the event started early, we got there at 8am and the pits were started, and the beans cooking. 436 people attended the event, we were hoping to break the 500 mark but did not happen this year
People lined up for the food line. This year there was two serving lines and it work out real well, it always amazes me how so many people can be fed in such a short time.
Lot of time to visit and find out about caches that you could not find. Telling stories of your favorite finds, worst caches, and the scariest trails. All in all a perfect day for a cacher. B

BUBBLE AND LUTES LIFE IS FUN

Today over hundred caches came out, the start of a fun caching week-end. It is Yuma Event #9 time. Bubble blowing flash mob at the fountain in front of Lutes in the afternoon. Big turnout, and a lot of people in the streets since there was also mardi Gras going on in Old Town. Look close and you can see bubbles in the pictures.
JJ and W getting ready for warm up #9, get a quick bite to eat before everything gets crazy. Lutes is a very unique place, you notice something new every time your there.
We had half the restaurant and so many people still could not get in it was so packed.
Tomorrow at 8:00am the Yuma Event #9's BBQ will get started.

To be continued.......B