There's no place like home (heels clicking), there's no place like home!

It was inevitable.  In fact, we expected it.  Yesterday, a 42 foot Class A motor home (i.e., bus) moved into the space next to us.  Now ordinarily, they would have been welcome as the buds in May, BUT they stole our view of the river!! Rude, I say, rude, rude, rude!

Actually, when we made the reservation to stay here, I asked for one of the view sites, but our favorites (#1-10) were all reserved already. The host offered me site #75, because it is closer to the river than all but one other. I quipped, "I hope you don't have a 45 footer scheduled into #76."  He told me that a 40 footer would be there for 2 days. So, I agreed to take it. 

When the very nice folks from Montana arrived yesterday, Ken (the owner) apologized for taking our view.  I told him I was expecting him, and that since he was only there for two days, I would forgive him.  But then he told me that he had just made the reservation the day before.  There had been no place for him to stay for a week, until "guess who" cancelled.

So, we are suffering mightily ;-) due to lack of view. 

Our original plan was to stay here for five to seven days and then move on to another park, as yet to be determined.  I looked on the internet for  a nice park near Mossyrock, WA.  Some RVing friends have raved about the area, but we have never made it there.  So, today, since Topper is standing on her own four feet, we took Silvie and headed for Mossyrock, about 45 miles up the road, to scope it out. Here are our findings:

1. Seaquest State Park:  a beautiful park with 16 full hookup (electricity, water, sewer) campsites, all of which are arranged like a parking lot and as of today surrounded by mud. Lots of hiking trails and a beautiful wooded park.
2. Silver Lake Motel and RV park: a very tired motel with, perhaps 8 RV sites, which appear to be just a matter of parking on the lawn. I couldn't tell what they had for conveniences.  In their favor, there is lake frontage with a dock and boats for rent. Overall, the "feel" of the place was what might come to mind if you learned we were living in a "trailer park."
3. Silver Cove "An upscale RV Resort": The facilities are nice enough, and the park is well maintained.  It is fairly new, built on a series of canals that were apparently dug in order to offer waterfront RV sites to most of the guests. As we looked around, we were impressed by how unimpressed we were and with the fact that there appeared to be no activities available except walking around the park. 

In a desperate endeavor to do better, I turned down S. Silver Lake Rd.  It sounds promising, no? We drove up and up, ever higher into the mountains until, at last, we came to a T.  To the left was a dead end road (in 1 1/2 miles) that headed downhill toward what I guessed might be the lake.  We drove for what felt like 3 or 4 miles and came to the end of the county road, although the pavement continued. At the end of the county road, there is a little turnout. 

We pulled into the turnout and decided to enjoy our picnic lunch. After all, the scenery was pretty enough, and we had long since despaired of finding the perfect RV park on Silver Lake.  While we were eating, we noticed some blackberry bushes.  That was all it took. Jill was out of the truck and filling her sandwich bag with blackberries.  I wasn't far behind, and after a very few minutes, we had a couple of cups of berries; enough for dessert tonight.

It seemed like a good time to head for home.  When we returned to the T, where we had gone to the end of the county road, we continued on what became Headquarters Road.  The drive was spectacular, and in a short time, we found ourselves back at I-5.  I turned the truck onto the freeway and we came back to Woodland. After a quick stop at Wally World for some ears of corn and some pork spare ribs for dinner, we made our way back to site #75, Columbia River Front RV Park.

I went up to the office and asked if, perchance, they had a space available in the view sites beginning on Wednesday.  Bingo! Wednesday, we will be moving to site #5, where we can park Topper with an unobstructed view of the river.  So, we won't be staying in the Silver Lake area; at least not on this trip.

Genesis 6

Can you say, "Noah?"  Last night it rained so hard ALL NIGHT LONG that I told Jill, "I think we should have bought an Ark, instead of a camper."  The good news is that the thunder and lightning all happened before bedtime, so Pogo was able to settle down and sleep all night.

This morning, the rain continued, until about 11 AM.  We off-loaded Topper from Silvie (the Silverado pickup) and made a trip into town for some supplies, but also because we were having a little cabin fever, after 2 days of rainy weather. We had lunch at a nice little Mexican restaurant called Guadalajara.  It was quite good.

After we returned, we did a load of laundry at the coin-op here in the park. The old blogger took a nap, and then we took the dogs for a little romp on the grass. We sat out under the awning, where we met our new neighbors who are from just up the road at Mossyrock.

Here's our little patio area.

Dinner was a bit late, because we were just enjoying being out and about.  So, now it is time to settle in for the night.  More adventures are expected tomorrow, because the weather is forecast to improve.

Look for another report soon.

Oh what a beautiful morning... oh, what an interesting night.

We had a lovely day yesterday, as I reported in my previous post.  Around, 9 PM, having watched the Boston Red Sox slaughter the Detroit Tigers 20-4, and after a lovely dinner, we decided it was time to climb into our "upper berth."

We took the dogs out for their evening duty, and then got ourselves ready for a long repose. We craweled into bed.  Lulu spent some time loving us up, and then she crawled into her little bed which is next to my side of the bed.  Pogo, as always, snuggled up between us.  Soon, the old blogger was in dreamland.

The next thing I knew, Pogo was sitting on my head, shaking like one of those old time spot reducing machines and panting as if she had just run a marathon. I must have made some comment, because Jill said, "Poor Pogo, the thunder is worrying her." I didn't even know there was thunder, and then there was a brilliant flash through the overhead hatch. A few moments later, a long, rolling rumble passed over us, and Pogo turned the spot reducer up to "High."

For several minutes, Pogo panted and shook. Soon, I noticed a puddle on the top cover of the bed from her drooling. After several minutes of trying to calm her down, we heard a crash, followed by the sound of running water. 

OK, that's it, I'm getting up.  Jill turned on the overhead light and I leapt out of bed (as best I could, given that getting out of bed means slithering down to the end and stepping down a couple of feet). I went to the galley, where I found that the cutting board, which had been standing on edge next to the sink, had fallen over, hit the water tap and turned on the hot water. OK, that was easy to fix.  I got back into bed; we turned out the light, and tried to go back to sleep.

I think it was about that time that the rain began falling in earnest (and also in Woodland).  Pogo was a basket case. After a while, Jill had had it.  She took Pogo down to the dinette berth and they proceeded to settle in there. 

I began to doze again.  Then my phone rang. Now, to me, a phone call at 2 AM is never good news.  This one turned out to be a cheerful man with a distinctly British accent.  After a moment of my trying to make sense of who this was, and why he was calling in the middle of the night, he said, "I'm calling about your RV." I told him the RV has already been sold, and he said, "Right, then, cheeri-o." When we got up this morning, I looked at the phone number. The call had come from Isle of Man.  For those of you who are geographically challenged, like your old blogger, Isle of Man is in the middle of the Irish Sea! I guess I had better check Craig's List to make sure I cancelled the ad for Sadie!

OK.  Now for some real sleep.  I began to doze again. Then I awakened to the following: a low rumble (a ship going up the river?), a train whistle (on the far side of the river), a shudder (Topper was being jostled), and the sound of a sail flapping wildly in the wind ( I knew I should have rolled up the awning before going to bed.)  I lay there trying to ignore all this stuff, but eventually visions of a shredded awning flapping along behind us as we tootle down the highway to our next destination overcame my desire for sleep. 

I got up and went out in the wind and the rain and rolled up said awning (for only the second time since we have had Topper) with a bit of difficulty. Jill thanked me, for she, too, was concerned, and I returned to my bed. At long last I fell into the arms of Morpheus not to awaken again until 7:30! Surprisingly cheerful, I got up and discovered that Jill was in the same condition: tired, but not exhausted or grumpy. 

Jill made some coffee, and then we took the girls out for their morning business, a very successful venture.  And here I sit writing to you, gentle reader, while my bride is in the kitchen preparing something that features a heavenly aroma for my breakfast.

Sweet dreams!

The second time is the charm

With a great deal of anticipation, we departed on our annual fall getaway.  We have been anticipating the trip for several weeks and making improvements and personalizing Topper. Jill did a fantastic job of packing up the camper, as usual, and I fussed with the technical stuff. 

Finally, we were ready.  We put the dogs in the truck did a final check on door locks and hit the road.  Things were going swimmingly until we got to Salem, about 15 miles from home. That's when the old blogger realized that his wallet was sitting on top of his dresser...at home!

We made an about face and headed for home. Along the way, Jill remembered that she hadn't packed Pogo's medicines. So, to save face, I declared that we were going home for dog meds...oh, and while we are there, we'll pick up my wallet, too.

Once we were back on the road again, we had no further trouble.  The traffic in Portland was bearable (barely), and we made fairly good time, although I don't push things, when we are RVing. It's supposed to be relaxing, you know.

By the time we reached Hazel Dell, we realized that we were getting hungry.  Jill said she wanted a bacon, cheese Whopper Jr.  We found Burger King and enjoyed the fact that it was so easy to pull in the parking lot, park the truck and get lunch.  That was not the case with the motor home, especially when we were towing the little car behind.

After lunch we continued to our destination, to wit: Columbia Riverside RV Park, in Woodland, WA.  We love this place, and we have stayed here many times in the past. We are parked where we can see the Columbia River from our dinette window. There is one space between us and the view, but it is empty.  Jill said, "Even if we only get this one night without somebody parked between us and the river, it will be totally worth it." 

Here's what she was talking about:

More of this and that...

The old blogger has been down with a cold this week.  No zip, so I haven't done much.  Today, however, I feel a lot better... and the USB outlets arrived.  I couldn't let that pass by. So, I installed one. It turns out that the box I wanted to install the outlet in was not deep enough to accommodate the new outlet. Consequently, it was necessary to replace the box, which required taking the door off one of the closets to get to it.

Isn't it funny how a little project can turn into a major hassle? After a bit of effort and some concern about being in the cabover while the camper is off the truck, I managed to get the job done.  When I came in the house, I realized that I was wringing wet! It is hot in that garage!

Tomorrow, I will install the remaining two USB outlets.  They should be easier, because I know the boxes are deep enough, and one of them is near the floor, which means it will be cooler and more accessible.

I must confess that, even though I wasn't feeling very well, I installed the new TV/DVD combo that arrived on Wednesday. It was a 10 minute job, and I am very pleased with the result.  I can plug an FM repeater in the headphone jack and send the sound to our stereo system, giving us virtual surround sound.  Jill was impressed!

We have a post-Labor Day outing planned, so we will be able to try out all of our little tweaks to Topper. We are excited. Stay tuned. 

A little of this and a little of that

Never one to let well enough alone, I decided that Topper needed some more places to plug things in.  So, yesterday and today, I added four outlets. I have ordered some special 120 VAC outlets that also have USB ports for charging various electronic devices.  Most notably, these will be used for charging our two iPhones, Jill's iPad, and her iPod. 

Oddly, the manufacturer didn't put an outlet in the dinette area.  So, one of the new outlets is situated under the dinette table, so we can plug in laptops, etc. I also added an outlet (one of the ones with USB output will go there, when it arrives) to Jill's side of the bed, where there was no outlet before.  I also added an outlet for the TV that we have ordered.  It should be here tomorrow.

My activity got Jill inspired, and she took down the hideous wallpaper border that was peeling off the wall above our bed.  It looks so much nicer without that mess. I mounted a paper towel rack in the galley, as well as a spice rack. So, little by little, we are personalizing Topper.  We have a few more little odds and ends that we want to do this week. 

Next week, we hope to make our annual September getaway. Last year's outing was cut short, because our motor home was in the shop, but we sold her last weekend, and now we have Topper.  Topper is ready to go, even if we don't get all the little projects done that we have on our list.

So, stand by for further reports. Until then, happy trails to you (with apologies to Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.)

The Maiden Voyage of Topper

Having driven Topper home from the dealership, I quickly realized that the pickup was going to need some rear axle spring assistance. I had great luck with AirLift spring helpers on the front of our motor home, so I got online and found the proper match for our pickup and ordered a set of AirLift 5000 air bags.

It took me most of a day to install the air bags, because I don't own a lift or even jackstands. I spent several hours rolling around under the unraised truck on a creeper. This is not as easy as you might think for a 67 year old man. In the end, however, it was well worth it. The air bags lifted the rear end of the truck back to a normal, level ride.

Jill had emptied everything out of the motor home in order to get it cleaned up and ready for sale. We piled it all on a table in the garage. When the airbags were installed and we had tested the ride in the new configuration, we sorted through the pile on the table. Obviously, some things had to go. You can't fit a 31 foot motorhome worth of stuff into a 10 foot camper!

Once the decisions had been made about must-haves and wanna-haves, Jill did a magnificent job of stowing things aboard Topper. Best of all, she reported that we (meaning she) would be fine with what we had kept. All the necessities of life were accounted for. We began looking for an opportunity to go camping. We can legally call it that now, since we will be doing it in a “camper.”

I found a website for Linn County parks, and the more I read, the more intriguing the parks sounded. I chose to make a reservation for two nights at River Bend County Park. Although we had had three vehicles listed on Craigslist for sale, God smiled on us and gave us buyers for two of them the very night before we were scheduled to take Topper out for a trial run. Hallelujah!

We took off from home yesterday afternoon. I was a little bit nervous, a lot excited, and anxious to see how everything went. To my delight, the truck performed very well. The water temperature stayed steady at about 200 degrees no matter what terrain we encountered. The transmission temperature varied between about 175 and 190, depending on how much shifting was going on. Interestingly, it seemed to heat up at slower speeds, as in going through towns, probably because the changes in speed and acceleration required more shifting. Suffice to say, I was very pleased with the overall performance of the truck.

We arrived at our campsite about 3:30 PM. It is gorgeous. We are nestled in among a stand of Douglas fir trees. Our site is level with a nice big concrete patio and a fire pit. There is water and electricity, and plenty of privacy. We took the dogs for a hike along the South Santiam river, which gives the park its name. The river is low, so the water is crystal clear, and there are some beautiful swimming holes and fishing holes. 

The dogs were pretty confused about why we are staying in this little-bitty, foreign house, instead of that spacious motor home. But as the afternoon and evening progressed, they began to settle in. At bedtime, Lulu was pretty concerned about being way up in the air on the cab-over bed. Eventually, she settled down and we all got a good night's sleep. 

As people our ages will do, we each had occasion to get up in the night to use the bathroom. On my visit, I noted that upon flushing, a little water came out from under the toilet and ran down the floor into the shower drain. I hadn't worn my glasses, so I couldn't tell for sure what was going on. I made a mental note that the toilet would need to be repaired and went back to bed.

In the morning, we got up and had coffee. I walked the dogs, and then Jill used the bathroom again. She let out an exclamation, “The black tank is full!” Why had that not occurred to me? I instantly went to the dark place, thinking a repair was called for. I guess wearing my glasses would have helped.

Jill stowed everything, and we put the dogs in the backseat of the truck. Off we went to the dump station. At least at this time of the morning, there is no competition to get to the dump! Upon dumping, I noticed that the contents of the black tank were mostly clear, blue-green fluid. “Aha,” I thought, “the dealership must have filled the tank with cleaner/disinfectant and forgotten to empty it before delivery.” I was relieved that the rest of the camping trip would not have to be spent doing toilet repair!

So, now the sun is out. We have had breakfast. The dogs are snoozing on the sofa between us. I am writing this post, and Jill is writing letters to her brother and our daughter. The day is full of promise. Let's see, I think another walk along the river is in order. Perhaps, I will start that new novel Jill brought home for me. Life is good. Topper is going to be a great addition to the family. 

 My beautiful bride as we sat down for our first meal in Topper. 

Notice the lovely tableware we chose! We were concerned about 

Conserving water.  Topper's holding tanks are smaller than Sadie's.