Catching up....again....

Geez!  I'm such a slacker!  It's been a while since I posted.....lots going on.....We're very comfortable in our summer home in Salem....I'm having trouble getting the pics from my phone onto my computer so I'll have to post those later.....until I do, just visualize rivers, fields and forests....and wineries!
Celebrated my birthday with brunch, lunch, casino and dinner....an all day event!  Had a great time except that apparently the casino did not recognize the importance of the day!!
Met some of the neighbors....folks from Colorado.....she makes jewelry and he does woodcarving.  They told me about the senior center.....I know....I'm wa-a-a-a-ay too young for senior centers....but I thought I'd take a look....signed up for a yoga class (Natalie, Melodie, are you reading this?)....and a lapidary class....very excited!
The Salem UU Church is only 8 miles away so I've been going to services there....The minister, Reverend Rick, will be gone for the rest of the summer so they'll have different guest and member speakers.  And speaking of UU....General Assembly is in Portland next year....Dean and I were already talking about coming back here anyway.....getting to go to GA would be an added bonus!
This area is very health and fitness oriented....lots of walking trails.....and other outdoorsy stuff!  Not my thing but it is kind of cool to be around it!  There are farmers markets all over the place and we have a fruit and veggie stand just down the road from the park.....almost everything is locally grown!  We go over there every couple of days to see what came in and get it fresh....yum!!!!  Waiting for the peach season.....the guy in the stand says Oregon peaches are wa-a-a-a-ay better than Georgia's.....the season starts in 2 weeks....will let you all know our opinion.  I hate to admit it but the strawberries give Plant City some competition!

Until next time.........
Namaste,
Tobi

Final Summer destination....for real

Well, we thought we had settled in to our final summer home but it just didn't feel right....the mail issue, the remote location and the park in general....we were able to get a reservation at a park in Salem....the same owner as the nice park we stayed at in Redding....Premier RV Resorts....and yesterday we moved....and once again got settled in.....this place just feels right!  And although Salem is the capitol, it has a comfortable small town feeling.  We had lunch at Annette's Cafe and already made friends with the server....she and another server want me to bring in my jewelry....which, by the way I've been making like a maniac!  (website is not that far from being finished)

And here we are lounging around our site after a long day.....Mischka likes the place, too......

**Note me in glasses....the air is so dry out here that I have to take my contacs out in the afternoon...not a bad trade off for the life we're able to have!

There was an up side to our week at the other RV park....we met a nice couple....they were our next door neighbors....we exchanged e-mail addresses and are going out to dinner with them Saturday.

Until next post.....

Namaste.......
Tobi

to our summer home

On Saturday we made it to our final summer destination....Willamette Wine Country RV Park.  It was not without drama....the site was not good for our size RV and we heard for the first time that we can't get regular mail delivery here....only UPS or FedEx delivered to our site!  We moved to a different site but had to wait till Monday to figure out what to do about the mail.....that created a significant amount of angst!  All ended well....we now have a box at the local Post Office.....where everybody knows your name.....Dayton, Oregon is a very little town....and folks are incredibly helpful and friendly.  The park is nice.....I'll take some pics later in the week....there are several permanent residents.  So we're now in the process of getting settled in and learning our way around the area.  The closest town for shopping and other needs is McMinnville....only 5 miles down the road.  It's very quaint with a downtown not unlike downtown St. Pete.  Tomorrow is the weekly Farmers' Market which we'll take in.  It feels to know we'll be in one place for an extended period.  We've met the neighbors on both sides of us....both are "permanent".

We found a groomer in McMinnville and that's where Mischka is spending the day.....he really needed a bath!

The night before we headed here we went to dinner with Dean's cousin John.  He lives in Ashland....a really cool college town....but has a cabin up in the mountains....that's where we had dinner....a long and winding road to get there....and few guardrails!.....

The tallest building in Ashland

Tobi & Cousin John

The mountain restaurant

Until next time.....
Namaste,
Tobi

From California to Oregon

Yesterday we bid farewell to California to continue the journey to our final summer destination.  Before leaving CA we did some touristy things.....

The sundial bridge at Turtle Bay that goes over the Sacramento River......it was pretty hot so we only stayed a short time.  The intention was to return at night to see the lights....they light up the tiles that make up the walkway....but we didn't make it....

The tiles that get lighted at night

The Sundial Bridge.....

.....across the Sacramento River

The next day we drove out to the Shasta Dam and did the guided tour.....which amazingly is complimentary!  The dam is the 2nd largest in the US  (Grand Couley in Washington State is the largest) and an incredible engineering display. It is overwhelming!  As a sign of the times, the security is very high....no purses, backpacks, etc.  They actually had us take a picture with our camera to confirm it was a real camera.  Our guide was very knowledgeable and very excited about her job and getting to share the dam with visitors.  Part of her excitement was that her grandfather has actually worked on building the dam.....which by the way was begun in 1938....

view from the top

Mt Shasta as seen from the dam

Tobi & Guide

**Note the incorrect date on the sign....should be 1938

As we were leaving the Dam we had to stop and get a picture of the sign.....have never seen one like this before!

Interstate 5 to Oregon from Northern California was about the windiest interstate we'd ever been on....with steep ups and downs.....and lots of construction!  It was one of our shortest travel days but the most stressful!  On a positive note....the scenery was beautiful!

Sacramento River....it begins in the area of Mt. Shasta

Mt. Shasta

another mountain dwarfed by Shasta but beautiful too

Got settled into the RV park in Phoenix, Oregon....not without a challenge!  The GPS direction to the park was a little off....we wound up in a mobile home park with very narrow streets!  A call to the RV park got us back on track.  After naps we met Dean's cousins for dinner and drinks....cousin John lives nearby by and cousin Carolyn and boyfriend Jerry are in town visiting Jerry's Mom....

The 3 cousins

Carolyn & Jerry

Cousin John

 

Cousin John is a professor at the local college and an artist....take a look at his work at roguemosaics.com

Tomorrow we head to Dayton, Oregon where we will be for 3 months.....

Namaste,
Tobi

The past several days....

So, I last posted about a week ago.....we were in Vacaville.....

As some of you know Dean and I belong to a wine club....Naked Wine....we had an opportunity to visit their tasting in Napa last Tuesday....it's actually a wine tasting and yoga evening.  I opted out of yoga and just did the tasting.  If you're not familiar with Naked Wine and you like wine, visit their website....www.nakedwine.com... it's a very cool organization.....

Naked Wine Log

The Tasting Room

The Naked Wine Guys...Steve & Dana

On Saturday we went to the winery in Sonoma for a barbeque and tasting......

Actually two Wineries....and 2 tastings

 

The patio overlooking the vineyard

The Happy Taster

On Sunday we journeyed to Sacramento.....and Rancho Cordova....to spend some time with Irma & Paul (part of our "adopted family").....had lunch and sat around chatting....it was a good day!

The Capitol Building-Sacramento

Irma & Paul

Just had to snap a picture of the street where our campsite was for the week.....

On Monday we packed up the house and headed to the next stop on route to Oregon.....Redding, California......the ride was interesting....mountains on both sides of us and acres and acres of olive groves.....at least we think they were olives.

On Highway 5 to Redding, CA

Olives?

Mt. Shasta

As I've mentioned before, it's hard to get clear pics from the window of a speeding vehicle....but that white sort of pointy part of the picture actually is Mt Shasta....

Till next post, Namaste.....
Tobi

And the road goes on forever....

Our last night in Las Vegas we were in Sam's Town hotel and casino....noticed this building across the way that was all lit up with multicolored lights.  Got my phone out and snapped this picture....didn't know that the lights change.........

 We were leaving Sam's Town headed back to the RV when we came upon this waterfall and laser light show in Sam's center lobby.....it was pretty cool.....unfortunately the pictures didn't come out so good.........see the bear on the far right?

Sam's Town Casino waterfall and laser light show

More of the show

The Bear

Left Las Vegas, spent one night in Bakersfield and then yesterday arrived in Vacaville.  It was one of the worst travel days.....rough roads and heavy traffic for 6 hours! 

On the road to Vacaville, CA

Windmills everywhere!

Thousands of them!

Flowering bushes all along the highway

And the road goes on forever.........

...........And ever.............So, here we are in Vacaville for the week.....Tuesday we'll head to Napa (about 35 miles from here) and visit the wine club that we belong to....they have a yoga and wine tasting.  Dean has a golf date on Wednesday.  The rest of the time he's working and I'm making jewelry.....trying to get enough pieces photographed so that my website can go live soon.