Travel with Sue and Ted

Category: Blog

  • Cycling in Boise

     

    We had a relaxing day in Boise today, staying two nights at a KOA, which gave us a full day to relax from driving.  Before the trip, we got new bicycles, and today was the first time we used them!  

    There are 25 miles of bikes trails along the river in the middle of Boise.  We started at the zoo, and went north a few miles to a bridge where surfers and kayakers rode the one wave spilling over a small channel leaving the three-foot dam.  The bike trail took us to Boise State University and we really enjoyed visiting the campus and seeing their bookstore.  There is such positive energy on a college campus that reminds Sue of Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and Fremont High School in Sunnyvale.  We rounded up our time in downtown Boise by having a late lunch at The Boise Fry Company whose motto is ‘Have a side of burger with your fries.”  There were eight different types of Idaho potatoes from which to choose which came with the option of nine different sauces and ten different kinds of salt.  Delish!

    We are big-time fans of Costco and we had fun checking out their store in Boise. It looks like all the rest!  We were pleasantly surprised to see a Costco car wash ($7.95) next to the Costco gas dispensers. 

    KOA parks are a unique slice of America. At this KOA, every Tuesday evening a group of men play music here in a kind of group therapy or group hug session.  They may not all know the notes, but they play with enthusiasm and joy and play a variety of musical genres: Bluegrass, country, American, and John Denver!  I left smiling when they played one I knew: That Good ‘Ol Mountain Dew.  “I’ll hush up my mug if you fill up my jug…”

    Our travels are going really well.  The car and trailer are perfect for us (although we are rather small compared to the other rigs here) and the trip is relaxing.  All is good.  

    T & S  

  • Second Day – Bend

    We meet Ila and Kumar

    We arrived at Bend, OR, early in the afternoon, and after dropping the trailer, we enjoyed a couple of hours at the “Old Mill District” by the river.  A highlight of this time was talking with Ila and Kumar, a couple we met at the “Va Piano” wine tasting room. Our conversation sharing life stories, while overlooking the river and tasting wine, was energizing and fun.

    ST-in-BendWe stayed at a RV Park that uses paving stones, instead of gravel or asphalt, and long enough for the car to be hooked up to the trailer the night before so we could just pull out quickly in the morning.

    Bend is a beautiful city with a great vibe, and we look forward to coming back here in the future.

     

  • First Night – Shasta

    This is the first long trip in the trailer, and on our first day everything went great!  We left at 10 am and arrived in the city of Mt Shasta (about a half-hour north of Lake Shasta) in a lovely KOA, at 5:30.  Due to the Labor Day weekend, we endured slow stop and go traffic on 280 and 80, but without stress because we have no deadlines.  Our new Ford F150 V6 had no problem pulling the 23′ Creekside trailer up the mountain grades.

    Mt. Shasta KOA-Site 31Now we are enjoying sitting under a pine tree, outside our rig after arriving here, with a bottle of Tolosa Pinot Noir partnered with cheese and crackers.

    The important confirmation today is that I have great confidence in my driving pulling a larger trailer.  Our lunch stop was in Dunnigan (the first city north of Woodland after the 505 merges into I-5) and I did a really good parking job.  After pulling into the parking lot, I had to go past my selected ‘trailer’ parking spot, then back-in, making a 90 degree left turn.  What made this successful was the backup video camera system my family got for me for my birthday – a camera at the back-end, and one on each side – which  made the back-up process smooth.  Sue didn’t even have to get out of the car to guide me!

    Balloons from Monday Night LadiesOur day started today with balloons!

    They were set by our trailer at 7 am, by Joyce Fisher, on behalf of Sue’s Monday Night Women’s group from church, wishing us safe travels and Sue a happy retirement.  I caught a glimpse of Joyce before she left in her car, just as I was sitting down on the front patio for my morning devotions.  I hugged and thanked her before she drove away.  She smiled and said to me:  “Take care of our girl”

    Joyce, we’ve had a good start to our long trip, and, I will.

    Thanks for following along with us on our journey!

    Ted & Sue