May 29 - Woo it's hot - Stuck in Salem OR

It's hot here today and yesterday. We've been waiting to hear from the Ford shop when the truck will be ready to pickup and yesterday was supposed to be the day...not happy about that but it's still better then a day working!

After many positive references to the Enchanted Forest adventure park here we decided to go...I would say that it was not only a frightening experience for our littlist one Andrew, but it's an old, worn down place with little to no real lighting in any of the rooms that one is left to wonder what REALLY lives there?

Here are some pics of that glorious place:

We stayed there for about two hours and went through the most painful version of Snow white and the seven dorks ( really that was the name they called it) ever experienced. a 1/2 hour of excrutiating pain and the worst slapstick comedy ever witnessed this century made us question our sanity at about minute 25. At minute 26 we were close to babling idiots!! The kids were close behind! The wicked witch was a transvestite and the woodsman was straight out of the Free Credit Report.com's spot and the cinderella was...nevermind...you get it. These were the vultures looming overhead waiting for us to drop so they could pick our tourist bones clean!!

We jetted out of there at high speed straight to McGrath's Fish house which was a great place. Great menu and great food.

We went downtown to take a look at the big golden statue that sits atop the State's capitol Building. He's the Pioneer represented in very shiny gold.

It's a beautiful town, quiet and very well maintained but it's time to move on!

May 26th - Salem Oregon

Well another beautiful day with few clouds in the sky! We're staying at thePremier RV park in Salem and it's a great place. Fairly full but all the parking spots are very nice.

Went out to eat at a place called the Best little Road House that was not really up to its namesake.

We all had a great time in the pool today under the sun. Massive water guns made for a wild morning!

We set up camp last night. Had to re align the trailer UUGAIN because the slide was pushing out too far!

TROUBLE WITH THE TRUCK

The ABS light kept coming on at speed and that was worrisome. Turns out, after taking to the local Ford dealer that two HUGE bolts sheared off in the rear differential damaging the tow wheel and meaning a three day delay for us and a new entire differential and housing to be installed! Luckily all was under warranty. Can't complain tho...we've got some time and it really doesn't matter where we are...we'll have fun anyway.

After Dinner we had a nice long walk around the park with the kids who learned about spiky plants, moles and mole hills and generally enjoyed the warm night!

Sunday May 24th 2009 Fairview Oregon

Today is the 2nd day in Fairview Oregon. We decided to check out the waterfalls everybody is raving about here. We were not the only one, you couldn’t come near them.
We saw a glimpse of one and felt that we would have more fun in the swimming pool.
It was a nice day; slowly we are starting to get settled in. Today we bought a printer; because we still have to do some work it’s not all vacationing...........
It’s a real nice area here, green, beautiful flowers and trees. But we are curious about tomorrow when we are traveling to Salem. We will also stay there for 2 days. We read that there are some awesome vineyards and also a family park.
For the last 10 minutes I’m looking at the clock and it doesn’t want to move. Hihi it’s only 8 but I was up at 6 so still a full day. It’s nice to get up with the sun and go to bed early, must say I like that schedule and more important, the kids have no complaints. Drew went to bed this afternoon by himself to take a nap and Kaylee put her pajamas on tonight and went to bed without asking. Too funny I knew we would finally make them tired………
Outside air, sun and endless fresh fruit, that actually saw sun and taste sweet, a treat for us Alaskans.

05/23/09 to Oregon

65 miles down I5 and we arrive at Fairview RV Park in Fairview WA. Home of Honda's specialized Crash Test facility for testing pedestrian imact. Sounds like fun!

Beautiful area, quiet for the most part and sunny too! We're here for two days. We're still provisioning for the road, food, printer extra airco unit etc. All seems to be going well apart from the F-450's ABS light keeps coming on. I hope we don't get stuck somewhere for a week while a dealer figures it out!

Sunday we'll be visiting the Historic Columbia River Hwy Falls along the way. Horse Tail falls, Pny Tail Falls, Latourell Falls and more. More pictures to come!

05/22/09 Pick up the Truck and 5th Wheel

Woke up to a Beautiful sunny day. 68 degrees and rising. Picked up the F-450 from the storage unit the night before and all was well. It was clean and ready for the trip.

For those who have stored their vehicles for some time remotely I whole heartedly urge you to have the vehicle serviced before you arrive and not before you leave.

Loaded up the kids and the luggage and went to the Tacoma RV to pickup our 5th Wheel that had been left for servicing and some warrantee work. They did a GREAT job. Steve there is the guy to see. He knows all and will even have your vehicle picked up and serviecd and store it short term in anticipation of your arrival! Great people, great service.

We went shopping at Freddies and Costco and hit the road to Mt St. Helens RV park. A very lush and green place in the shadow of the great mountain. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

We already miss the doggies and home and everyone that takes such good care of us. Onward we go!

05/21/2009 Anchorage to Seattle

We left at about 13:00 and Darlena was kind enough to take us to the airport. Said good bye to the doggies and hopped the plane.

A VERY bumpy climb into the clouds made us all nervous and Andrew couldn't stop talking about things breaking off the airplane! A great landing and 3 1/2 hours later and we were in Seattle.

Uggg We hate Sea/Tac Airport! So many people with so little time. We took a cab to our hotel and hunkered down for the night. The kids were a little crazy on the plane but that was to be expected.

Preparations

We still have a lot of work to do before we can leave next Thursday. But our truck was picked up at the storage place and got cleaned and all the fluids changed and this week they are picking up our 5th wheel. They will de-winterize it and make sure everything is functioning.

Now we need to pack our suitcases and make sure everybody knows what they need to do while we're gone.

Katie Lewis will be house sitting for us, we know her for a long time and are very happy she wants to do this, so we don't have to be worried about anything. She also will be looking after Mojo and Yuki who we will miss a lot. It's just not good for them to travel with us, especially in the very hot places we will be visiting.

Linsey is going to leave for Europe May 19th, so she will not be traveling with us either, but will have lots of exciting things to do too. We love you girl.

7 more sleeps, the butterflies are starting in the tummy, lol.