Today We Begin Our…

slow migration in a southerly direction after spending the Summer in Washington. We arrived just prior to Memorial Day Weekend and have spent the last 3.5 months for the most part bouncing between three different Thousand Trails RV Resorts North of Seattle. In the below Google Earth view site #1 is in Monroe,,,site #2 is in La Connor and site#3 is Bow, Washington.

Today we are departing site #3 and heading for a one week stay at site #1.

After that time we’ll continue slowly drifting South and arrive at Mary’s home in central California around the middle of October. I will stay there until just after Thanksgiving and then depart for Southern California and Arizona. Mary will stay at home with her family and then fly South to join me in early January. Our travel plans for 2012…tentatively…are to spend the better part of the year in New Mexico.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://stores.lulu.com/panamaorbust

The Biggest Little Circus In The World…

is what they call themselves. In their 59th season they are also known as the Wenatchee ( a city in Washington State where they maintain their headquarters) Youth Circus…and this weekend they performed three shows here at our current camping spot at Thousand trails RV Resort in Bow, Washington.

The troupe consists of about 50 members ranging in age from 3 to 18. Their season runs from late May to early September. Yesterday Mary and I with about 250 others watched their final performance for the season under a brilliant sunny day with an afternoon temperature of 79 degrees.

I took lots of photos…but unfortunately our seats had us facing west looking…more or less…directly in the direction of the afternoon sun…so photography was very difficult at best. Here are four photos…

On the way to the circus I spotted the top of Mount Baker in the distance…

The circus area…

The circus truck…

Finally here’s Mary with two of the performers…the girl is only eight years old…

Because the sun made photography so very difficult…plus I had to stay in my seat which also restricted my photography efforts…instead I’m going to give you a link below from the Memorial Day Weekend at another Thousand Trails location here in Washington. By clicking on this link you will get a much closer-up view of the performers… http://wenatcheeyouthcircus.com/page.aspx?PageID=18

I hope you enjoyed the photos. The young people were really great!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://lulu.com/panamaorbust

Cougar Siting…

We didn’t see it. But it appears one of our neighbors did here in our current campground at Thousand Trails Mount Vernon preserve in Bow, Washington.

I last saw a Cougar here in Washington back in 1982. It was in Sultan about 75 miles southeast of our current location and the thing I particularly remember about it was how large it was. It is also known as a Mountain Lion.

If you know nothing about cougars, this Wikipedia link will help… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cougar

It is easy to forget that wild animals are still around while we are camping in their backyards. Fortunately most will run and hide when they hear human noises.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://lulu.com/panamaorbust

We Visit The Eagles In Monroe, Washington.

Yesterday Mary and I drove the motorhome the about 60 miles south  from Bow to Monroe, Washington. We’re back for a three night stay while my friend/mechanic Mike pulls the transmission from my Ford Bronco II to replace a leaky seal. While the transmission is out…I’m going to have him replace all the transmission seals as well as the engine rear main seal. Mike’s place is only about two miles from this site…but there’s no room to park the motorhome…so we’re park at the Eagles #2327 RV parking area. It’s located along a small river about one mile away from the Eagles Club itself in downtown Monroe. We’re expecting the work to take two days. Mike said his nephew will be helping him. I told him that I would also be available if he needed me.

It was pretty, peaceful and quiet…and only $10.00 a night for electricity and water. Normally we would stay at Thousand Trails while in this area but the park only has 97 sites and it’s booked solid through the Labor Day weekend. So this becomes a really convenient place to stay while the work is accomplished on the Bronco. Mary and I spent one night here about six weeks ago.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://lulu.com/panamaorbust

It All Began With These Two Wet Spots On The Ground…

last Friday when Mary I were heading out for our day trip to Orcas Island. As I backed the Bronco back out of our camping spot at Thousand Trails in Bow, Washington…there were…these two wet spots on the ground…Hmmmmm…

They were obviously fresh and must have come from my Ford Bronco II…that I tow behind the motorhome. The Bronco does not leak any fluids I thought to myself…what could be causing them? I had just had the oil changed at Jiffy Lube a couple of days ago…that must have something to do with it. Crawling underneath the vehicle I discovered that the oil pan drain plug was loose…they had not snugged it up with a wrench. Okay…fortunately I caught it…got out a wrench and snugged it up. Let’s get on with our day.

Later that afternoon we…in the Bronco…climbed Mt. Constitution on Orcas Island…five miles to an elevation of 2,409 feet. Exiting the Bronco I saw a wet trail on the asphalt…leading to under the Bronco. Looking underneath…I saw a fluid liberally leaking out on to the ground. Not a good situation! Further investigation revealed it was not oil…but transmission fluid! I checked the transmission fluid dipstick…nothing! Fortunately I had about 3/4′s of a quart of high-mileage transmission stop-leak left over from my old 1984 Ford Bronco II. Since I had no choice…down the mountain we went. About 15 mile later we came to a small town where I bought a quart of transmission fluid. Put in about 1/2 quart and managed to get us back to our motorhome…a distance of about 40 driving miles. Further evaluation indicates the front seal of the automatic transmission is tired and the guilty party. Online I manged to find out the average mileage for this occurrence is 127,224 miles…the odometer on my Bronco is 128,122…less than 1,000 miles above the average. Interesting.

So…what this story is finally getting to is that…it appears the transmission needs repairing. Yesterday we had planned to cross the Cascade Mountains and spend some time in the area around Leavenworth…a Bavarian-like town…and as such…kind of out in the toolies. Instead I’ve elected to stay in the more-populated western Cascade area where repair facilities are more available. So instead…we’ve to stay another week here.

I’ve placed a call to my friend/mechanic Mike in Monroe about 60 miles distant and he’s supposed to call me back soon to let me know if he can find the time to do the job. If not…I know a good transmission shop in Burlington that did work on my old 1984 Bronco…only about 10 miles from here.

All vehicles are basically mechanical/electrical devices and periodically need attention. Fortunately it’s something that a little time and money can easily fix. Better that it happened in this area than in the toolies!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://lulu.com/panamaorbust

My New Camera Arrives…

Well…kinda-sorta…after being notified on my computer by the package tracking system…I actually drove about five miles to the small post office in Bow, Washington about 3:00 PM yesterday to pick it up…rather than wait for the delivery today.

First impressions are that it’s definitely smaller and lighter than my Olympus Stylus 800 which it is replacing. It has a real nice “feel” to it. Very quiet and the menus are very intuitive…I was able to wander through the menus without needing to refer to the 60 page Instruction Manual or the 160 page Handbook.

After a brief acquaintance with the camera…it was time to go to work. If you are a regular follower of my Blog…you know I HATE Microsoft and avoid it whenever possible…like the plague. 2-3 years ago…whenever Windows XP Service Pack 3 came out I tried to download it and it thoroughly screwed up my computer. I was two days uninstalling it and getting the computer to work again. After that I shut off the Microsoft Automatic Updates and have been quite happy since…thank you very much.

However…this new camera requires Service Pack 3 and so it was with some trepidation that I turned on the Microsoft Automatic Updates and began the downloading of 72 updates before it would let me get to Service Pack 3 to download it. In addition I also had to download the associated Sony software. Four hours later…it appears everything downloaded without any interfacing problems. I even managed to turned on my computer this morning and it actually worked…so far…without any problems…I say…keeping my fingers crossed as I type…which is actually a little difficult to do. 

Other than having to go into Burlington today for a couple of things…one of which is to return the wrong spare battery for the camera that I mistakenly ordered…the better portion of this day will be spent getting acquainted further with the new camera and its associated software. After six years with my Olympus…it appears I’ve got to learn some new ways of doing things. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?…especially if he has no choice to learn these new tricks to go in a forward direction. Wooff!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://lulu.com/panamaorbust

Thousand Trails RV Resort. Bow, Washington

The rain has finally stopped…yesterday was cloudy and 64 degrees…still better than being too hot! I went for a walk around the park and here are a few photos… First the ranger station… Then my site among the beautiful fir trees…. Mary’s going to love the olympic-size swimming pool… She’s also going to enjoy the spa… One view of the lodge building… A closer view… The  adult lodge is on the lower level… A welcome sign in the hallway… The family lodge is on the upper level… And a final view of the other side of the lodge building.. You can read all about this 227 site park by clicking this link…

https://www.thousandtrails.com/getaways/washington/mtvernon.asp

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://lulu.com/panamaorbust

Bow, Washington

Yesterday I drove the about 60 miles from Monroe to the Thousand Trails Mount Vernon RV Resort located in Bow, a few miles North of Mount Vernon, Washington to begin a three-week stay.

Bow, Washington has a population of 6,099, and as a child, the famous CBS news correspondent Edward R. Murrow lived here.

While the campground appears to be near Interstate Highway 5, it is buffeted heavily by beautiful tall fir trees. Only a little very low highway noise can be heard when the wind is out of the West.

When I arrived at 1:00 PM it was raining steadily and the temperature was 61 degrees. At least I’m not too hot! This appears one of those years when Summer in Washington does not begin until about August 1st. The extended weather forecast…starting in about two days…is sunny and in the low to mid 70′s…just right! Besides without rain there would be no beautiful fir trees.

Hopefully I can get out today and take some photos around the park.

Speaking of photos…once I arrived yesterday and now know my space number…I ordered my new camera from Amazon which should arrive in a few days.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://lulu.com/panamaorbust