This is a copy of my old Deck Log (Online Journal). I am now using an online blog at my "Have Web Sites Will Travel" web site. I use it to chronolog my travels around North America (my American Odyssey).

This "Old" Deck Log is now only an archive of past postings. It tell's the reader where I have visited and what adventures I have had up til the time I started my blog on Have Web Sites Will Travel. This archive was written primarily from the perspective of a tourist. Not necessarily my work log though I may do some of that too, especially in those early days when I built the sites resouces. Initially I used it to detail my efforts in getting prepared for the adventure. Then I chronicled the adventure itself.

To read my current Blog, Deck Log, Journal or Captains Log go here.

Date:     25 July 2004    12:10 PM

Location:     City: Tillamook     State: Oregon

Log Entry Title:     Summary of 11 July 2004 to 25 July 2004 in Western Oregon

Log Entry:     Links to specific entries:

12 July 2004 Lafayette, Oregon Stay Departure Summary
13 July 2004 Day After Arrival in Tillamook, Oregon
19 July 2004 Visit to Tillamook Cheese Factory, Tillamook, Oregon
20 July 2004 Remembering the Apollo 11 Landing on the Moon  Rambling Alert
25 July 2004 Been a Quiet Week.  Rambling Alert

12 July 2004 Lafayette, Oregon Stay Departure Summary

I departed Lafayette, Oregon and headed over to the coast today, 12 July (my birthday), and will spend the next month in Tillamook, Oregon. I am excited about being able to spend a nice comfortable (65°F to 75°F) July and August near the coast.

In addition to visiting the Spruce Goose this week I enjoyed the very temperate weather which was in the mid to high 70°F's. Spent a lot of time, morning and evening, under my porch reading. This week I read two Dr. Who Books. The first was Doctor Who and The Loch Ness Monster. The second was Doctor Who and The Three Doctors. I have about 30 Doctor Who stories on Video. When I lived in Scotland (1979 - 1981 and again from 1989 - 1991) I got hooked on Dr. Who which aired on the BBC. So when I stumbled on a bunch of Dr. Who books at The Readers Oasis in Quartzsite, Arizona. What a find! I got about 2 dozen of them for about a $1.00 a piece.

I had a slow work week toward the start of the week but by the weekend I had several projects to work on. Oh well it seems to be feast or famine. I know what to do when it is famine. I either play tourist or read a book. In other words: Take it easy!

While I was in Lafayette, Oregon I stayed at the Sleepy Hollow RV Park. Below are some pictures around the park.

This is the Sleepy Hollow RV Park sign as you would see it along Oregon 99W.


This is where I was parked for the two weeks I stayed at the Sleepy Hollow RV Park. The Sleepy Hollow RV Park is a Passport America member RV Park.


Across the Oregon 99W road from Sleepy Hollow RV Park is the Lafayette School House Antique Mall and Rick's Antiques. Between the two, if you are and antiquer you will have plenty to look at here.

13 July 2004 Arrival in Tillamook, Oregon

Made the 90 mile trip from Lafayette to Tillamook, Oregon yesterday. I am near the coast so my goal of staying cool in the summer is, and will be, realized. When I left Lafayette, Oregon, near McMinnville yesterday, the high got up to 90°F. While the high here was a very comfortable 68°F. Life just doesn't get much better!


19 July 2004 Visit to Tillamook Cheese Factory, Tillamook, Oregon

Went on a visit to Tillamook Cheese Factory today. Nice little self guided tour. You are able to view into the cheese making room and the packaging line from an overhead observation room (see pictures below).

They have a very nice gift shop with lots of Oregon made products like Jerky and Jams and Jellies. Of course they have the usual T-Shirts and mugs and stuff. They also have an Ice Cream bar and Coffee shop for refreshments.

I had a good time and if you are driving along US 101 and pass through Tillamook, don't pass by the Tillamook Cheese Factory without stopping. It will make a good break from your travels.

Below are some pictures I took of the Tillamook Cheese Factory.


This picture is of the front of the Tillamook Cheese Factory.


My Truck in front of the Tillamook Cheese Factory.


Observation room for the Tillamook Cheese Factory packaging line.


Tillamook Cheese Factory packaging line.


Tillamook Cheese Factory cheese making room.

20 July 2004 Remembering the Apollo 11 Landing on the Moon  Rambling Alert

First let me be absolutely honest with you. I am one of the few people who was an adult at the time of the moon landing who doesn't remember where they were on 20 July 1969! Since I am such a Space Flight fan I can account for this lack of memory only one way. I was stationed aboard the USS Providence CLG-6 at the time. We must of been at sea during the landing. We had no satellite TV onboard in those days. Which is how I watched the first Gulf War in 1991 aboard the USS Simon Lake AS-33. I, of course was aware over the years that it had happened, but no intense memory about where I was like I do with when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. I was in History class during my Jr. year at Lindsay High School, Lindsay, California. I remember the announcement of him being shot coming over the PA system. Then us being let out of school early that day.

The lack of memory about the actual landing does not take away the since of pride I have in our country for that accomplishment. It was one of the most important events in the history of man. My only regret is we haven't been back in over 30 years. Hopefully, that will all change in the near future.


25 July 2004Been a Quiet Week.  Rambling Alert

Things are starting to settle into a routine. I guess as an old Navy man I feel somewhat comfortable with some routine. It almost sounds like an oxymoron considering the lifestyle I now live. Never more than a few weeks here or a few weeks there. Not sure where the next "there" will be until a day or two before. But even within the "Non-Routine" life I live I have managed to establish a daily routine of sorts.

My day starts out with me awaking, usually around 7:00 AM then after a little grooming I check my email and address any of those requiring action. Then after breakfast I set outside with the morning paper and a recent issue of the Navy Times an or a computer magazine. While reading I will have the radio running in the background. Since being in Tillamook I have been very glad that I got myself a Sirius Satellite Radio. I have my favorite stations keyed in and depending on my mood I will listen to Talk Radio, Fox News, 50/60's Golden Music, or Old Time Radio (OTR).

During the current political season I have grown tired of Talk Radio and done more listening to the 50/60's Golden Music or even more so the Old Time Radio Shows.

Anyway, after coffee I get to work and do what ever needs to be done. Then in the afternoon after lunch I get back to work for a few hours then I go outside again for an hour or so and read for a while. I am currently reading "Atlantis End Game" by Andre Norton and Sherwood Smith. It's the latest of Ross Murdock "Time War" series. The series began back in 1958 with The Time Traders. More thoughts about Andre Norton later.

After my afternoon break I spend a little more time with projects then relax and watch some TV. Mostly pre-recorded stuff. I have thousands of old TV series and classic movies on DVD. As an example last night I watched 3 episodes of the TV classic "I Married Joan" which starred Joan Davis and Jim Backus, best known as Thurston Howell III in "Gilligan's Island" and as the voice of the cartoon character Mr Magoo. Or it might be "You Bet Your Life" with Graucho Marx, "The Jack Benny Show," or "The Burns and Allen Show." I think you get the idea.

Then around 8:00 PM or so I go back outside and read some more and listen to some Classic 50/60's music. Around 9:30 or 10:00 I turn in. And yes you guessed it. I go to sleep listening to Old Time Radio Shows. Last night it was "The Shadow" and the BBC Radio Show "Journey Into Space." This one is probably the best radio series (in serial format) ever made. At least in the Science Fiction genre.

Well that is how a typical day goes. To mix up my routine a bit from time to time I will take off and go spend the day at some tourist attraction. To see a list of major places I have seen or visited already go here. Or for a complete accounting of all the places I have visited read through this journal from the start of the adventure. Or if you are a gluten for punishment and want to read from the very beginning which includes about 6 months of preparations then you can start with the very first diary entry.

Oh one thing more while I am rambling. I did want to get back to Andre Norton. Her's is one of the first Science Fiction books I remember reading as a child. I haven't re-read it in at least 20 years (I'm probably due) but "Star Man's Son 2250 A.D.," which was written in 1952, is one of my favorite "After the End of the World" stories.

Ray Plumlee