BASS LAKE CALIFORNIA

Hi from Bass Lake Campground.

Took a drive around the lake today. Really pretty with lots of expensive homes.

Will drive into Yosemite Nat'l. Park tomorrow. Hope to get alot of good pics.

SHASTA LAKE AREA- REDDING, CALIFORNIA

WHOOPS.... Said we were heading for the CA coast. NOT... it was supppose to be 59 degrees for the daytime high. Young did not like the sound of that. SO.... We headed along the I 5 xway. It was in the 80's yesterday.

Went on a tour of the Shasta Lake Dam. Interesting. The lake is down 200 ft. from normal. That worries the Californians cuz that is their main source of fresh water. Also suppies a few states with power.

Drove down to Redding after that. Walked the pedestrian Sundial Bridge. Watched guys fishing for salmon in the Sacramento River below. The walkway was glass. Kind of neat.

The mountains are covered with pine trees. Pretty.

Should be close to Yosemite Nat'l. Park in a few days. Looking forward to seeing those BIG REDWOODS.

Thank God, the fuel prices in CA are not as high as we thought they might be. We paid $3.99 yesterday for diesel. It was higher than that 1 1/2 yrs. ago when we flew to Vegas and rented a car. God is good. He knew we didn't need high prices.

Bye for now.

Patti

Oregon

Drove from the Oregon coast to I 5 xway today. Decided to stay at an RV park on the way to the California coast. We have never seen the redwoods and there is a Nat'l park there. The drive today was along a river----beautiful! The pines were really tall and we were surrounded by mountains. Some of the trees are changing into their fall colors.

Anxious to see the taller REDWOODS.

Bye for now

Patti

Pacific Ocean

OREGON COASTLINE

We have really enjoyed the beautiful scenery along Hwy 101. The ocean is so blue and awesome. Collected a few stones and shells along the beaches here and there.

Stopped at a casino in Lincoln City yesterday. Had fun on $6 for 4 1/2 hrs. !!!! We also ate dinner there at their reasonably priced buffet. ($7 each). Penny machines are a blast if they let you play awhile. :)

We are at a RV park just s. of Florence, OR. Staying 2 days.

Bye for now
Patti

WASHINGTON AND OREGON

Drove thru the mtns. into Washington. The mtns. got higher and scarier as we went. Got to Goldendale safely yesterday to see my cousin Jill. We haven't seen each other since 1969. Wow, that was a longgggg......time ago. :) Had a good visit, ate steelhead that her boyfriend, Lionel, had caught and cooked. Yum. Also, we had some of the steelhead that he had smoked. Excellent.

Jill drove us around the area. Forgot the camera. We saw some orchards and bought some delicious peaches and nectarines. Apricots are also grown in that area. Saw the some wind surfers on the Columbia River (divides Wash. from Oregon). Also saw the lava hills. Guess they ae from Mt. St. Helen. Interesting.

Drove down the HILLS this a.m. when we left Jill's and headed along the C. River towards Portland, Oregon. Pretty water and mtns. on both sides.

We are now at a campground south of Portland on the Pacific Ocean. Actually 1/2 mile away. Went down to the Neskowin Beach after setting up camp. It had been raining but quit. Prayed for sun and the good Lord gave us sun! Great walk on the beach. Will stay here a couple of days. Was suppose to see cousins Kathy and Nancy but I guess we are about an hr. and a half south of them. Will call them this evening.

Bye for now

Patti

RESTING

Hi.. Today we are further west in Montana. Busied myself with laundry while Young went to see cars at a prison museum. Boy, I wish I had my washer and dryer with me!!! It not only costs way too much---it takes ALL DAY to do what could be done a little at a time at home.

I think Young enjoyed his time by himself. I would have to if I had been doing something more fun than laundry! LOL

Will see Idaho from the x-way tomorrow and spend tomorrow night in Washington state. Going to try to see my cousin, Jill, that lives in WA., that I haven't seen since Young and I first met; actually, in Alpena, MI,, in 1969.

Later.
Patti

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

We went on an all day bus tour of Y.Park today. 7:30 til 6:30. It was an awesome trip. Saw waterfalls, geysers, Old Faithful, the grand canyon of Yellowstone, buffalo (bison), elk, coyotes, Yellowstone Lake etc. etc........

What a great day! More than I even imagined.

Patti

YELLOWSTONE COUNTRY

Hi

We are camped near the Yellowstone River. Took a walk down to it yesterday. Young thought it was "neat".

Heading to a campground right near the north entrance to Yellowstone Nat'l Park today. Hoping to take a bus tour if it doesn't cost too much. Snow on the top of the rockies but not down in the valleys where we are. It got up to 74degrees yest.

Will send out pics of Y.S. tonight. Whoops, tomorrow.

Bye for now.

Patti

Wyoming

Hi.

We are in Wyoming tonight. After being in an awesomely nice campground for 4 days, we are at Big Horn Mtn. Campground. It is not nice at all. The only good thing is we get to sleep in our own rig. Oh yeah, there are deer right behind the camper tonight. Saw some antelope in a field when we first arrived.

We are in the foothills of the mtns. The other side of them is Yellowstone Nat'l. Park. The problem is that to get there the shortest way is over the huge mtns. So, we will head north to Montana tomorrow and go to see it from the north side.

Spent the day in Deadwood, S.D. yesterday. A fun day.

Should have lots of pics from Yellowstone.

Later....
Patti

Mt. Rushmore---Custer State Park

Wow! Today was an awesome day for scenery. Went to Mt. Rushmore first. It is almost a "reverent" feeling to actually be there. Made me feel proud to be an American. Young said "I love it". I think cuz he was in the Army, it was extra special to him.

Ate lunch in a cute little town called Keystone. Had buffalo meat for the first time. It was a buffalo melt with mushr., onions, gr. peppers and melted cheese. Very yummy. The waitress told us not to miss the Needles Hwy. in Custer State Park. So, we headed that way after lunch. It was one of those SCARY drives that could end in going to heaven via leaving the hwy over the side. It was one of God's most beautiful places to see though. One place you had to go on a single lane rd. thru a "needle" of rock on both sides. The cars were backed up on both sides cuz a huge tour bus was almost stuck midway. Everybody was taking pics of the bus. I figured no one was going anywhere unless that busdriver made it thru. There wasn't much more room for the backup of vehicles. So, I started directing the guy thru. He finally made it and we all clapped.

Further down the rd. we met up with a buffalo. It was so close, I could have almost touched it when I took a pic out the window of the truck.

Looking forward to sending Young on a cowboy outing. He doesn't want to go without me but I am recouping from an awful bout with my allergies.

Bye for now.
Patti

Hi y'all.

We are now at the campground near Rapid City, S. Dakota. This a.m. we stopped by an Indian Reservation in Chamberlain, S.D. They had a museum next to the Indian school that was really interesting. Young was so excited--just what he has wanted to see.

Later in the day, we stopped at Wall Drugs, the biggest drug store in the world. It really isn't just a drug store; it is almost a city block with a bunch of small stores under one roof. Kind of neat touristy stuff. The pics we took were out back.

Suppose to get the ins. adjustor out tomorrow on the a.c. Going to see Mt. Rushmore (the Presidents carved in the mt.) and everything else we can find to see in the area.

The time here is 2 hrs. behind MI. Seems odd.

Hope everyone is doing good back home.

Love,
Patti (Mom, Grammy, etc.)

MITCHELL, SOUTH DAKOTA

Hi.

We are in Mitchell, S.D. today. We had a good day with no trouble. Thank the good Lord!

We went to the Corn Palace and an Indian village that is being archeologly dug for artifacts etc. The palace you see left is made from corn. It is changed every year.

The Indian village is from 1000 yrs. ago. How they tell how old it is stumps me.

Heading for the badlands and Rapid City tomorrow. There is lots to see and do there. We will stay for about 5-6 days.

Young is tired but not too bad. He says he may let me drive tomorrow. Maybe he better not press his luck. LOL We shall see.

Bye for now.

Patti

Iowa-Minnesota

We are safely at the campground in Minnesota. Sprinkled some awhile ago but quit. Thank God! Only thing that happened bad this a.m. was the shaft in the bedrm. slideout broke when I put it in. Young has his welder, so, he says he is gonna save us $250 and fix it.

Will be in S.Dakota tomorrow. Mitchell then Rapid City. The air cond. will be fixed in Rapid City cuz we are staying put 5 days. Guess there is alot to see there in the "badlands".

Bye for now.
Patti

What A Day!

Hi Everybody

It started out raining in wee hrs. of the a.m. It rained ALL DAY! When we got to the 1st campground, where the guy on the phone said there would be plenty of sites after Labor Day, they were FULL!! Because Young was driving several hrs. in the rain on the xway, we decided to take Hwy 61 N. Bad decision!!! We encountered a railroad overpass in the middle of the downtown that read 11'8". Because we could not turn around or get out of there, I got out in thepouring rain and looked to see if I thought it was safe. I flagged Young forward and all "seemed" ok. He edged forward and we made it thru. I never heard anything scrape. .... About an hr. or so later, we stopped for fuel and went inside to get a Subway sand. to share. Young looked out the window and said " I think the air cond. is damaged". Great! We went out and he climbed up the rear ladder to check. Sure enough, the cover was ripped off and the air cond. is out of commission!!! I thought he would at least GROWL but he was a gem. Whew!

We are now settled in at a rv park near Waterloo, Iowa. At least I didn't meet my "waterloo"!!
Pray we have better days ahead of us.

Bye for now.
Patti

Almost ready to go. Kind of scary. It was tough saying goodbye to our kids and grandkids yesterday. Wanted to kidnap them and take them with us. Yes, there were a few tears.

After I take Mom to the retina specialist tomorrow, I will take a shower at her house cuz Young will have everything drained in the house and winterized. So, that means our first night (of many) will be sleeping in the 5th wheel tomorrow night. Yeah! I am so glad my hubby has me spoiled rotten with such a nice camper.

We shall see how this is going to all work out.