Exploring Our World

 

We are beginning to realize our time here at Sarah Helmick State Park is coming to an end in the very near future – less than 2 weeks now.  We leave here on Sunday, June 30th for LL Stub Stewart, near Vernonia, where the next adventure awaits us.  Now is the time we begin to evaluate how this job worked out for us, whether we might want to come here again in the future, what time of year would be best if we did, etc.  We also have a chance to look at ourselves and our “evolution” as we continue to live out our lives as full-time “RVers”.  I guess you could say we are our own lab rats! 

 

As far as working at Sarah Helmick, there have been a number of things we have truly enjoyed, and only a couple things that were a bit less than perfect from our perspective (everyone is different in that respect!).  Having this park as our “front yard” was incredible!  We love walking around the park.  We enjoy seeing the beauty of this area and visible fruits of our labor.  The local people here, from Monmouth and the surrounding area, seem to us to be just plain old good people – very friendly and warm – both at the park, and in town.  There’s a small town feel we have grown to love.  We notice a difference in how strangers relate to us in the various parts of Oregon we’ve lived in: some don’t meet our eyes – perhaps a cultural thing; others welcome us easily.  It was really great here.  Case in point – as I was writing this very sentence, Steve returned from work with a pint of fresh Oregon strawberries in his hand.  A local man visiting the park gave him a box to thank us for the work we’ve done here.  How can we not love these people when we are often the recipients of their kindness?  We enjoy these people.  As park hosts, we think the amount of litter we pick up says something about the people also.  We rarely pick up anything of any consequence here.  I’m just saying... 


We have learned we can survive on 30 amp electrical service, but that we’d really rather have 50 amps to live fully in this coach of ours.  Remembering to turn one thing off before turning on another was a bit annoying at first, but got better as we grew accustomed to it.  Still, in warmer weather we would require 50 amps to run the a/c when the sun hits the coach.  We heat up quickly in here when the sun is on us.  We’ve been able to run one unit on the warmer days, but wouldn’t be happy here in the summer months.  We refer to our power here as a “flakey 30 amps”. 

The work here was a lot more physical than we generally have experienced when park hosting.  It’s been fun to take on some new challenges.  We’ve enjoyed seeing the results of some pretty hard labor, and have appreciated our increase in muscle mass as well!  However, we realize that doing this much work for the long term would be tough on our aging bodies.  Bless you, park maintenance people!  We will never take you for granted again! 


We’ve enjoyed our independence, being the sole residents at this park, and have enjoyed being trusted with more responsibility here, including being allowed to use large tractor-mowers, gas powered tools, and even park vehicles when necessary to ease the responsibilities of our ranger.  We haven’t always appreciated needing to be up and dressed to unlock the gate at 7:00 each morning, though.  We aren’t so much morning people these days.  However, after needing to be up at Honeyman State Park, it wasn’t as tough as it might have been otherwise.





Ranger Steve DeGoey & Merilou
at Luckiamute Landing

We’ve enjoyed ranger, Steve DeGoey, and we truly have enjoyed working at this park .  We would definitely consider returning to this or one of the other host positions in this management unit at some point if it makes sense for us in the future.
 

We, as people, are changing as we continue in this new lifestyle.  One of the many changes we have seen slowly, over time, is a desire to see more of the area around where we are living.  We've never considered ourselves as "tourists".  Other friends and family seem to always be going somewhere, exploring new places, always looking for where to go next.  We, on the other hand, are self-proclaimed "home bodies".  We've sometimes felt bad about ourselves for being this way.  We definitely see the contrast between us and others around us.  We've occasionally gone so far as to try to forcibly plan some outings, thinking we'd look better to those other people.  Most of those attempts failed miserably.  We never got away from the coach.  Either we'd decide it was too much trouble, the risk was too great, or perhaps we were just too tired that day...  We are B-O-R-I-N-G!  Any increase in exploring activity would be an improvement, right?
 

During our hosting time at Wallowa Lake last Fall, as we saw our dear new friends, the Schaffer's, head out of camp on BOTH their days off, exploring roads to nowhere, eating burgers at restaurants in cities we'd never heard of, we had an epiphany of sorts.  I'd expressed our dismay to Sharon about how boring we were, and how we truly felt we should strive to be more like the Schaffer’se Schaffer's, are changing as we continue in this new lifestyle.  turning to this, or one of the other positions in this.  Sharon, a true friend, told me it was absolutely okay if we didn't become just like them.  We are not the Schaffer’s – we are the “Kronschmeiers” (Sharon’s first attempt at remembering our last name has continued to be a teasing point as we continually try to make up new names for ourselves, experimenting with the spelling, etc.  Sharon has spoiled things now by remembering our name correctly, and even being able to spell it, but we continue to enjoy using different names for our own, and her enjoyment.)  Our good friends like us just the way we are.  It is true we are not all the same.  Whew!  We are relaxing our expectations a bit.
 

Advance ahead in time 6 months or so.  It seems we are naturally evolving into being just a bit more curious about the world around us!  We’ve begun leaving the coach more often, sometimes even taking the cat with us.  Perhaps we're changing because we’re focusing more outside the coach, with the frequent change of scenery.  Perhaps it's because we can make each other crazy if we just sit in the coach all the time.  Perhaps it's because we're discovering this whole other world, right here at home in Oregon, which we never even knew existed?  I mean, who ever heard of Sarah Helmick State Park, let alone the Luckiamute River, or Luckiamute State Park?  We are certainly glad our friend Brian Ingoldsby shared his knowledge of this park with us. 

We have since learned that Sarah Helmick is in fact Oregon’s first State Park!  We had previously never stayed or visited anywhere in this area to our knowledge, though Steve had a daughter attend college in Corvallis.  Trips down this direction were just to see the daughter and perhaps grab a quick lunch.  Visits to state parks were not a part of those trips.  Yet, we are only about an hour and a half drive from where we used to live in our “stick homes” in both Hillsboro and Beaverton for the first 19 years of our marriage, and many years previous.  You might say we are looking at things now through different eyes.

Partly due to realizing that hosting at day-use parks is now attractive to us, we’ve made a point of seeing some of the other parks in within a reasonable distance for a nice drive.  Because our ranger, Steve DeGoey, is also responsible for Luckiamute State Park with its multiple sites, and we have helped him by working at Luckiamute, we learned of two more hosting possibilities within 10 miles of Sarah Helmick.  We decided we also wanted to check out Fort Yamhill State Park, near Willamina.  It’s a gorgeous day-use park focusing on the history of an actual military fort that was on that land from 1856 – 1866 as a buffer between the settlers and the Indians, who had been pushed out of the land as it was settled.  There’s a lovely half mile walk with informational signs along the way, giving insight into the lives of the military, the settlers, and the Indians.

 

We visited Willamette Mission State Park during May.  That park is head of the management unit which includes both Luckiamute and Sarah Helmick State Parks.  It’s a huge park – something like 1500 acres – with equestrian accommodations and lots of room for picnicking, bicycling and hiking.  It is part of the restoration work being done to return some of the land in Oregon to its native vegetation.  On our visit there, I have to admit I wasn’t sure what it was about…  It’s such a vast area of land and is still being developed.

 

On our way back from Willamette Mission, we got to see Maude Williams State Park as well – another day use park we’d never heard of previously.  Another set of hosts who were leaving Luckiamute moved to Maude Williams.  We’ve heard they ended up being rather bored with the contrast in work opportunities.

 

Thompson Mills State Park

We drove to Thompson Mills State Park, near Junction City and Shedd (who’s heard of Shedd?!).  We are so glad we made the effort to visit this park.  It’s an actual flour mill that was operated for something like 125 years on that site, during the world wars and beyond, though for a time it processed animal feed.  The actual silos and mill, with its wooden gears and leather pulley system, along with the owners’ home, still stands.  Guided tours are available.  We had a private tour by host volunteer Pamela Dean, who we learned we will see again when we work at Champoeg State Park this winter.  Pamela took us all over the mill, turned on some of the equipment which had been converted to electric, and even opened the waterway so we could see the turbines operate.  It’s a true historical picture of what life was like back in the 1800’s and early 1900’s.  The mill wasn’t actually closed until 2002, we learned.  The park system purchased the land, and sold back the water rights.  I just had to buy a souvenir apron with one of the flour mill bag’s picture/logo on it.  Flour bags were often turned into clothing back then, and are works of art in their own right.
 

While down near Junction City, we looked up a couple Oregon State Park waysides as well – Alderwood and Washburne.  While nice, they are simple waysides for a picnic or a quick rest stop.  Still, we made the effort!  We are changing!
 



Wheatland Ferry

Buena Vista Ferry

Another one of the fun things we did while residing at Sarah Helmick was check out a couple of local ferries which barge vehicles across the Willamette River.  As we returned from visiting Willamette Mission State Park, we crossed the Willamette on the Wheatland Ferry – a $2 toll.  We were surprised to see the amount of cars waiting to cross the river by ferry!  I can’t remember the last time we took a ferry.  We also learned of, and went to see, the Buena Vista Ferry, not far from Luckiamute State Park.  I knew of the Canby Ferry, as my sister and her family lived in Canby for many years.  Prior even to that, my Grandfather took me for a ride in his VW Karmann Ghia across the Canby Ferry.  I had no idea there were still other ferries on the Willamette!
 

We have become very proficient at spotting the dreaded, yet beautiful, Cow Parsnip, which we cleared from pathways here at Sarah Helmick as one of our first tasks.  It can cause blistering on human skin, after it is exposed to ultra violet light from the sun, and other problems, so we remove it where people might come into contact with it.  We see it along the roads all the time now in more natural areas and ditches.  We’ll never look at that foliage the same.
 

We’ve gained a curiosity about what farmers are growing out here in the vast farmland in the Willamette Valley.  What is field mustard grown for?  We had a beautiful crop of yellow flowers on leased-out park land next to us.  I looked it up and have learned it’s a cover crop used in-between other plantings to nourish and keep the soil in place.  There are several bee hives located in the corner of the field mustard field, so obviously the bees like it also!  We’ve seen fields of clover, always with bee hives.  We see fields of field mustard, corn, mint, winter wheat, Christmas trees, and vast fields of unknown white flowering plants, probably another cover crop.  We’ve decided they should all have signs so we can learn as we drive.
 

We are definitely still broadening our horizons with each adventure, which makes each assignment a new opportunity.  We truly wish we could bring all our friends and family along on this adventure.  We’d enjoy “having it all” that way!  What a great opportunity this is, for those who are led to it!

 

 

 

Living the Life We Love

It feels like life has fallen once again into step with what we’d hoped for as full time RVers. Working at Jessie M Honeyman for March and April was just the right thing for us, at just the right time. How time flies when you’re having fun!  Even more importantly, we feel we've found a great area of life where we can make a good contribution.



Cleawox Lake at Jessie Honeyman State Park

Each new job has a learning curve we have needed to work our way through. Though we always work for the Oregon State Park & Recreation Department (OPRD), each state park has its own management and its own unique ways of dealing with things, based on the management, location, composition and culture of the park. We’ve worked at five different parks now in our “hosting career”, and each one has defined our job differently, while all having certain common aspects. At Fort Stevens we had three main responsibilities – relief visitors center, relief sales and delivery of firewood (wood on wheels), and once a week litter patrol, with campsite grooming on the side. At Devil’s Lake, Steve mowed grass as a Maintenance Host, and we groomed campsites and did litter patrol. At Wallowa Lake our main job was selling firewood, and grooming campsites was shared by all the hosts.  At Jessie Honeyman, our primary job was helping campers, including helping with registration, selling passes, renting out yurts, wood sales and light cleaning of restrooms, litter, recycling & garbage. Though we’d never experienced it before, we felt our job there even more so fulfilled what we believed park hosting would be like.



Picnic Area A at Sarah Helmick State Park

We are now in yet another new experience!  We are Day-Use Hosts at Sarah Helmick State Park, just south of Monmouth for the months of May and June.  Again we are experiencing a whole new aspect of park-hosting - the day use host.

During our working days at Jessie Honeyman, near Florence, we were true campground hosts, available to campers, 24 hours a day for 5 days a week. As soon as we woke each morning, we pulled on clothes and went out to raise the American flag. We took it down again each evening at dusk.  Once we were out of bed each morning, our window shades went up, indicating that we were available to campers. If a camper came in the middle of the night and couldn't get into their yurt, or had some other need, we were available for them to find help, (although we'd talk to them through the window, for our safety!). We were the first visible hosts as campers entered the park, which is why we were considered the "meet-greet hosts". Fortunately, we were not waked in the night often! Our “On Duty” sign would not go down for the 5 days we were on duty.

While every day was different, and though our actual working hours probably never exceed four hours a day, we were to be available to help campers at any time. We tried to always have one of us at the coach, with only a couple exceptions. I would stay behind while Steve did light cleaning of the men’s restroom, and he covered while I cleaned the women’s restroom.

Other than refilling paper towel and toilet paper dispensers, we’ve never been asked to do any cleaning of restrooms previous to Honeyman. Even at Honeyman, we didn't do what is considered “deep cleaning”. We would disinfect and wipe down the sinks and mirrors, sweep the floors and pick up debris. The Rangers clean and disinfect the toilets and showers and mop floors. Doing the amount of work we were asked to do in the restrooms did not seemed unreasonable to us at all. It’s actually nice to know we were helping the rangers with their workload, while not doing anything we were uncomfortable with.

Sunrise at the Sarah Helmick gate

We arrived at Sarah Helmick State Park on Monday, April 29th. This is our first experience hosting at a day-use park. We weren't sure we'd like it, but wanted to give it a try.  Our concerns about taking a day-use job were related to feeling secure, and to being lonely.  We are the only residents at the park.  We have been delighted to find that we have enjoyed our time here.  We feel safe, and are not lonesome.  Since we lock the front gate each night, the park becomes our own private front yard after 9pm, until we unlock it again at 7am the next morning.  Locking the gate means we are less likely to be awakened by unwanted intruders in the night.  We are located about 4 miles from the nearest small city, so it's not like we see anybody arrive here on foot!  In addition to unlocking and locking the front gate each day, we also clean and stock the two restrooms, pick up litter, mow our 15 acre park lawn, prune, and generally are a presence at the park. When we first arrived, locals told us of some less-than-desirable activity in the park, which made us a bit nervous.  However, the reality is that when we began to reside here, those people must have gone elsewhere!

The park has two large group picnic areas which can be reserved for various events. We’ve been told there have been weddings held here, though we haven't been able to enjoy that experience.  We've had one area used for a memorial service, but that's been our only reservation to date.

One of our favorite aspects of being at Sarah Helmick has turned out to be getting to know the local regulars who come to the park.  Fred, who has a permit to saw up a couple downed trees in the park, comes almost daily to "have a beer and visit with friends".  We've seen very little progress on the tree during the 5-6 weeks we've been here ...



Steve with new local friend,
Shirley with Lucky

Ody and Shirley come regularly to walk their wolf-mix dog, Lucky.  Shirley has brought us produce from her garden - Swiss Chard and a cherry tomato plant have been real treats!

Chuck and his wife are our "walkers".  They do 8 laps around the park on week days, equaling 4 miles.  We have another regular we refer to as "shirtless man" who comes on sunny days, removes his shirt, and just enjoys standing around in the sunshine.  We have people who eat their dinner here on all the sunny evenings.  They each appear to have their favorite picnic areas.  Some occasionally use the BBQ stands around the park to cook on.  Families, and some young people, come regularly on the nicer days to play down at the river's edge.  It wouldn't be our idea of a good time, as the river looks pretty murky to us, but they love it.  Apparently it isn't too deep.  We have fishermen visit.  One grandfather brought his young grandson to fish.  We've been told catch-and-release is best.  The Luckiamute River, which runs on 2 sides of our park, meanders through a lot of farm land, and we've been told that means it gets run-off from chemicals used in farming, and animal waste ...  Need I say more?



Being trusted with the park truck
is no small thing!

Another couple who regularly visit the park are from further south, past Corvallis.  They drive up highway 99 to the city of Dallas to pick up their inventory of pellet BBQ's, which they sell.  They always stop here at the park on their return trip.  The first time we met them, they stopped us to express fear that they may have seen a young man with a revolver in the park, over by the bridge.  They identified his vehicle for us, and circled the park 2 more times just to keep an eye on him.  We decided to take a drive around the park in our golf cart just to see what we could see.  A young man approached me along the way, asking about a woodpecker he was hearing in a grove of trees.  It didn't take long while visiting with this young man to realize I was speaking to the young man the

Meadow area near the Willamette
at Luckiamute Landing

couple had been concerned about!  The good news is that he was clearly no threat.  He was just a nice young man, from the other side of Salem, with a geology degree who had a nature blog.  He enjoyed visiting various parks and natural areas and writing about whatever he might see.  I probably visited with him for a good 45 minutes that day.  I believe the "revolver" was actually just a small black camera he used to capture photos for his blog.

Ranger Steve DeGoey and myself by the confluence
of the Willamette, Santiam and Luckiamute Rivers

Yet another person we've had the pleasure of getting to know here is the ranger who oversees this park.  He is actually working at Luckiamute State Park, a much larger park about 5-10 miles from us, with various sites along another part the Luckiamute River.  He oversees Sarah Helmick park as well.  Ranger Steve DeGoey had to be convinced to let us take on more responsibilities during our first weeks working with him.  Another host we'd met when we arrived, who knew him well, suggested we do some gentle pushing to get him to let us help him out a bit more.  It worked, and we have had the chance to try yet more new tasks.  During May, Ranger Steve was without hosts at Luckiamute.  We offered to work there too, once we'd caught up on the work at Sarah Helmick.  Our 2nd Sunday on the job, he asked us to come over and help.  I mowed the main site, and Steve accompanied him to do some tree trimming off the main road at North Luckiamute.  I had a blast on that mower, trying to finish the task before they returned from the northern site.



Following the tractor out of the "jungle" 

The following Sunday he asked us to accompany him a few miles in on a service road where a tree had fallen.  He needed to remove the tree, and was required to have a spotter while using the chain saw.  He thought we could help widen the service road by clearing brush back while we waited for him to work.  I drove in the park truck, following Ranger Steve on a tractor.  We have never been in such a dense forested area.  At the point of the fallen tree, we felt we were deep in a jungle!  Naturally, I only remembered to begin taking photos as we were following the tractor back out of the area ...  Ranger Steve told us this area is the largest, mostly unaffected natural forested area in Oregon, if I understood correctly.  It was truly incredible.  Just outside the forest area are natural meadows, looking much the way it did when the first pioneers began settling in this area. 



Willamette Water Trail signs at
Luckiamute Landing

It is such a treat to learn of these areas that I have never even heard of!  We stopped at one point and walked over to the Willamette River, where the Santiam River flows in, and very near where the Luckiamute also connects.  He showed us a river milepost that boaters have available all along the river way.  There are areas where boaters can camp that are only accessible from the river.  There's a whole world out there we never knew existed!  I'm constantly amazed how much I don't know about the Willamette Valley where I've spent my entire life.  There's a great river guide for the Willamette to check out online - just click here.

We've been invited to return to Sarah Helmick or either of the two host sites at Luckiamute again, which lets us know just how much our help has been appreciated.  I don't think we ever see Ranger Steve when he doesn't thank us for our work.  It feels really good - like we're truly making a difference!

The next chapter of our adventure begins in about 2 1/2 weeks, when we will once again be again trying something new.  We'll be working for the state, helping to collect surveys on day-use parks.  We've been placed at LL Stub Stewart State Park, near Vernonia for July and August.  We're supposed to have completed that job in about 6 weeks, and we have host friends we met last August, the Brock's,  hoping to get together with us during that last portion of August.  We also hope we'll be getting lots of visits in with local friends and family.  In addition, we have some routine maintenance due on the coach to take care of.

We are to be back at Wallowa Lake State Park for September and October, and hope to have some fun traveling with our good friends, the Schaffer's, who'll be heading back there from a brief vacation month in Newberg.  I am waiting to hear back on possibilities for November/December of this year, and we are in the early stages of looking into possibilities for 2014.  We have to work to keep from falling back into our comfort zone.  We feel the need to be uncomfortable, at least as far as trying more new things.  The possibilities available to us seem almost unending.  Fish hatcheries need hosts.  We could leave Oregon to try working elsewhere.  We might want to work in a National park or two.  The future is yet to be determined and we are excited to see what plans God has for our future!

Diabetes Update:  As a side note, I am happy to report I'm doing very well currently with my type 2 diabetes.  I just saw the doctor on June 7th and got an excellent report of the progress I've made controlling the disease through diet and exercise.  It won't last, as diabetes is incurable, but she said I should enjoy the next 6 months to 5 years, or as long as I am able to control things without medication.  I'm feeling good again, and we have only found the modifications to our lifestyle to be positive.  Thanks for the treasured prayers of my friends and family!

Getting Back to the Dream!

We are campground hosts again!! This is the most exciting news to us after a few months of being "grounded"!  We are at Jessie Honeyman State Park, near Florence, for the months of March and April. We are the “meeter-greeter” hosts, right at the entrance of the park (site A-26).  The front of our Moby looks right at the registration booth.  A firewood barn is next to us, and the recyling area is just beyond that.  Our responsibilities include helping campers with registration, renting yurts, providing information on activities for the area, selling firewood, recycling, cleaning A loop of litter, checking and light cleaning of A loop restrooms, and anything else needing to be done. We are so excited to have this 2-month job on the south end of the central Oregon coast! We had received calls from a couple of other parks in February, looking for help for March, but neither had openings in April also. Working for two months in one park gives us a better chance to get to know the park and the surrounding area. By the second month, we pretty much know the unique aspects of a park, and can better assist campers, as well as the rangers.



Honeyman State Park

Available hosting opportunities are more numerous in Oregon State Parks during the winter.  It’s a matter of the kind of hosting job you are looking for, the amenities you need or desire, the location you are willing to go to, and the weather you are willing to deal with!  It appears to us that not all parks post their openings on-line.  Some park rangers may have a regular pool of hosts they are familiar with and are able to find workers from their own lists.  It seems that some of the more difficult positions to fill appear on the on-line postings list.  This is an assumption on our part, however, often we see openings for cabin or yurt hosts, or interpretive hosts, or even security and maintenance positions.  For us, the campground host is the desirable position.  Being around people is what makes the job fun for us.  We’ve noticed that when cleaning yurts or cabins, the job requires the work be done before the campers arrive, and after the campers leave.  We want to be there in the midst of the campers, not only working behind the scenes.  Even cleaning campsites and doing litter patrol means we are wandering among campers.  Children will sometimes join us and help us look for tiny pieces of litter.  It's a treasure hunt to them!  Our uniforms (vest and hats usually) identify us as someone who might know something if a camper needs some information or assistance.  I also think our uniforms say, “We are approachable – come talk to us!”  There are a lot of people who are curious about what it’s like to be an Oregon State park host.  Many are thinking about the future when they will be retired and perhaps have the chance to try new things.  That’s exactly where we were only a year or so ago, and we love to share our story!
 

We had a restful, yet challenging few months since returning from Wallowa Lake State Park near the end of October.  I truly believe that God charts our path, and we can now see how He has purposed these past few months.  It was a necessary time of being stationary.  Now that I know I have Type 2 Diabetes, I can say with 20/20 hindsight that I am so thankful we had this down time!  It took me a month to begin telling others about my diagnosis, but I’m good with it now.  The lifestyle changes have been relatively simple for us, and I am feeling so much better, both mentally and physically.  Getting back to park hosting only makes things better as our activity levels have gone back up considerably.  Those walks we need to take each day happen without a second thought as we busy ourselves working around the park!
 

When we saw this opening for work at Jessie Honeyman State Park, we knew it would provide us with the perfect opportunity for the next couple of months.  We have fond memories of camping here perhaps 15 years ago.  At the time, we camped in a 24' travel trailer, pulled by our Chevy truck.  We've moved up in our RVs twice since those days.  We were so much younger .... we rented Odysses to play with on the dunes.  I fondly remember how Steve drove in circle after circle until he made himself sick!  Ah, the good ol' days!


Our up-front host site at Honeyman is a great site.  We have 50 amps at our host spot, with good access to people as they enter the park.  The park is plenty large (the 2^nd largest in Oregon, behind Fort Stevens State Park), giving us lots of opportunities for exercise.  We haven't worked within this management group (a grouping of parks overseen by the same management), which means an opportunity to meet new rangers, which can also open up other opportunities down the road.


As we see over and over at each new park we work in, the host coordinator ranger here is very nice, and works well with volunteers.  We spent 3 hours in orientation on our first full day here.  There were 4 sets of hosts starting this month, with a couple others who started a couple weeks earlier.  One couple was in the hospital on orientation day, having a baby!  They will join us soon.

Steve and I have more responsibilities with registration, so our orientation took longer.  By the time we returned to our coach at 4:30pm, we really had to hit the ground running.  Campers were needing firewood, help getting into yurts, etc.  While it was overwhelming to remember so much new information (each park is unique in many aspects of what they ask hosts to do), we seem to be getting through each situation as it arrives.  We  had many people hoping to find yurts available for the weekend, but we're full until Sunday.


This is a popular park for ATVers!  It is H-loop, which has been set up especially for the ATV (all terrain vehicle) crowd, with access to the sand dunes, where these folk like to be.  This loop in the rear of the park has extra wide paved areas on each site for parking trailers and accompanying vehicles.  There are also extra parking areas for storing their ATV trailers.  ATV's are not allowed to be driven around the park itself, but are allowed dune access directly from the back H-loop.  Anybody camping elsewhere in the park with ATV's must "trailer out" their ATV's and access the dunes from the jetty area.  Getting a space in H-loop is a special deal for these dare devil's (our perspective!).  We are happy up in the more "gentle" front area of the park.

Well, the sun is up and it's time to put the flag up the flag pole.  I'll try to share some good dune pictures and stories with the next post!  For now, I am one happy camper!

Some Encouraging Progress!

It's been a long time since I've managed to post to my blog.  Many reasons.  Not feeling well.  Too busy.  Not much of my brain to spare?  Today, I might just succeed!

 

We are now living for a time in NE Salem.  In our usual fashion, there was a series of things that led us to this place.  I like to talk about wanting God to be the one to lead us here or there.  Often I can't see His leading until I look back in hindsight.  This last few months has been like that.

We were supposed to leave at the end of November for Brookings, Oregon, where we were booked as hosts for December and January at Alfred A Loeb State Park.  And then Steve helped me by making a management decision that we should cancel those plans at the last moment and stay in McMinnville in order to find a doctor and get me some help with some on-going "discomfort" I had been experiencing for some time.  Calling the ranger to cancel on him at the last moment felt awful, and yet he was so gracious and kind about it.  I suppose this kind of thing happens from time to time when you are dealing with a lot of retired people of various ages.  However, I did consider it a great blessing that he not only answered the phone that day, but that he was gracious and understanding as well.  I saw God's hand in that moment.

That very day I went about searching for a doctor.  I actually just went online and searched.  Talk about scary!  I knew I wanted a female.  I probably don't need to explain that one.  I also wanted someone who would teach me, or give me resources, and wouldn't just tell me what to do, like I didn't need to know.  Based on these short little "blurbs" with a picture of the doctor, I made a decision, mostly blindly.  I called my 1st choice, in Newberg, and learned I couldn't get an appointment until December 31st.  Ugh.  I really didn't want to wait that long!  They had another doctor in the same group, which would get me in a couple weeks earlier.  I decided if I was going to have to wait anyway, I would go ahead and go for my first choice.  We learned there was a Providence Urgent Care in Sherwood if I felt I couldn't wait any longer.  So I waited.

I never did go to Urgent Care, though I was tempted a couple times.  Each time my discomfort would get better, and I'd decide I would continue to wait.  Looking back I don't know how much of my discomfort was caused by the added stress and fear of not knowing why I was feeling bad.  I'll perhaps never know.  I do have anxiety issues that creep up on me from time to time.

Since this blog isn't about my health, let me just say that I made it to December 31st, and found I made a very good choice in picking my new doctor.  I love the whole Providence Newberg Medical Group experience in general - it has a small community feel to it.  I could go on and on.  Suffice it to say that I am now getting help and feeling very encouraged.  After a January 9th appointment, we realized we could actually get back to living the life we'd hoped for!  What a huge relief for both of us!  We were SO ready to move on.  We love our park in McMinnville, but we were really feeling the need for change.  We were getting on each other's nerves a wee bit (at times a large bit!) ...

Phoenix RV Park - that's us at the very back (right edge).

The first thing we did was call down to Roberson RV in Salem to make an appointment for our coach.  Once we decided to change to a different RV service company, Winnebago told us about this award winning one.  Steve and I drove down for a visit in December and were so impressed to meet the head of the service department.  He spent time talking with us - and listened!  It was so encouraging that we felt very hopeful they could help us get through more of our warranty items on the coach.  We also scouted out a couple RV parks while we were in the area, and knew one of the two would be our home while in Salem.  As it turned out, we picked my second choice, as it was simply easier to get to Roberson.  I just wasn't sure about the area of town, even though it was a nice, clean RV park - very well kept.  Steve made the final decision, and I figured I could live with it.  It's turned out to be a great place for us.  From my perspective, within 4 miles I have a Winco, a Fred Meyer, and 2 Walgreen's.  If I go another couple miles I even have a Trader Jo's.  We even have workout equipment to use when it's too cold to go walking.  Life is good.  We've helped put together puzzles in the gathering area.  I love puzzles, but it's difficult to use our limited space for one here in the coach.  There is free coffee at the office each morning, and even doughnuts on Fridays.  Steve's tickled about that.  I'm trying not to look.

Moby - slides in - waiting for his 2nd appointment at Roberson.

We have also not been disappointed with the service we have received at Roberson.  We spent two nights camped out in front of their business, complete with 50amp hookups and water available if we needed it.  Each day we would leave Moby with them and Steve, Parsley and I would drive up to Beaverton to spend the rest of the day with my parents.  We can't say enough how thankful we are to be able to hang out at their place when we truly have nowhere else to be!  Sitting in the car with the cat isn't bad for perhaps up to 3 hours or so.  A whole day .... I'm not sure which of us would go crazy first!

Parsley in the coach window, getting some rays.

I'm not certain that our frustration with our former RV service place wasn't much caused by a lack of communication we got from them.  However, we now are getting some things fixed that we were told were "normal", and we had to live with them.

A perfect example is the problem we've had with our sliding bed:  Our king-size bed has to slide up - that is the head of the bed folds up as an adjustable bed, and moves the whole bed up perhaps 1-2 feet.  Unless the bed is able to raise all the way up, moving the end of the bed in, the bedroom slide will not come in.  If the bed slide can't come in, we can't move, for obvious reasons.  At times the switches were dead.  Then, 30 seconds later, they would work.  There was a clicking sound, metal on metal as the bed eventually moved up.  I can't tell you how much stress this problem caused us.  Our worse fear with commitments to be at such and such a place on such and such a day was that the bed wouldn't come up and we'd be unable to leave - even to go get it fixed!  After several visits, usually 1 or 2 months apart, between hosting jobs, there was no change in how it operated.  We'd baby that thing and somehow we'd get it to come up enough that the slide would go in.  Our former service place said they couldn't fix the clicking until something broke.  Obviously, we wouldn't be able to get in to have it fixed if that happened!  What were they thinking?!?!

During our first visit at Roberson RV, their technician called Winnebago and learned that a red and green light on the bed controller (that had been on ever since we bought the coach) weren't supposed to be on.  They indicated that the mechanism was out of adjustment.  The technician followed their instructions, made the adjustment, and suddenly our bed lifted without problem.  They also noticed some metal pieces that were hitting each other.  They bent them back into shape, and the clicking stopped as well.  No matter what else happened after that, Roberson RV are rock stars to us!  They are our new regular service place.  I can't tell you what a joy it was to fold up the motorhome just yesterday and have it operate perfectly!  A true miracle in my book!

Yesterday, Thursday, we prepared Moby for travel, and took him over to visit Freightliner.  They just happen to be on the north end of Salem, just off I-5, about 6 miles from our RV Park.  We'd received a recall notice which they would check out for us.  We sat in our car, along with Parsley the cat, for perhaps 1 1/2 hours, until they were able to get a chance to check it out, make whatever adjustments they needed, and we able to return to our new RV Park in Salem.  Slowly, things are falling into place.

I did fail to mention one other big deal repair Roberson helped us with.  Some of the heads were falling off screws which hold our door to the frame on the coach.  It was a major concern, but there were several hinges with seven screws on each side of the hinge.  We treated it gingerly and hoped to get it fixed before the door fell off.  It appears the torque on a drill may have been too strong, damaging the screws.  Roberson, with Winnebago's help, tried to figure out a solution.  They were unable to drill out the old screws as they were stainless steel - too hard.  They couldn't access the back side of the screws without taking the door apart, something they really didn't want to have to do.  In the end, the problem was solved by simply adding screws to the existing plates.  That door isn't going anywhere!

We still have just a few more things to take care of while we are in Salem. We'll make one more visit to Roberson to care for a few things they wanted time to research and order parts for, including a leaky gasket at the bottom of our front door.  Also, we need a new windshield in our Moby Homa!

On our trip from McMinnville to Salem, via Hwy 219 from Newberg, a big semi passed us in the opposite direction, tossing a rock at us, which landed near the center of our huge windshield!  I had a glass guy give the right description of what I heard:  It sounded like a bullet hit the front window while I drove.  Yes, I was driving.  It doesn't make it my fault!  There was nowhere to pull off the road, and nothing really we could do if I'd been able to, so we just finished our trip to Salem.  I knew it would spread as we drove on those bumpy back roads ... which it did.  As soon as we arrived at our first Salem destination (Roberson RV), I called in on the damaged windshield, learning we were completely covered because we called in during the first 24 hours.  We'd made what turns out to be a very good decision to go the extra mile and have the windshield treated with a product that was suppose to keep this damage from happening.  Though we wish it would've worked, we're incredibly blessed that it will now save us from this major expense.  We will be having the new window treated as well.

God doesn't promise us a trouble-free life.  Bad stuff happens to believers and non-believers alike.  He simply makes Himself a part of things when we invite Him.  We want Him with us, and see that He is.  Sometimes it's just takes a certain something, or lots of certain somethings, to open our eyes.

November - a very short month!

I admit I knew when we were sitting in Wallowa Lake State Park that we were going to have to hit the ground running when we got to McMinnville.  We had so many things that needed to fall together during the month of November.  It was a true gift to arrive a week early.  We needed that extra week!

Among many other things, our list of "action items" included:

• Participate in and celebrate my Dad's 80th Birthday!
• Visit Camping World for more warranty work (don't get me started...)
• Find/Purchase a new tow-able car
• Get the new car and motorhome equipped for towing
• Find/Purchase a new mattress
• Dental Appointments
• Eye Exam Appointments
• Find Church to attend in McMinnville
• Participate in and celebrate Thanksgiving with Skeels family
• Visit as many friends as possible

It's November 23rd as I write, and I can report that we've made some good progress, but have a little ways to go.

We had a great time celebrating my Dad's 80th Birthday.  We went out to dinner as a smaller family unit on his actual birthday, and then had a much larger party for extended family and friends for following Sunday.  What a great time that turned out to be!  I got to spend some quality time with my sister as we baked pies and a cobbler for the party, and it was great see friends and family we haven't seen in a long while!

We've been able to see a few close friends so far, but haven't nearly got to do the visiting we'd hoped.  We're hoping to do more before the month is over, but it's getting frustrating ... It feels that McMinnville is a lot further away than it was last July ...  Must be because daylight hours are shorter, and the rain and wind storms much harder!  By the way, we thought our coach was going to fly through the area during the wind/rain storm just before Thanksgiving.  I haven't been that scared in a long time.  In the dark, it sounded much worse than it was!

We spent another day at Camping World having more warranty work dealt with on the 31st of October.  The repair list had got shorter, but sometimes seems it will never end.  The first year warranty period is almost half way gone.  We can only dream of the day we won't need to go back there again...  After this October appointment, we had to continue waiting for new fireplace pieces.  The fan rattles and the remote died.  If you are going to have an extra source of heat, you really don't want it to rattle the whole time you use it!

We received a call mid-month saying the parts were already in.  Consequently, we went back for a second visit Tuesday before Thanksgiving...

All this continual packing and moving has felt bothersome for me.  I guess I hadn't realized how much packing and moving for short term periods there would be in this lifestyle.  I expect I'll just get used to it over time.  I need to just "buck up" and look at packing and moving as a necessary inconvenience which, prayerfully, won't be as frequent once we get past all this warranty work and have established a new "normal" in our life.

Let me insert something here about dealing with all this warranty work:  Let's just say, if you can find service people with good communication, good skills, good communication, who don't tell you want to hear and then send you away to get you out of their hair, and with good communication skills, hire them!!  We're still looking for more of those people in the RV service business ... 

In case you feel that's too vague, here's one of our many, many experiences:  We had a closet door latch which wouldn't latch on the 4-door wardrobe in our bedroom.  It came unlatched during travel and wouldn't latch again.  It's important to latch doors, as doors can slide back and forth in travel, potentially causing damage.  Doors always need to be latched.  Feeling I could perhaps figure out the problem, I took the latch off while we were at Wallowa Lake (just two little screws).  I failed trying to fix the latch, so I went to the hardware store and looked for a replacement latch, with no success.  Steve helped me, and we got the latch to work again.  I put it back on the door, and after 3-4 latches, it quit again.  Though it could be fixed with a screwdriver each time, it didn't seem realistic to expect we should be satisfied with this situation.  I mean, it's only a latch needing to be replaced! The results - more warranty work.  They won't just mail you a new latch.  You have to go to them and let them fix it when it's on warranty.

Our service people said they could not reproduce the error.  Therefore, to them, it was not defective.  (This alone is SO frustrating to me!)  However, because I had said it was defective, and I believe they are tired of seeing and listening to us, they replaced it.  The cost was $10.99 for the latch, but we'd have to pay for it.  I said OK.  When we picked up our coach, the bill was $70.  Seems there was a bit of labor costs involved as well.  They later waived this charge when we complained, though they claimed they'd told me of the labor cost on the phone.  Like I would've missed that?  I'm just saying that. once again, good communication could've saved a lot of frustration.  We've experienced this over and over with mostly much larger tasks.  I'll move on now ....

Steve and I joined the "Family Motor Coach Association", which gives us access to the lists of vehicles which can be towed "4 down", meaning 4 wheels on the ground - the most common way of towing an extra vehicle.  We'd both been studying the lists, and talking about what kind of vehicle would meet our needs and "float our boat" for the next 10+ years.  It took a lot of evaluation of needs/wants, but we finally came to a decision that we really wanted to find a vehicle about the same size as our 2002 Buick Rendezvous - a cross-over utility vehicle (CUV) is what they are calling them now.  We wanted to be able to drive distances in it comfortably, have room for Parsley's cat carrier and litter box, and feel good about it's "driveability".  Also, we wanted to feel like it was a car we could be happy with for a long time.  We've always kept our vehicles for 10-13 years.  Also, we really like buying new - because of the warranties, because of the comfort of knowing the true history of the car.  Just a personal thing - if we can swing the $$.

From the list of tow-ables, we narrowed down our search to perhaps 6-8 vehicles.  We needed to go look at them to narrow down our list.  We pretty much assumed that we could eliminate some just by sitting in them.  They might be too big, too small, not comfortable enough, or whatever.  Then we'd get serious on whatever vehicles were still on the list.  We didn't waste any time getting busy with our vehicle shopping.

We started in Beaverton - Buick/GMC, Chevy.  We have always thought ourselves to be "Buick people", and it was difficult to come to the decision that the Enclave was just too big for how we now believe we will use a vehicle.  The GMC Terrain felt just a little too small.  The Chevy Equinox seemed very possible, but didn't have the same feeling we'd felt when we bought our Buick Rendezvous.  It's that thing you just can't put your finger on.  We decided against the Subaru, and the Honda CRV because of their smaller engines.  We really like our V-6's and were hoping for a bit more" pep" than we'd had in the 2002 Buick Rendezvous.  Our list was getting shorter.  We had a Cadillac SRX on the list, but didn't really think we were "Cadillac people".  Funny how we get certain impressions, while never even looking ... Still, there was a GM dealer right in McMinnville, so we'd go check it out.

We left the dealer that evening with a 2012 Cadillac SRX.  God's timing was perfect and there were 3 end-of-the-year SRX's on the lot - two black, one white.  White was the only thing that made sense.  It's hard to find a car wash on the park host circuit ... and State Parks don't allow car washing.

We had a great salesman at Larsen Motors in McMinnville, and even making the deal was a great experience for us.  They gave us what we wanted on our trade-in, and we were satisfied with the price we agreed to pay overall.  We would trade being able to pick color and conveniences for a great deal any day!  We have continued to feel good about our new car since driving it off the showroom floor that night.  It's just the right car for us.  It just feels right for us.

We had Wilsonville Camping World install the towing equipment on the car and motorhome.  We reasoned they'd done lots of these installations.  Experience made us feel better about making these modifications to our new vehicle.  They finished it in one day, however the walk-thru was by flashlight in the dark.  We decided to spend the night and try it again in daylight.  Steve was the first to drive the motorhome with the tow vehicle behind for the 30 mile trip back to our McMinnville RV Park.  No problems!  The hooking up is going to take us a while until we get comfortable with it.  It's scary, wondering if you've done it all correctly!  We are amazed when we watch others quickly hook up or unhook here at the RV park.  They make it look simple.

We had a funny moment on our first towing trip.  We made a planned stop in Aurora at the truck stop to fuel up the coach.  As Steve prepared to take the exit, he turned on the right turn signal.  As he drove onto the off-ramp, he glanced down at the monitor, expecting to see, via the rear camera, the car still safely behind us.  Instead, he saw open road!!  It only took a moment of sheer terror before he remembered we have cameras on the side of the motorhome that automatically switch our view to the side when we turn on the turn signal!  The car didn't show up in that view!  So many things will become less scary with experience.

Our dental appointments are complete.  The only pain was the bill ... we don't have dental insurance since we retired about 4 1/2 years ago.  We are blessed that it hasn't posed any major difficulty for us financially at this point.  We plan for those visits in our budget.  We also carry our own individual health insurance policies, with higher deductibles in order to keep our costs down.  We are committed to keeping the deductible amounts in our savings account, just in case we need it.  The rest is up to God.

Finding a new mattress has been a high priority on our list this month, however even that task had to be put off as we dealt with the new vehicle, family matters, etc.  Our new friends from Wallowa Lake, the Schaffers, told us about a Newberg mattress manufacturer who they'd been very happy with.  We decided to check them out.  Mattress purchases are costly these days!  It's also a very important choice for me particularly.  I have a bad lower back that has given me lots of grief during and after moving from our Hillsboro house.  The mattress in our new motorhome is a knock-off "sleep number" type bed, and we really hoped it would work.  I was in tears within a couple weeks of trying to make it work - from pain and a lack of decent sleep.  After a particularly bad night, while in Washington, Steve's cousin Steve had helped us find a 3" memory foam topper in Olympia.  It made enough of a difference that I could at least get some sleep again.  While I am still unable to lay on my side, it was a great improvement.  Over time, it seems less and less effective.  For the past couple weeks, I've been sleeping on the couch in the living room, which thankfully lays down into a bed.  While not perfect, it is working better for me.  I miss having Steve next to me though ... the couch didn't work as well for him.

We picked out a mattress at the manufacturer's show room earlier in the month, but had asked that they come see our unique situation before we made a purchase.  Our RV-king bed has to mechanically slide up the wall (like an adjustable bed) quite a ways in order for the bedroom slide to come in.  When both sides of the room slide in, the wardrobe meets the foot end of the mattress.  There's a micro-switch which will not allow the bed slide to move, if the bed isn't raised all the way up.  Our new mattress has to be able to bend well and must be able to be raised as our current mattress does.  Also ... our RV King mattress in the motorhome isn't a 76x80 king.  We are 4" narrower than a standard king, and perhaps an inch shorter.  RV manufacturer's often make these adjustments to improve their layouts.  RV supply companies, like Camping World, sell RV mattresses, but we found them to be quite inadequate for my back comfort.  (When a mattress is delivered flat and rolled up, you have to be suspect about the amount of support it would provide!)  Our mattress manufacturer makes each mattress to order, and for an extra amount makes "custom cuts", so our 72x79" size would require custom cut(s).  The catch is that we can't return it, since it is a custom mattress.  That's why we asked them to come view our unique situation before we committed to the order!

Unfortunately, the guy who was to come see us got sick.  We began to panic as we saw the days of November ticking away.  We have to leave here November 30, and Thanksgiving would mean the mattress factory would be closed for 4 days over the holiday weekend. We were told they'd need 7 working days to make our mattress.  I called and pleaded with the fill-in salesman for help.

I remember pointing out to Steve how God repeatedly seems to have us in these "we-can't-control-this-ourselves" situations.  How would we get this mattress, and could I manage another week sleeping on the couch?  This past Monday the original salesman came to visit us.  He measured the bed, the doorway, the bed lift, etc.  He called later to say the mattress wouldn't fit through the doorway .... but they had options:  1) buy a "split king".  He didn't think we'd be happy if we couldn't sleep right next to each other though; 2) buy a queen mattress to fit in the king space.  He said he'd knew we would want the additional space of a king; 3) the factory guys had the idea of splitting our bed in a different way - about 18" up from the foot of the bed, where the seam wouldn't matter.  We'd never heard of such a thing, yet it makes sense.  The short section of bed can be at either the foot, or the head.  It actually gives us more opportunity to vary where we sleep in the main section of bed - making the mattress wear better.  Thank God!  The mattress is to be delivered 2 days before we leave town.

We found a church we feel very comfortable attending here in McMinnville - Calvary Chapel.  We have attended there except for last Sunday when we had a great time back at our home church - Cedar Mill Bible.  Steve decided he wanted to usher along side his friend, Tom, who'd recently lost his wife to cancer.  He had a great time.  I got to sit with my long time friend, Debbie, and be surrounded by a few of the friends we'd hoped to be able to have personal visits with this month ... which is becoming less likely.  It felt like we were home!  Even our lead pastor-teacher preached the message that morning.  It was a good day.

To make for an even better day, my birthday present - a new Kindle Fire HD 8.9" was delivered to our "home address".  I'm so thankful we pre-ordered it back in October, as I probably wouldn't have spent the money this month as we watched so much of it fly out of our savings account.  However, I am so pleased with how it's going to make life easier here in our motorhome.  I have worked hard to get recipes out of cookbooks and into my computer.  However, my laptop (a larger one) takes up too much kitchen counter space to be able to view the recipe while I'm cooking.  My new Kindle is just the right size to read from, and in it's space useage!  Also, Steve and I have an Amazon Prime membership, which has saved us lots of $$ in shipping charges, as we get free 2-day shipping via Amazon.com.  (I find internet shopping a real life-saver in our RV lifestyle.)  In addition, I can enjoy reading books for free as a part of the amazon lending library.  We could stream videos for free also, except we don't exactly have a high speed Internet feed.  We are very thankful for our Verizon Mifi, which gives us our hotspot via our cell phones, but the speed isn't what most enjoy in their "stick houses".  Still, we can do most all the things we enjoy.  With my new Kindle, I can even do a few computer things with the cat laying in my lap.  It was difficult balancing my laptop on the arm of the chair previously.  Isn't it the little things that make life fun?

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at my parents place.  It was a smaller group, with mostly just our immediate family gathered, missing only my sister-in-law, who'd had to work.  We have so much to give thanks to God for!  The list keeps getting longer.  God is good ... all the time.

With only a week left in the area, I am happy to report that our list of things to accomplish, one by one, have fallen into place.  As much as we've enjoyed being in the area, visiting family and friends, getting some necessary things done in an area where we know where to shop, etc., we are also looking forward to our next assignment just outside of Brookings, Oregon (SW corner of the state).  We will be at Alfred A Loeb State Park, on the Chetco River, for December and January.  We're looking forward to exploring the town and the local area.  We stopped in Brookings years ago, and recall thinking it would be a great town to retire in.  I remember the beach being very different from the Northern coast, but just as beautiful in a whole different way.  We're expecting it will be a mild winter down there.  We expect to be meeting fishermen in the park, as it's said there is wonderful salmon/steelhead fishing on the Chetco River.  We've also heard the park hosts like to do breakfast together once a week - a nice opportunity to get to know hosts in the 3 state parks near Brookings (Harris Beach, Crissy Fields & Alfred A Loeb).  We're praying for safe traveling weather at the end of the month.  Our next adventure awaits!