Early Christmas and Honey, I Shrunk the Truck!

We have spent our last several days in Oregon doing final packing and getting some adjustments made at our trailer dealer.  There were a few "punch list" items that we had taken care of and now have everything loaded and ready to go for a departure tomorrow morning.  It was a very rainy day here in Molalla and it will be good to head south in search of sunshine.

Pamela's brother, Seth and wife Cathy held a wonderful early Christmas dinner of elk roast and some wonderful desserts.  Their boys Skyler and wife Brittni and Samuel and his girlfriend Lindsey joined us for a wonderful night of stories and some gift giving.  Fortunately, our gifts look like they will fit into the 5er.  Seth and Cathy have been great hosts and very helpful as we got ready for our RV Adventure--many thanks!

Christmas in November

We have received a couple of messages from friends in Alaska wondering what happened to our GMC truck.  They said that it looks like the truck has shrunk since we got the trailer.  We must admit that it feels that way to us as well.  It has been a long time since we have seen the Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez movie "The Long, Long, Trailer" but kind of wish we had a copy to view in our new trailer.  That movie is almost as old as we are, and we hope to avoid some of the adventures that Lucy and Desi had in their "RV" (not sure that the term RV was even invented in 1953.

Lucy and Desi's Long, Long Trailer Circa 1953

Neil and Pamela's Long, Long Fifth Wheel Trailer Circa 2010

Our current plans are to leave on December 1st to the Oregon Coast via Eugene, Oregon and spend a couple of nights in Florence, Oregon.  Then down the coast a short ways to Coos Bay and then to Crescent City, California.  We plan to take our time and enjoy new sights and get used to not having any appointments or places we have to be.  Stay tuned and let us know how things are going for you.  You can post a message by clicking on the balloon or word comments at the end of each post and it should take you to a comment window.  Let us know how that works for you.  You can always reach us at hagafinn@gmail.com.

Best wishes for a good December,

Neil and Pamela

Thanksgiving Recovery and Truck Outfitting

We had a great Thanksgiving with Pamela's brother Seth and wife Cathy and their boys.  A great turkey and ham and all the fixings, and no Tofurkey in sight.  We spent today doing some final purchases for the RV and also braved the crowds to trade in and buy books at Powell Books in downtown Portland.  It wasn't too bad, but Black Monday did make it busy in some places.

One of Pamela's Favorite Places

One of our purchases was a tool box for the back of the truck, so we can keep heavy things in the pickup bed instead of the trailer.  In spite of it being Black Friday, we were able to have a successful hunt for one at a Home Depot store and had then put it into the pickup bed right there at the store.

Our New Truck Box Bought on Black Friday

The weekend will find us getting the RV ready for a final adjustment of the slides at the RV dealer on Monday, and more sorting and repacking.  There are still some shelves to install and some other inside and outside organizing to be done.  We have been told that it is a constant process,but we hope that the workload starts to diminish soon.  We are still planning on leaving for the Oregon Coast and points south by the middle of next week, so stay tuned.  Hopefully, we will have more interesting sights and insights to share.

Fair Winds and Flat Roads,

NEIL and PAMELA

First Snow in Oregon and Hold the Tofurkey, Please

We woke up this morning to a thin blanket of snow here in Molalla, Oregon--strangely the same day as in Juneau, Alaska.  It was cold enough last night that we prepared a "winter hose" for the RV by putting heat tape on the water supply line and putting it inside some foam insulation tubes.  It worked great last night, but it will be colder tonight, so we will keep some water dripping just in case.

First Snow in Oregon

While out shopping for some things for Thanksgiving, Neil ran across something that really scared him:   Tofurkey Feast.  It seems that this is a popular item at this Yuppie Grocery Store, but I am sure glad that we will be having the real thing for our Thanksgiving.

This Would Be Neil's Thanksgiving Nightmare

Thanks for visiting,

Neil and Pamela

The Mating Game and Road Test

A big day today as we "mated" our Fifth Wheel Trailer and the GMC truck.  The hitch was installed on Friday and we spent time doing the final stowage in preparation for our first test drive.

Mated for the First Time

Neil and Pamela's brother Seth took the first test drive this afternoon in the cold rain.  We drove about thirty miles to Woodburn, Oregon and then through a weigh station and truck stop to dump the holding tanks.  We traveled on freeways, through small towns and via backroads on the way back.  The verdict:  everything worked out great and the truck and new hitch handles the rig very well.

Headed Out for the First Time

We plan to stay here in Oregon through Thanksgiving with family and then head south in early December.  Now that we have the first (although short) trip under our belts, the rest is going to be repacking, organizing, and sorting to make sure that we have the right stuff in the right place.  While the weather here in Oregon is much better than the 19 degrees in Juneau, it is expected to get pretty cold here this week as well.  But since we are retired, we will just take it one day at a time.

Best wishes,

Neil and Pamela

New Hitch and New "Shoes" in Oregon

It has been a busy few days in Oregon getting the fifth wheel trailer (5er) ready for our trip south.  It looks like we got out of Juneau and through Canada just in time, as they are predicting some of the first snow of the year for Oregon already.

Our New Curt Q5 Trailer Hitch

We had a new Curt Q5 20K hitch installed on Friday and a new set of shoes (tires) for the truck at Les Schwab Tires in Molalla today.  We also unpacked several totes of "stuff" and are working at finding just the right place for all this "stuff".  We have been accused of being cursed with TMS (too much "stuff") and there is probably some truth to that.

Pamela's brother is predicting that our trip south will resemble the Oregon Trail wagon trains, in that we will be leaving piles of "stuff" at every camping spot as we head South.  While that may not be true, we are setting aside some extra items that we have decided that we do not need or is a duplicate to what we need.

We are Trying Not to Emulate the Oregon Trail Travelers with All Our "Stuff"

We also added some tech items to our new trailer in the form of a Verizon MiFi aircard that will allow us to keep connected during our travels.  It allows up to five wireless devices to connect and serves as a wireless router for the trailer and an aircard connection to the internet.  We have read about them for a while, and Pamela's cousin Gordon really likes his, so we made the plunge.  We also bought a new printer/scanner/copier that we can print to via the same wireless network.

Our Connection to the Outside World - a Verizon MiFi Card

We have a bit more packing and organizing before we take a break for Thanksgiving with family here in Oregon and right now hope to hit the road for points south around the first of December (give or take a day or so).

Let us know how you folks are doing, and thanks for visiting,

Neil and Pamela

Surfing into Oregon

Wow!  We thought it rained a lot in Juneau (and it does).  But the wind and rain that we experienced from Silverdale, Washington to Molalla was monumental.  It rained hard all day and winds gusted to over 30 miles per hour.  It was a wild ride down on I-5, but we got to Molalla and Pamela's brother just around dark.

We had a good visit with Neil's folks on Tuesday night and this morning.  We are now safely in our fifth wheel trailer listening to the wind and rain beat against it and are so happy to be here.  Especially since we see that there are high winds in Juneau (up to 80 mph forecast).

The next several days will be busy with unloading the pickup, trying to find room for the stuff we brought, getting the trailer hitch and brakes installed, and a dozen other things.  But for the most part, we can do that on our own schedule.

I would have attached a photo, but how do you capture rain and wind in a photo?  Thanks for visiting,

Neil and Pamela

Beyond Hope and Closer to Our Destination

Actually, we made it to Hope.  Hope, British Columbia that is.  We had a good drive into Prince George on Sunday, saw the world's largest fly rod in Houston, BC and had good weather all the way into Prince George.  We also saw the largest gold pan and the largest something else.  Seems to be a pattern here in BC.

Houston, BC - Biggest Fly Rod (for Dave Harris)

We stayed with a Forest Service colleague who also retired this year who have a wonderful place north of Prince George, BC.  We had a great visit and meals with Wini and Warren and got on the road for our longest drive today.

We covered about 390 miles today and had all kinds of weather, including snow, sunshine and blowing rain.  We are glad that we got over the passes during daylight and that the 35 mph rain did not hit us in the Fraser Canyon.  It is always good to have some Hope!  It was a very long day for us and we should make it to Silverdale to visit Neil's folks by dinner time on Tuesday.  We sure hope that US Customs doesn't make us go through everything in the back of the pickup.  We haven't opened it since Juneau, but you never know.

Wish us luck!

Neil and Pamela

On the Road Oh Canada!

Today was our first full day on the road after getting off the ferry Kennicoitt in Prince Rupert Thursday night.  We had a good ferry ride and the crew on the Kennicott were great.  There were not very many people aboard, so we got some individual attention.

Neil Ready to  Board the Ferry in Juneau

Alaska State Ferry Kennicott - Our Ride South

We had a good night in Prince Rupert amid heavy rains and winds, but it was almost a nice day for our trip up the Skeena River.  We stopped in Terrace, BC to have lunch and watched parts of Goalies Gone Wild on TV.  Hocky fights during lunch--what a country!  It felt like there were a bunch of fights where hocky games broke out.  We made it to Smithers and found a good place to stay and even shopped at a Swiss/German Deli to get some snacks for the road and some licorice that Pamela was looking for.  Tomorrow it is on to Prince George to stay with some friends who recently retired from Juneau.  So far, so good!

Talk to you later,

Neil and Pamela

Safe in Prince Rupert

We made it safely to Princr Rupert BC tonight after a pretty rocky crossing of Dixon Entrance on the ferry Kennicott. Neil estimated that is was blowing over 40 mph with eight foot seas. We are glad that we were on the only Alaska ferry that has roll stabilizers.

We are safe in Canada and begin the long drive south tomorrow with stops in Smithers, Prince George, and probably Hope before we enter the US. Please wish us safe travels as we head south.

From the open road,

Neil and Pamela

Southward Ho and Ferry Tales

We made it! We are aboard the ferry Kennicott in the Inside Passage on our way to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Sam and Cindy and Dave gave us a great send off with wine last night. Everything that we set aside to put in the truck fit, but we only have room for two more shoe boxes. Pamela said it was a good thing we didn't have a long bed truck!

We had a great day on the ferry and are in Petersburg on the way South. We took a couple of pictures but Neil can't figure out how to post them from the iPhone. Maybe later. We are looking forward to the Road Trip and to seeing family and friends this trip.

Fair Winds and Calm Seas,

Neil and Pamela

One More Day in Juneau (this year)!

We are now in the final stretch of packing for the road trip down to Oregon.  Only one more day (Wednesday) before we leave early on Veteran's Day.  Mixed rain and snow in the forecast so it is time to head south.

Here is a picture of our home made temporary canopy on the truck, at Home Depot of all places.

GMC HagaFinn-Mobile with Custom NeilSam Canopy

Our friends have been making not too flattering comparisons to our packing and the truck in the Grapes of Wrath and how heavily loaded it was, so we decided to include a picture couple of pictures to let everyone know that we did not pack THAT heavily!  Of course, we haven't determined if the bicycles will fit in the back or on top of the cab.  If we do that, we will be a little bit more Joab-like!

The Joad-Mobile from Grapes of Wrath

So, as you can see, we are keeping our reputation of traveling light, compared to some other folks.  We are really looking forward to the ferry ride on the Kennicott and the drive down the Yellowhead Highway to Washington and Oregon.  Stay tuned and we will let you know how we are doing.

We hope that you are safe and warm where ever you are, and thanks for visiting our Blog,

Neil and Pamela

Truck Canopy Built and Termination Dust

Another great Monday of not working!  Somehow we are enjoying retirement on Mondays more than other days.  Thanks to good friend Sam, Neil got the truck canopy covered today so the loading can commence!  We will soon find out if we have room for the bicycles in the canopy or not.  If not, they will have to go on top of the truck cab on a Yakima rack.

It was a mixed bag for weather today, with sunshine, rain, and things in between.  The "termination dust"--snow on the mountains that indicate the termination of summer, is pretty far down the hillsides and temperatures are in the thirties.  It must be time to leave!

"Termination Dust" on the Hillsides are Getting Lower!

The house is pretty much put to bed for the Fall, and it sure looks different than our summer photos.  We usually don't take Fall pictures of the house and garden.  We do have a bit of yellow Fall color, though.

House and Garden Seems Bare in the Fall

Since the weather was pretty good part of the day, Neil took a trip out to the North Douglas boat launch ramp and took a few photos.  The boat launch floats have been removed for the winter and only the dock pilings are there.  Mendenhall Glacier is getting some rain in the background.  Only a few more days until D (departure) Day.

Mendenhall Glacier from North Douglas Boat Launch

We look forward to your comments and suggestions for our travels.  Thanks for visiting!

Neil and Pamela

Colder Weather and Some Juneau Culture

Thursday was a colder day with "snain" (snow/rain mix) part of the day.  We got some more packing done before we joined friends for the Juneau Theater in the Rough production of Cyrano.

It was a great production, with lots of action and comedy--just what we needed to end the day.  We will be busy on Friday and Saturday with get togethers with friends and more packing.  We hope to begin loading the GMC truck and canopy early next week.

For now, the weather forecast is for (cold) rain through our departure date of Thursday (Veteran's Day) and we hope that it does not turn to snow.  If cold rain doesn't excite you, then maybe this photo taken behind Douglas Island near Juneau this summer will.

Rainbow Over Scull Island near Juneau

We are looking forward to staying in touch with folks and want to hear from you.  Please leave a comment on this blog, or send us a note to hagafinn@gmail.com

Thanks for visiting,

Neil and Pamela

Election and Packing Day in Alaska

Another rainy day in Southeast Alaska.  We did our civic duty and voted and then got a sandwich to bring home and resume packing duties.  

The garage is "Action Packer Central" with a large number of plastic totes in various stages of being filled with all the things we think we might want in the fifth wheel trailer over the next four months. 

 I am certain that we will forget things and that we will take too much stuff, but there are always stores along the way and flat rate shipping boxes at the Post Office!  Neil is also trying to take along enough "techie stuff" to keep us going, but decided that two GPS units will be enough (not counting iPhone and laptop).  

This cartoon that someone gave us is timely for this post because of our reliance on GPS in the past.  Recalculating . . . . . .

Thanks for visiting,

Neil and Pamela

More Sorting and Packing

Another great Monday--because we don't have to go to work or go to any meetings.  Took care of some errands today and had lunch with a friend who is still working and talked about our plans and our new RV.  More wind and rain--it might get up to 50 MPH today, but it is snug inside.

Among the things we are sorting is silverware and dishes.  How many place settings do two people need, after all (answer is eight at the present).  We also spent time getting an old board game ready to take with us.

Historic Klondike Game for our RV Travels

We found the game Klondike in Canada decades ago and we plan to take it with us.  It is kind of like Monopoly, but things burn down and every time someone hits a saloon, everybody goes there for a party.  Pamela really likes it so I think that we will be introducing some others to it during our travels.

Thanks for visiting, and stay safe where ever you are!

Neil and Pamela