Sept. 1, 2012 – Salem, OR, is a nice place to wait….

We are back at the Salem Elks’ Club—waiting for the weather to cool down in California and Arizona so we can start back to TX for a few months.

We solved the Boise, ID, trip dilemma by importing the kids and GRAND-child to Vancouver, WA.  It cost a bit more, but we saved our sanity by avoiding a long, hot 500 mile trip east and spending a week buttoned up in the camper in 100-plus degree weather.

The day before we left, we returned to the Salem Saturday Farmers’ Market to stock up for a few days:

Don’t these bird feeders look like fun?  Darn, no room in the camper!

 

Flowers and plants are a big draw for buyers. 

Thanks to the Farmers’ Market, we have enjoyed some of the best corn, tomatoes and strawberries we have eaten in years.  We are glad we made the effort to reach out to find the local markets.

We thought about staying at the Elks’ Club in Vancouver, WA, as it was closest to Natalie’s parents house, but without a sewer dump on the property, we decided to go to a commercial park for the week.  We ended up at the beautiful Van Mall RV Park.  The weekly rate for a RV our size, first time that has paid off, was $164.50 with tax.

The site was short, but more than double wide—and very clean.  In addition, being close to the office, the laundry room was 50 feet away.  I really took advantage of that benefit.

The purpose of the stay was to spend time with our son ,Chad, Natalie and Alika.  We also had a bonus—time with Natalie’s friendly and welcoming family.  Her mom Molly and I even found time to have lunch together.  Besides having loved ones in common, her husband suffers from kidney failure too.  He is doing so well, it gives us hope.

Okay, here come the family pictures. 

Father and son time with Chad and Larry.

Our beautiful Natalie and GRAND-son Alika.

And Vince and Molly, who took us into their family.  We felt blessed to be part of their beautiful family.  Thank you!

Those were the pretty part of the visit.  We wanted to drive around and just look at sights—but Washington has enacted a heavy park permit fee to raise money from residents and visitors.  We wanted to look at the Old Kaiser Shipyard overlook to view the river.  It required climbing stairs which meant Larry couldn’t get up there, so I was going to take some photos.  NOT!  Here is the new parking meter:

It was $5 to park--even for a few minutes.  No thanks, WA.  I will pass!  I would have paid $2 to park for 10 min., but $5?  Found a free spot to grab a quick look at the Columbia River:

This is the I-5 Bridge from OR into WA.  President Obama has just approved stimulus funds to build a new bridge (which will probably turn into a toll-bridge to replace the current free bridge).

After a week of great family time, cool, comfortable weather, and relaxing, we headed back to Salem, OR.  We headed over to the fuel station to fill before Labor Day.  This is the sight we were faced with:

Ouch!  This was the $4.35 just a week earlier--and $3.99 three weeks ago. 

Our retirement income requires we budget our expenses.  Fuel is one of the biggies when we are traveling.  When it jumps almost 50 cents in a month, we have choices to make even though we average  about 12 m.p.g. towing the car.  We can choose to travel fewer miles, spend less for campground fees (by more dry-camping)  and/or cut out tourist expenses—such as visiting attractions and eating out.

In September, we will be driving about 2800 miles--going from Salem, OR, to Livingston, TX.  It will take about 233 gallons of fuel.  At $4, it would be $932.  At $4.50, the same trip will cost about $1,048—which is $233 more than last year at $3.50 per gallon.  And the economists wonder why consumer confidence is lower??  Consumer confidence merely reflects our buying power! 

We are going to hang around Salem, OR, for another week to 10 days enjoying the weather.  We have cancelled plans to visit the OR coast for this year, as well as some other shopping trips.  Mid-month, we will head back to Antioch, CA, for Larry’s monthly lab work and then, if all is well, will head east.  Check back to see what we find to do—on the frugal vacation.