Oregon to California

Another Post already??  (Ya... right)

On the last post, I said how much Jeff hated the seat on the Fatboy that he bought.  But I didn't tell you that we bought a new seat for it. 





THIS is the right seat for Jeff.


Now he just needs to get the 16 inch Ape Hanger Handlebars on it.

 We arrived in California for our new job on March 30th.  It definitely isn't simple making a move with two Harley's and a fifth-wheel.  We both rode to Redding and left both bikes, and caught a ride back with a friend in her car.  Then we drove the fifth wheel to Redding, and I rode my Harley to Clearlake, with Jeff following pulling the fifth-wheel.  THEN... a week later, we drove to Redding, and Jeff rode his Harley back.  Phew... lots of work living "on the road".

When we arrived, we stayed next door at the RV Park so we could get some orientation while the Winter caretakers were still on site.
It was a whirlwind Orientation... or so it seemed.  Way too much to take in with so little time.

I tried my best to take notes... but until we are on site and on duty and approaching an issue... we cant really understand it.  If you've been in the situation, you probably know what I mean.



Our first day of Orientation, Marci made us a wonderful dinner at their place. 


The second day, Glenn and Marci showed us around the area, and took us to lunch at the hardware store... sounds funny, but there is a diner at the local hardware store.



This is our View out our back window...  

 

And this is our RV Site, behind the fence, from inside the Resort...

And this is the Resort!

 

 

We've worked our first month now... and it has been an experience!  We've learned a lot and done a lot.  California has not had a lot of rain this Winter, so the lake is very low for this time of year.
We've had some challenges... but we are really enjoying it here.  So far, we're really glad we took the caretaking job.

We were even able to get Jonathan down here to spend more than a week with us... and of course, we put him to work! 

We had a really good time together.  This was the most time the 3 of us have spent together.

 

Our neighbors, Chuck and Joan, had us over one evening for dinner and games.  It was a good time for all of us, and a good thing for us, since I can't seem to find time to make meals!

This couple, Russ and Dianne, were here visiting from Wisconsin. 
They were looking for a property to purchase, and found one while they were here!

  Their offer was accepted by the owner, then get this... the owner isn't ready to move out, and Russ and Dianne are not ready to move in for a couple years... so they signed a lease agreement. 
Talk about a perfect arrangement for everyone!
What a great couple... they shared a fire with us a couple nights, then surprised us with a cash tip in the cottage when we went in to cleanup.  Our first Tip!  What a fun surprise.






There's nothing like learning under fire...

Last weekend, there was a family reunion held here.  They reserved all cottages, then had an 80th birthday party for a local family member.  There were 70 people here for the party.  Some of them had come from as far as Arkansas... and many of them had not seen each other in 40 years, so there was a lot of excitement, and several times, we were mistaken for one of their long lost relatives.  Funny... we started thinking we should play along, and maybe remind them of that loan we gave them so many years ago. (ha ha)

They were a wonderful bunch of people... we couldn't have asked for more well-behaved, friendly, tolerant people.

The reason I say "tolerant" is because there were a few issues with the cottages.  One especially bad. 

But we made it through!

Less than 5 months left on this commitment... then what??

The Beautiful Rogue River

 

 Will I EVER Blog again??  That's what I'm starting to ask myself!  

 

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Let me try to do a whirlwind recap of our past 2 months.

 

We spent February and March along the Rogue River in Southern Oregon.

 

For the month of February, we played Camp Host at Valley of the Rogue State Park in Rogue River, Oregon.  It wasn't real busy this time of year, so there wasn't a lot of camper interaction.  But our responsibility also included the day use area which is a Rest Area on I-5 so that was the majority of our work.

We had time to spend with family, which was the only reason we were there this time of year.  The weather was rainy and colder in February.

We were able to get Jacob, Jeff's oldest son, down to visit from Madras.  Normally he could get a ride, but this time of year we put him on Greyhound.

We rented a Yurt at the park for both Jacob and Jonathan, so they could both spend time with us... or each other and their Dad. 

 

Actually, I just provided meals and tried to keep everyone happy.

And, Yes, we got our ONE remaining Harley (which is really MY bike) out of storage at our friends place.  

 We rode a few times, while at Valley of the Rogue SP... Two Up (me on the back) and it was enjoyable.  

 We had agreed that this Harley would become Jeff's bike now... so he decided it needed some changes. 

He found a Sissy bar and 16" Ape Hangers on Craigslist.

BUT when we moved from Valley of the Rogue to KOA in Gold Hill, I rode my bike.  That's all it took!  I wasn't ready to give up my bike yet.

Lucky for me... he hadn't yet changed out the new parts.






 

SO... we looked on Craigslist for another bike, and we found one!

Jeff bought a 2003 Fatboy with low miles, gear driven cams, and LOTS of Chrome.

 He hates the seat... its just not him.  Its comfy for driver and passenger, but not the style he is looking for.

He also removed the saddlebags and crash bar, right away.




So now we have His and Hers Harley Softails again.


It is fun to ride together again!









Grants Pass is our home town... its where we own our house, and where we had lots of friends.  I say "had" because we just don't see them anymore... and there are very few that we are in contact with. 

We stayed in contact with people for the first 6 months or so, but then as full-time RV'ing became our life, we started making new friends that we kept in touch with.  RV life is a different life style, and we find that we relate more to other RVers.

But we still have that "biker" side of us too, and Jeff has a lot of biker buddies from his club days and from our home in Southern Oregon.  So it was really great for him to get together with a few of them.

After the camp host gig at Rogue River, we moved on down the road to the KOA in Gold Hill, for the month of March.  No work there... just Play and PAY.  Im good with the Playing part... but the PAYing part, not so much.

It's also on the Rogue River.














We walked nearly every day... and walking every day for over an hour, is the only thing we have found that proves to take a few pounds off. (but they don't stay off if we stop walking)

 

There are some great walking trails along the Rogue River out of Gold Hill,                but its about 1/4 mile to the trail, and walking along the road is not fun... and feels a bit dangerous.  So after walking it a few times, we opted to ride a motorcycle or take the truck and parking at the trail entrance.

 









Jeff's Cousin, Chuck, rode his Harley down from Portland to see us, and stayed a few nights in one of the KOA cabins.

The three of us had a great time together.  We hadn't seen Chuck in almost 2 years... because of all this traveling we've been doing!

 

Staying in Gold Hill, we were even closer to my parents house,

 so we were able to spend more time with them.

 

  

I know there is a lot more I should be saying, but this is getting ridiculous! 

We left Oregon at the end of March, and  I'm still trying to tell about our time there!

 

We are now more than 3 weeks into our job in California!

 

So I am going to leave it at that and publish this post.

The next post will be about where we are now!  and hopefully soon.

 

Thanks to all of you who check our blog!

Our Redding Visit and Seeing Family again!

Our Redding Visit

Sally and Richard were the first to greet us when we got settled at our site.  Sally has kept us informed with changes at the park since we left, and after their grandson, Roman, was born, she has kept us up to date on him too.

What a cute little boy.  Doesn't say a lot... but has some great expressions!

 

One evening we enjoyed a fire and some "catching up" with some of the people at the park.

We were surprised at the greeting we received from people at the park. 
They made us feel loved!

Look at this... Melanie even left us this bottle of Wine on our table.

It was time to say good-bye to Norma and Rick again... They certainly have the park handled.

We enjoyed a good time with both of them.

This is Norma... Rick was out and about I guess.

 

Oregon

Tuesday we made our way back to Oregon. 
We still own a home here in Grants Pass.  We've rented it out since moving out 4 years ago, and we are very fortunate to have a young family in there now that takes care of the property and pays their rent on time.  We were thrilled that they want to renew their lease for another year.

Stuff
Like most of you... we still have some STUFF we left behind.  So when we're in town, we make a trip to our storage unit to remind ourselves of what we have... and offload stuff and onload stuff.

Family

Our first stop after crossing into Oregon was to my parents home in Medford.

Hi Mom and Dad... We're back!

The plan was to park our fifth-wheel on the street out front of their house for the night.
But it was one issue after the other and it was clear it wasn't going to work.
So after a wonderful Mom's home cooked dinner, we moved on down the freeway to
Valley of the Rogue State Park.

 Jeff's Son, Jon, also lives here in Medford. 
Jon and Brooke came over the evening after we arrived.
It always feels good to know the gifts we bought were "right on"

Father and Son

 

We hadn't planned to do any hosting in Southern Oregon, but we had inquired, so when they had a cancellation they contacted us.  So here we are hosting at Valley of the Rogue SP in Rogue River. 

 

 

Its good to be doing something again. 

 But so far we're a bit torn with the expectations surrounding us.  Some of the expectations we have put on ourselves, I'm sure... but family is what we're here for.

 

 

Jeff really enjoys having a campfire.  There have been many times over the past several months that we couldn't have a fire, for whatever reason.  So we bought ourselves a propane fire pit. 

Its not quite the same, but it cures the craving.

 

 They don't give us free firewood at this park, which is unlike the other State Parks we've hosted at and doesn't seem right... but its the way it is here.  So we took advantage of all the fallen branches from the wind storm the other night and made ourselves a free fire. 

We don't need their stinkin' firewood!

 

We were dreading coming back to Oregon so early in the year, but for 2 days so far, we had incredibly sunny warm weather.  It wont be so bad.

Hopefully tomorrow we will get our motorcycle over here! 

 

 Take Care All... Thanks for reading.