Oregon into California!!

October 27 – Wed

For those of you who keep track of such things, I (Ross) goofed (And eagle-eyed Editor Ed missed it). I mis-labeled yesterdays date as Oct 25….OOOPS!!

We had a great night at a great RV park in Lincoln City and would definitely like to return there for a couple of days sometime. But all good things must come to an end and we pulled up stakes this morning (warm, dry, very light cloud covering) and headed south along the amazing Oregon Coast (#101). Every curve brought another incredible vista – crashing waves, jagged rocky outcroppings, and even some sea lions (more of that later). We started getting a few sprinkles but then it tapered off again. Made Coos Bay in good time, set up camp in another very nice RV park and headed out to explore.

Coos Bay, North Bend, and Bandon are all blended together. Mainly fishing and tourism with some logging thrown in. We took off to Charleston (on the other side of the bay) and drove along the coast. There are plenty of pull-offs to sit and enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of the ocean. We stopped at a few including a fairly large pull off where there were a couple of cars. When we opened the car doors there was this ungodly noise…….sea lions. Looking over the railings down to the coast and the surf we could see several dozen sea lions lounging on the rocks or in the water. Every once in awhile one big bull would start hollering and the others would join in. This on top of the general cacophony was quite incredible.

On around the rest of the peninsula and through downtown Coos Bay (or is it downtown North Bend) and home. We did find some scallops and shrimp in Charleston, so you know what we had for dinner!!

Ross got the laundry done while Ed caught up with his emails, office calls, and of course cooking dinner.

Dogs have been taken for a walk or two or three, we are full, laundry is done and garbage is gone…….now to enjoy a night of watching TV, reading, and writing this blog!!

We hope all is OK with everyone. More fun times tomorrow!!

October 28 – Thursday

Up and away by about 9:30 and on our way to Canyonville OR. We travel along # 42 highway that meanders along Middle Fork Coquille River. There are some hills but the road is fine (albeit a little wet – yes, we have light rain). And in good time we make Canyonville – or to be precise The Seven Feathers Casino and RV Resort. We have stayed here many times and are impressed each time we visit.

We are not really casino people but a little gambling never hurt anyone – especially when it’s penny slots!! And the big draw is the seafood buffet on Thursdays. We get settled into the RV park, walk the dogs, and head over to the hot tub/pool. Very nice way to relax after a days driving. Then call for the free shuttle to take us over to the casino. We play a few slots – eventually lose the dollar that we each started with and head over to the buffet. It’s hard to explain how big this place is but there is one cooler table dedicated to Alaskan King crab legs. Then of course there are the many ways of serving shrimp – peel your own, fried, in sauce, in jambalaya, and King and Snow crab legs (warm and cold)……..and I guess there was other stuff too (in fact I know there was roast beef, ham, chicken, veggies, salads galore, soups, Chinese, Indian, and plenty of desserts).

We ate like little piggies and waddled back for more. As we were at the desert island one of the servers looked at Ed’s “I Believe in Santa” polo shirt and chuckled. She said she liked the shirt and thought that he would have to be good all year round. Ed leaned closer and whispered that he had to be good as he worked for Santa. I gave her a couple of cards and throughout the rest of our dinner, whenever I looked up, she was staring at the card, then at me, then at the card and smiling. I made someone’s day!!!

Out on the casino floor again for a bit then home for a quick sleep. Weather has started to clear and they are calling for clear skies with a large burning orb in the sky!!

October 29 – Friday

We got a later start thing morning but were away for Canyonville by 11:00AM. We are travelling on I-5 freeway and making good time. The only concern is what the Siskiyou Pass holds. This pass can be very unpredictable and we always try to traverse it around mid day. Today the pass is great, no snow/rain/slides and the Prince Reindeer goes up and down those hills like a mountain goat. Amazingly enough as we cross into California the rain stops and the sun comes out....Thanks Arnie!

We make our next stop by 3:45, park, and get settled in the truckers area of the Rolling Hills Casino and RV park in Corning, CA. The RV park charges $25 per night with no WiFi, no TV service, and only 30amp power. So we save the money, park in the free truckers spot (dry camp – no facilities—and away from the reefers!!) and spend the money we saved at the casino!

Corning is the self-proclaimed olive capital of the world and the Olive Pit is an amazing store. Imagine a small grocery store, run by a family and a few employees, that is stocked with olives and every olive product you can think of in every shape, size, quantity, and configuration. Stuffed with pimentos, almonds, mushrooms, garlic, other olives (I kid you not), etc. And sizes from a small jar (8oz) to the gallon jars! Needless to say we had a great time as always there. Have to stock up on our martini olives for the desert. Hope the other guys coming to Quartzsite remember to stop and pick some more up!!!!

Again we played a few slots and headed over to eat dinner………..surprise, surprise, Fridays is their seafood buffet!! (Talk about planning!) And again we scarf platefuls of shrimp, snow crab, crab cakes, fried oysters, clams, calamari, etc. What a feast!!

We waddle out of the restaurant and back to the slot machines. Then home again, home again, jiggedy jig!! Take the dogs for their second walk since we got there and settle in for a long night’s rest. Unfortunately, we had trucks coming in to the parking lot and past us all night, then leaving VERY early in the morning – not much sleep!!

October 30

Getting close to our destination!! Today’s travel is all along I – 5 freeway and as it is Saturday the traffic is relatively light. We make Lodi in good time and settle into our RV park. The park has about 180 spaces and is the cleanest we have ever seen (except perhaps for Canyonville). We detach the car and go exploring as there are over 80 wineries in the area. We particularly want to see Berghold and Woodbridge.

Berghold is a family estate winery. The main house is massive (reminds me of some European castles). The last time we were there they had an amazing display of Santas. Each Santa has been handmade by Mrs. Berghold and she is an amazing seamstress. Wanted to get a couple more photos of some of the outfits. But they still have their Thanksgiving/Halloween display out and won’t be putting the Christmas display out for at least another week or two.

Talked to one of the family and learned a bit more of the history. There was a very interesting contraption in the main room. This huge cabinet was opened to reveal many different instruments attached to a main computer. Each instrument had wires connecting the frets, keys, strings, etc to the computer. As a piece or genre of music was selected on the computer the wires would start plucking or striking or playing these instruments. There was an accordion, three or four guitars, steel drum, pipe organ, a couple of reed instruments, and some percussion. ( photos and a video clip on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/texased/ )What a find!!! And their wine was pretty good too!!!

Then off to Woodbridge. This Robert Mondavi winery is cute. The people were very well versed in their knowledge of the wines and had a great sense of humour. One of the tasters was wearing a halo and the other had a pair of devil’s horns. We kept telling them that good girls get sweaters and bad girls get Cadillacs so of course they tried to switch!! Anyway, lots of laughs as they introduced us around to all the visitors, gave us some extra wine tastings for free, and we walked out of there with a few bottles of wine!!!!

Back to the motor home, walked the dogs again, had dinner, and watched a little TV. Big day tomorrow as we head off to Fresno and get settled for a longish time.

Blog Oct 27

Oct 27 – Wed

For those of you who keep track of such things, I (Ross) goofed (And eagle-eyed Editor Ed missed it). I mis-labeled yesterdays date as Oct 25….OOOPS!!

We had a great night at a great RV park in Lincoln City and would definitely like to return there for a couple of days sometime. But all good things must come to an end and we pulled up stakes this morning (warm, dry, very light cloud covering) and headed south along the amazing Oregon Coast (#101). Every curve brought another incredible vista – crashing waves, jagged rocky outcroppings, and even some sea lions (more of that later). We started getting a few sprinkles but then it tapered off again. Made Coos Bay in good time, set up camp in another very nice RV park and headed out to explore.

Coos Bay, North Bend, and Bandon are all blended together. Mainly fishing and tourism with some logging thrown in. We took off to Charleston (on the other side of the bay) and drove along the coast. There are plenty of pull-offs to sit and enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of the ocean. We stopped at a few including a fairly large pull off where there were a couple of cars. When we opened the car doors there was this ungodly noise…….sea lions. Looking over the railings down to the coast and the surf we could see several dozen sea lions lounging on the rocks or in the water. Every once in awhile one big bull would start hollering and the others would join in. This on top of the general cacophony was quite incredible.

On around the rest of the peninsula and through downtown Coos Bay (or is it downtown North Bend) and home. We did find some scallops and shrimp in Charleston, so you know what we had for dinner!!

Ross got the laundry done while Ed caught up with his emails, office calls, and of course cooking dinner.

Dogs have been taken for a walk or two or three, we are full, laundry is done and garbage is gone…….now to enjoy a night of watching TV, reading, and writing this blog!!

We hope all is OK with everyone. More fun times tomorrow!!

Oct 28 – Thursday

Up and away by about 9:30 and on our way to Canyonville OR. We travel along # 42 highway that meanders along Middle Fork Coquille River. There are some hills but the road is fine (albeit a little wet – yes, we have light rain). And in good time we make Canyonville – or to be precise The Seven Feathers Casino and RV Resort. We have stayed here many times and are impressed each time we visit.

We are not really casino people but a little gambling never hurt anyone – especially when it’s penny slots!! And the big draw is the seafood buffet on Thursdays. We get settled into the RV park, walk the dogs, and head over to the hot tub/pool. Very nice way to relax after a days driving. Then call for the free shuttle to take us over to the casino. We play a few slots – eventually lose the dollar that we each started with and head over to the buffet. It’s hard to explain how big this place is but there is one cooler table dedicated to Alaskan King crab legs. Then of course there are the many ways of serving shrimp – peel your own, fried, in sauce, in jambalaya, and King and Snow crab legs (warm and cold)……..and I guess there was other stuff too (in fact I know there was roast beef, ham, chicken, veggies, salads galore, soups, Chinese, Indian, and plenty of desserts).

We ate like little piggies and waddled back for more. As we were at the desert island one of the servers looked at Ed’s “I Believe in Santa” polo shirt and chuckled. She said she liked the shirt and thought that he would have to be good all year round. Ed leaned closer and whispered that he had to be good as he worked for Santa. I gave her a couple of cards and throughout the rest of our dinner, whenever I looked up, she was staring at the card, then at me, then at the card and smiling. I made someone’s day!!!

Out on the casino floor again for a bit then home for a quick sleep. Weather has started to clear and they are calling for clear skies with a large burning orb in the sky!!

Oct 29 – Friday

We got a later start thing morning but were away for Canyonville by 11:00AM. We are travelling on I-5 freeway and making good time. The only concern is what the Siskiyou Pass holds. This pass can be very unpredictable and we always try to traverse it around mid day. Today the pass is great, no snow/rain/slides and the Prince Reindeer goes up and down those hills like a mountain goat. Amazingly enough as we cross into California the rain stops and the sun comes out....Thanks Arnie!

We make our next stop by 3:45, park, and get settled in the truckers area of the Rolling Hills Casino and RV park in Corning, CA. The RV park charges $25 per night with no WiFi, no TV service, and only 30amp power. So we save the money, park in the free truckers spot (dry camp – no facilities—and away from the reefers!!) and spend the money we saved at the casino!

Corning is the self-proclaimed olive capital of the world and the Olive Pit is an amazing store. Imagine a small grocery store, run by a family and a few employees, that is stocked with olives and every olive product you can think of in every shape, size, quantity, and configuration. Stuffed with pimentos, almonds, mushrooms, garlic, other olives (I kid you not), etc. And sizes from a small jar (8oz) to the gallon jars! Needless to say we had a great time as always there. Have to stock up on our martini olives for the desert. Hope the other guys coming to Quartzsite remember to stop and pick some more up!!!!

Again we played a few slots and headed over to eat dinner………..surprise, surprise, Fridays is their seafood buffet!! (Talk about planning!) And again we scarf platefuls of shrimp, snow crab, crab cakes, fried oysters, clams, calamari, etc. What a feast!!

We waddle out of the restaurant and back to the slot machines. Then home again, home again, jiggedy jig!! Take the dogs for their second walk since we got there and settle in for a long night’s rest. Unfortunately, we had trucks coming in to the parking lot and past us all night, then leaving VERY early in the morning – not much sleep!!

Oct 30

Getting close to our destination!! Today’s travel is all along I – 5 freeway and as it is Saturday the traffic is relatively light. We make Lodi in good time and settle into our RV park. The park has about 180 spaces and is the cleanest we have ever seen (except perhaps for Canyonville). We detach the car and go exploring as there are over 80 wineries in the area. We particularly want to see Berghold and Woodbridge.

Berghold is a family estate winery. The main house is massive (reminds me of some European castles). The last time we were there they had an amazing display of Santas. Each Santa has been handmade by Mrs. Berghold and she is an amazing seamstress. Wanted to get a couple more photos of some of the outfits. But they still have their Thanksgiving/Halloween display out and won’t be putting the Christmas display out for at least another week or two.

Talked to one of the family and learned a bit more of the history. There was a very interesting contraption in the main room. This huge cabinet was opened to reveal many different instruments attached to a main computer. Each instrument had wires connecting the frets, keys, strings, etc to the computer. As a piece or genre of music was selected on the computer the wires would start plucking or striking or playing these instruments. There was an accordion, three or four guitars, steel drum, pipe organ, a couple of reed instruments, and some percussion. ( photos and a video clip on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/texased/ )What a find!!! And their wine was pretty good too!!!

Then off to Woodbridge. This Robert Mondavi winery is cute. The people were very well versed in their knowledge of the wines and had a great sense of humour. One of the tasters was wearing a halo and the other had a pair of devil’s horns. We kept telling them that good girls get sweaters and bad girls get Cadillacs so of course they tried to switch!! Anyway, lots of laughs as they introduced us around to all the visitors, gave us some extra wine tastings for free, and we walked out of there with a few bottles of wine!!!!

Back to the motor home, walked the dogs again, had dinner, and watched a little TV. Big day tomorrow as we head off to Fresno and get settled for a longish time.

The First Week on the Road 2010

October 21 – Thursday

We headed out from Westbank fully loaded and with car in tow (complete with our new Brake Buddy). We had an easy drive down to the Lower Mainland and rain. Finally found the RV park (right next to the waterslides at the ferry terminals) – not the best place in the world but they do have somewhat dry land (most of the adjoining fields are a little sodden) and power/sewer hookups.

Connected with Carolyn and met them at their place for a bit. Emily is growing like a weed! She is a little shy about us at first but then warmed up quickly. Alex had a night school class (ESL) so the three plus baby were off for a feed of sushi. Don’t know why we don’t have more sushi at home………OH Wait…..it’s expensive!!

The dogs are a little more relaxed than they were at home……I think it’s because they know they are coming with us for the rest of the trip and are not being left at home.

October 22 – Friday

Lazy morning – coffee, first stollen of the year, listening to CBC and reading. Over to Carolyn and Alex’s place about noon and picked up Emily for an afternoon of fun………but it’s still drizzling! We thought about taking her to a mall to do some shopping but then realized we would be leaving the dogs alone for up to 9 hours. Spent some quality time with the dogs and Emily and then back to her place. Dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory (in Richmond) – what a hoot. We got there about 5PM and the place was almost empty. Talking to the hostess we found out that they had had a group of 160 people for the late afternoon and they were expecting another full house for dinner. Very glad we made reservations for 5PM because by 5:30 the place was absolutely full and the line up was out the door!

Oct 23 – Saturday

Back to Emily’s place by 9:30 and then off for dim sum (we need a good dim sum place in the Okanagan) and a massive feed. Must remember to feed Ed before he grabs the order sheet and orders WAAYYY too much food!! Then to Value Village for some shoes for Emily and a quick look around. This is the best weekend for people to shop for Halloween outfits and the place was packed!! We found a few things and then off to The Gourmet Warehouse. If you like to cook you HAVE to go to the Gourmet Warehouse sometime in the future!

They have every kind of culinary gee-gaw you can imagine, tools, spices, oils and an Aga stove! Check out the website…. http://www.gourmetwarehouse.ca/

Meanwhile back at the ranch Santa put in an appearance for some early Santa photos, then back to our abode for a quick lie down and cuddle with the dogs.

We gussied up and went off to see “The Fantasticks”at the Playhouse. The run was totally sold out by the time it opened and has now been held over. That’s a success!!! Maybe one of our Many Hats productions will do the same soon. Anyway, the show was great….mind you what did we expect with major actors on stage – Jeff Hyslop as the mute, Christopher Gaze as the old actor Henry, and the ever good looking Steve Maddock as El Gallo. Man, he can sing up a storm, great actor too, and very, VERY easy on the eyes!! Also ran into three people we knew from Theatre Under the Stars – Lionel and Carol Jinks, and Sam Peerless. Great to catch up on them even if for only a few minutes.

October 24 – Sunday

Up early and over to Watermania to catch Emily at her second swim lesson. This place is immense – huge swimming pool, another pool that is a wave pool and used for water polo (not at the same time mind you), a huge kiddies pool, a smaller kiddies pool, two hot tubs, viewing areas, three slides, plus meeting rooms and weight/workout room. Decent prices too ($365/yr for seniors). Today we learned to put our faces in the water and also how to kick our legs. Great fun and lots of pics!

Back to the seafood restaurant for Dim Sum (didn’t order quite a much this time!) then down to Gourmet Warehouse. Carolyn has been wanting a yogurt maker and when we were in yesterday they were out of stock so she left her name and number. One turned up almost immediately ...a good excuse for more dim sum and a trip to Gourmet Warehouse!!

Also picked up a few Christmas presents as Santa has trouble shopping when he is at the mall working. Then discovered a Columbian coffee shop next door to Gourmet Warehouse so picked up some coffee beans and on home to Richmond.

Emily was supposed to be asleep but she was not interested in napping – too bad as we all wanted to have a nap too!! Quick cup of coffee and back home to play with the pups. Going for burgers tonight but if I am still stuffed like I am now, I may only have a salad!!

Well the burgers were too good to pass up, but only one. One last visit with Carolyn, Alex, and Emily then back to the motor home….and it’s raining.

October 25 – Monday

We say goodbye to the RV park……..and good riddance. Not a great place, but close to the kids. Over the border in pretty good time and on our way to Centralia. Weather is not great – raining, but we are making good time. Got into Centralia, filled Prince Reindeer with gas and then came back (after setting up camp) to do some serious grocery shopping.

October 25 (2 months to Christmas) - Tuesday

The rain pounded down all night sometimes sounding like we were under a fire hose. Daybreak and the rain continues in buckets. Some of the places in WA are breaking records – over 5” in 48 hours in Tillamook.

Everyone (including the pups) were pretty soggy by the time we got loaded up but it didn’t slow us down much.

We took US30 to Astoria, then 101 down the Oregon coast. Raining all the way, sometimes in torrential downpours. Incredible scenery but it would be very much better if we had some sun. Pounding surf, high winds, incredible waves, and sometimes breath taking.

We had a lunch stop at a gorgeous spot with dazzling views of crashing surf…and amazingly no rain for a few minutes anyway!

Made Lincoln City (raining still, again with some huge gusts and downpours) and settled into a very nice RV park. Had a chance to look around the town – quite a vacation spot - ++ accommodations, ++ eating places, ++ souvenir/kitsch shops – all catering to tourists but not this time of year!!! Town is long and skinny, hugging the coastline but looks quite affluent. We have gone through a few towns that are automatically on our “never move there” list but maybe not this one!!

Finally the rain is tapering off and we can only hope that everything dries out sometime this century.

Christmas letter 2010

WHAT?? No! It can’t be!! It’s too early!!!

Anyway, in case we forget to say it..............Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year for 2011!!

This year has been a whirlwind!! Those of you who have followed our adventures through our blog http://santaandthewrangler.blogspot.com/ know that we spent last November/December in Fresno California.

Ross was Santa at Fashion Fair Mall and Ed looked after the puppies, took calls and emails from his clients and CRA, visited the local gym, and spent a lot of time driving between here there and everywhere. Suffice it to say, Mall Management must have liked Ross as he is going back to the same mall this year. We have found a RV park much closer to the mall for this year so time and money will be saved (we hope).

On December 23 our friend Marg McLellan arrived at our motor home and stayed with us until December 27. The Christmas dinner we had at Erna’s Elderberry House http://www.elderberryhouse.com/eehMenu.html was outstanding – one of the best (if not the very best) meals we have ever had...........we are planning our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners there this year!!!

On December 28 we took off for Quartzsite Arizona to meet up with a couple of Ross’ Santa buddies. We had only planned to stay a week or so as we didn’t know if we would like the dry camping (camping in the motor home with no facilities to hook up – water, sewer, power) but with a lot of help from Santa Bruce and Santa Buck we discovered dry camping can actually be fun. So much so that we stayed in Quartzsite for about 5½ weeks then moved off with the other Santas to Yuma and onto Holtville CA. Other Santa friends joined us at various time throughout our stay. Those were fun times that we are hoping to repeat again this year. There is something about sitting around a campfire under the starlit sky with 7 Santas – eerie, yet absolutely magical.

We then slowly made our way home through Joshua Tree and Death Valley with stops at every place that had hot springs!!

We got home just in time for tax time to hit with a vengeance. Ed’s business has taken off in leaps and bounds. He has several clients that keep referring him to their friends and neighbours so that kept him (with Ross’ help) very busy for most of the year!! Be careful what you wish for!!

At the same time Ross went into rehearsal for an English murder mystery. It’s the first time in many years he has been on that side of the footlights and loved every minute of it. Ed on the other hand is becoming well known for his publicity management and he is the PR person for two theatre companies at the moment – as if he needed anymore work!!

In mid-April we welcomed Carolyn (Ed’s daughter), her husband Alex, and their little one Emily to Canada. We took the motor home down to Burnaby and parked it so they had a place to stay while looking for a job and an apartment/town home.

Carolyn now is working for a high-tech firm and they have found an apartment about 2 blocks away. Emily is in a Montessori – style preschool/daycare and Alex is picking up work (construction) where he can find it. They come up to see us whenever they have the chance and Emily is growing like a weed, has four teeth and is walking better each day but still not able to say “Grandpa Ed.” We were thrilled to host her first birthday party on July 30.

As summer started we were again busy at the Westbank Yacht Club – cooking dinners for up to 150 and socializing with the members. There is a group of us who cook up a feast two or three times a year and we all have way too much fun!!

Starting in July we began rehearsals for “Sylvia” – Ed directing and Ross producing. We opened Sept 9 to rave reviews and will be taking the show to Castlegar for a one night ‘gig’.

On September 19 Ross turned 60 and that seemed like a great excuse for a party which we had on September 18. Weather was dreary but 81 people showed up – we had a band, 2 other Santas, and 4 nuns – and everyone had a good time.

As the end of October is just around the corner we thought we should get this letter off to our friends and family before we head out. We leave for California October 21 and Ross starts his Santa thing November 5.

We will again be writing about our adventures on our blog – http://santaandthewrangler.blogspot.com/ – so to find out what we’re up to feel free to follow along!

In the meantime we want to wish each and every one of you a very Merry (if early) Christmas and all the best for 2011. We will be thinking about you all over the holidays and hope that you’re thinking of us!!