Thanks Cody

Florence Oregon.

Gateway to the Oregon Dunes.

And a nice place to have lunch.

Ripley sees something...

What could it be???

"Dad, what are you doing?"

Looking down toward the docks at Florence Harbor on the Siuskou River...

After a very nice fish & chips lunch,

and a chocolate ice cream cone...

That is the spot my camera landed,

look closely, right next to my ice cream cone...

So I went over to the docks to ask for a fish net

or something to recover my camera.

And I found Cody.

Cody jumped the fence and slogged under the deck to recover my camera.

He asked me if I wanted the ice cream cone too.

I declined.

Thanks Cody!

That is the spot behind Cody where my camera landed.

We owe these and all future pics to Cody.

He was paid a handsome reward.

The Long Awaited Pictures

I know everyone out there in blogland has been very patient in waiting for some photos of fun and friends on the road. Well, I am so pleased to feed that need with this post.
By the way, I am doing well and hope all of you are as well.



To the left you can observe a specimen of the native trees of Washington state. Working from the upper right in a clockwise fashion is the Washington state tree, the Western Hemlock; next is the Western Redcedar; then the Sitka Spruce; (now in the lower left) Pacific Silver Fir; and the King of the Forest, Doug Fir (upper left). I hope you find this interesting, I certainly do.



After all that botanical effort, Sue, Eric and I toasted strawberry daiquiris to the anticipation of a fine meal; a chicken cooked slowly on my new Weber grill (also in the photo). We had spent the day investigating Olympic NP.

You can see Ripley is having a great time as well. He loves those moments when he is free on the trail, and that is quite a bit up here in the Northwest.






A bit out of sequence, I must admit...


To the left you see me with Scott and Lyn at Salt Point. We had a great long weekend there with sea cave hunting, kiting, trail walks and great camp fires. Let it be known that those truly were Dandelions. I stand corrected, Lyn.





Below, Vic, Kev and I are hanging out at the gold mine in Grass Valley called ???. It was a hot smokey day in the foothills, but notice the smile on each persons face!







Back to Olympic NP, the water runs a turquoise color here. This is the Sol Duc River where the salmon run each year. This particular spot is great for spotting the fish working their way upstream to spawn. But that is in the fall, we were a bit early. Ripley thinks he sees a fish. I told him it was a mirage. We had a long discussion about it and eventually agreed to disagree.





Below is my favorite photo so far. Everything in Washington has moss growing on it, weather it moves or not!







And I have not lost interest in the business. I risked life and limb to get this photo on the road of a fellow RV'er in a FLAIR rig. Perhaps this will inspire Ahliene (sp?, I don't have Sanford Outlook to reference) in the design update. Well, it inspired me. Flair is a great name and I bet that driver is proud of his rig.


Happy newborn A-, and I hope all is well.

Below we have a couple nice shots of Cape Flattery. This the most Northwest spot in the lower 48. It is a beautiful spot.























And please let me introduce my new girlfriend. Whatshername is an aspiring swimsuit model. She does car shows and stuff to build her portfolio. I'm cool with it.


Ask her about me if you see her, she is really nice.










And here is mt. Si, just East of Redmond, WA. This was a tough 4 miles up 3,500 ft of elevation to the top. We all made the full 8 mile R/T and had great views from the top. Eric snapped a shot of the Microsoft picnic below for the employee newsletter.






I just can't get over that moss in Olympic NP. The trails are so pretty and everything is alive and green. W went to the Hoh Rain Forest where they get over 200 inches of rain per year. It rained while we were there (appropriate) and it didn't slow us down. I was right there with the WA locals that try to pretend it is not raining.


















My favorite sport on the trip so far has been kiting. So I stopped by the World Kite Museum in Long Beach, WA. They had exhibits on WWII use of Kites (target practice) an many of the Asian artistic kites.





I picked up a larger, 2 meter parafoil kite in Oregon. That is twice the area of my smaller kite. Man, this kite can pull! See below, the crashed kite and my 20+ foot scud tracks! Ripley also enjoyed the beach.

This post would not be complete without the largest bowl of clam chowder in history...

I hope you are all having as much fun as I am!

I'm currently headed down the Oregon coast. More to come, soon!

Live well!

Rob

My Sites

And you thought I meant websites...

Silly fool, These are the sites I have called home recently

Thousand Oaks - the end of civilization!

Living the good life in Malibu

Aptos, paradise on the California coast.
Orangevale (who came up with that name?) a fine suburb of Sacramento. Thanks to V&K for the power, laundry and good times.

Nevada Co. Fair Grounds in Grass Valley

Salt Point - a great site, beach, kiting, hiking, friends. I'll be back!
Fogerty Creek near Depoe Bay in Oregon - great kiting!

More to come!

Mary Jim's Bash

Another beautiful day in Kirkland!
After enjoying 75+ degree sunshine, we headed over to Mary Jim's place for some grub and spirit. Nice place MJ! Beautiful gardens and I especially like the red accent decor. But the anemometer needs to be relocated.
Cheryl qued up some fine rib-eye and we all chowed down. I think Eric would still be eating if Sue didn't make him stop.
On the liquid side, we enjoyed a bottle of Mac & Jack's African Amber, martinis and fine wine. The aperitifs were a big hit. Eric initiated the ice shot glasses and MJ mixed me up some silk panties. She poured an orgasm for herself. I'm going to have to get me one of those cocktail books!
Thanks Mary Jim!
Moving on to Olympic NP today. Hiking, rain forest, cape on the coast all from the base of Forks, WA.
Let the great weather continue!

My First Post

Hello All!
Well, I am 3 weeks into this adventure and it has taken me too long to get this blog going. I'll choose to blame that on Microsoft, but I haven't abandoned Bill and team yet. Vista is on it's second life in my new laptop.
Home is currently in Kirkland, WA. Sister Sue and Eric have been great hosts. We returned from Victoria yesterday where we had a terriffic time. Butchart Gardens was in full bloom and the Tiffany rose won the frangrance contest. The food in this town is to die for. All are encouraged to visit, but the US dollar is currently upside down.
I will add details of the last three weeks soon, here are some of the highlights.
The view from the top of Mt. Si.
Scudding 15+ feet at Agate Beach with my new 2.0 meter parafoil kite.
Hiking the Coastal Trail in Redwood NP.
Camping with Scott, Lyn, Zach & Bernie at Salt Point.
Miranda's fine vaulting performance in Grass Valley at the regionals.
Three pars in four holes at Ancil Hoffman.
:( No pars in 18 holes at Turkey Creek.
Andy's pool.
Scrabble.
Nice diggs at the McClain's.
Fireworks at the cliff view in Aptos with Joy an Dan.
I have decided to return to So. Cal. via the coast. There is too much I missed on the way up.
Glacier and Yellowstone will have to wait!
Rob