Goodbye Blogger!

After trying Blogger...I've decided it's to complicated and slow for me...so this is my last blog.

If you desire to follow my travels, you can do so on my Wordpress Blog at:
ramblinmanjimj.wordpress.com

Astoria, Oregon

Yesterday Mary and I visited Astoria, Oregon which was the first settlement west of the Mississippi River and established by John Jacob Astor as a fur trading post (even though he never went there) in 1811. Among the things we saw was...

The Astoria-Megler Bridge which spans 4.1 miles across the Columbia River linking Oregon and Washington was dedicated on August 27, 1966. The bridge's main span is 1,232 feet in length, the longest continuous truss in the world. We will cross this bridge into Washington this coming Friday.


The we visited the remains of the old Hanthorn Cannery which opened in 1875 and was one of 38 canneries once operating in Astoria. It had a really neat museum. The photo was taken in the 1920's. It was the home of the famous Bumble Bee brand of tuna and salmon.


After that we went to the Columbia River Maritime Museum which does a great job of telling the history of the river. The first photo is a huge display in the main lobby identifying some of the wrecks which make up the "Graveyard of the Pacific". The second photo is of a full-size 44' Coast Guard boat affecting a rescue.




The cannery website is http://www.canneryworker.org
The Columbia River Maritime Museum website is http://www.crmm.org

All original material Copyright - Jim Jaillet 2009
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com

We visit Fort Clatsop and Fort Stevens

Yesterday Mary and I visited Fort Clatsop where Lewis and Clark wintered from December 7, 1805 to March 23, 1806.
Lewis and Clark wintered here 1805-1806

Mary in a replica of a Lewis and Clark longboat.

For more information about this National Historical Park, click this link:
http://www.nps.gov/lewi/


We also visited Fort Stevens on the southern shore at the mouth of the Columbia River. The fort served from 1862 to 1946. On June 21, 1942 it was fired upon by a Japanese submarine, thus becoming the only shots fired on the United States since the War of 1812. The nine shots received did no damage.

Evil-eye Jim does time in the Fort Stevens Brig.

For more information about Fort Stevens, click this link:
http://www.visitftstevens.com/history.htm

All original material Copyright - Jim Jaillet 2009
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com

Esther Williams Returns?

No, not really. It's Mary doing her Esther Williams impression in the pool at our current location at Thousand Trails RV Resort in Seaside, Oregon,

The reason I chose to do an entry about this event is because it's Mary's first swim since her shoulder surgery on March 3rd. I asked her to please not overdo the working of the left shoulder and she was good enough to fulfill my request. She sloshed around for about 15 minutes and called it a day. This morning she woke and announced her shoulder felt just fine. Another indication she is continuing well on her road to recovery.

Nice form!

All original material Copyright - Jim Jaillet 2009
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com

The Case Of The Midnight Concert

It was a dark and stormy night...that's the way Snoopy begins all his mystery novels...

Actually it was a little bit lit and peaceful night and at about 1:00 AM, I woke up to...well you know...and the was a midnight concert going on full blast!

But, before I go any further...let me set the scene of the crime. About 12 hours earlier, Mary had me take her picture by the remains of an Old Growth Tree. Here's your first clue...the band lives in and around this tree.

Mary is a genuine tree lover!

Just out of sight to the left is my motorhome where the bathroom window is only about 10 feet from this tree where we are parked at Thousand Trails RV Resort in Seaside, Oregon.

Okay, back to my story. We went to bed about 9:00 PM and the concert had already started. I remember dozing off listening to the beautiful melodies. Well, at 1:00 AM when I got up they were still going strong! As I did my thing, the thought struck me to record this concert. As it was a dimly lit night, I thought it might work.

So I got my digital camera and shot through the screen of the bathroom window. I could hear the beautiful music, but couldn't see any thing on the video screen. Apparently my digital camera cannot video in low light. All you will see is a small point of light coming from the club house about 500 feet away, but you can still hear the beautiful music.

In reality the played all night long without a a stop. Apparently they are non-union musicians. I hope you enjoy the concert which runs 1:23 minutes. When was the last time you heard something like this yourself in person?

All original material Copyright - Jim Jaillet 2009
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com

Seaside, Oregon

After an enjoyable visit with my friend Leo in Salem, Oregon Thursday night, we arrived yesterday in Seaside, Oregon for a one week stay. We are parked at a beautiful Thousand Trails RV Resort about one mile from the ocean. You can see our location marked by the red arrow as seen by Google Earth.

For more details...see Mary's Blog at http://marysramblins.blogspot.com

It sure is nice to be away from the hot and humid weather!

All original material Copyright - Jim Jaillet 2009
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com

Wimer, Oregon - Part 2

Mary's rental property is seven acres with 300 feet of waterfront on Evans Creek. Yesterday Mary met with her property manager and a neighbor to discuss managing her property properly. While I wasn't involved in the discussions, Mary seems satisfied with the results so that we can get back on the road this morning. Next stop is in Salem, Oregon to visit friend.

Mary's rental property.

All original material Copyright - Jim Jaillet 2009
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com

Wimer, Oregon

We arrived at Mary's rental property in Wimer, OR about 2:00 yesterday. It's located 13 miles off of Interstate Highway 5 near Rogue River, Oregon. She was disappointed to find the property in a somewhat run down condition and has a meeting scheduled with her property manager at 10:00 am this morning to discuss the situation. Her property is about five miles from downtown Wimer which has a grocery store with two gas pumps and this neat covered bridge.

The covered bridge goes over Evans Creek which is a tributary of the Rogue River.

We expect to depart tomorrow morning and visit a friend of ours in Northwest Salem, Oregon.

All original material Copyright - Jim Jaillet 2009
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com

Yesterday was more eventful than I had planned...

It was supposed to be a casual 150 mile drive from Nicolaus, CA to Redding, CA. The first event was grocery shopping with Mary at WinCo in Yuba City,CA. You may wonder why this was a noteworthy event....well, Mary seems to have need to have enough grocery stores on hand for about three months supply in case of a nuclear attack or some such happening. After an hour of shopping... with both of us pushing on the refrigerator and freezer doors...we finally got them to latch! I'm afraid to think what will happen when we next open those doors! I shouldn't complain because Mary is an excellent cook and we have super delicious meals. The proof is the 17.5 pounds I've gained since meeting her. In all fairness to Mary, we've kinda-sorta have been weak in the exercise area during her recovery from shoulder surgery on March 3rd. Now that we are back on the road, we are both desirous of being more physically active! The shopping excursion ran an hour...had I been alone...ten minutes in and out of the store.

Okay..then a stop at American Tires in Chico, CA for a tire rotation on the motorhome. Fortunately as went smoothly there and they were able to do the work without me having to disconnect the Bronco from the motorhome.

Then the unexpected happening! About 15 miles south of Redding, CA (our destination) at about 4:30 pm, , I broke an engine alternator belt. During this happening, the broken belt appears to have jumped into the way of the other two belts and jolted them off of their pulleys, leaving me with no fan and an overheated engine. Fortunately, I picked up on what was happening,shut off the engine and rolled safely to the side of the highway. Of course I didn't have the belt that I needed, so I had to unhook the Bronco and drive about ten miles to an auto parts store to get a new belt. Long story made short...about three hours later we were on our way arriving the Moose Club in Redding, CA about 7:30 pm instead of the planned arrival of aroud 4:30 pm.

I told Mary that even in adversity. one must count ones blessings. I much prefer it happened yesterday instead of today when we have to climb over the 4,400 Siskyous Pass where the nearest parts store was about 50 miles away!

Mary caught this picture of me with flashlight in hand evaluating my engine dilemna.

So much for another exciting day in the lives of RVers!

All original material Copyright - Jim Jaillet 2009
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com

Today we move on...

Today we leave Thousand Trails Resort at Lake Minden in Nicolaus, CA and head for the Moose Club in Redding, CA where we will spend one night and then continue North. Then a couple of days at Mary's rental property inn Rogue River, Oregon. Along the way today I plan to stop and have a tire rotation done on my motorhome.

Over the next few days, WiFi Internet signals may be iffy or unavailable. If I do not post a daily Blog entry, it's because I had no Internet signal. We expect to arrive at Thousand Trails RV Resort in Seaside, Oregon this coming Friday and there is a WlFi Internet signal there.

Sunrise at Lake Minden

All original material Copyright - Jim Jaillet 2009
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com

2004 - My Ninth Year As A Full-Time RVer And The Year I went To Cenral America In My RV

This was the year I took my 343 day, 16,000+ mile RV trip through Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. We departed January 2nd and returned December 9th.

In the below photo, Bud Kuball and I (the only two rigs of the original 11 to go the full pre-planned route) are in Douglas Arizona only minutes after crossing back into the United States. We asked a passing woman to take the photo, it was not pre-planned in anyway, and quite by accident we ended up under a Safeway sign. I thought that was kind of neat because we had just finished traveling 16,000+ miles through third world countries without any major accidents, mishaps or illnesses.

The final photograph of the trip.

In addition I have many photographs from our trip on my website. Click any or all links to see them. Once you arrive on a page, LEFT CLICK ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT. Enjoy!

http://www.panamaorbust.com/panamaorbust.html

http://www.panamaorbust.com/Feedback.html

http://www.panamaorbust.com/Nicaragua.html

To go to the home page of my website, click the below link.

All original material Copyright - Jim Jaillet 2009
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.panamaorbust.com