MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS AND FAMILY

CHRISTMAS AT PIO PICO

Well, here we are at our "Winter Resort", Pio Pico, in Southern California. We wish you all a wonderful Christmas, New Year, and Holiday Season in general. Here's a few pics of this years RV Christmas at the preserve.

Merry Christmas, friends and family

WIEGATES FROM JAMUL, CA

Yep, we're back at our leased site in Jamul at the Thousand Trails Preserve, Pio Pico. What a wonderful 6 month Odyssey we have had this year. No Planning, flip a quarter at each intersection and see where we wind up. For you sickos that follow our journeys, you know that we left in May, went to Yuma to visit Andy & Linda, then on to Bisbee, AZ to enjoy the company of Mike and Marsha. We went to Deming NM, which many people consider a sentence, but we love it there. From there north through New Mexico through Colorado, Wyoming, and in to South Dakota. We stayed at our favorite, Elk View Campground in Sturgis, and left just before the start of the Black Hills Motorcycle Classic. We headed West through Wyoming, and Montana. We had to stop at the "7th Ranch Campground", very close to the Custer's Last Stand Battlefield. The folks at 7the Ranch are wonderful, we recommend them when you are in the neighborhood. We continued South West through Idaho. We camped in Twin Falls, very close to the famed Evel Knievel Snake River attempt. His braggadocio still lies next to (not over) the Snake River there.

We departed Idaho, and landed in Bend Oregon, at the Sunriver Preserve, where we hooked up with our buds, Gene and Darlene. Then on to Junction City, where we had some updates done to our coach, then on to the coast. We camped at the South Jetty Preserve at Florence , OR. Next was Merlin OR, just outside Grants Pass. Beautiful scenery and Gene got to visit some aunts and cousins. We were southbound now, and while scenic and pleasant, I will skip the details. We made it to our winter home safe and sound. Hope you all had a wonderful summer, and we wish you a happy holiday winter. Please come for a visit if you are in the San Diego area. Love and God Bless...............

Ronny & Nancy......................

THE DAM AND HOUSEBOAT MARINA, BULLARD'S BAR

Off the skinny road from Oregon House to Truckee lies this beautiful lake and dam, Bullard's Bar. A nice place.

MENTADENT GREEN SHOALS AT bULLARD'S BAR

Just adjacent to the Bullard's Bar Dam, are these gorgeous shoals cut from the native limestone of the Sierra Nevada. The color of the water was incredible. Mentadent Green pretty much describes it for me.

DOWNTOWN DOWNEYVILLE, CA.

We took a nice backwoods drive from camp up to Truckee. We took the mountain roads, one of which went through Downeyville. Very small quaint and picturesque.

CELEBRITIES INVADE GRASS VALLEY, CA.

In the background, the Nevada County Bank on Bank St. Gene & Darlene McDonough and Diane in the foreground.

OLD GRASS VALLEY, CA

Just below Nevada City, Grass Valley is one of the northern destinations of the gold rush of 1849. Mill Street is part of that old historic district.

NEVADA CITY, HISTORICAL DISTRICT

From our base at Lake of the Springs, in Oregon House, CA. we took a day trip to Nevada City, the last of the gold rush towns along highway 49. It is steeped in history and full of interest for the student historian.

OUR CAMP AT LAKE OF THE SPRINGS

That Winnebago on the left is the McDonough's. We had a very nice time here, and the sites had sewer hookups, 50 amp zoogies, and good satellite reception. It was a short walk to the lake, the lodge, the store and the laundry.

Wild Turkeys at Lake of the Springs

These guys were a treat to watch. They came around everyday, pretty much like they were the proprieters, and we were guests, subject to their will. These guys could fly more gracefully than you might suspect.

THE CLUBHOUSE AT LAKE OF THE SPRINGS

Compared to some other Thousand Trails Preserves, Lake of the Springs is well maintained. It has a nice, fishable, boatable lake on the preserve. This is the lodge above the lake, with a kitchen, dining area, library, big screen TV, pool tables, arcade, adult center, and WiFi.

HARRIS RANCH PARKING LOT

After we left Lake of the Springs Preserve in Oregon House, CA. We drove to Harris Ranch, a little south of Coalinga, CA. We dry camped there for the night, and as we prepared to depart, this was the lovely sunrise.

HERE'S WHAT'S DOWN with the BREHM'S as of 19, OCT,10

GREETINGS FROM OREGON HOUSE, CA.

Welcome to the bloody Brehm Blog. For those of you who enjoy following our misadventures through the blog, I apologize. For weeks now, cyberspace has not been well with us. We are currently nestled away in the Sierra's, between Marysville and Grass Valley, but we are back in CA.

We had a wonderful time in Oregon, and spent a good share of it alongside the Rogue River, mostly close to the headwaters. We are still traveling with Gene and Darlene, but have bumped into many acquaintances along the way. Just yesterday, we spent some time with Bill, a good friend of Glenn & Grace who lives here at Lake of the Springs. We also met another friend of Glenn's. They also drive a Safari, and taught Glenn some tricks, and has some of Glenn's woodworks in his coach. The weather has been better than anywhere in the country wherever we go. After we leave, all hell seems to break loose, but while we are there, it's been wonderful.

We have all had reasonably good health, and had no mechanical perturbations. The pics in this issue are all from Oregon. We have some catching up to do. Next time some California action. We expect to return to Pio Pico early in Nov. Until then, our love and best regards......

The Donner Party..........

BREHM CAMP AT MERLIN, OR.

Merlin is a small suburb of Grant's Pass, and close to "Hell's Gate" portion of the Rogue River. Close to the first place you can begin rafting. Gene has an assortment of cousins and aunts in this area.

CANADIAN HONKERS IN THE CAMPGROUND

We were pretty sure these beautiful geese were part of the present administration in Washington, DC. In the morning they would fly south into the campground, and in the afternoon, the would fly back north. Next day, same thing. I think they were trying to play middle of the road before the elections.

Ahh, a man and his dog

Poor old Ross, he is 18 years old now, and still gets his puppy urges to run and jump. I took him for a somewhat treacherous hike through steep climbs and sharp rocks. When we reached the turnaround point, it suddenly occurred to us that we were not puppies anymore, but had to return none the less. Ross spent 2-3 days after just laying in his bed and staring at me!

CRATER LAKE AND WIZARD ISLAND

After our visit to Merlin, we took off for Prospect OR. One of the day trips out of Prospect, was to Crater Lake. The weather was windy & cold, but we had a wonderful time. We took Gene's cuz, Jack and his wife, Paula with us. A good time was had by all and we all lived happily ever after.

FIELD DAY TRIP TO CRATER LAKE

Cool day for cool folks: Gene, Jack, Darlene, Diane, and Paula.

THE ROGUE TAKES THE LAVA TRAIL

This was another day trip from Prospect. At this point, the Rogue is in beginning stages, and meanders it's way through a whole bunch of lava activity, including lava tubes.

THE RIVER EXITS THROUGH A LAVA TUBE

At several spots along the river, and for that matter, many lava formations, tubes are formed by huge deposits of gas during the flow. In this particular instance, the Rogue River goes underground through a tube and exits out a cave opening.

HIKERS BRIDGE ACROSS THE ROGUE

A beautiful hike out of Prospect OR. is along the banks of the Rogue River. Here, has been placed a rustic, but scenic bridge for hiking to the other side. The autumn colors were changing. Magnificent!

STILL AFLOAT AS OF 26, SEPTEMBER, 2010

HOWDY FROM TROLLVILLE

Not too much to write about the last couple of weeks. Immediately after getting the upgrades done to the coach in Junction City, which included resealing the entire roof and replacing the winshield seal, the rains began. 40 days and 40 nights. Two of Every kind, big boats, and eventually doves with olive branches. Hell of a water test but everything worked. No leaks. We were pretty much limited to walks in the rain, and sweeping wet pine needles out of the coach. I bought a book on mushrooms and began my biology lesson and qwest for edible fungi. It actually turned out to be quite interesting and fun. I have included some pics of our trophies.

Yesterday, we decided we had enough dampness. Everything smelled moldy and was wet. It rained while I packed up this morning. We drove about 150 miles southeast, and are now camped in the Grants Pass, OR. area. Feels more like San Diego here. We will probably stay for a few days. Hope you all had a wonderful summer. Looking forward to seeing you all in the future. Love, Soggy and Moldy Brehm.................

OUR CAMPSITE, SOUTH JETTY

Smack dab in the heavy forest of the Oregon Coast. Sun sets early here, and rises late. There is plenty of rain and fog the rest of the time.

CLUBHOUSE AT SOUTH JETTY

This is the clubhouse, activity center, and site of the "South Jetty Betty" restaurant

OREGON COAST BOUNTY

These edible goodies were all picked within the span of 30 minutes in the campground. Blackberries, & mushrooms. Check out the size of that bad boy I'm holding.

TREE MUSHROOM

This sea shell looking beauty was picked off of a rotting tree in the forest a mile from the beach.

LOBSTER MUSHROOMS

These babies were picked at the Thousand Trails Preserve in Florence. I believe they are referred to a s lobster mushrooms, for obvious reasons.

OREGON MAGIC MUSHROOMS

I think these are all edible, but not verified by me. The book says if the meat is white and the gills are just right, you may live through a sautee.

OREGON COAST

This is trult a beautiful stretch of beach. The colors are as vibranr as they come, and yet, the number of people is very low, compared to Calu

PORT OF FLORENCE. OR.

This is the fishing marina at the Port of Florence on th Siuslaw River. In the backround, you can see the historic drawbridge crossinf the Siuslaw.

HERE'S THE DIRT AS OF 12 SEPT. 2010

BEST WISHES FROM FLORENCE, OREGON

This week has been rather mundane and expensive. We traveled from Bend Oregon, across the Cascade Mountains, to Junction City, OR. to have our Motorhome upgraded with a new LED HD flatscreen TV, a new surround sound entertainment center, and some a improved cableing for these systems. We also had an automatic self-seeking satellite roof dish installed, and the roof resealed. As part of the process, it was discovered that our windsheild seal had been leaking, and the carpet on the drivers side was soaked, so next Wed. we travel back to Eugene for a new gasket. We are currently camped at the South Jetty preserve in Florence, and will return here after the new seal is installed. We were fortunate enough to arrive in time for the annual Rhody Rod Car Show. Florence is also famous for it's rhododendron flowers, hence the "Rhody", in Rhody Rod. The show was magnificient if you are an old gearhead like me. I think there were between 200 & 300 car and trucks, and they were great.

Hope your summer was great, and hope you remebered who your friends and enemies are on

9-11. We miss you, and look forward to hooking up again soon. Love and God Bless............

Bunny & Clawed...................................

PLUSH ACCOMODATIONS AT KUSTOM COACHWORKS

Rather primitive but comfortable. This is the parking lot where we got our makeovers. One of the nice things about motorhome living is we carry our own electricity, water, bathroom, heat, AC, beds, cooking facilities, washer/dryer, 4 door refrigerator, and entertainment systems wherever we are. No problemo..............

MAKEOVER ARTISTS

We visited these guys a year ago, just to see their work. Bobby & Scott are a couple of guys with a lot of experience is classing up RV's. One is an electronic wizard, the other an artist in wood working, although both seem quite adept at either. This year they did a fine job for us.

MUST BE 5:00 O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE!

Somethings about the nomadic life never change, only the locations. Here we are in the parking lot of Kustom Coachworks enjoying a wee bit of Happy Hour.

WORK IN PROCESS

No matter how many times you've done it before, ya always get a lump in your throat when all the goodies come out, and a thousand wires are just hanging there..

KUSTOM COACHWORKS CUSTOMER LOBBY

While the coach was recieving it's makeover, the girls played "Farmville" on their laptops.

GERIATRIC "BIG FOOT"

This highboy was parked in a field next to where our motorhome was being worked on. Looks like one of the originals.

FLORENCE, OR. CARSHOW

At least once a year, Florence hosts a fantastice car show. We have been fortunate enough to catch a few; no exception this year. Must have been 200-300 vehicles lining the streets of the Historic District.

I THEENK CHIHUAHUA'S ARE SUPPOSED TO DRINK MARGARITAS!

This is "Baby", a native born in Mexico Chihuahua, belonging to Gene and Darlene. She is contemplating the cultural benefits of traditional immersion.