on the road, finally...

May 1, 2008 and we are off to see the world. We left Ephrata and about 10:00 AM and headed toward Boardman, OR. We had perfect weather for our first day "on the road".
150 miles the first day at 10 mpg at $4.58/gallon. You do the math, I don't want to see the bottom number. We go lost in Pasco and turned onto a dead end street and had to back out and turn around. Very interesting but as you can tell we made it.

In Boardman we are camped with our back window facing the Columbia river. Here is the view. It is really spectacular. We watch the riverboats and barges ply the river, and closer to shore the geese out with their goslings.
Last night, 5/2, we had dinner outside with the sun setting in the background. We're camping with Kathy and Bryson Bailey, and here she is at the table with us. Prior to this, we had "cocktails" around the campfire with the Baileys and some new-found friends from Bend, OR. Then after dinner we moved inside to have a rousing game of Hand and Foot. (On the table in the background are the flowers I received from our girls and their families for my retirement.)

Today (5/3) Boardman is having a Cinco de Mayo celebration here in their park. We walked over to participate and have some mexican food. (Why are we always eating?!) They have games, a mariachi band, etc. It was fun. I love this hat on Jackie so had to get a picture and share it.

The weather has been cloudy with the sun peeking through at times today, but still quite warm.
I'm still not sure "retirement" has sunk in. It feels like a long weekend. Will let you know later.

Dick:

What a way to start, warm, sunny and a light wind. We will leave here Monday and head, and head, and head, well were not sure where we are going. We need to be back in Ephrata on the 13 so will leave the RV in Oregon and drive up to visit the Dentist and then will pick up the rig and head for Northern California.

Will keep you posted as WiFi permits.

Day 1, starting a new life...

0 days 0 hours

She did it, yesterday was Jackie's last day at work. She even slept in this morning. If you call 7:00 AM sleeping in. We are having breakfast and then will finish hooking up the 5 wheel and heading out. One minor problem, when we got home last night she said that she forgot her coat at work. We can just leave it except her trailer keys are in the pocket. So on the way out of town we will stop and get it. She loaded up the truck with "stuff" from work and gifts, so now will have to decide where to put it. I guess it can wait until our next stop. The GPS is set up in the cab, the bikes are on the front and the bed us full of fire wood.

Another small change of plans is that we have to be back in Ephrata on the 13 for a Rotary meeting and Dentist on the 14th. We will leave the rig some place south of here (Oregon?), drive up and spend the night with friends.

So it's Boardman, Oregon today and then ???. No plans just figure out where the next stop will be and just keep it that way.

Pictures of the party with the next post, I forgot my camera so have to rely on others. I did find one from last weekend in Ellensburg at the Rotary Convention.

take the kids fishing...

So I decided to get up early today (5:30 AM) and get some pictures of the fishing derby that is held every year here at Ping Pond in Oasis Park. It goes from 6 to 8 AM with lots of good prizes for the kids. The largest fish was 8.25 pounds so they did stock some big fish. The pond will be fished out in the next few weeks but the kids will keep trying all summer long.

11 days 6 hours

night sounds at Oasis...

Don't bother looking at this video, but do listen to it if you are interested in hearing what the sounds at the pond in Oasis park sound like at night. It's kind of hard to take a video at night but if you see the UFO it could be a quick shot of the moon. It's all of 2 minutes long so close your eyes, turn out the lights and picture yourself sitting with us next to the pond with a nice camp fire going to ward off the evening chill and just listen.

Yes there will be smores later.

What a beautiful morning next to the pond behind our RV at Oasis Park in Ephrata. Make sure the volume is up and listen for all the birds and ducks that greet us every morning. If you look close you can see a Muskrat swim by when I pan back to the left. See if you can pick out the Owl.

The Red wing black birds started to arrive early February and the sounds change every day, and I should say that they also increase every day.

It's great to be alive.

23 days 7 hours

So by popular demand from all my fans here are some more modifid photos of mine that I have played with in the past. Lots of fun to see what one can do with a picture.

From this:

To This:

And This:

From this:

To this:

And This:

And this:

From This:

To This:

Do you want more?????

It's time to stop playing and go take the snow tires off of Jackie's car.

Give me air, lots of air...

Our bedroom window is an emergency escape exit only so that leaves us with vents in the ceiling and one small window that opens only about 4" square. Because of this we do not get much ventilation in this room.

Thanks to friends on the "Montana Owners" website I found that the window manufacturer makes a sliding escape window that will open and has a bug screen on it. I ordered one and it came the other day, I took the old one out and installed the new one and now we have some cross air ventilation in the bedroom. I was not happy with the way it latched as the little catch had only two very small screws in it but thought it would be okay.

Then I talked to my RV dealer and he told me about several of these windows that have been sucked out of the trailer while it was going down the road. That would not be a good thing so yesterday out came the window again, I modified the catch so it could not come apart. The only thing was that I had to take the window out 3 times before I got it right. I did get a few looks from strangers walking by wondering if I was trying to get into the trailer through a window that was about 10' off the ground.

I got it done and it works. Why is it that the easy jobs take the longest? Now I am going to move my toilet back 3" to make more leg room in our little toilet room. Wish me luck...