Day 25 - Nature's Bounty

I love farmer's markets.  Every where we travel, we look for possible markets to support and purchase fresh local foods.  Sometimes the timing works out.

Asparagus from Eastern Washington

Beaverton Farmer's Market is one of the best, especially this time of year.  I brought my new Olympus camera with me to shoot some photos.

Local Beets

Huge it is and well attended.  I forgot to take photos of the booths because it was so busy and crowded.

Raspberries!!!

I just tried to shoot photos of some groupings of wonderful fruits and veggies.

Asparagus Tamale.  Yes it is!  and yummy to boot

And some flowers too.

Flowers for sale

Then I got distracted and here it is Friday and tomorrow is Farmer's market so we do it all over again. Like Ground Hog Day, or The Edge of Tomorrow without guns.

The first of 3 flats we have eaten in the past week

heh, heh.......

Oh My, What Sweet Lips You Have!

Some random thoughts and photos from past week since I haven't posted in a while.

We have been here in Laurelwood for a week now.  Visiting friends and serving here and there.  Most of you regular readers know our home address is now here at Ananda Laurelwood where education and community is most important.  Not all "Laurelwoodians" live on the property as we do.

The gentlemen farmers

 We visited our long time good friends, Dambara and Manisha, who live just down the street.  Having moved up to Oregon last summer at the same time we did, they bought an acreage and have become "gentlemen farmers".  Last week they bought some Llamas so we went over to meet the new arrivals.

My what soft lips you have!

 I have never before feed a llama.  They have such soft lips.  What fun to sit outside and catch up on happenings the past year while we have been traveling.  Sraddha also is doing more photography.  Mostly with iPhone and she has a great eye.  Better than me.  I am trying to coax her into shooting with our new Olympus camera which is light weight.

Smile!!!

Since we were last here, some new folks have come on the scene.  Elizabeth and Ty are from Portland area and she and Sraddha have bonded over the beautification of Ananda Laurelwood so they are planning all kinds of fun projects.

A little garden right outside the cafe

We usually return to the RV after morning meditation to have our coffee and breakfast, but do take some meals in the Green Hill Cafe which serves a delightful fresh vegetarian fare.

Green Hill Cafe lunch time

 One of our other long time friends, Janakidevi, has a vision for a "Yogananda Garden" in the wild areas up on the hill behind where we reside.  This morning we went for a walk with her, bushwacking through the fields and along the dirt road up to the top of the hill to look at possible places for trails and beautiful resting spots for visitors.  I snapped a few pix along the way.

Walking amidst the brambles

She wants to have a large statue of Paramhansa Yogananda created and installed up on the crest of the highest point.  No spring chicken, she envisions this parklike environment where now is mostly brambles.  Admirable.

View from top of hill looking out west towards coastal range

As we were walking around I couldn't help take in the breathtaking beauty all around us.  This planet has a guiding force of grace and beauty everywhere.  If only we can tap into that energy.

beautiful flowers

While up at the crest I shot this short video on my iPhone scanning the vista while she discusses her vision.  sound is not  very good but we will post more later on.

Day 14 - Ananda Laurelwood..Home Sweet Home.... for little while

Miles Driven - 117
Total Miles - 1082
Nehalem Bay State Park to Ananda Laurelwood, Gaston, Oregon

After breakfast, we packed up, dumped the wastes, headed off across the coast range to our "home from home".  I say this because Ananda Laurelwood is where we hope to someday settle down and is the reason we moved out of our home in northern California.  Well not the only reason but it is why we have made our change of address and also moved our household goods up to Oregon into long term storage whilst we roam around the USA.

Our home at Home!!

We will be here in the Portland area for about 5 weeks, commencing our eastward journey east after the Fourth of July weekend to attend a family reunion in Sandpoint, Idaho. In the meantime, we have a lot to do to prepare.  RV and Jeep registration in Oregon, my new Oregon driver's license, a couple of repairs and installs on the RV, etc. We have a to do list of about 30 different things.  We started today with the smog checks of RV and Jeep in Hillsboro before heading out to Laurelwood.  Passsed!

The Big Pines Shelter us from view.  No one even notices us.

In addition, of course, we want to reconnect with many of our friends in the area, and maybe even a few good meals. We have already started to visit.

Beth's Garden in distance.  Blue shack is Chicken Coop

The time will rapidly pass so we actually might have to get a little bit organized.  Forsooth.  Just as I am getting used to letting each come, I will need to figure out which "to do" needs to be done in which order and what is the priorities.  And to be still and calm during this whole process.

Julien's big Solar collector project.  Last incarnation was a satellite dish

 Fortunately I have my partner and many friends, some of which we have already seen.  Off to see what mail and packages greet us today.

Days 10-13 - One Day a Desert Rat, the next Day a Beach Bum

Miles Driven - None in RV  some in Jeep
Total Miles - 975
Still on Oregon Coast - heh, heh

One day we are in the last day of 8 months in dry desert, the next day we are on the beach,  Well, to be precise, 2 days later, but, when you are on the beach, hey, you lose track so easily. Know what I mean?

One day Painted Hills In John Day Fossil Beds, Oregon

Next Day Manzanita Beach in Oregon

Well, er, uh, ok, no excuses, like being a beach bum.  Perhaps that is why I haven't written in several days.  Sometimes you just need to take a little break which we have here at Nehalem Bay State park on the Oregon Coast.

We actually did something the other day.  We walked the 2 miles to downtown Manzanita and went geocaching.  Remember, I found my very first geocache last week at the Gordon House in Silverton when I wasn't even looking.  So I downloaded the app and, and opened it up to see if anything nearby.

Second GeoCache

Yep, there was one.  A little hunting, we discovered it behind some bushes in front of a home on main street.  Tee-hee.

One thing about the Oregon coast is how favorable the climate is for plants and flowers.  We admire some of the local gardens as we walked around town.

Admiring local garden

 Back home at the "Rancho del Williams", (aka CharLi, aka the RV), We cooked up some grub from local seafood shop.

I love "See Food"  when I see it, I eat it!

Only minutes from the beach I monitored the sunset possibilities, and dashed out to find a good place to watch.  Much of this time of the year is clouded in with fog banks so you have to shoot these when you can. 

El Rancho del Williams

I found a nice little dune which gave off some reflection of suns rays and spent a good 45 minutes watching the sunset and taking photos.  I ruined the shots from regular camera but managed to get a couple with the iPhone.  Never leave home without it.

Today we drove to Cannon Beach about 20 miles north.  We ate some lunch at local places, I had pizza and she had fish & chips.

Puffins!!

 We walked out onto the beach near Haystack Rock in hopes of seeing some Puffins.  It is breeding time for many birds.  Unfortunately the tide was in so we couldn't get too close.  I got no useable photos except from iPhone (see droopy camera there).  Through Sraddha's scope, we could see some puffins and Murres, and Pelagic Comorants on the rock.

BIRD!!!

We headed back south along highway 101. Interesting to note the cloud bank seems to hang permanently over Cannon Beach this time of year, while Manzanita and Nehalem Bay is usually sunny. (Editors note that tonight the clouds moved back in so no sunset.)

looking south towards Manzanita Beach.  Note fog bank further south 

This few days of R&R have been fun.  We spent the mornings walking and also researching and making some reservations for next winters trip to Florida.  Have some fun places booked. It gets crowded down there so wanted to make sure we have some places to stay during peak season.  Mid December through March 2 is now booked.  The rest, we will wing it.

 If you have read this far, I will let you in on a big secret......Promise not to tell anyone? We get to spend my 65th birthday next January in......

.......

wait for it.......

The Florida Keys!!  Woo Hoo

Off to Ananda Laurelwood for a few weeks.  So I won't post daily but hope to put up some photos and some fun things.

Day 9 - Mountains, Rain, the DMV and my first Geocache.

Miles Driven - 176
Total Miles - 829
Ochoco Pass to Silver Falls Sate Park, Oregon

The DMV.  I wish this word didn't send shivers down my spine. Would prefer sending good energy up my spine. That said we have had an interesting saga in our move up to Oregon.

We just discovered two weeks ago that the registration for our Subaru which was left in Oregon, still does not have the license plates.  We had submitted the registration paperwork over 3 months ago, when Sraddha visited Laurelwood.  Come to find out the bank info was left off the form and another co-owner, not named Sraddha or Kent is on the registration.

What the heck is happening here? They also misplaced the file and another name is on the registration in process.  A phone call to DMV and now a visit to Prineville DMV has moved along the process. We now have temporary (60 day) permit to drive the Subaru when we return next week, however not the registration which could take another 4-6 weeks.  Not good since we want to sell the Subaru.  Arghh.

This also makes us gun-shy to transfer the RV registration now which we need to initiate upon return next week.

Rainforest outside our back door here in Silver Falls State Park

Anyway we continued west from Prineville over the Cascades through a driving rainstorm.  The mountains were socked in so no good photos.

North falls from overlook

Overnight we move from camping in deserts for past 8 months to camping in a rain forest. What a difference a day makes!

Trees to the left of North Falls overlook.

We settled into Silver Falls State Park east of Salem, unhooking in pouring rain. Can you say "wet in 30 seconds"?  Later in day we drove to Silverton to see the Gordon House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built after his death.  It was recently moved, yes torn down and moved to its present location.

Gordon House in Silverton, OR

Kent finding his first geocache

Amazing design and color fit so well with greenery around it. While walking around through the tall grass to get a good photo (the one above). I stumbled onto my first Geocache. "What is this?"  It was an old ammo box just like I had read about.  Like a little kid at Christmas, I opened it up to see what was inside.  Having just read about geocaching in  fun book about maps, I was curious about the whole phenomenon.

 Apparently someone hides a, hopefully, watertight container, often a tupperware type, somewhere which contains a small notebook or log and sometimes trinkets or various things.  They then record and publish its GPS location, then others look for it.  Seems a bit strange but I already can see the allure.  So I recorded my "handle" which I made up on the spot, in the log, then downloaded the app and created my account to then record the "find".  Actually fun and Sraddha was laughing the whole time.

Sraddha twisted her knee yesterday on the hike in Blue Basin so we didn't hike the falls trail this afternoon.

Westward Hoh!!

The wagons are hitched,  horses fed (gassed up).  Supplies sufficient.  Saddle up and let's head west!

We spent the past 3 wonderful days helping Sraddha's nephew, Tyler and family, move into their new home.  Camping outside on the street or "Burbs-Boondocking" was really fun.  We met many neighbors and friends who stopped by to say hello or help.

Burbs Boondocking

We even went shopping at Ikea for shelving and spent last afternoon and evening assembling and installing shelves and other storage devices in the playroom.  I had lots of help from the little ones.  Unfortunately, no one thought to take a photo until afterwards.  Sigh.  Must I do it all?

Helping out in the kitchen

We will finish up with installing wall photos this morning and I packed up the RV, making it ready to head out.  We had lunch with Tyler, then headed west.  Tonight's destination unknown but we have some possibilties.  It's 650 miles to Ananda Village.  Too far for one day.  Almost too far for two days although we have done that mileage.  The problem is having any energy left upon arrival.  So we will spend 2 nights on the road.

A little playtime when the sun finally came out

If we can drive 200-250 miles today (5-6 hours) and 250-300 (6-7 hours) miles tomorrow, then we have an easy day Thursday of, say 100-120 miles.  We average 50 miles per hour when we are really moving but thursday will be over and down mountain passes which drops the average to 35 miles per hour realistically or 4 hours of driving.

Helping out

So we will shoot for Wells-Elko area Tuesday hoping to set up camp for a late dinner.  Then head over through Fernly, NV for refueling and onto Washoe Lake State Park or Lahontan Lake Recreation area outside of Carson City, might be possibilities for affordable stop.  Then we could hit the Carson City Trader Joes store for essential resupply before heading up over Tahoe to Ananda Village.

We will not make any reservations and just see what comes to us.  Should be a fun little trip and looking forward to more "burb-Boondocking at Ananda Village.  The price is right.

Pods and Horns

We made it to  South Jordan, Utah, out in the Southwest 'burbs of Salt Lake City.  As you may recall, we are assisting Sraddha's nephew, Tyler, move into his new home.  Tyler is a widower with 4 small girls, his wife Lissel (Sraddha's niece) passed away unexpectedly last December a week before Christmas.

PODS out front of new home

They had packed up their home in Toelle, Utah, about 1 hour drive west of here, putting everything in "Pods" while they then took a little vacation, then the pods were later delivered to the new home as you can see here.

Thankfully these horns won't fit on our RV living room wall.

Thanks to some new and some old neighbors, the family was able to move everthing into the house before the rains.  Well mostly.  It did shower a little but a big storm moved in overnight.  We had set up campsite on the street outside of home.  Tyler had received special permission for us to do this for a few days.

Boondocking in the 'Burbs.  Notice new snow in mountains.

We even hooked up power to the house using our big extension cords. I only blew the 20 amp circuit once last night.  Found out that I can run either the hot water heater, the microwave, or the space heater along with the electric blankets and fridge and TV, but not 2 of the 3.  That's ok.  We turned on the propane water heater and I turned off the space heater when I warmed up leftovers in the microwave.

We managed to get a fair amount of unpacking down yesterday and will do more today.  Monday we will do even more, and receive another small trailer load of things which were temporarily stored back in a neighbors garage.

Thankfully one of Tyler's "boy genius" friends got the internet wifi working so I can write blog without using up our precious bandwidth. I also have been able to download all the latest software updates for our computers and IOS devices.  Woo Hoo.  Always a bonus for us with limited monthly bandwidth.

The other bonus is free rent space.  Most RV campgrounds cost $30-$35 per night.  State parks range from $25-$30.  BLM and National Forest Campgrounds are $3-$8 with senior access pass.  So we like to find free places occasionally.  We like to boondock out in the "boonies".  Now we are boondocking in the "burbs"!  Average daily rent for 2014 is $14 so far.

Santa Fe

Back in a big city. Well, not that big but bigger than almost every other place we have been for past month.  Actually we have already departed Santa Fe but pretend we are here now. Too cold most of the time to really get out much.  We restocked the larder, got the RV serviced, ate some wonderful food.

Old railyard where farmers market is located

I must say it was a bit of an adjustment to be in a faster paced energy here.

Basilica of St Francis of Assis.  Parton Saint of Santa Fe

Also it is a bit more expensive than other places.

Some cool painted posts

Vendors on the central plaza

We noticed this today at the Whole Foods Market. When I went out to resupply our drinking water, the machines charge $0.30 per gallon where everywhere else we have been charges only $0.25 per gallon.  A little thing, yes, however, indicative of higher costs.










 We did go out to eat every night, our one indulgence.

Cafe Pasquale.  Home of the Best Chile Relleno EVER!

Fuel is about the same all over New Mexico right now at $3.43 per gallon. Cheaper than Moab, from what can see.

From inside the Baslica

New Mexico, in the Spring, has two kinds of weather,  windy and very windy.  We try to plan our excursions when it is only windy or breezy (less than 20 mph). Very windy (30+ mph gusting to 45-50 mph) are days when the chill creeps through our senior citizen bones so we try to spend those days indoors.  One day we visited the State Capital where legislature and governor have offices.  The artwork was the compelling reason. I didn't take a lot of photos of the art but here are a couple

           

Notice the materials used here

From one of the moon walks

Our stay in Santa Fe began with balmy weather so we headed out side up to Vaias Caldera and Bandelier for a day.  The next day we had scheduled the RV to be in for routine service the wind came up, so we headed indoors spending much of the day in the public library. Sraddha wasn’t feeling well so needed quiet.  I had work to do with the online Ananda Library so what better place than a public library with internet access.

Cottonwoods by Georgia Okeefe

 One day we visited the Georgia Okeefe museum.  Always different.  There was an exhibit of Okeefe and Ansel Adams in Hawaii.  Couldn't take pix though.

Gerogia's cook book collection in orginal boxes 

Saw this unusual parking sign outside the library.  Turns out it is not DOT sanctioned.  Still real fun

Am doing this quick post.  Honestly because of the weather we didn't take a lot of photos.  Too cccccooolddddd. I had hoped to shoot a lot of color.  Next time.