Millers' Time

Sunday, March 18:

Last Spring Training game of the 2018 season for us. After breakfast while we were getting ready, I pulled out the tickets and looked at them and realized they were not in a wheelchair accessible area. They were in section 102 which used to have a chair section but we had noticed yesterday it was no longer there. Plus, the row was not a WC row. Uh, oh. I suggested we leave early so we could get to the ticket booth and see about getting them exchanged.

We left a little before 11:00 and headed down the road. By now, I had figured out the way to the freeway and then to the stadium without using Google maps! Yay! I also decided not to take the Bell Rd. Exit, the scene of my idiocy the day before, and to go on down to Thunderbird Exit and backtrack.

We parked and went to the ticket window where an extremely personable man listened to our dilemma then turned it over to the expert who found us 3 seats together in a wheelchair accessible section. Hooray for us!

We were down the third base line in shallow left field which was just great. It is also in the area where there are mostly Mariner fans and as a bonus, a bar right behind us!

After claiming our seats and going to the bathroom, I decided to walk around the ball park. The Peoria facility, like many of the parks at spring training, has a walk way all around the outfield and through the stands. The outfield has grass seating for those people who can stand to sit on their butts or lay down for the entire game.

The first thing I noticed was that there is now a big ‘Mariner ship’ playground for kids. It looked like a great place and there were a few families in there.

It was still pretty early and not many people in the stands yet so I was easily able to spot the girls in our seating area taking in the sun.

Pregame warm up with Motter and Haniger in the background. Not sure who was in foreground.

View from our seats of home plate

The game started off with Rob Whalen pitching. He gave up one run in the 1st inning and three in the 2nd but we got two runs in the bottom of the 2nd. Then the wheels came off in the top of the 3rd and Wheeler was out. The Indians got 7 and it was all downhill from there.

We still enjoyed ourselves as it was another sunny but not too hot of a day. There was an amusing beer sales guy who would yell out whenever he got a tip which, of course, insured him of getting more.

We also saw someone we believe to be Trump’s brother. He wasn’t as orange but had the hair for it and also thought he was pretty hot shit. We have seen him previous years and it is always the same routine. He comes in a tank top and immediately takes it off and then struts around the ball park taking pictures with people who seem to think he is a ‘star’ of some sort. I even heard someone ask him if he was famous and he said, “yes.” Sound familiar?

After I took this picture I headed to the bathroom but had to ask one of the ushers if he was someone famous. (Jennifer and Yvonne seemed to think maybe he was a WWE wrestler or something.) The usher said, “No, he is just a fan.” I said that we thought he was kind of gross and the usher said that there were others who agreed.

Notice he tucks his tank top into the back of his pants.

So after 7 pitchers had been in for the Mariners and the score was 16 – 3, they put in some poor guy who was so embarrassed he wouldn’t give them his name so it was just put up as UNKNOWN. Luckily, he got out the last of their batters in the top of the 9th and the Mariners weren’t able to rally to get 13 runs to tie it up. The game was finally over.

There is an awesome Mexican place to get tacos in Glendale that we discovered a few years ago. We never made it last year but had decided we would go straight there from the game since it was about 30 miles from the hotel. It is called Ta’carbon and has a big charcoal fired grill where they make carne asada and other grilled meats. Then they chop them up and make tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and other goodies. It totally reminds me of the street food in Mexico. Plus it has a big salsa bar with various sauces, limes, chopped onions, cabbage, and lots of other stuff.

We thought maybe since it was fairly early on a Sunday it might not be as crowded as usual. Ha! It was probably as crowded, if not more so than usual. We did find a table outside and I ordered for all of us while Yvonne got lots of little containers of salsa and Jennifer laid claim to the table. Notice it is all Mexican nationals except for us. That is the usual way it is. They have a pretty good system and get the food out quickly, however.

We stopped at a place close to the hotel and got gelato for dessert. It has just opened and is connected to the pizza place we went to the other night. Good gelato!

We came back and Yvonne ‘forced’ us to sit down and watch a movie together. We usually do but the hotel doesn’t have any premium channels and we hadn’t really looked for anything to watch. They do have the ability to hook up your phone to Google Chromecast. Yvonne was able to download the app and then figure out how it worked, then she found the movie she had been telling us about over the weekend, The Gifted. It was a cute movie, if somewhat predictable, and Jennifer and I enjoyed it.

Jennifer’s mom lives in the area so Jennifer was staying with her for the rest of the week. She wanted to pick Jenn up at 8:00 in the morning! Jenn packed up before bed so she could be ready to go. I helped her with her luggage down to the front desk and was able to say hello to her mom, Jessie, and step-dad, Bill.

Yvonne and I had breakfast and are now getting ready to go to the airport. So, until my next trip, I am signing off.

Saturday, St. Patricks Day:

We all slept in a bit this morning. The room stays very dark with the curtains pulled tight. We got down to breakfast and eventually got a table. The breakfasts have been pretty good and each day has different main selections. Today they had some sort of poached egg with black beans.

Our game was at Peoria Sports Complex, the Mariners home park and our favorite. The ball park is about 25 miles away from the hotel and is the same exit as the one you take for the Surprise stadium. There was a long line on the freeway waiting to exit, unlike the day before. After we got onto the exit and down a ways, Yvonne could see down to the lights and saw the signs indicating there were two lanes going both right and left. We wanted to go left so I went out of line thinking there was another lane I could get in. Wrong! I turned into one of those people we love to hate and had, in fact, just been bitching about!

It wasn’t like I was purposely trying to get ahead of the line, I really thought there was another lane. Nope, I was stuck at a stop trying to get into the left turn lane. The only good thing was that the right turn lanes were wide open and I wasn’t backing up anyone else. Otherwise, I would have just gone right and found a place to turn around. (Sounds like I am just trying to justify myself, huh?)

Yvonne and Jennifer were trying to pretend they weren’t in the car and had no idea what was going on while laughing the whole time. I was laughing in horror as well. The guy behind me to the left very reluctantly let me in. We all waved happily but you could see them shaking their heads.

The light is a huge intersection with cars going in six different ways and I had just gotten into the intersection when the traffic in front of me stopped and the light turned yellow. Oh, shit, here I go again! I couldn’t back up as the same guy had pulled up to the stop line. I managed to pull alongside the truck in front of me and when he moved was able to get into a lane. This was the most appalling driving I have ever done down here but my friends tried to make me feel better.

We were playing the Angels today. We had good seats just to the right of home plate where there was a big 25 painted for the 25th anniversary of the stadium. We have been here for the 10th and 20th so think we have been coming for 16 years. I seem to remember having a shirt from 2002.

The sun was out but the temperature at the start of the game was only 68. In other words, perfect! We could sit in the sun and not sweat or be totally wiped out after the game. Thanks to Jennifer for taking some pictures of the stadium, I totally forgot.

We always seem to see people we know at the games. Today, Jennifer’s college roommate’s brothers and their wives were there and found her as soon as we came into the stadium. We talked with them for a while. Then a couple of my yacht club friends, Teresa and Gary Nelson, came by our seats. I hadn’t seen them for a while so we caught up a bit. Then a pharmacist who worked for Yvonne stopped by. We had seen her there a couple of times in the past.

Jennifer’s friends came by the seats in about the 5th inning again to chat and told us there was a bee swarm on some stairs out in the concourse area. I took my phone and went out to check them out and take a picture. It was a fairly large swarm and they had the area taped off with caution tape. Pretty odd place for a swarm to come to but everyone was pretty impressed.

It was a split squad today so there was another game at the Athletics and the Mariners won both games! Our game was good and the Mariners had 9 hits and 7 runs while the Angels had 3 hits and 0 runs. Marco Gonzales pitched over 5 innings and did a very nice job with only one hit. Hadn’t heard of him before but maybe he is in the running for starting pitcher rotation. So, we are 3 for 3 which we can’t remember ever happening.

When we left the ball park I avoided the area where I had done such a poor job of driving as it is always a traffic madhouse. I went the opposite way about 1 1/2 miles but there was little traffic and we got right onto the freeway. The rest of the drive was uneventful, thankfully.

Every year we always have a steak night and a Mexican night. Well, since it was St. Patricks day on Saturday I figured it would be hard to get in anywhere for dinner so I had made reservations for The Stockyards Steakhouse. We had been there before on a recommendation from Gary Nelson and enjoyed it plus it was fairly close to the hotel.

The restaurant is supposedly “Arizona’s Original Steakhouse” started in 1947 and the emphasis is on beef. Their special of the night, which came highly recommended by the waiter, was the bison ribeye. Jennifer and I decided to go with that and Yvonne got a beef ribeye. The waiter also recommended a Napa Malbec-Sauvignon blend which was excellent.

As we waited Jennifer noticed an framed and worn flag above us. There was a sign but we couldn’t quite read it without getting up. One of the owners, Gary, saw us squinting at it and came over to explain that it was a flag from World War I that came off a mine layer that was sunk. It was frayed on the edge and only had 48 stars.

The dinner was excellent. The bison came with a side of hollandaise and mushroom butter, asparagus and their Parmesan Stack potatoes. The mushroom butter was soooo good and added a great umami flavor to the steak. The potatoes also were excellent.

I forgot to take a picture until I had already dug in.

The rest of the evening was quiet and we all got a good nights sleep.

Friday, March 16:

Today we had tickets for the Texas Rangers at their stadium in Surprise. We have not had a good history with games at this stadium. The first time we ever went there, the temperature was 99 and the stadium ran out of water. The traffic getting there has always been a bit of an issue also, but today was the worst.

The stadium is about 30 miles from our hotel and 20 of them are freeway so that part wasn’t too bad. It is after you get off the freeway and go for about 9 miles on Bell Rd which has a stoplight every 300 yards (maybe an exaggeration but I don’t think so) and we hit every one of them red. It took us probably 45 minutes to get to the stadium from the freeway.

After we parked and were walking towards the stadium we noticed 3 semi trucks with huge trailers marked with Budweiser Clydesdales. Sure enough, there were the horses pulling the big, red wagon that even had the Budweiser Hitch Dog, Barley, on it. It was awesome to see them and Yvonne got some good pictures since I had to run to the bathroom and missed them actually moving.

We had seats right behind home plate and settled in to watch the game. I got a beer and Yvonne and Jennifer got margaritas in souvenir Texas Ranger plastic mason jars. Whoopee! Of all the teams we play, the Rangers are also my least favorite and not just because of the stadium.

It was a pretty exciting offensive game with lots of hits (14 for Mariners and 13 for Rangers) and scores. Mariners ended up winning 9 – 7. That is two out of two for us this year. It seems like we usually end up winning 1 out of 4 when we are here. No Hernandez or Ichiro again today. I heard from my nephew, Kyle, that Hernandez was on the mound but it must have been for practice throwing as he was no where to be seen.

The food selection was a little better than at Hohokam but by the time we wanted food, the lines were extremely long. I ended up getting a so-called Southwest Cheesesteak sandwich, because the line was the shortest. There might have been 1 ounce of ‘steak’ but it was food and I hadn’t eaten much breakfast at all.

We got out of the stadium a little after 4:00 but didn’t get back to the hotel until almost 6:00. It took us two hours to get back and most of that was spent just getting back to the freeway. We made a note to ourselves to not go to that stadium again, but sometimes we just don’t have a choice because of the weekend we can go. Oh, well, I keep telling myself we are on vacation.

There are several restaurants within walking distance of the hotel and after all the traffic and driving I didn’t want to get in the car again. There is a highly rated one next to the hotel but we hadn’t been able to get a reservation before 9:00 for any of the nights were are here.

We walked to the Pomo Pizzeria about a quarter of a mile away. It was pretty busy but wasn’t going to be a long wait. We went to the bar and were entertained by the bartender giving Yvonne a hard time about if she wanted her lemon drop stirred or shaken. Huh?

We got a caprese salad to share and it was excellent. I ordered a Kale-Romana salad that was big enough for us to share. We all ordered our own pizza as they were just a little bigger than personal size but too small to share between two people.

The pizzas are thin crust and cooked in a hand-built, wood burning oven at 905 degrees. They were very good and we all enjoyed the meal. The service was also excellent – attentive, quick, and friendly.

The weather has been cooler than normal down here. It hasn’t been more than about 72 degrees during the day and down into the 50s at night. It is better than being in the 90s but not what you expect when here.

Thursday, The Ides of March:

For those of you who follow me on Facebook you will have already seen my rant about Embassy Suites but here it is again with updates.

Every year for about 16 years my two girlfriends, Yvonne Wake and Jennifer Wesselius, go to Mariner Spring Training in Phoenix. I usually make all the arrangements from hotel to car to tickets to researching restaurants. I also do the driving with Yvonne as my copilot.

I made the arrangements in December. The Embassy Suites hotel that we stayed at for years is no longer a hotel, as of last year, so we stayed at another one in the Scottsdale area. This year we decided to try the one closer to downtown, the Biltmore.

Jennifer is a chair user so we need an accessible room preferably with a roll in shower. There have always been issues at Embassy Suites with making sure we get the right room and sometimes have to settle for one with a shower chair.

On Wednesday morning I received an email from Embassy Suites saying I could go online and check in. That was a first but I did so and saw the room number but no indication it was an accessible room, so I called to confirm. The woman who answered asked if she could put me on hold and told me she was new. She came back on and said, “Yes, the reservation is for an accessible room.” I thanked her and hung up.

About three minutes later the phone rang and it said Embassy Suites, so I answered. The woman said she had checked with her manager and that the room I had reserved was not available as they only had one (!) and there was someone in it until the 24th. After I sputtered and asked how that could be, she said sorry but the room was taken. I hung up. No, I did not yell or swear or anything but I was in disbelief and PISSED!

It was the day before our arrival and during Spring Training when the areas around Phoenix are packed with baseball fans and we had no room. There had been no offer of helping me find another room or other hotels or anything. I was in a state of shock.

I looked at my confirmation and it even stated that the room type was guaranteed, unless something happens out of the control of the hotel. Well, screwing up a reservation certainly seems to be within the scope of the hotel’s responsibility. The least they could have done was notified me. We would have shown up at 10:30 at night after the game with no accessible room.

After taking a few deep breaths, I got online and started looking for accessible rooms again. I called one and they had one but no roll in shower and no hideabed. There are three of us so Jennifer and I usually share a bed and Yvonne takes the hideabed.

I then remembered I had sent an email to Jenn and Yvonne with a couple other options back in December so I found that and checked online the first one on that list, Gainey Suites in Scottsdale. Yes, it showed they had one. It was also about $150 more a night but at that point I was desperate.

I called to verify and the guy that answered the phone was not very customer service friendly. I had looked online first and it said there was an accessible room available and he confirmed it. I explained the situation and verified it had with a roll in shower, two queens and a hideabed. He verified that it did. Great! And the price was $359 a night which was not too much more than the Embassy Suites. I booked it and got an emailed confirmation. Crisis averted.

Since our first game on Thursday was a night game, we could take a later flight. We usually had to take the earliest flight to make a day game so this was a nice change, especially for Jenn who lives in Woodinville. Jenn got to airport first and went to Ivar’s for lunch. Yvonne and I caught up with her there.

Usually, we are boarded first since she has to have an aisle chair with assistants to get on the plane and into her seat. Well, we were a bit late to the boarding area and they had already started boarding the rear of the plane. We were towards the back so before calling the next group for boarding they halted everything and took us onboard. I was giving her a hard time about messing up their on time statistics but we left the gate early and took off.

It is about a 2 hour and 20 minute flight to Phoenix and all was well until we were about 30 minutes out. The turbulence started and got extremely bad by the time we were landing. I have only experienced that rough of a ride once before and that was in a little 11 seat plane flying from Wyoming into Denver. But, we made it okay.

I always get off and head straight to the shuttle for the rental cars since Jenn is last to leave the airplane and Yvonne sticks with her. They get all the luggage and meet me outside.

I am a Hertz Gold member so they now have you pick any car you want in the Gold area. We need a larger car for all our luggage and Jenn’s chair so I went around and checked trunk size and found a Ford Taurus with an enormous trunk. It was nice and roomy inside too. I picked them up and we were able to fit all our luggage and Jenn’s chair in the trunk. We usually have to put it in the backseat next to her.

We went straight to the game against the Oakland A’s at Hohokam Statdium since it was already after 5:00 and the game was at 7:05. Our friend, Anne Sollars, has been working in Tempe for the last couple of weeks and had gotten a ticket and was meeting us at the game.

We were all hungry so got the Asian noodles that they make in these huge woks over propane burners. It was okay but a bit scorched tasting and smelling to me.

We were along the third base line and the usher was from Seattle and quite chatty and warned us to watch for foul balls. Of course, every time one of the balls was hit our way we were chatting and didn’t see it coming. One hit a chair two rows in front of us but no one was hurt. Scared us all though.

Pregame warmups

Yvonne, Anne, and I. Jenn was chatting with someone her mom knew so she didn’t get in on the selfie.

The score was 2 -1 one, with Mariners ahead, when the bases were loaded and Taylor Motter came up to bat. He sailed one over the left field fence for a Grand Slam. I could just hear Dave Niehaus calling, “Get out the rye bread and mustard, Grandma, it’s Grand Salami time!” I am not sure I have ever witnessed one in real life at the ball park.

We had a great time and did lots of laughing. If you ever want to have some fun, Google Funny Baseball Player Names. We almost lost control over some of those.

By the time we got to the hotel it was after 10:30. I went in to check in and she found my reservation and I asked if it was an accessible room, she said, “No.” My stomach dropped and my heart beat started going up right away. Then she said, “But we have one available.” I told her it was a good thing since I would have had a melt down if one wasn’t available.

(I mean, come on now,we are in Phoenix which is probably 90% elderly and almost everyone has a disable parking hanger in their car or on their license plate so you would think they could get their reservations correct! I don’t know what else I can do.)

The main room was a little smaller but the furnishings were nicer and it has a full kitchen. Not that we will probably be doing any cooking but the option is there. Plus, the fridge has filtered water and ice dispenser so we won’t need to buy as much bottled water and the water is awful down here.

There is a breakfast each day and a happy hour each night. Breakfast was crowded but pretty decent. They kept things well supplied and there was a nice variety. So far, so good with this hotel.

I am going to ask to speak to the manager but will wait until Monday morning before we leave. I want to see what I can do to guarantee that we get an accessible room to stay for next year and also let her know about the gentleman who made our reservation not getting it input correctly.

Yvonne and Jennifer not happy with me for taking a picture Pre-shower.

Well, off to Texas Ranger stadium in Surprise today. Not a favorite place for us because the traffic getting in and out can be awful, plus it is about 40 miles away so we will be a long time getting home in Friday night traffic.

Sunday, March 4: I had a nice, peaceful night but when I did wake I would think about all the things I needed to do when I got home. The stars and moon were out and, even though it was cold, it wasn’t nearly as cold as it has been the last week.

I woke up early and drank my coffee then started getting ready to head home. I cleaned the toilet and flushed the black water tank out really well so I wouldn’t have to worry about emptying it later.

Misty had her last time on the leash in the woods and ran up a tree. I had taken her up to trees all along but she never even scratched one until today. Up she went to the extent of her leash, then she actually made it down without getting too tangled in branches.

We took off down the road earlier than my norm. Before getting to the bottom of the hill and Highway 14 I came across a flock of wild turkeys on the road. I slowed down and took a couple of pictures. I have never seen wild turkeys before. They even gobble gobbled.

Not the best pictures but I was moving and shooting through the window.

The trip down out of the gorge was scenic but with a lot of curves. Then I was back on I-5 heading north. I have never liked that drive from the Portland area to Seattle but since I was on my way home it was bearable. Until I got to Tacoma, that is, and the big mess by Highway 16 and the Tacoma dome. I couldn’t believe it. Sunday before noon and we all came to a screeching halt. Welcome home!

I got home around 1:00 and put Misty on her leash and unlocked the door. Misty wasn’t too sure if she wanted to go all the way in the house. She had her back paws outside and front ones inside and was just looking around. I had to go to the bathroom extremely bad so pulled her in and shut the door.

The house smelled a bit musty but, besides all the mail and things on the dining room table, it felt good to be home. Misty wasn’t sure what was going on. She went from room to room and sniffed and looked and did a bit of meowing.

The past week of driving had taken its toll on my back again so I was having a lot of pain. I took some Excedrin and a muscle relaxer and sat down for about 20 minutes then started unloading. I got the food, dirty clothes, and a few other necessities (pillows) and started a load of laundry.

Misty was still checking things out and couldn’t figure out what to do with all the room to move around.

The gas fireplace was going but the furnace wasn’t. I saw parts boxes on the table but the thermostat was totally off, so I didn’t mess with anything.

Then I took a nice, long, hot shower for the first time in 5 weeks. The shower in the camper barely trickles water out, especially when on the water pump. I know my hair and scalp hadn’t been totally washed and rinsed the entire time, plus the water quality everywhere was just awful.

As I was coming out of the bathroom I heard Courtney coming in the front door. He had his HVAC friend with him to check out the furnace. I hurried to the bedroom to get dressed. I guess Courtney had it fixed but just hadn’t given the furnace enough time to start up. Nice of both of them to make sure if was working.

And now it is raining and the planes are taking off overhead and the sun is coming out and it feels like home. Misty agrees.

Next up – Spring Training in one and a half weeks!

Saturday, March 3: I should have knocked on wood last night after all. The wind gusts became a steady high wind that blasted the camper for hours. Thankfully I wasn’t on the road. Other than the wind, it was a very quiet night except for a couple of trains that I could hear – no whistles just the rumble of the train. The stars and full moon were out in all their glory.

The morning dawned cold and cloudy overhead. I could see blue sky towards the west where I would be heading, however, so I was hoping for a good drive.

The campground also has two yurts for rent. No vehicles were there last night when I shut the shades after dark, but each had one in front of it this morning. The yurts have a fenced in area behind them with hot spring soaking tubs. They run $109 per night which seems a little high since there is no bathroom or kitchen facilities. They are 16′ so not large either. But, maybe they are cheaper than a hotel.

I headed west along I84 through the Blue Mountains and then came down into Pendleton, Oregon and saw green – no snow. I even did a little happy song about no more snow but Misty didn’t find it amusing. Pretty soon I could see the Columbia River down the way a bit from the road, then eventually I was going along almost on river level. I had never been along that route before and enjoyed the scenery and the blue skies.

It was also quite amazing because there hadn’t been any wind anywhere along the route today for the first time in probably 3 weeks. The Columbia River Gorge is quite well known for it’s wind and is a very popular place for wind surfing. But today, the Columbia just meandered along nice and calm and all the huge wind turbines were still.

In spots on the river there were quite a few fishing boats which, of course, made me think of Darrel. I don’t know if he ever fished the Columbia but I just saw yesterday an article that the big King salmon of the Columbia are no more. I am sure he would have had fun catching a sturgeon, though.

I was heading for an RV park on the Washington side but decided to cross over the river a bit early and go to the Maryhill winery. Back in the day, there was a nice little wine shop in Des Moines called Corky’s Cellars. Ric and Diane ran the place and had wine tastings every Saturday that I would attend when in town. Many times they had the winery owners/wine makers give the tastings. Maryhill was one of those that came.

I was quite surprised at how many cars there were in the parking lot and people inside and out for this time of year. Turns out it was pick-up day for their wine club members. It was also a nice day so I am sure it brought people out just because of the weather, too.

Maryhill has a magnificent venue with concerts in the summer. The whole place is stunningly situated above the Columbia River Gorge. I went in and did their selection of wine tasting. I had to turn down some of the tastings as they kept coming and coming and I still had to drive. I bought a couple bottles of wine and headed to the RV park.

They don’t have their concert series set yet for this summer, but I may have to check it out and come back down for one. There is another RV park close to the winery and they have a shuttle that will take you to the concert. I didn’t want to stay there tonight, however, because I wanted to be further along so I didn’t have such a long journey tomorrow. With the winery stop today, I was still on the road for about 5 hours.

I can’t tell you how great it feels to be back in the green vistas of Washington and Oregon. I felt my skin start to soak up that moisture already, even though it was sunny. I absolutely loved the various desert panoramas and sights that I have seen on this trip but it is good to be back in the Great Northwest!

I pulled into the Bridge RV park and went into the office to find out he had no spaces at all. I have not had problems getting into any parks, except the one in Palm Springs and I think that is because I was only a truck camper and the place was too snooty. Both he and I were quite surprised by this as he said it was unusual for this early in March. The park was right above the river but as I was pulling in a train went by blowing it’s whistle about 50 yards away. So maybe it was good they were full. He gave me a list of other parks both east and west. The first one on the list was Timberlake and he said he wasn’t sure if they were open so I should probably give them a call first.

I got back in the truck and quickly googled them. They had a 4 star rating but I didn’t take time to read the review. Plus it was the closest one to where I was, about 19 miles away, so I called. They had opened on March 1 and had room so I headed down the road. I was expecting another park along the river but this one was up a winding road and in the woods above Stevenson, Washington.

There was a car right behind me as I pulled in and it turned out to be the woman I had talked with. She was a young woman, maybe in her 30s, and she had tried to beat me as she knew her husband was busy doing cement work. They were both very nice and friendly. It sounds like they have only owned the place for a year or two. They had converted a building that she said had been a kitchen into their office over the winter and he was smoothing cement for the front stoop. There are only about 3 other RVs here and they are a bit apart from each other.

I got set up and let Misty hang out on her leash. I think she really likes this place as it is all trees, dry ground, and quiet. I like it too. I think it is way better than being next to the railroad tracks in a cement parking lot even though I would have been within walking distance of the river.

View from my campsiteMisty surveying her domain

Cute little brown squirrel in a tree above the truckI only knew the squirrel was there because I saw Misty with her tail twitching and staring up there. She tried hopping on the hood of truck to get closer but her leash wasn’t long enough

It nice and warm and dry enough to sit outside. It did cool down but we enjoyed our interlude in the weak sun.

Homeward bound tomorrow. It will be good to be home.

Friday, March 1: It rained quite hard overnight but the wind died down in the evening. I did hear the wind a bit around 5:00 in the morning but not as bad as it had been. Around the same time, I also heard the garbage truck and a couple of RVs leaving.

As I was drinking my coffee I saw the tumbleweed roundup! The workers had a cart they pulled behind their utility vehicle and went around and picked up all the tumbleweeds I had seen tumbling yesterday. They then filled the big trash receptacle that had just been emptied earlier.

I checked the weather along my route and saw that it shouldn’t be too bad, winds only around 15 mph and small chance of snow. It was snowing a little bit by the time I was ready to leave and a bit breezy but nothing I couldn’t handle after yesterday.

I gathered up my garbage, turned on the power to the jacks, grabbed the remote control for the jacks and went to the tumbleweed filled trash receptacle. I threw my stuff in and went back to the camper and stuck my hand in my sweatshirt pocket for the remote control and it wasn’t there. Uh, oh. I had a sneaky suspicion I might have had it in my hand along with a plastic box that I threw into the trash.

I searched all over the camper and didn’t find it. I got my little stool and went to see if I could see it in the trash. I saw the garbage bag but couldn’t see the remote. I had courteously thrown my garbage to the back so that the birds wouldn’t get it and now neither could I.

I sheepishly went to the office and told them what I had done. The four maintenance men were sitting at a table having their coffee break and the two women that I told laughingly called to Chris to help. One of the men asked which dumpster and I told him and he said, “We just filled that with tumbleweeds!” I said, “I know, I watched you!” I told them if they got me a ladder I would get it myself. But all four of them got up and after giving each other a hard time about who was going into the dumpster, they headed for their utility vehicles.

Two of them got there about the time I did and I showed them which corner I had thrown it into. They backed their vehicle up a bit and one of them stood on it and saw the remote. He leaned over the side and reached back and was able to get it without too much trouble! I asked him what his name was and said I would make him famous in my blog. So, Philip, thank you very much for your assistance.

After that I quickly left.

The drive was a bit windy but not too bad. I went through several hail showers but there was no ice or snow on the road. A lot of snow all around, especially in the hills and mountains that I went through. I could see some great looking thunderclouds and also darks ones that were probably dumping snow. But for the most part my drive was in the sun.

I pulled into La Grande and got gas and went to the bathroom. I had planned on staying at the Grande Hot Springs RV Resort but was kind of thinking of going further. Misty had been a perfect little kitty today and hadn’t done any bathroom door acrobatics or even meowed when I put her in the truck so figured she would handle a bit longer.

Pendleton was about 40 miles down the road and I had never been there before. Well, I have never been to any of the areas I have been driving through so I guess that didn’t matter. I looked up RV parks and didn’t find anything that looked all that great so decided to stick with my original plan and went back a few miles to the RV park.

There is a hot springs further up the road from where the park is but not in the park. It is a pretty big park with about 100 sites but no more than around 7 sites filled. The office was closed but they had a very efficient self check-in process.

Views from my campsite in La Grande, Oregon

The ground was a bit damp but grassy and Misty appreciated the chance to be on her leash for a while as I was setting up the camper. I hadn’t let her out the night before because it was really wet and muddy around the cement pad and I didn’t want to clean up after her again.

The freeway I was on went along parts of the Oregon Trail. After getting set up, I sat and read a long National Park Service auto tour guide to the Oregon Trail since I didn’t really know much about it. It was interesting and made me think I might have to follow it one of these days in the camper.

There have been intermittent snow/ice pellets falling as I have been sitting here and there are some pretty good wind gusts every once in awhile. But I think the really bad wind and weather is behind me now. I am sure I will hit rain heading into Western Oregon and Washington, though. Maybe I should knock on wood!

The route I am taking should get me back home by Sunday but I have an extra day built in before my appointment just in case something happens.