DENNIS'S AND SUSAN'S BLOG

Monday 1/3/2011

Had a good nights sleep except for my elbow.  Had a nice breakfast with my friends and talked and played ham radio for a while.
Got ready to go and I asked a question that had come up at dinner and ended up with a nice SKS to bring home. Came down I-5
and out to one county then back accross the Columbia River and down to Astoria and accross that bridge headed north and ran
a county then came back accross the same bridge and went to Tillamook county and on to just about 15 miles east of Portland.
It is still very cold even along the Columbia River which is only about 1000 ft away. Again today most of the driving was on snow
and ice. The good thing is we only have to do about 4 or 5 counties around Portland and then we are headed home via Hwy 20
to the 101 at Newport and down to 299 in califorina and then I-5 to Home.

Sunday 1/2/2011

We got to the the ferry dock about 09:05 and the roads were very icy all the way and dark. We then got in a car with my friend Terry and went to Lopez Island which is in the San Juan Island which there are many of. Stormy had to stay in the motorhome, so we had to make the return ferry at 12:45. It was close, as we went to lunch on the Island and when we got back to the ferry there was a line of cars about a mile plus long waiting for the ferry. Susan go her small bag ready just in case we missed the ferry with the car. She was going to run and get on the ferry as a walk on passenger and take care of Stormy until we could get there on the next ferry at 17:00. We made it on the ferry by 7 cars and there was only room for 2 more cars when we left the dock. The ferry was full at about 150 cars. We then ran one other county and headed to my friend Terry's and got there about 18:30. Went to dinner at a great BBQ place and to bed.

Saturday 1/1/2011

Left the campgound and it was 19 degrees at 09:30.  Got to Susan's friends house about 10:30 - 11:00.  Had a nice time with
them for most of the afternoon. Susan's friends husband liked my hard cider very much and we drank some. In fact I was not watching the 1/2 gallon jug and it was gone very quickly. We had good home made pot stickers, Japinize soup and some other delightful things. One sad note as I was taking all the stuff out to the motor home, I fell and landed on my elbow and it does not feel well, but not broken nor needed any stiches on the 2 wounds. Had to get up at 05:30 and on the road to get too the Anacortes ferry dock by 09:00. We then got in a car with my friend Terry and went to Lopez Island which is in the San Juan Island which there are many. Stormy had to stay in the motorhome, so we had to make the return ferry at 12:45. It was close, as we went to lunch on the Island and when we got back to the ferry there was a line of cars about a mile plus long waiting for the ferry. Susan go here small bag ready just in case we missed the ferry with the car. She was going to run and get on the ferry as a walk on passanger and take care of Stormy untll we could get there on the next ferry at 17:00. We made it on the ferry by 7 cars and there was only room for 2 more cars when we left the dock. The ferry was full at about 150 cars. We then ran one other county and headed to my friend Terry's and got there about 18:30. Went to dinner at a great BBQ place and to bed.

Friday 12/31/2010

Well at 03:30 it was -4 degrees below out side the motor home.  When we got up, some of the water pipes in the motor home
had frozen and the inside of the windows were coated with 1/4 of ice. Had quite a time getting the windows defrosted as
when the engine was started, it was so cold out that it would not come off  Cold on the temp gauge and no heat would come
out of the defroster. The propane heater took care of the water pipes after a while, and I scraped enough ice off the windshield
and side window that I could see in front, sort of, and out my left side mirror, so we took off and headed for the Snoquainia pass
and down to near Seattle. It finely got warm enough to stop and have breakfast. Went and ran around the Olympic Peninsula
today and finished what we wanted to and a staying in a camp ground about 30 miles west of Tacoma. Tomorrow will be visit with
Susan's friend and the next day will be the Ferry ride to San Juan Island. Then we will be ready to head South slowly. Tonight it's
supposed to only get down to 19 degrees, but we'll see.

Thursday 12/30/10

Well we got going this AM and the roads did not get any better.  Ended up going down a very steep hill and many switch backs.
Ice and snow all over the road and finely got to bottom in one piece. Found a ferry that would hold 40
Tons and 70 ft long load, but only 15 feet wide. This was to take us across the Columbia River/ Franklin Roosevelt Lake.
See the pictures when I get them posted. I did not like the feeling or the ride nor did Stormy. We ran our
county on the ham radio and then reversed our trip in. Then went to Grand Coulee Dam. We now are at Ellensburg
off I-90 about 100 miles East of Seattle. The camp ground is under about a foot of snow and it is at 17:00 10 degrees.
Hope to get to the Seattle/Tacoma/Olympic Peninsula, tomorrow, where it should be warmer. One more pass to go over and we
should be staying next to the water most of the time. That's it for tonight.

Wednesday

Well, woke up to 6 to 8 inches of snow and 35 mph winds this morning, so we are not going any where for a while.
Going to have a good breakfast and update this blog and read. Well we made it out to the highway and found cars and trucks,
so we headed North. Passed two semi trucks stuck on the hill in the road, but we made it ok with out chains.
The more we went north the more snow and colder it got. Some driving, ended up just staying between the reflectors
on each side of the road and went down the middle so we would not end up in a ditch. Got to camp ground about 18:00, very cold about 19 degs.

Tuesday::

When we got up it was starting to snow, as this area is the High desert. Headed north and ran into
more snow on the pavement in spots. Some places were go others 3 to 5 inches of snow and ice on the road
Got into ID and the roads were much better. Got on Interstate 84, headed north and started hearing bad
Bad weather reports and road conditions. Were going to stop for the night in Baker City, OR but deciced
to see if we could get alittle futher before the bad weather. As it turn out, chains were required over the
BIG pass just south of Pendleton, OR but we have traction tires and good driver so we kept going and got over
the summit with no chains and a foot of show on the road for about 17 miles. In to a KOA 18:00 in Pendleton
where it was raining quite hard. About 04:00 the rain turned to snow.

Monday::

Ran out to the state line between NV and CA first thing in the morning and then headed
back to Carson Cty. We were haveing House Battery problems and decided to get new ones.
Finely on good roads and the weather was not to bad. Turned north on Hwy 95 in Winnemucca, NV
and found a funky RV park in Orovada NV, which is almost to the OR boarder.

Sunday: 
Still on Hwy 49 trying to make it to Hwy 80 in Auburn, CA.  It was snowing over
Donner summit but there were no chain restrictions.  We made it to the Cabela's
sporting goods store n Reno, NV and spent too much money and time.  Finley go to
Carson City, NV and stayed in a very nice RV campground.

Saturday Xmas

Well we got statred very early at 06:15 Saturday and got to out first county line about 07:00. The wind,
was playing with us and then when we got to the San Joaquin valley we got fog and wind. Got to Mariposa
on Hwy 49 and it took years. Then going north west on Hwy 49 takes for ever..
It started raining about Sonora and got heaver and heaver.  We finally stopped in Jackson and will continue
tomorrow to Auburn and then over the Serria's. It is to be snowing Sunday so we will
see. Have to do some work on the motorhome as we found some problems since the FL trip.