Pic-of-the-Week for July 17, 2016 – Mountains!

Our trip north continued.  Apparently northern California and Oregon had some late season snow in the mountains.  One reason why we travel Highway 395 is because of the scenery of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  The highway is very close to the east side of the mountains.  Don’t ask me the names of the California Mountain Peaks because I do not know.

We made a bit of a rushed trip this year so we would spend less time in motels with Zoey who had an undependable bladder.  (She is MUCH better now!)

We arrived at my brother’s house near Bend, Oregon and to the view of mountains that I grew up with as a young lad.

Broken Top on the left, and The Three Sisters on the right.

Mount Washington.  Okay, I will spare you any more mountain photos.  It is enough to say the Oregon has many, and they are all beautiful.

The next day we drove to Tygh Valley, where we keep our trailer during the time we are in Mexico.  It is at the home of a good friend where we always see deer.  They make beds around our trailer.

On our way back to Bend with the trailer we stopped to take photos of wild flowers.  There were lots of these flowers growing in the grass and sage land south of Maupin, Oregon.  If anyone knows what they are called, let me know.  My best guess is some type of Desert Buckwheat.  There were pink, yellow and white flowers all mixed together in the same area.

After a few days at my brother’s house it was on to Malpass Farms north of Coburg, Oregon.  They offer a wonderful place to park our trailer.

They grow field corn for cow feed, and sweet corn for human consumption.  They also grow a number of types of grasses for the seed, and wheat which sells all over the world.  Their farm equipment is HUGE.  This is probably one of their older tractors.

They also raise some cattle for their own use.  I think they are trying a new breed crossed with Panda Bears.  What do you think?

The next Pic-of-the-Week I think I will let Harriet tell you about grand kids.  I know she has LOTS of pictures!

From Harriet:  Grand kids?  I'll tell you now!  Yes, we have 3 of the cutest, smartest grandkids!  Can't deny it!  They do keep their Mom busy feeding them and trying to keep them clean!  Since there is a really neat sand pile here in the yard, and sprinklers running, and a fountain with a pool, (and a Mom that buys them water guns!!!) it is a challenge.   Here's a happy Grandpa enjoying his granddaughter (whose dirty face is typical after playing in the sand pile!)

Woohoo!  Eleanor likes birthday cake!  Her Mommy made this raspberry crepe confection for Grandpa Ben's birthday.

The boys got to feed the cows some corn husks, and the Purkey clan got together to visit with Rebecca and Tim and family while they are here.

We'll be leaving the Eugene area on Monday, heading east across the mountains.  We have both come down with nasty colds and coughs, and are hoping to shake this crud soon!  Ugh.  Not fun when we have grand kids to hug, and limited time to do it.  We missed a get-together with friends in Salem since we were sick, so promised we'd come back later this summer to spend time here again.  

Until the next time...
Your recovering friends in Oregon,
Ben & Harriet, Sam & Zoey

PS.  Zoey continues to improve.  She knows to walk carefully across pavement and gravel, and still scoots on the softer grass (although she can walk on that, too).  Still pretty wobbly, but better very day!  

Pic-of-the-Week for July 7, 2016

Hello Friends,

The last Pic-of-the-Week we left off on our trip north at Santa Rosalia, an old copper mining town started in 1884 and operated until 1954 by the French.  One of the interesting things about the town is that most of the old building are constructed of wood instead of stone.  This is because they would ship the ore to the state of Washington, USA, for further refining, and then return with lumber for construction.  It is said that there are hundreds of miles of tunnels to retrieve the ore which was hauled out by trains.   Below is one of the steam engines used to haul the ore out of the ground.  I can’t imagine how dirty the air was in those tunnels with steam engines running in the tunnels.

Further north there are 3 non-active volcanoes known as the Tres Virgenes, or the three virgins.  This is the largest of the three, and the closest to the highway.  This volcano, the furthest one south, has the official name of La Virgen.  There is not a lot of vegetation in this immediate area.

 

 

Further North from Tres Virgenes is the Catavina area.  I think this is a beautiful area.  The flora is quite varied with many kinds of cacti, 2 different types of elephant trees, and the Cirio trees.  Also ROCKS!  Rocks, and more rocks.  All sizes of rocks!  This is a typical scene from that area.  Lots of cactus and Cirio trees.  The Cirio trees are hard to see, and they are mostly in the background, but they are the real slender ones in the photo.

 

 

Here is a photo of Cirios in the foreground and agave cactus in bloom.

 

 

The last place on the Ben travel log in Baja California is “Hotel Jardines Baja” near San Quintin.  It is not just a hotel, but also a wonderful restaurant and the grounds are like a beautiful park.  It is now one of our “must stay” places when we travel north, or south.

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed photos from our 2^nd half of our trip through Baja.  We think that these are some of the highlights of the trip.  Until next time (whenever that might be!)

More from Harriet:  We are currently at the Malpass Farm (Harriet's relatives) near Harrisburg, Oregon.  Also here is our daughter Rebecca with her husband Tim and their children David, Aaron and Eleanor.  We are having a good time getting re-acquainted with the kids and getting our share of Grandma and Grandpa time.  

 Aaron and David posing in front of a BIG fire engine that was in the Harrisburg July 4th parade.

Eleanor enjoying the abundant candy handed out by parade participants.  Wow!  We gathered a large bag full of the stuff! I am sporting the head piece that Eleanor didn't like.

I was also able to spend some time with my brother and sister, Rich and Sharon (sister Shelley is in Montana).  It was real nice to see them.

This Saturday is the Purkey get-together while Rebecca's family is here so she can catch up with all her aunts and uncles in one place!  That should be fun, too!

 We hope to see many of our Oregon friends while we are here.  Send us an e-mail or call us at 541-854-5303 if you want to get together.  We'll be in the Eugene area until July 18th when we will travel to Bend for a while.  

Oh....Zoey continues to improve.  She can stand, and walk a few steps at a time.  If she wants to get somewhere in a hurry, she will scoot.  I still use the sling most of the time for her "walks".  She looks rather like a drunken sailor when she walks...those feet just don't want to cooperate!  But like grandson David says when she takes a few steps, "the message squeezed through to her feet that time!"  (He's learning about nerve damage!)  

Hasta la proxima vez,

Your friends enjoying an Oregon summer (although it is raining right now!)

Ben, Harriet, Sam & Zoey

 

 

 

Pic-of-the-Week for June 23, 2016 - Through the Windshield

Hello friends,

A few years ago a friend posted photos in her blog with the above title.  I knew they had been traveling on vacation, pulling a big 5^th wheel trailer, and I immediately thought, “Oh no, what went through their windshield?  Was it a rock? A big bird? I hope they, and their vehicle are OK!”  Well, I need not worry, she took the photos “through the windshield” because her husband was like me and did not stop for her to take photos.

The topic of this blog will mainly be our trip North through the Baja Californias.  The trip has both very beautiful areas, and very boring areas.

There are always construction areas as they are constantly improving the roads, but I think there were fewer areas this year.  

Here is an impressive hill south of the town of Loreto.  As you can see, Cardon Cactus are not endangered.  There are plenty most of the length of the Baja California Peninsula.

A  typical scene throughout the drive in the desert areas.  A very primitive house with palm trees (palm trees equal water, which is why the house is there) and a beautifully rugged ridge line in the distance.  Of course the sky is always clear blue.

The Bahia de Concepcion south of Mulege is one of the beautiful areas in Southern Baja California.  There are many bays and the highway goes along the water for many miles. 

This bay with a hotel and restaurant is where we used to plan on staying the first night of our trip.  It is 1/3 the way north from our house to the Mexico/USA border.  The last couple years the hotel has been closed.  There is a big fight over the ownership of the land.  A person from Tijuana claims to own the hotel, as does a Mexican Ejido.  An Ejido is similar to an Indian Reservation in the USA.  It is too bad that the ownership is in question as it was a beautiful place to spend a night.

The town of Mulege is at the mouth of the Rio De Santa Rosalia.  I think the river only flows when there is heavy rains, or a hurricane.  The rest of the time this area looks like a flowing river, but is really water controlled by the tide.  This area has flooded a number of times since we have moved to Mexico wiping out houses and businesses.  It seems to us that they have short memories, and rebuild again in the same areas.

We drove a little further than we really like on the first day, and arrived in Santa Rosalia the first evening.  Hotel El Moro is on a high bluff overlooking the Sea of Cortez (or the Bay of California for you purists).  The hotel is good, and pet friendly, with a wonderful restaurant attached to the hotel.

Sunrise at El Moro.

Well, we made it a little over 1/3 the way in this first blog, and will try to do better with the next blog.  Oh, nothing bad came through the windshield, and we never saw any banditos!  As they say in southern Baja California where we live, “No Bad Days!” 

From Harriet:  Zoey has been a trooper, and did very well on this leg of the trip, although we're very glad there were tile floors in the hotel!  (Easier to clean up!) 

I've started a June 2016 Picasa album, and I will add captions as I get a chance.  FYI, we will be going to the Oregon Coast with daughter Rebecca and her family today for about 6 days, then Florence a few days, then back to Eugene area.  

Until Ben is feeling literary again....
Ben, Harriet, Sam & gimpy Zoey

Pic-of-the-Week for June 7, 2016

Hola Amigos!

This is it!  My last POTW this season.  Ben takes over writing this while we are in the US, and I get a vacation from this literary endeavor!  Of course, he's on vacation, too, so don't expect anything regular.   

We plan on leaving Friday, taking 6 days to travel 2000 miles and get to our primary destination in Bend, Oregon.  We could do it in 4 or 5 days, but we're in no hurry, and hope to enjoy the drive.  Zoey is finally at a point were she has some pretty good bladder control, so it looks like we'll be able to travel with her without too many problems.  She's still not walking on her own, but we've got the sling thing down pretty well.  As long as I can get her outside for a potty stop FIRST THING in the morning, we'll do fine!  Ryan returned from his 2 week visit to California and Oregon and Washington on Saturday, so he's ready to take over and hold the fort while we're gone.  Last year on this same day, we had our "BAD Baja road adventure" where we hit a nasty bridge abutment and broke a U-bolt on the car trailer.  Ugh.  At least we're not hauling a car north this year, so won't have to worry about that happening again.  

You know we get all kinds of birds in our yard, and we enjoy watching them very much!  Yesterday we had a Roadrunner visit our bird bath for a drink.  We see them here and there as we're driving the roads, but this is the first time I've seen one in our yard.  

He was real happy that our bird bath was full.  It was a HOT day.... in the high 90's with 80% humidity, and there was a hot wind blowing a good part of the day.  The AC in our bedroom felt very, very nice when we went to bed last night.  Supposedly it will be getting cooler by Friday by a few degrees.  It's feeling pleasant this morning, with the current temp at 70.  Ahhhhhhh.....

Ben has been quite busy getting some last minute things done around here, putting up storm shutters for a friend, making a last trip to La Paz for some boat parts and other items.  Ryan did bring back some major boat parts with him when he returned, and Ben got some pipe clamps (minor, but important!) While waiting for parts, Ben has cleaned up and painted the engine so it is looking very nice. Chuyito will work on it this summer while we're gone, and hopefully finish it by the time we get back.  

I won't show you what the rest of the garage looks like during this process!  

Ben also pruned our Mesquite tree.  Yep, it's looking pretty stark right now, but we'll send an "after" picture next fall, and you'll be amazed.  In the meantime, it's two BIG loads worth of stuff for the dump!  Hopefully the dump will be open again soon!!  

Our baby Orioles have hatched in the nest in a banana leaf right outside our bathroom window, and they had the ride of their lives yesterday!  Mama sat in the nest most of the day hanging on for dear life, holding them in.  The wind was really whipping that leaf!  They all survived, and will have stories to tell, I'm sure!  It's hard to get pictures of them...with the extra weight in the nest the leaf is hanging lower so we can't see much but a glimpse of open beaks sticking straight up now and again.

We've found a new "favorite" restaurant, and we're not sure why it took us so long.  La Playa (the beach) is tucked into a spot on the north end of town, right on the beach (obviously!), and they cook some delicious breakfast food.  We'll try them for dinner, too, next fall when they're open for dinner.  They're ready to close down for the season now, but we got to enjoy eating here for about a month.

This is Ben's favorite thing to order: Burro la Playa.  It is excellent!  I can order a chicito burro (same thing, much smaller) for about 20 pesos, or $1.25.  

The value of the peso keeps going down, which is a good thing for us.  Right now it is around $18.50 pesos to $1 US dollar.  Hopefully for the Mexicans, prices of goods won't go up much so they can still afford to buy groceries and gas.

Ben finally found my birthday present...a doormat.  I like it!  (It should say "if you forgot the red wine", though!)  

Counting down the days until we travel....
Tus amigos de Baja,
Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam and Zoey

PS.  I have not started a Picasa album for June, and I forgot to tell you about May's last time, so just enjoy the few photos in this post.