Warming Up

We were scheduled to leave the Whalers Rest Thousand Trails near Newport, Oregon today, but by Sunday evening I had had all I could take of the cold, the wet, and the dreariness and told Miss Terry to get ready to hit the road Monday morning instead.

And wouldn’t you know it, after days of heavy clouds and rain we awoke to a beautiful blue sky overhead! But the weatherman said more rain was on its way so we decided to get out while the getting was good. We left the Thousand Trails a little before 11 AM, took US Highway 20 east to Interstate 5 and turned south. Sometime around 2:30 PM, after a stop for fuel at a Pilot Truck Stop, we pulled into the Escapees Timber Valley co-op in Sutherlin, Oregon with 160 miles behind us. When we left Newport it was 57° and when we stepped out of the motorhome in Sutherland it was 67° and we sure weren’t complaining!

This is only our second stop at Timber Valley and it’s a very nice place. Many of the co-op members put their lots into a rental pool when they are not using them and they are all wide, level, and very well maintained, with 50/30 amp electric full hookups.

Once we were parked and hooked up and had a chance to catch our breath, we realized how hungry we were. Somebody had recommended Charley’s BBQ in Roseburg, about 14 miles away, so we decided to drive down and check it out. And what a find it was!

I had a combination plate of sliced brisket and pulled pork with corn fritters and a huge basket of French fries, and Miss Terry had what they called the Sloppy Pork sandwich. We’re not sure why they call it that, because it was very neat, a huge serving of roasted shredded pulled pork on a hoagie bun. Everything was smoked to perfection, the servings were more than generous, the young men who waited on us were very friendly and helpful, and the bill was certainly reasonable. This one definitely gets added to our Favorite Restaurants guide!

Unfortunately, we had sad news from Livingston, Texas before we left yesterday morning. Our old friend Salvatore (Sal) Bellomo? has passed away. Sal and his wife Bonnie were two of the first people we met when we became fulltime RVers, and they were always big supporters of the Gypsy Journal. Before they got off the road they helped us with parking and registration at our rallies. We stopped to visit with Sal and Bonnie when we went through Livingston back in January, and today the world is a little bit emptier without him in it. Rest in peace, my friend.

Today we plan to push on further south into California. I’m not sure where we will end up for the night, but hopefully it will be someplace warm.

Thought For The Day – If you don’t like where you are, move. You’re not a tree.

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