So today,
June 16 we are staying in the parking lot of Northwest Cummins RV Repair in
Coburg, Oregon just north of Eugene. Here we will have some recalls fixed and
maybe even the Aqua Hot. Our wheel that was damaged at the toll booth has a hubcap
and looks like new again.
I haven’t
written since we arrived at Santa Rosa where we spent a few days. As I’m
beginning to recall where we’ve been and the sequence of what we’ve done I have
to look at the calendar and my pictures to get it organized. It’s important
that I do this, not just so my story is more or less accurate but also to help
get my mind organized. Writing this blog helps me to feel like I’m still
connected to all of you friends and family for whom I write. This is important
because I miss so many of you. When I get some feedback and know that some of
you are reading this it really helps me feel connected. So don’t be shy about
letting me know. What is strange is that when I talk to some of you and I don’t
know if you’ve read the blog and I start talking about what we’ve been doing, I
think maybe I’m telling you something you already know.
When we
leave here later today or tomorrow depending on when the work is done on the
coach, we’ll be starting to head east and back towards home, wherever that is.
Sometimes, now when someone asks where we are from I just say, “the Midwest”.
That pretty much covers it.
Anyway, we
spent a few days in Santa Rosa, California where we stayed at the Event Center.
While we were there we took a drive over to the coast to spend some more time
at the Pacific Ocean. The shore here is more rugged and wild, chilly and windy.
Santa Rosa is in the Sonoma River Valley which is known for its wines so we
took a wine tour and bought a couple bottles of wine. We actually went to the
Russian River Valley which is also known for it’s wines. It seems like a lot of
river valleys around here are known for their wines. 
We left
Santa Rosa on June 1 and headed farther in-land because as long as we were
anywhere near the Pacific Ocean we weren’t going to be warm. We stayed for 2 nights
at a Harvest Host venue, Giusti Family Farm which is where we were parked next
to the chickens and enjoyed the beautiful sunset. Our hosts, Sandy and Richard
Giusti invited us into their home where we enjoyed dinner and made to feel part
of their family. They gave us a tour of the county where we learned about how
they irrigate and grow crops in this part of the Central Valley. Their land is
bounded on one side by the Sacramento River and the other side by the Nevada
River. Their primary crop is rice and at
this time of year the fields are very green and flooded with water. When they
are finished the unused water is returned to the river. They also have fields
of tomatoes and garbanzo beans which were nearly ready to harvest. This was a
wonderful stop and we found the warmth we were looking for. 
We then
headed north and stayed for 2 nights in Redding, California at the Win River
Casino RV Park. It was here that we
found one of the best bicycle trails in the country. We started at the famous
Sun Dial Bridge and rode along the Sacramento River and crossed the river on
The Hanging Bridge that was built just for bicyclists and pedestrians. This was
a beautiful ride. The temperature in Redding was headed into the triple digits
so we headed north and spent a night at another casino (Seven Feathers) in Canyonville,
OR. We enjoyed a beautiful trip up I5 past Mount Shasta on our way into Oregon.
Oregon…. Hills
and trees… logging trucks coming and going… beautiful rivers speeding down hill
to the ocean. U-Pick blueberries not yet ready to pick L… a chilly rugged coast with
sand dunes and light-houses… hay fields with cattle… beautiful flowers. I’ll
put up some pictures. We spent 10 days at the SKP Timber Valley RV Park in
Sutherlin, OR. The weather was pretty hot the first couple of days there so we
took a couple of trips over to the coast where we had to wear sweatshirts. We
saw dunes and lighthouses and Shore Acres State Park that was created from land
developed by a wealthy lumber tycoon early in the last century who developed
exotic flower gardens and landscaping that is still being maintained today.
That is where I got pictures of beautiful flowers. We took our bikes to Cottage
Grove where we rode their bike trails to see covered bridges. On Saturday
evening we took a short trip to Myrtle Creek to the Grand Victorian Murder
Mystery Dinner Theatre for excellent prime rib and a production of “Murder at
the Moose Hyde Lodge”. This was a local production in a small town with a group
who clearly enjoyed entertaining us. We took a few days there to clean up the
camper, do laundry, make another batch of granola and shop for some groceries. We
left Timber Valley yesterday and came here to Eugene to get the camper fixed. 
I am
finishing writing this 12 hours after I started it. Since this morning, we got
the recalls fixed and they began diagnosing the Aqua Hot. We’ll spend another
night in the parking lot so they can hopefully at least figure out the problem
if not fix it. So today, we went and got to know Eugene where Greg and Kelly
spent some time back in 1997. As we traveled around town today I imagined them
here as some very young adults making their way. We had breakfast at the New
Day Bakery and checked out the sports venues of the Oregon Ducks. But mostly we
looked in vain for a Ducks postcard for Grandpa to send to Edie.
