The cost of living ...

Whilst we have been in the US we have found the cost of living to be significantly cheaper than in Perth.

Bear in mind that we are not paying land or water rates here, or electricity or gas expenses. Neither are we paying health insurance or incurring medical expenses. We have our own travel insurance, which is less expensive than if we were paying health insurance at home. (We have suspended our health insurance policies until we return to Australia.) I can't really compare health expenses but over the counter pharmaceuticals here are generally much cheaper.

The minimum weekly wage here is much less than in Australia; it varies from state to state and ranges from $7.25 to $9.10 per hour!
Sales tax rates also vary from state to state. Some states have little or no sales tax; some don't even have income tax!

As an example of some of the supermarket prices -


Beer                              $15.99       carton of 24 stubbies - Coors
Wine                              $  6.80       a nice red. Australian wines are also cheaper here than home.
Bacardi                          $19.99       1.75 ml bottle.

Milk                               $  2.49      3.78 litres
Eggs                               $  2.89      1 doz. (free range)
Brie cheese                     $  4.99      555 grammes
Fillet steak                      $  9.49      a 1lb; $20.87 a kg
Chicken breast                $  2.99      a 1lb; $6.58 a kg

Bananas                          $    .50      a 1lb; $1.10 a kg
Nectarines                       $   .88      a 1lb; $1.94 a kg
Tomatoes                        $ 1.99      a 1lb; $ 4.38 a kg
Potatoes                          $   .69      a 1lb; $ 1.52 a kg

(Gatorade - which we don't drink but which we couldn't help but be amazed at the price -1 litre $1.00)

As long as we keep enjoying a glass of wine and a beer we are doing just fine!!!


Gas/petrol                           .95 cents a litre
Rental cars                    $  9.99 a day. This is an Enterprise weekend special and they pick us up!

The First Days of Autumn ... and a Winter Storm.

We are staying at the Port of Newport Marina and RV Park on the Oregon coast; the largest fishing port on the Oregon coast. We are in the middle of several solid storms bringing heavy rain and high winds. It has been a wintry weekend ... now 8.30 on Sunday night.

We arrived at Newport on Wednesday and have a site for a week. We have a rental car for the weekend and, despite the foul weather, we have driven the coast - north to Lincoln City yesterday and today, south to Florence. The Oregon coast is spectacular. We are seeing it at its wildest at present; the Pacific ocean pounds the coastline, the wind whips the surf high into the air and then the waves crash onto rocks.

The drive from Tualatin on Wednesday was enjoyable; nice to be heading to the coast. We are remaining in Oregon for one particular reason. Our friends, the Rossknecht family are celebrating their Mom Margaret's birthday in early October ... in Oregon. What a wonderful opportunity to say one last goodbye.

The sea looks so calm on Wednesday. Our daughter Kim will be in Sydney on the weekend; I tell her to wave to us! Well ??? It is the Pacific Ocean after all.

The Yaquina Bay Bridge is at our doorstep. I walk over it on Thursday morning. It is very high - 246 ft. at its highest point and 133 ft at deck level. It carries Highway 101; was built in 1936 and is on the US National Register of Historic Places.



An arch bridge, it spans Yaquina Bay. It is spectacular!

 



The wintry weather certainly adds a further dimension to an already spectacular bridge no matter from which angle.

I am glad we are not in the motor home driving across the bridge in such windy conditions!

We also drive around to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse although we remain in the car as it is pouring rain. It is the tallest lighthouse in Oregon standing at 93 ft. It still uses its original 1868 French-made Fixed Fresnal lens, visible 19 miles out to sea.

Our drive around Yaquina Bay follows the Yaquina River to Hwy 20 and then back to Newport.

On Friday night we have dinner at Ocean Bleu at Gino's, a seafood restaurant in the bayfront area.We have a nice meal and share a bottle of wine, a Washington cabernet.

Our drive along Highway 101 as it hugs the coast, on Saturday and Sunday, are the highlights although it is so not the kind of weather to go driving. The coastline surpasses California from Highway 1 (in my view) for dramatic views and scenic wilderness areas.

It is surprising that others are also on the road, stopping at the overlooks, trying not to get blown away. We are not the only travellers wanting to see as much as we can, hail or shine.

The whole of the northwest is experiencing significant rain and wind. Portland and surrounding areas are having some flooding; downed trees are causing problems; as it is so early in the Fall lots of trees still have heavy foliage which gets heavier with the rain.

We are tucked in just under the bridge!

Mace calls us at about 3 o'clock on Saturday morning - our time - to let us know the Dockers lost their Grand Final game against Hawthorn.
It's hard to get back to sleep with the heavy rain and high winds raging about us. It was a sad week with New Zealand losing the America's Cup.  (Its a blood thing) We then heard that the Wallabies lost to the Springboks in Cape Town.
I wonder how we are doing in cricket??

One Month To Go!!

It is now Fall - officially at 1.44pm on Sunday 22 September. We have had rainy and cooler weather since Sunday! Today it is cold and raining; our first real taste of such weather for a long time.

We moved south of Portland mid week to the Roamers Rest RV Park in Tualatin. It is very comfortable and much quieter; I am walking in the mornings; the bathrooms are the best of the whole journey!! For the last 3 months we have both been using the shower in the motor home; it is a lot quicker and very nice. However it is a treat to have a larger space every now and again.
I am also able to exchange some books - 7 of mine for 3 from the second hand books at the RV Park - one is a Lee Child that I haven't yet read. What a find!

We have stayed around Portland for the last couple of weeks. There has been a lot to organise to ship the Harley home. Trevor has really worked hard on covering all bases; second guessing every step of the way; things have fallen into place nicely.

The trike will leave Paradise Harley Davidson on Thursday 26 September en route to the port of Long Beach, south of Los Angeles. From there it will be placed on a boat to Melbourne. It is consigned to our shipping agent, Ivan at Bikes Abroad in Melbourne.

When the bike arrives in Melbourne, Ivan will arrange for it to be delivered for compliance. There are only 2 places in Australia where the compliance work can be done; Brisbane and Melbourne.

I guess a trip to Melbourne is not too far away ... and what a drive home!!!

Each weekend we have rented a car. Enterprise have their weekend specials back (from 1 September) - $9.99 a day! Last weekend we had a brand new Subaru Outback; very comfortable.

The motor home has not yet sold. We still have a roof over our heads and we are so enjoying it. It is almost bittersweet ... at the heart of the memories we will be taking home is this wonderfully comfortable, safe place that we have called 'home' for the last almost 15 months. But it has to go; we've got this!

The map shows the States we have travelled through. If I haven't already said it ... this has been a journey of a lifetime! How lucky we have been; we have visited amazing natural wonders, met friendly and generously helpful people, travelling in this great motor home without incident or mishap.
I know ... we are not home yet, but luck has played an enormous part.

Most of all Trevor is still happy for me to sit up front!   We have made it!





Just so you know I wasn't exaggerating about the change in weather, take a look - the skies did open!


When it is rainy, what better way to occupy yourself than find a squirrel and offer it some peanuts?

Second best occupation is - laundry! I won't know myself when I have my own washing machine and a clothes line. The iron will come as a shock though. Would you believe
that I have not had an iron in my hand since 19 July 2012!!

Roamers Rest RV Park

On Sunday 22 September we visit Paradise Harley Davidson. Trevor has a ride on the Harley ... I think he likes it!










We have had a great association with the staff at Paradise Harley Davidson. They are very friendly and helpful; nothing has been too much trouble. Special thanks go to our salesman Larry. He is a neat guy. Over the last couple of weeks - yes we found and bought the Harley 2 weeks ago - Larry has answered all our questions no matter how 'stupid' (that would be mine!)



He tells us he plays guitar and writes music; he jams and may be playing at the Blue Diamond Bar in Portland on Sunday night. So we drive into Portland in the evening to the Blue Diamond. It is very small; iconic; and features Portland's finest blues and jazz bands.
We find seats at the bar and order a meal. The music is great!
The musicians are amazing. Larry is amazing! He plays and sings a song that he wrote. He tells us after, that that is the first time he has played with the musicians up on the stage with him!! Unbelievable!


On Wednesday 25 September we make our last trip to Paradise Harley Davidson. We are leaving the Portland area and heading for the coast.
The Harley will be loaded onto a truck tomorrow on the first leg of its journey to Australia. What an incredible 2 weeks it has been!

No Shelf Life For Dreams!

I have caught up!! We are in Portland, Oregon and ... the blog is in Portland, Oregon!

A lot has happened over the last several weeks. We have the motorhome on the market - sad but true. Today we hired a carpet cleaner; there is very little carpet - under the dining table and up front under the drivers and passenger seats - and 2 rugs. Still, it has come up nicely. Trevor has cleaned the leather seats. There are more of them; they too look great. She looks so good; we are sparkling!

We have only 5 weeks left of our 15 month journey before we get on a plane to Perth on 20 October.
As far as travel goes, we are gradually making our way south to San Francisco. We plan to remain in and around Oregon until early October, then into northern California. Of course these plans may well change earlier or later - if we sell the motorhome earlier then we will likely be looking for hotels and rental cars!

Its a bit like flying by the seat of your pants or having all of your balls in the air ... at the same time! I hope that last phrase is well known - it sounds a bit odd to me???

Throw into that mix ...  a Harley Davidson trike!! I guess that is the 'dream'  I refer to in the title. If we have learned anything on this journey it is that we are not done with life yet!

Last Sunday - 8 September - we called into a Harley Davidson dealership south of Portland, to 'have a look'. Paradise Harley Davidson in Tigard. We have called in to several Harley stores recently; there are very few trikes available; we have seen only 2 others as we have travelled west from South Dakota.

Now we have found a third - a 2011 Tri Glide Ultra Classic and we are bringing it home! ( We can't buy a new bike due to franchise issues).  And no, Trevor has not indoctrinated me over the last 14 months to agree to this. I like it!

It is actually quite good looking and (fairly) quiet - in the Harley scheme of things.
 So we are now in the throes of sorting out what we have to do to ship it home and get it compliant to Australian Standards.

No... we haven't ridden it yet!! That will come in the next few days. Trevor has his name down for a 'Learn To Ride' class run by Paradise Harley Davidson - a great idea as he is so familiar with driving on the right side of the road - he can get familiar with the bike before returning home to driving on the 'wrong' side .

Frequently heard!!

We have enjoyed a range of weather since arriving in Portland - from warm to hot weather; it was 95F a week ago - to showery, rainy and milder at present. Fall officially starts on Sunday - 9/22 - but everyone says it is about a week early.

We are well situated at the Jantzen Beach RV Park except it is very noisy! Major train lines and highways are close by; a lifting bridge over the Columbia River is also close by and we are very close to Portland International Airport!!
We will 'ride on' on Wednesday to an area south of the city and much, much quieter.

 Jantzen Beach RV Park is on Hayden Island which is in the middle of the Columbia River as it flows west to the ocean. We take a drive east on I-84 along the Columbia River on a sparkling sunny day, stopping at Multnomah Falls on the way. The 620 ft falls in the Columbia River Gorge fall in 2 cascades. It is the tallest waterfall in Oregon.



A 45 ft bridge spans the lower cascade - Benson Footbridge. In September 1995 a 400 ton boulder loosened by erosion fell 225 feet from the face of the waterfall into the upper cascade pool above Benson Footbridge. It resulted in a 70 ft splash of water and gravel to wash over the footbridge, injuring 20 members of a wedding party who were on the bridge posing for photos!!

With such a beautiful day, lots of people are out enjoying the breathtaking sights of the Falls.
Craft and art stalls together with a few food stalls are set out on a plaza at the bottom of the Falls. Trevor succumbs to an ice cream - I am very good!

We drive on to Hood River, the wind surfing capital of the world on the Columbia River.



From Hood River we head south  around the east side of Mt Hood.

Mt Hood is spectacular. It has to be the ideal shape - of a cone - and is covered in snow. It is the tallest of Oregon's Cascade peaks at 11,250ft. It has year round skiing.

Oregon is larger than Washington State but with half the population. The States share similar characteristics including rain soaked coasts, spectacular spinal mountain ranges and dry, inner plateaus.

Portland is known for innovation and ideas - consider food carts, microbreweries, bike culture and a traffic calmed downtown - although I-5 gets pretty jammed from early afternoon.

Portland is also famous for its parks and bridges - there are 11 bridges across the Willamette River notably the Steel Bridge, the only double-deck bridge with independent vertical lifts in the world.
It is the city that invented tree-sitting as a form of environmental protest!

The State beverage is milk!





We have wandered around downtown Portland over the last 2 weekends. We found the Saturday Markets, the largest Open Air Art and Craft Markets in the nation. What an array of different crafts!!

Yesterday we visited the International Rose Test Gardens in Washington Park- over 7,000 rose plants of approximately 550 varieties. Portland's nick name is the City of Roses.

We continue on to the Japanese Gardens - the best I have seen.

We are also lucky enough to see a display of Japanese drums and dancing - Takohachi - amazing!!

The line at Salt & Straw.

We come back to earth in Nob Hill, a trendy neighbourhood full of clothing boutiques, home decor shops and cafes. We stroll and window shop, then stand in a line for three quarters of an hour for an ice cream!! Salt & Straw - known for its handmade ice cream using local, organic ingredients and imported flavours from farms around the world!

I have a Honey Lavender flavour; Trevor has Strawberry Honey Balsamic Vinegar with Cracked Black Pepper - yep, ice cream!

And we pop in to have another look at the new member of the family!