11/17: Back to normal in Juneau, AK - pic

This is mostly finished for now. Will be going back through and trying to fix pictures, etc.

I appreciate any comments or feedback.

Thanks

11/16: MV Malaspina -- back in the calm waters of good ol Alaska

Today was Monday and it was nice and calm. We pulled in to the port of Ketchikan at about 6 am and were headēd out again by 8 am. Wrangell was next and then we were made Petersburg by about 4 pm. They sure looked pretty. We gathered up some bags of our non-essentials and carried them down to Moki at one of the port calls. Moki was just fine and nothing was out of place. We spent a good part of the day in the observation lounge watching the wonderful Alaskan mountains, forests and isles pass by. We were a bit apprehensive about visiting the cafeteria, but there was no more excitement to be had. Apparently, busy body had disembarked and the children were all very well behaved. We went to bed early. We arrived in Juneau at about 3 am. It's a bit colder out then when we left and the roads have some black ice. First we went for donuts and coffee and a dcni and then parked Moki safely at home.

We brought most of our gear inside from Moki. Fussed with our fish tank and cleaned up a bit and then visted with Jenn, Gavin and Oliver. Jonathan and Amber stopped by later in the day. We were both so excited to be back home.

We sure had a great trip and are already looking forward to our next adventures. Thanks again to all our wonderful hosts and everyone else who has helped us along the way!

11/15: MV Malaspina -- rough seas and rougher women - pic

Today is Sunday, the seas are rougher today. It's the worst when we are crossing the large open areas that aren't protected by islands. It's not all that bad, but it's really not that safe to be walking the decks either. There's a bit of a roller coaster effect from the forward observation lounge. We were safe inside calmer areas by the afternoon. We passed the little town of Bella Bella, B.C. about 3 pm. In this area, there is a different kind of danger. You could almost toss a rock from either side of the ship and hit shore. It is amazing how skilfull and confident we are at navigating through these waters.

Our big excitement for the day was watching two ladies almost come to blows at dinner time in the cafeteria. One family with three young children were on our side of the cafeteria. The kids were quite loud, but were not jumping on the tables or forcing anyone to walk the plank. Not that they could have anyway; eldest was about 5 or 6, middle child 4 and youngest was 2 or 3. They were just being kids - for the second day in a row. Mom and dad had given up on absolute control and seemed oblivious to the racket of their offspring. Can't really say that we would have done a better job, but ît looked like the parents weren't even trying. Enter two more young ones (ages 5 and 6), who proceeded directly to the table of their playdates amid excited welcoming squeals from the first three kids. I'd say this elevated excitement level went on for about five more minutes, when across from the other side of the cafeteria came the other lady. She stooped down in front off the five children and scolded that they were making to much noise and were ruining the dinners of her fellow passengers. Mom and dad's jaws dropped along with any other adults within hearing range. That was basically the entire cafeteria.. The poor children were dumbfounded and had no time to respond before the out spoken complainer launched into another verbal assault. Now, the real fireworks started when the first childrens' mother (mother bear) reared up from the table and told the busy body to address her concerns with her or her husband, but she was never to speak with her children again. Well, the busy body now reared up on her haunches and got right in the face of mother bear and advised the her that she should keep her kids quiet. Then the mother bear got even closer to the busy body and said she could at least tell her to her face and she was not to correct her children directly ever again. This didn't sit very well with the busy body and tensions escalated. Now they separated, with the first mom going to the mother of the other two kids who was trying to get their dinners from the kitchen. Now is when the AMHS security guy strolled through the scene. All was quiet, and the security guy left the scene. Then mother bear came out of the kitchen and walked past the busy body's table. She sat down alone one table away and didn't say anything at all for a minute or so. Then mother bear got up and walked over to the busy body and renewed the quarrel. She got right in busy body's space and reiterated that she was never to address her children again and that she should take such matters up only with an adult. They both were shouting and getting closer and closer to an actual physical altercation. A ferry waitress stepped up and helped to diffuse them as did husband of the mother bear. That was basically it. Not an actual cat fight, but close enough. I can see both sides of this. It sure could have been handled more civilly by both. And here nI am, making light of all that. Anyways, it was the talk of the ship for the rest of the evening and a good portion of the next day. It was probably one of those you had to have been there type things.. We were talking later with the waitress who told us that there were never situations as tense when the ferry was still operating it's bar. That was good for a chuckle.We had to watch two movies in our cabin to calm down, San Anreas and that new Terminator one

Margi looking at Ketchikan.

11/14: MV Malaspina in Canadian waters - pics

Saturday was our first full day on the ferry. We are in Canadian waters and are advised to keep our cell phones in airplane mode so we can avoid any international toll charges. Seas are a little rough. It was an uneventful day. Scenery was wonderful of course. Dinner was in the ferry cafeteria. We tried to watch the most recent "Terminator Genisys Revolution" movie, but the player application on my laptop was skipping. We gave it up and slept well instead.

11/13: Farewell to Bellingham & our departure via AMHS - pics

Today is Friday the 13th. We packed our tote bags to prepare for cabin life aboard the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS). Flushed Moki's sewage tanks and then disconnected from the RV park by 11 am. We arrived at the ferry terminal about 4 hours early. What used to be an ordeal for me, is now not that unpleasant. That's thanks to Moki Ruby. By ferry, it should take us three days of travel up the Inside Passage of Southeast AK, to reach our home in Juneau. I plan to get my monies worth of that ferry cabin.

11:/12: Thursday was a shopping day in Bellingham town

Today is Thursday and it is our grandson Oliver's first birthday. We started out the day by a facetime with Oliver. Margi cooked me some eggs for breakfast. We each took a shower in the Moki facility and it was so nice. Then we were off to the malls! First we went to a pawn shop, but made no purchases. Fred Meyer and the Bellis Fair mall are just down the street from our superbly located Bellingham RV Park. While Margi shopped, I waited in Moki and listened to my music. I fixed myself a baloney sandwich and Margi stopped by for some lunch. When she finished her lunch, she went back to shop some more. She left her dcni in Moki when she went out again, so she had to get another. She got some nice blouses for herself and that's a good thing. After that we came home to the RV park and I took a nap until dinner time. We watched free internet TV (Gotham and Black Sails), until it was time for some sleeping.

11/11: Taking it easy at the Bellingham RV park

Margi still wants to go out and shop. I really need a day to recuperate... I win! We stayed home all day and did very little. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all prepared at home by my delightful, personal chef Margi. She figured out how to light the ovens pilot light and then made cookies. We watched some tv shows and Youtubes, worked a little bit on the blog pictures, made some phone calls and facetimed with Gavin and Oliver. Margi took a short walk to the 7-11 across the street for her standard dcni. Dr. Sweatie helped me replace a lost crown. My dental kingdom has been restored! My big excitement for the day was flushing Moki's black and grey water tanks.

11/10: Self tour of Bellingham, WA

Today we left the Silver Reef Casino and drove around a good chunk of Bellingham. We got Margi's DCNI and then had brunch at Denny's. We then went to find the AMHS ferry terminal and I got another piece of hat bling from the terminal gift shop. It is a Raven and completes the four corners of my Foxwood Casino cap. We then found our RV parking spot for Moki Ruby at the Bellingham RV park. We then headed out to get our shopping done at Fred Meyers. After that we had dinner at home, called Michael, Skyler and Alex. We also Face Timed with Jennifer, Gavin and Oliver. Afterwards we watched some YouTube music and finally another episode of the Walking Dead.

11/9: Cannon shot to Bellingham, Wa - pics

Today was mostly a driving day. We left Cannon Beach RV park at about 10:30 am. Margi did all the driving today. We first went to Astoria via The Coast Highway. We drove past the long bridge to get across the other half of the mouth of the Columbia river and headed east towards Longview, WA. We had originally intended to stick to the Coastal Highway 101 up towards Olympia, WA. Anyway, we zigged when we should have zagged and ended up crossing over at Longview. From here we took I5 all the way up past Seattle and to our penultimate destination of Bellingham, WA. Margi did an outstanding job driving us safely here. We arrived about 6 pm at the Silver Reef Casino. We were soon inside celebrating with a meal. Then Margi signed us up for membership cards at the Silver Reef. Tonight was special for us and we both left as winners. I didn't find my Secrets of the Forest game, but found a new good one called Hummingbird Honey. Margi had about $10 and I had about $50 extra in winnings whén we got back home. I feel a bit guilty leaving the casino with their money!
We also spent the night parked for free in their parking lot.

11/8: Lincoln City to Cannon Beach, OR - pics

We took it easy on the road today. We first went to brunch with Diana in Lincoln City at Lil Sambo's pancake house. Sadly, there were no tiger pancakes, so I had razor clams and eggs. They were tasty. Then Diana gave us a grand tour of the Lincoln City area. We drove south about 10 miles to the town of Depoe. Along the way, we got out at their spouting horn (lava tube) area on the beach. We also went into a kite shop and a crystal shop, but didn't buy anything. We headed back to Lincoln City and stopped at a Christmas ornament store. There was a huge selection of cool ornaments. Margi even bought a few. We then went back to Diana's for a short visit and a quick goodbye. We then headed north towards Astoria via the Coast highway. It was foggy and raining cows and alpacas to the extreme. We pulled into the Tillamook cheese factory and took a self guided tour. Margi bought some cheese curds and a plethora of fine sauces. We had some delightful Tillamook ice cream for lunch. After an odd detour recommended by Garmin, we were back on the Coast highway. It's a nice two lane highway, that's full of twists and turns, scenic and a relaxing alternative to the infamous I5 route. We are spending the night at the Cannon Beach rv park. It is about 10 miles south of Astoria, Oregon. It's Kraft macaroni and cheese with hot dogs for our dinner tonight.

spouting horn

11/7: White Salmon, WA to Lincoln city, OR - pics

I woke early to the screeching song of an eagle. Margi cooked us some tasty bacon and eggs for breakfast. We are leaving The Bridge rv park about 11 am. Today it was another $2 toll to cross the mighty Columbia river. Margi immediately pulled into McDonalds for her standard dcni. She did an excellent job driving all the way down past Portland. We ate lunch at a Shari's pie place and then went to a Dollar Tree store. For once, I had more fun shopping then Margi. We pulled into Margi's good friend Diana's driveway in Lincoln City at about 5:30 pm. After a nice visit, Diana flew us down to Mazatlan in her famous poop mobile. In this case Mazatlan is a Mexican restaurant and the poop mobile is Diana's Mazda Protége car that says POOP on the front. Thanks for the fun and educational tours Diana!

Crossing back over the Columbia river.

Toll station in The Dalles, OR.

11/6: Bend, to the Dalles, Oregon and across the Columbia river to WA

I woke up early again and started Moki to warm up a bit. After the windows were defrosted, I moved up closer to the Walmart entrance. After Margi woke up, she went to get a few more odds and ends (including an extra portable electric heater). Moki's original 1996 heater had gasped it's last breath back in Winnemucca. Margi also got us some breakfast wraps, a coffee and her DCNI. After Margi put a better bandage on my poor left heel, we were ready to go. We were on the road by 10 am and headed to the Dalles, Oregon. Margi drove all the way and I sat back and enjoyed the scenery. Lots of rolling, high prairies, horses and ranches. We made it to The Dalles at about 2 pm and started looking for a place to park. The State Parks here close near the end of October, and we didn't want to back track, so we ended up crossing the Columbia river toll bridge. It cost $2 for Moki to cross to White Salmon, Washington. We were soon parked in space #24 at the Bridge RV park. After I was done hooking up Moki, I explored the outside storage compartment. I found an outside magnetic front window cover, two wheel covers and a hood cover. We phoned into Beneventi's for pizza delivery. Margi did our laundry and then we watched another episode of  "The Walking Dead".

11/5: Winnemucca, Nevada to Bend, Oregon - pics

Today I woke up early and ate a quick breakfast. I then made sure that the RV's potable water tank was empty. We had decided to replace Moki Ruby's failing water pump. We also had to pull the mattress off the bed for access to the pump. Kevin the Winnemucca RV repair guru arrived at about 8:30 am and replaced Moki's water pump in no time at all. Our old pump still worked, but was on it's last leg. We figured better safe than sorry. Our new $100 pump works so much better. We said goodbye to our new friends at the Winnemucca RV Park and tried talking Kevin into moving to Alaska.

We didn't make it far and were soon gambling at the Winners Casino in Winnemucca. We had set our limit to $40 each. This casino was not huge but it was nice enough. I found my favorite game of "Secrets of the Forest" and was soon up by $20. I should have cashed out then, but ended up losing it all. Margi was more successful and came out ahead by about $14. Oh well, all in good fun.

We were on the road out of town by about 1:30 pm. The road to Bend was mostly straight, and we took turns driving. There was some fresh snow on the nearby hills, but the highway was ice free all day. We got our first full service tank of gas in Oregon at Burns. We drove into the night and found a KFC when we arrived in Bend, Oregon. We pulled into the super Walmart at about 9 pm. There was a sign that said no overnight parking, but we did anyway. I had been suffering from some awful pain in my left heel. I thought that it was a heel spur and would need surgery. When Dr. Margi looked, it was just a crack or cut with some sock fuzz stuck in it. She tweezered out the string, dabbed on some Vaseline, slapped on a bandage and wrapped my foot with Scotch tape. My relief was immediate. Thanks Dr. Sweatie!

Thanks Kevin!

11/4: Ely, Nevada to Winnemucca, Nevada - pics

Today we awoke to a white blanket of fresh snow. We were on the road heading north to warmer climates by 8:30 am. Our faithful Carmen the Garmin was half frozen to death and could only chatter some incoherent instructions. Despite our frantic coaxing she led us around Ely in a big circle until she finally warmed up. After a good deal of her recalculating, we were on the way to our destination of Winnemucca via the pony express trail to Eureka. The loneliest road in the world was good and mostly clear of snow. It is well named and the lack of traffic suited us just fine. We were up at a good elevation and there was a considerable amount of snow on the hills right up to the highway. We stopped to top off the gas at Eureka and then again at Battle Mountain. We had a late breakfast at McDonalds and Margi got her standard DCNI. We took turns driving on the bodacious straight highways and made it to Winnemucca at about 2:30 pm. We hit the Walmart again for some more odds and ends including a warmer coat for me and a sweater for Margi. We also bought some fake ruby bling to go with the lucky hummingbird rearview mirror ornament that Julie had gifted to us. Our ever faithful Garmin directed us to the Winnemucca RV Park right quickly. It has a reasonable rate and all the services. They escorted us to our assigned spot and helped us get set up. Their repairman helped us get our water pump working again. Just needed to jiggle it around a bit. Margi prepared us a simple dinner of some cream of chicken soup and a chicken sandwich. We facetimed with the Lium family and briefly with Jonathan and Amber. We relaxed at home for the rest of the night.

A fence and a mine.

An old mine next to the road.

Ruins!

Other side of the road.

11/3: Moab, Utah to Ely, Nevada - pics

Today we enjoyed a beautiful drive through Utah's sand stone sculptures, juniper and scrub pines. I took my first Moki RV shower and had some cold cereal for breakfast. I also coaxed Margi into taking a shower and unfortunately she ran out of water halfway through. I scrambled to turn the water back on, but she did not enjoy her first shower. We are still learning about our new RV and havent really figured out the water heater and other systems. After dumping our black and grey waste water tanks, we pulled out of our very first RV park. It was extremely windy during our stay, but it was still very enjoyable. We got to see some cool looking sandstone mesas, canyons, pinnacles and other wonders. There were lots of junipers and scrub pines. We passed through several small towns like Green River and Salina. Lunch was at a McDonalds in Delta. We maneuvered our way through the high plains and desert to the small town of Ely, Nevada. We wandered through town trying to find free RV parking at a Walmart. There wasn't an actuäl Walmart, though we did find the equivalent in Ridleys Clinic Pharmacy. It also had groceries, etc. and it was ok to park there over night. It was darn cold and windy. We could only coax warmish air from Moki's furnace, so we piled on extra blankets. We watched a Red Box rented movie named "Spy" from under the covers. It was entertaining enough to make Margi laugh a few times.

11/2: Farmington, New Mexico to Moab, Utah - pics

Margi made me eggs for breakfast. Yay!
Julie stopped by with some sopas fixings. Yay!
Donald and Jerry stopped by to help with windshield washer repair for Moki. Yay!
Katie stopped by with bottles of her home brewed cranberry and blueberry mead. Double Yay!

Vicki and Morris were gracious hosts and we had a great time. Margi and Vicki had a good visit and chatted about the old days practically non stop. Hugs and goodbyes for everyone. It was time to go.
We were on the road by 10:30 am. On our way out we topped off Moki Ruby's gas tank. We went through Shiprock, New Mexico and then passed through Cortez, Colorado. We were in Utah then and stopped for a brief rest at the Wilson's Arch rock formation. Our next stop was at McDonalds in Moab, Utah at about 3 pm. We found the wonderful Moab RV Park to spend the night. I had hot dogs and baked beans and Margi made herself a salad for dinner. We also found two presents that our sneaky New Mexico friends had stashed in Moki. We watched an episode of "The Walking Dead" and then went to sleep. YAY!!

11/1: Ouray, Colorado and return to Farmington, New Mexico - pics

We woke up and went directly to the awesome subterranean vapor pools at the historic Wiesbaden hotel in Ouray. It was quite warm, dark and quiet. We then relaxed for nearly an hour in their hot spring fed outside pool. It was a chilly morning, with a nice warming sun. Breakfast was at the Silver Bullet. Margi did a great job driving on the twisting mountain roads. We stopped briefly at the Silverton shrine and also their visitor center. Lunch was in Durango at the Steamship pub and brewery. Back in Farmington, we toured some of Vicki's old stomping grounds. We stopped by Walgreens to finally pick up my meds (what a relief ) and made it home by about 5:30 pm. Vicki's grand daughter Brooklyn stopped by for a quick visit and we also met her mother Tammy. Dinner was my Margi's homemade goulash. I had two bowls. We watched the evening news with Morris and then hit the hay.