They say that the two happiest days of a boat owner’s life are the day he buys it and the day he sells it. They also say that BOAT stands for Break Out Another Thousand because there is no question about it, boat ownership can be both joyful and frustrating at the same time, and […]
Note: This story is from the November-December, 2015 issue of the Gypsy Journal. In the tiny village of Ilwaco, Washington we discovered a fascinating small-town museum that is a treasure trove of local history. The Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum tells the story of this unique region that many call the Crossroads of History, where the […]
In my mystery novel The Gecko In The Corner, a gecko has taken up residence in the bedroom of the main character, John Lee Quarrels, hanging out in a corner on the wall. John Lee wants to get rid of the lizard, but a lady friend tells him that they are good to have around because they […]
Okay, we all know that’s not true. The thought of crossing the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan and the Astoria-Megler Bridge in Oregon still terrifies me. But the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay? It’s a piece of cake. We crossed it twice a week ago today when I had to go to the Bay Pines […]
The shipment of the new issue of the Gypsy Journal got to the freight dock in Astoria either Monday or Tuesday, but we never received a call, so I called yesterday to see where it was. After tracking it down on her computer, the woman at the shipping company’s office in Portland said it was […]
We were up early yesterday morning to get ready for our trip to the Seaside Thousand Trails preserve. Terry had already turned the driver and passenger seats around the night before and done some other prep work. That always helps. While she was finishing things up inside the motorhome, I walked down to the dumpster […]
We left the Seaside Thousand Trails at 10 yesterday morning, with Terry at the wheel of the motorhome. We had a short run of about 35 miles to the Long Beach, Washington Thousand Trails preserve, but since that involved driving over the long, high Astoria-Megler Bridge, I was delegated to the role of navigator and […]
Our three weeks at the Long Beach Thousand Trails ended yesterday and we moved about 35 miles south back to Seaside, which is one of our favorite parks in the entire Thousand Trails system. We had one of the nicest sites at Long Beach, where most RV sites are very tight and their weird utility […]
We had hoped to go flying yesterday but it was a cold gray day and looked like it might rain at any minute. So we took that activity off the table. Instead, after running to the post office to mail out some orders, I came back home and started working on my next book. Yes, […]
Yesterday morning we set what is absolutely a new record for us for getting on the road in the morning, and it sucked. I never want to do that again! Monday night we turned off the bedroom TV at 12:30, which is early for us, because we wanted to get an early start on our […]
Yes, the scenery is spectacular. No question about it, the seafood is amazing. And we truly have loved flying our kites on the beach. But let’s be honest, the real reason Miss Terry loves coming to the Oregon coast is to go to the Astoria Sunday Market. Every Sunday from early May to early October, […]
Many times in the past we have shared a chuckle over my fear of bridges and my open admission that I’m a wimp when it comes to crossing high bridges. Especially narrow ones. If it is a four lane bridge and I can get into the inside lane I can handle it, but when we […]
Miss Terry left me home alone for two days while she went to a weaving seminar across the river in Astoria, Oregon so she decided to reward me with a couple of hours of fun yesterday. Unfortunately, keeping it up proved difficult and I was sore and worn out by the time we finally gave […]
Yesterday we drove back across the bridge to Astoria, Oregon again, and that darned bridge just doesn’t get any smaller! You’d think I would have been over it enough not to let it bother me any more, but then again, I think anybody as charming and intelligent as myself should be filthy rich. And we’d […]
After picking up our mail yesterday, we drove down to Seaside, Oregon to make a bank deposit, since that’s where the closest Bank of America branch is. Okay, Miss Terry drove, because to get to Seaside involves crossing the Columbia River on the Astoria-Megler Bridge. If you’ve been following our travels for very long, you […]
Today is Miss Terry’s birthday, so before I do anything else, I want to wish her a very, very happy birthday. I love you very much, my darling. Thank you for sharing your life with me. We started yesterday off with a visit to the Tillamook Air Museum, a former World War II airship base, […]
Since the Oregon Thousand Trails preserves have not worked out for us, yesterday we drove 65 miles up the coast to Astoria, and then across the bridge to Washington, to check out the Long Beach Thousand Trails, which is actually in the little town of Ilwaco. I don’t think you can find a mile of […]
I have always wanted to be somebody, I just never knew what, since I’ve always been the proverbial round peg trying to fit into a square hole. In school, I was always pretty much an outsider and a loner, so I never fit in with the in crowd. As a young man I had too […]