Author: Keith g Shafer

A Change of Plans for 2018

Well we thought we were going to winter in Las Vegas and Mesa this year but after heading East to Texas for our National RV Inspectors Association Conference we got to thinking…

We’d already driven from Florida to Vegas then up into Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington this year and worked our way back to see the Reno Air Races and visit the kids. By traveling to Texas then back to Vegas only to turn around in April and travel all the way back to North Carolina for our Workamper job at Moonshine Creek Campground seemed a waste of time and money. Continue reading A Change of Plans for 2018

Enola Gay Hangar

Well our time in Winnemucca was pretty much uneventful so we left the next morning for West Wendover, NV. Wendover Army Airfield was where the crew of the Enola Gay trained in their B-29 to drop the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

A nice museum with plenty of photos and memorabilia is located in the restored John T. Brinkman Service Club. There’s an informative seven minute long video about the base that we’d highly recommend watching as well as several rooms dedicated to the young men who trained at Wendover as well as the civilians who supported them. Continue reading Enola Gay Hangar

Home Means Nevada

We had a wonderful time visiting Reno and our family. Our spot at the Reno KOA was a premium site with a fire pit, propane BBQ, and patio included in the deal.

Our first weekend in town we had Adam and the kids over for dinner and s’mores after they treated us the night before to Tacos Jalisco. Everything was going well until the honeybees began buzzing our table and drove us all inside for dinner.

The smoke and fire were enough to drive the pests away and everyone had a ball burning marshmallows and making s’mores. Continue reading Home Means Nevada

A Week in McCall, Idaho

McCall RV Resort

We arrived at the McCall RV Resort in McCall, ID after a drizzly, rainy drive from Baker City, OR. The nice thing about the rain was it cooled down the temperature and once we arrived, the rain stopped.

McCall RV Resort is one of the best laid out RV resorts we’ve been to so far and truly lives up to the moniker of RESORT. Sites are spread out, wide, long and well-manicured. Amenities included a pool, showers, laundry and clubhouse. The workampers here are helpful and friendly and a joy to meet and talk with. One of the top “likes” the resort gets on its critiques is the daily trash pickup. Continue reading A Week in McCall, Idaho

Along the Oregon Trail

As we traveled along the Columbia Gorge and followed the Columbia River we were once again following in the footsteps of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. At The Dalles we picked up the Oregon Trail and followed it Eastward to Baker City, Oregon.

Mt View RV Park is a cute park located on the West side of Baker City and convenient to the historical mining town and stop-off point along the Oregon Trail.

The highlight of our stay in Baker City was a visit to the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Located on Flagstaff Hill, a major landmark for immigrants entering Oregon Territory, the center walks the visitor through the history of the trail along a timeline of the trail.

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants left homes in the eastern USA and European countries for the promised land in the Willamette Valley. Many lost their lives, possessions, and innocence as they mostly walked the 2000 miles from Missouri. Continue reading Along the Oregon Trail

Peach Beach WA

The drive down the Columbia River Gorge from Portland to just East of The Dalles is an explosion of beauty and nature.

I’d heard stories about life “on the gorge” but had no idea how captivating the Columbia River, sandwiched by high cliffs, could actually be. Thick forests of punctuated by outcroppings poking through the trees and cliffs lining the Columbia reminded me of the Rhine River in Germany.

Needless to say the gorge is one of our “must return” spots but  when we come back we’ll meander our way along stopping for a week about every 90 miles or so and take time to enjoy the sights. Continue reading Peach Beach WA

Northwest Adventures JBLM WA

August found Ilene and me back in Tacoma, this time at the Joint Base McChord-Lewis Northwest Adventure Center’s RV Park.

The drive from Chimacum was short and easy and NW Adventures had us in the same spot we were in last year just around the corner from the office.

As soon as we settled in we headed over to Dan and Juan’s to see them and pickup mail we’d had forwarded. It’s always nice seeing them and Juan was cooking something that smelled AMAZING!

Continue reading Northwest Adventures JBLM WA

Evergreen Coho RV Park, WA

Evergreen Coho RV Park is an Escapees Co-Op park located in Chimacum, WA. Escapees is a member-driven RV club who owns several Rainbow Parks that are owned and operated by Escapees.

Escapee Co-Ops are wholly owned and operated by each individual coop and its members. Members of a co-op lease their lots giving them a base of operation if they are full-time RVers. Co-op leaseholders can rent out their lots if they don’t use them and co-ops usually have spaces for short-term rentals as well. Continue reading Evergreen Coho RV Park, WA

Ronald Keith Shafer 1933-2018

On the 23rd of June We Got the News That Dad Had Passed Away

Pop’s 80th Birthday Bash

Ilene and I were still in Helena, MT and were working our way to Tacoma to see him this summer…but it wasn’t to be. He’d fallen down at home and hurt himself pretty bad; bad enough to go to the hospital even though he was under hospice care.

Dan had notified all of us about the fall and the doctors expecting him to be in the hospital for a couple of days. However, not too long afterward the hospital called to let Dan know Dad probably wouldn’t last must longer.

Needless to say the news came as a shock and it was hard to get my mind around the fact that my father was gone. Continue reading Ronald Keith Shafer 1933-2018