Reaching the Pacific- Day 15

 We had a nice visit with Terry's mom in Vancouver, WA (after the festivities in Salem, OR for Camp Hosts).  It was a delight as always to have huge scrumptious meals prepared for us, a real queen bed, and long extravagant showers.  We even had time to catch up on our activities since we were together last in late January.

Our trip was still begging to be completed, however, with a return to the Oregon Coast.  You can imagine our  joy to be watching the Pacific roll in from our campsite at Tillicum Beach near Yachats, OR.  Look at the view we have!!!

Right after lunch we took a long walk toward Yachats and passed below our favorite motel which Terry recognized from the steps.  Amazing! The blustery wind and beach fog in the distance are so typical of the coast here.

Our return became our belated Earth Day Clean-up.   We had been noticing lots of barnacle covered plastic bottles and foam pieces as we walked.  Since we forgot our trash bag we picked them up on our way back.  Their shapes were a bit unusual and as we examined them more carefully we saw that the lettering on them was Japanese.  Our first clear indication of tsunami debris on the beaches here.  We were happy to help clean up, but saddened by thoughts of the tsunami horror.  The view to the north shows this stretch of sand beach is immense.

After 15 days and about 3,658 zigzag miles the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean will sing us to sleep tonight.  We are thankful for another safe and happy journey across the country.

Spring Redbuds to AZ Summer and Oregon Late Winter Snow

If you have not traveled across Tennessee and Oklahoma in the spring, plan a trip someday.  The Redbuds in bloom were just gorgeous!  As a tree they love to grow on the edge of the forest so the roadsides were covered mile after mile, day after day.  It was amazing!  Here's an example in Red Rock Canyon State Park in Oklahoma.  This was our second night stop, a nice little park in a canyon on the edge of Hanton, OK.

We spent 2 nights at Santa Rosa Lake State Park.  One of our favorite spots below that big New Mexico sky.  It was warm enough for sitting in the sun and wandering among the rock ledges, pebbles and wildflowers.  I did lots of sketching too!  Terry made radio contact with Lincoln, NE and CA on 5 watts.

We spent 2 days with our friends, Art and Janette, in Apache Junction, AZ.  Our trailer kept very well in their backyard for 2 months even though the temperatures were already in the 90's.  We feel so at home visiting with them that it was hard to push on to have a schedule to meet in Salem, OR.  We were  invited to a luncheon on April 23 for our nomination as Hosts of the Year for our maintenance duties at Carl Washburne State Park.

The last thing we expected on our way was snow in late April.  Collier State Park near Crater Lake, OR was saving that Easter Monday night surprise for us!

The park under huge pines is spacious enough to handle anything from tents to Terry's dream rig which is parked just around the bend from us.

The sun is shining brightly now as the snow continues to fall.  Seems like the time to venture over the Cascades to Eugene and on up towards Salem and the warmth of the Williamette Valley.