Grass Valley dog show

We're now in Grass Valley, CA at the Nevada County Fairgrounds for a dog show this weekend. Gracie is the only one we have entered. The fairgrounds has a great RV park on the grounds and that's where we opted to park. This is the first time we've ever been to a dog show where we've had 50 amp power, water and sewer hookups. Usually you're lucky if you even get 20 amp power.

It's been hot, hot, hot here so we've really appreciated the 50 amp electricity. It means we can run our air conditioners in the motorhome without having to run the generator. The dogs are thankful for that too.

We show tomorrow at around noon. This is the first time Gracie has competed as an adult, rather than a puppy or junior. There are 8 female Norwich entered in the classes so that means there are 2 points up for grabs each day. I'm hoping Gracie will take them at least one day.

Olive Pit & Rolling Hills Casino

We're spending a couple nights at the RV park attached to the Rolling Hills Casino in Corning, CA. It was a good stopping point to break up the drive down to Grass Valley for the dog show this weekend. There is a golf course attached to the casino as well which offers a 2 for 1 special for golf and the casino buffet on Wednesdays. We planned to take advantage of that, but with temps in the 90's by 10:00 am, we changed our minds. Risking heat stroke for a round of golf didn't seem like such a good idea. Tom did manage to get out to the driving range to hit a bucket of balls this morning though.





We decided to take the short drive to visit the Olive Pit store in Corning instead. Corning is a huge olive producing area and the Olive Pit is a huge gift store featuring just about any kind of stuffed or marinated olive you could imagine.



Jo is not an olive fan but Tom was in olive heaven. He chose habanero/garlic stuffed olives, almond stuffed olives, and smoke flavored olives to buy. If we had a bigger budget, he would have bought several other varieties as well.



We got our first close up look at olives still on the tree on the trees outside the store. We were surprised that they grow in clusters similar to grapes.



We learned that just about all olives everywhere are still harvested by hand because they are so easily damaged.


Once we left the Olive Pit, we stopped in at the casino to make a donation. It wasn't that bad, we played the slots for a couple of hours on our $20. We were up to about $30 for a little while, but big surprise, we gave it all back. It was entertaining anyway.

Now we're back in the motorhome relaxing with cocktails and thankful for air conditioning. It is 104 degrees outside! The dogs will just have to wait a few hours for it to cool down before they get their after dinner walk.

Diesel Price Surprise

We'd been dreading the time we'd have to buy diesel fuel in California. It had been our prior experience that California prices were significantly higher than just about anywhere else. So it was a pleasant surprise when we pulled into the Flying J in Corning, CA and topped off the tank for $4.21/gallon. That's the least we've paid in almost a year. I know prices are dropping again - thank God - so that accounts for some of it, but we had just paid $4.30 in Oregon a few days before and we thought that was great! Kind of sad that we can think anything over $4/gallon is a good price, isn't it?

Are We Done Yet?

YES! We are. Finally. All the issues on our list have been addressed and repairs completed. Yahoo! As much as we like the Eugene area, we are looking forward to being on the move again. We'll leave tomorrow morning and go to Rogue River, OR for a few days to visit with Jo's mom and stepdad.

Then Gracie is entered in a dog show in Northern California and after that we plan to go Reno for the annual balloon races.

And so the adventures continue.

Secret House Vineyards

While trying to figure out ways to spend our days while the motorhome was in the shop, someone suggested we make a trip out to a local winery, Secret House Vineyards. We did a search in our GPS and it was one of the pre-programed points of interest so we poked the "go to" button and started following the directions - which took us to some dead end back country road. Hmmm, didn't look much like a winery to us. Luckily the phone number was also pre-programmed so we gave them a call and found out this was a common problem among GPS users. The street address of the winery does not quite translate properly on a map. We were given the correct directions and off we went. Once we got there, we realized the GPS had originally taken us to the very back of the vineyard property. If the road had just gone through another couple hundred yards, we would have come out right at the tasting room.

Ultimately it was worth the effort. We tasted 5 varieties of wine, including their own special concoction "Vinotaboo." They start with pinot noir wine and add a small amount of lingonberry juice, chocolate (right there you know it has to be good) and cinnamon. They make a limited amount so it's only available at the winery.

Another good reason to come back to this area in the future.

How Cheese is Made

When we were visiting with Tom's brother Jim and his family, my niece Katie asked me how cheese was made. I had to admit, I didn't really know. So when we had the chance to stop at the Tillamook Cheese factory we figured we'd better do it.

So this blog entry is for Katie.

They start by cooking the milk in huge vats to kill some bacteria, but use a low enough heat to preserve its beneficial enzymes and certain types of bacteria which affect the flavor, body and texture of the cheese. Starter culture is added to produce lactic acid, critical to the cheesemaking process. Natural colorings may also be added at this point.

Next another additive is mixed in to coagulate the milk which begins the process of forming curd made up of a naturally occurring milk protein. When it's sort of like a thick pudding, large knives are used to cut the soft curd into small pieces. The temperature is then raised to help firm the curd and release it from the remaining liquid, known as whey.

When the curd reaches the correct texture, the curds and whey are pumped into the “cheddarmaster” which drains the whey from the curd. The curd particles begin to adhere to each other and become stringy, forming large slabs. The large slabs are cut up again into small pieces which are then passed through a salting chamber where they are dusted with salt.

The salt is absorbed by the curd and the curds are then put into pressing towers where the excess moisture is removed. From there, huge blocks are cut from the base of the towers and sealed into airtight plastic bags. The sealed blocks are then aged in cooling rooms for at least two months.

When the aging process is complete, the blocks are cut and packaged and sent to market.

Warranty work in Junction City, Oregon

Well, we're done with our warranty work at the Guaranty Service Center in Coburg.... now we're 13 miles away at the Guaranty Paint and Body shop in Junction City. I think that's progress.

We originally thought we'd be done here by Friday, but now it looks like we're not going to be done until at least the end of next week and even then I can't be entirely sure we'll be done. There are several areas on the motorhome where they didn't really do a good job with the paint at the factory and now that Tom has found out we can have all that fixed under warranty, he's been going over the RV with a fine tooth comb finding all sorts of other little anomalies he wants fixed which of course adds to the amount of time it will take.

Thankfully, Guaranty provides free overnight parking right next door to the body shop. They have electricity at each spot and a sewer dump station on site, so it's convenient. Each morning the "coach jockey" comes and gets the motorhome to take it to the shop, then each evening we pick it up and take it back to the overnight parking area. But the challenge is what to do with ourselves (and the dogs) in between. It's been hot here so we can't just go to a movie or golf or something like that where we'd have to leave the dogs in the car for a couple of hours. We've been hanging around the service center's waiting room with the dogs next to us in their crates a lot. We try to keep ourselves occupied with the computer, or reading or playing cards, but mostly it makes for long boring days. I guess I shouldn't complain. It could be worse - we could be working.

Warranty work in Coburg, Oregon

After the Safari Rally in Newport, OR and a brief stay at a "Thousand Trails" rv resort on the Oregon coast we traveled east to Coburg, Oregon to keep a long standing appointment with Guaranty RV Service Center to complete our list of warranty issues. We originally bought our Safari Cheetah from them in Coburg last year. Throughout the year we've kept a list that kept growing longer with "bugs" in the rv that you can't find until you live in it for awhile. This is our fourth visit and this should finally take care of it all.

When we're done here we will go about twelve miles down the road to Junction City, Oregon to have some paint anomalies taken care of at Guaranty's other service center. That should last through next week.

Since we're full-timing it in the motorhome we stay in it at night and then turn it over to the service guys during the day. The only drawback to this is that we have to wake up early like we did when we had jobs. EEEK!!!!

Today while we were wandering around to kill time while the motorhome was in the shop we paid a visit to Junction City. As it turns out they are holding their annual "Scandinavian Festival" for four days. We walked their streets looking at the local's wares and tasted some delicious Scandinavian dishes. Uhhh....no, it was not dietary food.

While staying around Coburg and visiting the Monaco service center (maker of our motorhome)we ran into two couples who we met at the Safari Rally in Newport. But the big surprise was running into Phil, a retired electrician from Tom's old job. The world is getting smaller everyday.

We don't quite know what we'll be doing tomorrow but life always seems to throw a little spice along our paths.

Newport Beaches

After the Safari Rally, we spent a few extra days in Newport, Oregon exploring some of the many beaches in that area. These are photos from Lost Creek Beach & Seal Beach.

The Party's Over

Friday was the final day of the Safari Rally and we were sorry to see it end. We had a great time and met many new friends.

The closing ceremonies were held after Friday night's dinner, starting with a drawing for a 50/50 cash raffle. They actually had one of these every night. We bought tickets every night and came away empty handed every night. I didn't expect the final night to be any different. So imagine my surprise when they called one of our ticket numbers for a $50 prize!! The night was looking up.

After the usual acknowledgements and thank yous to sponsors and volunteers, it was time to announce the winners of the golf events. For the main tournament, Tom's team came in second place, earning each person on the team a $10 prize. Then the mini scramble results. And Tom's team was tied for first! Earning him another $4.

What a night. We walked out with an extra $64 which paid for our 50/50 raffle tickets for previous evenings as well as Tom's golf tournament fees. Tom says he's ready now for the PGA tour.

Mini Golf

Pacific Shores Outdoor Resorts, where the Safari Rally was held, has a small, six hole, chip and putt course. The longest hole is only about 40 yards. This is true mini golf. In addition to the rally's regular golf scramble tournament at a "real" golf course, they also had a mini scramble tournment on the resort's course. You can see the whole course standing in one place and it was hilarious watching all the particpants swarming all over the course like ants. Tom played on a team in this tournament as well, and just like before, we had to wait until Friday night to hear the final results. But Tom was the best chipper on his team so I guess that means his short game is really coming around.

Safari Motorhome Murals

Most older Safari motorhomes have murals painted on the back of them. They stopped that practice a few years ago with the newer models which is too bad because most of the murals are really beautiful. While here at the rally, we went on a Safari Mural safari to take pictures of as many of them as we could. And we want to share them here with you.

Safari Rally

Yesterday we traveled from Ilwaco (such a fun word to say) to Newport for the Safari Rally.

We did manage to find time to stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory along the way, but more on that in another blog entry.

We're now in day two of the rally and having a great time. This rally has a completely different feel from the other two rallies we've been to. This one is basically just a chance to socialize with other Safari owners. It's been great fun so far. Today Tom participated in a golf tournament. It was a scramble format (all players hit from the spot of the best ball on the team) and Tom hit one spectacular 285 yard drive on a par 4 hole to land just short of the green. His play earned the team a birdie (one under par) on that hole and the team finished 3 under par. We have to wait until tomorrow to hear the final results.

Ilwaco, WA

Today we traveled from Silver Creek to Ilwaco, WA which took us across the Columbia River twice. The route we chose dipped us down into Oregon, then along the Columbia River for about 40 miles, then back into Washington. This is a picture of our bridge crossing from Astoria, OR back up to Washington.

The bridge, which is very close to the mouth of the Columbia where it empties into the Pacific Ocean, is raised on both sides of the shore to allow ships to pass beneath, but through the middle, it's fairly close to the water.

We are staying at another Sunrise Resort property in Ilwaco for the night. It's a lovely wooded campground with glimpses of the ocean from the clubhouse building.

But between this park and the one we stayed at last night, both of which have dirt/gravel roads, our motorhome is d-i-r-t-y! We are afraid we'll look like the poor relation when we get to the ritzy Outdoor Resort park where the Safari Rally is being held. Weather forecast is for showers tomorrow morning so if we're lucky it will be a strong enough downpour to rinse off the worst of the dust.

Tomorrow we will follow Hwy 101 down the Oregon Coast to Newport. We'll pass through Tillamook and I'm trying to talk Tom into stopping there for the cheese factory tour. Should be a lot of gorgeous scenery along the way.

Silver Creek, WA

This was day two of our four day trip to get to the Safari rally in Newport. We took Hwy 12 which goes through a mountain pass just south of Mt. Rainier. For thirty or so miles it followed alongside a beautiful river with clear blue waters that had Tom itching to pull over and get out his fishing rod. All the scenery was just gorgeous. I tried to get pictures, but this was a twisting mountain road with very few places to pull over, so I was taking the pictures out the front windshield of the motorhome with less than wonderful results. Still, here are a few of the better ones.

We are stopped for the night at another membership network park in Silver Creek, WA, which is just off Hwy 12, about 10 miles before the junction with I-5. We checked in at the front gate and the "ranger" told us the spaces were first come first served, so just to find an empty space we liked. She gave Tom a map and sort of explained where we should go, but somehow we ended up in RV storage area without knowing it. We were thoroughly unimpressed with the campground until we realized we were in the wrong area and found a real campsite.

Moses Lake, WA

Today we completed the first leg of our 4 day trip to get from Deer Park near Spokane, WA to Newport Oregon. We traveled about 150 miles to Moses Lake, which is more or less in the middle of Washington. We decided to take some of the smaller highways instead of staying on the interstate. We figured it would be more interesting. And we sure did see something interesting. We saw 3 Dromedary camels along the side of the road. And no, we hadn't been drinking. We have no idea what they were doing there or how they got there. We're guessing they belonged to one of the farms or ranches in the area, but why you would want/need a camel on a farm is beyond me. I wish I'd gotten pictures, but by the time I thought to grab the camera, we were well past them.

We didn't see any purple majestic mountains or fruited plains, but we did see acres and acres of amber waves of grain. For several miles the fields spread as far as we could see in all directions. Quite beautiful.

We are spending the night at the Pier 4 RV resort, which is part of the Sunrise Resorts campground network we bought a membership in last month. This is the first time since buying into the network that we've stayed at one of their parks. The spaces are a little closer together than we would generally prefer, but it's on a lake, has all the basic amenities we need/want, and it's only $1 per night, so we can't complain.

We're now relaxing under the awning outside our motorhome sipping wine and snacking on fruit, cheese and crackers. Life is rough.

Tomorrow we'll hit the road again. We plan to travel another 200 miles to Silver Creek, WA where we'll stay at another membership network park.

Scenic Drive

Yesterday we took a scenic drive through some of the surrounding countryside. There was a lot of farm and ranch land as well as a couple of beautiful lakes along the way. We saw one farm with the Alaska flag painted on the side of one of the outbuildings. We have really enjoyed our stay here in the Spokane area and look forward to returning at some point in the future.



Today we visited Townshend Cellars again to stock up on a couple more bottles of our favorites from there, along with another package of some of the best chocolates I've ever had. This time Brenda's brother, Don, was there so we got to meet him and visit with him for a few minutes before he had to run off.

Tomorrow we leave to go to Newport, Oregon for a Safari Owners rally. It's a little over 500 miles but we plan to take a few days to get there.

Golfing at Deer Park

We went golfing again today to see if any of our lessons have improved our game. Weeeelllll, with the help of a few mulligans Tom's score is improving and is staying under 120. Jo is still learning her swing as is Tom with his driver. Jo could kick Tom's butt if she can take a few strokes off of the fairway. She's great on the green and Tom learns new words not listed in the dictionary.

Hey, but the view is nice and we got to see many types of birds that hang close the ponds around the course. Jo got a closer look at the pond today than Tom did. We both lost a few balls today which didn't hurt too bad because we found most of those balls at Suntides Golf Course in Yakima. Tom's not going to buy any expensive balls until he can break 100. The ball budget catagory is definitely going to be in the "black" for awhile.

We have one more lesson this coming Thursday and hopefully we can remember all of the things we learn on the next golfcourse we play at. We are going to be leaving this neat place on Saturday.

Golf Lesson

Yesterday Tom and I had a golf lesson with the Deer Park course golf pro, Kathy Jensen. It was supposed to be about an hour session for the two of us combined, but she spent well over an hour with each of us individually.

How great to have a lesson with a woman! She really helped me a lot. There are certain, ahem, anatomy issues affecting a woman's golf swing that only another woman can understand. It's amazing how well I can do when there's an instructor right there telling me the little adjustments I need to make. Wish I could keep it all in my head when the instructor's not around.

Killdeer Chicks

Today we got a visit from mama Killdeer and her chicks. They were hatched just a few days after our arrival here so they are probably only about 10 days old. The babies fledge from the nest within the first couple of days after hatching so they've been up and about for over a week now. They are soooo cute! There were four little Deerlings but we couldn't get them all in one photo, they are way to busy.