Another Class at Laura's Studio

10/16/04 - Painting Class #3
This morning we got up fairly early and had a good breakfast and then drove over to the oregon coast. It was a beautiful drive with some light rain and we arrived about noon. We parked the new coach near the RV park we planned to stay at and I drove my wife down to Waldport where her decorative painting class was. Then I returned to Newport and checked in to the South Beach RV Park.

Yaquima Bridge, Newport, OR

It was a little challenging getting situated for the first time, but the fact that I was given the wrong 50 amp to 30 amp adapter by the RV dealer made it even more frustrating. So I spent the next hour or two looking for the correct adapter and finally found it at WalMart. They even have an RV section and I spent some time deciding what else I could use and bought a few other things as well.

That night a big storm came in and we had a wet and windy evening. I got up in the middle of the night and moved both slides in on the RV in order to reduce the rocking of the coach and the flapping of the plastic slide covers. We didn't get a very good night's sleep (for the third night in a row) but it was quite an experience and we will need to get used to wind, rain, trains, and other noises that we have no control over, I'm sure.

10/17/04 - Driving Back to Carlton
My wife decided to cut her class a bit short this afternoon and so were able to take our time getting home from the coast. It was great fun driving the big RV and aside from a few unfamiliar noises, I felt very comfortable behind the wheel. When I got to McMinnville I decided to take a back road home so that I could turn left into my driveway rather than making the normal right turn. On the left are some trees and on the right is a brick wall, so I figured that if I hit one or the other, I wanted it to be the tree branches.

I had been a little concerned about parking the coach in our driveway, but after pulling in I was assured that there was plenty of room. I left it in the driveway rather than backing it into the spot where I envision it being (in front of the house) because I still need to make some preparations such as cutting down a rose bush to make room.

The Newmar Dutch Star in Our Driveway

It is indeed a beautiful new coach and our neighbor came over to check it out soon after we got home. It will be fun to start moving into it and make it our new home on wheels. My wife has already begun calling it our Winter Home.

10/23/04 - Many Projects Completed
Today was an ultra productive day, thanks to the efforts of several skilled men. Greg Fast of McMinnville came this morning and painted our kitchen area. It was a teal green and we wanted it a butter cream yellow. He had been intending to do the job for a couple of months but we just had a heck of a time getting our schedules to mesh. He did a fine job and I was amazed how skillful he was a cutting in around cabinets, etc. without using any tape.

Mike from George Washington Plumbing came about 10:15 and completed the toilet swap that we had been waiting so long to get done. In two and a half hours he installed our new toilet, installed the old one in our garage and repaired the one in our master bath. We were very impressed with his professionalism.

Tom Baker, our favorite handyman, came about 11:30 and completed about a dozen little projects in about four hours. It was great to see so many projects get done in such a relatively short period of time.

New Dining Table and Chairs

10/24/04 - New Table And Chairs
Furniture Outlet finally delivered our new dining table and chairs today. They also finished putting together the bed we ordered so long ago. It was quite an ordeal but the bed is finally completed. Unfortunately the table was damaged (again) and the chairs were not what we ordered. So we still have some bones to pick with Furniture Outlet in Tigard.

We spent most of the day getting ready to go to Eugene which meant taking a bunch of stuff out to the new coach, straightening the house so it wasn't a complete disaster when we returned, tying up other loose ends, etc.

I had hoped to leave for Eugene about five or six o'clock but after it became clear we were not going to get started until after dark we fixed dinner and finally left about 9:00pm. The drive to Eugene was pleasant and fairly uneventful. Getting through Salem is always somewhat of a challenge because of the many turns that are required. We arrived at almost midnight and spent the night in the Wal-Mart parking lot which turned out to be the best night we've spent in the coach so far. Thanks to Wal-Mart for their hospitality.