#11-26 Goldendale and Yakima, WA July 6, 2011 until ??

We left Keizer, OR about 11 am and headed north and east towards Goldendale, WA. The drive along the Columbia River was beautiful, the weather couldn’t have been better. We arrived at Brooks State Park about 10 miles northeast of Goldendale. Frank’s HS buddy, Walt and his wife, Donna had invited us to their home in Goldendale for a B-B-Q steak dinner, so we hopped in the car and drove back to their home.

While Walt, was cooking the steaks, Frank decided he was going to get out of his chair and walk around. Well, his foot stuck to the carpet on the patio and over he went, right onto his right hip. He could not get up by himself, so I helped him back into the chair, we ate dinner—wonderful steaks from Belted Galloway steers. (Oreo Cookie Cows) Frank was semi comfortable as long as he didn’t move. He enjoyed the steak dinner and then realized there was no way he could get up. So we called an ambulance to take him to the local ER. They did x-rays and found that his had broken his hip and would need surgery. The little town of Goldendale does not have an orthopedic surgeon, so we decided to send him to Yakima for surgery. Back into the ambulance and he went to Yakima, and I went back to the RV.

The next day, with the help of another of Frank’s HS friends, Earl and wife Barb, we moved the RV to the Sportsman State Park near Yakima. They only had space available for two days, but I took it anyway. By the time we got set up and headed to the hospital, Frank’s surgery was over and he was in the recovery room. When we arrived at the waiting room, Frank’s god-nephew, Paul was there from Seattle, another friend, Stan and wife, Alice, from Toppenish were there and then Earl, Barb and I came in. So he had six of us waiting to see how he did. By the time he got to his room it was late afternoon. He was very groggy from the surgery and of course, he was hurting. We got to give him a hug and then left so he could get some sleep.

Believe it or not, the next day they had Frank get out of bed and he walked with a walker around his room. That tired him out and it was all that he wanted to do. I took pictures with my phone and kept all the kids informed via texting with photos. Impressive what modern technology can do.

Three days after surgery the hospital released him to a rehab center, where he will learn to walk again with his new titanium alloy ball. The first 3-4 weeks he can only put about 50 lbs of weight on that leg. All the ligaments were cut and stitched back together, the muscles were spread apart and moved around, so he has to retrain them. He is a real trooper and the PT people say he is one of their favorites because he doesn’t complain, does his exercises and then does “homework” exercise in his room.

Frank has had visitors every day. Nieces, nephews, HS friends, former in-laws and me! His attitude is amazing and I see improvement every day. He said the food is good, the staff is helpful and he has a nice room—overlooking an alley and the side of a building with no windows. But, he can go outside to the patio areas, and he made friends with a number of other men, so has someone to share mealtime with.

After the two days at the Sportsman state park were over, Frank’s nephew, Bernie, came and helped me move the RV to his home. He has a full hook-up RV space right outside his home. So I am now a semi-permanent guest. His home Is about 10 minutes from the rehab center, so I’m close enough to visit every day and sometimes twice a day.

He is now using the walker and can go from his room to the dining room as long as someone is walking with him. There are two long hallways he has to negotiate and that is part of his therapy.

You go Frank, next you will be running!

#11-25 Keizer, OR and Silver Creek Falls–July 1 thru July 5, 2011

We drove as far as Keizer, OR, a little over 60 miles north of Coburg, and stayed at the Elks Lodge. This is a nice park, that even has a laundry room and all full hook-ups except two. About 50 spaces. We thought it would be full over the 4th of July holiday, but we were able to pick our spot.

Frank’s nephew, Dan Proulx and his family live here and we called them so we could visit. We did get to see the entire family, each a different times during the weekend. With teenagers and grade school twins, it is a bit difficult to get them all together at one time!

On the 3rd of July we took a drive up to Silver Creek Park and Falls. On the way up (about 30 miles) we passed mountains of Christmas tree farms. I took pictures as it is hard to believe there are that many Christmas trees grown in one area.

		The first falls we visited and walked behind VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We arrived at the park about 11 am. Because it is a holiday, this is a well used park and we did see a lot of people on the trails. The shortest trail is about 2 1/2 miles around and goes by two falls. It rises about 1000 feet in elevation, so if you go down to the creek to see the falls, you have to hike back up the mountain to get to the park and your car. (We did it)

Along the rail you can see these big rocks and the holes in them.

		The second falls, still lower down the creek VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Frank is standing behind the falls. Both of the falls we were able to walk behind and feel the spray. Well worth the hike!

The ferns and forest flowers were so beautiful, I just couldn’t pass up the chance to take pictures. So enjoy them with me.

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Here we are with our hiking sticks. Frank is coming down the path, and I’m taking a short break. It was a great hike and by the time we left the park, the cars were lined up for almost 1/2 a mile waiting to get into the park. We came at just the right time and left before it got too crowded.

On our way back to Keizer we made a short trip through the little town of Silverton. Rachel—we found your place! It even has your name on it.

It was getting late, and time for “cocktail hour” so we didn’t stop, just a short drive-thru.

The next night was the 4th of July. We talked about going down to Salem and watching the fireworks, but instead we just walked outside and could see them from the parking lot. It doesn’t get dark until well after 9 p.m., it gets cold in the evening, and neither one of us likes to drive after dark and fight traffic. So it worked out very well. Besides we are heading north tomorrow to visit friends and relatives in and near Toppenish, WA where Frank grew up.

#11-24 Coburg, OR 6-18 thru 6-30-2011

It is only about a three hour drive from Medford, OR straight up I-5 to Coburg, but on the way I was reading about a RV park in the town of Sutherlin, OR that was built in an old drive in theater. They left the screen and on the weekends they show classic movies. So we decided to stop and check it out. We had driven about 75 miles and it was early afternoon. The park is very easy to get to.

The name of the park is Hi-Way Haven. The RV’s are all parked in pull through spaces, but the front window does not face the screen, so we had to look out the driver side window and the window above the couch.

Once it got dark outside, which is after 9 pm in the pacific northwest, we were able to watch the movie and listen to it on our radio. Very cool set-up and unique. The movie was Grumpy Old Men. A classic!

Below the screen is the projection room—they forgot to turn out the light!

We left the next morning for Coburg. The RV has an appointment on the 22nd to have the slides looked at and checked. We don’t want to go into Canada and have something go wrong with them. We are also having an issue with the front door sticking and not opening easily. Afraid we will get locked out one day!

We arrived in Coburg a few days before our appointment, but there were plenty of parking spots out in the RV parking area. There is water and electric supplied and a dump site right there, so it’s a good place to be. While we were setting up we met a really nice couple from Texas and ended up going out to lunch with them.

On the way back to the coaches it started to rain enough that we had to use our wipers. We stopped at a nice fruit stand and picked up some fresh veggies and fruit. Roger (our new friend) and Anna had never had a rhubarb pie, so Roger bought the rhubarb, I made thee pie, and that night we all had rhubarb pie and ice cream.

We took off the next day and drove to Albany to visit Don and Mary and family. Melly had a Father’s day dinner planned for Curt, but she stopped by and we were able to visit for a short time. Brandi and Family were all at the house and we gathered everyone up and had a nice dinner out at Izzey’s. It is a great pizza place with a really nice buffet. Below is Brandi and her family.

Brandy is Don and Mary’s granddaughter so the kids are great grand children, and do they love their great grand parents. Nice to see.

Back to Coburg and the next evening we got together with 3 other couples that were having work done on their RV’s. It was happy hour after all. While the RV’s are in the shop, we have no home to go back to, so a trip to the wineries was planned by three of us. Off we go to the tasting rooms.

This was the first one we visited. It was in an old restored barn. The winemaker liked to do exotic blends, and none of the wine drinkers really liked them very well. So on to the next stop.

This place was overlooking a beautiful water way with lots of trees and flowers. A beautiful place to have a wedding or a party with a large outside deck. The road leading up the hill was part gravel and would be awful during the winter.

The tasting and the comparing. I drive and cannot drink wine (boo-hoo) but love the settings these wineries have. Above two of the couples we met at the RV repair in Coburg.

The last place we went was the Kings Ranch Winery where we did the tasting, bought a bottle to take home, and had a wonderful dinner. The views were spectacular over the valley as you can see below.

Before dinner tastings, and then a trip back to the RV’s where the technicians that worked on our homes had parked them again outside where we could live in them. It was a wonderful day and made the time at the repair facility a lot of fun.

During the time we had our RV in for repairs, the parent company decided to have a surprise inventory, so we ended up there 3 days longer than necessary while we had to wait for parts to arrive. Our slides now have new rubber seals and the rivets that hold the slide awning covers to the RV have all been replaced by screws. Our slides now work great and we are on our way north.