HOME

Today is Sunday and we are home. It feels good to be back. Yesterday we drove/rode down the Oregon coast and were met by a group of family and friends. It was nice to see them all again. We had a nice picnic. Then Paul and I came on home while the kids played at the beach. We found everything at home to be satisfactory. I thought I had left my fridge clean but had to do a little work on that and the toliets were gross from just sitting there so long. Christian and family and Jean and family came back from the coast and had a nice dinner with us, thanks to Yumi and Jean. It sure was nice that they took that project on. On monday I guess I will need to restock my pantry and fridge. It has been a good trip but for now we are glad to be home. This conpletes my blog. I'm so glad we were able to do this and appreciate all the good vibes from any of you following this. Adios

Newport

Well today didn't turn out quite like we expected. The roads that Paul wanted to take out to the Capes were closed because of road slides or road work. I didn't make it to the aquarium and we found an rv park to camp in. The day started out foggy but as time went on it cleared off and left a beautiful blue sky. There is quite a breeze here in Newport so it is chilly. This rv park is very close to the aquarium and we took a walk and looked in some of the shops close by. Didn't find anything we can't do without. I stopped at a fruit stand along the way and got a couple of ears of corn to go with our dinner tonight. I hope we get the chance to walk over to the water after dinner. Who knows, maybe we will have a nice sunset Hoime tomorrow!!.

Tillamook

What a pleasant day today has been. The sun has been shining and the drive down 101 is beautiful. We stopped at the Tillamook cheese factory and had an ice cream and I bought some squeeky cheese. Tomorrow Paul is planning on leaving early so he can ride the three capes. I don't have a place to camp for tomorrow night so we may just find someplace to park for the night. I think I will go to the Newport Aquarium for part of the day. We are very excited about getting home on Saturday.

Seaside Or

Yahoo!! We are back in Oregon. This morning I stopped at Long Beach, Wa where they are having a kite festival all this week. It was pretty cool to see so many kites in the sky. Paul was riding his bike so I was by myself and had a great time shopping. I bought some fudge, chocolate mint and key lime, yum. They had lots of venders and it was fun to see what they were selling. Then I traveled on to Astoria and down to Seaside. That bridge across the Columbia is quite a bridge and I must admit that big climb at the end was unnerving. It was great to see the welcome to Oregon sign. After we got set up at camp we went into Seaside and washed the truck. It was unbelievabley dirty. Then we took a walk on the beach. There were a lot of people on the beach but the temperature was kind of chilly. It sure is good to be back in Oregon.

South Bend WA

This morning dawned cool and calm. I looked out at the water on Hood Canal and it was like a mirror until a boat went by and sent ripples out on the water. It sure was pretty with all the trees etc reflected in the water. Now we are on 101 and headed south. Tomorrow we will be back in good ol' Oregon. I guess Washington has not had much summer this year. We heard that one newpaper had a headline that they had only had 72 minutes of summer or something like that. The news last night said they had only had 5 days when the temps reached 80 degrees. I am actually enjoying the cooler weather. This morning when we got up we could see our breath and even now I am wearing my flannel shirt.

Twanoh State Park

I can't believe we are in our final week. This morning we made another brief stop at Les Schwab's. I have been worried about my brakes but have been reassured that they are working fine. That is good because I still have a few miles to go. Today we are camped on the Hood Canal. I took a walk down along the water and there are many clam shells. There are signs that say to cook all shellfish from this beach to kill bacteria before eating. The campground here is beautiful with tall trees and that wonderful northwest feel to it. The weather is cool and pleasant. I have been sitting out reading my book this afternoon. Five more travel days to go.

Port Townsend

 Today is Sunday and we are in Port Townsend. This morning we attended church and had nice services. We met a nice couple from St George Utah that are in this area spending some of the hot months up here in the cool states. As soon as we came over the mountains the temperature changed to a maritime climate. The forcast calls for rain today but so far it has not. Yesterday we drove through Oak Harbor and Deception Pass and the traffic was heavy. Probably a Saturday in Aug. was not the best time for that drive. Tonight we are staying at someones house that we contacted through warm showers. It is very nice to have these people open their homes to us while we are traveling. Tomorrow we are taking the trailer into Les Schwab again because it is squeaking so much that I am nervous about driving it home this way. That will slow down our drive tomorrow. Hopefully it will not take too long. It is getting hard to believe that by next week at this time we will be home. We are meeting some of our kids at Florence by the welcome to Florence sign on Hwy 126 before it hits 101 at 1:00. We have visited with each of our kids except Aaron in the last few days. What a great time to be traveling, when we can still stay in touch with our loved ones.