Sunday in Sister's Oregon with Cheryl

Today we drove over to the Town of Sisters to have lunch with Cheryl Caminos.  Tim and Cheryl go way back to St. John's Hospital where Tim hired her to be a security officer.  We had a good lunch and had a great time telling both old and new stories, most happy but some sad.  But all-in-all a great afternoon.  And yes Mike, we spent a lot of time talking shit about you.

Brown Bros Racing - "1 Bad Ass Bug"

Since Merv & Dee Dee spend their summers here in Oregon Merv has taken up drag racing in his bright orange 1972 VW bug.  Now it is not just a regular bug but has a huge ford engine in the front where normally would be the trunk.  Yes, it does fly.

Saturday we all loaded up (even took the dogs) and went to Madras Airport where there is a official drag strip.  Over 82 cars signed up to race against one other car in their class and against the clock.  Even had an official "Christmas Tree" light set up for the competitors.  Plus we were all decked out in our "offical" Brown Brothers Racing t-shirts.

We had a great time and Merv made it to the second round of the bracket races before losing by one 8 hundreds of a second.

Floating on the Deschutes River

Like most of the country it has been quite warm here in Oregon.  Plus Merv's nephew Brian came up with his wife Heather and 9 year old daughter Hailey so we all decided to go rafting on the river.  Wonderful ride, actually a float because there was no rapids.  Really enjoyed it.

Twin Fawns!

Dee Dee has quite the handsome herd of deer that visit every afternoon.  Friday afternoon mom showed up with a set of twins.  So cute!

Crater Lake National Park - Awesome!

We took a road trip today to Crater Lake National Park.  If anyone ever says lets go there, do not hesitate as it is a mind blowing event.  To adequately describe it I quote Will Steele who first saw it in 1885 and said "The time is coming when men of weatlh who have looked with pride upon the Alps, will cross the great Atlantic, wonder at the grandeur of Niagara, linger in the valleys of the Yellowstone, gaze with rapture at the fleeting marvels of the Rocky Mountains, and at last, stand on the walls of Crater Lake, overcome with astonishment and mute with an unspeakable admiration of the sublimity of nature as there unfolded"  I just don't think there is any other way to say it.  They say "Why So Blue?"  Light gets absorbed color by color as it passes through clear water.  First the reds go, then orange, yellow, and green.  Last to be absorbed are the blues.  Only the deepest blue gets scattered back to the surface where you see it as the color of the water.  The water is of course, no more blue than the sky is blue.  It is the deepest lake in the US and the 8th deepest in the world.  Don't miss this if you are in the area.

July 28, 2011 Oregon High Country at 8100 ft. - We thought we left the white stuff in Maine!

They average 44 feet of snow here and in 2011 had 65 feet.  Yikes!!!

NJ found her dream car!

We're not MIA but in OR awaiting new rig!

Well, while we were at the rally in Redmond, we began looking at rigs.  The Good Sam Rally is known for having many dealers and the deals and financing available are pretty great.  We had decided that we were probably going to live in the rig once back in Maine, look for a small piece of property, develop the water, septic and electric, put down a gravel pad and then would be "snow birding" from that point on during the winter.  We had also learned in our trip to this point that this was not going to be the rig to live in full time especially with the animals as its' just too small.  With that being said we started looking at different rigs and we were not having much success until the 2nd to last day when we came across the Avalanche made by Keystone.  We didn't think that the sales guy was serious but he said what do you have to lose by letting us run the numbers and he was right, the numbers were right on for us so we went for it.  The only problem that we came up against was the sales guy said that we would have the rig in 3-5 days and that turned out to be totally wrong as we are now waiting until Aug 4 for delivery and we have to drive 3hrs north to Portland to pick it up.  Anyway we are very fortunate to have very good friends that have 2 RV pads on their ranch and we are here with full hookups.  In addition we are off loading this rig here and going up empty and will re-load back here.  The new rig is 38' long, 8' longer than this one, 3 slide outs, a full outside kitchen includes a fridge & TV. 

Newberry National Volcanic Monument - Big Obsidian Flow & the "Sisters" Mountains still covered in snow.

Eastern Lake - Which is east of Bend, OR

I suppose if it was west of Bend it would be Western Lake

High Desert Museum - Bend, OR

Took in the Raptor exhibit today and it was worth it!  Three beautiful birds and one lone dragon fly.

La Page, OR

We are so lucky to be able to stay in such a beautiful area of Oregon plus with great friends.  Norma went to high school with Dee Dee and Tim worked with Merv on the sheriff's department.  Lots to talk about and see here.  Dee Dee feeds the deer which makes for great pictures.

The "Good Sam" Rally

Well we made to "the rally" in Redmond Oregon.  This is put on by the Good Sam Club once a year.  There are over 2,800 rigs here and around 9,000 people.  There are several hundred exhibitors in 2 very large buildings on the county fairground facility.  There are also many RV dealers here with their different rigs from some that would support 1 person to some that are in the price range of 1 million dollars.  Last night we went to the Bobby Vinton concert, for those of you much younger than me, he was a 50's & 60's teen idol and in his 70's he is still doing concerts.  Tonight Vince Gill is here and a very severe thunderstom just started and the concert is an outdoor venue.  At the concert last night I won a $250 gas card because we can over 2,800 miles to get here, nice to get as the diesel prices out here are back near the $4 range.  Tomorrow we hook up with NJ's high school friend DeDe Brown and her husband Merv who just happened to be my partner on the Sheriff's Dept when we were working patrol.  Will be nice to see them and we are going to stay with them a few days before heading to Calif.  We will head for Roseville, CA to see Logan & Kristy and grandchildren Spencer & Josie, then to Paso Robles to see Matt, Sarah and grandchildren, Samara & Jake and finally to Ventura to see Tammy.  We have decided that we will winter in Galveston, TX this year.

Utah - Land of red rock mountains and prairie dogs

You never know what you will encounter at rest stops!

Outta Here

Truck back, off tomorrow early for Hagerman, ID then to the rally the next day. 

Sink Canyon & a disappering river

When you are held captive somewhere because of truck problems you tend to seek out the local sites.  Sunday we headed to Sink Canyon south of Landers.  Turned out to be a great ride! 

I've attached two pictures of the canyon which was carved out by the river and the ice age.  These mountain formations are over 100 - 500 million years old.

I've also attached two pictures of the Poopoo Agie Rivers which starts in the high country then comes roaring down only to disappear into the mountain through a cavern.  The water reappears 1/4 mile further down the canyon.  Very interesting.

Bad Water Creek - North of Riverton, WY

Don't think I would want to drink from this creek!

Wind River Canyon 275 - 600 million years old!

Found a great drive between Riverton to Thermopolis, WY which runs by the Wind River.  The cliffs on both sides of the road and the river have dated back up to 600 million years old.  Really mind-blowing to think that the cliffs are really that old.  The second picture shows where the railroad drilled through the mountain for the trains.