I love taking 'crafty' classes whenever I have the chance so when I saw the flyer for Sea Kelp baskets here at the campground, I immediately signed for Sarah and I up for it!  

Believe it or not, this basket - pouch looking thing was made from those big, huge seaweed things you see on the beach.  You know - the ones with the bulb-like thing at the end?  You dry those things out a bit, clean them up and you can make all sorts of things.  The little basket in  my picture was the first (and only) one, but I'm thinking I might try this again.  

You basically just cut off the bulb end (save to make a flower tea light holder!) and then slit open the stalk so you can flatten it out.  Cut pieces to make a basket - square, round, whatever you want - and then sew it together with a yarn needle and waxed twine.  Next time I think I will pre-punch the holes with an awl or scissors to make it a bit easier to sew up.

Then you set your creation in the sun (or in front of the heater) for a day and it dries into a very rigid basket.  Too cool, don't you agree??  I didn't even think to bring my camera to the class for 'in-progress' pictures, but I'll be sure to take some next time.  You can see more pictures of the finished product (including my 'flower tea light holder') in my photo album here.  

Since Gold Beach is fairly close (in the grand scheme of things) to lots of family in the Medford area, we are hoping to be able to get over there to visit frequently the next few months.  It's only 160 miles each way, but if you've ever traveled Hiway 199 you know that that transfers to 3+ solid hours of driving.  Not completely out of the question for a 1 day trip, but not something I'm planning to do anytime soon.  So we took advantage of Mike's mom's 'bed and breakfast' and spent the night this week.

One of the things I noticed on our drive over was all the new (to me) wineries along the route.  There have always been lots of small family vineyards there, and now it appears many of them are venturing into selling their wines.  Feels a bit like the Napa Valley.  :-)

Although Mike prefers trying local beers, I'm a wine drinker.  (Almost always white wine, although I did try a Shiraz wine once that wasn't too bad.)  Most red wines make me feel like I have to scrub my mouth & teeth after I drink a glass though.  So Chardonnay is my favorite 'flavor' and that's what I will usually try when we visit wineries.  I've decided that I'll visit one winery each time we take a trip over to Medford and this trip it was the Longsword Vineyard.  

Small tasting room with just a few tables and counter, but super, super friendly people there.  First time I have tried a sparkling Chardonnay or a dessert Chardonnay - I enjoyed them both, but came home with the sparkling bottle.  If we had more storage room I would have purchased a bottle of the dessert wine, but it would be a very occasional treat and I just don't have the room for 'occasional' treats.  Their website notes that they use organic methods to grow their grapes - makes me even more glad I stopped there.  

We've been in Gold Beach now for about a week and a half and it's all coming back to me.  How much I love the beach - whether it's a southern California flat, warm one or the rocky Pacific Northwest ones.  There is something about watching the waves crash onshore, the birds playing in the wind, and the ever-changing sand sculptures that literally calms my soul.  I've missed this.

Of course, along with that there is the rain.  Which means lots and lots of wet coats and wet, muddy shoes to deal with without the luxury of a mudroom.  We do keep our awning out - at least partially - to create a 'safe zone' as much as possible; but it doesn't always (normally?) rain vertically here.  I'm thinking a simple outside coat rack may show up soon on our front 'porch'.  And some kind of 'shoe garage' is definitely needed!!

After a rocky start (rocky - get it??) our cell service (and therefore internet!) seems to be working well most of the time.  The closest Sprint cell tower signal has to reach down around the bridge and turn left in front of the mountain to get to us and it took a few days to figure out how to do that.  But - knock, knock - it's been strong enough to download movies that past couple of days.  (Yes, it takes all night to download the whole movie, but I can life with that!!  Consistency - even if it's not 4G - makes me happy.)

So look forward for more pictures, more posts (as least from me...<cough cough>) because I truly do enjoy working on this website.  It's just too frustrating when we don't have a wifi signal that can handle uploading more than 1 picture an hour, you know??  

Not too long ago a friend of mine came across a blog post about a big metal chicken.  Yup, you read that correctly - a big metal chicken.  It has seriously got to be the funniest blog post you will probably ever read - especially if you are married.  And female.  (Although Mike did laugh quite a bit upon reading it too...he's unusual though.)  

Anyway, after reading that I became obsessed with finding my own metal chicken.  (And yes, I'll give you the link to the blog post - but not yet.  You'll go there and laugh hysterically and you'll forget you were ever reading my blog post.  So just wait.)  Since we are international RVers (hey, Canada counts and we've been to Vulcan!) I just decided that I'd keep my eyes open.  Surely somewhere along the highways and byways we would come across a metal chicken, right??

Well we did!  We were tooling down some road in Alberta, Canada and as is my custom, I don't usually notice stuff until we are driving by it and by the time I can get the words out, it's back behind us.

Me:  Wait!!  A BIG METAL CHICKEN!!

Mike:  What??

Me:  A BIG.  METAL.  CHICKEN!  Turn around!!  I saw one!!

Keep in mind, we're not driving a vehicle that can flip a u-turn in the middle of the highway.  We're lumbering along in a 33-ft motorhome which requires approximately a 23-point Y-turn to actually turn around.  But Mike's been married to me for over 25 years now, so we turned around.  

And there it was.  This 10-ft tall metal chicken.  I didn't care how dumb we looked, we took pictures of that thing.  Lots of pictures.  It was standing out front of a restaurant near Pink Mountain, Alberta (next to a big Sasquatch statue) but why?  Who knows.  I'm sure Mike was just glad it wasn't for sale 'cause I think that it would have looked awesome standing on top of our motorhome going down the road!!

UPDATE:  I came closer to actually acquiring a metal chicken of my own today.  We were in the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, Wyoming and you would not believe what was for sale in their swanky museum store!!

Yeah, I know it's a lousy cell phone picture - but you have to remember I was in this museum store and surreptitiously snapping the photo.  I sent a text message to Mike telling him what I found and apparently the first thing he looked for when he made it to the store was that chicken.  He was afraid I'd bought it and was right then installing the thing on our motorhome roof.  

Alas, the price tag for $120 and I haven't sold enough Santa diaper sets yet this year.  But now I know they are out there!!  

Oh yeah, the original blog post?  It's here - but be warned.  The language is definitely R-rated; so if you'd prefer not to read F-words, just trust me that it's pretty funny.  

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We spent the past 2 days in Yellowstone - doing actual "camping" (which means we had no hookups - no electricity, only onboard water, and no cell service).  Although my lifestyle may lead you to believe that I love camping and that we do it all the time, that's not true.  I like my electricity, water hookups, cell service - my house may be small, but it IS a house with civilization's perks, thank you very much.  

I'll also have to admit that I really didn't know much about Yellowstone other than Old Faithful is there.  And when we first drove in, it really didn't impress me that much - I mean, the scenery was pretty but so was the drive through Montana.  (I know, I know - don't throw tomatoes).  Mike says I've traveled too much.  Whatever.

Once we started doing the touristy things though - viewing the geysers and the bubbling mud stuff I was beginning to agree the $25.00 entrance fee would probably be worth it.  But the highlight for me was definitely the wildlife we saw.  We had up close and personal encounters with bison as well as a huge bull elk.  It was very, very cool!!  The elk even gave us a demonstration of his 'come hither' call - weirdest sound though!  Especially coming out of this HUGE elk - sounds a lot like screeching, bad brakes - really!!


We took lots of pictures and even a video of Old Faithful.  We're uploading them as we can - check out the photo gallery here.  

This date marks the 45th Anniversary of the first airing of Star Trek:  The Original Series on TV and although we didn't plan it that way, what better day to visit the town of Vulcan??  

We stumbled across a web page about Vulcan a while back and visiting it immediately went on our 'must do' list.  We weren't able to make it the way up to Alaska in May, but we did get there on the return trip!

Vulcan is located in southern Alberta and is a tiny (2,000 population) town out in the middle of a prairie.  Not exactly on the way to anywhere but only about 100 miles from Calgary.  They host an annual Spock Days/Galaxy Fest and are working hard to build up their town as a Trek destination.  Spock himself visited last year and Garrett Wang (Ensign Harry Kim from Voyager) is the proud recipient of the first 'star' (actually a Delta Shield) on their Star Trek Walk of Fame.  (That's him in the picture on their Facebook page ) 

We had a blast - the people are all super friendly and we spent an hour or so on a self-guided walking tour of the town.  Everyone we met was very interested in our lifestyle - we're now known as "professional RVers"!  We are really hoping to be able to get back there periodically and see how they are growing - if you're a Trek fan it is SO worth a trip if you're within a day's drive.  

Check out our pictures from the day in the photo gallery here.  

No matter how much you read the books, check online, follow yahoo groups, sometimes you just miss stuff.  There is SO much to see when we're traveling - no matter what country, state or province.  Every place has a history and I wish there was time to get to know it all.  But since there isn't, Mike and I have to pick and choose places to stop at - and sometimes we just wing it.  

The Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake, Yukon Territory, Canada just happened to be across the street from our campground September 3/4.  I would love to have several hours to wander through the rows and rows of signs!  People from all over the world tack up simple, weird, elaborate and fascinating signs as they follow the age-old tradition of announcing to the world "I was here!!".  There were some signs that were updated with a year each time their 'owner' traveled up the Al-Can Highway.  

Part of the fun is finding a sign from your hometown, or somewhere you've lived, or someplace you've wanted to visit, and being reminded that for all the miles and distance, it really IS a small world.  I took several pictures (and believe me, they are just a tiny representation of the signs that are there!) and invite you to tag yourself if you see YOUR hometown posted.  You can see the photos by clicking here.  

Earlier this week we overnighted at an RV camp in Grande Prairie, Alberta - Country Roads RV Camp.  It looked great in the Milepost Guide, was a bit of a disappointment, BUT there was a cornfield maze there!  8 acres of cornfield cut into the most intricate maze you've ever seen.  Take a look:

See what I mean??  That's the layout of the maze (no wonder I couldn't figure out where the heck I was going!  
We hit it on an 'off' day, so the maze was officially closed to the public.  But since our motorhome was parked maybe 50 feet away from the entrance we went anyway.  At first Mike was hesitant for us to be separated - we'd already lost track of Sarah and I think he had visions of spending hours trying to find his directionally-challenged family members but never fear!  We did just fine - I even found my way OUT of the maze by myself (and no, we did NOT have this map at the time - sure would have helped!)
Since we left Grande Prairie I've noticed several signs along the road advertising other cornfield mazes and did a little googling.  Turns out there is quite an association of them around the world.  Over 250 'registered' mazes in the United States, Canada, the UK, and...Poland.  (Somehow I just never thought of cornfields in Poland...)  Click on the maze layout image above for the Grande Prairie maze web page; from there you can also check out the location maps to see if there is one near you.  If so, go check it out!!

May 26, 2011

We have stumbled onto a jewel in the wilds of the Yukon Territory – White River RV Camp near Beaver Creek.  Not only is the campground gorgeous, but the owner and her story will inspire you to follow your dreams:

Amanda and her 9 year old son Jonathan left Ireland in 2006 to follow a dream.  With nothing but a few suitcases filled with winter clothes to make it through the -70 degree winter temperatures in their new home, they arrived in Beaver Creek in the Yukon Territory of northwestern Canada.  

The family had visited the area in June 2005 on holiday and fallen in love with it.  More visits followed and plans were made to purchase a campground there and relocate.  But when it came time to actually leave Ireland, her husband decided it wasn’t for him.  But he didn’t want Amanda to resent his decision and encouraged her to go ahead with the plan.  And so she did.

Their first year at the campground, she and Jonathan lived in a small cabin at the back of the campground – with no electricity or running water.  She homeschooled him while she began work on renovating and upgrading the facilities.  She calls it the best year of her life.

5 years later, the White River RV Campground is becoming *the* place to stop on your way through this area. As we left this trip, she was going into town to pick up a modem so that she would have internet access at the campground.  Until now, she has had to drive to Beaver Creek 25 miles away - over the Alcan Highway that is an hour each way!  She will still have to make the trip weekly to pick up her snail mail though.  

Bob is the previous owner but he’s stayed on and works with Amanda running the camp.  Be careful when you meet him – he’s got a bone-crushing hand shake. 

There is a big campfire ring and benches and since the sun stays up past midnight up here, you may find yourself chatting the evening away before you realize it.

There’s a lot to see and do here - Amanda will take you on nature hikes, teach you about the medicinal uses for the native plants.  Bear watching, moose calling, and hunting trips for sheep or moose – I mean really, how much more immersion in ‘frontier life’ could you want??  She doesn't have a website (yet - I'm working on her!), but there are a few reviews on this page.  

May 27, 2011

Once again we were witness to some amazing scenery yesterday and today.  The Icefields Range , our first moose sighting, Pickhandle Lake and the Shakwak Trench – whew!!  Get a cup of coffee, sit back and enjoy paging through the album.  I added comments to most of the pictures so you'll know what you're looking at.  :-)