We are way behind on our posts; we have just been going nonstop and have not had time to put a post out. So, we are going to try and catch up with a short post.

In northern California, we stopped one night at a Harvest Host in Lodi; Klinker Brick Winery. We enjoy a great tasting followed by a couple glasses on our favorite wines. Then we had a peaceful evening next to the vineyard. You just can’t beat the views. Then we were off to Corning, where we stayed at Rolling Hills Casino. We made this stop to see Kim’s daughter and her partner Annica and David’s brother Alan and his family Julie, Devin and Jared. Unfortunately, this was the closet RV park we could find to them, which put us two hours away. Our RV is just too big sometimes… actually most of the time. David and Alan got in a round of gold at the Casino, the wind was crazy, but they really enjoyed getting out together. Then we met for dinner in Chico at Sierra Nevada Brewing where we enjoyed some good beer, great food and awesome conversation. Then we had dinner in Sacramento and went to a Mariners vs A’s baseball game. We spent the night in Sacramento at a hotel and then spent the next day with Brianna. We had a great breakfast with Brianna and Annica. We walked through some shops in downtown Sacramento. Brianna showed us around the Ford dealership where she works (she is doing awesome in her new job). We got to see Brianna and Annica’s house, then we had an awesome dinner where Annica works. We all got together for dinner and beers one evening at Green River Brewery in Winters. Then we all met at the RV on Mother’s Day for mimosas and a brunch buffet at the casino. Sometime during that stop, we also managed to fit in a couple more wineries that were close to the RV park. It was great seeing our Northern California family!

Next we stayed in Trinidad, CA at Elk Country RV Park. This park is right on the California coast with some pretty narrow and winding roads getting there. We enjoyed some walks on the beach, hiked through a redwood forest, found another winery, watched the elk that hung out in the campground, and truly enjoyed a sunset on the coast.

Next, we were off to Oregon, we drove another 100 miles or so up the coast on Highway 1 before heading inland toward Eugene. The views along the coast were amazing. We did experience our first break down. While getting back onto the road after stopping for a bathroom break, we heard a very loud bang and immediately pulled the truck over to the side. We both thought we had blown a tire, but alas all the tires fine. Then we looked under the hood and discovered that we had blown off the charge pipe that runs from the turbo to the intercooler. It was held on by these solid band clamps and there was no way to put it back together using those. Luckly, we had some spare hose clamps and were able to get it back together ourselves. Our roadside repair held until Eugene and our RV park just happened to be less than 2 miles from a Volvo dealership. We picked up some replacement parts and got it put back together better than new.

We stayed at Eugene Premier RV Resort, where the staff said that RV is huge and it’s not going to fit where we had you. So, after lots of discussion and a ride in the golf cart, we found a spot. We ended up backing into a spot right on the pond. Our time in Eugene was spent playing pickleball, exploring the area, catching up on some shopping, but the highlight was spending a few days with Kim’s daughter Hailey. We went to King Estate Winery where we had some amazing wine and fancy hors d’oeuvres. Then we went to Sarver Winery where we enjoyed some music and more great wine. We had a great time with Hailey! We included some pics of Suttle Lake in Oregon.

The next month was kind of a blur! We headed to Boise, ID where we had a family reunion with David’s family. Jenna, Evan and Jolie drove down from Washington, Alan and Julie drove in from California and we were there for a HDT (heavy duty truck) rally. David’s brother Keith planned several fun activities; golfing, a car show, concert and BBQ. We were able to see David’s parents, Keith and Diane, Alan and Julie, as well as Uncle Larry and Mardel, niece Katelyn and nephew Kyle. Jenna and family stayed with us, which gave us more time with the granddaughter! She is at such a fun age!

The HDT rally lasted a week with 30 rigs like ours in the RV park. The week was filled with lots of seminars, potlucks, a massage for Kim and a very fun wine tour (Kim may or may not have danced to YMCA in the aisle of the van). We were also in a smart car parade on the way to a steak dinner with the whole group. We met a lot of great people! Shout out to Heather and John who gave us an idea for another adventure (more to come on that). Thanks to Jen and Chad for organizing the whole thing and of course thanks to Roger for all the desserts!

We then got on a plane to our house in Florida. We spent the next 8 days putting furniture together, buying more furniture, installing ceiling fans, installing shower heads, setting up the bathrooms and the kitchen. I had been shipping things to the house for months! Gigantic thank you to Jamie and Erin for putting all the deliveries in the house and waiting for furniture and appliances to be set up by Costco. The house was full of boxes when we got there, so of course, we stayed up until 2 am after flying all day unboxing everything because the next day was trash day. After flying back to Boise, we had a very nice Father’s Day brunch with Wayne and Deanna before getting back on the road toward Poulsbo, WA. We stopped at another Harvest Host winery, Anelare in Benton City, WA. We arrived in Poulsbo, did a quick setup and then hit the local breweries where we saw Joe/Katie, Dave F./Jessica and Gary. Joe and Katie came back to the RV for wine and games. We always seem to have a hangover after hanging out with them! The rest of the week was very busy seeing everyone, playing pickleball, walking Bloedel Reserve (thanks Jane!), doing some shopping for the house, lunches, dinners, State 42 winery and an ice cream social at the yacht club. We really miss our friends in western Washington!!! We saw a lot of people but missed a few. We will catch you next time around or you can visit us in Florida 🙂

This one was supposed to be short, sorry, it is difficult! Some weird things: Bates Motel in Yates, OR; Met people at the HDT rally from the North Pole.