Yet another riverside park, yawn...

Click on the photo of the Clackamas River for a slide show.


Today we returned home from Barton county park, one of our favorite close-to-home destinations. It is, in fact, 8.5 miles from our driveway. Nevertheless, it is beautiful and restful. To be honest, our motivation for THIS trip was to pick blackberries. In years past, we have gleaned quarts and quarts of the sweet black jewels at Barton. In fact, I can recall one trip when we skipped dinner, because we had gorged ourselves on black berries.

This trip was not to provide such bounty. We were, I think, about three weeks late. What berries hadn't been picked had dried up on the vines, in part, no doubt, as the result of several days of summer temps over the century mark. It appeared, too, that the grounds crew had been trying to eliminate some of the vines. They didn't check with me, before they started on that quest!!

So, we didn't have blackberries...alas, there will be no blackberry jam on the table this winter. On the other hand, we had a wonderful time strolling around the park and visiting the Clackamas River, which runs along the southern edge of the park. Yesterday, it was very hot, so we spent a good deal of time enjoying Sadie's air conditioner and new TV set! Most of all, we enjoyed time together to relax. We started a new Bible study and chatted about the lifestyle changes we are choosing to make, including joining an athletic club and minding our food choices better.

We were at Barton for three days and two nights, but as is usually the case in public parks, there was no internet connectivity, so I had to wait until we returned home to post this.

Gee, the traffic was terrific...

This is a belated post of the remainder of our stay at Columbia Riverfront RV park. It was delayed for a couple of reasons. First, we had a scare on Tuesday evening. After dinner, around 9:00 PM, Jill began complaining of pain in her chest. As time passed, she had nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, light-headedness, and she nearly fainted at one point. We began to fear the worst, so, I had her chew an aspirin tablet; we locked up the coach, jumped in the toad and headed for Kaiser Sunnyside hospital, about 30 miles away from where we were camped.

Jill felt pretty awful during the ride, and I think she was pretty frightened, too. I know I was. We arrived at the emergency room about 10:45. When we announced that Jill had chest pain, she got the royal treatment. They wheeled her into the ER and began doing tests and monitoring vital signs. To shorten this long story a bit, we stayed in the ER until about 4:30 AM, at which time Jill was discharged with a diagnosis of severe gastroenteritis, perhaps brought on by a virus. It was NOT her heart, thank God. We went home to our house and slept there until later in the morning, and then we returned to the RV park.

The second reason for the delay in posting, and more to the point, was that the same evening that Jill was ill, my computer died. That is to say, the battery ran down, and when I tried to recharge it, the charger would not do anything. I got out my volt meter and discovered that the AC adapter was producing about 19 volts. We found a computer repair shop in Woodland, but he had neither the time nor the parts to repair, what he diagnosed as a broken power jack on the computer where the charger plugs in. The repair would have to wait until we returned home.

So, now I have a wife who has had a stress test and was told that she has the heart of a 35 year old, and a repaired computer.

One of the joys of staying at CRRV park is the ship and boat traffic that passes by within clear view of the coach. I have included a slide show of some of the traffic that we saw. (Click on the photo.) It was a terrific show, the like of which I have not enjoyed since my days of plying the Columbia in various sailboats, the last one of which I sold in 1986.

The remainder of our trip was fun and restful. We drove up to Lake Merwin, which is a reservoir on the Lewis river, a tributary of the Columbia. It is a beautiful lake and very popular with boaters and campers.

On the way back from the lake, we stopped at a country store and bought some sweet corn and fresh mountain huckleberries. Well, we were just about in heaven. We had brought along some filet mignon for the grill, so I will just let your imagination take over here. (Hint: Jill made a huckleberry crisp.)

The rest of our activities comprised exploring Woodland and environs, walking on the beach, and watching the traffic go by. On Friday, our friends Pat and Kim, from Gig Harbor, WA, came down in their fifth wheel trailer and we had a great time sitting out in the evening air, watching the river, sharing a glass of wine, and catching up with each others' lives. Next morning we shared coffee and more chatting with our friends, before we had to pack up and go home. In all, we spent six days and four nights in Woodland (remember, we spent one night at home...and in the hospital.) This is a trip we will not soon forget.

Below is a small slide show of our beloved Sadie. Just click on the photo.

On the road again!

At long last we are having a chance to spend time with Sadie again. Five and a half weeks ago, we got a call from our daughter Laura. She was in the hospital with early labor. The doctors were able to get the contractions stopped, but they told Laura she needed to be on complete bed rest, and she would not be allowed to go home, unless someone was there to look after her and Josiah, her 4 year old son.

Jill hopped on a plane and was there in hours. She was nursemaid to Laura and nanny to Josiah, as well as housekeeper for the family, while Tim was at work. Laura's due date was some five weeks in the future from the time Jill flew to San Diego. Well, baby Judah could not wait that long, and he was born after Jill had been there for three weeks. (For some pictures of our beautiful grandsons, visit our blog, Pilgarlic Postings.)

As soon as I got the word that Judah had arrived, I hit the road and drove to San Diego. Jill and I then filled the role of looking after Josiah and entertaining him, while Tim and Laura got used to a new son. After a couple of weeks, they were settled in, and we came home.

So, what, you may ask, has all this to do with our Travels with Sadie? Well, after a five week hiatus in our usual routines and in our relationship, Jill and I decided it would be a good thing to take a vacation and relax and reconnect with each other. So, we are parked on the waterfront at Columbia Riverfront RV Park in Woodland, WA. The view from our coach is breathtaking; the park is quiet and well kept; and we have nothing to do for the next five days except relax and enjoy each other's company.

If you click on the photo at the top of this post, you will see a slide show of our little slice of heaven.