Boomer Fixes on the Road

For our non-RVing friends, “Boomers” are members of a sub-group within the Escapees RV Club.  They are very much our social network and on-the-road family.  When we are “in the neighborhood,” you can almost always count on an invitation to meet for a get-together, meal out, and even a place to park your RV. 

[Jargon lesson: large gatherings of Boomers are called “boomerangs,” while smaller gatherings are called “mini ‘rangs”.  To carry the nickname identification a little further, in January, the Boomers gather for an annual boomerang in the Quartzsite, Arizona desert on a portion of BLM that is lovingly called “Boomerville”.]

So, when we announced our route through Oregon and Washington en route to Alaska, the emails lit up with offers.  Unfortunately, for this trip, we have been too focused on getting across the border and haven’t been able to get our full-blown “Boomer Fix”.

Boomers Bill Joyce and Diane Melde offered to meet us in Eugene while they were having their motorhome serviced in the area.  Our paths probably crossed on I-5 on Wednesday, but the rainy day drive pushed us beyond and we tucked in for the night at the Escapees RV Park in Sutherlin, OR.

Our Thursday overnight stop at the Kelso Elks did allow us to meet up with Boomers Ed and Hazel Mazurowski.   (A photo of their rig parked between our rig and the Kings appeared in our previous blog.)  We did get a chance to get caught up since we last saw them in Lake Havasu City and Apache Junction last year.

A health issue, however, kept Boomers Dianne and Frank Gruelle from joining us for dinner.  The Gruelles home-base in Portland and we met them for dinner on a previous visit to the area.  Next time….

While not Boomers, we also had Monaco RVing friends Merriann and Jeff Martin offer parking accommodations at their home in Hoodsport, OR. We saw them at their winter place in Desert Hot Springs back in January and again in April, but we had to skip them this trip. Sorry guys.

We also had an offer to stay in Olympia, WA with Boomers Kathy and Roy Emory.  We stopped at their place a couple of years ago and apparently had left a steak knife behind at a “mini-rang” they hosted for 10 Boomers.  We’ll have to collect that knife down the road.

Heading north we had planned to stay at the Fort Lewis FamCamp and to take a driving break where we might have been able to schedule a “mini-rang” with other Boomers in the area.  The park was full for the Memorial Day weekend so we decided to keep the wheels rolling.  We had also hoped to make a day trip to our visit our former neighbors, Howard and Janet Pelton, who now reside in East Wenatchee, WA.  They were our RVing role models. Now 87, they have lived in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest for more than a decade.  This photo shows them sitting in their “backyard” with the Kenai River behind them.  They have put us in touch with close AK friends we hope to connect with in the coming weeks.  They still RV and we may see them down the road, yet.

Our final Boomer offer for a parking space in front of their home in Brier, WA came from Vicky and Terry Webb. We have previously graced the streets of their neighborhood and taken them up on their offer to baby-sit our dog Star while we played tourist in the Seattle area.  (BTW, they are now considered Star’s grandparents, having spoiled her on more than one occasion.) This trip, however, didn’t work out.  We will see them again in Albuquerque in October for the Balloons and Boomers Boomerang we are hosting. (The Webbs have previously hosted in ABQ, too.)

Thanks to everyone mentioned for your offers of accommodations and ‘rangs as we passed through your neighborhoods.  (Sorry, also for some of the dated photos from our files.) 

Tomorrow we will cross into British Columbia and the next phase of our Alaska adventure will continue.

Next:  Heading for the Border