Lake Chelan (June 26 - July 6)

For the last 5-6 years we have been spending our anniversary (June 26th), John's birthday (July 3rd) and the 4th of July at Lake Chelan.  We have really enjoyed our time over there.   You can mostly count on good weather and this year again did not disappoint.  In fact, it was rather warm!  We had temperatures over 100 most days.

A couple of years ago, we met Barry and Kathy Bilderback at Lake Chelan on one of our annual trips.     We have a lot in common with them and became fast friends.  They also make Lake Chelan an annual trip, so we have met them there for the last 3 years.  Again this year we had a great time with them.  We went motorcycle riding, we love to go up to Winthrop, have some lunch and walk through the stores, we spent a lot of time out on the boat on Lake Chelan just cooling off, we tried paddle boarding, which was great fun and we also had some of our grandkids with us.   Here are some pictures of the fun times we had:

Kathy & Barry Renee & John on a road trip up into the hills.

Lunch break on our road trip in the hills.

And of course our annual trip to the Slidewaters Water Park.  Kids love it!!  Parents have fun too.

Showing off their fake tattoos

For John's birthday we got up at 5:30 a.m. and rode to the top of the hill overlooking Lake Chelan on one side and the Columbia river on the other.  It was a really fun (but scary) ride up there on the motorcycle, but so worth the ride.  John loves exploring on the back roads and this was a real treat for him.  We saw the sun coming up and since it was early it was a cool 72 degrees which was really enjoyable.  After the ride, John treated me to Starbucks!!

This is where the hand gliders take off from.

The sun coming up!

The Columbia River

Yes, we were really up there!

John and his Adventure Bike looking out over 

See that line on the side of the hill?  That's our road down!

Lake Chelan

Birds eye view of Lake Chelan

Back by 6:30 a.m. for our morning coffee!

We had a great time with our friends and their granddaughter, Kadison, out on the boat for the day.  We rode down to Kelley's Beach and had some ice cream and stop a few times along the way to jump in and cool off.  It was over 100 degrees!

We had some visitors at the Park, they weren't shy either.  There was a baby bird that even jumped up on John's hand for a minute.  But I didn't get that picture.  I think these squirrels were chewing up our table cloths at night!

Another successful trip to Lake Chelan!

Now, home to work for 4 more weeks and then 

Retire to full time vacationing!

Stay tuned for more adventures.

John's Motorcycle Adventure - May 2 - 9

John's  motorcycle roadtrip!

With hammock and sleeping bag packed, I set off on a road trip down through Idaho, Nevada, California and back up through Oregon to Washington.  I took off on Saturday morning, May 2nd on a sunny day from Lost Lake RV Resort.  

I spent his first night in Pendleton Oregon at the KOA campground.  Found a perfect spot to hang up my hammock.  The night time was a little cold and the sleeping bag hung over the side of the hammock but all in all it was a good night!

This is the Visiting Center at Twin Falls Idaho.   These 3 hot rods had stopped also at the viewing center, and I thought it was cool how they parked them in the front. 

This is a view from the bridge of the Snake River.  The bridge is 450 above the river.  I saw people base jumping from the bridge, then this boat would pick them up and bring them back around so they could do it again.  Looked like fun!

This is the view from the other side of the bridge of the Snake River Canyon.  There is a very nice walking and biking train along the upper part of the canyon.

This is at Lovelock Idaho.  This is a dried up lake that I had to try out the adventure bike on.  In a little sand and mud it was fun! 

This is where I camped out in Lovelock, ID.  Out in the dessert.  I found these rocks that looked like a good spot to throw up the hammock after a long day of riding.  It got a little windy in the evening, but got to watch a great sunset and listen to the coyotes.   Love Camping!!

Next day rode to Sparks Nevada and then on to Susanville, CA.   Camped out of Susanville toward Mt. Shasta.  Home for the night.  Found a spot out in the woods with trees perfectly spaced for my hammock.  You know I'm always packing on these adventure trips.  It was great to wake up to the birds and the sounds of nature in the woods.  Next I'm off to get a little coffee.

From Mt. Shasta I rode over to I-5 and down the Kalamath River to the Ocean.  What a fun road.  Caught a motel in Newport Oregon on the coast, back to the fog and chill of the northwest.   Good deal I got good riding gear to keep me dry and warm.  Headed out in the morning, made it to Portland, stopped and saw by brother and sister-in-law.  And then hopped on the 1200 and headed for home.  Can't wait to see my bride.  What a good 8 day Adventure Bike trip!!

Memorial Day Weekend at Long Beach May 22-25, 2015

Spending the long holiday weekend  at Long Beach, WA with Bella and Ethan.  We left Thursday night after work and got to the Pacific Holiday Sunrise Resort about 8:30 pm and set up camp.  The weather wasn't the best, but that's what you get at the ocean, never predictable.  But we made the most of it.  The campground was pretty full.  They had the swimming pool open and people said it was bathwater warm, but we didn't try it out!  We went for a ride on the beach and came across this little fort!

Back at the campground enjoying a little fire.

Sitting by our campfire watching Survivor Finale from the TV on the outside of the Coach!  Fun times!

Bella and Renee had to do a little shopping and sightseeing downtown.   We rode in the horse drawn buggy around town.

Breakfast Saturday morning at the RV park.  Sausage, eggs, pancakes, orange juice and coffee!

Grandpa playing ladder ball with Ethan and Bella.  Ethan is getting pretty good at this!  He beat both grandpa and grandma.

Monday morning, heading back home.  I'm sure Turbo has missed us.  We'll pick him up today!

It was another successful trip.   Had a hose break on the motorhome on the way home, but John fixed it on the side of the road.  Glad he was able to fix it and save us money!  Oh the joys of motorhoming :-)