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.