Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

The adventure of a life time

Some of you asked how the trip was and is. Here is a cliff note version. We put
29000 miles on in 5.5 months and we still did not do or see as much as we
thought we would. Do not get me wrong we had a great time and do not regret
what we did or did not do. We made a lot more friends, put faces to names
and saw things you would not traveling down the freeway at 80. We rode into
Dryersburg Tn for lunch, the owner of the cafe asked if we were there for
the rally? What rally I asked? He said the boss hoss rally. He gave us
directions to the town square, it was a town square. Boss hoss's everywhere.
We were able to sit on some. It is things like this that has happened, that
one could not plan in a two week vacation. Most part everyone was friendly
and helpful. We sure did meet some interesting people. We did learn that ALL
of Quebec Canada speaks french. I do not, and we were lost in the country
some where trying to get directions. I love you BC guys:) We have a lot more
stories, those are for later around the campfire. Our plan is to travel this
summer also, staying closer to the west side at least until labor day
weekend, lobster is so good and than we are off to Newfoundland. We sure
missed all our friends here in the west. We are now living in Sunnyside Wa,
in a 39 foot fifth wheel trailer on Penn's parents small ranch. We are
helping out where ever we can. Hope to see you all
real soon. Oh yea we liked Ore-gun, SC,Tenn, Ark are the four states we
would live in, that is as of right now, have not made it to the southern
states yet. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. Enjoy
the ride, life is too short not to eat dessert first, J&P or P&J your pick:)

The move to Sunnyside

Howdy everyone,

An update of where we are and how we are doing. We decided to move to
Sunnyside Washington to be closer to Penn's parents to help them out.
Here is our story on the move. Came up to Sunnyside to get the trailer
spot ready. Don and Lorraine are Penn's parents, they have a piece of
property that is between them and Penn's nephew's (Lance) place. There
is a new septic system on it. We had to locate the septic tank; Don
and Randy (Penn's bro) located it.

Monday we drove to Sunnyside, 750 miles 8 hours:(

Tuesday we dug and found the inlet pipe and brought it to the surface
and prepared it for the trailer dump hose. Then we located the
irrigation pipes, this way I would not cut through them with the
trencher. The trench is for the electric and water.

Wednesday we rented a trencher and dug the ditch, 340 feet from the
house, and 260 from the well. While I was trenching Penn and Lorraine
dug out around the irrigation pipes I did not cut through. Lorraine is
74 years old and out worked Penn and I. Trenching was easy work, but
the machine was worn out. The chain jammed once, no problem I had the
proper tool to repair it, 8 pound sledge hammer. Then Penn and I ran
the water line and electrical conduit.

Woke up Thursday morning to 4 inches of snow. Penn and I finished
gluing the conduit together, and then we finished connecting the water
line to the well. Turned the breaker marked well off, Penn stood in
the yard with a hose running the pressure out of the tank, well the
breaker was for the old well, Penn stood there for 10 minutes and the
pressure never changed. Now I had to call Randy and ask him which
breaker he used for the new well. Once the correct breaker was flipped
it did not take long to run the pressure out of the system. Than I
built the landing pad for the trailer, by the end of the day we had
water, septic hook up and a landing pad. Again Lorraine out worked us.

Friday morn Randy and his crew came over and ran the power to the
landing spot. It only took them about and hour and a half to run the
wires, connect to the breaker box and connect and mount the plug to
the pole. Fast and easy when you have professionals at hand, Randy is
an electrical contractor and has his own business. I drove back to
Selma to get the trailer ready to be moved. Penn and Lorraine filled
in the ditch, Penn said her mom out worked her again.

Saturday I prepped the trailer, Dad and uncle Pat came up to move the trailer.

Sunday we got up at 5:00am connected the trailer to the pickup and
drove to Sunnyside. It was raining, at times it was a frog strangling
rain. Called Penn from Cascade Locks Oregon to find out if Satus Pass
was clear, no it had packed snow and ice, traction tires required.
After some discussion and ice cream we opted to go around the pass. It
only added about 40 minutes to the trip. We tried to get here before
dark, missed it by about an hour. There was still snow on the field in
which we placed the trailer. Dad pulled into the field and started to
spin, uncle Pat and I chained up dad's rear tires. Dad was able to
move until he throw a chain and got stuck, had to get the ford tractor
to pull him out, got the chain back on. The front of the tractor was
raising up, uncle Pat volunteered to lay across the nose and hold it
down, let the rodeo begin. After much maneuvering the trailer was in
place. Penn and her mom went and got dinner KFC, after dinner and a
beer we all felt better. I love living in a trailer, the moving is
simple, couple hours to prepare the trailer, couple more to organize
it when you arrive.

Monday Dad and Uncle Pat left at 6:45 am, the snow was gone.

Penn and I appreciate and thank you for all your help. Everyone went
above and beyond the call of duty and no one died.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a happy new year. See you soon.

Here are our new addresses, mailing is POBox 697 Sunnyside Wa, 98944.
Physical address is 530 Camp Lane, Sunnyside Wa, 98944

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, hope to see you real soon J&P

Update

We're now living in Sunnyside, WA next to my parents.  We decided since we didn't have much to do in the Grants Pass area we might as well move to Sunnyside to help my parents out around their farm.

Hoping to get Internet service soon and will have more updates then.

Just after leaving Portland, we hit a big hail storm.





Having the trailer delivered and set up.





Our new home.





The surrounding area.

Settling in..

Got the trailer set up and are unpacking stuff right now. Good day to do inside stuff - it's been raining out all day.

Devlinstravels2

New photos up at our webshots page - Devlinstravels 2 - starting on page 28

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/560267772cMgglx?vhost=good-times&start=324

Settling down

We're in Sunnyside, WA right now, getting some stuff out of our storage trailer to take back up to our fifth wheel trailer.  It was like Christmas, going through our goodies and finding our stuff.  We're hoping to have our trailer delivered to Lake Selmac - www.lakeselmac com - on Wednesday so we can start getting settled in.  Once we do, we'll try to update the blog about the last leg of our travels.



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Found the perfect spot for

Found the perfect spot for the trailer. Next to a really nice lake - Lake Selmac.

www.lakeselmac.com

Redmond, OR

We're in Redmond, Oregon. On our way to Grants Pass to set up the
trailer. Picked up the pickup in La Grande and loaded my bike in the
back of it. Weird to drive a four wheeler instead of a two wheeler.
Kept reaching for the clutch lever everytime I slowed down.

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Twin Falls, ID

Made it to Twin Falls, ID. Cold out, and snow on the mountains. Took
five layers to keep warm. Had to stop at K-Mart to get a sweatshirt
to put over my coat because no more would fit underneath.

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Monticello, UT

In Monticello, UT. COLD......we about froze before we got here.
Heard that Salt Lake City got snow. Getting a little nervous.....

Spent the last two nights with Alan and his wonderful daughter, Emily,
in Albuquerque. Had a great time with them and Max the dog and James
the cat. Got to ride Alan's BMW GS 80. Fun bike, but pretty tall.
Thanks for everything, Alan and Emily.

Trying to make it to La Grande by Monday night so we can head to
Grants Pass on Tuesday.

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In albuquerque, new mexico. Hot

In albuquerque, new mexico. Hot & windy.

Dalhart, Texas

We're in Dalhart, TX. Pretty warm out today.

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Oklahoma

We're in Perry, OK. Rode through some heavy rain to get here.

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Arkansas

We're in Harrison, AR for two nights. Going to rent a car tomorrow so
we can run around the countryside and visit some of my Dad's old
haunting grounds. Spent the last couple of night's at my Dad's
brother's house. Jim was kept busy farming and repairing.

On Tuesday we're heading towards Albaquerque, NM where we'll spend a
night or two, then homeward bound. Jim's getting anxious to get our
trailer set up and to relax for a while.

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Arkansas

We're in Mountain Home, Arkansas. Beautiful day today.

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Clarksville, TN

We're in Clarksville, TN. Had a great ride today. It was hot out,
but rode thru a couple of small showers that cooled us down nicely.

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Westward Ho

Going to start heading West tomorrow. We've been having a great time
with Jack and Lori. Their hospitality is wonderful. If you're ever
in the area - Tellico Plains, TN - make sure you visit them at Hunts
Lodge - www.huntslodge.com.

You won't be disappointed.

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Tennessee

We're in Tellico Plains, TN. We spent the weekend with Mo and his
lovely wife Mary Ann near Greenville, SC. They spoiled us rotten. We
had a wonderful time with them and their little weiner dogs. Thanks
again, Mo and Mary Ann.

Now we're at Jack and Lori's campground/cottages in Tellico Plains.
They had to run into town but were kind enough to leave us a note
directing us to a cabin with the air conditioner working like a charm.
I'm glad Mo mentioned we were heading this way!

Tomorrow we're planning on riding the infamous Deal's Gap. We've
already ridden the Cherohala Skyway. What a beautiful road!

It's rather toasty out right now.

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Virginia

We're in Roanoke, VI. Virginia is a beautiful place. Riding the Blue
Ridge Parkway through VI and into N. Carolina.

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Harrisburg, PA

We're in Harrisburg, PA for the night. Sean rode with us for a little
while this morning. Making sure we actually left town, I think. ;-)
We're going to hit the Blue Ridge Mtns. next on our way to Mo's in S.
Carolina.

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Thank you's

We want to extend a huge thank you to Sean, Lucy, and Colin for putting up with us this weekend, and to Bob and Linda Zimmerman for putting up with us a couple of weekends ago. We've been having a great time meeting new people and spending time with them.

Tomorrow we're going to start heading South, heading for South Carolina for the weekend. After that we'll start making our way West.

We've had a couple of "concerned" e-mails since we shared that we bought a fifth-wheel trailer to stay in over the winter months. The reasoning behind our actions is this - we really enjoy being out on the road and would like to be able to do so for longer. If we continue to keep riding, we'll have to stop next May and find work because we will have reached the end of our budgeted travel allowance. If we stop for the winter and work during the winter months, we will be able to travel all of next summer again. And, if we really plan well, we'll be able to work winters and travel summers for the next several years. So don't worry, we're not giving up on our dreams and our plan - we're simply hoping to be able to make it last a few more years rather than just one.

Newest photos

Newest photos start on page 8. One of these days I'll be able to sit down and get them all labeled.

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/560267772cMgglx?start=84

Danbury, CT

We're in Danbury, CT, staying with Sean and Lucy and Sean's son, Colin.  We're going to relax here this weekend, change tires, and service the bikes.  Then off again on Monday or Tuesday.  The weather's cooling down and fall is in the air.  The leaves are starting to change color but I don't think we'll be in this area long enough to see the full show. 

 

Pic's are being updated on webshots.

 

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Maine

Back in the states - Farmington, Maine. Windy day, but dry - unlike yesterday.

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In nova scotia. Beautiful place.

In nova scotia. Beautiful place. Heading to prince edward island tomorrow.

Abbott, Maine

We're in Abbott, Maine for the weekend.  Rainy here, but having a great time.

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In casselman, ontario. Hot out.

In casselman, ontario. Hot out.

Sudbury, Ontario

In Sudbury, Ontario. Managed to miss most of the rain. Hopefully our
luck continues to hold. Ran into a guy from Tigard, Oregon riding an
FJR. What are the odds¡

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Marquette, MI

In Marquette, Michigan. No rain today.

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Duluth, Minnesota

We're in Duluth, Minnesota. Stopped early today to take a break from riding.

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Minot, ND

In Minot, ND - drying out the tent. Woke up to rainfall this morning
so slept in a bit. Had a cool ride today. Had someone tell us it was
108 just last week. Mid sixties today. Burr.

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@ fort peck, montana. Great

@ fort peck, montana. Great weather so far.

Thank you

A big THANK YOU to Paul and Nancy for putting up with us the last few
days. We appreciate your hospitality and friendship.

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Newest Happenings

Tomorrow (Aug. 21) we are heading East for lobster with the Sabmag group in Maine. We're also going to enjoy the fall colors, then head down the Eastern coastline.

The last couple of days have been busy. We got to play on a go-cart track with John in Eagle Point.







We also made a big purchase. We've decided to make the Rogue River area in Southern Oregon our winter home to see if we like it there. We purchased a fifth-wheel trailer to live in while we're there. The dealer, Siskiyou RV World, and the salesman, Steve Blunk, were great to work with. They're going to store our trailer for us until we return sometime around October/November and will deliver it to a park for us once we find the "perfect" spot. I think Jim is relieved now that he doesn't have to admit he's "homeless" anymore.

Photos from Penny - Devlinstravels2 and more...

From: penny.devlin@gmail.com To: devlinstravels.devlin@blogger.com Hi. If you have a minute, check out these photos from my Webshots photo album! Enjoy, Penny

Click on a photo below to view the entire photo album! Devlinstravels2

Do you have the FREE Webshots Desktop? Add these photos to your screensaver & wallpaper! If you don't have it yet, you can download the FREE Webshots Desktop here!