Idaho and Oregon

This post is coming to you from the Port Orford, OR public library. We arrived at Humbug Mountain State Park on Sunday. Below are photos to bring you up to date on our travels.

On Wednesday we took a drive down the coast to Brookings where we had lunch at the Hungry Clam on the harbor. Great fried fish fillets, fries and hushpuppies.

We noticed this king crab on the restaurant wall last time we were here. We thought it was neat that it came from the Cornelia Marie, one of the ships on the Deadliest Catch program.

The marina right behind the restaurant. It is always fun to watch the boating activity and pelicans diving for fish. We have been so lucky to have great weather so far. Sunny days, 50s during the night and high 60s during the day. We will be at Humbug Mountain until Monday then it is over to Cape Blanco State Park (just north of Port Orford) for a couple of weeks. Will post photos of both state parks next time.

Our site at Clyde Holiday State Park near John Day, Oregon. We spent one night there on the way to the coast. There is a little creek nearby and the park is very well maintained...lots of trees and water sprinklers keeping the grass green. Just watch out for those hungry mosquitoes that come out at dusk!

Just a few different views of Three Island Crossing State Park where we stayed on the Snake River near Glenns Ferry, ID.

Okay, Karm and Bob...these photos are for you! One of our favorite places to eat in Glenns Ferry is The Stop. Good food, just ask Donnie about the Wompus Burger, and friendly folks running the place.

This osprey was raising two "young uns" near the Snake River. We enjoyed watching them in the evenings.

Here are our friends, Bob and Kathryn Wyman from Sandy, Utah. We met them two years ago while at the state park and were so lucky they "camped" near us again. We had a great visit and enjoyed a couple of meals and LOTS of ice cream with them. Bob is truly an ice cream connoisseur!! Love that Huckleberry!!

Rylee and Parker, this one is for you two! Grandma just had to take a picture of this funny looking little Alpaca. PaPa and I saw him on the way to Idaho. Looks like he had just had a "haircut" doesn't he? He was very friendly and I even got to feed him!

Deer Springs RV Park Mayhill, NM

A quick Donnie update...he is doing much better regarding his neck and is almost pain free. Yeah!! Thanks everyone for your concern. We really appreciate it! We are now at Three Island Crossing State Park in Glenns Ferry, ID for a week. We left Mayhill on June 27, staying one night in Chama, NM, one in Price, Utah, arriving here on June 29. I will post photos of this area in a few days. We have had several friends unfamiliar with the Mayhill area, ask us to post photos of the Deer Springs RV Park where we usually spend a month or two every summer. So here they are...

The park entrance and office/laundry/library/clubhouse

A few shots of our space and views

I love feeding the hummingbirds and put the feeder out as soon as our wheels stop rolling!!

One of the waterfalls in the park

Spring Update

Better late than never...right?? I'm finally getting around to bringing you all up to date since our last post. After leaving Mason we spent three weeks at Abilene State Park near Buffalo Gap (TX), then on to visit the kids in Artesia (NM) for a couple of weeks, ending up in Lubbock (TX). We have been here at the Loop 289 RV Park since April 22nd. Donnie started having severe neck pain and is now in the process of getting it checked out. After xrays and an MRI, he has an appointment with the neurosurgeon on May 10th. We will keep you posted on the "old fossil's" condition (his words not mine!)...

Artesia...Our oldest grandson, Rylee, at the baseball field.

Our youngest grandson, Parker. Grandma won"t make any "little stinker" remarks, even if it is very tempting!

Parker before one of his games. PaPa and I sure enjoyed watching the boys play ball.

Near Abilene...We found this pretty patch of bluebonnets while out driving southwest of the state park.

The Jot 'Um Down Store in Oplin, southeast of Abilene. The store was first a bank, then a telephone exchange. We went inside and visited with Vera Bradshaw, the owner who is in her 80s. She and her husband, who passed away in 2007, bought the store back in 1983. Vera still cooks burgers most days at lunch time and we have heard they are really good. We were too late to try them out but still enjoyed Mrs. Bradshaw's stories.

The Windsor Hotel, built in 1927, was originally named the Hilton. This is the first hotel to bear Conrad Hilton's name. The building is now a middle income apartment complex.

The interior of the hotel has been restored.

The old ballroom as it was in 1927.

This old building on Cypress Street was the original Windsor Hotel built in 1890. The bottom floor now houses my favorite store in Abilene, The Texas Star. If you ever get the chance to shop here you won't regret it. The store is filled with all things Texas.

The Texas and Pacific Depot which was built in 1910, is now the Abilene Visitors Center. It is surrounded by a lovely park with a big fountain and nice shade trees.

While at the park, I caught a photo of this train rumbling down the track. I thought the flag on the side of the Union Pacific engine was neat. You can see the tunnel where passengers used to board the train. On the other side of the tunnel is the date 1936.

Mason, Texas

We are leaving the Mason City RV park in the morning, after spending two weeks here. Since I have posted lots of photos of Mason during previous visits (see March 2011 and April 2010), I thought y'all might like to see some of the surrounding areas.

Last Sunday we drove over to Llano, which is about 35 miles east of Mason. Stopped for lunch of great brisket and pork loin at Cooper's BBQ, then drove around town.


The old Llano county jail which was built in 1895. The prisoners referred to it as "old red top". Out in front of the jail is a deer dressed in convict stripes, wearing a ball and chain. Thought this was pretty funny, as deer hunting IS big business around Llano.




The Roy B. Inks bridge crossing the Llano River. The bridge built in 1936, replaced the old one which was washed away the previous year by a 42 foot flood crest.


Thirty miles north of Mason is the town of Brady. Above is the Brady Museum which is housed in the restored 1910 county jail.


The vintage World War II Curtis Air Field control tower was moved to the complex adjacent to the museum. The complex also contains the old Curtis Field guard shack as well as the POW guard shack from Camp Brady. During the war, the Army camp held 3,000 German and Italian prisoners of war.


Fredonia, 15 miles northeast of Mason, was founded in 1880. Of the few buildings still standing, the Fredonia store now houses the post office. The community which peaked during the 1920s with a population of 200, is now home to less that 50 people.


Only the walls of the old Fredonia School are still standing.



Todd Mountain a few miles south of Mason. You may have a hard time reading the historical sign, as some "doofus" used it for target practice. The story describes an indian attack on the Todd family in Dec 1864. A servant girl was killed, 13 year old Alice Todd was taken captive, and Mrs. Todd was wounded, passing away three weeks later. Mrs. Todd and the servant were buried in unmarked graves in the Todd Cemetery pictured below.

Corpus Christi and Port Aransas, TX

We are "camping" at the Mason City RV Park after spending a week at Mustang Island State Park near Corpus Christi and Port Aransas. I think I have exhausted every photo opportunity of Corpus Christi so thought you might like to see a few scenes of Port Aransas.



The Port Aransas Marina always has interesting things to see. Wouldn't a condo overlooking the water be nice? I think so, but first better stock up on TX lottery tickets!


This fishing boat had a sign posted "sold out". Not sure what sort of fish they were selling but we prefer a nice seafood restaurant to do all the "dirty work" for us - catch 'em, clean 'em and cook 'em...


Speaking of that, we found this restaurant in Port Aransas while out exploring. Fins Grill's special of the day, fried Mahi Mahi, was very good and our table was near a window overlooking the marina.



After lunch we found a pretty city park bordered by the marina and ship channel. Watching the ferries, tankers and cargo ships was an entertaining way to spend a sunny afternoon. We also saw a dozen or so dolphins in the channel.

Some of our favorite places to enjoy a meal...


The only two story Whataburger which is on the Corpus Christi Bay near the marina. If you sit outside on the second story, be prepared to share your fries with the overly friendly seagulls!


We found a neat breakfast place in Corpus Christi called Andy's Kitchen. The exterior was pretty ordinary, but we could tell from the full parking lot that it was a favorite with the locals. This photo of the interior shows one of two toy trains that run on a track around the cafe. It seemed to entertain the adult diners as well as the children. We would recommend a visit to Andy's if you are ever in the area. Prompt friendly service, coffee cups refilled quickly, complimentary basket of hot blueberry muffins and every breakfast item we ordered was tasty. We enjoyed this cafe so much that we ate there three times during one week's stay.