Gone to the West

We took our first trip of the year, it was a hard decision to leave Nellie behind but we took to the sky instead of the road. It was a good flight from St.Paul to Portland. We managed to navigate our way through the waiting and checking in,  waiting and security and waiting and boarding and flying. It went very well and saved us about 24hrs of drive time and $1200 in fuel verses $700 in airfare. The main reason for flying was just time, if we had more vacation time we would definitely drive, love seeing more of the country on the way! Nellie is definitely more comfortable to live in then most hotels we visit!

Hard to get this view of Mount Hood from the road though!

 From the East side of the mountains near Bend Oregon

Many waterfalls, this one-Sahalie Falls is between Bend and Eugene, The water is so blue from snow melting off the mountain tops! This was a very cool drive through the mountains!

 A day on the coast north of Florence, Or. another very nice drive, we could definitely spend some more time camping with Nellie out here!

 Not sure what these beaches look like in the summer but we had them almost to ourselves in March!

 My wife found Bigfoot and we got a "non blurred" picture of him!!! He was very friendly! 

 Always a big fan of the trees out here, I can't imagine what the redwoods must be like!

I rented the big Dodge truck from Alamo, everyone was giving me hard time for renting such a big vehicle but it sure was nice to drive around. It came up as the deal of the day so I figured what the heck! The snowball missed me, thanks Ben!

 My travel partner of more then 30 years now! I kind of like being with her!!!!!!

 Missing these two every day, favorite son and favorite daughter in law, it was great to spend a few days with them!

 Don't know where he gets his troublemaking ways?

 Great spot for a lunch break! North of Florence, Or.

 Much bigger drift wood from the ocean then we are used to on Lake Superior!

 I think there must have been a better view from 10' higher up!

 Cape Perpetua coast.

Great trip, the next time we see these adventurers the two will be three! Grandma and Grandpa need to figure out how to do this from 2000 miles away? We are not used to having our family so far away but happy they are having the adventure of there dreams!

Next trip is in May to Iowa, Missouri and Eureka Springs Arkansas with Nellie this time!

Time to give Nellie her yearly tuneup, New tires, new sealevel tank monitor system, check brakes and grease bearings, check all systems, wash, polish and GO!

Bye for now!

Dreaming of Streaming

The more we camp the more we want to camp and explore, this is the problem! For years my wife and I have read the blogs about the adventures of couples and families that have  made the jump from living in a brick and sticks house to a home on wheels. We have been married for almost thirty years now and like many have camped in tents and many different types of travel trailers, our favorite is Nellie the Airstream! When we pull into a campground with her she is a instant conversation starter, we've met so many great people through her.

As busy as everyone is it's always a challenge to get camping time, so we learned long ago to get it scheduled and on the calendar early or it just doesn't happen.

Now that I am in my fifties we have been thinking more of what the next ten years may look like??? I can't imagine selling the home that my wife and I built, which is on land we purchased from her parents? I would be ok with renting it out for a while so we can go explore for extended periods of time.  If we need to be working part time from the road that could be just fine, a handyman at a campground may be the ticket! Until that happens we will just keep improving Nellie and who knows what the next day will bring???

 Life is good, keep streaming!