Yreka, CA

We are now one day away from Travis AFB  and where we hope to catch a flight to Hawaii in a day or two.  We hope the pending government shutdown doesn't affect that.

                             Pat sets up the Apples to Apples game while Allyson makes art objects of wax                                                from mini Edam cheeses which Grannie Annie brought along. 

 

Much of our weekend was spent playing games (Apples to Apples and Scrabble and telling stories around the table one word at a time or three words at a time) and working on Wynne's lighted doll house which she bought for $20 at a yard sale.  Dave and Pat took all the wiring out and rewired the whole thing.  It's two stories with a large deck attached to the second level.  It has a lighted fireplace, light over the kitchen, and two lights in the living room area on the first floor and a light in the bedroom area on the second floor and a light on the deck upstairs.    Wynne specializes in using play therapy in her counseling business, so children use the doll houses (this is her third, but the only one which is lighted) to relate issues which are troubling them.  

It was a wild weekend in Astoria, meteorologically with record rainfall and winds between 35-80 mph; yes, that's in the Level One Hurricane range.  Astoria had 5 inches of rain in two days, over half of the September normal rainfall and a record.  Many were very concerned this very early rainy event portends a long wet winter.  Usually these rains don't come until late October.  

Back at our camp, the wind was so strong it pushed the camper stabilizers off their blocks and torqued the front driver's side one so much it was difficult to crank into place.  The wind also knocked the tongue of the hitch off its foot.  We were able to leave this morning during a lull in rain, but the wind was still blowing fiercely.  We had rain until we finally got to Medford, OR (over 250 miles) where the sun came out.  We were almost afraid to say anything about sunshine for fear it would go away!!  We drove I 5 all the way down from Portland to Yreka, CA often climbing then descending.  We peaked at 4200 feet at a pass on the CA-OR border.  As we descended into Yreka, snow-covered Mt Shasta was off to the East.  

The next blog will hopefully be from Hawaii!