Did I mention that our air conditioner went kaput?

Yes, here it is the beginning of summer and that whining, clanking sound that our heat pump was making has finally ended along with its functioning. The other side of that is it is a heat pump, which means it is also our air conditioner. Bad news...we can't get an appointment to get it fixed until July 9th, so we need to get out of the Sacramento Valley heat.

Because it's only a few days, we head back to Fort Bragg to Pomo's. It's the week before the 4th of July weekend, so we're only able to get a couple of days in a water and electric site, which is not quite as private as their full hook-up sites.

The area behind us is shared with several other RVs. One of them had a dog who was off leash and had the audacity to walk behind OUR RV. Tank, of course, took exception to that and reacted, breaking through the plastic clasp of his collar in the process.

Tank at his favorite venue (the Subaru) modeling his latest accessory.

So here's Tank looking chic in his brand new green collar, no more cheapo plastic on this one. (We had a choice of Christmas colors and decided green was the way to go.)

We took one night to head to the harbor for dinner. Looking for a place with a water view, we ended up at Silver's at the Wharf. Tom's sister says they have the best fish and chips in Fort Bragg.








We didn't know this was the restaurant she was talking about at the time,

so, of course, I order the fish tacos and Tom gets the pan seared fish with pineapple champagne cream sauce.

We have reservations at Westport Beach RV and Campground. According to Google Maps, it's right on the beach, so we're excited. Well, you gotta be wary of Google Maps. We were using it to navigate to the rv park, and it took us right past the entrance to the point closest to the park, which has no driveway and is blocked by trees and shrubs. So now, we've passed the entrance and are headed north on Hwy 1 looking for a place wide enough to pull a U-turn in a 33' RV towing a car...

That's us behind the tree that's behind the fence.

It's the 2nd of July. The 4th is in two days, and, accordingly, the campground is crowded with family groups getting ready for the celebration. Our site is a little tight; we're actually right up against a hill with no ocean view. Luckily, the beach is only a short walk away...







...and Tank is pretty excited about being at the beach!

It's a beautiful evening and sunset.













The next day we have a picnic on the beach. This table is one of the campsites on the beach, and tomorrow, the beach will be filled with tents.




















We'll be moving on from here on the 5th, so we will miss the 4th of July weekend crush. We find a place to stay in a mobile home park in town. Found out that on the 5th of July Fort Bragg hosts the world's largest salmon barbecue. Gotta admit, salmon is not my favorite fish, so the incentive to go to the gathering just isn't there. Just thought I'd throw this tidbit in here for any salmon fans who might want to attend in future years.

Now, it's time to head back towards Newcastle where we will get our air conditioning repaired. As it turns out, the air conditioner/heat pump could not be repaired and had to be replaced, thereby extending our stay in the area. We attend the Nevada City farmers' market

where we find a wine shop to do a tasting and listen to music.

All of this is only worth noting because Tom has forgotten his reading glasses and the kind hostess loans him a pair of hers!

Quite striking. Should he keep the look?

Lake Tahoe and a wedding!

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY. Cathy (Tom's sister) and Dave are getting married! So we pick up some tables and chairs on our way through Truckee and deliver them to the Tahoe Maritime Museum before arriving at our campsite for the night in William Kent Campground.

Our campsite and the yurt for our young'uns 

I am just thrilled when the rest of our family contingent arrives. Haven't seen Matthew in awhile, and he's a little furrier (but not quite as furry as Tank) than the last time I saw him.

Andrew, Tank (the furry winner), Crystal and Matthew

The big day arrives, and Tom has grudgingly accepted the job as official photographer. (I try to help and get less formal pictures, but somehow I miss getting Tom in them...)

The flower girl (wearing black and white) made an early appearance

 Cathy is walked down the aisle by her two sons.

The bride and groom and wedding hosts left in a vintage Chris-Craft mahogany boat.

The reception after the wedding is at their friends' Kimmie and Greg's cabins. Food, fun, and games are enjoyed by all.

After the wedding, we headed back down to Nevada City. It gave me a chance to head to Elk Grove and meet up with some friends from my very first State job. They were a great crew and just the best people to work with!

Southern Oregon and Northern California

It's time to turn around and head back to California; we have a family celebration to attend. We leave Tillamook and spend a night in Corvallis before arriving in Eugene, OR. We spend a couple of days in Armitage Park, a Lane County park before moving on.






We're feeling the heat again when we arrive at the Southern Oregon RV Park in Central Point, OR, but we have a leaky bedroom slideout...

Torn gasket which caused a leak

and need to make this stop to get a section of our bedroom slide gasket replaced.

In mid-June we arrive back in California. We're spending a couple of days in Mount Shasta. We've been here before, and it has a very pleasant climate. It's really cool to see that the snow on the mountain has not melted.

Leaving Mount Shasta, we take Hwy 89 and drive through the Lassen National Forest. We stay at Hat Creek Hereford Ranch RV Park in Hat Creek.












This is our home base over Father's Day, which we spend at Burney Falls.

We're into the 2nd week of June, and we need to be in Lake Tahoe by Friday. Heading south, we make one more stop at Merrill Campground at Eagle Lake north of Susanville. Merrill is a Forest Service campground that has some full and partial hook-up sites. We arrive on Monday and hope that we can snag one of these sites. The full hook-up sites were all taken, but we did find a nice site with water and electric. With some maneuvering, Tom also gets some satellite reception!

Merrill has large comfortable sites, and we can see the lake from our site, although there's no real lake access from the campground.

When we get there, we find that there's a group of retired CalFire folks who are having a gathering at Merrill. They do find Tom, and we join them for dinner one night.

Netarts OR

We hit the road again allowing Google Maps to determine our route to our final stop along the Oregon coast is Netarts Bay. You'd think we'd learn! Once again, Google does not stick to the wide, RV friendly highways. Instead, it takes the Beast along the scenic routes through quaint country villages whose townsfolk are probably wondering what the heck those crazy tourists in the RV are doing on those roads!

Netarts Bay Garden RV Resort will be our home base as we explore the Tillamook area. The RV sites are a little tight, and we have to try a couple before we find a level one that fits.

We weren't able to get a site with a view of the bay, but it's just a short walk away.











Cape Meares is at the southern tip of Tillamook Bay, and just north of Netarts Bay.

The Cape Meares Lighthouse is the first place we visit.












The weather's turned a bit drizzly, but it's what keeps the area so green.

The next day we go to the cape that lies south of Netarts, Cape Lookout. The Cape Trail takes you to the western point of Cape Lookout.

On the way home, we stop at Andersons View Point for a few pictures.

 

For dinner, we check out a place that someone recommended to Tom. It's called Roseanna's Cafe in Oceanside.

We had a nice dinner, but the most wonderful thing about dinner is the sunset afterwards.

Our last day in the area, we head north to Tillamook and Garibaldi. In Tillamook, our first stop is the Blue Heron French Cheese Company. It's an interesting little shop that has a huge amount of cheeses, jams, jellies, sauces, wines, etc., etc. with samples and tasting to help you decide (if you can).

We do make the obligatory stop at the Tillamook Creamery and tour through the facilities to see how cheese is processed before heading up to Garibaldi to try out Garibaldi Portside Bistro,

where we order some scrumptious food and Wendy enthusiastically chooses a burger that is larger than her head!