Can't believe it's the end of June!!

So much has happened!!

Some of what I wrote in the last installment just didn't pan out - we didn't meet Jane Katra in Eugene, OR because the motor home decided not to go more than 40 MPH just north of Vancouver, WA.  We spent the night in the repair shop lot just to find out that they couldn't deal with a vehicle of this size - so off to Portland we went (neat because there is no sales tax in OR).  The Ford dealer there took 4 days and close to $3300 to fix the air filter, and a bunch of other stuff - all good.  They even supplied us with a "snorkle" !  Ain't that the cat's meow!  And, there is a gluten-free bakery in Portland that makes 4 kinds of thin crust pizza every day - so, David was in heaven for the 3 days we had lunch there!!  And, it was the rose festival in Portland, so we sniffed thru sneezes and wallowed in the fabulous smells, colors, shapes....and names of the plants!

Then off we went - drove (to catch up with our plans) to Grants Pass for one night then to Eureka/Arcata, CA where the Victorian houses we think might even outdo those they copy ( in New England).  The history here is really interesting and as we spend more time learning, the more we begin to really respect the creativity, bravery and hard work done by the folks who traveled west in the mid 1800s.

We headed off to Mendocino but didn't make it on this try - instead the brakes started to burn and the transmission fluid started to leak (this very-loved motor home is 11 years old) and we spent 5 hours at the top of the 6-mile hill on Rt. 20 outside of Willits, CA waiting for a tow truck.....we were towed to Petaluma 101 miles away to a Ford dealer who can fix a Ford Triton V10 truck (upon which this motor home is built) - the 75 year old guy who showed up to do the job was amazing as were all the mechanics we met along the way.

Aside:  Years ago, I (Susan) took care of a 4-yr old boy who invented this joke:  What happens when your toe falls off?  Answer:  You call a toe truck....

We spent 3 1/2 days on the IONS campus in Petaluma (some of the most beautiful land in America) meeting with the Member Council and staff then a couple of days just wallowing in the glory of San Francisco and points just north thereof.  And.......finally.......off we went to Mendocino where we have committed to volunteer in the Ford House thru October 31st.  More about this adventure later....

I think that we might just run a contest to see who guesses correctly what we will do come October 31.
That is the date our gig in Mendo ends and the rig has to return to the Goldens in Pt. Townsend, WA.
Without a house or home, with no furniture, but with the wind at our backs and the sense of adventure in our cells whatever will we do?  We welcome suggestions and delight at your interest and send you all love and good wishes.

Our trip through May 30th....

As many of you know, David and I have left Tucson - the house sold to little Olivia and her parents on May 24th!! Olivia's story is amazing Explorer News Article 06-24-2009 and we sold just about everything in the house, some to the new buyers, but most in the most amazing house/yard/estate sale Tucson has ever seen.....we have so many friends to thank for their help during this wild and wooly time, but especially our daughter Payson who flew out from NYC to help for nearly a week.

We packed our clothes, some kitchen stuff, a few pieces of art and only 8 boxes of books!! plus 3 or 4 pieces of small furniture into a U-Haul truck, put the car on a tow dolly and drove out of town on the morning of the 24th.  Again, a wild and wooly finish - leaving the house on Sunday night at 10 barely able to stand up.  We took 3 days to drive to Salt Lake City going through Nevada so we could open a bank account which we understood was necessary to get NV drivers licenses - turns out this is not true so our detour around the Hoover Dam (trucks are a no-no) was long and unnecessary - we will become citizens of NV (as good as any place so we can vote and have an address)!!

Our new mailing address is:
1970 No Leslie St. #850
Pahrump, NV 89060

We will keep our email addresses and cell phones:  David:  david@cooperstwo.org 914-316-2553 and Susan:  cooperstwo@yahoo.com 917-273-9579.

We unloaded the truck in 45 minutes with the help of son John's friends, putting the stuff in a storage place in Salt Lake City, had a nice visit with our son & his wife and left there in the car packed to the roof on Friday.  Drove another 2 days (about 15 hours) to Ocean Shores on the coast in Washington with the intention of spending 3 days walking on the beach and getting massages - we are exhausted but delighted and happy as clams (they eat razor clams up here)...But - it is cold and it is actually snowing tonight....so what we will do is sleep, sleep, sleep....

On Tues morning we will drive up to Pt. Townsend where the RV we own 1/4 of awaits and where we will have some time to visit with our incredible friends, Kendra and Jim Golden....we will leave there next Sunday and head for Mendocino stopping in OR & CA state parks on the way (and visiting with Jane Katra in Eugene on Monday) where we will leave the rig in Russian Gulch State Park while we go down to Petaluma for meetings on the IONS campus and spend a few days in San Francisco.

On June 20th we begin our volunteer commitment at the Ford House - the visitor center for the Mendocino Headlands and an historic building in itself - we will be volunteering about 13 hours a week (but knowing us it will probably be double that) each in exchange for free hookups and the ability to stay in the state park for more than 2 weeks.  In fact, we have agreed to volunteer thru October 31st - then the motor home needs to return to it's 3/4 owners, the Goldens, and we will be homeless.  

We are going to spend the summer thinking about what to do next - there are so so many possibilities!!!  We are seriously considering Hawaii for several months, Europe for several months, and Scotland for several months - it's easy when you have nothing to worry about here (like a house and stuff)...we will be looking for long-term furnished rentals or house sitting situations (if you have any ideas about finding these things please share)...

David is talking about returning to Tucson for the tax season, but I am not sure that he really, really wants to do that - if we do return it will be so wonderful to see you all!!  Meanwhile, stay tuned - I will write as I have time and let you know what's happening.  Meanwhile - think many hugs from both of us to you!