Heceta Beach, OR (Florence)

Well, technically we should be about a quarter of the way to Crater Lake by now - but nooooooo, remember the blinker/brake light problem? Well, it's back, but the solution that worked isn't working this time.....Matt's been to Ford and Les Scwaub, noone there to help. And apparently no service departmens are open ANYWHERE.....so Matt is trouble shooting on his own ... he has figured out that power isn't going from the fuses in the front to the plug in the back of the truck - so I'm going to see what/who I can find online that might be able to help. Hopefully my next blog wil be from Crater Lake..

Theses were both taken at the beach that is walking distance from the Campground - it's a really nice campground, big shrubs on each side of the sites to keep the wind down, it has been VERY windy!

These are when we went to see the Heceta Head lighthouse, a nice little morning trip, we had a picnic there as well.

Saying goodbye to Astoria, and Lincolon City...

Obviously, the biggest news leaving Astoria was Matt's Change of Command and Retirement - that will be added at some point this summer - probably mostly with links so you can pick and choose what you want to look at.

We moved to the Astoria KOA on Saturday, June 20th. Spent a couple of days finishing up all that unfinished business that just won't finish up itself and said good bye to friends. Many made it to Matt's retirement party, some we saw over the weekend, and some, we sadly, missed seeing again. At least in Astoria - hopefully down the road that will change.

In Astoria, we were in a different section of the KOA than we or my parents have been in before, we really liked it, trees, slightly wider spaces....a good spot for sure.

Leaving Astoria, was smooth it took us a little longer to pack up than normal....we have ALOT of stuff crammed in this camper..... And, we left Astoria on a beautiful sunny day - a great way for a last look :) We made sure our first couple of days were short, only 100 miles to Lincoln City .... The KOA there is the smallest KOA I've ever seen, there is no pool, but the kids clearly loved the playground! Next stop - Heceta Beach......
James climbing "our" tree at the Warrenton KOA

Playing with water with friends Brooke & Anderson (it was somewhere around 60)

Bonfire Thursday night at Sunset beach

Stephanie and her "beau" Hunter saying goodbye (he's only 4 months older than she is!)

And - the wedding May 30, at Pt. Retreat in Alaska - looks beautiful doesn't it???? It was actually improving when the ceremony started it was sprinkling. Temps were 50 and it was windy -

Newport, OR Loyalty Days

Alright - need to remember that pictures go in reverse order.....We did another camping trip down in Newport for Loyalty Days - remembered alot of stuff about the camper we had forgotten, so it was a good trip. We played on the beach by the river and watched the parade - that's pretty much it just a relaxing family weekend! the first 2 were actually on the way home, the first is the calm side of Devil's Cauldron - it has another name that I can 't remember, but you can see Matt and the boys out on the rocks if you look closely. The boys were very careful especially on the Cauldron side, but I was far too nervous to take any pictures there.
Sunny day the lighthouse in the background is Heceta Head

It was raining in Newport (I know - what a surprise!) so we spent our time waiting for the parade in the back of the truck - actually, we watched the last half hour of the parade from the back of the truck as well - it was a 2 hour parade and it turned cold and windy, but we still had a good time

Here's where we're going .....

Arrive Depart Location

June 21 June 23 KOA - Astoria/Warrenton

June 23 June 24 Lincoln City, OR

June 24 June 25 Heceta Beach, OR

June 27 June 30 Crater Lake, OR

June 30 July 1 Orland, CA

July 1 July 2 Fresno, CA

July 2 July 5 Anaheim, CA

July 5 July 6 Las Vegas

July 6 July 8 Williams, AZ (Grand Canyon)

July 8 July 9 Benson, AZ

July 9 July 10 Las Cruces, NM

July 10 July 13 Carlsbad, NM

July 13 July 14 Ozana, TX

July 14 July 15 Fredericksburg, TX

July 15 July 17 San Antonio, TX

July 17 July 18 Lake Charles, LA

July 18 July 20 New Orleans

July 20 July 21 Destin, FL

July 21 July 27 Orlando, FL

July 27 July 29 Savannah, GA

July 29 July 30 Fayetteville, NC

July 30..................................................Yorktown, VA

we did our test camp back in Newport -will try and get some pictures posted from that. My brother and one of my best friends got married in May, so I spent 10 days in Alaska I hadn't planned on, and managed to get myself the teensiest bit behind......