AND....We are Home!

California is in Sight!

Mt. Shasta Welcomes Back to California

After 15,311 miles of cross country travel from California to the East Coast, North to Nova Scotia, West Again through Canada, and south from Vancouver to California, we are now home.

Our fifth wheel Trail Blazer was wonderful and suited our needs perfectly, especially once we got a handle on backing into places with it.  We actually think backing a fifth wheel is harder than anchoring.

The RV is getting a well deserved rest for a couple of months until we head south to Arizona to join the rest of the snow birds the first of the year.

NEXT BIG TRIP IN THE WORKS

In April we leave for Japan, China, Russia, and Eastern Europe.  We'll keep you posted as those plans develop. We will be touring with small groups and crossing China to Russia by train (May 9 to June 5 - 09/05/14 Australians put the day first and month second), until we get to Eastern Europe, then we plan to EurRail down to Turkey July-September.  Let us know if you want to join us or meet up with us somewhere along the way!

Cross Country Wrap Up - Friend and Family Visiting - The Horse is Heading for the Barn!

By the time we reached Washington State,  the Trail Blaze R and the Worrall Travel R's were touristed out.  Having been to Washington and Oregon several times, we took photos of only those places we had not previously been and for photos of family and friends along the way.  Visiting, not touring, was the highlight of our time heading south to home.

Enjoy some of the last of the photos as we made our way home.

Our first stop was in Bothell, where our niece Denise, her husband Matt, and their son Dixon joined us for a BBQ at the Campground.  We took Dixon geocaching and set up an account for him.  Hope he enjoys this new hobby of treasure hunting with Mom and Dad.

Matt, Denise, Dixon, and Russ

We also had the opportunity to visit Alicia, Jeremy, and son Vin in Bothell.  Alicia is the granddaughter of Johnie and Bev, our sailing buddies.  We met Alicia when she graduated from high school and her parents took her cruising in Alaska for her graduation present.  We had a wonderful time then and visiting with them in Bothell.  We had such a good time playing with Vin and playing cards, I forgot to take any photos.  Darn!

When we left Bothell, we headed south to Gig Harbor and spent a couple of great days with Army friends, Glen and Claudia.  They were our sponsors and the first people we met when Russ was assigned to Germany in 1970.  We have been friends ever since.  Terrific people and lots of fun!  We taught them how to play Fiji Rummy, and ate way too much of Claudia's great cooking.

Glen and Russ look like they came out of the same mold.  They even speak RV.

We had planned on visiting Mt. Rainier, one of our favorite places, on our way out of Washington, but you guessed it.....rain, rain, rain.  So we continued into Oregon and spent a night at the Mt. Hood RV Park.  We stayed there many years ago in my mom and dad's class C when our kids were in high school and attending the Mt. Hood Ski Camp during the summer.  It's still a lovely place, very green, and this time of the year, very wet!

Leaving Mt. Hood, we dropped down to Bend, Oregon to visit friends Tim and Meryl.  They were our slip buddies in Emeryville for many years and have since moved to Oregon where they have built a wonderful home.  We had a wonderful time with them.

Meryl and Tim

What a great visit, and we fell in love with Bend. We might be considering this as a place to relocate!  Wow, skiing, rafting, kayaking, rock climbing, golfing, beautiful parks, quaint shops, lots of cultural activities.  While we were visiting, Mt. Bachelor got its first snowfall of the season.  The ski area is only 20 minutes from town.

Winter is in the Air....Time to Fly South

Ski Runs on Bachelor

Once again, we were on the road

Heading south west to Shady Cove on the Rogue River to visit friend Dede and Bill from Colfax who have relocated to their slice of Paradise, Fish Camp on the Rogue.  Our plan to was to drive by Crater Lake on the way, but the snow that fell closed the road.  Oh well!  Next time!

We enjoyed a great afternoon with Dede, Bill, and friends at Fish Camp.

Yum!

Alas, it was time to head home.  We dropped down into California past Mt. Shasta, and down past Mt. Lassen.

Mt. Shasta

Mt. Lassen

Before spending a couple days at Lake Almanor with Russ's brother Don and sister-in-law Diane, we made a stop at Birney Falls.

We celebrated our home coming and Don and Russ's Birthdays at the Lake Almanor Country Club.

Don and Diane

So that's it folks.  We have been home now a few days in California where tons of little house projects have already started to consume our time, and I thought I would get this blog posted before we got too busy.   Russ attended a Lions club meeting this week and volunteered at Rail Road Days yesterday to work in the Lions Vision Van.  We interviewed for SERVAS, a world wide hospitality network to spread world peace, saw the movie Rush...great!  and trekked a 10 km folks march with the Placer Pacers today around Colfax and down the Stephens Creek Trail.  It's good to be home.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel R's as we settle in for the Fall in Colfax.  

Cheers!