Windseeker Travel Log with Joe and Libby

I don't think there are too many folks out there who will be sorry to see 2020 lapse into history. It has been a HELLuva year. As we roll into 2021 many folks are a bit shaky as their quarantine depression and regular depression meets their seasonal depression. Add to that the economic uncertainty wrought by terrible management of the pandemic and the economy from the top of our government as we approach 20 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in this country making us far and away the world leader where we would prefer not to be. But we are going to remain optimistic that '21 will be a lucky year for us all. 21 is the winning score in Blackjack and it is the age at which you finally grow up and become an adult. We will have a grownup president this coming year and hopefully the country will rise to the occasion.

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, well, only the dogs. Our Westie Taffy and Pat's & Linjia's dog Poe, a Pomeranian/American Eskimo mix, are cuddled up together on the big recliner. Very cute... they are becoming good friends which is nice to see. Poe is a rescue and they have only had him about 3 months so he is still getting acclimated, but he is adjusting nicely. They're also constant Begging Buddies. He and Taffy are also always racing outside when a squirrel appears on the back fence. Taffy lives to chase squirrels and Poe just tags along for the excitement. Keeps all of us amused!

Well Thanksgiving is behind us and the clock is ticking until Christmas and New Years. We hope all our our friends, family and blog readers have a wonderful Christmas and that the New Years brings in better times. We're hoping the dire warnings about post-Thanksgiving & Christmas surges with the Pandemic are somehow averted. We will be spending the holidays at home - and our household now includes son Patrick, wife Linjia and their dog Poe. As posted earlier this year, the silver lining to the COVID isolation means the kids are spending much more time here with us, working from home and feeling safer than in downtown Portland. The Covid-tree at the right is surrounded with our toys. But alas they are all in hibernation for the winter. At least I should find a few sunny days to take the MG out for a spin between now and spring.

While many Americans are dangerously traveling to visit family around the country, contrary to CDC recommendations, Libby and I will be staying home, enjoying a safe Thanksgiving at home. We have ordered two Thanksgiving turkey dinners with all the trimmings, from our favorite little local restauarant, Ducktales Kitchen. We want to help support our favorite local restauarants which are all having a difficult time with all the closures mandated by COVID safety restrictions.

The weather has shifted here in the Pacific Northwest. Seasonal Affective Disorder may start to kick in for the sun worshippers out there, exacerbated by the isolation due to COVID 19. Gawking at the fall colors in the sun breaks is one way to combat it. I didn't take this photo... it was shared on our morning news station by a viewer, and I borrowed it.

There have been a lot of funny memes around this election cycle. Some of the funniest are the ones most painfully true. Like this one. No kidding... Covid, race riots, massive unemployment and this stressful election. Next year has gotta be better! We'll see you on the lake!

I watched a marvelous old western from 1940 called "Virginia City" recently, starring my favorite western hero Randolph Scott, along with Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, Allen Hale and others. It was a civil war drama and a tale of how the sense of division ultimately gave way to unity. It ended with a marvelous soliloquy by President Abe Lincoln which is so appropriate for these times. I created this meme as my own effort to foster this unity as we lick our wounds after this fractious political season, and in these trying times of the Coronavirus, we can hopefully come together as One Nation under God, with liberty and justice for all.

Here is the text of his speech: "We're not enemies, we're friends, and in my heart and in thousands like mine throughout America, there is no spirit of revenge in our victory, there must be no harbor of hatred in their defeat. Tell them we are now one people, united by blood and fire, and that from this day forward our destiny is indivisible. With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us now strive to bind up the nation's wounds, and for all we must establish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves and with all nations. (President Lincoln in the film "Virginia City", 1940)

Despite any number of spurious lawsuits to contest the results of the election, all without any factual basis at all, and the likelihood of a recount or two, if history is any precedent, it is now official... Joe Biden is the 46th President of the U.S. with Senator Kamala Harris at his side. Now maybe the country can settle down, and return to some semblance of sanity in the new year. Let's all get some sleep!

This is the key posture for this week, which promises to be a very loooooong week.                                                                        

Today we headed back to Vancouver for a week or so. Various doctor and dentist appointments will keep us busy. We have pretty much wrapped up most of our little projects on the new Vilano 5th Wheel. There are a couple items the dealer still needs to take care of for us. They'll do those in November after we winterize the Vilano for winter. Libby is planning a trip to San Francisco to visit the kids and our grandson, Ollie. He's growing like a weed, crawling now and much more interactive so it will be fun for her to see him. I'll stay back with Taffy and hold down the fort.

Well with the smoke cleared and all preparations made, we completely emptied the Avalanche and today, the new Vilano was delivered. They sent two guys to pull the Avalanche out and take it back to the dealer's 'preowned' sales lot. The Vilano is the same exact size as the Avalanche and with the entry door in the same exact place. It was tricky but it fit right up against our deck. All the connections lined up and we were good to go. It was strange to see Libby standing in our empty spot #58 with all our vehicles in place.

The terrible firestorms that wracked the west coast have been substantially quelled now, after more than one million acres in Oregon have burned. Significant rain has helped quell the fires and the smoke a lot. Fall is here - the leaves are turning and the weather has now cleared and blue skies and cooler temps will prevail in the coming week. We are preparing for delivery of the new Vilano 5th wheel as soon as dealer prep has been completed. You can see a full page of large format photos on our Vilano photo gallery.

The entire Western US is being impacted by the catastrophic wildfires right now. The map at the right shows the number of wildfires by state. And the blanket of smoke is much worse. The informative PurpleAir.com website shows a map which shows the astounding spread of smoke throughout the west right now. You can run but you cannot hide, as the saying goes. The weather forecasts show cooler air and rain moving in this week, so the situation should be improving substantially over the next week. We hope so as we want to get back down to Veneta next week.

On the bright side of the current conflagration on the west coast on top of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is providing more family time at home in Vancouver. Tim and wife Kristin are visiting with our new grandson Oliver and since Pat and Linjia are visiting as well, besides getting some advance experience with parenting, they are joining in on the culinary duties as well. We also have the additional fun and chaos of the three dogs, Taffy, Poe and Wilbur, adding their input (and output) to the festivities.

A couple days ago the East winds kicked up throughout the west... a once in a generation wind event the Oregon governor called it. Unbelievable strong and gusty winds downed powerlines all over igniting dozens and dozens of wildfires. Darkness in the middle of the day, red smoky skies and ashes everywhere, simulating an almost apocalyptic event. Portland skies are dark and the air is thick with smoke. We're home in Vancouver where it has been windy but not too smoky... yet. The smoke seems to be moving in this evening. Veneta where our RV's are is even worse as it has become engulfed by the smoke from big regional fires on all sides. Here is a webcam image of the lake taken around 5pm today. Normally you can see a couple miles across the lake easily and the hills beyond. Things are worse in California where they have lost more acreage to wildfire than at any time the state's history.

Well, things are a little quiet right now with the sailing season over and COVID 19 still restricting activity. Although we have generally been happy with the purchase of our new Keystone Avalanche last year, there are some aspects that could stand a little improvement. Then we spotted this 2018 Vanleigh Vilano 375FL at a local dealership as advertised on Craigslist as well. We know Vanleigh as a company started by the son and grandson of Bob Tiffin, whose Allegro Bus we really came to respect during our ownership a few years ago. Vanleigh follows in the tradition of superior quality and attention to detail, so this Vilano 375FL which offers 4 seasons capability here in Veneta, was a natural choice. The dealer offered us a fair tradein, and we got a really fine coach in return. The Vilano is about the same size but with a marvelous feature list we REALLY can appreciate. See the Vilano photo gallery.

This afternoon, with sunny skies and temps in the mid-eighties, we fired up the MGB and took a drive on twisty backroads thru forests and farm country down to the town of Creswell to kick tires on some different model 5th wheel RV's. We have been kicking around the idea of a new 5th wheel to replace the Avalanche, something that would be capable of weathering the winters and being a year round retreat for us. This afternoon was more for amusement than serious consideration of any specific new model... it was mostly just an excuse to take this 75 mile backroads drive. After a stop for an ice cream, we got back to Fern Ridge Shores after 5pm in time to watch the news and fix dinner.

Now that the sailboat is out of the water, it's time to focus on other activities, as we while away our time for the rest of the season. Typically the season runs into October, and we have a month or so after the boat is out, to enjoy alternate activities before the rainy season begins. This year it begins about 6 weeks early due to low lake levels from the drought. So we can bike on Eugene's great bike trails, enjoy local top-down runs on local twisty roads in the MG, take short local RV trips in the Forester, enjoy leisurely walks in the beautiful Northwest autumn weather, and of course enjoy lots of tasty margaritas on the deck. Today we rode Taffy in our doggyride cart on Eugene's magnificent Ruth Bascom Bike Trail, the 12 mile path system which weaves along the Willamette River through open spaces & parks, and boasts five pedestrian/bicycle bridges on various scenic loops. Afterwards we returned to the RV for lunch and to watch one of hundreds of movies I have recorded on my DVR.

Due to drought in the west, lake levels in Fern Ridge Lake have been steadily dropping since June. We were afraid that we might not make it to late August before we had to pull our boat out, so we are happy that we have made it this far. The other day I waded down the launch ramp at Orchard Point to verify the depth. We need a bare minimum of 43" for our boat trailer and it was at 47", so it's getting pretty tight. Fortunately the pull out went smoothly this morning. The hoists the county maintains at both Richardson and Orchard Point make stepping and unstepping the mast a breeze. We'll store the boat in the storage lot at Fern Ridge Shores until we're ready to take the Forester back to Vancouver until next spring, then we can cover the sailboat and park it in our space next to the Avalanche 5th wheel.

The lake level has been dropping steadily over the past couple weeks. We watch the USACE website for lake levels and levels at the launch ramp. We're down to the wire, so we are pulling the boat Monday. Today Pat and Linjia were visiting and I took them out sailing for the last day of the season. Day 31. Libby and I were out yesterday, and today Libby stayed back and babysitted the two dogs while I went sailing with the kids. Linjia took the tiller for some of the time and Pat took it the rest of the time.

Today our youngest son Patrick married girlfriend Linjia Chang in a private covid-sensitive ceremony held at Portland's Rose Garden. In deference to Linjia's parents who live in Shanghai, China and cannot travel right now due to Coronavirus, family was not invited. A public family ceremony will be held once travel restrictions ease. Linjia is a darling girl and we are very happy to have her join our happy family. We are sure they will live happily ever after as we have. They will continue to live together in their Portland condo and work in the city.

Temperatures in NW Oregon are rising to 103 degrees on Saturday and staying very hot for a few days. This is a perfect time for us to stop home and check on the Vancouver homefront for a few days. We try to get home once a month anyhow... and it's been at least this long, so the heatwave is the perfect excuse to go home for a few days. We can relax in the central A/C and catch up on a few items around the ole homestead before we come back to Veneta middle of the week.

We returned from Florence on the Oregon Coast early afternoon, parked the Forester, unloaded the MG, had lunch and went out sailing. It was an excellent day, temps in mid 70's and perfect steady winds in the 10-12 mph range... our 28th day on the lake this summer, with me wearing my nose sun shield. Good day to end on as we head home tomorrow for a few days.

As I said before, Veneta is less than an hour from Florence on the Oregon Coast. We're having a few hot days this week again, and the Central Oregon Coast British Car Club is having a club picnic (BYO food and masks) in Florence, so we put the MG on the dolly again and cruised over to the coast in the Forester. We were able to book a nice pull thru space at Woahink Lake RV Resort on the south side of Florence. Our space was large enough to park the RV with the dolly behind it, the Dodge Durango behind it and the MG alongside. We both drove to bring the Dodge over this time to pick up a used Wilderness Kayak I found on Craigslist... a nice toy to offer the kids when they come to visit us in Veneta.

Back out today for our 27th day sailing this season. Here's Libby at the tiller on a pretty good heel. We sailed til 7:00 in perfect late afternoon breezes once again, with temps only reaching about 80 degrees. This is our third sailing session this past week, including one very strong day early in the week! Taffy was along for the ride as well!

Our idea panned out perfectly. The MG is easy to load onto the Dolly and strap down securely and our Forester motorhome with the mighty V-10 engine tows the little car effortlessly. Once we arrived at our first stop, the KOA campground in Lincoln City, we unloaded the MG and parked it next to the coach, ready to head our on a 90 mile tour we mapped out... up to Sandlake > Cape Lookout > Netarts > Cape Mears > Tillamook and then back down Highway 101 to Lincoln City again. Many more photos on our gallery page.

The Pacific Northwest got hit with a heatwave this week, with temps reaching 100 degrees and above, both in Vancouver where we live, and in Veneta at the lake. This kind of heat typically squelches the wind so we decided to load up the Forester motorhome and head over to the Oregon Coast. We hooked up the MG on our new car dolly and started out. It towed perfectly and effortlessly. We're just an hour from Florence at the Oregon coast so we headed over there and up the coast to Lincoln City as our first overnight stop, about a 3 hour trip.

We were out sailing again today... day 23 of the season... with winds in the 12-15 range and a bit gusty. This morning however, I went over to Guaranty RV in nearby Junction City and purchased a new Roadmaster RM-3477 Tow Dolly so we can tow our little MGB on short jaunts around the Pacific Northwest. For extended road trips, of course, we still have our 20 foot enclosed car hauler trailer which we have towed behind our SUV or RV. At present however we are using it for storage in Veneta, and not really taking extended road trips, so the dolly is the perfect complement for taking our MG along on short local trips like we're planning for this weekend as we head over to the Oregon coast to escape a brief heat wave next week.

Friday the thirteenth is often considered to be an unlucky day, but it seems Monday the 13th is a lucky day for us. The image at the right shows Windfinder's weather forecast for the week. Ideal sailing weather every single day. Bright sunny days with highs around 80 every day and winds every afternoon in the ideal range from 9-15. This is why we LOVE Fern Ridge Lake. This vindicates our decision to purchase our RV at Fern Ridge Shores RV Park and to spend the summer here each year going forward. Today we had 10-14... I normally like to sail about 3 days a week, but we may have to overindulge this week. These kinds of conditions are hard to pass up.

We decided on a Sunday drive in the MG along some beautiful back roads in the Wine Region south of Eugene. Perfect weather... high close to 80 and with some cloud cover off and on to give us a break from the sun. The route planned on google maps was about 75 miles round trip. The route took us down Territorial Highway out of Veneta to Curtin, Oregon. We passed many signs for wineries on side roads off Territorial. Enroute we spotted the King Estate Winery, a beautiful complex sitting up on a hill. Surrounded by fields of lavender and endless manicured rows of grape vines, the Winery occupies a really beautiful spot with some excellent valley views which you can see on our gallery page.

One of our 5 top reasons for spending summers in Eugene, Oregon is the magnificent Ruth Bascom Bike Trail. The 12 mile path system weaves along the Willamette River through open spaces & parks, has five pedestrian/bicycle bridges on various scenic loops. The path system has 4 main trail sections which includes the South Bank Path that connects to the University of Oregon and leads towards Skinner Butte Park and the Owen Rose Gardens. This mostly flat, paved trail is a delight for bicyclists of all ages, and a great way to get a little outdoor exercise in between sailing sessions.

We were back out today with good winds which came up around 3pm this afternoon. We got out on the water shortly after 4 and got in 3 good hours. My sailor friend Mike Stanley was out in his little Pearson sailboat as well and snapped this nice photo of us cruising along on a beam reach. At times we were hitting hull speed with a 15-20 degree heel, but at the point this photo was taken the wind was a little lighter. Hopefully I'll get another opportunity for a photo at full tilt!

After a few days in the doldrums, the wind came back up today and we had a perfect 9-10mph late afternoon today. Here we are heading towards Fern Ridge Shores, the lakefront RV Park which has become our summer home, sailing on a broad reach about 6:30 pm, reaching close to hull speed at 6.7mph.

This is a dynamic image which depicts the number of sailing days we have been treated to so far this season. It will update with each day we get out sailing. As of July 2 it was 16 days in which we have been able to get out on the lake in The Anne Marie, our beloved Catalina 22 sailboat. The wind doesn't come up every day, and earlier in the season we had some rainy days, which keeps us off the lake. Since we launched the boat May 5, that makes 59 days in the water this season, so 16 days is around 27%. In general, we consider sailing one in three days a successful average, so we're close. With the summer weather in full swing, our average should improve this month. We're hoping water levels will remain adequate to sail into September.

We had several stormy days since the weekend, and we just hung out and did some chores and little tweaks to the coach. Today was our first day back out on the lake in 11-14mph winds. Taffy is proving herself to be an excellent little sailor and she remains totally relaxed as we sail around the lake.

We had excellent winds in the 12-18 range today, with warm temps and blue skies. I took a friend, Mike Stanley, out sailing with me and Libby stayed back and tended to other things. Eddie Butler, a friend of Mike's, sailing on his own Catalina 22, Calypso , snapped this photo of us (right] on The Anne Marie, cruising along at about 6 kts. Most late afternoons here at the lake this summer, you can picture us doing exactly what this photo portrays.

Our decision last year to acquire this marvelous vacation spot at Fern Ridge Lake near Eugene Oregon, has turned out to be a prophetic choice. The lifestyle at Fern Ridge Shores is a remarkable antidote to COVID-19 ravaging the planet and the resultant anger and frustration emerging in all the Black Lives Matter protests coast to coast. Here at the lake, living in our Pandemic Palace, our lives revolve around sailing, our dog, outdoor exercise, BBQ and margaritas, all while maintaining ideal social distancing... a welcome respite from all the nation's troubles.

Well as if COVID-19 wasn't enough of a debacle, protests and riots have broken out in dozens of major cities across the country after a black man was killed by a thoughtless white cop in Minneapolis who has been charged with murder. But protesters are fed up with the systemic racism which pervades so many police departments and indeed society of itself. We are now in our 8th consecutive day of huge protests from Minneapolis to New York, to Miami, to Atlanta to Dallas, to L.A., and San Francisco... even Portland had crowds of 20,000 last night. Cries of Black Lives Matter and George Floyd's last cries of "I Can't Breathe" echo from coast to coast. We are totally sheltered from the madness down at the lake in Veneta. We see it on the news, but not much else for us to do except go sailing & hope it ends soon.

Eldest son Tim and wife Kristin drove up from San Francisco and brought little baby Oliver, now 2.5 months old, up for a visit. After stopping overnight in Veneta to see our summer place, we all went home to Vancouver for a few days. Since everyone has been staying at home and very careful we decided to risk close contact. Son Pat and girlfriend Linjia came up from Portland. Here's the kids and grandchild in our living room after having dinner together. And that is granddog Wilbur, a Chinese Crested. Tim and wife Kristin will be with us until Saturday AM.

Click on the chart at the left to watch a visualization of just how fast COVID rises after April 1 and overtakes all the other diseases and other causes of death on earth. It is startling. That is of course COVID-19 at the very top. (See the larger chart here) And this chart was shows the progress of the virus from January only thru 5/24 when total deaths worldwide were just 345,059. (The total as of 6/13 is now up 25% to 429,161). And the US sadly claimed more than 1/4 of those total deaths then and still does today. This will go down in history as the all time worst bungling of a national crisis by the US government.

Well we have everything set up now. The Forester Motorhome is parked in the space... connected to electric, water and sewer... jacks are down and slides are out. We have guest quarters for our kids when they come to visit. And if we want to take brief summer excursions to the coast or elsewhere, we can pull out anytime at the drop of a hat. The car trailer is parked on our lot "out back" and currently serves as a great storage unit, and the sailboat is at the marina for the summer.

Well, we got out sailing today... after launching the boat on Tuesday, prepping the slip on a very windy Wednesday, and then rigging the sails on a calmer Thursday. Today we had perfect afternoon winds coming up after 3 pm as is quite typical for Fern Ridge Lake. Here's Libby on deck enjoying our first sailing day of the season, on a beautiful sunny warm afternoon with excellent wind. We'll probably sail again tomorrow and then head home this weekend for the next week as a week of rain is forecast. Great for lake levels... not so great for sailing at the moment. We're happy to wait it out at home. Summer is on the way!

Well, a nice day in the low 70's was perfect for launching our sailboat. We removed its winter storage cover, towed it over to the nearby public boat ramp, got 'er rigged, backed down the boat ramp into the water and motored over to our boat slip C-34 at Richardson Marina. Age is catching up on us a little. We opted to hire the services of a local boat guy Scott Coleman who has a team of guys who will rig your boat and launch it for $125. We've been doing it entirely on our own for 12 years. Maybe it is time to let someone else take care of it. The marina has a hoist system which makes it pretty easy to get the mast up and the stays all fastened. And a team of 3 experienced guys made fast work of it. In half an hour we were backing the boat into the water. Because the marina opened late and the water is still pretty low, there are only a few boats in the marina at this point.

We're back at the lake after a quick trip home... the area got a little rain but not enough and so the resevoir level is still below normal. Nevertheless. the lake has reopened for boating as of May 1. The level is about 5' below this same time last year. But as long as there are adequate depths at the marina, there is plenty of water in the northern half of the lake. We'll try launching our sailboat in the next few days. We also have a Plan B to go to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho for July and August if the lake levels are not adequate or if it appears the lake will close early. It would be a big disappointment, now that we have our home sweet home 5th wheel all set up, but what can you do? We would drive the motorhome and tow the sailboat up to CdA, a beautiful lake we have enjoyed sailing in the past.

Back at the lake and our new Keystone Avalanche, our Pandemic Palace, we're doing chores and prepping the palace for summer. With COVID-19 ravaging the globe, there isn't much we can do right now as we wait for the lake to fill up. We're up to 2.5 million cases of the Coronavirus worldwide now, and 825,000 cases in the US with 45,000 deaths. The lake water levels are coming up slowly... we were hoping they will open the marina May 1, but that's only 10 days away now so we're keeping our fingers crossed. Meanwhile we're just taking each day as it comes, staying healthy, and appreciating our new summer spot.

     excerpted from the BBC website using data from Johns Hopkins University

Click on the image at the right to watch the animated graphic illustration from the BBC showing the spread of this deadly virus and how various countries in the world accelerate and then decelerate over a 2 month period. Watch as the date advances rapidly from Jan 23 to the present - You'll notice that through mid February it is mostly all China, then other countries slowly start to register on the graph, and by mid February, South Korea first begins to accelerate. The US first starts to appear in early March, accelerates rapidly throughout the month and by the last week it has claimed first position. From there it just rockets ahead of the rest of the world, clearly showing how badly this pandemic has been managed by the U.S. administration. You can pause the chart progression at any time to study the relative positions of the various countries.

The lake level is rising daily according to the USACE website for updates. It's at 367.5 today, up a full foot in the last 5 days. At this rate it should be sailable well before end of the month. We're itching to get the sailboat launched. With COVID-19 keeping everything closed, we decided to enjoy the nice weather forecast for this week and came down to the lake for the week. Got the 5th wheel all opened up, de-winterized, refrigerator loaded, etc. And tonite we enjoyed a Pink Supermoon as evening fell. This is the perigee moon, the moon's closest point to the earth. We'll enjoy the nice quiet down here all week, go home for a few days, and then return hopefully to launch the boat in about 10 days or so. ...fingers crossed...

We received this email from Lane County where Fern Ridge Lake, our summer sailing venue, is located. "This message is to let you know that moorage season is delayed one month due to low water level in the reservoir. The water is currently 5 - 6 feet below normal for this time of year. We will reassess the water level in late April and contact you again at that time." We are still in the rainy season and the current forecast shows rain for 9 of the next 10 days, so we are hopeful that lake levels will return to normal range (above 370' surface elevation) in the next few weeks and we'll start another excellent sailing season in May. We'll watch the USACE website for updates. We'll update the chart at the right periodically as the levels come up.

So the totals are now 215,000 confirmed cases of the Coronavirus worldwide (1.1m on 4/4) - doubling in 9 days, but China has reported a great slowdown... either that or they have just stopped reporting. Remains to be seen. Meanwhile numbers today are close to 8000 in the US up from 600 nine days ago (300K on 4/4), with all 50 states reporting cases now, and its still very hard to get tested. Italy has topped 35,000 with almost 3000 deaths... almost a 10% death rate. The amount of closures is mounting with schools closed in 3/4 of all the states, the big 3 automakers have shut down production, 7 million people in SF have been ordered to shelter in place... the list grows by the hour. They are saying there's a strong chance we are entering the most serious recession since the depression of the 30's. The stock market has lost all gains since trump took office close to 1/2 of its value. And unemployment may top 30%. It's surreal - like the world has been invaded by some alien force.

Since this is blog of our activities and what is going on in our lives, I thought I would document the current crisis. We are well, thank goodness, but the way the crisis is unfolding locally, nationally and globally, deserves some comment. CNN (also WHO on 3/11) is now calling it a Pandemic as of today, and it meets all the criteria as it spreads around the globe. There is a John Hopkins website which is tracking it worldwide. And as of today, there are 114,000 cases worldwide, worst in China, Italy, Korea and Iran growing rapidly. As of today there are now 600+ confirmed U.S. cases but available test kits have been extremely limited, so as these start to roll out, our own numbers are likely to grow much more alarming. Certainly the stock market is taking it seriously, off more than 6000 points in the last few weeks, 2000+ just today, as the virus takes a serious toll on business. Let's all hope it slows down soon!

Spring is at hand... the sure signal in our neighborhood here in Vancouver is the cherry blossoms. They are always beautiful and seem especially so this year. This is along the street just around the corner from our home. Won't be long before the sailing season arrives!

After we left Casey's Riverside RV Park, we returned to our space at Fern Ridge Shores again and spent a couple more days, waiting out the single rainy day during the week we were gone. Yesterday we left Eugene and drove to McMinnville, OR, home of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum where Howard Hughes' infamous Spruce Goose was brought in 1993. The museum houses a number of military and civilian aircraft, but the enormous Hughes H-4 Hercules, popularly known as the Spruce Goose, is definitely the highlight. With a wingspan more of more than 100 yards, and built almost entirely of wood during WWII, it has been meticulously restored and attracts visitors from all over the world. From here we head back home until spring.

We left Veneta yesterday and drove about 70 miles to Casey's Riverside RV Park. The weather is ideal with afternoons ranging above 60 degrees and warm sunshine. From here we took a day trip today out to the Aufderheide Scenic Hwy a short way along the North Fork Middle Fork Willamette River, through Oregon's Cascade Mountains, stopping among other places at the Office Covered Bridge (also called Westfir Covered Bridge). More photos on our gallery page.

We are back in Veneta for our first visit in 2020, arriving on Tuesday Feb 18. Everything looks great and has come through our mild winter well. We are getting a real treat with a burst of warm early spring weather, and we're excited about the sailing season which will be arriving soon!

Windseeker 2019 Northwest Travels