Serendipity........

 8:00 am - Thursday - September 10th - Forks, WA - 51° F, 83% humidity, wind - CALM......clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 87° F.  On this day in 2012 we were in Rock Springs, WY Wallydocking at the local Walmart.....we were at the Starbucks across the street when it began to rain.....↴

Wednesday was moving day, but we only had 86 miles to travel so we did not depart 7 Cedars Casino around 10:15 am.  Traffic was heavy as we slogged through Port Angeles, and there was one construction zone after another, but at last we came to the city limits on the west side.  Just as we were passing the last gas station in town both TLE and I noticed a vintage class 'A' just pulling out onto US-101 going the same direction as we were.  It became apparent to both of us that this was a late 60's Newell.  I have seen pictures of these Newells, but have never come across one on the open highway until Wednesday.  At some point the owner recognized that we were also a Newell and pulled over.......

......we followed suit and pulled into the turnout.  In the mid 60's a trailer company called Streamline (begun by former employees of Airstream) built their first class 'A' motorhome.  A man named L.K. Newell bought one of them.  After two weeks he returned to the factory in El Monte, CA with suggestions for improving the design.  The owner of Streamline remarked that if Mr. Newell thought he could build a better product he should buy the motorhome division, so he did.  He moved operations to Miami, OK and in 1967 L.K. Newell (for a history of Newell click here) produced his first Newell using the same design.  It was a front control unit (motor up front) utilizing a Ford Industrial V-8 engine.  This particular Newell is a 1969, and in pretty rough shape.  Nate and Tammy (the current owners) just purchased it a short time ago, and this was their maiden voyage to test the integrity of the engine repairs Nate had made......

.....we exchanged tours of our Newells, and our contact information before taking the requisite 'usie' in front of their unit.......Nate and Tammy have plans to renovate the interior, and bring her completely back to life as a functional RV......

....it is always serendipitous to run into other Newell owners as we travel as there are not a lot of us.  Over it's history from 1967 until the present Newell has averaged building around 25-30 new units a year.
We only had about 43 miles to go when we resumed our westward drive on US-101 to Forks, and arrived there around 50 minutes later.  There is a nice Elks Lodge in Forks, WA which provides 12 RV sites with 30/50 amp electric, water and a dump station for a mere $20/night.  it is about 6 blocks off US-101 which means there is little noise at night.  This is a very nice facility, and we are totally surprised to be here all by ourselves, but who is complaining, right?  
We are also in the midst of a 2 day heatwave here in northwestern Washington, and the forecast high for Forks Wednesday was 88° F.....

......for the first time in weeks we had to run our rear A/C for several hours.  We spent the afternoon reading, and then after dinner watching 3 more episodes of 'Travelers'....what a great series!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!