Sunday, January 3, 2016

2015 Recap.....2016 Preview, as far as we can tell





Regardless of the several kinks here and there, I think 2015 will go down in the books as an excellent year.






Our (sometimes) rolling villa spent 9 1/2 months parked in a nice RV space in Port Orford, Oregon with a little moving around in late spring to early summer.  Stopping here and there along the way, we pulled our beast 300 miles north to Long Beach, Washington, returning to Port Orford just in time to do our volunteer time at the Cape Blanco Music Festival during the first week of August.

The highlight...or low point...of that journey was the 4th of July period of total mayhem in Long Beach.  The hot inland weather and fire restrictions put the bulk of Washington resident celebration right outside our RV along 27 miles of ocean beach.  It looked and sounded like war and our two little Beagles were nearly crazed by the constant explosions.

Otherwise we enjoyed all the beach walks, fine coastal restaurants, beautiful views, new friends and a different place for rest and relaxation.  A good number of our past travel buddies showed up for short visits and we met a good number of good people that remain in contact to this day.

While in Long Beach I purchased a new quadcopter to replace the two earlier versions that started me out in the interesting hobby of photographing our world from an aerial view.  Now with 70 flights on the log, I have become very confident of my ability to keep the craft in the air and pointed in the right direction.  I am happy with the better than average on board camera quality and have made some nice still images and videos while flying this wonderful piece of technology and certainly look forward to doing a lot more of the same.




Aerial photo stitched from nine photos taken 398 feet above our rolling home in Port Orford


Our stay in Port Orford has been very comfortable as you can imagine.  We obviously like it here and would be parked in another place otherwise.  Port Orford is a quirky little town with a fairly slow paced lifestyle and residents that don't take any interest in stepping on our toes for any reason.  Politically right of center, but with a small number of self proclaimed progressives, residents here seem to accept opinions other than their own with grace and cordiality....although sometime fairly exuberant in opposition.  We can handle that.

With only a couple of acceptable restaurants and cafes in the area, the place is devoid of any fast food establishment and, what sidewalks there are, roll up by seven in the evening.  There is only one food market with high prices and somewhat limited supplies and a small co-op grocery with the usual organic products and other interesting items.  The single service station in town has all fuel priced at 60 to 70 cents above the cost of fuel just 22 miles up the road in Bandon.  Whatever!!!

Juanita loves the great quilt store in town.  Because of her enjoyment of quilting and my amateur radio hobby, we have made a lot of local friends, who open up other fun possibilities for us.  One of my ham operator friends owns a small fishing boat giving me the opportunity to land some nice trout from nearby lakes and tasty Chinook salmon from the Coquille River located north of Port Orford.  Juanita has joined the quilting club and we both belong to the local amateur radio club.  Although we plan further travels in the future, it looks like we have put down some roots here.  Only time will tell if this becomes permanent.



During the past year my health remained fairly decent, but as noted in several past blog entries, Juanita had a bit of a setback with her ongoing leukemia.  She had an infusion port implanted and began a series of chemotherapy treatments in October and has completed part three of the monthly infusions as of mid December.  Although the chemo side effects have been quite uncomfortable for short periods of time following the treatments, she has handled the process very well and with continued good humor.  I'm not sure I could do the same.

The results of a CT scan scheduled tomorrow will determine the treatment program ahead for the next few months.  Depending on her progress, she could have from one to three more treatments ahead.  Obviously we are hoping for only one and I would be surprised if she has more to get through.  Juanita is otherwise healthy though, and has progressed very well as evidenced by stellar weekly blood tests.  We are confident of a good outcome in 2016.

Our two little Beagle buddies Abbey and Luna continue to be very active hounds and require lots of ground sniffing walks daily.  They are our clowns in fur suits and constantly keep us laughing.






Since my dear wife has had to put up with all the recent medical activity, I have taken on most of the chores that kept her running.  Leaving her mostly with fun stuff, I now do all of the grocery shopping, laundry and most cooking and dish washing.  As a result of this process I have found a new hobby...baking and cooking with sourdough.

I found an excellent and very active sourdough culture from San Francisco that has produced wonderful buttermilk biscuits, pancakes,  streusel coffee cake with dried cranberries, pita bread and gingerbread cake.  During the learning process I have had only two huge fails...not bad for a newbie!

The weather in Port Orford in 2015 was an interesting mix of extremes.  Last winter, spring and summer was warmer and drier than usual but December brought the entire year rainfall up to normal range with over 33 inches of the wet stuff in one month.  The summer months were very windy with very little rainfall.  It looks like we have gone back into a normal cycle of alternate rainy and dry periods, but only time will tell.

As for the upcoming year, 2016 promises to be interesting to say the least.  We are hoping, of course, for an early year end to Juanita's treatments and would like to take a little trip with our fifth wheel trailer home in late spring.  I have considered several travel destinations but think eastern Washington State around the Columbia and Snake rivers is at the top of the list at this point.  We have previously spent very little time in this part of the country.

We plan on spending the summer and fall in Port Orford and might move down to Arizona for the winter.  None of our travels for 2016 are carved in stone, however, and we could end up any place at any time.  A family member will graduate from high school in June, so I imagine that a trip to the SF Bay area of California is in our future for that time.

Juanita has a bunch of quilts under construction to one degree or another and has many more in her head for future efforts.  The last salmon season on the Coquille River was downright crappy and I am hoping for better this coming fall.  Before that time, I will be putting both my ground based and aerial cameras to work and hope to post some interesting photos and videos as a result.  Of course we look forward to visits from many of our good friends that will pass through Oregon during the summer and fall.

We wish all of our family and friends a healthy and happy 2016!!!!!!!!!!!!



Port Orford, Oregon


16 comments:

  1. Great wrap up. Praying that Juanita will be done with the chemo very shortly and that you guys can make a couple of journeys.

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    1. Thanks Jim and Sandie! I think we are good for some travel this year once we get Juanita dialed in again. We always appreciate your supporting prayers. Hope you two have a wonderful 2016!!

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  2. Happy New Year Juanita & Gordon. We enjoy your posts, photos, and videos. Thank you!

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    1. Thanks Cher. Happy New Year to you as well! I hope to keep the posts with videos and photos coming....

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  3. Nice touch, Gordon; Happy new year to you both. We will be praying for Juanita's complete recovery.

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    1. Thanks Mike. Juanita is really doing well with all the supportive prayers and good thoughts. Hope you and Sandy have a wonderful 2016 as well and we are looking forward to reading about your travel adventures.

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  4. I wish you and Juanita a happy and healthy 2016!

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    1. Thanks Gypsy....we hope you have a fine 2016 as well.

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  5. Wishing you and Juanita a very Happy an Healthy New Year. We have followed your blog closely and our prayers are with you and Juanita and we will think nothing but positive thoughts.
    I still have quite a time connecting with your blog, so if you don't hear from us please know we still keep follow you, even if you are not pulling your rig to different locals.
    Sending positive thoughts to you Juanita.
    Judy and Bob

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    1. Thanks for the note Judy and all the best for the New Year back to you and your family. We appreciate your support and expect to see good results from Juanita's treatments. We are eagerly awaiting the report from the CT scan she received on Monday but might have to wait until we see the oncologist on Tuesday.

      I have resolved...hehe...to pick up the blogging pace this year. We are, after all, still living the life of full time RV'ers regardless of the frequency of travel. I have some ideas about future day trips and such once we get Juanita dialed back in. We'll keep you posted..........

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  6. Hi Gordon, I haven't seen any aerial traffic from you recently. Is the P3P still in one piece? I've managed to get a few beach flights in but the constant rain makes that a challenge. Although I feel pretty good about my flying, I'm still pretty much a wuss about taking chances, like flying over the ocean, or long distances. My money is too hard to come by for that. I'm wondering if your ND filters are getting rid of the prop shadows when flying into the sun? Sorry to hear about Juanita's illness.My mom had CML and it was no fun, but a lot of water has gone under the medical bridges since 20 years, so here's hoping for a good outcome. We are a bit tired of the wet and mold here, but still playing to stick it out the rest of the winter at Patrick's Point.

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    1. Hi Newt...I have been flying when weather permits, which hasn't been very much recently with all the rain and wind. The Phantom is just fine and I have been trying out a couple of auto fly programs, albeit with some lack of confidence. It is something else to program a long flight, press a button, and watch the Phantom fly off under computer control. I have flown over water a few times but never really like taking the chance.

      The ND filters have really helped control prop shadow. I use the ND8 and 16, depending on light conditions and for video only. They are not needed, of course, for still shots and can actually cause problems when used that way. I have 70 flights under my belt on the P3P at this point and will wait for better weather to get into the air again. Hope to fly at a couple of interesting places as conditions permit.

      Juanita is doing very well with her treatment program, but we will find out more about her progress tomorrow with a visit to her oncologist and fourth chemo treatment. Depending on the results of last Monday's CT scan, this might be the last treatment...or not. She has handled the drugs quite well, considering, and you are right about advances during the last few years. More will come soon most certainly.

      We have stayed at your park in the past...beautiful but you're right about the wet and mold. This park stays fairly dry despite the 33.5" of rain last month and 4" more due in the next few days. It drains real fast. We really do like the Patrick's Point area, however, and spent a lot of time there back in vacation days.

      Thanks for the note...keep up the flying when you can and I'll do the same.

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  7. Hi guys! We missed seeing you this year, as we were only in Port Orford for a day before heading up to Yaquina Head to volunteer for the summer. We of course missed seeing Abbey and Luna - your picture of them is precious. Please tell Juanita that we're thinking of her and hoping for a great year for her and you also. This year we're traveling back to MN, WI, and MI so we won't be on the coast, our first time in three years. But we'll be back again, and hopefully we can met for a meal at Crazy's. Keith & Brenda

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    1. Thanks for the note!! I saw you holding to the north this summer and hoped to get up your way for a short visit. Oh well, another time when you make it back out to the coast I'm sure.

      J is doing very well and we found out today that she has done very well with the chemo treatment that will basically end after two more monthly sessions. She will need bi-monthly Rituxan maintenance for two years to keep the remission going but we can still travel around that schedule or maybe even get those treatments done elsewhere. We'll make decisions about that later.

      We look forward to seeing you someplace or another again and most certainly at the Crazy Norwegian when you return to the coast. All the best for the new year.....Gordon and Juanita

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  8. Hi from Wyoming and about a foot of snow. We are watching the Seahawks lose, The are a team we like to follow. Cardinals won their game. We have the RV in skyline, we have been down three times and next week end we will go down and be there until the end of march. Mick is all set for the Barrett-Jackson car show. I'll quilt. It's so good to hear that Juanita is responding so well for her treatment. Both of you take care, pet the pups and have safe travels. Mick n Donna Darn it the Seahawks didn't make it.

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  9. Hi Donna and Mick....good to hear from you again and sorry that we will miss you in San Tan Valley. I will watch for Mick at the Barrett-Jackson auto show. Haha! Juanita just got past the average three day long side effects from her last treatment and is happy that she has only two more to go. All is going very well with her treatment. the pups are both fine and keeping me running most of the time. That's why we have them...I think that's it anyway.........

    Take care,

    Gordon and Juanita

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