Been At Sand Lake.......South of Tillamook, OR.......

trying to escape the "heat" that seems to consume other parts of the U.S. Eat your hearts out Midwest, Southwest and just about every other part of the U.S. Temps in the mid and upper 60s, no rain, gentle breezes, beautiful ocean views and storming up and down sand dunes racing anything that comes along!

Took a little time out from the dunes to travel some of the coastal roads...........I didn't take many pictures; but, Becky will probably be posting a ton of them on her blog. Right now we're sitting in the parking lot of the Chinook Winds Casino in Lincoln City. Dug and Trace drove their pickup down yesterday evening and when they left today I talked them into hauling the trailer and RZR back with them. We have reservations at a State Park in Lincoln City from Sunday through Thursday so without the trailer and RZR we'll fit much better. Lottsa fun in the dunes!!

Not sure what we'll be doing the next few days........except we'll be enjoying fish N chips at our favorite joint..........already been there twice........and tomorrow the cook will be making his "Universally Famous" Seafood Chowder. Becky hopes to be there when they open at 1130 and then visit it again before they close around 1800.............it'll probably cost me a small fortune just for her to get her seafood fix. Maybe the casino will help foot the bill.

More later now that we have left Sand Lake and now have telephone and internet service. W&B

Picnic At Alderbrook Park..........

sponsored by Dug's company, Waste Connections. Lottsa food and more food!

We arrived early and wandered around.........at least the rest of the group did, I mainly stuck close to the hot dog stand and "free pepsi" stand where there was shade. Tami and Becky were the first in line to take a train ride so I had to join them. They were sitting behind me so I took a picture with my camera held upside down.............somehow or other they look better that way, especially after also being "first in line" for Daisy the face painter. I pitched them a bunch of crap while they were getting assaulted by the painter; but, one one seemed to care. I may have wasted my time.

Check Becky's Blog for more pics..........as usual she had her camera out and was busy clicking pictures all afternoon.

Nice get together and I'm sure everyone had a super nice time. W&B

4-H Cows Delivered Yesterday...........

for the M&M Milkshakes, the 4H Club the Twerps belong to. Tami's dad hauled them to the farm where they are being housed until after the Clark County Fair is over.

The M&M Milkshakes consists of Cassidy and Trace and Hailey & Chelsea Miracle, and of course Mom's and Dad's, grandparents and a list of sponsors. We've seen the cows before at the prevous year's 4H Club venue and there they were around people so weren't very "wild". These cows came directly from the pasture and some of them gave new meaning to "Mad Cow"..........boy some of them were really pissed off to find themselves in new surroundings and to add insult to injury they had halters placed on them for the first time! The 4 Twerps were kinda leery around them and Tami, April, Kevin and Dale (Tami's Dad) did most of the work getting halters on them. To early to do much more except the kids spent time with them getting used to having people around and them they ended up the session by "bribing" them with grain. Some of them scoffed up the grain while others still weren't too comfortable with the situation. Lottsa work left for them before "showtime".

Becky, as usual, took a ton of pictures so check her blog when she finally makes a posting. Should have some pictures posted shortly.

Got some rain last night and looks like today will be another lazy day. Yesterday we went out and picked up few caches around the Orchards area; but, it looks like it'll be damp today so don't know what we'll do this afternoon. Later. W&B

Saturday Evening And We Made It To...........

Three Rivers Casino in Florence, OR. Was going to go back to Vancouver with Dug, Tami and kids; but figured I'd let them get their toys cleaned up and put away and we would pull in tomorrow and do the same.

Yesterday was "play in the sand briefly" and then the big event was the Seafood Buffet at the Mill Casino. I've been to sea food buffets at casinos from Marysville, WA to Yuma, AZ..........I'd estimate a dozen or so and the Mill Casino in Coos Bay is positively the BEST!! Fresh dungeness crab, prime rib, scallops, shrimp, crab cakes, fried chicken, etc., etc., etc., and an array of desserts that would boogle your mind. We walked in and waddled out. Then some gambling and more gambling. I walked into the casino and in 10 minutes I was cashing in $75.00. After dinner I gave it all back, plus some. Easy come easy go!

Becky checked the weather report for today and it said 70% chance of rain..........which usually means it will rain 70% of the time. When we got back to camp we scurried around, loaded up the trailer, motorhome and Jeep so we wouldn't have much to do this morning. Good thing 'cause it was still lightly raining when we got up. Didn't take us long to get ready to go, so Doug, Tami and kids headed out and we left for Florence. Stopped at our favorite sea food cafe for lunch, the fish and chips were excellent and then we browsed Old Town. I found a "Pegleg Pirate" windsock to fly from my RZR so will be set to fly it next time in the dunes.

We gambled a bit before heading into town and I recovered some of my lost money from a week ago; however, we went back in and gave back twenty dollars.........at least I'm still ahead this time............but probably won't be after we have the casino "senior special" breakfast in the morning before we leave for Vancouver.

We've got the little generator running, parked the Jeep so it ties in everything on the trailer, my satellite dish is working and Becky has her internet so we're settled for the night. Next stop....Washington. W&B

Horrors! ..........It Dared To RAIN............

last night and we awoke to a little moisture still on the ground! So today was a slow day in getting out of the blocks. Since it was still damp, Trace and headed to town to try and get an exhaust bracket welded on his little Suzuki. Got the job done and we hoped that it would last the next two days..............unfortunately it didn't so guess the Suzuki will have to stay home tomorrow.

Weather cleared up about noon so off to the dunes went Dug, Trace and I. I found a couple of other XPs to play with and promptly got beat racing up the hill by an XP with 10 paddle sand tires...........mine has 9 paddles and with the added exhaust pipe I continually get too much wheel spin. The kid with the 10 paddles got a good bite and jumped out in front of me by a carlength and stayed there until we ran out of room. His friend in another XP was trailing both of us. Guess I'll have to learn how to drive or get some 10 paddle tires. Then I was dumb enough to follow these two characters into the wooded area and I managed to break my flag off in low branches. Then to add insult to injury I high-centered the RZR and got STUCK. I was digging myself out and a group of ATVers came along and gave me a hand in getting unstuck. Dug and Trace found my flag so I called it a day a went back to camp. Not the best day in the dunes! Fortunately no one was around to take pictures when I was stuck.

Made a casino run and contributed to my Red Brothers and then we met the rest of the troops for a run to Baskin Robbins.............Baskin Robbins was closed for 3 days so ended up at DQ. Then Char, Becky, Tami and I made another casino stop (it was on the way home) and all of us made more contributions, except Char made a few bucks.

End of day, tomorrow has to be better since it is Seafood Buffet at the casino and time to pig out on fresh Dungeness Crab.

Still have taken any pictures..........that's the way it goes. Later. W&B

Been Kicking Sand In The Faces Of............

Dug and John, and anyone else dumb enough to test the XP900, which hasn't been too many!! The sucker goes..........enough to scare the crap out of myself!

Woke up to a little rain yesterday so made our annual Bandon run with Tami, Becky and Cassidy. Trace opted to sit around in the rain; however, I think he and Dug took the RZR out into the dunes when were were gone.

Weather cleared up today and we're going to take run up to Spinreel after awhile. Here's some pictures of the dunes, trees, lakes and sand for my Yuma friends!!

More pics later if I manage to remember to take my camera! w43

Three River's Casino Near Florence, OR...........

...........we got here about 1430, parked and had a late lunch in the casino buffet. Not too bad considering they were closing at 1530 for the evening buffet. They still had brunch going so Becky and I both found stuff to our liking.........me breakfast and then loaded up on pie and ice cream..........not sure what "B" had, looked mostly like rabbit food; but, she was happy.

First pic is our "free" spot for the night that cost me $40.00 in the slots. I was losing, came back to where I was only losing $4.00; but, not enough sense to pay just $4.00 for the RV spot.........had to lose it all back!

Got our first look at the sand a few feet from where we parked. Also parked next to the original casino, a dinky quonset hut. Last pic is pointing to the hotel/casino. These "old injuns" have come a long way since the first time we stopped here!

Got the internet for Becky, I can pick up one satellite for the TV; but, that still gives me quite a few channels so we'll be content for the evening............unless we decided to visit the casino again. Little 2000w generator is running and gas should last until 2300, then I'll fill it up and it should be able to run until about 0800. We should have heat and my CPAP outta be working, not to mention the bed warmer, so we won't freeze if the temp dips too low tonight.

Beautiful day, sun has been shining and I would guess that the temperature reached the upper 60s...........no need for a jacket and it should remain this way the rest of the week. We'll sleep in until (??) and make the 45 mile drive to the sand dunes whenever we manage to get up in the morning. No hurry. Next pics from the beautiful sand dunes of Coos Bay, complete with lakes and tall trees, not to mention a few sand dunes. If anyone from Arizona should happen to check this out........all I can say is "Eat Your Heart Out!" Later. W&B

Departed Paradise Point This Morning............

and now we're sitting in front of Dug's house until tomorrow when we leave for Florence, Oregon. Originally planned on driving to Coos Bay; but, changed plan so Becky could get her gambling fix at Three River's Casino in Florence. We can either park there or drive to the Marina for an overnight. No charge at Three Rivers, except if we lose our shirts gambling, and the Marina is reasonable if I can find a spot large enough to park without unhooking the trailer. We'll have to check it out and make decision when we get there.

Then on Monday we'll have about a hour's drive to Coos Bay. Can't check in until 1300 or so and we'll be able to grab breakfast in Florence and sleep in. We had a pretty good breakfast in Florence; but, I can't remember the name of the joint..........will recognize it when I see it.

Everyone else leaving on Monday morning so we may all arrive about the same time.

Looking forward to a week in the dunes and kicking sand in the faces of Rhino drivers with the XP900 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Later. W&B

Took Twerps To Woodland.........

after lunch at Costco (cheap!!) and we did a little caching and stopped by the skateboard park so Trace could do his thing. He must be out of shape as he only lasted about 20 minutes and was ready to look for some more caches. Here's a couple of pics caching and at the skateboard park. Rather cool today and overcast; but, still had a nice afternoon.

This pictures were taken around the 4th of July when we went to a friends house and tried to blow up the neighborhood.............there was a lot of help from the neighbors also. Cassidy's "big foot" was amazing..............I thought she was wearing her father's booties; but, guess not. I had to take a picture of her feet and it looks like she completely covered the scooter. If these pics don't cause her some embarassment in later years...........than nothing will.

Finished up the day at a Chinese buffet and then waddled back to Paradise Point. Got some things to do today to get ready for Coos Bay so we'll probably be busy today. More later as Picasa is finally cooperating..........I couldn't download my pictures so maybe now it'll work better than prevously. W&B

Dang!..............

.losing my Jeep keys must have been a bad omen 'cause old Jeep been costing me money since we arrived in WA. Our friend, Judy, searched the Honda, garage and house for my keys and they weren't in sight. Getting to know the dudes at Curly's Locksmith shop pretty well.......and I should as I spent a sizeable fortune there in getting key duplicated and then the remote control also. Finally back in business again with the Jeep.............until yesterday when Dug and I were taking the RZR to go to Sand Lake. Got up about 0500, drove to Dug's house and we loaded up the trailer..........I was about ready to take off and Dug said "better check the lights"...............I didn't have any brake lights. Brake lights kept blowing fuses so we parked the trailer, found out the dealership was open on Saturday and they said they had an opening. About 6 hours later I get the Jeep back............two $5.00 resistors in the tail lights were causing the problem. These were installed when the tow lights were hooked up. It cost $250.00 for labor to find and replace the resistors!

Well, that shot the day although Becky and Tami managed to have lunch at a place where they had been trying to get to for the last 3 years. Then they went to Otto's in Portland for some Fourth of July sausages/hot dogs. Otto's was featured on Food Networks Diners, Driveins and Dives a few years ago and we've been getting some of their hot dogs everytime we're in town. We're invited for a cook out and "blow up the neighborhood" event at Kevin's and Beckys house. We've gone there the last couple of years so will take along the dogs as most of the attendees really like Otto's sausages. The Twerps hooked me for fireworks on the first day so they have a good deal of fireworks to set off..........that is if they have any left by the time the Fourth rolls around.

Weather been great the last few days......until today which is overcast cast and we've had a few rain drops falling. Nothing to get excited about and it's supposed to warm back up tomorrow. Sure hope the good weather holds for our annual trip to the sand dunes at Coos Bay.

Well, that's about it for the last few days.........I slept in until 0900 this morning, probably because I got up too early yesterday. Becky will probably be posting pics on her Blog after our Fourth outing. Later. W&B