MILES AND MILES OF SAND DUNES

This is the South Jetty. Oregon has about a hundred miles of sand dunes. The place is loaded with quads, motorcycles, dune buggies, sand sleds, side by sides, jeeps and other 4X4s, and dune busses.

THE JETTY AT SOUTH JETTY

There are two Jetties here in Florence, we are camped at the South Jetty where there is a Thousand Trails Preserve, and South Jetty is famous for it's incredible sand dunes. North Jetty is more of a residential than recreational area. Very nice homes.

FIRST STAGE BLACKBERRIES

We usually get to Oregon smack dab in the middle of berry season. We were a little bit early this year. The bushes are healthy, the flowers are blooming, and young berries are starting to turn. Wish they would hurry up.

GOOD TIMES IN FLORENCE

 While in Florence, we hooked up with our young, old friend Barb. We first met her and her husband, Phil, many years ago in Trinidad, California. And met up with them several times in several places later. Phil passed a couple years ago, so we made it a point to meet up with Barb at the Beachcomber Tavern in Old Town, Florence.

GETTIN READY FOR THE EVENING CAMPFIRE

South Jetty preserve is a typical Oregon Coast setting. Most days started with fog and got windy about 2 pm. Ferns, berry bushes, mushrooms, deer, banana slugs, great clam chowder, delicious crabs, and campfires in the evening. That's me whipping up a batch of kindling.

CAR SHOW AT THE FLORENCE AIRPORT

  As a follow up to the Fourth of July ceremonies, 5 car clubs in Oregon hosted a car show. There were many nice entries, hot rods, customs, British cars and military vehicles.

DIANE MEETS THE YACHATS MACAW

We took a side trip to Yachats, about 25 miles North along to coast from Florence. We walked the town, went to the farmers market, and ran across this nice lady with her Macaw, beautiful bird.

TALK ABOUT YOUR COLLOSAL HEADACHES..

This poor dude lives outside Manteca, his horns are so heavy he can barely lift his head. When he tries to stand, he rests one of his horns on the ground. Glenn and Grace took us out to see him, I think Glenn said he is an African bull of some sort.

GREETINGS FROM "GETTIN DOWN WITH THE BREHMS" FLORENCE OREGON

It's been a while, but we are back on the blog. Picture is a wall mural at "Bugsy's" in Junction City

JEFFERSON, THE LONE BARN STATE

Don't know how many of you know the story of the State of Jefferson. If you don't, you should look it up. I'm not sure when, but at some point, people became disenchanted with either California or the USA, and seceded as an independent State.

MAXINE DIMICK GETS A LEG UP

In spite of our speedy trip up to Oregon, we managed to stop in Manteca and visit with good friends Glenn and Grace Davis, then up to Sacramento to visit other buddies Roger and Sandy Schwarting, then on to Mt. Shasta to visit Jim and Maxine Dimick. All of these folks are our winter family at the Salton Sea every year. In February, Jim had one of his hips replaced in Palm Springs, and after they returned home, Maxine had her foot operated on. Should be a lot of dancing next year at the desert.

OUR NEW ICE CHEST REPLACEMENT

Our main reason for making a beeline to Oregon, was to have our old refrigerator replaced. It had it's demise about 3 months ago. The original ran on 120 AC or propane. It had a bad reputation for starting fires and burning up complete RV's in short order. The regular RV type is much more expensive than residential refrigerators, has less capacity, weighs more, and is less energy efficient. We had solar panels installed on the roof earlier in the year, and they keep the batteries charged all the time. The inverter changes 12 volt DC from the batteries to 120 volts AC so the fridge stays cold whether we are plugged in to AC or not.

OUR NEW FRIG.

Wow! this new refrigerator holds a lot, or so it seems after living 3 months out of an ice chest. It is very efficient. Stays at 38 in the frig and -2 in the large freezer on the bottom.

CARL THURMAN

We were fortunate to meet up with Carl and Rose Thurman in Oregon. I had the pleasure of working with Carl at Rohr for many years. It was good to see him looking so well, as he has had some medical concerns lately, but is doing much better now. We hope to see them again in the next few days.

THURMANVILLE

Carl and Rose were our gracious chaperones while we stayed in Harrisburg. Carl was born and raised in this part of the country, and even though he is 76 years old, his childhood stompin grounds have changed little. There are more Thurman's here than there are Yee's in Hong Kong. We saw his homes, schools, and swimming holes, and the area is still backwoods and unspoiled. This covered bridge was built in 1925, with a plank road through it and still in use.

CAMP ELKS LODGE, FLORENCE, OR.

From time to time, convenience is the deciding factor on where to stay for short periods. Walmart is popular with many road gypsies, but we prefer to stay at Elks Lodges when available. They typically have hook ups for the RV, dinners and a friendly bar. This one is smack in the middle of Florence, and a short hop from South Jetty.

OUR CAMP AT SOUTH JETTY, OREGON COAST

After all the rushing around since leaving downtown Jamul, this will be our home for a while. We plan to catch up on rest and relaxation for 2 or three weeks before we move on.
We are practically on the sand dunes here, old town Florence is fun to eat, drink, and play in, and there are good things to do up and down the Coast. We are just an hour and a half from the big city of Eugene. 

GETTIN DOWN WITH THE BREHMS, 6 FEBRUARY, 2014

       Sunsets are knockout gorgeous here at the Salton Sea.

MADISON AVENUE ADVERTISING

Y'all come now, heah? This is the community cultural center. Famous country singers can often be heard performing here, on the juke box.

THE BREHM CAMPING COMPOUND, SALTON SEA

Here we are smack dab in the center of ammenityville. Not! The West Shore RV Resort at Johnson's Landing is Spartan living, but the utilities, water, 50 amp electricity, and sewer access are good. There is no pool, no spa, no kiddies playground, no mini-golf, however, there is a desert golf course within walking distance, and a bar and grill available for breakfast, pub grub, and BBQ on Saturdays