Oh where oh where has Mike's blog been?

     I can't believe it's been over two weeks since I posted a blog on the journey of 2017.  Yes we've been busy but in many different ways from past trips around the country.  We've now been on the road since May 29th (38 days) and are still only 756 miles from home!  As you may remember the marathon of last year was 9,000 miles (8995 to be exact) so we decided to try and stick to the west coast this year and stay longer at each stop.  To this point in the trip we've only stayed at five locations which is averaging a week per stop, but I must say each types of travels both have there pluses and minuses!  Sometimes I miss rolling down the road every day or so but then again I like the idea of not having to hook-up and unhook every day or two also!  To this point in our travels (just in our motor home) we've visited all but 7 states in the lower 48 of states, Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Delaware.  The way those last few are situated we could probably hit all of them in a matter of a day or two, but the idea is to visit and enjoy all corners of this great country of ours!  Maybe next year after Iowa.
     Except for the first few days and this past week here in Sacramento we been on the coast with ocean breezes and sea mist everywhere we've stayed.  Those conditions have been enjoyable and relaxing to say the least, and a might chilly in the mornings and evening too for us warm blooded Arizonians.  Even Sacramento cools off in the evenings into morning with the delta breeze reaching down into the 60's and below each day.
     As the first 30 days have been enjoying the coast and what it has to offer, this past week has been spent visiting family and friends here in the Sacramento area.  My cousins the Papers and their families have been as you might imagine most hospitable.  Since we've been visiting over the past few years on and off and after many years of no contact at all we have thoroughly enjoyed each and every visit to my old stomping grounds of the early 60's (I lived in this area from 1959 to 1964)!  Cousin Don has been throwing his 4th of July bash for almost 30 years and we have enjoyed two of the last four with great pleasure, that is along with the 100 other guest on and off throughout the day.
     Now we start thinking about leaving here on Friday (in two days) and continuing our travels northward, but from here on out we have no pre-reserved camp/RV parks we're heading for.  The idea is to continue through northern California into the redwoods and on into Oregon.  We'd like to end up at some point in Bend, Oregon to see about some upgrades to the motor home in the way of flooring and furniture.............depends on if they can get us in and how much it will cost!
     Beverly and I are still enjoying playing a lot of golf at many course during our travels, we have played some very nice golf course so far this trip and plan on doing a lot more of it as we travel north into Oregon.
     Can someone get burned out on San Francisco?  I'm even having a hard time believing we have been an hour away from the Bay area for a week or more now and haven't paid our usual visit for at least lunch at the Grotto/Wharf or in China Town or the Italian villages of San Francisco.  I mentioned going and Bev said "I don't have to so San Francisco this trip"............to my surprise!  We drove down to Bodega Bay home of the movie the "Birds" by Alfred Hitchcock back in 1963 and home to some of the best fresh oysters anywhere!  If we had only new, we drove over there, had a few places in mind we were told about by the young man at the Verizon store but took no small cooler with us.  The places we visited all have hour plus waits for standing room only for oysters on this Sunday afternoon.  Besides flocks of folks waiting for these morsels another flock of folks were taking coolers to another window and getting dozens to go!  We ended up not getting any fresh Bodega Bay oysters or Tomales Bay oysters and now I regret not waiting in line (Bev I don't believe cared, she wasn't too keen on sucking down a dozen oysters anyway).
     Did you notice I said the fella at the Verizon store?  Yes, we seem to only visit our carrier Verizon while traveling for some reason.  I was reminded via a text message from our last time at a Verizon store by a gal from a store in Gulfport, Mississippi that we were upgrade eligible.  I've been trying to get Bev to have our plan looked at since Verizon as others have now been offering unlimited Date and we've been paying for 50GB...................hey we saved quite a bit by stopping by and now have unlimited data too!  Sometimes we waste so much money by not keeping up on things like this.  We both got new phones, but also a new JBL Flip 4 speaker (Free) and an upgrade jet-pack capable of running up to 17 devices!  Now..............where is my 10 year old grandson Jack to help me figure this new phone out?  Our last 5 visits to Verizon Stores have been in the reverse order, Sacramento, Gulfport MS, Des Moines IA, Davenport IA and Coeur d'Alene ID, go figure?
     Well I've bored you enough for this blog, and I hope to do better on the rest of this journey in keeping up to date, even though readership is down compared to years past, I must be losing followers or getting very boring.  Maybe too much posting on FB of the same stuff without all the insight and particulars of out stops along the way, just more pictures.  Oh well, I enjoy these writing and will keep keeping on for those that care.
     Let me close this blog by asking for your prayers for someone dear to us here, prayers that the pain will diminish and some healing will follow.  I know pray helps and Beverly and I ask for your prayers, thank you.