Summer vacation

It's after Labor day so summer is over, even though the weather is still nice. We took a couple of months off from park volunteering to sit back and enjoy some sights and areas and rest up before our big trip.

After leaving Utah at the end of June, we travelled up to Idaho, saw family and took care of personal things, like doctor checks. We visited two of Gail's sisters up in Challis for a few days. One sister has a little roadside food truck/kitchen, Nummyz, just north of Challis. They serve Korean BBQ and other really good things. If you're going to Challis, give it a try, you won't be disappointed.  Gail's nephew and girlfriend came out as did his father. We ended up with a small family reunion.  We checked on the cabin, did a little weed work and tried to delay getting into Boise because of the heat. It was hot everywhere and the less time we spent in it with the trailer the better.

Campground by Newport bridge

So, at the beginning of August we headed to the Oregon coast where we knew it would be much cooler. We spent a few days in Newport to start, got some fresh seafood and toured around a bit. It was our intention to camp in the state parks all along the coast but everyone was completely full, all the time. So we ended up in private parks and most weren't too bad. Then we just skipped down the coast, each stop only about 50-60 miles away. Tough driving days. We enjoyed Bandon for a week, played a little golf, ate plenty of clam chowder and mostly waited for the fog to burn off. The temperatures were very cool, we got the jeans and sweatshirts back out, turned off the A/C and turned on the heat. Really nice in the morning to take the chill off. First we were complaining how hot it had been, then pretty soon we were complaining how chilly it was. Can't win. We checked on the beaches, visited some lighthouse, met up with some friends who host at lighthouses. Continuing south we stopped at Gold Beach on the Rogue river. We had a very nice campsite along the river and gorged ourselves on blackberries surrounding us. We made blackberry cobbler, sauce for the salmon, coffeecake and just ate them out of the bowl!. Bill likes them with half & half.

At Gold Beach, we took a jet boat ride up the Rogues. It was very windy when we left but up river was fantastic. The boat in the picture gave us pause at first as this was what you first saw walking up to the office! It was a fun trip, a little wet at times, but fun.

 We then moved down to Crescent City, CA and on to Klamath. We were camped right in the middle of the redwood trees and fog, but it was worth it. After taking a couple of hikes through the woods, it's hard to get over how magnificent these trees are. So big and straight and the environment they create is incredible. Gail spent 4 years in this area going to college and it was nice to see it again. A lot of it has changed, for the better, as it is protected now and not left to the mercy of the lumber company chain saws.

So we end with stopping in Grants Pass then on to Redding. We will leave the truck and trailer at some friends, fly from Sacramento-SFO- Sydney, leaving 9/15 and return 12/4. We will be busy over there but will definitely blog about what we see and do. Stay tuned!