Portland, OR and Morgan Hill to Palm Desert, CA

Portland received a foot of snow, a record. Normally, snow falls and it melts before noon the next day. This series of storms closed the airport and the interstates. Our flight was delayed and we feared it would be canceled. The same flight on the previous night had been. We spent about six hours in the food court of the San Jose Airport. Ted read and I knitted, while watching people. We didn't care if we got to fly to Christmas with our kids and grandson.We made it at midnight on the 23rd. We upgraded to a rental car with four-wheel drive. The interstates were only wet, but the side streets had four-inch icy ruts. This was the mall in Vancouver, WA at about 11 am on Christmas Eve.
The only way that it will snow in Portland is when the wind blows West out of the Columbia Gorge. This kind of accumulation is unbelievable in a part of the country where the winter low is usually in the 40s.
Christmas Eve we walked from where we were staying to McCormick and Schmidt's on the Willamette River in Portland for dinner. The walk took us back to our years living in the Midwest. A couple of snowballs flew along the way.
Christmas day was celebrated in great style at Erin's. The next day Erin had to return to work. We met Brent and Tyler at Mother's Restaurant in downtown Portland. This is a great breakfast/lunch place. Tyler delared his pulled pork sandwich as the best sandwich that he had ever had. He didn't even eat his French fries. We managed to spend time with the kids and Tyler and friends. It was hard to say goodbye since we are going to be away for a year this time. We managed to get on a flight that left three and a half hours earlier than we had planned, making the trip back to San Jose easier.
Ted and I left Morgan Hill on Monday, the 28th and drove to Bakersfield for the night. It was our second time to stop at an RV park in an orange grove, where guests can pick oranges. The next morning we drove to Palm Desert. What a magical view as we climbed East out of Bakersfield.
From one magical view to another. The last time we went this way it was overcast and gloomy. The scenery wasn't remarkable then.
Would you believe that this is the Mojave Desert? There were frozen puddles along the side of the highway.
Soon after the snow we came to the Mormon Rocks, aka Rock Candy Mountain near Wrightwood on CA 138 in the Cajon Pass. The San Gabriel Mountains are being overlapped by the San Bernardino Mountians. The formations better resist weathering compared with those that made the desert.
This is Emerald Desert RV Resort, Palm Desert, CA. We watched the balloon come in for a landing behind the resort right from our RV site. The weather was in the 70s. I had to put on a short-sleeve shirt and sandals. Aaahh! Neighbors are from Jacksonville, OR and we met another guy from Albany, OR. Home is never far away no matter how far we roam. It is now New Year's Eve and we have listened to someone playing the bagpipes in the park. The unexpected makes for a perfect ending to 2008.

Morgan Hill, California

Gary Hagen was our checker at Safeway in Morgan Hill. Look carefully. He has ornaments hanging from his 2003 World Championship Handlebar Moustache. See www.whiskerclub.org, www.handlebarclub.org.uk, and www.worldbeardchampionships.com. He handed us this information after he graciously agreed to having his photo taken.
Ted is in The Farmer's Market in Morgan Hill, filling the bag with chicharrones or pork rinds. These are made in the store and are unbelievably better than the commercial ones. This market has a counter specializing in meat for Mexican dishes.
Another view in the Mexican market.
This is downtown Morgan Hill.
This is one of many decorated mushrooms in downtown Morgan Hill. Reminds us of the decorated bison in West Yellowstone, Montana.

San Francisco, California

This photo is for those who are interested in seeing RV parks for future visits. This is the office/club house at Coyote Valley RV Resort, Morgan Hill, CA. The park is new and well cared for.
We returned to San Francisco on Caltrain on Dec. 17. It was a beautiful, but chilly day. We wore hats and gloves. We got a kick out of listening to two teen age boys discuss girls and finals.
The bus system and friendly people didn't let us down the second trip. We met a guy whose mother grew up in Wilmette, Il and another who graduated with a physics degree from the U of I, Champaign. Connections are so nice. Then there was the new bride from North Carolina. It is amazing what you can learn about people in a short time. Between the three of them we got to a wonderful Italian restaurant in North Beach.
This Bentley caught our eyes. We saw a new one downtown, but I didn't feel comfortable taking a photo of it because the driver was parked right beside us and looking at us through an open window. Anyway, compared to this one, it was rather blah.
Typical view in Chinatown.
Chinatown on Stockton.
The famous Transamerica pyramid from Chinatown. The solid piece half-way up is the elevator shaft.
Ted wanted to eat at a specific dim sum restaurant in Chinatown, but it was closed for the day. We took a chance on another one and weren't disappointed. The markets were sure fascinating. Wish that we knew what half of the items were or that we could read Chinese.
This photo is for our family and friends who are Methodists. This one is in Chinatown.
It is hard to see the signs, but there are few clues in English telling what they say.
The Bay Bridge from Chinatown.
This shop on Jackson Street, Chinatown sells turtles. Note the sawn shell in the sink.
Here is a tub of frogs. We watched the guy on the right reach in with a plastic covered hand and select the best specimens and put them in the pink and white plastic bag he held in his other hand. I couldn't tell what his criteria were for making his choices. I am not sure I will ever eat frog legs again with the same enjoyment.
Typical residential street west of Chinatown.
In all the times we have been to San Francisco we have never ridden on a cable car. We did this day for $5.00 each. This is Powell. If it looks familiar, it has been in a number of movies.
The end of the line is Market and Powell, in the heart of downtown.
The conductor is descending to help turn the car around. We couldn't figure out what was special about the one lady they let stay on the car as they turned it.
This conductor is pushing the turn table on this side and there is another man doing the same on the other side.
Macys had windows decorated with about six different front door scenes. Each had a live pet inside. See the black cat on the right? Humane Society volunteers stood near-by to encourage the crowd to adopt one or more. What a clever idea.
This limited access street is an oasis of peace in the midst of this very busy city.

San Francisco, California

We took our time driving from Portland to Morgan Hill, CA. Morgan Hill is abt 15 miles south of San Jose. The park is new with nice features. The sites are very narrow and short for our size rig. We have to pull the car in just so or we can't open the door to the coach. Beyond the trees is a wonderful bike path that runs for 19 miles along Coyote Creek and a golf course. Morgan Hill is 4 miles away. It is a cute little town that reminds me of Carlsbad, CA.We ate at Sicilian in Bocca (Sicily in your mouth). The best Italian food since Jersey! Two quilt shops don't hurt either. Flafel's is in San Jose. It has been featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. The food was delicious! Don't miss this place if you are in the area.

San Jose is clean with the feel of a smaller town than it is.

This is the new San Jose City Hall. The rotunda looks like a plantetarium and connects to the building on the left. The city's website does not explain the appearance.

We rode Caltrain into San Francisco for $30.00 round trip for both of us. We then caught the bus across from the station and rode it to The Presidio and back. We stopped at Russian Hill and Lombard Street, supposedly the world's crookedest street. We were blown away by how friendly people were. Numerous people offered, without being asked, suggestions about where to eat, what to see, and how to get to places. We have been to San Francisco several times, but have, all but one time, toured in our car. Today gave us a chance to rub elbows with the people who live here. At one point, about 25 middles schoolers got on the bus. Took me back to the good ole' days.

Here is the famous Powell-Hyde Streets Cablecar. We were walking from the bus to the top of Lombard. There was a crew filming while we were there, but we didn't recognize anyone, but felt sorry for the actor, who had to repeatedly climb the steep street. I wanted a photo of two women talking outside one of the expensive homes, but couldn't figure out how to without them knowing. They looked just like I expected people who live in this neighborhood to look; wealthy.

Telegraph Hill and The Bay Bridge (I think) could be seen as we walked down Hyde Street.

How much does a house like this cost? It is across the street from the West Gate of The Presidio. The tree is neatly trimmed, but a bit lopsided. What's with that?

Now that we know how to get around for $3,00 for both of us, we will go back and see more.

Winchester Bay, Oregon

October 7 we sold our business. We feel very fortunate. Ted is now really retired. We celebrated by returning to Winchester Bay, Oregon and a county run RV park on a peninsula in the Umpqua River. This is what we saw outside the side of our coach.

The Oregon Dunes are right around the corner of the evergreen forest in the background. The path in front of the coach circles the park and is a mile long. It is great for walking and riding bikes. Last year we were on the other side of the peninsula looking at the marina.
This was taken last year, but shows the relationship of the water to the RVs.

It was fun watching this barge come across the bar into the river. We've ridden our bikes in the evenings to watch the progress being made dredging the river and marina. What fun it is to be able to do this and not feel guilty that we aren't accomplishing something. It reminds me of one of our son's favorite childhood books, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.

Ahh! This is the view outside our front window. The ocean is just beyond the land on the right.

Here is another gorgeous end to the day out our window. Imagine watching this as you listen to your favorite music CD. That is what we did.

Several storm fronts had come through and had the gulls very agitated. They looked like bees swarming. We have a sea lion that pokes his head up outside our door almost every day. Western Grebes and a family of Mallard Ducks add to the entertainment.