Beware the Ides of April...

As it just might snow!  And that's exactly what it did in Clearfield, Ut.  As I recall, it wasn't supposed to be more than a possibility of snow, but it turned into a "winter storm advisory" lasting through the night with the ground covered with maybe 2" in places.  And while it wasn't a lot, it was more than was expected, especially since it was in the upper 60's yesterday. 

Because Katie and I are gonna be working at Theodore Roosevelt National Park this summer, we won't be able to make it to the Dickson family reunion which is held every two years, with this year being the year to have it in the summer.  As a result, I'd be missing seeing folks in the family that I hadn't seen in some time.   So last Thursday, the 9th of April, after dropping Riley and Avery off at school, I headed up towards McMinnville, Or to see my sister, Elaine, and stay at her house for four days for the purpose of seeing as many folks as possible in lieu of being at the reunion.  She was kind enough to offer me room and board for those four days, as well as coordinate getting my son, Jon, my other sisters June & Shirley, and other family members to her house on Saturday for the mini reunion.  I arrived in McMinnville around 7 PM that evening ready to start my stay.  

In addition to the mini reunion, Elaine had a few things for me to do at her house and we started doing them on Saturday morning.  For lunch, we headed over to McMenamins restaurant in downtown McMinnville, and ate on the top of the Hotel Oregon where McMenamins is located.   Being up four stories affords a pretty good view from the top, and we were able to see the countryside well.  After lunch, Elaine led Jon and I on a tour of downtown McMinnville.  It was interesting seeing the various shops that were along 3rd street.  Half way down 3rd street, we met Ben Franklin sitting on a bench, and got our picture taken with him. 

Elaine felt like she needed to get close to Ben also.  So ...she did.

We had a lunch on Saturday with my sisters, June & Shirley, along with June's husband, Steve Taylor.  Their daughter and granddaughter, Stephanie and Aureliana, joined us a little bit later.  After lunch, other folks started arriving:  my cousin Kenneth Dickson and his wife, Rosa Lee, another cousin Keith Dickson and his wife Carol.  In addition, Kenneth's daughter,  Darla Bowman and husband John, as well as his son Kenny Dickson and his wife Kerry.  It was a good time being able to see how everyone is doing and especially great to see them since I won't be with them this summer.

Starting from the left, Rosa Lee Dickson (Kenneth's wife), Shirley Dickson (my middle sister), June Taylor (my youngest sister), Kenneth Dickson (Rosa Lee's husband), Kenny Dickson (Kenneth and Rosa Lee's son).

 Starting from the left, John Bowman (Darla's husband), Kerry Dickson (Kenny's wife), Rosa Lee & Shirley.

Starting from the left: Darla Bowman (John's wife, and Kenneth and Rosa Lee's daughter), Jon Dickson (my second son), Carol Dickson (Keith Dickson's wife), and Keith Dickson (Carol's husband).  Steve Taylor was off to the left out of sight in Elaine's kitchen, and you can see Elaine leaning against the door frame on the right side of the picture. 

As you can tell, these pictures were un-posed, and everyone was deep in thought.  Except maybe for Jon who looks like he was smiling about something...  I'm thinking that I thought about taking pictures after Stephanie and Aureliana had left.  Poor timing on my part.

On Sunday, we went to worship with June, Stephanie, and Aureliana,  and had lunch with June & Steve afterwards.  On Monday, we finished up the projects that Elaine wanted done, and then went to the Evergreen Aviation Museum to relax and see the Hughes H-4 Hercules, aka, the Spruce Goose, as well as other exhibits there.  We spent a lot of time in the Space Museum, but managed to get a tour of the flight deck of the Spruce Goose and have pictures taken before we had to leave to take Jon home in St. Helens, some 60 miles away.  After having pizza from Sunshine Pizza Exchange, we dropped him off.  In the picture below, that's me on the left doing my best Howard Hughes' impression.  Pretty good, huh?

The ride back to Clearfield, Utah the next day was a long one.  I got up at 4:30 PDT (really 5:30 MDT) to start on my trek home.  After spending time going through the little towns along the way to I-5 going to Portland (Lafayette, Dundee, Newberg and Sherwood) (and I could've gone through Tigard also, but I didn't want to spend the extra 1/2 hour to 45 minutes to get through it!), I got gas and was on my way.  I decided to go on the north side of the Columbia River this time rather than the south side as I did when I went to McMinnville earlier, so went to Vancover and turned right on route 14.  Once again, there were many small towns along the way, including Washougal and White Salmon, where my father, Charles Kenneth Dickson, lived growing up.  I thought the trip on route 14 was more picturesque than the stretch of I84 opposite it on the Oregon side.  I highly recommend it if you're traveling east or west along the Columbia.  If ya have an RV, ya need to be aware that there's a couple of tunnels along the way that need to be negotiated though.  

There was a snow storm on the mountains around the Idaho - Utah border that I had to go through.  Luckily, it wasn't cold enough for the snow to stick.  Much.  And the snow plows were out in force, spreading sand and/or gravel, and ready to do plowing when the need arose.  (Sadly, that snow storm is the one that stayed with me all the way to Clearfield, and is still here now at 9 PM.  Weather.com says that there was a high of 44 here today, but I didn't see it.  They also say that the high tomorrow will be 57.  Not really sure if I believe them on that either.)  I arrived here about 7:30 PM which means that my trip was about 14 hours long.  After giving Katie a big hug and taking a shower, I ate, and then collapsed into bed.  Regardless of how long the drive was both ways, it was good to see family again.  

Have a blessed day! 

Happy Easter!

As Christians, Katie and I celebrate Easter, which is one of the most joyous events for Christians.  When I was a kid, I remember having Easter egg hunts and coloring Easter eggs, although I never got into the coloring of the eggs much at all.  Kinda boring and stinky, if ya ask me.  But I really loved the hymns sung at Church worship services, and as I got older, the different choral works also.  As I've grown in my Christian faith, I've come to appreciate what Christ did for me many years ago, as well as his resurrection.  Each Easter brings more meaning to my faith, so it is with joy that I look forward to Easter celebrations.

We've been with Amanda and her family now for three weeks now.  Wasn't sure how long it'd been till I looked at the calendar and computed when we left Tucson, Az.  It's been long enough now that we had to drain the tanks yesterday, and in the same trip filled up the gas tank so we'll be all set for our journey on April 27th when we head up to Medora, ND.  The weather here was great the first few days, but this last week the nights have been cold in the 30's, and the days not much warmer with the highs in the 50's.  One day it was very windy which made the cooler temps that much cooler.  Maybe spring is just trying to get back to normal temps rather than going back into summer temps so soon, ya think?  We try to take walks in the morning, and this is what it looked like one of those days looking east on a cloudy day.

Looks kinda dreary, huh?  But the trees were blooming, as they still are today.  Maybe it'd look better on a sunny day, ya think?

Our days have been filled with making things easier for Amanda and Shelby with us taking care of some household chores, and me taking the boys to and from school.  That's been a fun time for me as we've been able to talk about a few things, particularly RV's.  There's one RV lot we go by, and I always tell Avery that there's motorhomes there, to which he replies that "he knows" they're all trailers.  Riley is supposed to help me out as he's older and is able to see the motorhomes, but he's just gone along with Avery.  They've even come up with a theory that motorhomes are bad, and they've had an effect on Katie and me.  It's all in fun with many laughs along the way though.  I made popcorn for them, and they've determined that I make the best popcorn, even better than movie theater popcorn.  There's really no secret to it except that it isn't microwave popcorn, but the real thing.  Then last week, I made waffles for them, and I'm now the best waffle maker also.  Can't take credit for that as Amanda got the mix and the iron, all I did was mix it up.  I guess my point being that actually "making" things to eat is better than using a microwave or toaster to heat up food.  Like they were many years ago before convenience food was invented.  

We did go up to Meridian, ID., for a memorial service for Katie's niece, Allison, who was involved in an auto accident earlier in March.  While it was a somber even, it was good to see Katie's brother and sister in law, Ken and Lori, as well as her sister, Karen, and her husband, Bill, also.  Ken and Lori's great grandson, Mikey, also celebrated his 2nd birthday so the trip was good for that also.  On the way up there, we went through a wind storm that brought up many, many tumbleweeds from along the highway, and points beyond it seemed like there were so many of them, I didn't try to avoid them and our car wound up with a moustache.

A couple of blogs ago, I spoke about getting a different rig for us as our mighty Chieftain is ...not as it once was.  As much as we've been for RVing in a moho, the time has come that we're believing that a 5th wheel trailer would give us more usable room than a moho as there's space taken up at the front end of a moho that can't be utilized easily.  Plus there's the added expense of paying for the running gear of a moho which usually isn't used that often, especially if we go somewhere and just sit for weeks to months at a time; I mean it's an extra engine and drive train that we'd have to take care of.  Registration fees tend to be less for a 5th wheel than for a moho also.  

This represents quite a change for us as there's a few things that don't occur in 5th wheels that occur in motorhomes.  In particular, they usually weigh more than the dinghy that is towed behind the moho which is used for traveling around when the moho is setup at the campsite.  The vast majority of 5th wheels will weigh more than the truck that pulls them.  More than half of the mohos made will have fiberglass roofs, where they're available only in the crem dela crem of 5th wheels (the rest of the 5th wheels have a rubber roof, or something similar).  Setup and tear down at a campsite is usually easier and quicker in a moho by far.  When traveling, food can easily be procured from the refrigerator, and heated up if needed, for all the passengers of the moho.  Bathroom stops aren't necessary, except for the driver, because the bathroom is traveling with the driver and passenger rather than in a vehicle behind them.  These are some of the reasons that we've always thought of having a moho rather than a 5th wheel, it's just always made sense to us.

5th wheels can cost upwards of $150,000, such as this one.  As with just about anything in life, ya gets what ya pays for with very good quality and high end features being found in the rigs at the upper end of the price spectrum.  We're not looking for those rigs as they don't always have what we want anyway, but more the ones that are at the middle part of the price spectrum instead.  In my opinion, any RV that is made at the lower end of the price spectrum is made for young families that want to get started in the RVing experience, and not for the rigors of full time living in it.  So we'll be paying for something that will hopefully be able to stand the test of time in that middle zone.

There's a few different genres of 5th wheels in the market now.  The most common would be the one with the bedroom in the front of the rig, followed by the bathroom as we go towards the back, and finally the living area which includes the kitchen and eating area as well.  Lately, another style has come out where the living area and bedroom are switched so the living area is raised above the kitchen in the middle.  In a few models like this, the bedroom is also raised in the back of the trailer enabling the manufacture to allow for a hefty amount of storage under the bedroom as well as the living room.  Another trend is to have a large bathroom in the front of the rig with a half bath amidships.  Toy haulers are another style which offer an abundance of space in the back of the rig for toys such as ...bikes and trikes clear up to cars and lots of things in between.  On most of them, there is one or two large bunks that come down from the ceiling allowing for sleeping in the garage as well.  Many toy haulers have the ability to turn the tailgate into a patio for outdoor seating on the same level as the rest of the rig so ya don't have to got down steps to get to your outdoor chair, or up them to get another piece of chicken.  Another style would be the rigs with bunk rooms, which are usually placed either amidships or in the extreme back.  Having the bunk room in the middle  still allows the living room to be in the back, which seems to be a little more desirable for us.  Although with the bunk room in the back, it's larger and there is a possibility of more bunks, or often times there will be an abbreviated outdoor kitchen under the upper bunk on the curb side. 

Having said that, as far as we're concerned, the floor plans in 5th wheels come in two different styles: the ones with the dining area on the curb side, and the ones with the dining area on the street side, and this includes toy haulers.  We prefer to have one with the dining area on the curb side, which just happens to be the side that would have our campsite on it.  These floor plans also can allow for seeing who might be coming to your door a little easier as well.  We also want the living area to be in the rear of the rig if possible. That criteria narrows down the field a bunch.  

As you may recall, one of the reasons for the change in RVs is to have more room, mainly for Katie's painting.  If there is a bunk room or garage available, it could be used as Katie's studio, in addition to providing extra storage space which sometimes happens when paintings are made and space is needed for them.  Plus if other folks choose to stay with us, we'd have extra space for them to sleep.  Without the bunk room or garage, Katie would have to set up her easel somewhere in the rig, probably in the living area where a recliner would be removed.  She's not too keen on this idea, wanting the ability to close things off when needed.  In considering toy haulers, it seems as though they aren't always set up for full time RVing, although they have pretty good construction.  Their interior storage seems to be set up for the occasional weekend outing or vacation still the same, and their TV viewing angles aren't optimum with it usually being 90 degrees to the right or left of how folks are sitting.  They're very heavy, and have no slides in the garage, although they do allow for extra sleeping with extra beds.  But their cost is higher than we want to spend, and they weigh more than we want to tow.  That leaves a bunk room 5th wheel as our choice.

So, that's where we're at right now in that we know what style of 5th wheel we're gonna want to get.  We've narrowed the field down further to less than 10 rigs, but as they 2016s are coming out soon, the homework we've done so far may very well be for naught if there are new models with more of what we want in them.  Might have to do a bunch more research, ya think?

Have a blessed day!