Traveling East

We finally got 3G service that wasn't roaming.  We traveled across the high desert of Nevada and Oregon and then spent three days traveling the mountains of Idaho and Montana.  Tonight we are camped in a city park in Stanley North Dakota.

Fun times with the kids

The last month went fast. We celebrated the 4th of July with all the kids at Steve and Emily's. They also invited some friends, Rob and Tracy, and we all feasted on a delicious meal of pork loin and macaroni and cheese that Steve made followed by some of his great home made ice cream. Most of the days we drove into town to see our new grand daughter and help out wherever we could. Dan and I got some materials and finished installing baseboards and picture rail in a couple of areas of Dan and Carmen's apartment. Occasionally we would spend a day staying at the RV, riding our bikes around Pacifica and watching the surf at the ocean. We extended our stay another week so we could see Elsa on her four week birthday. She seems to change every day. She has her eyes wide open now and looks around curiously at stuff. She is growing taller and gaining weight also. We also got to visit with Carmen's parents who arrived a couple of days ago. But now we have to say good-by to the kids and Elsa and head for home. Last night we met at the kids house to say our goodbyes. Steve cooked Chile Verde, black beans and Mexican rice. Dan and Carmen's mother whipped up some guacamole, and Emily made Strawberries and Cream Trifles for desert. We visited, held Elsa and then Steve and Dan drove us back to the RV around 9:30pm. We got up early and drove through San Francisco at 4am to avoid the heavy traffic. Then we stopped at a rest stop on I-80 west of Reno and took a nap. We made it to Winnemucca Nevada where we are staying tonight. We miss Elsa and the kids already. We also now know about the high temperatures that everyone is talking about. We ponder why we left 60 degree weather for this 100+ degrees. But life calls and we will return to visit again soon.

Elsa has arrived

A lot has happened the last two weeks. On father's day Dan and Carmen took us to the Pacific Pinball Museum where we got to play pinball on machines dating from the 1930s up to current machines. While we were doing that, Steve cooked a father's day dinner consisting of prime rib and delicious side dishes. We celebrated with Dan too as a father to be. On June 21, Steve and Emily invited us to walk up Bernal Hill with them to celebrate solstice day. It was a mile from the house and a steep climb after we got there but we saw some spectacular views of San Francisco from the top. We helped Emily work on the house some during the week and spent some time at the RV park exploring the area on our bikes. We rode along the ocean and found a place called Mori Point that is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation area. There were paths that led us through fields of flowers to overlooks where we saw great views of the ocean. We also spent time sitting by the pier in Pacifica watching the ocean waves break over the rocks and drinking coffee at the Chi-Chat cafe. Carmen and Dan went to the hospital on Friday evening and our first Grandchild was born on Saturday afternoon, June 25th. Her name is Elsa Louise Dunham and she is truly a cute baby. While Carmen and Dan were in the hospital, we stayed at their house and kept Enzo (the dog) company. They brought Elsa home on Wednesday June 29th. Right away Enzo accepted her as part of the family. Thursday we met Steve at his workplace and went to lunch with him. After lunch we painted on Steve and Emily's hallway and then stopped in at Dan and Carmen's to see Elsa before going back to the RV park. We spent Friday in Pacifica catching up on stuff at the RV. Today we got to baby sit Elsa while Dan and Carmen run errands. She is opening her eyes more now and is really a cute baby.

First week in San Francisco

We have been here over a week already. We worked with Emily on their apartment, sanding and plastering the hall so it can be painted and Steve kept us fed. We walked around Pacifica and spent time down at the pier and at one of our favorite coffee stops the Chit Chat Cafe. All of us went to our traditional Vietnamese restaurant and walked around the the side streets of San Francisco visiting cool stores including coffee, ice cream, and donut shops. We are enjoying using Steve's BMW while we are here. We checked out the nursery that Dan and Carmen fixed up and we are waiting with great anticipation for the arrival of our first grandchild. On fridays we all got together for pizza and a movie. I replaced the ignition switch and a defective diode that was buried deep under the dash so now the Beast is whole again. That sums up the first twelve days of our stay here. We are well and enjoying the good weather, the sea breeze, and the great sunsets and being with our kids.

San Francisco

Steve, Emily, Dan, and Carmen stopped out to see us Wednesday night. It was really good to see them. We talked and Carmen opened baby gifts that family and friends sent with us from Michigan. Thursday we went into San Francisco and Steve made Steak Fajitas which we enjoyed at Dan and Carmen's Apartment. We got to see how they fixed up a nursery and see Enzo again. The nursery is really cool and our Grandaughter will love it. Friday was pizza and movie night. We all met at Dan and Carmen's apartment again, ordered pizza, and watched a movie. We had a good time. Saturday Steve, Emily, Bonnie, and I went down to the Ferry Building to shop the Farmer's Market. We filled our packs with fruits, vegetables, meats, cheese and bread and when we got back to Steve and Emily's apartment, we put some of it on the table for our lunch. It was all very good. We stopped by Dan and Carmen's to say hi before Bonnie and I headed back to the RV park in Steve's BMW. Nice ride.

We have arrived!

We had to hot wire the Motorhome to leave Vacaville but we were on the road by 10am. We drove the Beast across the Bay Bridge and arrived in Pacifica around 11:30. So we sit in the fog and enjoy the ocean. It is great! And we are looking forward to seeing our kids.

Today it's bust

We limped into California. We were doing well until we stopped at the Agricultural Checkpoint on I-80. After the usual Gypsy Moth inspection the motorhome wouldn't start. I tried to solve the problem but ended up calling Road Service because we were kinda in the way there. A man came out from Reno and chased the problem to a faulty ignition switch. He got it running again and told us to replace the switch the first chance we get. So we were on our way again and made it to Vacaville CA.  We stopped at an RV park there for the night instead of driving to San Francisco during high traffic time.  With luck, tomorrow we will reach our destination and see our kids.

California or Bust

We encountered more wind and a few rain drops as we plugged along I-80 across Nevada. It was unusually cool with the temperature in the 50s for most of the day. We are resting in Fernley Nevada tonight and will tackle the Sierra Nevada Mountains tomorrow.

Place your bets

We spent last night camped at the Crater's of the Moon National Monument. Camping here again this year reminded us of 2009 when we met Shane Little from the Netherlands who was bicycling across the US. We drank a toast in honor of you Shane and wish you well on your next adventure, across Africa. We left there this morning and landed in Elko Nevada tonight. We are looking forward to seeing our kids in a few days and being there to welcome our first Grandchild into the world.

It's Snowing

It was still windy this morning as we drove towards the north entrance of Yellowstone NP.  Driving through Yellowstone we saw a lot of animals grazing and it snowed for awhile.   The temp was 34 degrees.   We left the park at the west entrance and stopped along US 20 at the Riverside Natl Forest Campground for tonight.

More Wind

The scenery was great along I-94 as we traveled west towards Billings Montana. The sun was out, the fields were green from all the rain, and there were spring flowers in bloom along the way. When we headed west out of Billings on I-90, we saw the mountains in the distance for the first time. They were covered in a white coat of snow. Around 11:30 the wind started blowing again and by 1:30 the wind was blowing 35mph with 50mph gusts. We decided to stop early again. We stopped at a KOA in Greycliff MT but it was closed because of a recent flood. We continued on to Big Timber where we got a campsite in the Spring Creek Campground. We got a nice campsite on the bank of the Boulder River.

Out West

We crossed the Missouri River at Bismarck ND today so we are now officially "Out West". We made it to Terry Montana and found an RV park where we will spend the night. We stopped at the Theodore Roosevelt National Park along the way but the campgrounds and most of the exhibits were closed because of flooding.

Lots of wind

After fighting 50mph wind gusts for awhile, we stopped at a city park in Glenfield ND around noon.  We will spend the rest of the day here and leave in the morning after the wind let's up.

Over the river and through the woods

Today we drove through northern Wisconsin and crossed into Minnesota at Duluth.  We crossed the Mississippi River and ended up parked in the Bagley MN city park for the night

Raining today

We spent last night in a county park at Bruce Crossing Mi.  It is still spring up here and there is lots of pollen in the air.  It looks like rain is in forecast as we head for Wisconsin and Minnesota today on US 2.

On our way

We parked the RV at Bonnie's parents house in Harrison Mi last night and will head north across the Macinac bridge today.

Trip West 2011

We are readying our Motor Home for our trip to California in late May.  This year we will be meeting our new granddaughter who is due to arrive in late June.  Our son Dan and his wife Carmen are the proud parents to be.