Bend, OR to Lacey, WA

Left Bend at 6 a.m. Heading to Steve's Aunt Alice's. More later.
J.

Bend Beard Contest

June 5, 2010

Bend had its first annual Beard Contest today and Jordan, Shira and I attended. I wonder if this will be as big as Woodstock? Like I will be able to say "I was at the first annual Bend Beard Contest". Over 200 people entered the contest and there was an amazing variety of beards, mustaches, and what they call "free style' which is apparently everything in between a beard and mustache. One of the judges, a Seik gentlman, has the longest beard in the world....his beard is 8 feet long and he has to carry the end of it. Photo to right shows just a few of the contestants ... notice some wore costumes to better show off their unique facial hair styles....the guy on the far left has a kilt on and there were a number of wild Bill Hickock looking costumes.......Contestants came from as far away as Alaska and New York and everywhere in between.....It was great watching the crowd too.

Bend Oregon

Drove, well Steve, Bobby, and Lisa drove and I rode from Brookings to Bend yesterday. Left Brookings at 10:30 a.m. and arrived Bend around 7 p.m. Traveling in Lucy is not a speedy undertaking. Along the way we spotted snow and Bobby couldn't resist making a snowman...Trixie's first snow.

Staying at Lisa's nephew's. Trixie is not to excited about Jordan and Shera's two dogs...big dogs or the several other big dogs on the property. She's having quite a different experience being an adventure dog. We all are.

We had rain all the way, it lasted through the night and I was delighted to awaken to sunshine. It's been a kickback day. Catch up on the laundry and reorganize my stuff in the RV. So much stuff, so little space. Tomorrow we head up to Washington to Seattle and Lacey. Chances are we'll stop along the way.

If you haven't had a chance to check out the link on the Africa Vulnerable Children Project, take a moment to have a look see. This is a very worthwhile undertaking that we support and hope our friends and family will too.

Aloha for now...more from the road.

maybe i can post

well bend---its really a great place --all roads have bike lanes--lots of sky/mts/clouds /high land pines/sagebrush/and LAVA(yea lava and cindercones)--sheera and jordans place is a little parasdise-really good to visit them----and lounge in sun/and RIDE BIKE yes steve and i rode today -----well tired of typing and dont know if this will work soooo

what an opportunity

Now that I am here in Oregon again I remember just how cold and rainy it was here last year. Harris is a great park but the rain makes it just a little more difficult to enjoy the beach.

We are having to make a lot of decisions about what to buy, where to go, when to go, who is sleeping where, who is cooking, what we are cooking, and all that stuff...makes for lots of opportunity to practice personal growth as we work to accommodate each other.

I think we will driving from Brookings to Bend, Oregon tomorrow to visit my nephew Jordan for a couple of days. It has been nearly a year since we saw him so will be great to reconnect. Also have not seen that part of Oregon so am looking forward to some new country.

Catching Up...

The journey began May 25. What a whirlwind it has been. Our flights over were uneventful. Trixie has proven to be an excellent traveler. Her only transgressions were an incident when she saw a service dog at the Hilo airport - she had a few words for him. Then on take off we had to put her carrier on the floor beneath the seat in front of us and she wasn't real happy about that. However, she was better behaved than the toddler up front with the well developed lungs.

The rental car was another story...finding a car for four people and ALL their luggage at a good price is no easy task - especially for four tired people. We ended up with a Grand Marquee. The trunk stuffed to capacity and part of the back seat too.

From the 26th to the 31st, we were at Steve's mom's - quite the gracious host, not at all phased by the four, five of us invading her quite household with the effect of a hurricane. It took all that time to provision and outfit Lucy, the RV. Bobby and Steve found good deals on all the equipment we needed for storage and carrying the bicycles. Lisa and I haunted Ross, Wal Mart and Target to find what we needed for inside of the RV. It's like furnishing your first apartment or dorm room. Had more things to buy than we thought of and things still keep coming to mind. Amazing the amount of stuff we have packed into Lucy.

Late in the day on Monday, the 31st, we headed off to our first stop, Richardson Grove State Park - California. There we got to put up our new tent for the first time -- in the dark. Steve remarked "Something's wrong." We looked at him puzzled, until he said, "We're not fighting." Wow! Breakthrough! We've learned to work together - after only 13 years.

We had all the hoses and belts replaced before we left Santa Rosa...some of the belts needed re-adjustment. Lucky for us Bobby and Steve can do!

Yesterday, we left Richardson's and headed north to Oregon, to a place Bobby and Lisa stayed when they were here last year, Harris State Park. It's a nice campground located on the ocean and we have a nice site. Read - close to the bathroom. Some time during the middle of the night  it started raining and it hasn't stopped since. The good news -- the tent is waterproof and has a full rainfly.

When the rain stops I'll take more photos...

A hui hoa.

JoAnne

Stayed at Richardson Grove State Park last night. Good breakfast in Garberville at the Water Wheel. On the way to Brookings, OR. Photos and more when we get to wifi and AC.
Aloha.

Oh yeah...Lucy the RV is great!