Petaluma to Eureka to Brookings

As I start this post, Jerry and I are enjoying a great cup of coffee while "thinking about" getting back on the road headed north.  Jerry's been roasting our coffee beans for the last two years.  We grind them fresh each morning.  He's still experimenting with different beans from various parts of the world.  He orders them green out of South Bend - 20 pounds at a time.  The roaster and beans are stored underneath.  If the weather is warm enough, he roasts outside.  If not, he roasts inside and the Whale smells like a coffee shop for days.  Not a bad deal.

We spent two days in Petaluma, a historic area with a quaint downtown.  One of the old banks has been converted to an heirloom seed store.  Our gardening activities are limited to seven pots, but we were fascinated with the size of the building and variety of seeds available.  All the seeds in this store are the original, unaltered by chemicals.  Like so many small towns on the coast, the buildings are old, architecture is unique and many have been repurposed as stores or restaurants.  As the new business continues, the history of the building becomes part of the aura.  We wandered for hours appreciating t
the architecture.

Both days we took Maci to one of the many dog parks in the area.  Since we continue to work on Maci coming when called, we always choose the fenced parks for safety.  This one was so huge, we couldn't see the fence.  So we had to confirm with a couple local pet owners that there really was a fence.  I shouldn't worry as we've learned Maci doesn't get too far from us before returning to make sure we're where we're supposed to be. Our next stop was in Eureka, CA.  As we make our way up the west coast, we are checking out the Elks lodges along the way.  We find the Elks to be economical and so friendly.  More times than not, there are hook-ups for water and electricity, but occasionally there will be full hook-up.  That was the case in Petaluma and Eureka.  So in between sight seeing, we did a few loads of laundry. We spent the first evening in Eureka checking out historic downtown and eating fish and chips at the Irish pub in that area.  Since our time was going to be limited in Eureka, we had to be selective about what we visited.  The Samoa peninsula won the toss.  So with Maci in the back seat, we drove to the peninsula and enjoyed a logger's lunch at the old Cook House.  For over 100 years the Cook House has been serving loggers and now tourists all-you-can-eat meals family style - only one entree on the menu.   This day, the going fare was fried chicken, corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, beans with salad, soup and cake for dessert.  This was not the most calorie conscious meal, but is was a logger's meal after all.

We drove out to the end of the peninsula and manuevered the Jeep on the beach.  With extremely soft sand, this was more like wallowing than driving.  I think I sense new tires and lower air pressure in the Jeep's future.  Once out there the view was incredible.  We turned Maci loose on the beach and watched as she once again showed us what pure joy looks like in a dog.  

Last night's stop was in Brookings, OR - a quick overnight at the Elks Lodge there.  We spent the evening checking out the docks before enjoying fish and chips and some of the best chowder we've had since Cedar Key, FL.  We got an early start this a.m. and hope to make it to Charleston, OR in hopes of finding Dungeness crabs.  We hear it's been a bad year for crab.  Hopefully, we'll get lucky.

A Traveler's Guide to Health Care in the U.S. and Other Things

As I begin this post, I'm astounded I haven't posted for five weeks.  So why the weird title?  Our time with family in San Jose was extended by a health care issue for Jerry.  When you're 64 and 71, health care can be an issue, but fortunately nothing has stopped us in our tracks.  One of our friends joked we should start a travel guide to heath care since we have had some things crop up in the last two years.  This last incident was another cancer scare blessed by a miracle.  Jerry's bladder tumor was removed, given a healthy dose of chemo the same day, and it was determined to be low grade / non-invasive.  What that really means is we are on the road again, headed north to Oregon and Washington before we head east for our annual visit in Elkhart, IN.

We've learned a thing or two about health care traveling full time in the Whale.  First, we quite griping about the premiums we pay for our insurance.  This is no place to cut corners in our opinion, and we've tested that multiple times.  Jerry has Medicare with an Anthem Plan F supplement.  What Medicare does not cover, Anthem does.  It's worth every penny.  I am still on my school system's insurance which will change next year when I turn 65.  I will subscribe to the same combo Jerry has.

We've also learned if a care giver is not immediately tuned into our "mobile" life style, we need to go somewhere else.  When Jerry first knew there was an issue with the bladder, we went to the emergency room at Kaiser in San Jose.  That's part of our throw-a-dart strategy.  They first made sure Jerry was not near death.  Then they patted him on the head, sent us on our way and did not follow up with a call from the urology clinic as promised.  We are certain this is because Jerry was not in the Kaiser system with Kaiser insurance.  I'm sure Kaiser is a fine facility, but we don't have time for that kind of silliness.  We called Stanford when we realized the problem was not just going away.  Excellent!  All the way around from diagnosis to surgery.  Jerry received the good news call from the surgeon in record time.  We've learned going to a research / teaching facility is our best bet since we don't seem to attract simple illnesses.

While marching through the health issue, we moved the Whale from the San Jose Elks to the Fremont Elks Lodge #2121.  We were anticipating I might have to handle things solo for awhile.  The rate was lower, and the dump station was easier to get into.  If I have to dump the tanks, I need lots of room.  While still in Fremont, we were so fortunate to have Linda, Peter, and their dogs Tino and Taxi (Italian Greyhounds) as our neighbors.  The first evening they pulled in (beautiful Prevost bus), we were celebrating Jerry's good news with Stan and Jan friends from Texas who we visited at Lake Turlok.  We invited Peter and Linda to join us for dinner and had a most excellent time.  As neighbors we were able to spend time together including taking Tino, Taxi and Maci to a really nice dog park in Fremont complete with fence and astro-turf.  There's nothing more fun than watching dogs at play.

Also, while on our extended stay we were able to see grandsons Miles and Donovan rock climb, compete in a splash and dash and triathlon and two different music programs.  We were able to be apart of their daily lives, picking them up from school with frequent stops at Dairy Queen.  They were able to do overnights with Grandma and Grandpa.  We even got to experience the Easter egg hunt with over 200 plastic eggs in the front and back yard.  I think they are still finding plastic eggs.  Talk about quality time with the grandsons!

So with a great deal of sadness to leave family and new friends in San Jose / Fremont and a great deal of excitement to be on the road again, we pulled out early this morning, June 14, 20014 to continue our journey.  We made it all of two hours to Petaluma, CA where we will spend two nights.  Right now we are squeezed into a car wash to get the Whale detailed.  Thanks to the ap Linda showed me, I've already located a fenced dog park for Maci to play.  There is a popular historic downtown area we plan to explore.  It feels good to be wandering again.