On Wednesday morning we bid farewell to Mike and Ann and drove south to Solvang for a visit with three old friends at the Lutheran Home. We were pleased to spend time with Mildred Carlsen, Olga Belgum and Dorothy Corneils old friends from our days in Thousand Oaks, CA.

We then continued to Rincon Beach for our last night on the road. Spending our last night at Rincon has become a bit of a ritual for us and we love it. Our motorhome was parked within feet of the ocean and we could hear the surf all night. We celebrated our last night out with some barbequed coho salmon on grilled asperagus and some nice Pinot Noir from Hug Cellars. Then we sat by our bonfire and sipped tea while listening to the ocean.

This morning we mad our usual stop at Underwood Vegetable market for veggies and then continued to Riverside. The motorhome is not yet completely unpacked but we are content to be home and back to our at home way of life, after a lot of catching up on mail, gardening, cleaning etc.

Thanks for being a part of our 2007 motorhome adventure. Next year we will be blogging from Alaska.

Wine Tasting in Paso Robles

On Monday morning, October 1st we loaded up and headed for Paso Robles for a couple of days of wine tasting with old friends Mike and Ann Lyon from Pebble Beach. They met us there at lunch time on Monday and, after lunch at the motorhome, we went wine tasting. Wild Coyote was our first destination where we tasted some nice Syrah and Merlot. We then went to Garretson and Hug wineries before collapsing back at the motorhome.

On Tuesday morning after being fortified with a nice sausage and egg bake by Mary we headed out for more tasting. This time we started at Adelaida Cellars for a taste of some Rhone varietals followed by a visit to Tablas Creek for some more of the same. After a nice picnic lunch at Tablas Creek we visited Whalebone Winery and Summerwood Winery for some more nice wines. Then it was back to the motorhome for a nap before dinner at the Artisan Restaurant in Paso Robles. We had a wonderful meal there.

Mike and Ann Lyon

The Four of Us at Whalebone Winery

Campbell

After leaving Rogue River we spent one night on the Sacramento River in Corning, CA and then continued to Campbell for some time with our daughter Karyn and her family. We were excited to see Lucia our four year old grand daughter and Beckett our 7 month old grandson. Oh yes, it was nice to see Karyn and Todd as well.

Beckett Jack Edward Wilder

Lucia Madeline Wilder

A highlight of the weekend was a visit from Lucia and Beckett's great grand mother Grammie from Santa Fe, Mexico. She is a very young 94 years old and just a delight. We did get one photo of four generations of Wilders. Beckett, his dad Todd, his uncle Marshall and his great grandmother, Grammie.

Chris, Grammie, Beckett, Marshall and Todd Wilder

We appreciated being included in the family celebrations. On Saturday evening we opted out of the family party and drove to Santa Cruz to have dinner with good friends Fred and Patty Ohara who we first met while living in England.

Fred & Patty Ohara

Rogue River

We arrived at the Valley of the Rogue State Park yesterday and have been having a great time. Our friend Bill Bifford (Biff) came over for dinner yesterday. He and I went fishing at Lost Creek Lake today and caught a limit of trout. The weather was just beautifly and the fishing good...How can you beat that. Mary treated herself to a massage and a day of leisure. Tonight we are going out to dinner with Biff.

My Nice Trout

Biff

Oregon Coast

On Sunday we pointed out Winnebago south and drove the coast of Oregon. The views were great and we were having a great time until a friendly Oregon person in a Ford pickup pulling an ATV trailer decided he needed to be ahead of us as we approached a two lane bridge in Florence, Oregon. We had already pulled most of the way over when two lanes became one when he decided to pass us on the left. Problem was we were entering the bridge with oncoming traffic when he made his move. We were forced to try and move to the right to avoid a multi-car collision and ended up meeting a concrete curb with the right side of the motorhome. We ended up with some fiberglass damage, a destroyed wheel cover and a bent exhaust pipe. No chance to get license numbers and, of course, he keep going. The incident sort of spoiled our day.

Oregon Coast in the Morning Fog

We did continue to our destination at Sunset Bay State Park for the night. The scenery here is magnificent. Plus I managed to get a couple of good shots of the Cape Arago Lighthouse.

Coastline at Cape Arago

Cape Arago Lighthouse

At Stimpson Reef we watched and listened to hundreds of Sea Lions on the rocks below.

Sea Lions at Stimpson Reef

The dessert for the day was watching the sun go down over Sunset Bay (wonder how it got its name).

Sunset at Sunset Bay

Fort Stevens

This evening we had a nice time renewing our acquaintance with Mike Stein (son of our friends Jim & Karen Stein) and meeting his lovely family. Mike is the manager of Fort Stevens State Park in Hammond, OR and he gave us a tour of the park. What a great place. 3800 acres right on the ocean with 520 campsites.

We feel that we already knew Mike's wife Charlene and their three children from our visits with Jim and Karen so it was great to meet them.

Charlene, Sarah, Mike, Jenna
and Austin in front.

Lewis and Clark Time

We are now in Oregon and it is Lewis and Clark discovery time. We first visited Fort Clatsop where the Corps of Discovery wintered in 1805-06. I was impressed with how nicely the reproduction of the fort has been done. They even used the construction and wood working methods that they would have used back then. The 33 members of the Corps of Discovery spent the winter in this facility.

Fort Clatsop

Example of Woodwork at the Fort

Our next adventure was to visit Cape Dissapointment State Park on the Washington side to learn more about the Lewis and Clark expedition and to view the two lighthouses there. The first lighthouse we visited was the North Head Lighthouse on the western side of the cape. It was built in the late 1800s and is still in use today.

North Head Lighthouse

Then we went to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center to see the exhibits and watch a film on the expedition. From the center we could see the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse but the light was not good there for photography so I made the .75 mile hike to the lighthouse to get a better photo.

Cape Disappointment

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse

We finished it all off with a great lunch at the Port Bistro in Ilwaco and a trip to an antique shop.