Nor-Cal Mystery Rally and Poker Run, July 10-17

Tom and Nancy Polk have developed a reputation about their Mystery Rallies. This year we signed up, eagerly anticipating the fabulous Mystery adventure that the rumor mill among previous attendees has raved about. The hosts this year were the Combs and the Polks, also known as the Devious Duo Team. They are good about keeping secrets secret. Their standard response to any trick questions about where the rally might be held is a standard "Yes!" followed by a bright smile. Hence their reputation for being the sources of non-information on mystery rallies.

June 10th, a month ahead of the July 10th rally, we were notified to meet at a specific location in Corvallis, Oregon.
Twenty two coaches (most of us Alpines) arrived at the Nazarene Church between noon and 4PM, no earlier and no later, as directed. We were all wondering where our hosts found a spot large enough to accommodate 22 coaches and tows, and thus the first mystery was solved.

22 coaches with tows - a few are POA's and a couple are SOB's

That evening there was a catered mysterious four-course dinner. There were 20 choices on the menu. We were instructed to choose five items per course. They were listed in numerical order with mysterious names like Potpourri, Irish Trees, Necker's Menace, Dental Hygienist, and Gerber's Get-up, to name a few. We had no idea what we were ordering. Each of us selected our five items and wrote down their corresponding numbers on an order form. Our servers returned with plates of our selections, one course at a time.

One of my courses consisted of Arctic Circle, Sun Valley Steamer, Flubber Blubber, Underground Icicle, and Lover's Delight. Eventually I figured out that the Arctic Circle was ice-cream, the Flubber Blubber was jello, the Sun Valley Steamer was roast potatoes, and the carrots were the Underground Icicle. But there were no utensils on the table!

Another course included a slice of Black Magic (chocolate cake), a Jack(knife), a portion of Lazy Hoofer (meatloaf), and Billy Goat (butter). You get the idea. Each course was a surprise and we all had a lot of laughs as the plates appeared.

It  was a lot of fun...despite eating our 20-item meal in whatever random order we selected the numbers, often improvising without utensils. The 20 selections included utensils and a napkin, so many of us had to become creative. I discovered that I was able to shovel my soup (Potpourri) with a celery stick (Dental Hygienist). As much as I love roast potatoes and ice-cream, I must say that eating them together was, well, strange!

The next morning, the mystery of our final destination was prolonged for a few more hours while we completed the Poker Run. We were informed that we would be picking up five envelopes in which we would find the address and directions to each successive destination. And since this was also a poker run, each envelope would have a random playing card included.  
Stop 1 was the church parking lot where we had our mystery dinner and spent the night.

lining up to collect our envelope with the directions to the next destination

Stop 2 was at the Polk County Fairgrounds 30-miles north of Corvallis, appropriately named after our hosts.
Here we picked up our next envelope with instructions for the third stop and a third playing card. This repeated twice more until we picked up our envelope with the address for our final destination and our final playing card.

And the mystery destination? 

Andersens Oceanside Big Rig Resort in Long Beach, Washington! 

For us, it ended up being a bit of wild poker run since we traveled south to Oregon from the Seattle area only to return back north to Washington again. But for many of our Californian Alpine friends, this was the farthest north they have traveled for a rally, and it was a great way to entice them to our neck of the woods. 


The drive from Corvallis to Long Beach along the back roads was particularly scenic. We have driven through this area several times at different times of the year. This time we saw the fields abundant with crops and in particular with lavender along route 99W. 

you are definitely in farm country when you share the road with combines

fields of green

fields of lavender

Eventually the road veered west toward the ocean, taking us through the scenic Tillamook & Clatsop State Forests along Route 26. 

On the final stretch on Route 101, we drove through Astoria, with its iconic bridge spanning the mouth of the Columbia River. It appears that to most of the ladies, this crossing in the coach as a passenger overlooking the water turned out to be rather nerve-wracking. There was a lot of talk about "that bridge" and whether we would need to cross it again during the week!

the long road across the water

And so we entered Washington State and continued to the "world's longest beach" on Washington's Long Beach Peninsula. 

map courtesy of Long Beach visitors guide

 
We collected our final playing card for the poker hand once we arrived at Andersens Resort. That evening, in the clubhouse where we gathered for meals and the tasty Italian catered dinner, our hosts gave out prizes to the winning poker hands. 

the big winners

the losing hand that awarded me a small prize

I have never played poker, but found out that I had a losing hand. Oh well! 
I did however get a small prize for collecting bad cards. 

I may not have been a winner at the poker game, but the rest of the rally was a winner for all of us. Our hosts promised that we would have a week filled with fun and interesting events. It was certainly that and so much more. 

During the seven days, every morning at breakfast and for Happy Hour we enjoyed the convivial camaraderie of friends old and new. NorCal, SoCal and NoWACA Alpine members attended. Once again, we met several new folks. 

our extended Alpine family

We had a good chuckle when our hosts delivered a "Breakfast Surprise" to the coach the first morning. Tom handed me a 15" brown box in which we discovered a treat from the local bakery. None of us has ever seen such gigantic donuts. And they were tasty!

2 perfect donuts, at least 8" in diameter

We dined sumptuously at the catered dinners and our final pot luck evening. And we had a schedule packed with many terrific organized outings in the area highlighting the history, culture, cuisine, and rugged beauty of this coast.

On Thursday we carpooled to Fort Clatsop. This is Lewis and Clark territory and the area where the intrepid explorers arrived at the mouth of the Columbia River in their quest to discover a navigable river from the interior to the ocean. We have of course been here before, though the movie our group saw today at the Visitor Center in the Lewis and Clark National Park was the first I have seen made from the perspective of the natives who witnessed their land being discovered by Europeans and what followed. I thought it was excellent.

Sacagawea, the only female in the group with her baby

The park guide showed us around the fort, a replica rebuilt since the '06 fire that destroyed the first one. 

Next we watched the slow and tedious process of boiling fat to make candles, an important job to keep the dark and dreary evenings well lighted during the winter months that the expedition spent here. This far north, the sun stays up well past 9PM during the summer, but in winter it is already dark by 4PM.

Our hosts arranged a picnic lunch catered by a local bakery. We ate hungrily.

From Fort Clatsop we moved on to a private tour of the Coast Guard Air Base, located at Astoria Regional Airport in Warrenton. It is one of the oldest and busiest Coast Guard stations on the West Coast. The US Coast Guard uses vessels and helicopters in search and rescue missions around the mouth of the Columbia River.

The most exciting part of the tour for Michael was watching the "helos" take off and land. And when he got to climb into one for a photo.

On Friday a Prevost tour bus picked us up and took us across the "dreaded" Astoria bridge to the Columbia River Maritime Museum where we had a private guided tour. 

outside the museum with the Columbia, river and lightship, in the background

The mouth of the Columbia is known for its treacherous conditions. This river which originates in Columbia Lake, British Columbia, Canada, empties into the Pacific Ocean at the Columbia River Bar, depositing a tremendous amount of silt from the Cascade Range at the mouth of the river. Ocean currents build underwater sand bars 5 to 10 feet high in a year, resulting in a constantly changing geography. Millions of dollars are spent annually on dredging to keep the channels open to marine traffic. Each year, the US Army Corps of Engineers removes 5 to 6 million cubic yards of sand, enough to fill 500,000 dump trucks, according to one display board.
It's no surprise that the Columbia River Bar is also known as the "Graveyard of the Pacific." Since 1792, approximately 2,000 vessels (including 200 large ships) have sunk at the Columbia River Bar and over 700 people have lost their lives. The combination of high seas, a mighty river (emptying into the Pacific at 150 billion gallons of water per day), and shallow shifting sandbars make the Columbia River Bar one of the most dangerous crossings in the world. 
Today, cargo ships from different nations transport goods like cars, petroleum goods, and steel through the Bar to ports in Portland, Longview and Kalama. Bar pilots guide the vessels daily through the 17-mile danger zone over the sand bars and through the shifting channels. River pilots board the ships in Astoria to continue further safe passage up the river.

Today, conditions are a lot more sophisticated than in years gone by. Very little was known about the northwest area in general until adventurers of the 17th and 18th centuries explored the Pacific Northwest coastline to create maps and scout for safe harbors. 
Our docent explained about several instruments available to mariners back then. Michael demonstrated the then state-of-the-art equivalent to today's GPS, the Back-Staff, which saved mariners from looking directly into the sun with a previous instrument, the Cross-Staff. 
The museum offered displays about the first explorers, including Captain Robert Gray who sailed into the "great river of the west" in 1792 and named it for his ship, the Columbia Rediviva. 
We also learned about the fur-skin, whaling and fishing trade that developed in the area.

the "lighthouse" Columbia

The Lightship Columbia is docked at the museum. We toured the inside and learned how this vessel served as a floating lighthouse and remained anchored at its appointed station to warn incoming vessels about the hazardous reef. This is the last lightship on the west coast. Built in Maine in 1952, she served faithfully until she was retired in November, 1979 when an automated navigational buoy was installed.

After the museum we boarded the bus for the next stop, the Astor Street Playhouse. Here we first enjoyed a catered Fish 'n Chips dinner from Dooger's Seafood and Grill, followed by the vaudeville-style musical melodrama, Shanghaied in Astoria.
The play was quite entertaining in itself, though probably the most memorable instance was when the voluptuous proprietress of the saloon (where the males imbibed in liquor and more!) came down from the stage and sang to the males in the audience, giving one in particular her special attention:

Oh, Jerryyyyyyy!

After the play, our entire group continued the attention with cries of "Oh, Jerry!" echoing on the bus on the return trip to the RV Park, and then again the next morning. Jerry was a good sport.

Over the weekend, we had the choice of touring the Columbia Pacific heritage Museum in Ilwaco, and Sandsations, the 33rd annual sand-sculpting event in Long Beach. Both were interesting. 
The Museum was celebrating Clamshell Railroad days and several model train enthusiasts set up their trains. It's the first time I saw Z-gauge trains. They were tiny.

One couple who are Lego enthusiasts set up an entire town with Lego buildings and trains. I was fascinated.

The main attraction of the museum is the 1889 passenger coach, the Nahcotta, owned by the Ilwaco Railroad and Navigation Co (IR&N) to transport vacationers from the port of Ilwaco to various towns along the peninsula. It is the only Pullman coach owned by the IR&N, built to run on a narrow gauge 3-ft track. At 42 feet long, it is close to the size of many RV coaches. After the railroad closed in 1930, the Nahcotta became a cottage for 30 years until a railroad enthusiast in Fife, Washington bought the pullman and worked on restoring it for the next 30 years. The Nahcotta returned to Ilwaco in 2003.

Sandsations drew quite a crowd. There was a wide range of talent but it was evident that everyone was having fun building their sand creations on the beach. Sand castles definitely took on a new meaning and dimension this weekend.

Strolling through the town of Long Beach, we came across the Lewis and Clark Park commemorating Michael's heroes and featuring a sculpture of the tree on which Clark carved his name in 1805 when he was in the area.

Long Beach is the western most point reached by the expedition. Captain Clark's diary entry on November 19, 1805 states that he "proceeded on a small sandy coast 4 miles and marked my name on a small pine, the day of the month and year..." 

Trite but true: all good things come to an end. Folks started to leave the morning of the 17th. We said our adieus and waved as the coaches drove off. It was a full and wonderful week. The weather was good, considering this is the Washington coast. The RV park is a great location with easy beach access, and quiet yet close to everything. The beach extends for miles, perfect for long walks and stunning sunsets.
Our hosts did a marvelous job planning their 7th mystery rally at an interesting location with lots to discover and learn. Every last detail was carefully organized and executed. I'm hooked! And look forward to the next Mystery Rally. Thanks Tom, Nancy, Judy and Kelly for a wonderful, mystery-filled adventure. Yours is a rally I definitely recommend.

A Long Silence because...

It was Easter weekend when we arrived at Lake Pleasant RV Park from Pismo, thankful to find reservations at this popular and only highly-rated park in the Seattle area. Except for a short break to join friends for a pre-arranged outing to the Oregon coast which I will write about next in a separate post, we ended up staying in the Seattle area through July 6th, parking our home at Lake Pleasant RV Park, then at the Puyallup Elks, Dash Point State Park and back at Lake Pleasant.

A lot has happened in that period, and now that I have had time to reflect and get back to posting again, I realize just how choppy, emotional, stressful and busy the past three months have been. We were in fact experiencing the yin and yang of life’s extremes, and the closing of one chapter just as another begins with the newest very active little leaf on the family tree. 

Our daughter, her husband and baby son came to visit the family for 10 days at the end of May. It was wonderful to spend time with them and the baby (the same baby we flew to meet in Bangkok when he was born). And it was particularly special that Kathleen was able to see her grandfather one last time, and to introduce their 6-month old son to his great-grandfather. 
Michael’s father passed away peacefully at home at the beginning of June, with most of the family at his bedside, a day after our daughter, her husband and baby son flew back home. 

Four months ago, all four of our parents were still with us. We have now each lost a parent since the beginning of the year.  For many of our friends, saying goodbyes to parents has come earlier. It is simply our turn now.  Between the uplifting and happy periods with our adorable grandson and his parents, there were the sad spells of watching Dad’s life come to a close. 
The following weeks were busy, helping and supporting Mom, and particularly for Michael who spent the next weeks working on estate matters.

We have now left Lake Pleasant and are heading south to Oregon to join our NorCal (Northern California) Alpine group for a Mystery Rally. Other than meeting up in Corvallis, Oregon the final destination remains a mystery. On Monday when our group gathers in Corvallis we will learn where we will spend the next week.
It feels good to be back in the saddle again! With any luck, I will be back to regular posts after an almost 3-month break.

Here follows a more detailed account of what occupied us, and about the various places we called home after arriving back in Washington State:

April 15 to May 15 we stayed at Lake Pleasant RV Park in Bothell.  It is conveniently located to Michael's folks and the hospital. As its name implies, it is in fact a pleasant place to stay and the managers were very accommodating when they heard about our family situation. The only negative is that Wi-Fi is through Tengo and limited to an hour per day of free coverage. 
The 200 RV sites border the long, narrow lake. There is a small golf course and there are trails which were perfect for Michael to do his morning runs. It's approximately a mile to do a complete circuit around the lake, perfect for my morning walking routine to do 2 or 3 laps, and often an evening stroll after dinner. Despite being located along a main road, the park is surprisingly quiet. The only noise we heard was the frogs at night and the families of geese and ducks during the day.
We arrived in the spring, just as the goslings and ducklings were hatching. I enjoyed seeing the fluffy chicks on my morning walks.

The park has strict rules, one in particular is sure to get your attention:

I wonder why this particular number was chosen....

May 16th we left for Oregon to meet the Hicks at Jesse Honeyman State Park in Oregon. That post will follow this one.

We left Oregon on May 22nd and returned to Washington when Michael's Dad took another turn for the worse. 
We stayed at the Elks in Puyallup for a week, a central location to visit Michael's parents and also close to where our daughter, son-in-law and baby grandson would be staying during their visit at the end of May. 
The grounds at the Elks are large and the camp sites pretty level. There is 30 amp electricity at the sites but no water. There is a dump station and tap to fill water tanks. 

The Puyallup River Trail is close by which was convenient to keep up with our exercise routine. I did my daily walks and Michael did his alternate morning runs along the trail that followed alongside the river. 
The cottonwoods were blooming in May and a couple of times the air was thick with white seeds making it look like it was snowing. The air was so thick with the white fluff we had to be careful not to breathe it in!

it looks like snow but it's cottonwood seed

the Puyallup Riverwalk trail stretches
for approximately 5 miles

We learned about the Puyallup River Watershed being home to three federally protected species of fish: chinook, steelhead and bull trout. The river flows more than 54 miles from the southwest slopes of Mt Rainier to Commencement Bay.

the screw trap that counts the fish

The Puyallup Tribe of Indians considers this river an integral part of their cultural history and identity. Together with the State of Washington, the tribe co-manages research and monitoring of each year's run of salmon. A tribal employee who was counting the fish one morning explained to us the purpose of the screw trap we saw along the river. The trap is used to estimate the number of juvenile salmon migrating from fresh water to the ocean. Migration occurs in the spring and summer. The salmon are identified, counted and measured for length. Data is collected to gain information about migration timing and survival rates.

On a cloud-free day, we saw Mt. Rainier in all its glory. The sight always elicits wonder at this gigantic white mass rising up out of seemingly nowhere. Previously from our home we viewed the mountain from the north. Here in Puyallup we were closer to the mountain, and seeing it from a different angle, and it loomed even larger and wider.















We also saw this sign, a reminder that we live in volatile country. Evacuation routes are typically posted along the shore where there is a threat of a tsunami. But mother nature's wrath is equally dangerous close to a potentially active volcano with its resultant lahar mudslide following an eruption.

At the end of May, we moved from the Puyallup Elks to Dash Point State Park in Federal Way for a week when our daughter and husband arrived with our grandson from overseas and stayed at his parents' house. Dash Point is a beautiful park and campground along the shores of Puget Sound with many miles of trails meandering through thick forests.  A one-mile trail led to the Twin Lakes neighborhood where our son-in- law's parents live, so we were able to spend a lot of time together.  

a great site with full hookups close to the beach

walking the trail to visit the kids

baby came to visit us in Alpine

we had a picnic dinner one evening

the kids came over for breakfast one morning

proud grandparents gramping with their favorite grandson

our Alpine driver in training

On June 5th we returned to Lake Pleasant RV Park and have remained there until today. This has been a very busy and challenging period, in particular for Michael. As the oldest son and executor, he has had to deal with the estate and all the legal and administrative issues for his mother. It is accurate to say that he has worked harder than the proverbial donkey for the past month putting Mom's affairs in order.

Lake Pleasant was an ideal location during this difficult time. We spent most of our time with Mom but also found time to visit friends and previous neighbors. We had dinner with the Langords and the Leggs a week ago, and met our Escapee chapter group for their lunch gathering. I joined my line dancing group and also met up with my weekly sewing group when convenient. I discovered that there is a quilt shop a mere half mile away from the RV park and walked there a couple of times. It is very well stocked with a wide range of fabrics. There were also moments when I set up the sewing machine and picked away at a few more projects. 

a simple machine for simple seaming - love that little Featherwieght!

And while we were at Lake Pleasant, we met another couple who also have an Alpine and have recently started full-timing. They too were here under sad and difficult circumstances facing the passing of a family member. I realized that the Alpine family is there to support one another in good times and in bad. This time we were two Alpines in mourning.

By the time we were ready to move on, the goslings we first saw in April grew up and are now barely distinguishable from their parents. The parents still remain protective of their teens and a couple of times on my walk they hissed at me and wouldn't let me pass. Now that the cute chicks have grown up, they eat a lot more. The unfortunate consequence is that their "output" is as abundant as that of their goose parents, making it challenging to side-step their deposits while walking around the lake.  Everyone agrees that they wish the Canadian geese would go back to Canada!

all grown and getting ready to fly south in a few months

Yesterday we struck camp and drove the short distance to Kent where Alpine went in for a service at Pacific Power Group, recommended by Scott Hicks. 

The Kent KOA is literally down the road, and a convenient place to spend a couple of nights. It's very popular because of its proximity to Seattle, reflected in the price of $65 per night for 30 amp. However it is along a noisy road and directly across the street from Amazon's fulfillment center. The park looks a little "tired", and the sites are so small and narrow that I wondered how Michael was going to be able to maneuver into our spot. But of course, this is an Alpine and the driver is an expert at avoiding obstacles! 

KOA across road from Amazon

There was a rally group from Louisiana at the park. They are part of a scooter club and were enjoying scooting around, touring the Seattle area.  When we arrived the group had just returned from a 60-mile round trip ride to Snoqualmie Falls.

We also met a family from South Africa touring with their daughters. The South African flag on the back of their rented RV was the clue, so of course we knocked on their door the next morning to say hello. 

Tomorrow we will continue to the Salem Elks in Oregon. On Monday it will be a short drive to Corvallis to meet our rally group. Our hosts will reveal the destination once we have all gathered. Counting the addresses on the email distribution list, there will be 22 coaches attending. It should be a fun week judging by the names on the list.