Komments by KADY! Issue #4

Hi fans, I'm sorry it's been so long but mom's been HOGGING the computer!

When I last left you we were playing in the ocean at Bayshore RV Park in Tokeland and it was so much fun for us dogs.  I'm not sure that the owner is used to having four-dog families but when he found out we were corgis he was happy.  He has a friend with a corgi and it does lots of tricks and is really cute.  But he doesn't look like us he is smaller and doesn't have his tail.   We were good dogs so we can go back.

So like I said there was this beach that was only there sometimes and when it was there we could roll in the sand.

And we could smell and taste all of the bird poop.  We never can catch those dang things though.  They aren't dumb like the birds at aunt Traci's house.

And we could run and run and run.

And be like crazy dogs.

And then when we got tired we could just sit and watch the tide go in and out and watch all of the birds move up and down the sand.

But we had to leave and go somewhere else.  This is how we travel in our crates:

We went back to Fort Stevens. 

 It was good because there wasn't so many kids and bicycles this time, but there were two big puppy mastiffs that weren't on leashes.  They were not staying where their mom and dad told them to so my dad told on them and then they had to stay on their leashes.  They were really big puppies and they barked really big and deep at other dogs.

The people next door to us lived in a tent and and left all of their food out when they went away for the day to the beach.  We barked and told mom and dad that this was happening.  Mom made pictures and showed them to the peoples when they came back.  They were lucky that it wasn't a bear.  Dad said something about "hanta virus" but didn't say that to the peoples next door.

Dog friends if you stay there this is a good spot on the back side of loop O because there is a path up to a grassy area that's good for dog walking.  And there is a lake called Coffenbury and mom and dad and me and Dodah and Huxley but not Grandma Alice walked a log way around it and then back on the road.  Dad said it was a "forced march" and Hux didn't want to go again the next day.

Then we went to a park on the John Day River and we liked walking there but we had to be careful because there might be rattlesnakes in the rocks.  But that's ok because we got to visit Aunt Louise and Uncle Gary and our cousin Spencer again.

There was a FENCE around my Delicious Tomatoes now!

But that Greedy Grandma Alice found a way around it.

They still have a wood pile though and wood is the next best thing to tomatoes.

 Isn't by sister Dodah pretty?  We love each other so  much.

Then we went to another park by the river.  It was pretty and green and had lots of grass to roll on and there were other dogs.  It was a good place for dogs with lots of room to walk.

Then we went to Aunt Denise's house and we played with Venus and Lilly and we liked them.   They even came in our house and we let them.

But then Dodah found out that she was adopted.  Our real mommy Boo-Hannah and her Daddy Pie were there and she loved them a lot.

She was sad when they went away in the Element with Mandy and she tried to get out the gate to go with them.

But we saw Pie and Venus again in a few days because there was a big dog show!

Pie got all pretty and got a couple of big ribbons.

Grandma FeeBee came and it might be her last dog show.  She got a big pink ribbon and stuff.

And our brother Hiro and sister Delta was there.  They had to get a bath and play dog show too but we didn't.

Mandy won a photo contest with this picture of grandma FeeBee.  She didn't have a bath for that picture.

The people partied.  A lot.

Dad made this picture of the sunset over the river.

Then we went back to the park on the river for a couple more days.  And then we went somewhere else.

We got there pretty late in the evening so we couldn't play much until morning but that was ok.   This is Bruneau Dunes in Idaho and it is a really good place for dogs.

The next morning mom took me and Dodah to a place in the park where dogs can be off leash.   It is between the campground and the visitor center.

Look how far away Dodah went!

  I stayed closer to mom.  She might get lost or something.

 There was lots of varmints there and we could have caught one if mom had given us more time.

Us dogs wanted to stay longer.  Mom promises that we can go back next year.

Then we drove again and when we got out it was cold and it was raining in icy stuff.

There was a dog-walking area and they were ok with four dogs but it was too cold to stay out very much.  This was Phillips RV park in Evanston Wyoming.

And then we drove a really long day and now we have been at a really good park for five days!  There are paths for dogs to walk on and smell the smells.

And there are BUNNIES!!  Our favorite.  But we didn't catch any.

And there are a whole bunch of little lakes and when you wade in them you get your feet all black and then when you go home mom holds you under a faucet to wash them.

It makes me shake just to think about it.

See you again when mom lets me have the computer back!

More good parks for dog families:

Fort Stevens State Park - Astoria, OR

Le Page Park (Corp of Engineers) - Rufus, OR

Umatilla Marina RV Park - Umatilla, OR

Bruneau Dunes State Park - Mountain Home, ID

Phillips RV Park - Evanston, WY

St Vrain State Park - Longmont, CO

Brought to you by the letter B

At the end of our second stay at Fort Stevens near Astoria, Jamie and Catherine drove over for a Sunday visit.   After touring several of the forts in the area (Fort Canby at Cape Disappointment, Fort Columbia, Fort Stevens, and Fort George Brewing), Catherine suggested that I title a blog post Bunkers and Brews.  The last few weeks I've gotten behind in blogging our travels, and I have added to the B collection.

A few came earlier:

Oyster Beds at Brady's

Beaches.

Boats, these at Westport.

Bugs.  I captured this better picture of a Horntail Wasp which I had never run into before the Washington coast.

Bridges.  Especially the Megler Bridge in Astoria

The below pictures are from Fort Columbia in Washington:

It was a great day for sight-seeing on the Oregon/Washington coast: warm and sunny.  We even took the top panels off of the jeep to better enjoy the drive and weather. Tom is very sensitive to sounds while driving, which I sometimes find irritating in the Palazzo as I search out the sources while going down the road. On this particular day we kept hearing a click, click, click from the jeep.   Catherine and I were convinced that it was gravel stuck in the jeep tires; they have an aggressive tread that picks up rocks easily.  We assumed that we could hear it due to the top panels being out and the guys accepted our verdict.

Wrong.   Which brings us to the next B word: Broken!

We had a nice early dinner on the patio at Fort George then headed back to the state park.   We had just crossed over the Young's Bay Bridge when the jeep's gauge suddenly went all of the way to HOT and the power steering simultaneously quit.   Tom was able to steer into a parking lot.  Got out, popped open the hood, and what he saw was: 

A shredded serpentine belt.  The click-click-click was not gravel after all.   It was the shredded portion of the belt hitting a heat shield as it went around and around.

He called Coach-Net for help and was trying to explain our situation including the fact that we were at that point SEVEN MILES from the campground (there seemed to be some problem with four people not fitting in a tow truck!)  

Who can believe our good fortune that:

1) We were not in the middle of either of the bridges.

2) A savior appeared.  A young man name Jason drove up while Tom was arguing with Coach-Net.  "I'm a mechanic, can I help?"  Jason drove Tom to AutoZone for a new belt and the tool needed to replace it while the rest of us waited with the jeep.   Then Jason and Jamie were able to replace the belt (and it was a chore) while I entertained Jason's four-year-old daughter Natalie in the parking lot for an hour.  It was a very long hour, but worth it for all of us.

Leaving Astoria the next morning, we traveled to LePage Park on the John Day.

 A view of the Bridge where the John Day meets the Columbia.  We had a nice couple of days visiting with Gary and Louise, toured the Maryhill Museum, did a little wine tasting.  Unfortunately, the Verizon coverage is still spotty there so we moved on a day early.

Which led us to find one of our new favorite places to stay before-and-after the northwest Cardigan regional specialty: the Umatilla Marina RV Park.  With another Bridge view, more Boats, and even a Beach for Dora's wading pleasure.

 The Bridge at sunset.

After the specialty, we spent an extra day in Umatilla working as we had to help one of our clients set up a new set of Books.  Then we started heading south and east.

First stop Bruneau Dunes State Park in Idaho.

Kady will tell you more.  We only had overnight, but it warrants a return visit.

The next day we made it as far as Evanston, Wyoming where it was sleet/snowing and cold.  The following day we had to put in over 400 miles as we had a reservation to keep.

I-80 across Wyoming.  Most of the scenery is something like this.  Boring.

But the Bastardly weather gods decided to liven things up for us.  Blustery, Blowing.

We stopped to walk dogs at the Wagonhound rest area near Elk Mountain (above).  We could barely open the door of the RV.

But somehow we made it to Colorado, where I spent another couple of days working on customer's Books before taking some time off for fun.  At least we had a view of the snow-covered Rockies to enjoy.

Fun like shopping at Costco. We needed to replenish a few items, like paper towels and red wine. Next B word: Booze!  Colorado has not changed since we were here two years ago: you still cannot buy anything other than Lite Beer (yuck) in grocery stores.   But Costco has (almost) found a way around it.   Inside the Costco main entrance but outside of the store itself is a liquor store.

It is an independent store "not affiliated with Costco" except that they have the same shelving and wine-display boxes.   Unfortunately the prices are not Costco prices.   We are missing Bevmo, but we will be there soon.

And we are Back where we Belong: Lemon Bites!   We have so missed you since last winter.  Especially good when frozen.

Ok remember the whole Broken thing?

  

This trip has been hard on the Palazzo.

A speeding pickup near Idaho/Utah border threw a rock at our windshield and didn't miss.  Fortunately it is not in Tom's line of sight when driving; it only annoys me.  We can live with it for now.

The rough roads in Utah and Wyoming shook a fitting loose on our fresh-water tank, but Tom was able to find and tighten it.

And we have another leak of some type from our front passenger-side jack which I noticed when Tom raised the jacks before switching sites here at St Vrain State Park.  To be checked out.

But the Bigger thing - or maybe I should say smaller:

I bought this T-shirt at Maryhill Winery especially to wear out our Cardigan specialty/party.   "Wine Tastes Better than Skinny Feels".

Well, I can tell you that's not true when what is skinny is your motorhome.  Somewhere around the 20th of September the big slide started making a new and worse popping sound as it was going in and out.  On the 24th we had to move sites at Umatilla as the site we were in was reserved.   Put slide in, drove 100 feet, went to put slide out.  The front went out, the back stalled, and it quit.  We knew that there was an issue with the first installations of the Schwintek slides not just in the Palazzo but in other coaches where it was used.  Over-specked.  

Tom called the factory: first appointment available is in January.  Umm, Indiana in January?  Not happening.  Living with skinny RV without slide for that many months?  Also not happening.

But we were told that various dealers have service departments who have been replacing the components.  The short version is that after the Los Lunas shows we will be taking the RV back to La Mesa RV in Mesa where we purchased it. We have an appointment already set for October 15th.  They will do the upgrade at no charge to us as the factory is covering it.  Actually it's probably Schwintek who is paying for it. I don't care as long as it's not us and it gets fixed.   Google Schwintek slide problems just for fun.

So three weeks in an RV which is usable except that you have to walk sideways down the hall and can't open the refrigerator, freezer, or bathroom door all of the way.   And Tom has to climb into bed on his side from the foot of the bed. 

It's going to feel like a Palatial Palazzo when it opens again.