We headed north up the coast of California       and couldn't resist the mighty Redwoods.

I honestly don't think pictures can capture

 the true essence of the beauty this great land of ours has to offer,

 but at least it can give you an idea.

These trees has been around for hundreds of years

 and when we think of how short our life span is,...

 it is almost hard to believe that something can actually live that long.

 Poor Bandit didn't know what to think...

I could just hear him saying...

"What are these things... and why are we here?"

After a while we started getting a little claustrophobic, and got back on the coast highway and continued north.

It was an incredibly scenic drive and it seemed with every corner of the road, another new "photo op" would emerge.

Simply breathtaking

  

***

Our goal was to hit Florence, Oregon, a charming little town on the coast,

 with your typical coastal towns along the way.

We have a very good friend, Pete Petersen  who lives in Florence, Oregon,

 so we were especially happy to spend a few days and visit with him.

He is one of the original old timers who has records as a dirt track rider

 on the west coast in the 50's. These guys just seem to make it look so simple.

Timmy and Pete spent hours each day "bench racing" and I felt priveledged to be able to listen in on his stories and give him a hug or two.

just love him

**

Florence, Oregon is a great little town, 
and has all the ambiance that one could ask for.

Our RV space had a view of the river that feeds into the ocean...
 and I found it fascinating that the low and high tides
 had such an impact on the river.

We were a block from downtown and had fun
 walking the little town and enjoying

 happy hours and great food.

Florence is quite popular for those who live in Eugene,
 and it seems everyone likes to spend their weekends
 enjoying this great little town.

Who wouldn't?

Oregon has incredible bridges

... and just on the other side of the river, 
and nestled against the beach
 are the famous 

sand dunes that people "snowboard".

What?

That is crazy... 

 ( the beach in just on the other side of the hill)

**

Bandit enjoyed his walks and 
we always find such beauty on his little escapades.

Look at him go....

It seems the West Coast has the market on washed up trees and drift wood.

Every morning was an exploration and adventure...
 and I think I looked more forward to our walks than Bandit!! 

 He learned quickly as I would gather my laptop and files each morning, 
and say

 "Mommy's gotta work first and then we can go for a walk",

 that it was only matter of time before our next adventure would begin...

Timmy and I spent our last night in Florence
 having dinner downtown.

of course, 

Timmy couldn't resist taking his little Honda out for a spin first... 

and with that head set/phone growing out of his head....  

I am surprised we don't own stock in Verizon....

talk about multi tasking!!

I know.... "it's another great deal on a motorcycle"

I know. I know.

  

We missed the annual "Rhododendron" flower festival by a few weeks.

These were just a few small bushes along our motorhome park.

  Aren't these just incredibly sweet and beautiful!?

The entire town is accessorized with these beauties...  

  I honestly could have stayed much longer in Florence,
 but with so much still ahead of us,

 we knew we had to move on. 

Little did we know what was in store.

***

Astoria Bound 

Many of the local people in Florence recommended staying in Astoria, a town on the north tip of Oregon, along the Columbia River.
Astoria has so much to offer, with it's many 
museums, arts, chic clubs and restaurants.
We thought it would be a great place to land for a few days.

The drive along the coast took us through typical beach towns such as Newport, Lincoln City and Rockaway Beach to name a few.

 a closer look at the lighthouse



Timmy insisted on listening to that lady at GPS again, and we found ourselves doing several loops around the "round about" in downtown Astoria.
Somehow we got messed up with directions and location of our RV Park and found out we needed to back track 20 miles.
(I think that lady at GPS should get fired or at least suspended)

Our RV park was located in a cute little coastal town of Gearheart.
( easy to remember,... 
a cross between Dearheart for me and Gearhead for Timmy) 
This little town was such a pleasant surprise 
as Bandit and I found out
early the next morning. 
Nothing but wide open beach!
And no one is sight!
It was almost eerie, and I felt so small...

  "Where in the heck is everybody"?

Bandit sure enjoyed the space...

I had a tough time keeping up with this guy,... and he was laughing and barking and telling me how much fun he was having....and I know he wanted me to run faster with him....
but I just couldn't keep up with him...
he is so fast!!!
 I catch myself thinking how different his life is,
 and all the wonderful places he gets to explore...
and it makes me feel good all over.
I think I did the right thing when I adopted him!  

***
I was excited for our next days adventure as we would be crossing the Columbia River, from Astoria to Megler, Washington.
This bridge, called the Astoria -Megler Bridge 
 (how original)
is really a neat bridge over the Columbia River, 
which is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest.
The river empties into the Pacific at the
 Columbia Bar, 
a shifting sandbar that makes the river mouth
 one of the most hazardous stretches of water
 to navigate in the world.  

  

  

You can see the shifting sand as you drive over.

And look how close that water is to the road!

**

Washington State Welcomes us!

We continued north along the coast with stops in 

Long Beach, Ocean Park, and Oysterville, 

all typical beach and tourist towns. 

We were heading for Westport, Washington,

 located at the south end of Grays Harbor just a few hours from Seattle.

Westport is famous for it's many fishing charters

 which once was up to 300 thriving boats before all the fishing regulations,

 and now only has about 30 charters. 

It also is known for its crabbing, 
clamming and surfing,

 however it was so cold, even with a wetsuit, 

I don't know how anyone could 
actually enjoy surfing.

We  were excited when we checked into the RV park that the famous Scuppers Pirate Daze festival was in town, and we were excited to use the word.....

"Arrrrr....." in our vocabulary.

We had a slight mishap, and well,...
 it actually wasn't slight....

I guess we were so excited when we parked the rig and put the jacks down to level,

 we forgot to unhook the jeep we tow.

(notice I said "WE")

There was a big thug sound and the back left jack bent in half. Our rig now had 3 good jacks and one that was bent like the tip of straw,... you know,
 the kind  that bends at the tip.

Not good.

 Luckily, the park we were staying in
 was fairly level...

but if you have read any of our other posts on Grabers Gone Wild,... 

you will remember how important it is to have all your jacks working.

We knew we had to get it fixed
 before our next stop and

 Westport didn't have any specialty shops
 to fix jacks,...

 so we made plans to head to Aberdeen, the next morning to repair the jack.

I was disappointed that we were now going to miss

 the pirate festival, but we did have a wonderful dinner at the wharf

 in Westport, with a breath taking view
 of Mt Rainier!

 The waitress informed us...

"I have worked here for 2 months and have never seen it before, 

with all the cloud cover"

She was excited to see it too.

Simply Spectaculiar At Sunset 

***

Timmy feverishly made calls to set up an appointment in Aberdeen for the jack repair,

and we were able to drop off the Jetson Mobile for the "Jack" work the following morning.

The jeep that we tow comes to the rescue again! 

 We had decided to do our laundry as the "Jack" work could take a few hours.

 I still laugh when we do our laundry,...

it somehow brings home, the vagabond life we have carved out for ourselves,

 and for some strange reason
 makes me feel like a kid again.

We try to make it a good time and I think secretly 

we compete to see who will get
 their laundry done first....

but that shouldn't count, cause I do all the sheets and towels!

I would tell you the cost of the new "Jack", ... but it would hurt too much....

 so lets just say,.. I will put money down, that we won't ever make that mistake again....

 just sayin.....

*

The Jetson Mobile is back in business and back on the road heading to Seattle.

I spent hours trying to make a reservation in a RV park in Seattle, and after about 30 phone calls and emails, I was starting to get worried.

I was shocked that everything was full.

When we traveled 2 summers ago 
up the eastern seaboard,.. 

we never had reservations and could get into 
any RV park the same day.

Timmy reassured me if there was nothing available

 that we could always stay in a Walmart parking lot.

"Really?"

Apparently Walmart allows RV's to park 
 in their parking lots,

 if you get permission.

Nothing against Walmart,...but it isn't actually  what I had in mind for our scenic RV adventures,... and I just don't see the Jetson Mobile parked in Walmart.

We just happened to find an 
 old RV park in Olympia, 

just by chance as we were driving by.

They had a space open and we took it!

It was an old "Airstream" trailer park,
 and at one time, 

only "Airstream" rigs were allowed
 in this private park.

I took Bandit for his walk and felt like I was walking the final resting grounds

 of some of these cool rigs.

look at this oldie

and this cutie...
 

There was only one Airstream parked
 in the  actual RV park... 

all the others had permanent homes aside the permanent trailers in the mobile home park.

**

We had a great time exploring the city of Olympia and were were able to share our 27 year anniversary with Timmy's sister Kathy and her husband Van.

They met us at a great restaurant on the water and we had great seafood

 and  a wonderful anniversary!

 *

We were able to spend the next few days around the Seattle area visiting family and
 checking out the sights.

Kathy and Vans son Micheal and his family 
prepared the best ribs I think I have ever had
 and we enjoyed the fabulous views 
from his patio overlooking the harbor
 at Port Orchard.

 We also had fun visiting with their daugther Laura and meeting the grandkids.
It was great fun seeing the family 
and meeting the little ones.
Maggie was a charmer as she showed me her
 "Fairy Garden" which was a little village built in their backyard.
"I wish I had a fairy garden"...I told her.

 What a ham,...
the one on the left.... 
(my left)

**
Van gave us our own personal tour for a few days, and it was awesome!
One of my favorite stops was the Ballard Locks....
which was quite an impressive operation, 
and we enjoyed hanging around and 
watching the boats come in and out of the locks. 

Bandit doesn't seem too impressed,...

and again, is probably thinking...

"What's the big deal,...
if I can't run around, I am really not interested." 

 They stack these boats side by side
 with what looks like,

inches to spare....

Yikes!!!

Bandit got some walking in

 and we enjoyed the beautiful park
 located next to the locks.

*

We drove more of Seattle and it was great to have Van driving, 

so that Timmy could enjoy the sights! 

We decided to head downtown to the open market

 at the wharf  for dinner

 and we forgot it was Friday night,... and holy cow,,... 
was it crowded.

We were just blocks from
 the famous Space Needle,... 
and because we got there a little later,
 most of the flowers were picked over...

We finally found a place for dinner without a reservation

 as most of the places we checked were packed and the ones that had tables open

 were at least 100 degrees inside.

Okay,.. maybe not that hot,... but too hot for me. 

We were told that it has been an unusually 
hot summer for Seattle,....

of course it was....

I'm in town... !

*

Our drive home was spectacular and with the sun 
setting past 9:00,

 it gave us plenty of time to continue sight seeing.

We stopped at the golf course that just one week previously, was host to the US open.

The hospitality tents were still standing.

Timmy and I had caught some of the open during  Happy Hour in Florence and I remember thinking...

where is this being played.... it is so dry 
and there is no grass....

where are the manicured greens ...?

little did I know I would be standing on this course
 a few weeks later.

From what I understand, they wanted the course to be more realistic and similiar to the original links in Ireland. 

Those greens are not manicured and
 I don't think they are green.

I think the difference of the greens was frustrating for the professionals to play on,.. 

by the looks on their faces,...

but it was an interesting concept to say the least.

 just doesn't look like a golf course, does it?

but look at that view!!!!

This was at the entrance to the course...

tall dry grass...

but I think this is beautiful!

We headed home and had decided to move the Jetson Mobile

 to Kathy and Vans house for a few days.

We would go home and start packing up... 

and that is when we got the bad news.

While Timmy and I were working on our computers,...
 he gasped and said...

Danny Petersen died.

What?

He was reading an email from a good friend 

who said Danny had died with complications

.... and had a heart attack.

Danny is the son of  Pete Peterson who we had just visited

 a few days earlier in Florence.

Danny was only 59 years old.

He was one of my favorites and he was always a great support

 on our motorcycle runs in Borrego.

We were actually on our way to see him in a few days,... 

with possible stops in Boise to see our friends, Ron,  
and ya ya sister Jill and Jim.

 We had planned to head to Couer d' Alene
 to see my dear friend June as well,

 but we headed straight to Kallispel, Montana
 in hopes to be there 

in time for the memorial service.

We had been so excited to visit Danny on this trip
 and now we were heading to his funeral.

We got there just in time. 

But our troubles were just beginning.

***

 We were planning to be in Spokane for our 
"in between" stop before

 Kallispel and we shoved off around 11 from Seattle.
Kathy loaded us up with great homemade jam for Timmy,
 flowers for me, 
and we were on the road!

 Thanks Kathy!
( and I didn't even have to steal any)
   

**

As we started the drive, the Jetson Mobile was getting hot fast,..

as I mentioned earlier, the temps were up in the 90's.  

Timmy calmy says...

"We lost the generator"

What?

"What does that mean?"

"Where did it go?"

He says...

"It's broken, we have no generator"

I calmly answer...

"What does that mean exactly,... pertaining to me....?"

"It means we don't have air conditioning in the RV"

A brief moment of panic combined with anxiety and hysteria set in, and Timmy reassured me that when we got to Spokane,..all the main RV parks have electrical hookups and we will have air once we get there.

"But what do we do in the meantime?"

The temperature was approaching 95 outside and I had pulled all the blinds in hopes that would help for our 5 hour drive.

The last 2 hours were tough, and I felt bad for Timmy, cause it wasn't his fault,.. until he said....

"I had a feeling this might happen..."

"What?"

"When?"

Nevermind.

Luckily I had some gel wraps you put in the freezer 
for pulled muscles and such...
and I put one on the back of Bandit 
and the other on my neck.

(I asked Timmy if he wanted one for his neck and he declined)

We also had cold air coming out of the dash board,... 
so the only way I could feel it was to sit on the floor right next to the door with Bandit next to me.

His tongue was hanging off to one side 
and he was panting... 

and the temp in the rig was now probably around 90 degrees.

I would look at Bandit and

I could just hear him saying....

"Talk to the paw!!"

We got checked in and and opted for dinner out
 while the rig cooled down. 

Is it my imagination or does Bandit always have the same look on his face... like....
"And this is supposed to be fun?"

We had a nice romantic conversation
 over dinner
 about what the H _ _ _ _

we were going to do the next day,
as the weather forecast predicted temps close to 100.

Timmy once again reassured me that we would leave early before the temps rise, and we should be in  Kalispell by noon.

The gel wraps came to the rescue again,  and I decided I am going to buy at least 2 more to keep frozen so I can alternate, should this type of situation occur in the future...

but I highly doubt this will be the case....
 as Timmy values his life ...
 so the saying goes...

happy wife

 happy life....

yep!!!

***
Timmy had made several calls to all the RV Generator Repair shops throughout the Spokane area, in hopes we could have it looked at and FIXED before we head on to Kalispell.
No one had time to work on or rig  until August
(I don't think we can wait that long, but thanks anyway)

So Timmy ordered some kind of special part from one of the Generator shops and had it sent next day air to Kalispell.
 

I spent another few hours calling several RV parks 

to see what might be available in the Big Fork 
or Kalispell area... and it got to a point

 where I was actually embarrassed...

"Hi,.. do you have a space open 
for a 37 foot motorhome tonight

 and tomorrow night....?"

long pause....

"uh,.... no,... we're booked...."

another call....same thing...

long  pause...

"You do know it is July 4th weekend,.. right?"

Many of the parks made a point to say... they were in fact booked til September...

"well thank you very much!"

We did find a space open about 20 miles out
 from Kalispell and we took it.

A cute little campground called McGregor Lake...

It had great little cabins all around the lake,
 and the RV campsite was clean.

It even had a great lodge/restaurant overlooking the lake.

They assured me they had electricity for air, 

 full hook up, along with direct TV
 and wifi for our computer work.
I forgot to ask one very important question.

There was no cell coverage.

Really!!!???

Now why wouldn't they tell us that...? 

If we had to choose between direct TV, 
wifi or cell....

we take the cell....

hands down!

We went to the lodge/restaurant and asked the waitress

 if they had cell reception in the restaurant and she 
nonchalantly said... 
"No,... 

you have to drive about 3 miles to get reception.... "

We knew the funeral was the next day, 

but we also knew that we could not stay there more
 than the one night.

We both have businesses to run and
 knew it would never work for us.

Luckily one of Danny's best friends Joe Peters

 knew we were traveling in for the funeral 

and we told him our dilemna and he says....

"You can hook up at our house..and if the rig gets too hot

 we have a guest house that is always kept cool 
with beer in the fridge...."

THERE IS A GOD!!

We took him up on the offer and 
decided we would take the Jetson Mobile

 to the church for the memorial service at 10:00 

and Bandit could stay in the rig, 
as the heat wouldn't be bad til about noon.

We got to the church just as they were
 beginning the service for Danny.

Joe gave the eulogy and Timmy got up and spoke 

on behalf of the Southern Antique Motorcycle club.

It was a very touching memorial,.. 
and I will miss his cheery face.

God be with you Danny... we love you and miss you.

**

We got set up at Joe and Lindas  
and the accomadations were wonderful!

The apartment was cool,... and with the temps at 103 degrees

 it would take a while for the rig to cool down.

The heat got the best of me,.. 
and I thought a power nap would do the trick...

I laid down at 2 in the afternoon and didn't wake up til 7!!!

For a brief moment I felt like I was in the movie
 "Groundhog day"...

and was thankful I got some cool sleep.

The Jetson Mobile was now cooling off and

 I could actually go into my home and get settled...

Timmy  had picked up the part for the generator he had previously ordered in Spokane and 
was anxious to fix the generator.

I thought to myself...
"not as much as your wife"

**

The next day Timmy worked on the rig 

and I knew everything was going to be okay.
Things were looking up!

I needed to stock up the fridge with some items

 before we continued to head east towards
 Lewistown, Montana

 for the 4th of July.

 At this point Timmy informs me 
that the power steering has gone out on the jeep 
and needs to be fixed before we can drive it....

"Uh.... WHAT?

Your kidding right?"

This was about the time that I was calling
 to see where the local Kmart or Ross stores
 was located so I could go buy some luggage 
and fly direct to Denver, as we were heading that way anyway to stay at my sister Mindy's house.

But then I remembered that I didn't have a car

 to go to Kmart or Ross to buy luggage 
cause the jeep was broken.

How did this happen.... I mean,... 

Our first trip up the East Coast had a few hiccups
 but nothing like this....? 

I took a deep breath and Timmy reassured me

 that everything would be okay...
 he could probably fix the jeep...

  but...
 he didn't think he could fix the generator on the rig...

and that we would have to drive to Billings Montana
 to have it worked on.

"What"?

"Really"?

What else can possible go wrong...

it was over 100 degrees and we had no car,
 we were stuck. 

Thank God for Joe and Linda....

They had us over for a great dinner.
We ate indoors as it was 93 degrees 
at 8:00 at night!!

The good news was, 
Timmy was able to fix the jeep,

 and I felt like I had hit the lottery!!
The simple things in life! 


We were so appreciative of Joe and Linda's
 kindness and generosity and we said our goodbyes 
and were on the road early the next morning.

***
I had made sure the gel wraps in the freezer were ready
for the sauna trip, 
and that was all I could do.

As the temps started to rise in the rig,
Bandit assumed his position beside me on the floor
 in front of the dash vents,
and looked at me with that look...

"where are those cold blue things... 
and why is one not on my back?" 

It was the 4th of July, and we we excited to be heading to Timmy's sister, Annie and her husband Duanes house.

We enjoyed great food and fireworks....
and got settled in for a few days in Lewistown.
Luckily they had full hook up, so we had air conditioning and
I didn't have to deal with those looks from Bandit.
(now I know how Timmy feels)
 
Timmy took the generator to one of the shops in Billings the next day while Annie and her son little Duane and I enjoyed some shopping and exploring.

 
 

    I just love this little guy...
little Duane too!

 ***

Bandit and I had fun exploring the back roads near Annies house, and we always
 find such beauty on our walks.

 Awesome birch trees amongst the swamp

(who would have thought there would be swamp and marshland  in Montana?)

Right around the corner we came upon this.

I am not sure why I like this picture so much,
I guess it reminds me of  Iowa,
where everyone is neighbors.

***
We enjoyed a few more days in Lewistown, and Annie and I had fun scooting around town,
 parading and waving.
Little towns are great for this.
You can wave at people and you actually know them.

This is and old 1928 Model A.
Timmys mom used to drive this around,
and I loved Annie telling people that her Mom  would love opening up the hood for people to take a peek.

**

Timmy was able to pick up the renewed generator and was able to install it himself.
The Jetson Mobile was back in business!!

**

Little Duane and I enjoyed our last night watching scary horror movies on netflix, 
laughing and screaming, 
and we allowed the adults to watch with us.

  *

I thought about how this leg of the Jetson Mobile and its journey has been somewhat of a horror story.
Although at times I wanted to,... I refrained from screaming in terror.

And then I thought, our journey provides 
a full array of netflix,
Drama
Adventure
Suspense

Heck you could even throw in 
the Discovery Channel,
 American Pickers, Pawn Stars  or Fast N Loud.

But one thing is for certain...

The Jetson Mobile will  always provide
Comedy!

***

With our troubles behind us,
 we can hear the
 Rocky Mountains calling us.
We have so much adventure still ahead of us,
 and knowing the Jetson Mobile is
 ready, willing and able,...
I feel our vacation is just beginning!  

**

As I was writing the last words for this post, I realized that everything on this part of our journey revolved around one thing.

The Generator.

How can one thing make such a difference
 and in turn,
 control everything we do?

I decided to look up the word Generator 
 in the dictionary to better understand the situation. 

Here is what I found:

 Interesting

I thought how strange it was that for the
 last several days while we were dealing 
with the "generator" problem, 
not once did I hear anyone use 
the word "Dynamo". 

None of the repair shops had signs that said...
"Spokane's Finest Dynamo Repair",
"Billings Repair for Dynamos", 
or
"Billy Bob's Repair- All Dynamos".

But if I were given a dollar 
for every time I heard the word 
"Generator" over the last few days, 
I could actually buy a brand new generator and we wouldn't have some of these problems.

I personally prefer the word Dynamo.
I guess it must be reserved to define people.

And that is when it hit me...
I am MARRIED to a Dynamo.


I am married to 
The
Greatest 
Generator.
   
Although,... I must admit...

sometimes I just wish
he had an 
on and off switch.