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2017-10-07 Westbound; Urban Rally in Carson City…

Saturday morning in Carson City dawned bright and clear.  We walked down Carson St. and went to Mom and Pops Diner for breakfast.  As we walked down the street we saw all the Airstreams that were parked along the street:

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After breakfast we returned to the Villa and prepared it for the Open House.  The local papers had advertised that all are welcome to see the Airstreams.  So we cleaned up, put away stuff, and made the Villa look as nice as possible… We were told to be available from 10:00 am to Noon.

People started arriving at 10:00 am.  They were still coming through at 6:00 pm.  Apparently the newspapers said “all day”… But we don’t mind…

We did sneak away for a few minutes in the afternoon to do the “Wine Walk”.  Downtown Carson City does this the first Saturday every month. (On the third Saturday they do a beer crawl…)

We signed up, paid our $15.00, and received our wrist bands and our glasses.  There were over 60 merchants pouring wine throughout the downtown district.

Some had set up tables on the sidewalk, others had you come into their stores.  Note that this wasn’t some delicate wine tasting with good wines and tiny pours.  These were fairly average wines with full glass pours.  Ant no one was keeping count on how many times you asked for a glass of wine…  Between stores, there were throngs of people, carrying and drinking glasses of wine, and walking along the sidewalk… We’re not in California anymore!

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Some places had entertainment: Irish music, similar to what we heard at the Ceilidhs in Nova Scotia…

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Our final wine stop was at the local Elks Lodge.  After drinking our wine, and enjoying some of the food they had set out, we sat at the bar and watched college football.  And, since the bar was open, we were allowed to order drinks.  Let me tell you, if you like to drink and have the opportunity to drink in an Elks Club bar, you are in heaven!!!

We made our way back to the Villa and fixed a quick dinner; lookieloos were still coming through…  We left and walked to see an outdoor concert put on by some local musicians:

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An added benefit of the concert was the ice cream store right there on the square:

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We had a nice time hanging out in Carson City.  It is a friendly, nice little town.  They have just spent a ton of money redoing their streets, curbs, and sidewalks.  Now they just need to get a few more upscale businesses and fill in the “missing teeth” of the storefronts along the street.

We started to return to the Villa, but were distracted by a casino bar that had both the CAL game and the Dodgers game on the TVs just above the bar.  Drinks ensued and an enjoyable time was had by all.

 

PS:  The Dodgers had a better night than CAL…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2017-10-06 Westbound; Goodbye, California, Hello, Nevada…

We left Hat Creek mid-morning, and headed east.  Soon we were rewarded with a view of Lassen Peak in the distance:

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We continued south, just west of the Nevada border, until we crossed over into Nevada near Reno:

2017-10-06 Map - Nevada

Our map is now complete, showing all the States we have visited on this trip, except for the five Canadian Provinces.  We’ll have to look for a combined map when we return home…

We soon at arrived in Carson City.  We were instructed to show up at exactly 2:00 pm, so we had two hours to kill.  We did some shopping and spent some quality time in a nearby Starbucks:

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We are going to spend this weekend with the Lake Tahoe Airstream Club in what they call an Urban Rally; specifically, it is called Airstreams on Main.  There are 32 Airstreams parked along Carson Street – downtown Carson City – and in an adjacent parking lot.  It was great fun to attend an Airstream rally again after these many months.  We met many new friends and saw many interesting Airstreams:

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Our main activity this evening was Happy Hours – over 60 people!  Quite a mob.  We also had some great singer/guitar entertainment…

And an enjoyable time was had by all…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2017-10-03 Westbound; Bend, Oregon…

Another beautiful day in Bend; we drove to town and parked about 1/2 mile away in a lovely park:

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Walking along the river we found another dam; at one time this dam had a powerhouse or mill:

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We enjoyed another walk through downtown:

 

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We stopped in for a late lunch at Drake; they had very creative and different food;

Battered and fried portobello with beer cheese:

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Buttermilk fried chicken:

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We returned to the Villa at about 3:30; we discovered we had new Airstream neighbors; they have quit their jobs, sold their house, and are moving here.  They will be spending the winter here in Bend in their Airstream while they look for work and look to buy or build a house…

Happy Hours ensued; an an enjoyable time was had by all…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2017-09-26 Westbound; Whidbey Island;

We pulled out of Larrabee State Park this morning, having an interesting time threading our way between the trees.  I don’t think the designers of this campground was anticipating 35′ long trailers…

We had an uneventful drive south, over a few bridges, and onto Whidbey Island.  We parked in the town of Oak Harbor and took a quick shopping trip to the local Safeway.

We then met an old Airstream friend, and professional photographer, Bill Ferry:

2017-09-26 Washington 01 Oak Harbor

We enjoyed a tour of the town and then we shared lunch at Seabolt’s Smokehouse.  The Penn Cove mussels (a local favorite) were spectacular!

After lunch we proceeded down the island. We checked out the Coupeville ferry landing from which we will be leaving in a few days.  Then we arrived at the Island County Fairgrounds in Langley, WA.  They have a simple campground that is usually crammed with 50-60 RVs during the fair and other events, but today we shared it with only 7 other rigs…

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We have long time friends who recently moved to Washington from Laguna Beach about 1 1/2 years ago.  While they live in Seattle for now, they are building a new house here in Langley.  We walked the short one mile to see the progress of the house (slow), then we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Prima in Langley.  After dinner we walked along the shore and through the town.

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We returned to the Villa and an enjoyable time was had by all…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2017-09-23 Westbound; On to Washington and the Grand Coulee Dam…

We left Couer d’ Alene early this morning; Brent came out to wish us well:

2017-09-22 Idaho 05 Walters Phil and Brent

We stopped for fuel early; Washington welcomed us:

2017-09-23 Map Washington

Only two more States to visit before we return to California!

We then set our across the countryside of Eastern Washington;

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I’m not suggesting that Eastern Washington is boring… Wait – yes, I am…

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We soon arrived at our destination: The Grand Coulee Dam:

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I thought something was odd.  This is not what I remember from when I was here in 1956… I remembered a long, wide dam, with a simple, straight-forward design.  What was this strange dog-leg off to the left?

We stopped into the Visitors Center (Marcel Breuer, architect).

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We soon found out that in 1967 the left 250′ of the dam was removed and the new dog-leg portion was added; it includes a third powerhouse, allowing the dam to be more efficient and produce more electrical power.

The Grand Coulee Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River, built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation water. Constructed between 1933 and 1942, plus the “remodel” from 1967 to 1974, Grand Coulee Dam is the largest power station in the United States, with a capacity of 6,809 MW.  (Hoover Dam produces 2,078 MW…)  It is 550′ tall and 5,223 wide.  (Hoover Dam is 726′ high, but only 1,244′ wide…)  The dam is the second largest concrete structure in the world, containing almost 12,000,000 cu. yds. of concrete.  (Hoover Dam contains 3,250,000 cu. yds…)

Power from the dam fueled the growing industries of the Northwest United States during World War II.  As the center-piece of the Columbia Basin Project, the dam’s reservoir supplies water for the irrigation of 671,000 acres.

The reservoir behind the dam is called Franklin Delano Roosevelt Lake. Creation of the reservoir forced the relocation of over 3,000 people, including Native Americans whose ancestral lands were partially flooded.  While the dam does not contain fish-ladders, neither does the next down-stream dam, Chief Joseph Dam.  This means that no salmon ever reach the Grand Coulee Dam, making the issue moot.

We joined a tour of the powerhouse #1, along with the treat of being able to be driven across the top of the dam.  (The roadway atop the dam is closed to public traffic…)  We saw the pumps and generating turbines inside the powerhouse, and had opportunity to take photos of the surrounding areas from atop the dam.

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After the tour we walked across the bridge below the dam.  It contained many photo boards describing the surrounding geology (fun for Lynda) and the construction of the dam (fun for me…).

After viewing the dam, we checked into the RV park nearby; it is Saturday, so: Football!

2017-09-23 Saturday College Football

We took a break from football from time to time to walk about the neighborhood.  On one such walk we found some wild turkeys:

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In the evening we drove back to the dam; they have a laser light show projected onto the dam, but what I wanted to see was the release of eater over the spillways.  We arrived about 8:15; the parking lot was mostly full, and people were milling about.  At about 8:25 they shut off most of the lights in the area and opened the spillways.  We could see the “whitewater” cover the face of the dam.  Unfortunately, they never used the thousands of flood lights mounted around the dam to light up the water.  So, while we could see the water, we could only see it dimly.

The laser show started.  It was not much of a big deal.  It told the story of the dam through giant speakers mounted about 6 feet from where we were sitting… The laser show was mostly the drawing of stick figures on the face of the dam to illustrate the story.  We won’t be back…

So we returned to the Villa in the dark.  An enjoyable time was had by all…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2017-09-22 Westbound; Moving on to Couer d’Alene, Idaho…

Another easy drive today.  We relaxed and spent the morning in the Villa. It was still cold, and it was raining off and on.  I hitched up early, and we pulled out at about 11:00 am.

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We drove north through the beautiful Montana countryside:

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We stopped for a break to do some walking; before too long we crossed over into Idaho:

2017-09-22 Map Idaho

It was a short drive to Couer d’Alene, Idaho, where Airstream friends from SoCal have moved;  we found their house and parked the Villa:

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We immediately noticed a visitor in their front yard:

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We had a lovely afternoon visiting and walking about the neighborhood; we shared a delicious dinner with Brent and Cheryl Walters…

We retired to the Villa.  An enjoyable time was had by all…

 

Also, since this is a short post, here are the latest photos of our grandchildren, back home in Hollywood:

2017-09-17 McAnoy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2017-08-17 Westbound; Quebec Old City

The KOA outside Quebec offers a shuttle service to take us into Quebec; as we waited, I noticed this truck parked across the street:

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They grow them big here in Canada…

The bus arrived promptly on time, and by 9:00 am we were in vieux cite Quebec.  First, of course, is the fortress!

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The walls around the fortress provide wonderful views of the old city (vieux cite)…

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The city plaza is dominated by a huge, old, hotel: The Frontenac. (It is now a Fairmont…)

 

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As we love to do in cities we walked the streets. We love finding the quaint, beautiful, historic, and charming sites…

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We even found the American Consulate, in case we got into trouble…

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We also found that Quebecois like to have fun in the winter: on the town square is a sledding slide:

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And, of course, what we also like to do is find a charming sidewalk cafe to enjoy lunch:

 

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We ordered a bottle of wine…

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Finally the duck confit arrived

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After lunch we walked some more, but then we needed to stop for some espresso while we waited for the shuttle to take us back to the Villa.

Back in the RV park, we met two other Airstreamers: one was from Connecticut; they were enjoying their 3rd new Airstream in the past year (16′, 22′ and now 25′).  I’m sure their Airstream dealer is driving a new car, too… The other Airstream was being pulled by a nice Mercedes GL350, that looked vaguely familiar. Once we got to talking, we realized that we had seen them in Lunenburg, NS, and they had met some of our fellow caravanners whilst they were there…!

So Happy Hours ensued; an enjoyable time was had by all…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2017-08-16 Westbound, on our own…

We left Jellystone Park before it was light. We love traveling this way – just not every day…  After an hour or so we stopped at our first ever Tim Horton’s.  As we pulled around to the back we saw Linda and Gerry Belcher’s Airstream Interstate:

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We pulled in next to them.  It appears that they were asleep – all windows shades were drawn…

We had a quick “breakfast”, then pulled out onto the road. No sign of life from the Belchers… (Later we had a text message from them that they were awake, making coffee, but did not see us parked next to them…)

A few miles down the road we spotted a WalMart off the road, with three Airstreams parked for the night; we learned later that it was the three Kentuckians – Westheimer, Virgin, and Lanford.

Later that morning we saw Ed and Abby Krissman again.  This time at a gas station. We said a quick, “Hi”; they were were headed into New York, and they had left Tom Jones behind as they dropped down into Maine.  There was also a Visitors Center that had some problems with its question mark…

2017-08-16 Info Center

So we caravanners keep spreading out all over the country; one group took the ferry from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland…!

By early afternoon we had crossed over into Quebec, and were approaching Quebec City. We stopped in at the Levis/Quebec City KOA and parked for the night…

2017-08-16 Quebec - KOA

We have booked a shuttle to take us into the Old City tomorrow, and we settled down for a nice quiet Happy Hour on our own…

PS: There are three other Airstreams in this park. We hope to meet them tomorrow…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2017-08-15 Nor by Nor’east Caravan is Over! Back on our own…

The caravan is over – we packed up this morning, said our last good-byes, and headed out of the RV park.

We leave PEI via the Confederation Bridge, locally named Span of Green Cables… Then our plans are to travel west, through New Brunswick, then north to Quebec;  once in Quebec, we head southwest to Quebec City, Montreal, the 1000 Islands, and towards London, Ontario.  There we visit CanAm RV to have new rock guards installed, and to check out our non-functioning refrigerator.  From there we go to Boblo Island, on the far western edge of Ontario – there we will reunite with our grandchildren:

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PEI is beautiful – not much wilderness, but lots of farmland…

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The trip over the bridge (the longest bridge in the world going over waters that freeze…), across the Northumberland Strait, was uneventful; even paying the toll was easy. Then we were on to New Brunswick.  Just over the bridge we were joined in our travels with two other Airstreams – that of Tom Jones and Ed Krisman.  They had left the RV park ahead of us, but apparently they had stopped for something or other.  We convoyed along for awhile, then parted ways as we stopped for fuel.

We reached our destination – Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park – in Woodstock, NB.

2017-08-15 Woodstock NB - Jellystone

Obviously, this is a kid and family oriented park, with miniature golf, playgrounds, pools, jumping things, a small water slide area, and all sorts of planned activities put on by the park.  They put us into a site at the rear, away from most of the activities.  We settled into the Villa, and enjoyed a peaceful evening alone.

About 9:00 pm, long after we were in bed, (it was almost dark!) we heard the camp PA system announce that it was time for the “Bedtime Story with Benny the Beaver”, obviously a popular activity. But then they added that there was a thunder storm warning being issued.  So I got up and disconnected our electrical power just to be safe. It was just as well – we plan to leave before first light in the morning…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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