Spring Update

Since our return from Mexico we've been taking it pretty easy...and basically waiting hopefully for it to stop raining here in Vancouver.

Before leaving on our trip in December we placed a special order for a new car, and our new Subaru Outback was waiting for us when we got home in early March. Had been looking at them for a couple of years and finally decided to buy one. We had noticed during our trip to Alaska a couple of years ago, and again more recently last summer in Colorado, that they seemed to be all over the place. The endorsement of people who live in some pretty challenging environments was good enough for me so we picked one up in expectation of future road trips around the National Parks of the west and, who knows, maybe back up to Alaska again. Been having fun breaking it in with exploratory drives in and around the area.

Looking forward to stretching the legs of our new Outback later this summer.


Our first side trip was down to Travis AFB near Sacramento - wanted to check it out for future Space A opportunities since it's the major west coast hub for military traffic...mainly heading west towards Hawaii and Asia. Along the way we stopped off in Gold Hill, OR for a night with Rita's brothers Rick and Ray. Spent an enjoyable dinner celebrating their birthdays.

Ray, Rita, Rick's wife Mary, and Rick waiting for Mexican food.

We also stopped off in Sacramento to visit with Marge & Dick Heintz - Rita's Aunt and Uncle and two nice folks that provided us a ton of useful information before our trip to Alaska a couple of years ago. They did it by driving an RV up the Alaska Highway many years ago, and after talking with them about their experience we've started thinking about doing it that way ourselves within the next couple of years...maybe driving up and then shipping the car home like we did last time.

Went out to dinner with the two of them, and then spent a most relaxing and enjoyable evening with them at their home. Unfortunately, after taking care to make sure that we'd brought the camera with us we got so caught up in the enjoyment of the evening that we forgot to bring it out and take some photos so, no pix unfortunately.

Our most recent excursion was up to NAS Whidbey, again to check out potential Space A opportunities since I noticed that they occasionally have flights heading east and then on to Europe. Made a 3 day trip out of it by then catching the Washington State ferry over to Port Townsend and spending the night. The weather cooperated - it was gloriously sunny - and the little town (one of our favorites) was just waking up from its long winter nap so there weren't too many (other) tourists about. Explored the petty little town on foot at our leisure, ate some great local seafood, drank gallons of great coffee, and then rode Highway 101 back south towards home. Made for a great excursion, and now the Outback is officially broken in and ready for its summer adventures.

It's really a quaint old Victorian town, and having the ferry dock right on Main St. only adds to the overall charm of the place.

After our return we had about a week before heading out again on a 3 week trip to visit the kids and grand kids in Valdosta...which is where we are now. The occasion is Grand Daughter Makenna's first Holy Communion on May 19. Looks like this may be our last trip to Valdosta for a while - Mike has orders to Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque this summer and it looks like a late July move, so our next visit will likely be part of our National Park circuit later this summer.