We thought we would include some pictures.
1) The one of our “rig” is shown. We have referred to it as Black Bear (the Suburban) and Silver Tent (the Airstream trailer).
2) Dan and I are standing inside a viewing area at the Lincoln Monument at the highest point on I-84. It is at 8640 ft. in elevation.
3) Here we are along the Pacific Coast. We sure enjoyed the views along highway 101 along the Oregon coast.
4) There is a section in Salem known as “Lancaster”. There is a Lancaster Mall, Lancaster St., Lancaster Car Wash, and this is the Lancaster Laundry. For those of you reading this that don’t know, “Lancaster” is my maiden name.



June 13, 2006 (Day 20)

Another day to report to work. Offices were open and equipment delivered, so no excuses to not work today, at least for me. Our days will pretty much be the same as this. Get up, eat pancakes, go to work, back to the trailer for lunch or go out and get a sandwich, back to work, quit at 4, get dinner.

Today was a great day, as mail delivery started today, and we got our first mail. Had a card and letter from Susan and a box of our personal mail and magazines from Renae. It has been a little strange not getting mail every day, and today, it was like opening Christmas presents. Renae had sent 5- year pictures of Becca. They are good and we are so glad to have them.

I give no guarantee that I will have anything to write about the next few days if they are all the same as today. We will keep in touch as things happen.

Love to all, B & D



June 12, 2006 (Day 19)

Today is Monday. We both reported to work at 8 a.m. The club served a pancake breakfast to the early workers from 7-8 a.m. That is a nice perk, but I’ll comment on that again at the end of the week, as they are to do this all week.

When we got to work, found that we were locked out of all the rooms (offices). It seems the fairgrounds personnel weren’t as intent to get going so bright and early! None of the properties that had been boxed up and transported to Salem from last year’s rally site were delivered, so with no records or items to work with, it was difficult. The copy center workers (where I work) went home at noon. Dan continued to work with the purchasing department until after hours. It was the first time he was ever “chewed out” by a boss for working after quitting time!

A group of us went out to eat at a seafood restaurant. Once again, I had oysters. They were so good. I really need to diversify and try something different next time! Dan has been lucky to find chicken or beef on the menu of these seafood restaurants, so he is not starving!

Till tomorrow……..


June 11, 2006 (Day 18)

Today is Sunday and we attended the interdenominational church services put on by the club. We spent the afternoon looking for city parks again, but have decided for sure to stay on grounds for our social. Later in the afternoon, we gathered at a unit member’s motor home for a get-together of whomever wanted to come. Snacked on peanuts and talked a lot. One can really learn at lot at these gatherings.

We were hungry for pizza for dinner, but settled instead for Mexican cuisine. To bed early tonight, as tomorrow we both report to work.


June 10, 2006 (Day 17)

Plans today were to drive to Portland with our friends, Ray and JoAnn, for a rose parade. We have marveled over the roses here. They are so beautiful and big and colorful. It seems every home has 4-6 bushes. It is said this rose parade is only second to the one in Pasedena, CA on New Year’s. It was learned that one half million people were expected and weather was threatening rain. So, we changed plans at the last minute and drove over to the coast again, and this time went north up the coast. Again, some beautiful scenery was evident, and we believe our drive a few days before the other direction was more enjoyable. Again, we had a nice lunch at Oceanside, OR, in a little place along the ocean. The fishermen were pulling in their nets in the bay. All the seafood served there was fresh. I had oysters again. They were fresh from the bay. Yummy.

We stopped at an air museum and then Tillamook Cheese factory. Enjoyed touring the cheese factory, sampling cheeses and ice cream. Bought some cheese curds to take home.

We got back to Salem around 9:15 p.m. Weather had been windy and cool, but sun came through a few times.




June 9, 2006 (Day 16)

It was another nice, sunny day here, with cool temps. Sure beats the 90’s I hear you are having in Missouri. We were both off work today, so since it is our 38th anniversary, we planned to go to a movie and eat dinner out. However, the parking crew decided to move us to our permanent site at 1 p.m. and that changed our plans. We and another trailer pulled out of Stable Estates and went to the dump station (the not-so-glamourous, but necessary, part of trailering) around 12:30. There the parking crew helped us and then got us to our permanent site. We have a nice spot near the buildings the events happen in, and close to the post office, church, and pancake areas. We are on nice thick grass. Many of the others are on asphalt. Sure can’t complain about our spot this year.

The electric crew was there immediately after we parked and got set up to install electric. We were promised water by the next day or Monday. That was no problem, since our water tank was already full and we could exist that long. By the time we left the grounds, it was close to 3:30 and no time to make an afternoon movie.

We scouted some city parks to see about picnic facilities, as we are planning a social gathering for our St. Louis Unit after everyone gets here. This is an event that is customary for the unit president to do each year. It is a chance to get all unit members together, since we are all parked all over the area.

There are parking areas for handicapped, doggie section, executive (officers) row, those with generators, and committee chairmen. We could have parked in the row with all other unit presidents, but elected to park with the committee and are next to two other unit members we know.

For our social gathering, we have decided to have a pie social and may have it on the grounds of the fair grounds. There is a “nature area” here with flowers, bushes, trees, picnic tables, water fountain that will be very pleasant for us and easy for everyone to get to. We have it planned for July 2nd, so I will have to get some quotes on pies from a couple bakeries. One pie we must have is a marionberry pie. This is a type of blackberry that is common out here and is in season now. The county we are in is called Marion County, so thought it would be appropriate!

By the time we got to a restaurant, it was close to 5 p.m. We found a steakhouse with wonderful food. The vegetable of the day was asparagus, very tender and delicious, as it is in season now, too.

We had our very own live drama while at the restaurant (didn’t need a movie theater). We were sitting next to the front windows. This restaurant had grassy areas all around the front. I looked up and saw uniformed police with K-9 dogs running through the yard. One of the police had his gun drawn. Soon the parking lot was full of police cars and police were soon in the restaurant. Like dummies, we enjoyed our steak so much, we just continued eating and enjoying our meal. As we got ready to leave, we asked the waitress what was going on with the police. She said they had been in pursuit of a man with a backpack and found him in the restaurant’s men’s room. He was handcuffed and taken out the back. The police found the backpack and think there were drugs in it. As we left the restaurant, we saw the police loading him in a police car. Later we got to thinking about how we could have been in a dangerous position and didn’t even realize it. But those steaks sure were good!

That night we were invited over to another St. Louis couple’s motor home to celebrate his birthday with cake. There were about 14 of us in their motor home.

Next day…..