We Beat Bella!!!!!

Refreshed with a leisurely night in the hot tub, we rose to tackle the day. TODAY we WOULD make it all the way to Eugene. We only had 90 miles to go - certainly we could drive 90 miles without an adventure.  The first thing we discovered is the RV'ers equivalent to the saying, "They put their pants on the same way you do."  Regardless of the swankiness of the RV resort you stay in or the fancy-ness of your RV - you have the same stinky slinky to deal with before you travel.

However, a swanky RV Resort will send you down the road with hot drinks! 

We knew Arielle had to work today, Krista is buried in homework for her graduate work, Arielle is swamped with New Hope homework, Bre was preparing for tomorrow's Kids Rock, Izaak was helping with a Big Game dinner and Mom and Dad had company. We settled in to our new home for the month of April. We found a really nice RV park just south of town....really glad we didn't settle for Franklin Blvd. 

Krista said to come over - so we did. We had planned to arrive on 29 March - it is 2 April. Four EXTRA days to go without laundry is a long time when you live with a scaled down wardrobe. Our plan was to start laundry and then go find something to do. Krista said she'd rather visit for a bit and work on homework tonight.  Worked for us. 

Michael and I needed to run to Walmart for a new drinking water hose....the kids opted to ride to the library and a park. Krista ordered the book Nolan hadn't been able to finish reading in CA. He has a month to "get er done."

We left to meet up with Mom, Dad and BreZaak at Calvary Open Bible for a "Big Game Dinner." This is a fund raiser the church does annually for one of their mission outreaches. Krista stayed to knock out homework.  The meal was yummy - and we won two really cool walking sticks and an amazingly bright flashlight. 

We headed back to the girls' home. Arielle had said she wanted to meet up with us before starting homework - Mount Neverrest. Michael proof-read a paper for Krista, Arielle got home, BreZaak stopped over, and we visited far longer than we should have. We kept the girls from homework. We'll do better the rest of the month. 

  We love spending time with adult Gherkins.  

We beat Bella to Eugene! 

#WYFF - God's April Fool's Day Joke

Today is a travel day. We have a "quick jaunt" to Eugene and will celebrate at Bre and Bella's baby shower.  Michael's Parkinson's meds has turned him into a morning person. Go figure....blessings in disguise and all that. I enjoy our mornings before the kids wake up. ::snort::

This morning we got up early and set about breaking camp. Remembering the blown van tire on the last travel day, Michael set Nolan the task of checking air pressure and filling tires. We ARE careful travelers.

We laughed and talked about how fun it would be to arrive in Eugene....stopped in Grants Pass and turned in the van repair estimates.  How did we miss there was a Baskin and Robbins right across from Les Schwab? I guess we were focused on tires and lunches when here a couple of days ago.  The kids all had gift cards to Baskin and Robins from volunteering at the chapel, and so we hopped over for a treat while Michael took care of the automotive details.

Our first #WYFF photo for the day

We left Grants Pass in high spirits. We thought we'd arrive between 12:30 - 1:00 p.m.  I had just turned to Michael and said, "We'll be in Eugene in two hours," when we heard a loud pop...which kept up. We thought maybe a fan belt had broken. Michael pulled off...the best spot we could find. On our left was two lanes of I-5 and to our right was an on ramp to I-5. The kids found the timing of the breakdown, right after I said we'd be there in 2 hours, hilarious. Alex said it was, "God's April Fool's Day" joke on us.

"Did you check the blinker fluid?" 

It's not the fan belt, the 3 visible spark plugs on each side seem o.k. 

We thought we'd drive into Canyonville, OR - the nearest town, but it sounded HORRIBLE, and the check engine light came on when we started the engine. The code reader told Michael, "Ignition coil J Primary and Secondary." We called a shop and were told they'd be able to see us next Thursday or Friday. We called our insurance company, and they began arranging two tow trucks to meet us while we kept investigating where to be towed TO...the nearest RV park was an easy call for the trailer. RV Parky (a great app) told me Seven Feathers was closest, and the price was surprisingly cheap. They have a few spots they reserve for "emergencies" and booked us into a spot for a week - just in case. 

Michael found Bill's Auto was coming to tow us, AND they could fix it...turns out we were the second v10 engine with this problem TODAY. It's a design fault - which often shows up after a tune-up. If the spark plugs are cranked too tight - they blow the spark plug and coil right out of the engine block.

Seven Feathers RV Resort is the nicest RV park we've stayed at to date (review to follow).  Bill's Auto called, and they had the van done!Michael picked it up.

While Stacia and I were disappointed to miss Bre and Bella's shower, we enjoyed a night in the pool and hot tub....we'll think about the rest of the trip in the morning. 

#WYFF (Where's Your Feet Friday) is sponsored by Fulltime Families. View more of our Friday exploits by clicking the #WYFF tab above. 

Pacific Ocean, Crescent City, CA

It is so GOOD to be traveling again!  This is our fourth day back on the road. We've had the blow out, visited the Rogue River and the Smith River and today we romped up and down the beaches of the Pacific Ocean in Crescent City, CA.  We also managed to get two more estimates for van repair. We're a bit shocked at the wide range of estimates - a spread of $2300 - we think we'll try to get at least one  more (we have one from Grants Pass and two from Crescent City) before we turn in the paperwork to be sent to the tire manufacturer. We need to do that tomorrow on our way through Grants Pass.

Our first stop was an auto repair shop. We tried to find another shop - in vain.

We opted for a play break. Stacia is studying "Swimming Animals" this year. We were excited to get out and see what we've been talking about in our books...oceans, tides, tidal pools, critters.  We  started at Castle Rock Beach (as the NEW GENERATION CALLS IT - known as Goat's Head by old timers).

Castle Rock

Kids at Castle Rock 

I love this man!

Stacia's first visit to a tidal pool - sea anemone 

Which I tried to shoot - like the reflection of the lens and my hand? 

 The waves and fossils have made some really interesting rock formations here. 

We moved on to Pebble Beach. 

We picnicked in a spot where Michael used to spend his lunch hours during high school.  It is near Brother Jonathon Point. It was a bit of climb over rocks, and on the way we saw a baby octopus, more sea anemones, crabs and various birds.  It was fun to imagine Michael perched on these very rocks, having lunch 39 years ago. Michael is an introvert - he loved escaping the drama of high school and life at the ocean. We laughed about how I brought a touch chaos and people to his life....and here he was enjoying his space with "some of his favorite people."

Stacia - 10 1/2

Alex - 14

Michael, Nolan (17) and Battery Point Lighthouse in the distance

 Michael got a better photo of another pool 

Yuuki kept running off and sticking her nose in holes - we could see crab legs waving at her - so she had to go back on the chain. 

Location beats the Les Schwab Picnic

 

Our next stop was another auto body shop.

Walking the jetty at Battery Point Lighthouse was SCREAMING to be done - it was a gorgeous day to be on the ocean.

No! Not food poisoning - Siesta

Sea Salt Crystals

One reason we went into town was to get cell connection so our hot spot would allow Nolan to have his Japanese lesson. We pulled up to a beach and nothing would work! What in the world? We enjoyed the sea lions anyway.

We stopped to buy groceries for Mom G on our way out of town. We'd planned to have her over for dinner, a campfire and chatting.....The kids and I stayed at the campground to cook and Michael went to pick up Mom G.

Smith River

We spent the day at Mom G's. Michael and I did a bunch of "odd jobs" for her. The kids enjoyed the run of the river.....since they did 3 weeks of school last week, this seems only fair! ::wink::  OK - school for the day - P.E.; Science (buoyancy test, hydrodynamics, zoology, studied bark from Redwoods and Douglas fir, identified and avoided Poison Oak), genealogy, local history, ecology & civics (neighborhood water rights)...yep - it will count as a roadschool day!  

Lots of driftwood brought in by high waters

No matter the age - my boys like to play with light sabers, swords and sticks

Arrow continues to be our river buddy

Even Yuuki likes the Smith River

Smith River

Seven months ago, Alex lost an arrow while at the Smith River.....Look what he found today in the driftwood at the high water mark! 

 Spring Colors

The 411 on our current connectivity for those who want to know:

• Michael and Nolan can receive texts and calls
• De'Etta received one text today and no replies went out
• This valley seems to be a Verizon cell/data plan dead spot
• Our range extender is making the park's wifi work for us when we're at the trailer
• We will be going into town tomorrow - I hope to be able to get out some texts and Nolan hopes to use the Verizon mifi for Japanese.....
• BreZaak has the land line numbers for our RV Park and Mom G if any of you need to reach us and can't use Michael's phone or email. 

38 Weeks - Our Bella Will be here Soon!

Borrowing from Bre's blog to make sure I get it all right! LOL 

"(March 25th) ultra sound measured her (Bella) at 5 lbs 9 oz which would put her in the 9th percentile size wise. My OB/GYN (and us as well) felt confident her size is a genetic thing due to the fact that both my mom and I were born small. However, if a baby is below the 10th percentile, they like to send them to a specialist to get a second opinion just in case. 

Thus today found us in another last ultra sound at the specialist. This ultra sound was better as it is specifically for seeing small babies. We saw lots of details including every part of her spine, that she is very much a girl, that she has all her toes and fingers, and that she does indeed have a lot of hair. More importantly, we saw that she is absolutely perfect! The icing on the cake: this ultra sound measured her at 6 lb 1 oz which puts here in the 17th percentile. All is well and proceeding just right. We did get some new pictures including some 3D pictures out of our little extra excursion today." 

We have more pictures of our little princess to share! 

Sucking - a good sign.