Well, 2019 has been sort of a slow year for lots of activities. Through the first few months, as I look back at my calendar, it seems most of my time was taken up volunteering at the Egyptian Theatre and getting together with friends. None of that is a bad way to spend time!
In May, I did go on a cruise to Alaska with friends. There were 8 of us in the group, 5 of whom I knew before and 3 gals that became friends during the course of the week. I had been on a cruise back in 2008 with friends Linda and Tully. They were along on this cruise too. This cruise was through the Norwegian Line and the ship was huge - almost 4000 passengers. We had good weather and enjoyed our ports of call in Juneau, Icy Strait and Victoria. Some of the things I saw I had seen before like the Butchart Gardens. My take away though, is it is not wise to go on such a big ship, especially when the temperature does not encourage people to be outside a lot. It was, after all, Alaska in May.
Back on the home front saw the ORVW season in full swing. I missed the May rally due to the cruise, but went to Eastern Oregon to a place called Crooked River Ranch for the June rally. I had been here before, two years ago, to visit my friend Barb and her mom and to enjoy the full solar eclipse that was visible here.
All RV weekends are fun, but this one was a bit more memorable because I got to play some golf. I haven't played very much since Janet died as I don't know many people to play with at home. This course was beautiful and because there were five of us, which ordinarily isn't allowed, we played what I call Captain and Crew. Some call it a scramble. You all tee off and then go to the best ball to hit your next shot. It allows those who aren't quite as skilled a chance to have some fun and piggyback off the better players. I was doing that a lot as they were mostly better than I am at this point in my golf career. We had a lot of fun.
In July we went to Heceta RV Park in Florence and August found us at Kimball Creek RV park up the Rogue River from Florence. Both rallies were fun with cards, good food and lots of laughter and talking.
We painted rocks at Kimball Creek. Mine are the lighthouse and the flower on the light blue background on the right hand paper plate.
We also cooked wieners on an open fire and sang. It was a good time.
I hosted the September rally which was at North Lake RV Park in Lakeside. This is my favorite park for a couple of reasons. First, the first time Janet and I went to an ORVW rally it was here. We were tenting and had a marvelous time with all the gals. We went right out after that and bought a pop up trailer which we proudly took to the October rally which was, as I recall, in Tillamook. The second reason I love this place is the clubhouse. It is large and has a big wrap around deck where we play outdoor games like ladder golf and bean bag toss. So naturally, for this rally I had a ladder golf and bean bag toss tournament. Because the forecast for Sunday was rain, we squeezed all the games into Saturday.
And rain it did! It poured on and off Sunday but in spite of the rain we managed to make our omelets in a bag.
Since we got rained out of christening new rigs and all other outdoor activities, we played Card Bingo for the second time. We played for the first time on Thursday evening - something new for those who arrived on Thursday. A good time was had at both sessions.
On Saturday, which was a beautiful day, some of the gals went kayaking, some went for a walk at Horsfall Beach and others went in to the Salmon Festival at the Mill. On Sunday some went to see the matinee of "Mamma Mia" at the college. All said they enjoyed their activities.
And of course there was Square Nine each evening. We taught some new gals who then proceeded to clean our clocks. But where else can you have hours of fun for $3 an evening?
Sunday evening most of us went out to dinner at Lakeshore Lodge. They managed to bring out all the dinners at the same time - except for one. Somehow they misplaced Nancy's order, but in no time at all they made good on that one and we all left pleasantly full. They even gave us some watermelon slices at the end of the meal to clean our palettes!
Penny Auction big winners
The October Rally was at the Blue Ox in Albany. I arrived on Thursday and that night, my furnace died. On Friday, I called a mobile RV repair guy. He and his partner couldn't figure out what was going on and when they pulled out the burner (metal grate sort of thing that heats up and the air blows through) it disintegrated. Well, 22 years is pretty old. So finally, they pulled the whole unit out and took it with them. I was heading to Portland after the rally to fly to Hawaii for a week so we made arrangements to meet up when I got back. They promised it would be fixed. They knew I was selling the rig and didn't want to pour a lot of money into it, but I needed it to work.
A bunch of us went over to see the Albany Carousel on Saturday. I had seen some of the carvings a few years before when we were here, but the carousel wasn't open. Now it is and it is amazing.
We toured the studio in the basement and saw more animals being carved. It takes several years for one to be completed with all volunteer labor. This is a true act of love.
We also had time to go for a ride! The one I chose didn't go up and down but it was still a lot of fun. The intricacy in the designs are amazing.
On Sunday, several of us set about making wreaths under the direction of our hostess, Helen Bressler. Mine turned out surprisingly well and I put it on my door at home for fall.
I headed to Portland from the rally and stayed overnight with my friend, Karen Castner. We had a good time catching up and met up with a friend of hers at a local bar and pool place for some pool and food. It was a fun evening. We also managed to get in 9 holes of golf at a little par 3 course near her. The next day she took me to the airport where I flew to the big island, Hawaii, to join Jim and Sherry for a week in their vacation timeshare.
The first day, we visited a beautiful botanic garden and then went for a sunset cruise on a catamaran.
The sunset wasn't as impressive as it might have been because so many clouds rolled in. We were told that overnight the clouds dissipate and in the mornings it's quite clear. As the day progresses the clouds form and roll in over the island. It rains a little almost every day. Life in the tropics I suppose. It was fun to go on the cruise even if the sunset sort of fizzled.
The next day we went to Volcano National Park. This was on the same side of the island as the botanical garden. I really had no concept of how big the "Big Island" actually is. It was about 100 miles to drive across it. And then once we got to the other side we had to head south to the park.
We had a very entertaining guide and learned that there are no active lava flows on the island at this time. Someone asked when one might occur again and he said, "It could be tomorrow or it could be 200 years."
When the volcano erupted in 2018, the lava flow actually covered the island from another point and Kilauea dropped from 300 feet deep to 1600 feet deep. I guess you can walk closer to the edge or even down into it, but we didn't.
From there we headed north to Pahoa to visit Don McMaster and his partner, Ray. Don was the grandson of the people who were my guardians after my folks died, Paul and Mid McMaster. He and Ray moved to the island when they retired. They have a beautiful place and were lucky that it was not impacted by the volcano's eruption as this was an area that was evacuated. They did have to leave for 3 months, but their home, unlike many others, was not damaged.
On Saturday, we went on a snorkeling adventure with the same company that took us on the sunset cruise. When we were heading to the snorkeling site, a school of Spinner Dolphins joined us. They swam ahead, to the side and right in front of the boat. I guess they are called Spinner Dolphins because when the jump out of the water, they literally spin around! It was such fun to see them. The snorkeling was also fun. I saw a small ray that I followed around for awhile, a puffer fish, a small eel and lots of tangs and other types that you often see in salt water aquariums. I couldn't photograph them though as I don't have an underwater camera.
The next day we visited a coffee plantation. I knew growing coffee was labor intensive, but didn't realize how much so. The beans have to be picked as the cherries ripen so that is all done by hand. Then they have to be dried. Someplace in there, the beans (seeds) are separated from the fruit. That must happen before they are dried but I don't remember what the guide said. Once they are dried which takes a couple of days, they are bagged and put into storage where they can remain for a fair amount of time until they are roasted. Once roasted, they need to be used fairly soon.
They also grow other things on the farm like avacados, bananas and mangoes.
Pure Kona coffee sells for about $40 a pound. Most of the coffee you see labeled Kona coffee is only about 10% Kona. I like coffee, but not so much that I wanted to pay that price!
My last day there, we went into town to do a little souvenir shopping and then went out to dinner at a restaurant Jim and Sherry had found on their first week in Hawaii. Sherry and I had wonderful pina coladas and Jim had a bloody Mary sort of drink that was loaded with seafood. It was impressive looking, that's for sure!
I had a coconut shrimp appetizer and a Romaine salad. I don't remember exactly what they ordered, but I was surprised that their dishes had Dungeness crab in them as those crabs are caught in the Pacific Northwest from northern California to Washington and maybe further north. They don't live around Hawaii.
So I flew home that night on a redeye that went to Phoenix. Then from Phoenix to Portland and Karen picked me up - easy peasy. I was tired so I stayed overnight and headed back to Albany the next day to get the furnace for my motor home reinstalled. They guys met me at the RV park and got it back in very quickly. And best of all - it worked! $600 later and I was back in business.
The gal who bought the motor home was picking it up on the 26th and I got back to Coos Bay on the 23rd so I was busy cleaning it out and sprucing it up a bit. When she arrived I showed her how to hook up the car which she also bought. She drove it to Charleston where we was staying for the weekend and reported back to me that the furnace worked great. Thank you Mark!
While part of me was sad to see Jenny Too head down the street, another part was relieved. It was just costing me too much to maintain her for the amount I used her. My participation in ORVW will be different now, that's for sure. I can stay in a cabin at our Brookings rally in March and will look into other accommodations at future rallies. Once in a while I may go along with friends, Linda and Tully. It will be different and also a whole lot cheaper in the long run.
Thanksgiving rolled on by with 6 for dinner at my annual T-Day Potluck. Once again I cooked the turkey on Wednesday and made turkey soup from the carcass. I didn't have room in the fridge for the soup, but we've been having a cold snap so I just put it outside. It was 38 when I went to bed and 33 in the morning - better than a refrigerator.
On Friday, my friend Terry arrived. Terry was a long time friend of Janet's who also became my friend when I moved to California and worked at Hearst Castle. She was visiting her family for Thanksgiving and stopped on her way south for an overnight. We went out to Shore Acres to see the Christmas Lights, and then to the Egyptian Theatre to see "Elf" where there is a snowball fight and patrons throw rolled up socks for their own "snowball" fight. The socks are collected, washed and given to charity.
Shore Acres was beautiful and I was smart enough to get us out there early. We were parking at 4:00 when they opened. When we left, around 5:30, the line to gain entrance was backed up for almost 2 miles - all the way to Sunset Bay! We would have been hours waiting in line had we not gone early. It's beautiful, but not worth a wait like that - and the road is narrow with no place to turn around if you change your mind. Hope those folks had a lot of patience!
For Thanksgiving, I once again hosted a pot luck. 5 gals came plus me, no one went away hungry. Christmas morning I had the biscuits and gravy breakfast again with 6 gals plus me. Everyone loves my biscuits and gravy and they are pretty good if I do say so myself. After eating we all watched "Toy Story 4" which was very cute. Everyone left by about 12:30 and I lazed away the rest of the day. No photos of either.
The Saturday before New Year's found me at Boxer Bungalow for the Ohio State game. Sadly, they lost which ended their season. New Year's Eve I was there again for good food, friends and the card game, Idiot. We watched the ball drop in NY at 9:00 PM our time and called it good. I was all tucked in with Maggie and midnight here and listened to either gun shots, fireworks or mortars going off at midnight. Thankfully there were only a few. New Year's Day I was once again at Boxer Bungalow for waffles in the morning and football in the afternoon. Oregon was playing the the Rosebowl. At halftime they were behind and the game was rather boring so I went home. I found out I didn't have CNN in my streaming package so I couldn't see the end of the game, but Oregon pulled it out. Go Ducks!
I won the side bet of total games in Gavin's Football pool as well as 4 weeks so I did super well this year. It will go towards paying for my trip in January. So that brings 2019 to a close.
