Whatcha been doin? (Part2)

OREGON

Eventually we wanted to end up in San Antonio, Texas for the winter and after a short visit with friends in Montana we head west for another side trip to Oregon for a client photoshoot. This was supposed to be a 3 day photoshoot and then down the road. However, we encountered our first real trailer problem here and ended up staying 3 weeks. Our axles were out of alignment and caused some severe tire damage. As it turns out, not just anybody can align trailer axles so it took some time to locate a fairly close specialist and get things going straight again.

We stayed at a Casino Resort (Seven Feathers). The campground was fantastic. One of the best we've spent time in so far. The campground was up the hill and separate from the Casino, but had a free shuttle that picked us up at our door when we wanted to try our luck at the tables. We checked out a couple of surprisingly good shows, danced, played some bingo and a few slots.

We were very excited to spend some time near the ocean, so took a 2 hour drive to Coos Bay! We walked miles along the beach and searched for shells.

 On our way out of Coos Bay, we happened upon these posters in the window of one of the town shops. We missed this zombie bash by a couple days! We were bummed...evidently they have a zombie beauty pageant and zombie parade. Already on our calendar for next year : ) 

 We spent some time riding around on our scooter, checked out a Harley Poker Run and Bike Show. (Yes we rode up proudly in our scooter : ). We also went to an Autumn Festival in a small local town. We listened to some story telling, took in a unique scare crow competition and watched them weigh in some HUGE pumpkins. This pumpkin competition is a big deal. The weights get entered into a national competition for biggest pumpkin bragging rights.

Up next we head to Tucson, Arizona!
Thanks for reading!

Whatcha been doin? (Part1)

Figured it's about time we talk about things we've been doing on the road right?

I will catch you up here on the last few months and then I promise to write a monthly "what we've been doing" column. We'll start here - way back in September!

MONTANA

While visiting friends in Montana, we stopped at the Car Museum and Prison in Deer Lodge. (Yes they are together and yes, that is kinda weird : ) But the Montana Auto Museum was the best I've ever seen. There is no way I can do it justice here in the blog. It's really a complete history of cars...and there are rooms and rooms and rooms of them! (200 plus cars, give or take) It just goes on forever. If you ever had a favorite...I'll bet it's here.

On a side note: my high school muscle car wasn't in the museum (AMC Matador) LOL! Bet you're sayin, WHAT?!? It was actually a pretty cool car with a very strong 360 V8 that rivaled a lot of the muscle cars of the time.

(AMC Matador - not in the museum)

The old Montana Prison complex was a self guided tour, and pretty much took up the rest of the day. Lots of history to tell in it's nearly 110 years. They focus on a 1959 riot, how the prison was completely self-sufficient and some odd stories like inmate "Turkey Pete". This "lifer" purchased and operated the prison, while paying all the guards salaries (I"ll let you figure that one out). If you're ever in the Deer Lodge, MT area this would be a day well spent with the cars and prison : )

We also spent some time in Yellowstone, entering through the Roosevelt Arch at the north entrance.

I truly wish we had more time here (but we'll be back again soon). We spent the entire day and walked miles of trails and paths through much of Mammoth Hot Springs. Fort Yellowstone was bustling with visitors, locals and bull elk who roam free throughout the streets and lawns of the historic district : )

There were several incredible campsites available within Yellowstone. From what we could see, even our 37 footer could fit in a few spots : ) Everything is first come, first serve. The word is that campers stay in the little town just outside the entrance and drive up each day or so to see if anything opens up. I wish we had our trailer with us, as there were a couple of fantastic sites available that day. We promised ourselves a couple weeks of dry comping in the park next time out.
 

 

 Most of what we saw were the hot springs and geisers. And no, we didn't even make it to Old Faithful. Just tells you how much time you can spend here to see everything! It was an awesome day! 

Next post we head to Oregon. Thanks for reading!