Times Are A Changing (Sutherlin, OR)

Okay, I know I'm way behind on my monthly posts. No excuse, just feeling a wee bit lazy about writing. We are back in Sutherlin, OR.  The photos are from our Hwy 101 travels.  I added locations to each photo's captions so I can spend this time explaining the changes that have happened to us this year. 

Cape Perpetua

We had a great time traveling on Hwy 101 and I'm sorry we had to leave the Oregon coast.  I'm already missing the cooler weather and the sea breezes.  I was still wearing sweatshirts and jeans in the last week of June.  Quite a drastic change to go from 65° to 99° in a half day's drive across the pass to the I-5 valley.🌞

Great Blue Heron - Newport, OR

In the last five years, we have seen a major change in the RV world.  Since the lockdown, RV sales have doubled if not tripled making reservations a year in advance much more stressful than the past couple of years. 

B&B (Riverboat) and Newport Marina

Newport's Sea Lions' Sun-loving and Sleep-in club

The days of going where the wind blows us have come to an end, but we are not giving up completely.  We still plan to travel and live in our ForeTravel, but it will be at a slower pace with fewer miles.

Wreck of the Peter Iredale -  Fort Stevens

Some of the changes started with the Sigsbee NAS in Key West, FL.  It used to be easy for full-timers and snowbirds to get reservations.  All we had to do was show up and we had a site. It might be a dry site, but we had one with a schedule to rotate to full hookups if they were full. They have over 400 dry camping sites, but there are more people showing up every year, plus there are more active-duty families living full-time in the campground.  During our last visit, anyone that showed up without a reservation was turned away after a one-night stay.

Footbridge to one of the campgrounds
Fort Stevens

This year the Sigsbee commander made more changes.  Now, people are on the phone for hours trying to make reservations six months in advance only to be told all full hookup sites have been booked. Sigsbee also stopped the rotations this year which was something I always enjoyed. I loved checking the rotation list, anticipating our next site-to-be, moving to new sites with a different view, and meeting our new neighbors…or being happy to move away from a neighbor, and yes there were a few of them.🤔  I’m hoping that 2019 won't be our last trip to Key West.  I would really like to see it at least one more time.

Depoe Bay

We have also seen some changes with Thousand Trails having more annual sites taking prime spots and once again Dan is left scrambling to make reservations. It doesn’t help their paying members when Thousand Trails decided to offer free one-year memberships to new RV owners through local dealerships. 

Lost Creek State Park Beach

When we have reservations with Thousand Trails, we do not get an assigned site.  It is a first-come-first-served policy, so when the park is packed it can be hard to find a long enough site to accommodate our 40-ft coach and jeep.  So far, we have been lucky with our site choices.  Some were almost too short, but overall, we haven’t had to face the problem of no site available to accommodate our coach.  We try to avoid the high season for that reason.  Now it feels like the high season is almost all year long.

Ona Beach

So, times are changing and so are we.  On July 7, we became leaseholders in Timber Valley Skp Park.  This will give us a home base for those times when we are tired of fighting the traffic, weekend partying campers, and reservation offices. 

Timber Valley Skp Park, Sutherlin, OR

Granted, it is not much to look at, but it is ours to enjoy whenever we are in Oregon.  We are allowed to do some landscaping, but we will probably leave it this way for a few years so we can add the site to the rental pool while we are traveling.  In the meantime, I'm going to be dreaming about ways to add shade to our new site.

We are on top of a hill overlooking the park's community center (actually - more of the roof), and we have a great view of the surrounding hills.  Very few of the sites have this view so we feel lucky to have it.  We are also talking about getting a second home base in Benson, AZ, but not for a few more years. 

So, that is our news for now.  I'm sure there will be more changes in the future.  

 

Two more photos of four-legged neighbors.  Below, we had another neighbor with a large pig.  It was interesting to watch them take this pig for a walk.  They would lead the way and toss food down for the pig.  The pig would then squeal and do a fast waddle to the food.  I'm not sure if the pig was squealing out of delight for the food or complaining that she/he had to walk over to get it.😄

Another pet pig at Seaside!

These three were chasing each other around when I accidently interrupted their play time.  At least, they were nice enough to stop for a photo before running off into the woods.

Newhalem State Park

Hitch had developed a bad cough while we were on the coast.  By the time we got to Seaside, it was so bad he would get sick after a coughing fit.  The Vet thought he had an allergy probably caused by our mold problem and prescribed amoxicillin.  It wasn't much fun giving him the medicine.  He managed to sneeze or cough pink sticky stuff all over the floor.  I must have got enough into him because he is back to his old trouble-making self.

What?!  I didn't touch Max!

Max and Dusty also saw the Vet.  We found out that Max has a heart murmur.  Not good for a high-strung cat.  We have to peel him off the ceiling every time one of us sneezes.  Otherwise, he is in good shape for a 17-year-old.  

I am calm...I am relaxed..I am calm..

And Dusty, he is in great health for being 17 years old.

Any more decisions have to go through me first.

On The Cutting Board

The last time we were in Florence, I thought Joy of Quilting had closed because of the for sale sign sitting in front of their building on Hwy 101.  Turns out the quilt shop was selling their building with plans to move to Old Town Florence right next to Lovejoy's Tearoom.😍

I have some leftover theme fabric of birds and cats, but not enough to make a quilt.  Could I think of a better excuse?  Of course, I had to go shopping!  I found the perfect colors to blend in with the scraps.  

Sample of scraps with new fabrics

Ever since I started reading the Oxford Tearoom mysteries by H.Y. Hanna, I have wanted to try High Tea with cucumber sandwiches and scones with clotted cream and jam.  Because the tearoom was not fully staffed, I did not know that I needed a reservation.  I was able to order a scone to go with clotted cream and jam.  I sat outside and enjoyed every bite.  It was delicious!  Next time, I would like to try High Tea.

I'm still working on those bags of scraps.  I'm starting to see a difference.  Two less bags of scraps to store and yet, there is so much more to use up.  I'm tired of cutting up hexagons and squares.  It was time to try something new with fast results.

So, I found a paper foundation pattern in my EQ7 to help use up more scraps.  This one is called Wild Goose Log Cabin.  This is certainly using up the smaller scraps with a lot less measuring and cutting.

I like the way the blocks look when they are put together and it is coming together fast!  I might try the opposite for the larger pieces of scraps with white triangles.  I'm pretty sure I'll have plenty of scraps leftover to make another quilt.

I'm off to tackle those scrap bags, so Max and I will say good-bye for now.

Darn!  She's taking my picture....Again!

Happy Quilting!