Rolling through Idaho, we made our first reservation for our first major stop. We wanted to stop in and see Darin’s mom in Farmington, Washington. Darin’s sister however was having a baby in Portland just as our schedule would have placed us at his mother’s house. So we scheduled a much needed wheel bearing pack and air system check for the brakes with Affordable Truck & Equipment Repair in Newport Washington. Seemed like the perfect way to to kill a few days. We got into town a shade early, and checked into the Newport Washington Little Diamond KOA. The park was wonderful, we got a lot of rain and some sun here and there. The truck repair place was a bust however. They lost our reservation, and it took a quite a bit of convincing to get them to understand that, and they did not even offer us another service time. So like most things we hire out, we usually wish we had just found a place where no one would be offended by a little grease and did the work ourselves. This is no exception.
Irregardless of how the maintenance went, the park was pleasant and rather serene. Lots of places for us to practice walking. The lake has a boat load of fish and they are hungry. For fish pellets that is, when those hit the water the surface is rabid like piranhas feeding on fresh meat. The fishing people probably won’t catch much unless they can get into the shed where the pellets are stored, but then they have the engineering task of getting the pellets on a hook. In the end, one could consider contemplative fishing more enjoyable than sinking a hook into one of swimmers anyway. A contemplative fisherman rarely gets his hands slimy handling those slippery little things that he has to clunk on the head and ultimately rip it guts out; just to find out that he does not like that brand of fish.
Too early for the pool. In May, it is still freezing at night here.
Beautiful site, we had a quarter of the campground to our self. The great thing about the cold nights is no body likes the cold, and they stay away.
We got to Mom, Vicky’s baby is healthy and everyone is happy, can’t ask for more. After going to the mountains with them and learning about lots of boondocking opportunities she let us change the brake air drier filter NAPA part number 524374 in her driveway.
We had to dump all the air out of both brake lines. There is a petcock in the front by the generator that we had to open, and one by the stinger in the back. The air came out in under a minute pathing the way for removal of the old filter.
Behind the rear drivers side tire of our 2006 holiday rambler ambassador is a door. Here, we have a system saver 1200 on a cummins isc 330. With a simple strap wrench, the filter came right off. Remove the center o ring, then wipe everything clean. Make sure no grit falls in.
Replace the ring and the filter is ready to go back on.
We painted the year we replaced the filter on the filter. They need to be swapped every three years. Tighten it on with the strap wrench hand tight, then one more turn
The fuel separator filter is right next to the air drier fleetguard part number 52704. Notice, we have the date on that filter as well. We run biodiesel and non biodeisel in our travels, we rarely get more than six months on the fuel filters, but keep the marked anyway.
Athena is the master mechanic for our rig. She is greasing the new filter with transmission fluid in order to get a better seal with less torque. This will make it easier to get the new filter off three years from now.
While at Mom’s we mostly visited, watch the spray planes, and talked about the weather. It was a real nice and relaxing visit. Our thanks to her and Ron for their hospitality are more than in order.
We are getting old and have to stop a lot more than we used to. Here we stopped at La Page park by the corp of engineers. It was scary to get into due to a narrow windy road cut into the hillside. Our site was right on the water, we have not had a site like that since Toddy Pond in Maine.
We are almost in Portland, Oregon. I had to leak, and since I was driving the RV pad to stop, 🙁 Athena found this sign that discusses Oregon history. Call the number in the picture, you too can learn history from a cell phone.
We hear about the droughts everywhere we go. I think we are the Drought Busters! Within 72 hours of our arrival, it rains or snows. Our presence seems to be more reliable than the proverbial rain you get when you wash and wax your car. Truly, who needs a rain dance when everyone could just give their car a hand wax job. We might get an inch of rain for every ten cars rubbed down with a good coat of turtle wax. There you have it, you can invite us to town, do a rain dance, or wax your cars. There is no excuse for a drought.
First look at the beach here in Seaside, leaves me with a thought. One should hope someone is watching your ass when you sit this close to a fire.
Athena and Sarah need shoes, so we go to the closest thing Seaside has to Armani hoping to get some serious style.
Hmm, are these stylish? The sticker price says so
Off to the jetty area in Warrenton, Oregon. We are on a spit smaller than this sign. Hundreds of families are here at any given moment,and hunters are duck hunting. This looks like a place for an epic accident that will make gun control advocates smile from ear to ear, as they collect ammo to prove guns are dangerous.
Seaside beach is busy, but we thank God we are not we are not in Huntington Beach California where the sand is slick from all the suntan oil dripping from all the sun worshippers hiding the sand with their bodies and blankets from sun up to sun down. There, with that many people on the beach you really have to not care who you sleep with.
Wish I had a boat and a crew to handle the worms and fish for me. I love the open waters. 
Great day for an image of Astoria.
Sarah investigates what’s left of the hanging tree. It seems to have been hacked to the ground. I hated the hanging tree, the song sounds so ominous.
Considering the ocean, the tourist, and sunsets, this is a strange town. The sidewalks are rolled up and put away at six pm. Can’t believe they have not tried to replicate Disney’s Treasure Island. The age group of the visitors would make a large attraction like that very lucrative. Instead they give us pot dispensaries, about one per block. Guess the stoned do not need much activity.
One quick look at Cannon Beach, Oregon. Tide is out, tide pools around Haystack rock reveal their sea anemone, and attract hundreds of people. The people are kind of clumsy; hopefully those sea plants heal quickly.
Time is flying we are now in Pacific City, and yes it is raining again. I hear that Hood had little snow on it before we arrived, now all the mountains in the region have a nice blanket. We have been busy trying to help Holly find work, she lost her job while we were checking into Seaside Thousand trails. The search had been hard and very expensive. She has an offer in the wings, so we are excited for her. Jae with a PHD in Microbiology is also out of work. We are not having much luck on his search. With and economy with less than 4% unemployment it seems a little strange that work is not being handed to the educated. So, please pray for all those who need employment. On the good note, we are seeing several of our families from Pacific City. Athena and I are really tired though. I think the hills in the park are hard on her back.
Our private beach has a high surf with a plus 7 tide rolling in. 
The kite people are here. It is fun to watch them fly.
The Calamari is fishing right near the shore. I have never seen one so close to the surf. They are so cool to watch. All that seafood is making me hungry, that my friend is the terminal end of this blog for tonight.
Have a good evening and a good night. May all your dreams be filled with breaded and deep fried sushi. (It’s all the rage at participating restaurants.)
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