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Back to San Diego
From Loreto the route took us south, past La Paz and around Cabo in the sea of Cortez. There was a lot of whale activity, nice to see from our ship but a little hard to catch on a cell phone.
We could see the port of Cabo San Lucas, and saw three cruise ships anchored there. Glad we stopped on the way down. From there it was a straight shot to San Diego with smooth seas and mild weather.
We met Brad and Roxanne the first day, and struck it off well. So for the whole week we shared food and laughs. They made the cruise even more enjoyable for us. We traded emails and hope to catch up with them again.
We had the best waitress on the ship serving our dinners. Olga kept us entertained and well fed during the cruise. She never hesitated to recommend the best dishes, we had some of the best on board dinners of all our cruises. In fact, we booked another Princess cruise in March.
San Diego
We found a reasonable priced cruise from San Diego to Victoria, BC and ending in Vancouver, BC. Thought this would make a nice short cruise and to visit family in both places. So yesterday we flew in to San Diego, and booked into a hotel within walking distance from the cruise terminal.
In December 2010 we cruised from Barcelona to San Paolo, Brazil. We met Linda and Rainer on board and had a great time. After the cruise, we’ve stayed in touch and visited their home in Laguna Niguel, about an hours north of San Diego. They drove down last night and we had a very pleasant reunion.
Our travels have allowed us to see some amazing sights, but just as important make new friends. We enjoyed our cruise 12 years ago and to follow up with Linda and Rainer. And had a great dinner thanks to the recommendation of Filippe’s from our our RV friends Susan and Ted…..
Crabbing in Oregon
Our friend Jack Napoles invited me to go along crabbing with his neighbor Phil. Crabbing would be in Charleston, right by Coos Bay, Oregon. Now Romola and I love crab, so this invitation was gratefully accepted.
First we bought several pounds of chicken quarters, which we used as bait. The chicken was put in the crab pots and in the boat. We then launched the boat and dropped the first of 9 pots. After 4 pots, we moved across the bay and dropped the remaining 5.
After a wait of around an hour, we pulled up the first pot. It was full of crab! At least 4 were legal size and went into the holding bin. This process was repeated until each pot had been dropped twice. We ended up with our limit of 36 good sized Dungeness crabs, plus many Red Rock crabs (Red Rock crabs are an invasive species, quite aggressive, are red in color and have a large claw considered extra tasty. Something like the Florida Rock Crabs….).
The next step was to clean the crab. In the store, you always find them whole, but it is much easier to do a simple clean and throw away the crab shell that would be thrown away anyway. Phil used a special device, like an upside down knife, to break the crab, save the edible parts, and throw away the rest. Later, at home, he brought a large pot of river water to boil and cooked the crab. Jack and Sylvia put up a table on their deck next to the river of their most beautiful house and we devoured several crabs each. Most delicious!
NIRVC Appreciation, Homecoming
To start off the summer travel season, we first attended two rallies: NIRVC Customer Appreciation and the Entegra Homecoming.
The Appreciation Rally was held at the Winstar Casino, and featured good food and entertainment. This included a Sock Hop night, where Romola and I donned our version of 50’s or 60’s wear. It was fun. The Cooks were also here.
We left Dallas and headed for Goshen, and along the way stopped at the Downstream Casino. Free camping if you gamble, and we won enough to pay for our meal and attending the Ronnie Milsap concert. Sweet!
The Entegra Homecoming was held in Goshen, Indiana and was also well done. Lots of food, music and classes in coach maintenance. It’s feature was a Prom Night, where again we donned suitable attire. Attending with us were the Cooks and the Phillips, and we ran into old friends from our fifth wheel days, Jim and Chris Wakenell. Jim was voted Homecoming King, so we had royalty at our table.
On display were the new 2020 Entegra coaches, and I won a raffle for four nights at the Hearthgrove Resort in Petosky.
At the Sock Hop 
Parked with 220 other Entegras 
Dave and Deanne Phillips 
Ida and Les Cook 
John and Romola 
Dancing! 
Romola earning her keep 
Our group at Homecoming 
Chris and Jim Wakenell
Mardi Gras 2019
Our travels in 2019 started with a short trip to Lafayette, LA to catch up with Les and Ida Cook, the Buteauds, and Moreaus. Our excuse (like we needed one) was to visit and see the Mardi Gras parades in Lafayette, LA. Mission accomplished.
Traveling the MidWest
For the past month and a half, we’ve been traveling in the MidWest (with stops in Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana) with our friends of the Traveling Supremes Travel Club. Since I am webmaster for the club, i posted a series of blogs of these travels. The web site can be found by clicking here.
Because of the posts on that web site, I have not posted anything here for quite a while. However, we are traveling on our own again, and have quite an ambitious schedule until we get back to Dallas in September. This is to include Michigan, the UP, over to Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Mt. Rushmore. So expect my posts to reappear here soon.
Sweet Creek Waterfalls
This hike is close to Florence, near the Oregon coast. This was one of the nicest hikes we’ve ever done. It isn’t long, only about 2 miles each way. It isn’t steep, only about 350 ft vertical. It isn’t especially challenging, although there were some roots, rocks and catwalks. And the whole route was under heavy forest growth.
But the waterfalls were amazing! There are about 15 waterfalls along the two mile route, and rushing water all the way. We did this on a beautiful day with our friends Jack and Sylvia Napoles. They bought a house in the area and will certainly do this hike and others in the Siuslaw Forest again!
Butterfly Center, Dallas, Texas
Some friends (Naomi and Larry, thanks!) suggested we visit the Butterfly Discovery Center in Dallas. Never heard of it before, so we thought it would be a good idea. Especially since we are currently in a heat wave in Dallas, It was really hot outside, and the butterfly exhibit was inside, so this seemed like a good idea.
If you ever visit a butterfly exhibit that is inside, remember that it is usually a tropical environment. It was hot and humid inside, so much so, it felt good to go outside in the high 90’s heat!
If you want to take butterfly pictures, have a good camera and lens, and fast reflexes. These little buggers move fast and unpredictable! However, I managed to get a few that were resting a bit. It really was an interesting exhibit, both inside and out. The gardens outside by themselves is worth a visit, and it’s cheap. We recommend a visit here.
Gulf Shores, Alabama
This winter, we decided to head east for a trip, rather than our usual west. So when we found a Monaco Rally in Florida we thought that would be a great thing to do. We invited our friends Naomi and Larry Shirey to come along, and travel with us. So we left Houston and Dallas respectively, met for an overnight in Lafayette, LA, then on for three days in Foley, Alabama.
There is a very nice RV Resort there called Bela Terra, where we stayed for three nights. It is a lovely park, nice roomy sites, a beautiful club house, and all the amenities. We enjoyed our visit so much that we think we would like to come back and stay longer.
One day we had to visit the sandy white beaches of Gulf Shores. This is of course on the Gulf of Mexico, and this area has seen some serious problems with hurricanes and oil spills. Now, however, it is booming and we had a short but enjoyable visit to the beach. And not to forget some very good seafood meals…
The Fourth with the Rollers
Six years ago, we joined the Pikes Peak Rollers, an FMCA chapter out of Colorado Springs. This year, we joined their Fourth of July Rally held in Buena Vista, Colorado. It was a good time, with lots of social interaction, events, food and local activities.
New to us this year was the annual horse race. Using 6 “jockeys”, the “horses” advanced on the roll of foam rubber dice. Since real money was used with real bookies, it was lively, spirited, and I lost all my bets.
The Buena Vista Fourth Parade was rather small, it is after all a small town But it was refreshing to see the local entries and the patriotism showed by participants and attendees alike. And the kids gots lots of candy…
The Fireworks were spectacular. Not only because of the fireworks themselves, but set against the majestic backdrop of the Rocky Mountains and evening sky it became an event unto itself. Too bad I forgot my “real” camera, these cell phone pictures will have to do….
Laninga's Travel Blog 