Wandering Spirit

Visiting Marsha in Spangle, Washington is like taking a time trip back in USA history by about 50+ years.  The miles and miles of rolling fields of grain with a farm house planted somewhere in the midst, silos and grain elevators being the tallest buildings in town…and ‘town’ has one gas station that also serves as a small food store, and a couple of stop signs.  Tractors are a common mode of transportation.

Marsha retired early from nursing and has been running a highly successful dog boarding kennel here in Spangle, 15 or so miles from Spokane.  So successful in fact, that she has bookings for months in advance, even some for Christmas.  And it’s no wonder.  The love and care she dishes out is just what you would want for your furry family members.

The kennels are cool and breezy with air conditioning and fans, even in this 100 degree heat we are having, and all the dogs get plenty of outdoor time, romping in the lush green grass.

Somebody likes the water.  That’s Daisy Doodle.

Roxie looks like she has something to say.

All the dogs get in-door time too.

Marsha has two dogs of her own, and a calico cat too.  This is her Tyrion.

Marsha’s little Alice, (on the right)  alongside of Eros on the porch.

Monday evening Marsha and I take a drive and she shows me the countryside and her family’s large property holdings…she grew up here.

This monument is on their land, and tells the sad story of Native Americans who were lured here to sign a peace treaty, and were hung instead.  The area is now called Hangman Creek. There are so many things in our history that can be considered atrocities.

This is the area where it happened.

We end up in Spokane about 15 miles away, and have dinner at Saran Public House, which has many vegan options. We chose to split two of them between us.

Vegan Mac and Cheese and Yaki Udon Stirfry.

It was excellent!

Much of Spokane also gives the feel of having stepped back into the 50’s with so many red brick buildings with faded painted advertisements on the sides of them…but also mixed with modern collage paintings.  Wish I would have thought of taking some pictures.

Though it’s been way too hot the last few days…at least 100 degrees in Spokane yesterday…Marsha’s home has air conditioning and the nights have been cool and breezy, perfect for sleeping with all the windows open in WS.

Beautiful wild flowers all around the area.

I did this!  I parked in this spot between the kennel and the propane tank!  And it only took me 15-20 minutes!

Another view!

Sunsets are known to be beautiful here.

There seems to be a huge heat wave happening right now, and we are in the midst of it.  For us that means activity ceases as much as possible, unless it’s about getting wet.  We do take our walks, EARLY and LATE.  Last evening it was still 96 degrees at 6pm, so we skipped our walk.

Happily we have a shady campsite , and shade makes all the difference, especially when accompanied by a soft breeze off the Columbia River.

We are here.

The Columbia River viewed from a little island within it.

**But before we go further into Washington, there are a few more Sisters related stories I want to tell you.

First, the mug…the one I bought from the artist in town.  I wanted a taller mug, so I can froth the soy milk for my coffee!  I got on this frothing kick after having lunch with Laura and Joel.  You see, among his other talents as the Joel Pole creator and my computer guru, Joel has taught himself to be an excellent Barista.  After lunch at their home, he made me probably the best Latte I’ve ever had the pleasure of slurping down.  Unfortunately I don’t have a picture.

Now, not that frothing the milk will make my coffee that delicious, but it look good and it’s fun.  So…I ordered a little battery frother from Amazon,

and promptly frothed milk all over the place in my not-tall-enough-mug.  Now I’m doing better with the taller mug, and the help of a plastic cup, too.

I need practice.

In my new mug, the froth looks like more snow around The Three Sisters. 🙂

Also during our stay in Sisters, Joy, Shiloh and I visited Smith Rock State Park, about  25 miles to the northeast.  As the brochure says, this “state park protects a sanctuary of majestic rock spires that rise above the winding Crooked River in central Oregon’s high desert.  It is an internationally renowned destination for rock climbing.”

Rock climbing isn’t something I’d have ever considered doing in my wildest dreams, but there are a lot of brave souls out there who love it.  I sat watching some of them with my binoculars.

Almost in the middle of this picture you can see two of them.  It’s that little dot.  You might want to click on the picture and enlarge it.  Good Lord.

The bigger picture.

Primrose in the foreground I believe.

Even the dogs find it fascinating.

Then on one of Kerry’s days off, we piled all the dogs into the back seat of JR (Joy Ride) and drove to Bend, about 20 miles to the northwest of Sisters.  After stopping at a park and taking a walk along the Dechutes River, we went to a totally vegan restaurant that Kerry knew about.  It’s called Next Level.  Wow, what a treat for me!

Yum.

And the dogs were welcome at the tables outside.

Maybe you can tell the dogs are wet, because they took a dip in the Dechutes River during our walk!  Of course.

And back to the present again….

Today we leave Plymouth Park and head northeast to my friend Marsha’s house in Spangle, Washington, to visit for a couple of days.  Until next time…we’ll be trying to keep our cool!  Hope you are too!

This morning we prepare to leave Sisters.  (The town in Oregon, I don’t have any sisters myself, or brothers, either.)

We take our last walk (for now) with Kerry and Annabelle, and the dogs make the most of their new business, Stump Sniffers, Inc….SSI.  Or we could call it SSSI, Sisters Stump Sniffers, Inc.  Of course, I was snapping pictures:

Happy girl!

Busy! Busy!  Much sniffing to do!

This particular stump got the once over, but good!

We have all enjoyed being together…being a pack, but moving on and saying good-bye is part of this Wandering Spirit life-style.  (sometimes a hard part)

While in Sisters, it was necessary for me to get a new battery for Wandering Spirit. (The Casita).  I had heard that when you need a new trailer battery ‘it will let you know’.  I wondered how it would let me know?  Well, I found out!

I have a monitor inside, placed there by the previous owner, indicating that the battery was still charging up to 12.7 amps, but it just wasn’t holding the charge for any length of time, even though it was only doing it’s basic job…no lights, fans, blowers, etc.  Next time I’d glance at the monitor it would read 12.5 and then 12.3 or 12.2.  I checked the water level in the battery and it was fine. I plugged into the generator for an hour, which would bring it back to 12.7, but only for minutes.

This is the monitor now, with the new battery plugged into electricity.

My battery was ‘letting me know’.  It said,  “I’m tired.  I’m 5+  years old and fading fast.”

I considered 3 options.  1) Buying a battery and putting it in myself. 2) Going to a place that sells and installs batteries. 3) Having a mobil RV repair person bring a battery to me and install it.

I chose the third option, and yes it is the most expensive, ($229), however I’ve never changed a battery, I wanted to see it done and ask questions, and I was able to do that without packing up, hitching up, traveling to Bend or Redmond, and then coming back to Sisters.  Not to mention, that 50 pound battery is difficult for me to deal with.

It fits tightly in it’s little ‘bat (tery) cave’, and it’s all I can do to get it out.

So the man from Accurate RV came, and I watched the process, asking questions the whole time.  I paid, he left, and all was well.  The monitor was indicating that the battery was charged to 12.7 like it should be, so Joy, Shiloh, and I left to explore Sisters.

Lovely view from town.

Views down the street.

One of the many parks in town.

This is the cutest little Florist Shop.

While I was in town I was interested in purchasing a new (taller) coffee mug…one in which I can foam my soy milk without it spilling over the top. (Joel, this is all your fault) 🙂

Back in a corner of town I found Canyon Creek Pottery and met the artist, Kenneth Merrill,  who creates and sells his wares in a little shop next to his home.  This mug will be a perfect  remembrance of my time here.  The 3 snow-covered mountains…The Three Sisters…are represented on the mug.  I love it!  I think you will hear more about the mug in an upcoming post.  🙂

Anyway, back to the battery story.  When we returned from exploring town, there was no power!  The fridge wasn’t working, lights and water pump wouldn’t work, etc, but the monitor was reading 13.2 which is normal when the solar system is charging the battery.  What the…?

I call Accurate RV back and they tell me to hook up the generator for an hour.  While on gen power, everything works normally.  After an hour, I turn it off and nothing works.  I resume generator power, mainly to keep the fridge working, until Accurate RV can return a few hours later, to trouble shoot. (my poor neighbors!…though my generator is pretty quiet.)

When the fella returns he takes the battery out of the bat(tery) cave, and finds some loose wires…not where he had hooked up the battery, but further into the system.  He tightens them, and all systems are go.  No charge for the 2nd service call.  It’s been a few days and all is well.  I haven’t needed to use the generator since the solar charge has been sufficient, even through the many tall trees that surround us.  Now I’ve moved and have an electric hook-up.

So it turns out that when you put a new battery in this rig, nothing has to be done inside first…I thought  something would have to be done to the converter, but no.  The battery comes fully charged and already has distilled water in it.  All you do is take the wires off of the old battery and put them on the new one EXACTLY THE SAME WAY.  (Take pictures before you take it apart). Even with a permanent solar attachment.  I know some of you who know about batteries may be rolling your eyes, but there may be some people like me who know nothing, and this may save them some $$$ someday!

I still have more Sisters stories, but this is getting long, so I think I’ll save them for another post!

We are in Washington now, on the Columbia River for a couple days…really pretty!

Surrounded by mountains, rivers, streams and Deschutes National Forest, is the tiny town of Sisters, named for the three snow covered peaks nearby, called The Three Sisters.

I visited here 20+ years ago and liked it then, and still find it a sweet spot to hang out for awhile.

There is loads of camping in the National Forest nearby, and trails everywhere.  This is a haven for hikers and bikers.  Also, the town is easily walkable from one end to the other, with a substantial amount of vegan food options!  The healthy grocery store, Melvins, will build you a ‘dairy free veggie sandwich’, and then….there is Angelines.  Oh my goodness.

The things you find inside….

These and MANY more vegan goodies.  Yikes.

The reason we came to Sisters though, was to visit our friends Kerry and her dog Annabelle, whom we met in Quartzsite late last November.  You can see our history in blogs from last winter.  Kerry is camp-hosting this summer at Sisters Creekside Campground.

This is a city run campground, and it’s right in town.

She has some time off while I’m here so we camp in the National Forest over Memorial Day.

Cold Spring Campground in Deschutes National Forest.

We get quite a bit of visiting accomplished….mostly while walking our pupsters through the nearby forests.  Kerry has spent a lot of time in this neck of the woods and knows the places that are safe for our ‘kids’ to be off leash, so they are very happy campers!

Annabelle investigating a stump!

Hmmm….this calls for further investigation!

Umm.  I’d say this is getting serious.  We go by the name “Stump Sniffers, Inc.”

Ferns among the pines.  Or is that pines among the ferns?  Whichever, it’s beautiful.

When Kerry goes back to camp-hosting, I get a campsite where she works….a very comfy, shaded spot.

Here is the creek at Sisters Creekside Campground.

Joy, Shiloh and I take a short day-trip to the Metolius River.  It’s beautiful!

It’s cold but Joy and Shiloh don’t mind.  The river begins only a few miles upstream from this spot, from underground springs.

You know what happens after the river dips….it’s the grass rolls!

We’ve had more adventures in and around Sisters, which I’ll try to include in the next blog!

Wednesday

From Lodi we take I-5 for 204 miles to Mountain Gate RV Park just north of Redding, CA.  Here, for $33 I get full hook ups, a roomy, clean shower, shade trees, a small dog run and green grass at the campsite.

Joy taking advantage of thick, green grass.

We spend the night in comfort, take a forest walk in the morning, and here we go…through the gate, so to speak, into the mountains.

Thursday

Lake Shasta is beautiful, but where is Mt Shasta?  Did I miss it for heaven sake?  COULD I miss it?

NO!  It’s un-missable!  Driving on further on I-5 I get my first glimpse of it.

Picture taken while driving.

I gasp and startle Shiloh because he is so tuned in to my every breath and movement.  For awhile there are only glimpses here and there and Shiloh is startled by more gasps, some ‘OMG’s’, a few ‘WOW’s’ and then some prayers of thanksgiving before I burst into songs about mountains like Rocky Mountain High and Take Me Home Country Roads because they are the ones I love.

Mt Shasta looks like it’s painted on the sky.

Remember the line in John Denver’s ‘Take Me Home Country Roads’ that goes:

“dark and dusty, painted on the sky…”

But Shasta is white and gleaming, painted on the sky.  Now I understand the idea behind those words…

We reach our 162 mile destination early in the afternoon, Collier Memorial State Park.  I drive into our full hook up, pull through site.  It’s pretty here with huge Ponderosa Pines and just a one minute walk to where the Williamson River and Cold Creek converge.  After lunch we take a leisurely walk there and Joy and Shiloh take a few dips in the COLD water.

And then roll in the long, thick grass at the rivers edge.  Rolling seems to be a very important part of this process!

Then more dips and more rolls, and on we go.

it’s a beautiful area.

And our campsite isn’t bad either.  Way different than last night…

Back at camp I finally let the good news out to Joy and Shiloh:

Tomorrow we see Kerry and Annabelle!!

Tuesday

Mary leaves for work and shortly after that  (and our good-byes :-(( )Joy, Shiloh, and I leave for our morning walk around the neighborhood.  When we return I finish packing up (I did most of it yesterday), hitch up, and we are off about 10am.

The first leg of our journey today is Hwy 101 south, to  Hwy 156.  We see the green rolling hills and pass San Juan Batista on the left with it’s beautiful Mission. (sorry not many pictures, just driving).  In my head I review some fond memories here…Christmas caroling with Laura and Joel, and seeing Christmas plays at the Mission with them.  Also have experienced some great Mexican food here over the years.  Oh, and Margaritas, too.  🙂

Now we pass fields of veggies in various stages of growth, and some just being planted.  The veggie fields go on and on.

Next the golden hills begin to rise up.  Golden already because now we are further from the ocean and the moisture it creates.  Green is already a thing of the past and long golden grasses wave in the wind.

We join Hwy 152 and Casa de Fruta is just ahead.  Long ago it started out as a fruit stand, or so the story goes.  Now there is a line of related touristy businesses.  The fruit stand has become a large fruit market/souvenir shop, and then you have a coffee shop/restaurant, wine store/deli, a train ride, gas station, large RV park, and more.  We don’t stop today, but I have on many occasions, when taking various trips.

On we go and I see an overhead sign flashing:

GUSTY WIND WARNING, PACHECO PASS

Which is of course, exactly where we are going.  As if the pass isn’t challenging enough, without gusty wind!

With Pacheco Pass comes San Luis Reservoir.  Depending on the water level, this reservoir is about 9 miles long, north to south.  Much of the water is used for farm irrigation.  Last year, the water was as low as I’ve ever seen it.  Now it’s a bit higher, but not high enough.

Here is a small bit of the reservoir out of JR’s window.

I take a little cut off to save a few miles on Hwy 33, which takes us through a little town called Santa Nella, and leads to I-5.

On I-5 the rolling golden hills get serious on the left…the west.

On and on they go.  Clouds are pretty too, eh?

We begin to see orchards on the right side of the road:

There are various citrus trees in row upon row upon row, planted on the gently rolling hills.  Also some nut trees begin.  Mostly almond I think, but I’m not sure.  I stop at a ‘scenic view’ area to take the above 2 pictures.  Golden hills to my left, irrigated orchards to my right.

Eventually we drive right through the center of Stockton, CA and on to our destination for today, Flag City RV Resort in Lodi.  This is the third time I’ve used this large, clean and neat RV park for a one-night stop over.  (You get a great discount here if you have Passport America).  It’s the one I’ve mentioned before with the most ginormous dog run area I’ve ever seen.

Here is the dog run. Unfortunately right now it’s loaded with little round burrs and the dogs don’t care to use it.

Laura told me that Lodi is known for it’s Zinfandel wines, so I buy a bottle!

In case you can’t read that, it’s “Old Vine Zinfandel”.  The lady that checked me in at the RV park said Lodi is the Zinfandel capitol of the world!  Wow, no small claim.  I’m no judge of wine, but this one really is tasty!

Cheers!

It’s been fun!  I’ve had a very pleasant time while we’ve been in the ‘home place.’  Mary is the perfect hostess, letting us live here like it’s our own home, helping me with Joy and Shiloh so I’ve been free to do what I wanted…and needed…to do.

I feel a bit sad leaving this time.  I think I might be coming to an understanding within myself:  in all my wanderings, I may eventually conclude that this IS home.

But…that is yet to be determined.  There is still lots of wanderlust in my soul!

So many fun times in this past week!  I remembered to take pictures a couple of those times:

Beautiful lunch with Laura and Joel in their peaceful garden.  We had a lovely visit.

Their lemon tree is exploding!

Fun times on the beach with Anne, her daughter Cecelia, Joy and Shiloh.

CeCe.  This is what 7 years old feels like!

CeCe was very excited to be able to walk one of the dogs!  Shiloh , who behaved perfectly on leash for her, I’m happy to say.

I don’t know what they were discussing.

There were quite a few para-gliders out this day, setting off from the sand dunes, enjoying the views.

Saying good-bye to this beautiful beach for now.

Today we will set off again!

Destination, Glacier National Park!

We will be meeting our friends Shirlee and Doug there, who are from Canada.  If you’ve been reading  this blog for a long while you may remember that we met them early on in our travels at Owl Canyon in California.  We made a firm bond with them and camped together 3 more times that winter.  We have stayed in touch and recently reserved campsites right next to each other at Glacier for a week.

Shirlee and Doug with Joy and Shiloh, in Quartzsite, January 2015.

When we leave Glacier NP we will all head into Canada, where Joy, Shiloh and I will be for a yet unknown length of time.  I’m so excited about this!

But that’s not all!  On the way to Glacier we will be visiting with our friends “Kerry and Annabelle” in Oregon. (not their real names), whom we met and became friends with while we were in Quartzsite this past winter.

Remember “Annabelle”?  🙂

Then, we go on to visit with my friend Marsha and her pupsters with her excellent dog-sitting business in Washington, whom we’ve visited twice before in our travels.  Marsha and I worked together as RN’s for years at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, (better known as CHOMP).

Hang on friends, cuz off we go!  It’s going to be a great ride!

.

When we lived in this area, it was our favorite beach…Joy, Shiloh, and I…this beach with no name, where almost no one goes.  It was  a 4 or 5 minute drive, then we would walk for 4 or 5 more minutes, and we would be here.

This beach curves around from Monterey to Santa Cruz, CA.  In this picture we are looking off towards Santa Cruz.  On a very clear day you can see that far, but today there is some fog in the distance.

We have come to this beach literally 100’s of times.  Normally I see 3 or 4 people in an hours time, and today is no exception.  Where we approach the beach I see 3 fisherman to our left, and a jogger to the right.  We turn right.  This beach stretches for miles on the old Fort Ord between the sand dunes and the ocean.  I feel comfortable letting the dogs off leash here, and there are no signs to tell me otherwise.

Today, the first thing that Joy and Shiloh do is run out into the water…a little bit too far.  I guess they forgot the dangers, in their excitement.  The next wave is big and hits them fairly hard.  Shiloh does ok with it, but Joy goes down and due to the weakness in her back legs, is slow getting up…so slow that the next wave hits before she is standing.  I’ve dropped everything and am starting to run towards her, but now she’s up and moving towards me, and safety.  That must have been a rude awakening for her, discovering how much agility she has lost in water play.  It hurts my heart, but she seems so accepting, and handles it gracefully.

They both remember to watch the waves after that, and stay near the shore.

I have a second reason for coming to this beach today.  Almost 13 years ago my first Golden, Bonnie Jane, passed away.  She loved this beach too.  I’ve had her ashes all these years, and I’ve wanted to….bring her back to this beach one more time, but it was hard for me.  Today I finally did it, and set her free.

Her spirit is at the Rainbow Bridge, but what was left of her physical self will be part of her favorite beach and the ocean, forever.

(Well, I save a little bit of her, mixed with some of the beach sand, because…just because.)

Meanwhile Joy and Shiloh frolic, sniff the ocean breezes,  and roll in the sand, making me smile through a few tears.

Joy on the right, in play pose.  She may be almost 13 years old, but she is still young at heart!

Such remarkable colors!

Shiloh sniffs the breeze.

Joy, watches the sea birds, down the way.

Salty, sandy, wet, HAPPY dogs!

I plan to return here one more time before we leave Monterey Bay.

It’s been fun here in the Monterey area as Dr visits and taking care of business decrease, and friends & family time increase.

It’s a feeling of comfort to spend time with people I love.  I’m a loner by nature….and introvert for sure, so I need to be careful to get my ‘down time’….I do love and cherish being alone!  But right now, with the limited time I have here in the ‘home place’, some social overload is totally fine with me, and I’m loving every minute of it.  When I get on the road, I’ll have plenty of time to recharge my internal batteries.

“To everything there is a season…”

The Big Sur coast and the Monterey Bay area is a bucket-list worthy place to visit, if you have never been here.  Spring or fall would be favorable, due to summer crowds and possible rough weather and roads maybe falling off the edge of the world down Highway 1 in the winter.  Have I mentioned the bucket-list worthiness of this area before?  Maybe in my last post?  🙂  Can’t help it…because it’s my favorite place on earth.  And due to the fact that I feel that way, and the fun I’ve been having, (and Mary’s unlimited internet), I have LOTS of pictures.

Laura and Joel came over and parked their cute little car in front of my cute little trailer.  We laughed because it looked like it was the tow vehicle. 🙂

While they were here, Joel, as my computer guru 🙂 , put VPN on my computer, IPad and IPhone, so I’ll have more security when I’m using public internet.  He also helped me update everything and back it all up.

We went to Tarpy’s Roadhouse for dinner…what a lovely place.

So charming…

Then it was back to my favorite place for breakfast…Deetjens Big Sur Inn…with friend Maureen.

Who would think an order of toast would be so lovely?

Soy milk and brown sugar chunks for the excellent coffee.  Yumm.

I must be hungry as I write this blog!  A nice snack Mary and I had at her house.  The cheese is vegan!

Meanwhile, I do get some work done.  I’ve packed up the back of JR again.  (JR is my truck, short for ‘Joy Ride’.)  All that empty space!  I love it!

Then yesterday we celebrated Jason’s birthday.  My ‘baby’ is 40!

Jason and Mandy, married one year now. Mandy’s parents hosted the birthday party.

The view off of their deck.  So grateful to be able to spend the day there.

The moms wore stripes! 🙂

Time to celebrate YOU, Jason!

I brought bubbles, and they were enjoyed by all.  🙂  Larry and Sharon and grand baby Skylar.

Sharon and Skylar picking flowers in the garden.

When we finished celebrating Jason’s birthday we went on down Highway 1 to celebrate Mothers Day at Nepenthe.  This restaurant has been here for 67 years.  The word ‘nepenthe’ means ‘no sorrow’.  Hard to have any sorrow here.

Love these two.

My South Coast margarita, my rose from Sharon’s garden…and the ocean beyond.

Gosh, does a day get ANY better than this?

My heart is full of gratitude for the beauty of people and places in my life!

My life is generally laid back since retirement, except when I come to the ‘home place’.  Whew!  Then everything changes.

Wandering Spirit resting in front of Mary’s house.

In the week that we’ve been at Mary’s house, I have:

Been to Big Sur (Yay!)

Sat in Mary’s hot tub!

Visited with Jason and Mandy and we watched the most recent Star Wars.  GOOD!

Met up with friends.

Friends Anne and Deanna.  Wish I remembered to take pictures of other friends!

Been to the Farmers Market in down town Monterey.  Love it.

Been to Whole Foods, Petco, Target, and Costco.

Visited the Ophthalmologist….

And the Dentist.  Twice.  :-{

Been to the Vet twice.

Emptied out the back of Joy Ride (my truck).

Emptied out my storage locker, and brought everything over to Mary’s house where I’m going through it, organizing, sorting, ect.

Cleaned WS from head to toe…on the inside, not the outside.

And I’m in the process of cleaning JR the same way.

Look, the truck bed is empty!  Wow!  See the step coming down from the tailgate?  It’s got to be the best thing since sliced bread.  It folds up and slides inside of the tailgate when not in use.

And there are the regular dog walks.  Dog walks are always great because I get to stop everything and get out in nature with my best babies.  Here are some of the flowers I’ve been seeing, both wild, and in gardens, on our walks:

California Poppies

White Roses.

More roses, complete with clinging raindrops.

Wild radishes.  Or so they say.

Beautiful Iris in Deanna’s yard.

What lies ahead?

More time with family and friends, more Big Sur, truck maintenance at Ford,  doctor appointments, among other things!

The Pacific Ocean and The Sky!