Rainy day.....

 7:58 am - Sunday - January 31st - Seal Rock, OR - 48° F, 94% humidity, wind - 14 mph out of the south....heavy cloud cover, raining today with a forecast high of 50° F.  On this date in 2012 we were having our solar system installed at the Escapees Park in Aguanga, CA (Jojoba Hills).  Mike Sylvester (RV Guy) and his wife installed our system over two days......↴

Running the cable

Installing the two 150 watt panels

Done!

The rain which began Friday afternoon, continued through the night, all day Saturday, through Saturday night, and continues as I write this morning (Sunday).  Not a hard rain by past standards, but steady and ever present.  The winds gusted frequently into the mid to high 20's, sometimes edging into 30 mph territory for brief moments.  As luck would have it, or a lack thereof, I should have dumped our black tank Friday before the rain as it became quite apparent by Saturday afternoon.  Fortunately, we had a brief 30 minute respite from rain around 1 pm, so I scampered outside to do the deed.  Just as I was buttoning things up once again it began to rain again.

We didn't terminate our slumber until after 8 am Friday, and didn't have breakfast until close to 10 am.  To entertain ourselves during this current multi day storm we watched a couple of recorded  English Premier soccer matches beginning to end.  

I also spent time planning our trip to warmer climes.  Originally we planned to take an inland route heading down the eastern side of the Sierra Nevadas, never entering California, but there is a lot of snow in that area from Oregon down past Lake Tahoe, so we have decided to head directly south on I-5 right down the Central Valley of California.  To avoid taking on diesel in California, where prices run over $1.00 more per gallon, we'll top off our tank (which is completely full right now) in Medford, and then fill up again near Kingman, AZ.  Since our alternator is non-op we'll most likely be staying at RV parks each night on our way south in order to recharge our batteries each day, unless we find a lot of sun to do the job through our solar system.  If conditions permit, we'll take the inland route on our way back to Seal Rock in mid March.

Late afternoon we decided to watch a couple of the Marvel Avenger movies.  We had not watched any of them before, so we started with Avengers: Infinity War, and finished the night with Avengers: End Game.

Not a lot about which to write when you are inside all day, but that's part of the full time life....thanks for stopping by!

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Finishing touches.....

8:50 am - Saturday - January 30th - Seal Rock, OR - 45° F, 93% humidity, wind - 22 mph out of the south by southwest......heavy cloud cover, raining today with a forecast high of 47° F.  On this date in 2015 we were in Wittmann, AZ at the property of good friends Tom and Darlene......it had been raining for 14 consecutive hours......kind of like Seal Rock, OR most days.....↴

Friday dawned as beautiful a day for which one could hope......clear, blue skies, and almost no breeze, so TLE and I decided to put the finishing touches on our new site.  I retrieved a twelve foot long 2' x 6' from the barn, and my yard long level to make sure the site was truly level from side to side, and front to back......

That's pretty level!

......we did the side to side leveling first (beginning at the rear of the site and moving to the front) moving gravel with a rock rake to low spots, or away from high spots.  Once we were satisfied with the side to side we worked on the front to back leveling doing the same thing.  The back half of the site was actually pretty level, and did not require too much adjustment, but the front half took a little more work.  We then drove the golf cart up and down the length of the site to repack what we had done.  We'll give the gravel time to settle even more over the next week before moving the trailer over.  Time combined with a lot of rain forecast for the next week should do the trick.  By the time we return from our one month hiatus the front of the site should be ready for the 29,000 pounds our Newell weighs

In all it took us a couple of hours, or more, and by the time we finished putting the tools and the golf cart away the blue skies had been replaced with dark gray clouds, and the temperature began to drop.  By 3 pm it was raining once again, but we had accomplished our goal of finishing the job started on Thursday.  Because of the rain we spent the balance of Friday indoors.

Exactly two weeks until we haul our anchor, and hit the road once again......thanks for stopping by!

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Mañana has arrived......

 8:42 am - Friday - January 29th - Seal Rock, OR - 36° F, 100% humidity, wind - zero mph out of the north.  Clear most of the day with a forecast high today of 46° F.  On this date in 2013 we were viewing our 33rd sunset at the Tiki Bar in Cedar Key, FL......↴

Tiki Bar

We began Thursday wondering if the gravel truck would grace us with its presence.  The gravel company called just before 10 am to advise we were on its schedule, but could not tell us when the truck would arrive.  I stayed home to be prepared for its arrival and busied myself around the site raking storm debris, cleaning rust off of metal, deploying all the awnings so they could be dried by the unexpected sun....we were expecting clouds all day.  

Around 12:30 pm we got a call directly from the driver asking directions to the site, and within two minutes he was there backing into site #A-2 to dump his 14 yards of gravel.  It was over and done within 10 minutes, and all that remained was to spread it out, and level the site.  Terry drove me up to the barn to fetch the Massey Ferguson loader, and I brought it back down the hill to do just that.  For the next 3.5 hours Blake and I worked to create a 65' x 10' level pad.....

Blake showing me where to drop my bucket of gravel

.....we mostly finished around 4:15 pm as it began to sprinkle lightly.  I drove the loader back up the hill to the barn to put it away, and then returned to site #A-2 to help Blake pickup the tools.....

.....I think it turned out well, don't you?  I'll spend some time Friday on my day off work doing a little fine tuning, but now all that is left is to finish compacting the gravel over the next week, and then move the trailer over just prior to our departure on February 12th.

By the time I took a long, hot shower, and got dressed again the drizzle had stopped, and the skies had cleared enough for us to enjoy a beautiful Coastal Oregon sunset.....

.....thanks for stopping by!

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Mañana - part 2

 7:49 am - Thursday - January 28th - Seal Rock, OR - 39° F, 93% humidity, wind - zero mph out of the north......cloudy today with a chance of rain and a forecast high of 46° F.  On this date in 2016 we were in Yuma, AZ at Prison Hill Brewing.......↴

The gravel company promised to deliver our 14 yards of gravel at, or near 1 pm so that is when I reported for work Wednesday.  If I had reported at my regular time, 10 am, it would have been raining quite hard, and there would have been no work.  As Terry and I stood in site #A-2 awaiting the imminent delivery we stood talking about this and that, and occasionally dodging a few errant rain drops, but it never really rained during that hour we stood patiently waiting for the promised gravel delivery.  Around 2 pm we received a call from Michele (Terry's wife) on the 2-way radio advising the gravel company would not be arriving this  day, but they would be here (SRRVC) first thing Thursday morning.....ahhh well, there you have it....mañana, mañana.  Terry left in the golf cart, and I put the tools I had carried from the landscape shed to spread the gravel into my trailer for the night.  With the one hour of 'work' Wednesday I have now worked 3.5 hours this week.

Within 30 minutes it began to rain in earnest once again for the rest of the afternoon, so I guessed it worked out in the end......mañana it is.  I changed my clothes and returned to reading my book.

As I sit here typing this morning (Thursday) I have a previously recorded English Premier soccer match playing in the background on our ROKU TV, and TLE is beginning to make breakfast.  Hopefully, in the next couple of hours our gravel will be delivered and we can get site #A-2 prepared for our future occupation when we return in mid March from our one month hiatus.  My thoughts drift to that time just 17 days distant when we will roll our wheels once again, if only for a month, and meander southward to Arizona, and dryer weather.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Mañana........

 8:37 am - Wednesday - January 27th - Seal Rock, OR - 34° F, 100% humidity, wind - zero mph out of the north.  Heavy cloud cover again with rain forecast later this morning, and a high of 44° F for the day.  On this date in 2019 we were in Winslow, AZ staying at the Elks Lodge.  On this day we walked over to the La Posada Hotel for breakfast in the Turquoise Room....↴

....as you can see in the second picture, I had not yet had my surgery to remove the cyst in my right cheek.....that would happen a few weeks later.

Around 9 am it appeared to me that we would not be working Tuesday as I was seeing very dark clouds over the ocean, and it was apparent it was raining out there, but the rain held off, so I was at work at 10 am with Terry and Blake helping cut up the downed tree I mentioned in yesterday's post.  We had no sooner filled the trailer with another load of tree branches than it began to sprinkle.  By the time we returned for a second load it was actually raining.  We scooped up the remaining cuttings and quickly hauled them up to the burn pile.  After putting away the chain saws and the trailer it was 11:15 am, and I was on my way home to remove my wet clothing and get dry, and warm once again....another grueling work day at SRRVC*....lol!

The gravel company which was to deliver 14 yards of gravel to site #A-2 called to say they would be postponing the delivery until 1 pm on Wednesday, so that is when I will be going to work tomorrow.  I have noticed over the past four months that the Oregon Coast has kind of a 'mañana' vibe, so the one day delay was not too surprising. I'll probably spend my entire two hour shift Wednesday spreading gravel and getting that site level, barring more rain.

TLE was home by 1 pm, and we settled into an afternoon of reading to the accompaniment of rain on the roof.  It appears we will have rain on and off for the next two weeks.  That is getting close to our departure date of February 12th.  We are hoping our departure day will be dry....fingers crossed, and knocking on a lot of wood.

Thanks for stopping by!

*SRRVC = Seal Rocks RV Cove

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Out on a limb......

 7:42 am - Tuesday - January 26th - Seal Rock, OR - 37° F, 87% humidity, wind 11 mph out of the southeast......cloudy today with rain forecast for later today, and a high of 38° F....WOW....that is by and far the lowest high since we arrived here at SRRVC!  On this date in 2018 we were riding the Grand Canyon Railroad with our daughter Meredith......↴

Initially I was called off work by Terry around 9 am as it was raining, but by 10 am it had stopped and the sun came out resulting in a second text message asking me to report for work at 10:30 am, which I did.  This was my view as I walked to work Monday morning......

.....my how things can change quickly here in Coastal Oregon!  As I reported in yesterday's missive, the winds were quite high Sunday, and the result was a downed tree near site #40.  This is the biggest tree to fall this season, and it may take us a couple of days to cut it up......

Moi by the downed tree near site #40

......a large branch from another tree overhanging site #37 broke and landed on the 5th wheel there, but caused no damage.  Terry had to call out a tree guy Sunday evening to cut the branch off the 5th wheel.  It required two complete trailer loads to haul the remains of that broken branch up to the burn pile.   Then we got to work to begin cutting up the tree by site #40.  Just as we were hauling the second trailer load of that downed tree it began to rain again, so we called it quits for the day at 11:45 am.

Terry let me know that they are having a truck load of gravel delivered Tuesday morning to site #A-2 (the one next to us) so we can level that site properly.  We do have a gravel pile here at SRRVC located on the opposite side of the park from our site, but it would take quite a while (probably 10 bucket loads) hauling one bucket load at a time up the hill to the site.  I'm sure we'll work some on that project Tuesday.

After changing out of my work clothes I settled into my recliner to read another book.  TLE headed off to work for her two hour shift around 2 pm, leaving me to continue reading, with an occasional nap thrown in for good measure.  It rained for another hour, but then the sun came out again to close out the day.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Unpredictable......

 7:48 am - Monday - January 25th - Seal Rock, OR - 34° F, 100% humidity, wind - zero mph out of the north.....heavy cloud cover, cold, rainy today with a forecast high of 43° F.  On this date in 2020 we arrived at the Riverside Elks Lodge after having worked at Ramona Oaks RV Resort for 9 months.....can't believe it's been a year already......↴

We awoke to rain Sunday morning, and it wasn't long until I received an expected text from Terry that we were not going to toil in the fields of SRRVC.  I was in the middle of a good book when the wind suddenly freshened to 20+ mph gusts.  Within a couple of minutes we went from warm, comfortable and dry to standing out in the rain and wind frantically stowing our patio awning.  I did not see that coming!

We had barely returned to the protected interior of the Newell, and the getting warm, and comfortable part again (not so dry yet) when I realized I had not taken down our flag/pole.....doh! Back into the breach for me.  Within a couple of minutes I had the flag, and  flag pole stowed inside the trailer, and was working on getting warm, comfortable and dry again in the warm, dry confines of the Newell.  Okay, enough excitement for one day already!

But, my friends, the excitement was not over.  Within 30 minutes of those episodes we lost power.  Apparently, according to internet reports, power was lost from Waldport to Seal Rock.  So, back outside to the windy, rainy elements for moi to pull out the Honda EU2000 generator to repower the coach.  Within 10 minutes the Honda was pumping electricity into the Newell, and order was restored....somewhat.  We did have to switch over from the electric heaters to our Suburban gas furnaces, but that's okay.....they need to be exercised periodically, anyway. We also had to shut down the electric dryer (Splendide) until power was restored.

About 3 hours later power was, indeed, restored by the local power company so I reversed the process, putting away the Honda EU2000, and hooking the Newell up to city power once again.  By this time it was after 3 pm, and the wind and rain had both abated somewhat, and I was nearing the end of the good book I was reading.

Life is good, though sometimes unpredictable, whether you live in a sticks and bricks home, or in an RV.  Things happen, and you deal with them.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Ona two.....

 8:24 am - Sunday - January 24th - Seal Rock, OR - 37° F, 93% humidity, wind 6 mph out of the southeast.....heavy cloud cover, rain today with a forecast high of 44° F.  The view this morning......↴

Rain on the windshield this morning....

.....on this date in 2013 we experienced our 28th Cedar Key, FL sunset.....↴

 We haven't been to the beach in a while so around 1:15 pm Saturday we drove about 3 miles north to Ona Beach State Park to walk da the beach.......

You must walk over Cedar Creek on this bridge to get to the actual beach

Outflow of Beaver Creek

Looking south....

The cliffs stretching south

.....the rock formations were quite interesting, especially this stretch where it appeared we were walking through a petrified pumpkin patch.....

The pumpkin patch?

....we walked from beach marker 62B (Ona Beach) south to 63 (Curtis Street beach parking lot)....around 1.5 miles each way......

Beaver Creek....looking inland

......the out and back walk was leisurely, and just what the doctor ordered.  As you can see, we were bundled up against the cold weather.....only got to 44° F....fortunately it was not breezy at all.....by the time we returned to our car it was almost 3 pm.

Instead of returning home immediately we drove down to Waldport to do some 'junking' at one of our favorite junk shops....Lil' Joe's General Store where TLE found a couple of kitchen knives without which she was unable to live.  From there we drove through Espresso 101 to pick up a couple of double shot Americanos before heading home.  As real Saturday's go this one was a particularly pleasant day.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Ona......

 8:29 am - Saturday - January 23rd - Seal Rock, OR - 32° F, 93% humidity, wind - zero mph out of the north......clear, cold, blue skies today with a forecast high of 44° F.  On this date in 2019 we arrived at the Route 66 Casino west of Albuquerque, NM on our way to Winslow, AZ.......↴

I look forward to Friday mornings because I know I can sleep in, if I wish, but sometimes forces somewhat beyond your control intervene, such as your cellphone beginning to ring at 7:19 am, and then immediately again at 7:20 am.  My cellphone rarely, if ever rings that early, and the few times it has it was not good news.  When it rings twice in 60 seconds that early you have answer it, right?  Well, guess what?  It was a robocall trying to sell me an extended warranty for my 20 year old vehicle.....yeah, right.

On a positive note, Saturday turned out to be another dry day with bright sunlight streaming in through the windows.  I needed to visit the local ACE Hardware store in Waldport to buy some wooden stakes, a spool of string, and a level to attach to the string. Why?  Well, when we come back from our 1 month hiatus in mid March we are not returning to site A-3, but will take up residence in Site A-2 (the one on the driver side of the Newell).  But, before we can do that we need to level that site properly so we can put the trailer in the back of the site before we back the Newell in for the next 5 month stay.  When we returned from our errand I set about pounding three stakes into the ground, then stretching the string between the three stakes.  Once athat was done I adjusted the string using the small level attached to the string to see what it would take to make the site level.......

.....in the first picture I am standing near Cross Street looking to the back of the site.  In order to level the site the owners will have a load of gravel delivered early next week directly to site A-2, and then we will spread it out to bring the back of the site up, the front of the site up, and the area on the left side (facing front to back) of the site up to level.  The site is low in front, and low in back, as well as low on the left.  Once that is done we will move the trailer over immediately so site A-2 where it will remain while we are gone.  Yup, for the first time in 10 years we are taking a trip in the Newell without the trailer, or the car....it's going to be weird.

There is a fine dining restaurant in Yachats (south of Waldport) call Ona Restaurant and Lounge by which we have driven often over the months we have been here.  It was closed for a while due to the Wuhan Flu, but recently reopened after New Year's so TLE and I decided it was time to check it out.  They are restricted by state edict to utilizing only 25% of their tables, so reservations for the evening are a must.  We were able to snag a reservation for 5:30 pm Friday evening, so we hopped in the VW around 5:10 pm and drove south to Yachats arriving at the restaurant around 5:25 pm....perfect.....

....normally we would have wanted a window seat so we could enjoy an ocean view while eating, but it was dark a little after 5 pm, so that treat will be for another time.  We immediately ordered a bottle of their Pudding River Viognier white wine, and then our dinner orders of Seared Ahi Tuna. I added a bowl of their Clam Chowder as a starter.  The dinner, ambiance and service were top notch, and we had a delightful dinner.  They are a little pricey, but good food is always worth the cost.  

We were home just before 7 pm with big smiles upon our faces.  Always nice to eat out and grab a little bit of normalcy during these very odd times.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Five in a row.......

 8:05 am - Friday - January 22n - Seal Rock, OR - 32° F, 100% humidity, wind zero mph out of the north....partly cloudy today, with rain in the forecast along with a high temperature of 47° F.  On this date in 2013 we were having our first bowls of award winning clam chowder at the world famous Tony's Seafood in Cedar Key, FL......↴

We have a new world record (jk) here at SRRVC*......I worked 5 successive days for the first time in weeks, and I worked a staggering 12.5 hours during that five day period to boot.....lol.  All this made possible by the failure of the weather guessers forecast for rain Thursday.....in fact, the rain never came at all.....not in the morning, afternoon, or during the night.  We're in danger of things getting slightly dry here on the Oregon Coast as standing water everywhere has somehow soaked into the heretofore saturated ground.

Blake and I began our workday with Terry at the WDS plant to clean the filters.  We set a new record getting them all 'clean' in 20 minutes flat....usually takes us 30+ minutes.  Nothing like being able to complete your least favorite biweekly task in record time.  Once that was done Blake and I spent the remainder of our shift taking down the last wire fencing in the tent area, and replacing it with the ubiquitous rope fences we have throughout the park, which are used, in many cases, to separate sites.  In all I worked 2.5 hours Thursday (our Friday) before heading for home.

The temperature began to drop shortly after arriving home, so I spent the afternoon reading another good book.  It got cold enough at one point that we had all three heaters rocking at the same time.

Thanks for stopping by!

*SRRVC = Seal Rock RV Cove

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