Month: July 2022

It would be hard to find a State more different from Nevada than Oregon, and maybe that’s why Charlie and I love to vacation there.

We love our little home town of Mesquite, Nevada and enjoy the desert beauty and great weather for about nine months each year. However, June, July, and August are pretty brutal, and September isn’t a lot better. There is virtually no rain, accompanied by high temperatures in the 100-115 degree range. Lots of dirt, sand, cacti, Mesquite and Creosote bushes, Palo Verde trees, Roadrunners, and very few birds festoon the landscape. It gets windy, too.

Oregon, on the other hand, is moist and green. The coasts are cool and gorgeous, the mountains are lush with trees, bushes, and ivy, and the valleys seem capable of growing just about anything. Just about every rural highway in Oregon is lined with wild berry vines, and it is not uncommon to come upon a huge tractor-trailer hauling freshly-cut logs.

Lumbermen, fishermen, and farmers are the backbone of the Oregon economy. Levis, plaid shirts, and beards are features of the standard Oregon man. Women tend to be sturdy with long hair and little make-up. Pick-up trucks with trailer hitches and tattooed limbs are popular up here.

I’ve noticed that there are quite a few beat up travel trailers in marginal RV parks near here as well as guys living in crude tents down by the harbor shore. I’m guessing that the inhabitants are the hard-working but poorly-paid staff of the various commercial fishing boats that operate out of the Charleston harbor.

There are many seafood processing factories at the harbor, as well, with lots of crab pots, nets and floats, and packing crates piled high, along with enormous piles of oyster shells. If you like Dungeness crab, oysters, calamari, tuna, snapper, or cod, then Charleston is your kind of place. Our favorite restaurant here is a sports bar named Millers By The Cove.

The weather on the coast of Oregon averages a highs of 60-65 degrees mid-day and around 57 degrees overnight, which is good sleeping weather. Charlie and I both sleep like babies in Oregon as do the three dogs. We typically go to bed before 9:30 pm and wake up about 6:30 am. I should say that I wake up after the dogs start trampolining on me, anxious to go do their business and play fetch on the beach. Charlie ignores us and gets a few minutes of extra sleep.

Yesterday, I rode my bike over to the Charleston Boat Basin and toodled around there for about an hour looking at boats, seagulls, and the shipyard. I need to do more exercise like that each week to build up some muscle tone in my thighs. It sucks getting old.

Vinnie has been gradually learning how we do things up here. He’s getting better on leash, not acting the fool as we approach other dogs, and has stopped running off to greet other people and dogs while he is off-leash on the beach. He likes to play ball with Baby and BonBon on the beach and is super fast and agile. Vinnie has also become very comfortable with staying on our artificial grass “patio” area while off-leash: he has yet to wander off, even though there are lots of distractions like squirrels, dogs being walked, kids playing, etc. We’re quite proud of him for being so mature.

Vinnie has decided that the new carpeted dash cover that we bought in Yuma is an excellent place for him to park his ass when the humans are off running errands. He looks quite elegant up there, looking out the window and acting like a Big Shot. Another change in Vinnie: he’s been barking a lot less, which is a sign that he’s calming down and accepting the fact that he has some nice siblings and has found his forever home.

Charlie has done hardly any “work” on this year’s vacation, thank goodness. Instead, she has been reading… a lot. It is nice to see my wife relax, because she has worked hard for the past 60 years. She’s entitled.

Knock on wood: everything in the RV is working well and Charlie’s sprained foot is slowing getting better. We’re on somewhat of a diet, trying to lose 5 to 10 pounds each before we get to So Cal.

Tomorrow, we pack everything up and head south on U.S. 101 to Brookings. It is the southernmost city on the Pacific Coast of Oregon and one of our favorite places. Lots of things to do there, good places to eat, and typically better weather than in Coos Bay. We will be there in the At River’s Edge RV Resort for a month.

Update: Our short move to Brookings was not without incident. When we checked into At River’s Edge, the nice lady in the office couldn’t find our reservation. I said, “No problem, I will get my paperwork and show you that we’re reserved for a month.” I retrieved our copy of the reservation and, to my chagrin and embarrassment, we were due to check-in on August 3^rd. The only problem was that it was July 29^th!

How I had f’ed up this badly escapes me.

The folks in the office were wonderful. They said that this particular weekend (it was Friday) was very busy and they didn’t have much available. But, they worked the problem and came up with a 5-day solution: Boondock in their dirt parking lot for one night; then move to Space 203 for three nights; then move to Space 306. After that, we will move into Space 131 for a month.

So, we finished off moving day by going hook-up-less overnight. Not a big problem except that we had no TV and had to read, instead.

Just like the pioneers on the Oregon Trail!

This world of our is populated by all kinds of people, some just like us and some not like us. “Variety is the spice of life”, the saying goes, and it’s what makes things interesting.

Can you imagine if everyone on earth was just like me? OMG, that would be dull place, looking at my mug everywhere you turned and everyone spouting off all my thoughts and opinions 24/7.

Nope, that would be Hell, and please count me out of that universe.

Of course, like most people, I like to think of myself as fairly intelligent, friendly, thoughtful, witty, and open-minded. Handsome, of course, but not vain about it. (Did I mention that I am witty?)

Again, like most people, I have my beliefs and prejudices. For example, I don’t like vegetables; too much work for not enough taste and sustenance. Meat and potatoes, tasty gravies, hot sauces, and anything fried does the job for me. I would rather eat green flies than green beans, to put it bluntly. It’s just who I am.

Just thinking here, but what if the “Green” movement took power in the United States and laws were passed that required everyone to be a vegetarian? That would suck, in my opinion, and I would likely take up arms to protect my right to eat unhealthily. I think that would come under the category of “pursuit of happiness”. For sure, I would be unhappy if I had to exist on farm animal fodder. Ugh, my stomach turns just thinking about it.

Luckily for us, we live in a country where many versions of happiness are tolerated. It’s okay to be a vegetarian, a Yankee fan, a gay person, a redhead (like me!), an unmarried Mom, a Christian, a registered Independent voter, a Star Wars nerd, a bodybuilder or a 500-lb slob.

We’re lucky to live in a place where we can think for ourselves, believe in what we wish, and celebrate the differences that make our country interesting.

Have you ever been on a cruise vacation where the chief cook on board was British? I have, and I’ve got to tell you that the cuisine was bland and boring. Lots of meat and potatoes… with no flavor. That’s the same cooking that the Pilgrims brought to America back in the day. Thank goodness for all the immigrants that later came to this land from other countries, because we now enjoy all manner of interesting food: Italian, Thai, Mexican, Chinese, French, Middle Eastern, Polynesian, Caribbean, Indian, German, etc.

What would we do without pizza?

Speaking of dietary habits, I have a good friend who eats Spam and hot dogs every day. No exaggeration here, he sticks like glue to this eating plan and is a very physically fit 70-year-old guy who can hike ten miles, ride a bike for 50 miles, and plays guitar in a local folk music group. This is his world, it makes him happy, and good for him. He’s also a Hell of a nice guy who is handling our mail while we enjoy our 3-month RV vacation.

My friend doesn’t proselytize his processed-meat-eating fetish to others, nor does he shame others for not following his lead. He’s kind of like me with the vegetable thing: I’ll do my thing, you can do yours, Thank You.

The freedom we Americans enjoy to be ourselves and pursue our dreams is not a reality that all people throughout the world live with. In some other countries, social, cultural, religious, and political forces often proscribe individual behavior. It may be illegal, for example, to speak ill of a political leader, divorce one’s spouse, have an alcoholic beverage, or enjoy sex. Yes, that last one is true in some parts of Africa where the local cultural practice is to mutilate the female genitalia so that only the male partner can enjoy orgasms.

I’m not kidding, folks.

Abominations like this can happen when people with strongly felt beliefs obtain positions of authority.

Unfortunately, it has happened in our country’s history.

Examples include the Salem “witch trials”, the genocide of our Native Americans, the incarceration of Japanese-American citizens during World War II, Jim Crow laws in the South, “Redline” housing discrimination in predominantly White urban neighborhoods, Jews being excluded from membership in country clubs, and a criminal justice system which targets minority citizens with aggressive policing and tolerates abusive behavior by law enforcement officers.

Yes, all of those things and more in “The Greatest Nation on Earth”.

A recent example of powerful Americans imposing their personal beliefs on others is the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade.  In a 5-4 vote, the majority of Justices (all raised Catholic) determined that State governments, not women, will decide if pregnancies should or can be aborted. This is clearly a religious position, not medical and not based upon historical legal precedent, and flies in the face of the doctrine of “separation of Church and State”, something the Founders of our Nation felt strongly about.

Our earliest immigrants fled Europe to avoid religious persecution: this was to be a land where people could worship (or not) any way they wished. Our Constitution doesn’t mention the word “God”, “Jesus”, or “Christian”. The Bill of Rights grants us religious freedom, which includes the ability to choose which religion, or none, that we wish to practice.

Gee, if Catholics controlled our country, divorce would be illegal. Poor Charlie would have been stuck with her abusive husband forever and would have never married me. That would have sucked.

The five unelected Christians who make up the current Supreme Court majority have also decided that public monies can be used to support religious schools. These jurists claim to be “Originalists” (i.e. in keeping with the intent of the Founding Fathers), but those original patriots and deep-thinkers did not wish religion to be intermixed with government.

Recent polls indicate that a majority of God-fearing Americans do not attend church regularly, a sizable bloc of the population does not identify as Christians, and about a third of adults profess to be non-religious. The influence of religion upon American society has diminished significantly over the past five decades. Polls also suggest that about two-thirds of voting-age adults believe the exact opposite of the Supreme Court majority, that a woman has the right to decide whether to terminate her pregnancy, not the State.

Ergo, the Supreme Court’s religion-tainted decision on Roe vs. Wade is an affront to our Constitutional democracy and a life-preserver thrown to embattled Catholic Church clergy.

This is just one modern day example of power being used to discriminate against people of different creeds. Some Christians may wish to believe that a fertilized egg is a human being, but that feeling should not be imposed upon citizens of other religious beliefs or without religious beliefs. If a majority of the Supreme Court was Muslim, would it be appropriate for those unelected jurists to declare that all American women wear the hijab in public?

Why can’t Americans of different religions, ethnicities, and political beliefs exist together in harmony without their freedoms being attacked?

It seems that the “Great Melting Pot” that we like to call the United States is being attacked every day from within by individuals and groups who want to homogenize our diverse country into a W.A.S.P. entity, something that it never was and was never intended to be.

Consider that when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, there were probably a million Native Americans living here who were definitely not W.A.S.P.s, and among the very first settlers were Negro slaves, also not W.A.S.P.s  All manner of humanity, of various creeds, religions, and colors immigrated to this country through Ellis Island. The transcontinental railroad would not have been built without Chinese labor.

“Red, Brown, Yellow, Black and White, they are precious in HIS sight” goes the song taught to kids in Bible school.

It takes all kinds of people to build a successful enterprise. Lack of diversity promotes stasis and limits fresh new ideas. One only has to look at the credentials and backgrounds of the technology creators in Silicon Valley to realize that non-W.A.S.P.s bring discoveries and innovation to business and society on a daily basis. Their contribution to the greatness of our Nation is inestimable and ongoing.

I worry that certain political forces in this country are focused on re-molding our Nation into a version of themselves, with their religious preferences, their misogynistic views, their racist beliefs, and their anti-democratic tendencies. Adolph Hitler behaved like this, totally messed up Germany, and caused the deaths of millions of innocents.

It is possible that the freedoms that we’ve enjoyed to be ourselves, to speak freely, to worship in whichever way we wish, and to pursue our vision of happiness may not endure? Could there a Hitler in our future?

One only needs to read the daily news to see the future unfolding before us. We have elected officials denying the legitimacy of certified elections, a President who attempted a coup to stay in power, voting rights being restricted in some States, and politicians (and Christian religious leaders) publicly disparaging, insulting, and sometimes threatening individuals who don’t agree with their beliefs.

We have a whole sub-culture of American citizens who loudly profess their desire and intention to rejigger society into some sort of White, Christian entity, by force of arms if necessary… because it’s what they want.

We all agree that the democratic form of government that has evolved in this country certainly could stand some improvement. However, it is still useful to periodically rid ourselves of bad leaders via the ballot box or correct the course of government. Even good leaders sometimes get intoxicated with power and start doing things that benefit themselves and their families more so than the general populace.

With our voting rights intact, we can remedy the problem.

On the contrary, if we let politicians limit our voting powers, or allow non-elected officials to determine when we need to jump, and how high, then we morph into one of those authoritarian states where the freedom and individual happiness of all is determined by one person, one church, or one political party.

Or one group of un-elected ideological jurists.

For my friend’s sake, he’d better hope that they don’t outlaw Spam.

As I have mentioned previously in this blog, my wife Charlie finally found out this year (in her 76^th year on earth!) who her biological father was.

Thanks to 23 and Me and Ancestry.com genetic research, the culprit was finally unearthed: an Italian immigrant named Pietro Migliacci who later anglicized his name to Peter Millet. He died many years ago, and his two daughters (who would be Charlie’s half-sisters) are also deceased.

However, three daughters of Charlie’s half-sister Regina are still alive, living back on the East Coast, and have expressed interest in meeting their long-lost “Auntie”. In fact, they were the ones who were doing family genetic research when they stumbled upon their grandfather’s progeny that they were unaware of.

Mary, Theresa and Gloria (daughters of Regina O’Rourke) have been working with Charlie, her sister Theresa Silvius, and I to cobble together a whirlwind tour of New York to meet the relatives and exchange stories.

Charlie and her sister Theresa are going to make this trip in October. They will start out in Las Vegas on Oct 19, fly to N.Y.C. on the 20^th, spend 3 days visiting the O-Rourke families and sightseeing, and fly back to Las Vegas on the 24^th.

The girls are hoping to squeeze in a Circle Line cruise around Manhattan and also tour Ellis Island, where young immigrant Pietro was processed into the United States in the 1930’s. One of the O’Rourke girls will chaperone them around the Big Apple during their visit. There will also be a family dinner where everyone can meet and tell stories about their mother and grandpa Peter.

On each end of the Reunion Tour, Charlie and Theresa will be able to let off some steam in Las Vegas (at South Point Hotel and Casino).

What a nice way to use up some of our Alaska Airlines air miles!

The roving Manning clan now has a working REFRIGERATOR.

Yay!

For three weeks we’ve had to live out of an Igloo cooler, buying $6.00 worth of packaged ice every day. That sucked big time, but we all persevered like the experienced RVers that we are.

Yesterday’s work on our Norcold 1200 was the equivalent of a heart transplant. The entire back of the refrigerator needed to be replaced; it’s what is called the “cooling unit”. Evidently, the re-conditioned, used Norcold 1200 refrig that we purchased a few years ago was not re-conditioned correctly; in fact, the St. George, Utah doofuses used a non-Norcold cooling unit and McGuyvered it together. The repair techs from Gibs (the local RV repair shop) said that whoever tried to “repair” the refrig didn’t know what they were doing. Nice. We paid $2,500 for that supposedly A-OK unit.

Anyway, we paid another $2.500 yesterday to make the Norcold 1200 a fully-functional tool in our kitchen. A new refrig, had we bought one two years ago, would have cost us $5,000. So… we’re even, I guess.

It’s part of RV living, for sure. We’ve replaced a lot of things since we bought this rig in 2015: the floors, the sofas, the Sleep Number bed, the washer-dryer, the TV dish and receiver, the window dressings, the tires, the suspension system air bags, the drive shaft, etc. It’s basically a new RV with 17-year old paint (which doesn’t look bad).

And to think that would-be RVers are concerned over the cost of fuel! HaHa, that’ll be the day!

Unfortunately, spending that $2,500 was the GOOD NEWS of the day.

While those techs were re-establishing normalcy in our rig, Charlie and I took the dogs on a long walk on the beach. It was a gorgeous morning and we had a great stroll. However, on our way back to the RV, Charlie stumbled while walking through some soft sand and driftwood and… sprained her ankle/foot real bad.

Jeez, the poor lady had just fought off a nasty urinary tract infection. We eventually went to the nearest emergency hospital, spent 3 hours there, only to find that there was no fracture of anything (good news) but that she will have to stay off of that foot for a couple of weeks while the swelling goes down (bad news).

So, now Charlie is RV-bound. No shopping, strolls on the beach, restaurant eating, street fair browsing, etc. No nada, except watching a lot of reruns on TV with the dogs, reading books, and playing cards. I’m a male nurse and a crutch for the time being.

Oh, the Golden Years!

Well, at least we have cold drinks and I’m saving $6 per day on purchased ice.

Life goes on here in Charleston, Oregon: another beautiful day on the coast, walks on the beach, snuggles in bed at night with my three favorite gals and Vinnie.

Charlie and I are going to enjoy a “date night” today with a nice seafood dinner courtesy of Miller’s At The Cove down in the Charleston Boat Basin. It is a sports bar that happens to have the best seafood in the Coos Bay area, in my opinion. (And that’s high praise, as there are a lot of good seafood joints up here.)

Our good friend Lloyd (back in Mesquite) has got Covid-19 and he’s been pretty miserable for most of the week. It’s a good thing that he’s had his vaccinations and boosters, or he could be in worse shape. Lloyd told us today that he passed out in his house yesterday. No bueno.

This latest iteration of Covid-19 virus variants seems to be quite virulent. We know several friends in So Cal who are sick from it right now. Nothing life threatening, but similar to a bad flu. When will this plague end?

Our Mesquite neighbors, the Carnicellis, just took possession of a new (for them) RV to replace the crappy one that they bought a year ago. That $100,000 piece of crap lasted two trips before Galen and Sherry threw in the towel. In fact, they were here in Coos Bay with us when they could read the handwriting on the wall. Sherry, in particular, was bummed with the lack of space in the rig, particularly after she climbed into our spacious monster. Their fairly new RV is a 37’ diesel pusher Newmar “Dutch Star”. Unfortunately for them, they have yet to unload their previous rig, a V-10 Coachman “Mirada”.

If this drama drags on too much longer, and desperation sets in, someone is going to make the Carnicellis an offer that they can’t refuse.

I took a drive this morning to explore the area south of Charleston. Taking a right turn out of the gate here at Oceanside RV Resort, the road meanders down the coast toward Cape Arago. A few miles down the road I came to Sunset Bay State Park.

Next, another mile south, was Shore Acres State Park. This property used to be owned by a logging family that reigned supreme in this area during the late 1800’s. Shore Acres is famous for the huge winter waves that slam into the rock shoreline, a photographers dream.

Several more miles down the road I came to Cape Arago State Park, which is the end of the line on this road. It is a beautiful place to enjoy the grandeur of the Oregon Coast all the way down to Bandon.

We will be passing through Bandon on July 29^th, on our way to Brookings. The coast near Bandon is spectacular and the town is also host to the world famous Bandon Dunes golf courses.

Update on Vinnie: Unfortunately, the lad has “screwed the pooch” too many times down at the beach, running off to do his thing while I have to walk a quarter mile to retrieve him. The stubborn little guy is now back on choker leash and has to watch his buddies romp around the beach off-leash. It’s too bad, but he’s got to learn some discipline. I still love him, but he’s in the DOGHOUSE this week.

We talked to our daughter-in-law Carol yesterday. She and husband Jeff are surviving their ordeal in the 25-year-old RV down in So Cal, boondocking every night and working in the day. They plan to sell the rig when they retire in December and get themselves a dependable diesel-pusher. It appears that they’ve got their priorities in the right place and will probably make a positive go out of full-time RV’ing.

Two days to go: The RV repair guy will return on Monday to replace the cooling unit in our Norcold 1200 refrigerator/freezer.

Yay! (But, I will believe it when I see it.)

We are in Charleston, Oregon now, at the Oceanside RV Resort that we’ve visited many times in the past. We have Space 63 this year, which is the best that they have (and we’ve already reserved it again for next July).

Five days into our stay here and the weather has been spectacular. High temps thus far have been 65-70 with lows in high 50’s. However, the next seven-day forecast has us experiencing highs in the mid-70’s with one freak day (tomorrow) when the high temp will hit 85. The sun has been shining almost continuously which is a welcome relief, as we experienced foggy, cool weather last year.

Vinnie is in love with the beach. He likes to gallop all over the place, smell the marine odors, chase his siblings, meet people and dogs, and even wade in the surf. Thus far, we haven’t experienced any tussles with other dogs. Knock on wood!

The other two dogs (Baby and BonBon) are pros when it comes to beach fun. They know this place and are eager to show Vinnie the ropes. I usually take the dogs to the beach in the morning, before Charlie gets up, and then later in the day at low tide, so we can explore the adjacent cove that not many people go into. The dogs love examining the dead crab carcasses, the driftwood, the kelp, and whatever else has washed ashore. They also like climbing on the exposed rock cliff that is submerged for part of the day.

Vinnie has, however, been initiated into the Oregon Tide Pool Swimming Society. On one of our walks into the adjacent cove, Vinnie took off galloping to join about a dozen people who were investigating tide pools on the rock jetty. Vinnie decided that those crabs or sea anenomes in one of the pools looked interesting, so he hopped in to get a better look. It was deeper than he thought! Anyway, like the other dogs before him, he is now a bit wiser and I’m sure he will give the tide pools their due respect in the future.

By the way, there are two other camper families here at Oceanside who have Boston Terriers. They are rare in Mesquite, Nevada but not at RV campgrounds.

The five of us have re-discovered cozy living. The dogs get walked several times per day, but the rest of the time finds them lounging wherever they feel comfortable. Sometimes, they help Charlie read a book.

Charlie and I discovered a new (for us) Chinese restaurant the other day in Coos Bay that was REALLY good. It’s called Lucky Star and is located right across the street from the harbor. We will add that to our inventory of good eating places in this area. There are a lot of good seafood joints, two good Mexican restaurants, a handy food truck in the Charleston Boat Basin, and a Farmers’ Market on Wednesdays where one can nosh a bit.

Speaking of food, our refrig has been on the blink since we left Mesquite on June 29^th. So, we’ve been cooling a few items in an Igloo ice chest while we await the mobile RV repair guy. He’s coming tomorrow and, hopefully, we will then resume normalcy.

We visited the local dispensary and bought some gummies to help Charlie sleep. They aren’t the kind she uses in Nevada; I think they’re produced by an Oregon cannabis grower.

I met a nice guy (Carlos) yesterday in the RV park who clued me into one of his favorite RV parks along the Oregon coast. It’s in Florence and could be the initial leg of next year’s four-month jaunt. If it works out, we’d be there for most of June and leave on July 5^th to drive down here to Oceanside RV Resort. Carlos says that the Florence owners put on a half-hour fireworks show on July 4^th and that he and his family come there every year. Sounds good to me.

We had a “date” on Sunday.  I took Charlie to see “Top Gun: Maverick” at the local cinema. It was a very good sequel, in my opinion. I understand that Tom Cruise was paid something like $21 million to star in it plus he gets 10 percent of the net profits to boot. The movie has made over $1 billion at the box office, so I think that Mr. Cruise will have plenty of “quan” after this gig. The guy is an okay actor who is sometimes not believable in his roles. I think his best role was the assassin in “Collateral Damage” (with Jamie Foxx); should have had an Oscar for that one. He was fine in this Top Gun revival, probably because he’d played the character before.

Update: The RV repair guy didn’t show on Monday. Supposedly he was “sick”, probably of having to go to work on Monday after a rowdy weekend. I don’t blame him: it was 80 degrees and sunny on Monday. That doesn’t happen too often on the Oregon coast.

Update 2: Tuesday was a bummer. The weather turned foggy and cold and stayed that way all day. It reminded me of last year, where we had several weeks of such dreary weather. To make matters worse, the repairman arrived, examined the “guts” of the refrig, and informed us that the cooling unit (which was supposed to be recalled years ago) is shot and needs to be replaced. This will cost some bucks, they will have to order the parts, and we will be stuck with the Igloo cooler for the foreseeable future. That sucks, but it’s all part of “the adventure”, as we tell ourselves.

Update 3: The weather returned to bright sunny and warm today. Yay! However, Vinnie went rogue on the beach this morning and I had to spend ten minutes gathering him up. No bueno. Besides, he and BonBon went for a dip and got sand all over themselves. Some remedial training (or worse) may be in store for those insubordinates.

We weren’t out of the driveway when we suffered our first broken item of the 3-month trip.

I had the under-the-coach battery bay door open when Charlie decided to open the bedroom slide right above it to stow some clothes. Kaboom, the exterior bay door was ripped off of the coach! Bad words were said.

The hinged bay door panel, which was secured by rivets, was pulled apart and bent. There was no time to take the thing to a metal shop, even if I knew of one in Mesquite. So, Lloyd and I had to brainstorm a way to gently bend the thing back into shape without cracking the expensive paint coat and rehinge it to the coach.

It took us a couple of hours, but we managed a creditable job, in my opinion. I don’t believe that it will fly off going down the road and only a Monaco owner could tell that the bay door is slightly different than before.

So, on we go to the next emergency.

Good news! Lloyd has decided to stay put in Mesquite for the immediate future. He bought a 2019 Toyota 4Runner on Tuesday in St. George and has agreed to rent a house here in Sun City while he sorts out his life options. Hip, hip, hooray!

It’s 106 degrees right now (11:45 a.m., Wednesday), on the way to 109 degrees at 2 p.m. Man, am I going to miss this!!

Lloyd is taking us out for a steak dinner tonight to thank us for our generosity in letting him stay here for the past month. All three of us had a good time and the pooches love him, too. Lloyd will be here until July 15^th, when he moves into his rental house.

We found out today that son Tim and wife Shanon are not going to be able to join us in Oregon for a brief vacation. Darn. However, we have invited Lloyd to come up to Coos Bay or Brookings if he can swing it and perhaps sister Claudia and husband Ted can drop by. We will see what happens.

I am taking my $50 bike that I acquired during the community yard sale. Maybe I can get some use out of it in Oregon and So Cal.

Of course, as soon as we were about to leave for Tonopah, the Norcold (“never cold”) refrig went on the fritz. Lloyd and I went to Walmart and bought an Igloo cooler; Charlie and I will use that until we get someone to repair the fridge (probably in Coos Bay). Until then, we will be buying bags of ice and managing our coolness. As the Marine/R.V. Owner motto goes, “Improvise, adapt and overcome”.

We drove to Tonopah: no problems. We drove to Reno: no problems. We drove to Weed: no problems.

Knock on wood!

We are now in Canyonville, Oregon and the best RV park I’ve ever stayed in: Seven Feathers. The location is great (just off of I-15), the scenery is great (lots of pine trees in a mountain canyon), the RV sites have concrete pads and plenty of landscaping, there is a great truck stop on the property (cheaper fuel because it’s on an Indian reservation), and a very nice casino/hotel/restaurant complex at our disposal. When you check in, a guy in a golf cart escorts you to your site. If you get a Player’s Card at the casino, they take 10 percent off your RV park site rental. Sweet!

Those pesky redskins may have lost some battles, but they won the war against us palefaces: oodles of money going into the tribal coffers here. Good for them because they are doing a First Class job.

Another great thing they have in this RV park (besides an indoor pool!) is spacious and well-maintained pet areas. The one near our site has about 3,000 s.f. of luxury artificial turf for the dogs to enjoy. Vinnie has had a chance to meet and bark at several different dogs: he’s loving it.

The weather has changed, to be sure. Today’s high is 75, with the overnight low at 56 degrees. We slept last night with the windows open and didn’t wake up until 7:40 a. m. That’s about 90 minutes later than we do in Mesquite, Nevada. Hooray for cool weather!!!

Tomorrow is July 4^th, Independence Day. We leave here on the 6^th, when we will have a couple hour drive to Coos Bay (actually Charleston, Oregon). There we will settle in for a one-month stay at Oceanside RV Resort.

The coach is running good so far. If you figure that there are about one million different parts and systems in this motorhome, we’ve been pretty lucky that only ONE is giving us fits right now. The drive train is working like a dream, the air leveling system seems to be fixed, the TV is good, the washer/dryer is A-OK, and everything else seems to be holding together.

So far. Fingers crossed.

I can hardly wait to get to Coos Bay so I can get our refrig fixed. Buying ice each day sucks. Plus, I’ve had to prematurely barbeque up all of my filet mignon steaks and cube them (for salads, burritos, etc.) so that they wouldn’t spoil. Geez, life is tough out on the road. I’m thinking of retiring…

Fuel prices have been all over the place on this trip. I think I paid $6.21 per gallon in Mesquite, then I put another $400 in the tank in Reno (about $6.80/gal), then another $150 in Weed (maybe $6.60/gal), and I’ll probably do another top off here at Seven Feathers where diesel is at least $0.80 /gal cheaper because we’re on sovereign Indian land. Hooray, Native Indians! I like to head off to the Oregon coast with a full tank because there aren’t many gas stations there (and no truck stops) and I will have plenty of fuel to last me until I get back to Weed in September.

One of the things that I like about RV camping up here in Oregon is that we get to see a lot of families (with young kids) out on vacation, having a blast. It reminds me of my youth and the places my parents used to take us and of the vacations that Charlie and I had with our four boys back in the day. Those kids absolutely loved their camping experiences and speak about them to this day. Son Jeff and wife Carol are all set to full-time RV beginning January 1. I hope that it works out well for them.

The dogs are adjusting nicely. They’ve done this before and find things to do in the coach like nap, eat, fight over toys, wrestle with each other, and bug us to take them for walks. Vinnie, the newcomer to this lifestyle, is taking it in stride. He likes to pester Baby and this is an ideal place for that because Baby has nowhere to escape. She’s really great at playing with Vinnie: he’s a lucky guy that she’s so mellow and eager to participate. BonBon loves looking out the window at people, animals, and nature. She has a professional grade sniffer, so the different smells of Oregon really keep her interested.

Charlie, the dogs, and myself are adapting to our Three Dog Night in the Queen bed. We are used to a California King at home, so we have to snuggle pretty good in the RV to make it work for everyone. It would be a disaster at home (because of the heat), but up here the nighttime low is around 57 so we just leave the windows open and enjoy Mother Nature.

Arrived in Coos Bay (Charleston) at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, July 6^th. We will be here at Oceanside RV Resort, on the beach, until August 2^nd.

Nice.

Except that our refrig is still on the fritz. We hope to get a repairman on this problem within the week.

Improvise, adapt, overcome….