July 28, 2010 - Exploring Sunny Salem, OR

Summer snuck into Salem, OR hiding in overcast weather. When we returned to the Salem Elk’s Club from Boise, ID, the berries in the fields were still green…with just a hint of treasures to come..

And the the following night, I was able to pick this bowl of Nature’s beautiful offering—big, fat, juicy berries.

I left TONS of berries, mostly green, for others to harvest as the season continues. Not enough room to store jar of jam or frozen berries in the camper this year—but maybe next year, hope, hope!

We decided to stick around Salem for two weeks until Larry could do his August lab work. To fill our days, we concentrated on exploring towns all around Salem. We wandered west over to Dallas and Independence, east to Detroit Lake, Mt. Angel, and Silverton, north to McMinnville, and finally down to Albany and Corvallis last Sunday.

Our travels took us further than Oregon…..we “found” the Indiana/Illinois cornfield countryside, Amish-country neat white farm houses, and even hilly Vermont rural villages. We drove by quaint Napa Valley-style vineyards and wineries, visited a German Black Forest village to listen to the glockenspiel and rode a car ferry across the river…all around Salem. We went quite far afield--driving only a few miles.

We saw miles of wheat and rye farms in the Hwy 99 valley---billed as the “lawn seed capital of the US”…and enjoyed miles of colorful flowers.

Shades of the midwest countryside.

Blue skies over white farms nestled in green fields! Beautiful!

One treat was the day-trip to Mount Angel, OR, to see the Glockenspiel adorning the Glockenspiel Restaurant building. The scenes rotate while enchanting music is broadcast over a loud speaker.

The Mount Angel Glockenspiel plays at 11 am., 1 pm. and 3 pm. daily and is worth the wait! We were lucky, we didn’t have to wait at the Wheatland Ferry…we drove up as it was loading.

We crossed the mighty Willamette River in upscale class! I love the green algae lace decorating the cable. Did I mention we found some HUGE old-growth trees--transporting us back down to the Redwoods National Park in California?

All those trips lead us to our last tourist treat--the Evergreen Air and Space Museum in McMinnville, OR, home to Howard Hughes’s flying boat, the Spruce Goose. Visiting The Evergreen Museum is an excellent investment of one’s time—and money!

Those little plans on the floor—are full-sized restored airplanes!

Tucked up next to the Goose was the Texan Trainer, an advanced trainer designated at the Army’s AT-6 and the US Navy’s SNJ.

My dad owned an AT-6 bought after WWII. In the late 1940s, he flew with my brother up front and me sitting in my Mom’s lap in the back seat. Notice the size of the Spruce Goose’s floatation pad alongside the AT-6.

I enjoyed reading about this Ford Tri-Motor that has had a long and exciting history. Once even used for dropping fire-fighters into hot spots in Idaho, it’s been restored and renamed the City of McMinnville by Evergreen Aviation.

The passenger section--not for people with claustrophobia! I love the little lace curtains.

It carried the luggage in the wings. Notice the vintage luggage too.

We added the IMAX 3-D movie about the Hubble telescope on to our tickets—which was the highlight for me! After seeing the size of the Hubble mock-up and the shuttle bay at the Johnson Space Center this spring, it tied it all together—in live 3-D action for us. The photos from the Hubble were too beautiful for words! Go see this wonderful museum and movie when you can!

We did Larry’s lab tests this week and we are very happy with the results. Not only do we get to travel for another month, his kidney function test had improved a shade more. He isn’t cured nor recovering; the four-month trend has gone from sliding down the slippery slope to dialysis to clinging to the cliff….and maybe inching up a shade further. The test results normally go up and down, but this is the fourth test where we see improvement instead of sliding—a real reason for us to celebrate!! His continued adherence to the diet is reaping us rewards---more time to travel! Yippee!

On to Washington for August. We have lots to see and do in the Pacific Northwest, starting with Tacoma, WA. Until next week…….

July 19, 2010 – Back in Salem Again…..

 

These are my reasons for trekking across Oregon and into HOT Idaho in the middle of July.   Natalie, Chelise and Alika—and Chad off to the left.  Would you believe I had such fun with them that I forgot to take photos? Well, it is true! 

We stayed at the  Boise-Meridian KOA for three nights.  I don’t normally patronize K.O.A.s, (Keep on Adding) but wanted a park close to Chad and Natalie’s house and with a pool for the Grands.  We received a 15% discount for being Escapees members.  The nightly fee was about $27.50—well within my budget for seeing my Grands!

The park was one of the cleanest parks staffed with the friendliest folks we have encountered in a while!  Our site was small, but the staff brought us a table to our site by that afternoon.  They didn’t charge extra for the Grands using the pool.  (The “visitor charge” is standard at most parks, so I was pleasantly pleased to find we didn’t have to pay extra.) We were impressed with the park.

The heat was the only negative aspect.  We enjoyed visiting with Chad, Natalie, Chelsie and Alika, but we were ready to head west to cooler weather again on Sunday. 

We had brought a slight medical issue with us.  Our delicious W-M chicken dinner back in Hermiston, OR, had too much sodium.  Larry’s weight jumped up 3 lbs. in one night from water retention.  By the the weekend, it had not dropped back down and his legs were swollen by bed time, so we were unable to eat with the kids.  We were restricting his sodium intake dramatically.  The hot weather did not help!

We planned visiting lots of tourist attractions in Eastern Oregon, but decided to head to cooler weather.  We stopped at Emigrant Springs State Park, a gem hidden next to I-84, about 26 miles east of Pendleton, OR.  It is on the Oregon Trail route and we welcomed the cooler temperatures at 4,000 feet among the trees.  That evening two “visitors from the Oregon Trail” presented a sing-along for us campers.  They combined a bit of history with the songs we  belted out—loudly, but not necessarily in tune! 

If I had been on the wagon train, I would have stopped for good when I reached Emigrant Springs!  Notice the beautiful trees, a treat to see after crossing the dry plains! 

We headed on to the Columbia River Gorge, but ran into a slight problem after we passed Pendleton, OR.  We ran into strong head winds.  Another 20 minutes later, we drove into dirt storms stirred up by the 30-plus mph winds.  When we stopped for fuel in Hermiston, OR, we decided to head back to the same RV park and sit out the horrible headwinds that were throwing the truck and camper from lane edge to land edge and whipping up thick dust storms.  We spent the day rocking and rolling in the RV site!

Up early the next morning to beat the wind, we headed west!  We had enough hot weather and wind to last a while, so ended back in Salem, OR at the Elk’s Club by about 2 pm.  It was good timing as this weekend was the Salem Artist’s Festival at the Bush Pasture Park.  Larry took me down early Saturday morning for my “creative fix.”  We were there at 9:30, a half hour early, which allowed me to wander and drool without a huge crowd!

Isn’t that a peaceful and inviting scene?

Oh, if I only had more room in the camper, some of these fellas might be headed for Texas!

I naturally head for the potters’ booths first, but I was disappointed in the glazes.  Several booths had glazed their pottery in primary Fiesta colors which didn’t appeal to my creative side.

Blown glass arts were very popular.  I saw at least 10 different booths, plus artists working with blown glass.  Glass blowing is taught in both the community college and at the Salem Arts Center.  The art is like pottery, give different people the same materials and the finished products are so different! 

I was good.  While I enjoyed wandering around, I didn’t buy anything.

However, I have to share some information I learned this week.  Do you have water spots on your windows? 

We parked in the wrong spot about 4 years ago, near a sprinkler that spotted the truck’s windows.  I have been unable to remove the water spots on the tinted windows.  I read about the same problem in the Escapees Forum’s posting and someone found a solution:

I used this product on my dad’s glass-top stove last winter and never thought about using it on the truck windows.  It works!!!  The forum poster said he paid $1.98 at Wal-Mart, but Salem’s W-M priced the cleaner at $3.58 and the scrubby pads that won’t scratch at $1.98.  It was worth the price as it finally, with the cleaner, pad and lot of elbow grease, cleaned most of the water spots off the window!  I am a happy camper today! 

We are nestled into the Elk’s Club campground again for about 2 more weeks.  Once Larry has his blood tests and buys his monthly dose of Procrit, we are heading up into Washington for August.

July 7, 2010 – Salem, OR to Boise, ID

“Life deserves to be remembered” I just heard that quote on a PBS program and it hit home with me.

It is difficult to visit everything that Salem, OR, offers to visitors. This was our last treat before heading east:

The Mission Mill Museum is located downtown Salem across the street from Willamette University. The museum is a collection of three houses, two built for Methodist missionaries and one built for a successful early Salem settler. The houses have been restored to reflect the era. The Methodist missionaries sailed from New York Harbor around the Horn to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) and on to Fort Vancouver, a trip of about 8 months at sea.

The Lee House, above, and the Parsonage were built in about 1848. They are restored to reflect the era, including some authentic pieces from those who lived in the houses.

The tour are led by docents in period clothing and personalities. It was fun to hear Cloe’s personal stories about the early days in Salem, OR. The Methodist missionaries came to the Salem area to “educate” the Calapooya Indians. Unfortunately, (fortunately) the missionaries failed in their main mission and so turned their focus and energies to educating the missionary children in the settlement. The new mission was much easier for them to achieve, and still-operating Willamette University is one symbol of their success.

We also toured the remains of Thomas Kay Woolen Mill founded in 1889 on the Mission Mill Museum site. It was powered by the Mill Creek Millrace which was the sole source of power for most of its active years.

The displays illustrated the austere missionary life in early Salem, and even 40 years later, working in the Woolen Mill was a hard life! I realized how lucky we are living today.

Yesterday, we drove the Columbia Gorge, I-84, route from Portland toward Boise, ID to see our two wonderful, above-average grandchildren, smile!

While we were driving east on I-84, I received a text from my sister, Diane saying she and Roger were just leaving the Boise, ID, RV park traveling toward Portland. I figured we wouldn’t drive far enough of our 475-mile journey to meet up with them that evening. We had reservations at Pioneer RV Park, in Hermiston, OR, about 200 miles into the journey. I was thrilled to receive a another text telling me they had made reservations there too!

It was so nice to see Diane and catch up on their travels since they left the blistering temperatures in Lake Havasu City.

Notice the size of their rig. We ate dinner in their rig as they have so much more room than our shoe box—but ours is easier to park!

Chance meetings with family and friends is one very special aspect of RVing! Last year, while traveling south on I-5 in Oregon, we met Diane and Roger at Seven Feathers Casino at noon (they were headed to Coos Bay, OR) and my parents, at 6 pm. at the Klamath River Rest Stop just inside California. We chatted for 30 minutes and they went on to a hotel. Two family contacts—in one day—several hundred miles apart. These chance meetings are a possible due to instant communications. Cell phones and broadband internet connections do enrich the RV lifestyle.

I had to take this photo at the rest stop this morning of this poor car being skewered by a kayak. I didn’t want to follow them down the Interstate--just in case their arrow fell out, whoops!

On that note, I will close for today. We are splurging at the Boise-Meridian RV Park for three nights starting tomorrow to see our Grandkids! The temperature is starting to climb and the next week might be a bit tough for our tender soles! We will head back to Oregon on Sunday taking our time to visit a few tourist attractions along the way of I-84, weather permitting.

June 26, 2010 – Salem, OR, Good Eats!

We came to Salem, OR, to take care of medical issues, but it's the delicious food puts the the smiles on our faces!

We are at the Salem Elk’s Club; full hook-ups for $17 a night. The lodge is very active, serving dinners 6 nights a week. Wednesday night steak dinner is our favorite. We enjoyed their Wednesday-night special several times last year and once this visit.

However, it is the Saturday morning Farmer’s Market that really makes our week! Looking for fresh veggies? Here is the place.

Need some flowers to brighten your day or plants to spruce up the yard?

And come for all kinds of prepared food for Saturday mornings brunch. Choose from BBQ, American, Chinese, Indian, and even Peruvian offerings :

Several local bakeries are represented too. My favorite is the Little Cannoli Bakery. Tim makes the BEST Chocolate-dipped Macaroons! We ate the entire bag in two days—just the two of us!

During the week, The Little Cannoli Shop goodies can be purchased downstairs in the Old Opera Building in downtown Salem.

In addition to a bag of heavenly macaroons, we left the market with two baskets of sweet-tasting strawberries (we still talk about the ones we bought there last year!) and a bag of fresh peas, yum yum! We will go back again this Saturday to stock up for the holiday weekend.

Another new place in town is called Five Guys Burgers and Fries. If you love French fries, you need to check out this new burger place.

This is a SMALL order of fries— hand-cut, real potato fries!

And, unless you have a big appetite, be sure to order the huge “Little Burgers.” The regular burger comes with TWO meat patties. Check their Website, Five Guys Burgers for locations near you. Bowls of peanuts are available to help the wait for your burger. (And fries are available without salt!) Larry enjoying the lull—for about five minutes before the place filled up again.

The main reason for the trip to Salem was to get Larry’s monthly lab work done and fill his July Procrit prescription. Our Northern CA HMO has branches in Salem and Portland. Mission accomplished and he is good for another month! The process worked so smoothly, we will return around the first of August to re-do lab and refill the prescription again! His kidney function was a tab bit better and his anemia was a tad bit worse, so we will increase his meat allotment for a few days. Steak on Sunday!

Chronic kidney failure requires a careful balance of food and fluid intakes. Too much protein or not enough fluid can hurt kidney function. Too much potassium, found in red meat and fruits, potatoes and tomatoes, can interfere with the heart function. Sodium intake is restricted to 2000 mg. a day to reduce other side effects. Blood pressure control is essential to reducing negative pressure on Larry’s kidneys. It is like trying to juggle with 6 or 7 balls in the air!

Whatever he is doing, he is doing it well! We have been able to maintain enough of his kidney function to avoid the need to dialysis for the past 18 months. On to July and new adventures!

Wishing you a happy and fun-filled Fourth of July! Celebrate our wonderful luck to be American citizens—and include a prayer for the safety of the brave military service personnel who’s hard work keep us free--allowing us to travel and live our lives as we choose. Thank you!