With Geno (Louise’s nephew) coming to our aide by being our “General Handyman Contractor/Painter”, we started repairing and pretty-ing up the rental.  Now I must admit, I was TOTALLY surprised as to the mess our renters left us in, but as I’ve recently found out, maybe a messy divorce is or was the reason and we got caught in the middle.  Whatever it was, we’ve got Geno on the job… 

Now we’ve got one more item we’ve got to face…OUR 50^th !!! 

We decided that what we wanted to do was to gather the family together, grab the Hydrofoil to Victoria, BC. for 3 days of FEASTING, FUN and ADVENTURE !!! 

 After arriving Friday, all of us jumped onto one of those “tiny water taxis” and enjoyed a wonderful dinner celebrating our anniversary at a great restaurant alongside the bay in Victoria.  Then early the next morning we all boarded a van and headed up to Soot, BC. for an afternoon of “ZIP-LINING”.   Our 7 grandkids (hell, they’re not kids anymore 14-21) were the first to get all suited up and head for the practice run and then it was the BIG KIDS turn. 

                Daughters .. Joelle, Leslee, Louise, and Mikleane 

What I quickly found out, is that I’m not great at taking pictures while someone is flying by at tree top levels hanging by a small line, but I still tried.  What was impossible was taking a picture while I was on the line.  Fortunately there was a camera set up for a quick flyby and that’s how I got my picture taken while doing some acrobatics… 

We continued our drive east by going into Twisp for lunch and a walk along the wooden sidewalks.  Even for a weekday in eastern Washington, the town was busy as heck so we continued our drive east with our guest (Louise's mother) riding shotgun on WA-20 looking for a nights stay at the Elks in Omak.  As we pulled up to the Elks we saw that their camping area was full of vehicles, but we still continued inside to find out if they still had any camping available for us.  Well like so many of the Elks Lodges, they are feeling the down economy as much or more than any other business or club so they have opted to lease their parking lot out to the local DSHS.  It was a good idea for them but it left us out.  Fortunately the lady behind the counter at the Elks directed us to the City Park and Fairgrounds.  The Fairgrounds park was the best city owned park we’ve ever been into so we do thank the Elks for their direction.  First thing the next morning we continued on WA-20 and our next destination…Chewelah and a nights stay with Dave and Carol.  Dave and Carol are such great hosts and it’s always difficult to leave after only a night or two.  We’ve got to find time to stay longer. 

A very good friend of ours just received some bad news, so we continued on to Coeur d’Alene to spend a little time with him before heading back to Seattle to receive our rental house back from our long term renters. 

We really had a great time in Darrington and a whole new appreciation for Bluegrass music, but we had to move on or they would have locked the gate on us as the last performer left…  Bonnie and Doug continued back to their home to “MOW THE LAWN” and Louise and I decided to take a journey over a pass that we hadn’t been over for quite a few years…The North Cascades Highway.  This is one of those passes that will be closed most of the winter because of heavy snow fall and a very difficult roadway to keep clear, but when it’s open...amazing beauty at every turn.  It was time for us to see that beauty again and maybe get in a little kayaking as well.  We lucked out and found a campsite at one of the two National Park campgrounds and had double luck by getting a site right on the banks of Lake Diablo.  Within the first hour we were there we had the kayak in the water

and headed out into a breezy lake.  It didn’t slow us down too much, but we did stay close to the shoreline.  We got an early start in the morning and headed out for a hike

 along one of the rivers and then up to a lookout above the lake. 

 Wanting to get another paddle in, we headed back and were in the water paddling into the middle of the lake to see the views that were unavailable to us the night before. 

While Louise and I were in Mexico, at the La Penita campground this last winter, we became friends of George and Liz.  Well Liz plays a mean mandolin and played some wonderful bluegrass music for us every Tuesday night in one of La Penita’s establishments.  As it became time for George and Liz to head back to British Columbia, Liz told us about some of the “Music Festivals” she would be playing in during the summer.  One of these was going to be in Darrington, Washington.  It just so happened that we were visiting with Bonnie and Doug up in Mount Vernon.  Mount Vernon is within an hour’s drive from Darrington and when you are foot-loose and looking for something different to do, it’s easy to get Doug and Bonnie excited and ready to head out for a weekend of camping and enjoying a Bluegrass concert.  We pulled into the festival grounds early afternoon on Friday and were just blown away by how many campers that were already there.  From the roadway in front, you could only see a couple of dozen rv’s, but once you got in, you found someone camping under and around every tree and open space in the 100 acre park.  Not only were they camped there, but just about everyone was either passing a bow over a fiddle or bass,

 strumming a mandolin or guitar, or singing out some incredible bluegrass music.  With the setting for this festival

sitting at the base of “White Horse Mountain” and a full weekend of amazing music, we were bummed that Liz wasn’t able to make it… 

One of the camping locations that we really enjoy going back to is on the banks of the Yakima River that runs through the Yakima River Valley.  So after spending a couple of weeks at the Yakima Elks

(which is a great site to pull the coach into…) and enjoying Leslee’s family (Lena, Vinny, and Leslee) we went down to the river for another week.  This is BLM land so our expenses topped out at $10 a night.  On the second day, we drove off to see a waterfall that we read about last year in National Geographic.  Palouse Falls is a waterfall that drops 183 feet and came to our attention when a kayaker decided to take the plunge off the top for a “World Record” and came out of the water wet and suffering a broken PADDLE.  Well that lasted a whole 2 weeks…  It seems that his record was broken twice in a month, with the standing record somewhere about 200+ feet.  Well for those that haven’t had the pleasure of visiting “The Palouse” in the state of Washington, I should mention that most of it is land that is farmed on rolling hills that not too many years ago was nothing but sagebrush and rattlesnakes.  The falls have been cut through solid rock over many centuries and seem to have come out of no-where coming from a small creek

that soon flows into the Columbia River some miles downstream.  After spending about 1 ½ hours at the top of the falls, and a short hike, we continue our drive.  We stopped off a very small town called Starbuck for a great lunch.  The restaurant was one of those little “Mom and Pop” places, but this Mom and Pop want to sell out and retire.  7 days a week, 12 hours a day is getting “too much” for them so all we could do was wish them all the luck in finding a buyer for this out of the way eatery and continue on our way.  Well with seeing and enjoying the Palouse Falls and having a great lunch at Mom and Pop’s, I saw one more thing that excited me…(although I didn’t get a picture of them), I saw my very first “Longhorn” steer.  These horns were so HUGE that it was hard to imagine that they were real, but real they were.  Next time I will have my camera. 

One of the more important reasons to come back up to the great Northwest is to celebrate TWO High School graduations with two of our grandkids (hell their not “kids” any more but are wonderful young Adults…).  The first celebration took place with Randy, who graduated from St. Maries, Idaho.  We drove down to St. Maries from Coeur d’Alene with Joelle and Amy.  This was the second graduation from St. Maries that we’ve attended and we really enjoyed having the chance to be with Randy for this great accomplishment in his life.  As fast as this one came up, we had to leave and head west to Yakima.  We had another graduation to attend, and that was for Lena.  This is an amazing time in our (Louise and me) lives …Graduating grandkids.  I must admit, Lena was the most beautiful of the two graduating…sorry Randy.  Then it was back to Coeur d’Alene, turn around and head back to Yakima…all of this was for the graduation parties, and parties they were !!! 

We all had a great time although it flew by too quickly. 

Well I’ve got some catching up to do…

We drove the Minnie back up to Portland to pick up our “Toad” and thank Ricardo and Susie for taking such good care of it while we were in Mexico.  More importantly we wanted to stop and visit with them and hear all about their winter.  Then it was on to Seattle to pick up our Endeavor from the storage yard and set up our doctor appointments.  With living in the Minnie for 6+ months and enjoying it, it was even more enjoyable to move back into the Endeavor…now we’ve got to see the Minnie.  Well all it took was listing it with Craigslist and waiting for the phone to ring.  5 hours later we were meeting with a couple, a short drive, and we were congratulating the “new owners” for their fine choice of a new motor home for themselves and their two young daughters. 

12 October ‘09

Well it’s all began again….”We’re On The Road” !!!!  Now let’s catch up a little for the last few weeks.  Louise and I drove over to Ellensburg to bring back our “Winnie Minnie”

2 weeks ago, I drove the coach and Louise followed with the Grand Vitara.  This was really the first time that I had the Minnie out on the road and up to speed, it went very well for the 2 hour trip.  Then it was getting it ready for the “long haul”…  In between working on the Minnie and the Endeavor (getting it ready for winter storage), we went to a number of family events as well.  One weekend Joelle and Amy came over from Coeur d’Alene and became the first to stay a couple of nights in the Minnie.  On that Saturday, we took the day and went down to Issaquah and took in “The Issaquah Salmon Days”, a large celebration that welcomes the salmon back to the hatchery each year.  The small river is packed fin to fin with these large fish that have fought hard to get all the way back “home”.  Lena also drove over to see us and to visit with her cousin Amy. 

 She drove from Yakima for a short visit at Salmon Days and then went on to a meeting for her Yakima High Drill Team.   One demonstration that I’ve never witnessed at Salmon Days, was a young Moroccan man doing some very impressive wood carving. 

He was using a stick with a string to turn a piece of wood while he used a couple of “toes” and his hand to finish the lathe work…pretty interesting.   

Leslee drove over a few days later to wish us happy travels and deliver some of the most fantastic apple pies…I can still taste every bite…mmmm good !!!  Finally, we got what we thought we would want to transfer from the Endeavor to the Minnie, it took a while but we did it.  Now to “winterize” the Endeavor and move it into storage.  Winterizing was a little easier than I thought it might be, cross your fingers for me that I did it all right and we have no surprises when we get back this next May.  We chose a 45 foot covered storage area in Snohomish thinking that with the length we might be able to store the Grand Vitara there as well…well it didn’t work, we were about 6 feet too short.  We couldn’t waste any more time looking for another spot so we took our good friends Ricardo and Suzie up on their offer…we would drive the car and the Minnie down to Portland and leave the car there for the time we’re away.  Anyway, we might need the car for a day or two while we were having some work done on the coach.  We stopped off to see Mikleane, Ric, Drew, and Louise for coffee and muffins, and then drove out to have lunch with Ben and Shirley at Lake Martin before heading down I-5 to Portland.  We pulled into Ricardo and Suzie’s place just after 6 and were all set up prior to dark.  9am the next morning and Louise and I were at Camping World ready to have the Minnie serviced with an oil change and furnace cleaning/check-up.  Then it was off to a tire shop for new tires and shocks.  Before you know it and it’s almost bed time and I’m sitting here at the table and rushing through this so that I can get to bed.  It’s going to be up early and on the road heading south be for you know it, “night all”. 

26 September

We’re back…back at Tall Chief in Fall City.  We’re here so that Louise can have her surgery.  She went in at 8 yesterday morning and at 5 we were heading home.  Louise had a small brown spot on the side of her nose when she walked in to see her dermatologist…”what’s that on your nose?”.  A little blade comes out, a sample is taken, and a diagnosis was made…carcinoma.  Appointment is made for a Mohs with one doctor and a closure with another and at a different hospital.  Fortunately with the Mohs, each little slice is analyzed to see if there is any cancer left after.  If there is, a second or third or even more samples are taken until the cancer no-longer shows.  Well for Lou, it took two sessions and she was clean of those cancer cells.  It still took quite a bit from her nose but the doctors did a great job…now with a black eye and nose, a little swelling around both and enough stitches to sew up a dress shirt, she’s looking good !!!   On Tuesday we go back and have the stitches removed and before you know it, she’s back to normal…looking that is… 

22 September ‘09

After having a great time on the Skykomish, we decided to head across the mountains and camp beside the Yakima River.  We have driven through this great canyon many times but have never taken the time to stop and enjoy it.  There are 3 or 4 BLM properties throughout the 30 miles of the Yakima Canyon that you can camp at and, as of the 15^th of September, it’s free camping for up to 2 weeks.  Well we didn’t have the time to stay the 2 weeks, but we sure enjoyed the week we were there.  Bonnie and Doug drove their camper down from Mount Vernon for a couple of days.  We enjoyed kayaking the river and just hanging out and thanking God for the great weather.  One morning the four of us drove out highway 410 to hike into Boulder Cave. 

Boulder Cave was made by water running across and finally through, basalt rock and making this cave that runs about 100 yards.  Its home to the “Big Eared” Bats which unfortunately we couldn’t see because of the blackness of the cave, but we were told they were around.  Leslee, Lena, and Vinnie drove in from Yakima a few times and Lena and I got a chance to do a little paddling one afternoon.  We were able to float the river about 8 miles through some beautiful areas filled with a lot of wildlife.  On one float, Bonnie and Doug saw a doe with an albino fawn, a herd of mountain sheep, and a lot of waterfowl over the 8 miles.  After everyone went their way, Louise and I took a hike through one of the many canyons.  From the first day we arrived in the canyon, we were told to watch for the “rattlers”, and on this hike we were hiking through some tall desert grasses that they can and do hide-out in. 

 I guess we were a little late in the rattler season as we didn’t come across any.  We did see a couple of young ram with their curled horns,

a large herd of mountain sheep,

and a beaver dam with a large tree toppled beside it. 

 Finally taking the time to stop in the canyon paid us lots of great moments and we will stop again.  We’ve been searching high and low for a good class “C” motor home that we could use on for our trip through Mexico this winter, and while at Leslee’s I checked Craigslist one more time and found one that “just might work”.  First thing the next morning, we pulled out of the canyon and headed to Ellensburg.  The motor home we called on was located on a farm just outside of Ellensburg, and seeing as how “the good ones” don’t last, we wanted to be there early.  Well sure as heck, it was nice, but a little longer than we were looking for but nice.  A little bit later and we were the proud owners of another motor home. 

 Our plans are to put the Endeavor into storage for a few months and take the 27’ Mini-Winnie through Mexico.  Following our stop in Ellensburg we headed west up I-90 and stopped off for a couple of nights at Lake Easton.  From there we took the toad out and drove down to Cle Elum and then up to Roslyn

and onto Salmon Le Sac.  After riding around the reservoir and getting back to Roslyn, the town that was built by coal,

 just after noon, we opted to have lunch at “The Brick” Saloon.  The Brick is the oldest continuously operating saloon in the state of Washington.  The bar was shipped around Cape Horn from England to Portland over 100 years ago. 

The building was built in 1889 of bricks that were made in Roslyn and the chairs and tables were purchased from Sears and Roebuck just after the turn of the century. 

18 September ‘09

We’ve been busy over the last 2 weeks.  After leaving Anacortes we drove up to Monroe and stayed at the Thunderbird Resort.  Fortunately we were able to stay a week with only partial hook-ups, as they had a great place for us on the banks of the Skykomish River and open up a chance to do a little kayaking right from the coach. 

Another advantage of staying at the resort and on the banks of the river was to watch the 3^rd largest run of “Pink’s” finding their way deep into the rivers for their last time.  One morning after going in Monroe for the farmers market, we stopped by a roadside stand selling “fresh wild salmon”, we bought one for dinner…it was so good we went back 2 days later and bought another one.  Ric brought Drew over one morning so that the 4 of us could kayak the Skykomish from Sultan down to Monroe.  The water was running fast, and we were able to find our way pretty easily around the shallows and into some pretty good rapids.  This run was the “wettest” run we’ve ever had but it was also one of the most exciting as far a surf and speed.  We did the 12 miles in just over 2 hours…pretty fast for us….  The next day we did it again, but this time Lil Louise joined us. 

 Again, the salmon were jumping everywhere and the banks of the river were lined with fishermen/women and all were limiting out in a short time.  Just about half way down the run a salmon came to the top of the water and headed straight for Drew’s kayak.  It rammed into the side of it twice before diving under it and heading straight for my kayak.  Ric was in the front of the kayak, and as the salmon got closer he put his paddle down at the same time as I put my hand into the water just in front of the charging fish. I don’t know what this salmon was thinking but with a short scoop of water from my hand and Ric’s paddle we had a 5 pound salmon in the kayak and on my lap. I don’t know where the camera was, so you’re just going to have to take my word for it…oh ya, it fought so hard and was so damn slippery that it did slide out of my hands and made it out the other side.  On Saturday I joined Doug in Darrington for a bike ride. 

We had signed up for a 29 mile “Fun Ride” that would take us through Darrington and up into the foothills of the Cascades.  We had a great ride and I can prove it…my butt is suffering.  While Doug and I were out biking, Louise, Bonnie, Mike, Whit, and Mattie took in the sights and found some interesting things in the forests around Darrington. 

 On the way back to the coach a very unfortunate thing happened, a bolt holding my bike rack to the car broke and let the rack and the bike fall to a quick death (of my month old bike).  Hell it was a tangled mess so I just threw it off the road for the night thanking the good Lord that nobody following got hurt.  Well I did go back and here is what I've got...

4 September ‘09

We’ve moved up to Northern Lights RV Resort, which is just east of Anacortes, and at the back of the Northern Lights Casino…yes, I said “Casino”.  For those that know Louise, this shouldn’t be much of a surprise, and the word is out that she’s enjoying all the gaming she can get.  Well the truth is, we have only been inside the casino 3 or 4 times in the last week and the “one arm BANDITS” are letting us stay about even.  Doug came up the first afternoon to join us for dinner.   Bonnie had a chance to join a friend in Paris for a week so Doug was looking for an excuse to get out.  Doug and I made a date for next Thursday to do a little bike riding on our “new” wheels. 

On Wednesday Louise and I were told about this great view area on top of Mt. Erie so we had to check it out.  Once we reached the base of Mt. Erie we found the first trail head and stopped to see just how much it would take to hike to the top.  Studying the chart as best as we could, we opted to continue our journey to the top by driving…  On the road to the top, we quickly realized our decision was the right decision.  It wasn’t that it was a long hike but it was the fact that it was STRAIGHT UP. It turned out to be a great suggestion and a wonderful place to visit and see the outstanding water and territorial views of the surrounding area. 

 From one of the viewpoints we were able to overlook the two large refineries for the area.  Another was to see some close by lakes and the beginning of the San Juan Islands.  With our need for a little snack, we headed back down the mountain and stopped by this quaint little “mini-store”. 

 Inside we met “Don and Gerry” the owner's/cashier/stockman/etc…  Don and Gerry have had this store for over 40 years and seem to have enjoyed every year of the 40.  We found Don to be quite a character and if pressed, has plenty of interesting stories to tell.  After taking our sandwiches, chips, and drinks down to the shore of Lake Erie and enjoying a great beach side picnic, we headed over to Rosario Beach, which is just around the corner from Deception Pass.  As you approach the final tree line prior to the beach, you come across the carving of "The Maiden Of Deception Pass" (the photo at top of the page).       There is a wonderful story about this carving and I wish you would go to  http://www.stonebard.com/maiden_of_deception_pass.htm   and enjoy the story.  Now it's time to turn north and head into Anacortes. 

Doug did bring his bike by and we did take a ride.  This is the longest ride that I've taken for a looooonnnnnnggggg time.  We only covered 12 miles but that was a good 10 miles further than I've done in "too many years".  We'll do that again and I WILL get more mileage in the future, I promise. 

1 September ‘09

After leaving Coeur d’Alene we headed over to Yakima.  Unfortunately for us, but fortunately for our grandkids Lena and Vinnie, they were away on a camping adventure with their dad.  We did have a great visit and dinner with Leslee and the chance to drop off my old bike for Vinnie.  Not being able to park the coach in Leslee’s neighborhood, we pulled into a large parking area next to a major grocery store.  As we were pulling into the parking lot, we had to go under a large group of balloons that were swaying in the wind.  Wellll, we snagged one end and took them with us.  Either fortunately or un-fortunately, we had set a large group free and we had a smaller group of 8 still tied tight to one of our radio antennas. 

  Leaving Yakima, we decided to drive Highway 410 to the Seattle area.  This route takes us around the eastern side of Mount Rainier, and at this time of year it’s just an amazing drive. 

Clear blue skies, rivers running slowly beside the roadway calling for us for a stop for a picnic, hiking trails heading out like a spider web around the base of the foothills, and a couple of small lakes that reflect the magnificent glaciers of Rainier. 

 3 hours later and we were settling in for our 2 week stay at the Tall Chief Resort. 

Louise had her visit with her doctor and it was decided that she will be going in for a Mohs procedure on the 24^th of September.  The Mohs is a procedure that “shaves” a small sample of skin that will be analyzed to see if they have all the bad cells before having to take more.  Let’s hope and pray that it is a short and sweet sample…

I had a chance to kayak the Snoqualmie River with Ric and Drew again.  This time we paddled down river from Fall City for a couple of hours and ended up just south of Carnation.  Now all we have to do is get back out there and complete the rest of that river… 

Last week I did go shopping again and found myself coming back with a new bicycle.  Now I have no excuses…anyone want to go for a “Peddle”?  Hell between “Paddling and Peddling”, you would think I would be pretty busy.

Louise and I drove into Seattle the other day to see if we could easily get into Lake Union for a day of kayaking and to make it over to Gas Works Park to see a Paper-Mache sculpture called “From Egg to …”.  

Well when we finished enjoying the sculpture and the park we found the winds had come up too much for us to enjoy a leisure paddle, so we opted to head over to the Fremont district for lunch. 

In late 1944, my dad purchased a Richfield “service station” in Fremont (a neighborhood that is just 2 miles north of the downtown Seattle).  I remember spending a lot of my early childhood days down there learning how to get my hands greasy…  In 1962 dad and mom built a new station and set everything in motion for me to join them for a few years.  Today things at the “station” have changed dramatically…  First off, someone, somehow, purchased “the” bronze statue of Stalin and repositioned it on the corner of the stations property. 

Second, the office and the lube bays have become fast-food restaurants…anyone want a taco??? 

Well we also had another reason for celebration…on the 20^th of August we celebrated our 49^th Wedding anniversary with a wonderful dinner at Salty’s.  Salty’s is located across the bay from Seattle and affords a wonderful view of one of the best skylines we’ve encountered in our travels (this may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but true…). 

14 August ‘09

Friday

Once you get away from writing it is REALLY hard to get back to it.  I’ve felt so guilty and I’ve been beating myself up, but it still didn’t get done.  I’ve heard from friends and family asking “what the heck, are you “quitting”?.  Hell, I couldn’t quit if I wanted to.  The only problem tonight is, I’m watching the Neil Diamond New York concert on TV and it’s tough to write when such a great concert is on.  On the other hand, I should find this the perfect time to write as Louise, Joelle, and Amy went down to the Coeur d’Alene Casino to win the BIG jackpot for us. 

Well the catch up is this…Louise had the surgery on her throat and they took out a cyst about the size of a large marble…all is well and healing fine.  We “house/Smokey the bunny”

 sat for Mikleane and family while they enjoyed their European cruise.  On the 4^th of July, we drove up to Mt. Vernon and enjoyed a day with Doug and Bonnie Rohrer.  We picnicked on Lake Padden, just south of Bellingham.  The lake is beautiful, the crowds were light, and the water was inviting us to do a little kayaking…so we did. 

A week later, Louise and I drove up to Mt. Vernon again and spent the weekend at the Rohrers.  On Sunday all of us drove up to Bellingham for a great dinner on the deck, a few games of Bocce Ball, and great conversation with the Pearce family before driving back to Woodinville. 

After Mikleane, Ric, and the kids got back from their cruise, Ric, Drew, and I drove up to Rattlesnake Lake and spent a great morning paddling around the submerged logs and stumps that make up the far end of the lake. 

 After a couple of hours there, we drove down to the Snoqualmie River and put in just below falls.  The weather in the “Seattle” area was breaking records all over the place with temperatures running as high as 109, and this day of kayaking was going to be close to another by the time we walked off the beach.  The heat must have gotten to Ric as he decided to buy one of my kayaks… now I’ve got another kayaker to hit the water with. 

Louise has wanted to drive over to Manson, on Lake Chelan,

to see her mother and sister, so last week we packed up the coach and off we went.  We normally have parked at the Chelan Casino while there, but this time we were looking for another location that might afford us electrical power to run our air conditioners…it was going to be HOT !!!  Looking for a campground that had a spot for us was not to be, but luckily the church that Sue, Dean, and Lois

attend has about 8 water and electric hook-ups for use by their congregation/friends/family while there in the area.  It couldn’t have been better. 

Now it time to head over to Spokane for John and Jennifer’s wedding.

  Just outside of Moses Lake, we stopped by one of the rest stops on I-90.  We happened to pull alongside of a small class “C” motor home that looked like it had been totally devoid of all interior niceties. 

 Across the drive and under the trees, I noticed a group of 8 young adults entertaining some of those that stopped at this rest area.  All I could see immediately was a juggler and a violinist. 

That was until they finished up and headed back to their van.  I was still sitting in the driver’s seat when they walked by so I opened up the side window and started a conversation with them.  They are on their way back to South Carolina from Vancouver, Canada and are trying to make money from tips at any and all rest stops in-between through their performances.  They offered a “Special” performance for us that we could chose from a list located on piece of cardboard.  I looked into my wallet and all I happened to have was a twenty dollar bill…well, they are a bunch of kids with a need…M-O-N-E-Y…  They told me we had just bought the whole list.  We followed them back across the parking lot, found a seat on the grass, and got the “Whole Thing”…  They were very good entertainers and we thoroughly enjoyed their talents of juggling, dancing, acrobatics,

 violin soloist,

and a specialist with a stack of “hula hoop” while eating our lunch sitting on the grass in the parking lot of a rest stop along I-90.  Hell, are we having fun yet????

17 June ‘09

Wednesday

Last Sunday we moved over to Lake Sawyer RV Resort at Black Diamond.  This is our first time here and we’re really pleased with what we found.  The only negative is most of the RV’s are parked right on top of the other.  I mean, if you put your awning out, you’re sure to touch the coach next to you.  Now I said most of the sites, the one that we’re parked in has pretty good room on both sides. 

The negative is the front of our coach is looking directly into the front-side windows of the coach next to us because of the angle in which we’re parked.

OK, enough of the negative…  The clubhouse, the rec-room, and the large deck all overlooking the beautiful Lake Sawyer make up what this “Resort” is all about…fun and relaxation at its best.  About 50 yards off the beach are two little islands.  Located on each of them are a couple of small beach cabins that are so “adorable” that they’re almost un-real.  With the great weather we’ve been having lately (29 consecutive days of sun and 75+ degrees), we couldn’t wait to paddle our way through and around the lake. 

It did take us 2 days to completely circumnavigate the lake, but in doing it we didn’t leave anything unseen.  We even had an Osprey take a fish just off our “port side”…pretty cool. 

Today we went over to Flaming Geyser State Park… 

 We haven’t been there for over 40 years.  They say that you can “never go back” to see and enjoy the same things you enjoyed the first time…well that ran true for Flaming Geyser Park.  The drive through the park is still very pretty, but the “geyser” is disappointing to say the least.  It is so disappointing that I didn’t want to take a picture of it so as not to embarrass it (just kidding…). 

Another place that we hadn’t been to for a long time was Black Diamond.  In the mid 1800’s, Black “Gold” was found here and Black Diamond was born…it grew to the largest coal mining operation in the Northwest and brought with it a destination location for travelers to leave their homes in Seattle for "the country".  They would ride trains (up to 2 a day)

to visit this quaint little town, visit the famous Black Diamond Bakery, and then make their way down into the valley to see the “Flaming Geyser”.  We did find a great little restaurant that wasn’t there in 1800. 

The building fit well into the era of the 1800’s, but I don’t think they were able find and enjoy a good pizza then.  Well we did, and we highly recommend it to anyone that comes this way…a A+ for PIZZA and BEER.      

7 June ‘09

Sunday

When you live your life on “Wheels”, you have the right to change directions and revise your plans.  Well that’s just what we’ve done.  Our plans were to keep heading north and east, but we decided to make a left turn and head west to Seattle.  I would imagine that others that “Full Time” have had to see a doctor or two while on the road.  Well, that’s what we’ve had to do.  The problem was we could never find the “solution”.  It finally came down to the fact that for us to feel comfortable we should see “our” doctors in Seattle. 

Putting the cruise control at 57 we drove I-90 most of the way.  We’ve never driven more than 350 miles in one day but on this trip we found our 2^nd day doing 534.  It wasn’t that I wanted to push it that far, it just was an easy drive and we had a tail wind the whole day.  The first 3 nights were spent in Wal-Mart parking lots and then a campground in Bozeman before a couple nights in Coeur d’Alene.  We did take a couple of hours to visit Livingston, Montana…I really don’t know why we pulled off the highway, but we did.  I guess it was because we’ve passed it by many times and it just “called”.  We were both wonderfully surprised by Livingston, the architecture, the people, and MONTANA…  Just walking the streets of the town,

checking out the little businesses, the old buildings with wonderful styling, and finding a “brewery”.  Yep, we found Neptune’s Brewery.  It was small in stature and confined in an old house, but it had everything going for it.  Louise and I both enjoy a good IPA and they had one.  The two guys that owned and ran the brewery made us feel right at home.  Besides having great beer, they also have a very interesting food menu from which we ordered an appetizer of Pork Wasabi Balls with Blue Chips to go with our IPA’s. 

Our stop in Coeur d’Alene was routine. As always, our choice for campground was River Walk RV Park, early morning breakfast and lunch at Franklin’s Hoagies, a visit with Larry and Pauline, and spend as much time as we can with Joelle, Amy, Trevor, and Randy.

On Sunday we packed up and moved to Spokane.  Louise’s mother Lois was spending her 93^rd birthday

with family in Spokane and we wanted to join in, so we parked the coach in John’s driveway and chatted the day/night through. 

Late Monday afternoon we arrived at our campground in Fall City. 

 Tall Chief is our “home” campground with the Western Horizon group that we joined in early 2006.  We’ll be here for at least 5 weeks before we move on. 

Saturday, we joined some more of Lou’s family

at Lake Sammamish for the annual “Racin & Tastin” calibration.  This is where the city of Issaquah puts on a day of boat racing with a wide range of food concessions (and a couple of beer tents).  The boats range from jet skis to the unlimited hydroplanes.  

 Mark (one of Lou's Brothers) and Susan are part owners of one of the Unlimited Hydros.  They put on one heck of a deminstration for the crowd with their jet powered hydro.  Even with the short course, they ran reallllllyyyyy fffaaasssssttttt.....

Most of the jet skis were sponsored by the factories and the hydroplanes were those that you see racing around the country.  We had a great day, got a little wet, ate and drank a little, and were ready to call it quits when the last checked flag was flown. 

Did I Just See A Ghost ???

1 November ‘08

Saturday

The last couple of weeks have been quite busy…Louise, Joelle, and I took a Mexican cooking class.  Peg and Bruce joined us while Lynn and Frank took the lead and did all the instructing.  They had a pretty good sized class (45) and the selection of food…outstanding.  Now did I learn something???  Well, I did learn that I had better be ready to get in the tasting line faster…(just kidding)  They taught us some great recipes that I truly hope to use before long.  We also celebrated Joelle and Trevor’s birthdays.  The weather held out for us long enough for Peggy and Bruce to join us for a day kayaking.

  We went to the far end of Lake Coeur d’Alene and entered into Lake Chatolat.  This is a lake within a lake which has a lot of open water but more importantly, lots of tall grass to paddle through.

  We have now left the “Panhandle” of Idaho, heading west over the Columbia River

and onto Yakima and spent a night with Leslee, Lena, and Vinny in again.  After spending the night in a grocery store parking lot, we took the Yakima River Valley road to Ellensburg.  That’s where we unhooked the toad for Louise.  She wanted to spend a couple of days with her mother and sister in Manson (Lake Chelan) so this was a good location to head north and then meet me at Fall City (Seattle) later.  This would give her a little visit before we take off on our trip down south and then onto the east coast.  Our time here at Tall Chief (our Western Horizon campground) is showing us a little Fall color. 

The weather is starting to turn pretty fast so we had better get ready for it.  Tomorrow we will be traveling down I-5 with our first stop in Gresham (Portland) to see Ricardo and Suzie.  Ricardo has been doing an incredible job of losing weight and Suzie, she’s working hard at giving up smoking…we’re proud of both of them.  Our next stop is a little further down I-5.  Junction City is the location of AM Solar, were we have an appointment to have new solar system installed. 

Leaving Lincoln behind, we headed off to Chewelah, Washington and an all too short of a visit with Dave and Carol Hawkins.  Our route took us along the shores of Banks Lake from Lincoln north to Cedonia and then across to Chewelah.  With our GPS, we easily found our way to the Chewelah Golf and Country Club and the front porch of Dave and Carol’s home.  Again, like Karl and Nicki’s home, Dave and Carol have found a beautiful place to call home,

and they made us feel so absolutely comfortable.  As you walk through the “Great Room” and out to the large covered deck, you could be lucky enough to be watching a world class golf match taking place in front of you.  Carol had been working hard over the last few weeks in putting together a women’s golf tournament and here we come, guests on top of the big tournament tee off the next morning….  And then on top of all that, Dave out did himself by serving the best “Texas BBQ Brisket and Hominy” dinner we have ever had.  After dinner Dave took me out to see the course.  We jumped into his golf cart and hit the links.  I haven’t been on a lot of golf courses, but this one was really beautiful and in my opinion, must be one hell of a course to get a decent score on.  Early the next morning, Louise and I joined them at the club house for a quick breakfast, watched the “shotgun” start and pulled out for our next destination…Farragut State Park in northern Idaho.

Heading northeast from Soap Lake, our next destination was to visit our close friends and “old neighbors” (from 1965-1971) along the shores of Lake Roosevelt in Lincoln.  Earlier in the year we had met Karl and Nicki in Parker, Arizona.  They have a “Winter” home at Lake Havasu and their home here at Lincoln. 

 Lincoln, with no commercial businesses except a small RV park, is a secret community that is laid back, out of the way, lakeside community.  If there is any draw-back, it is that they have sooo far to go for basic supplies, but other than that it is absolutely beautiful.  If you ever get to Lincoln you won’t have any problem knowing which home belongs to Karl and Nicki…just look for the greenest and largest perfectly mowed yard around…it is a piece of art. 

We had a wonderful time getting together with them again…talking hours and hours of the “ole days”, eating a wonderful dinner, and raiding and enjoying all the fruit and veggies from Karl’s garden. 

Our drive out of Yakima took us through some of the county’s largest “hop” fields…why the Yakima valley????  I have no idea but they hung high above us as we drove the secondary roads to our next destination, Soap Lake.  (Right now, I would love to have a picture of the hops but we didn’t take the time to stop and take…damn!)  This is the first time that we have been in a campground that was owned by Western Horizons (the membership only campground club that we bought into a couple of years ago) and then sold to a private ownership and changed into an “open camping” campground.  We still have full “membership” access for 2008, but beyond that we’re just another camper.  Oh well, we’ve had a second opportunity to search out the must see locations within 80 miles of the lake so I would say we’ve “been there”.  Taking a little time to hit one of the beaches here at Soap Lake, we found this couple taking advantage of the "special" mud from the bottom the lake.  

We were in Ephrata the other day and found out that they were having their annual “Ephrata Valley Music Festival”. 

The weather couldn’t have been better and our personal schedule (schedule, I don’t remember having a schedule…) would allow us to grab some “booth food” and settle down to watch and listen to some great jazz and rock for the next few hours.  As always when such a festival like this is going on, we went looking for the Farmers Market.  We couldn’t go home without having stopped.   On the way back to the campground, we came upon another "celebration".  It was the annual "Bikers of Soap Lake" event. 

That evening at the campground, we went out for a walk and soon found ourselves in conversation with a camper from Bellevue.  His family had taken the tour bus from the campground to the “Light Show at Grand Coulee Dam”.  He and his wife had immigrated to the US from India a number of years ago and now are raising their kids in Bellevue.  Louise and I found our brief conversation with Richard very interesting and asked him to join us for a glass of wine up at our coach while his family was away enjoying the light show.  Later Lou and I found ourselves invited to his “cabin” for dinner the next night.  The dinner was described to be a “typical Indian” dinner consisting of a spicy rice dish, chicken, beef ribs.  We had a wonderful evening.   The host and his extended family Richards wife, Minni, Margret (Richards mother), Joseph his father, cousin, and her daughter both visiting from India. 

All in all, after enjoying a great meal and wonderful conversations with some new friends, it made for an evening we won’t forget. 

14 July ‘08

Monday

Up early this morning to take the coach over to Aubrey’s RV to get a little work handled.  Fortunately the list of work to be preformed is short so let’s hope the bill reflects it.  In filling another part of our day, we have the laundry to thank… With Leslee at work and Lena and Vinny doing their things, we took over their air-conditioned house. 

This is the first time that we have ever traveled over Chinook Pass on our way to Yakima and we found it was well worth taking.  The pass takes us around the eastern side of Mount Rainier and offered us some of the most spectacular views on a perfect traveling day.  I don’t remember just how many stops we made to marvel at “The” mountain

and all the valleys surrounding it, but each stop was even better than the last. 

With the exception of last Wednesday, the weather here in Yakima has been fantastic…mid 80’s to low 90’s and cooler in the evenings.  Now all that is wonderful, but just after checking in at the campground, receiving our parking site AND directions as to how to get there, I headed out.  First of all, this campground is small and TIGHT…second, the streets to and from the sites are very tight…third, if you have to take a corner, you had better watch the swing of the tail of the coach AND any obstacle that might jump out and bite…yep, it did and I wasn’t a happy camper !!! 

The object that “jumped” out to get me was a small picnic table…right in the middle of the second bay door.   Two 2” round dents and a couple of small scratches.  It could have been worse, but at the time it was like a knife in the heart.

Yesterday, Leslee and Lena joined Louise and me on a kayaking adventure.  Close to the White Pass summit is Clear Lake, which is completely surrounded by beautiful mountains and tall trees.  It is fed from and feeds too the Natchez River, which then feeds to another larger lake below which again, continues to the Natchez through an earthen dam.  OK, all that said (written), we pulled out both kayaks and spent about 4 hours just having a great time

in a neat little campsite that we found down a very rough dirt (dusty) road (track).  It’s amazing how you work up a large appetite from all the fresh air, water, and a good paddle.  Fortunately we had a ton of chicken waiting at Leslee’s place all ready to hit the barbecue. 

24 June ‘08

Tuesday

The day after we arrived at our campground, and as I was setting up our internet and TV dish, I was approached by this guy that seemed to come out of “no-where”.  We had met Terry at a wedding about 12 years ago, and at that time he was a newlywed himself.  He and Linda (a long time good friend of ours) were at Linda’s son’s wedding.  Now, all of a sudden, we are parked right next door to them.  Even if it has been quite a few years since our last get together, we were able to enjoy each other’s company as if it were common for us to run into each other at every other campsite.

Another couple here in Seattle, that we always try to get together with, finally was free enough to come out to the coach for a little while.  While here, they took us out to a wonderful Tai lunch…How good is that????  Carl and Mario are some very special people in our lives and it is always good to get together with them.  They also invited us to their spectacular Seattle penthouse condo for the “4^th of July Spectacular”.  Where they live, they have an unobstructed view of the two largest fireworks displays in Seattle.  Fireworks or not, it is ALWAYS great to get together with them… 

First, what do you think of my photo of our "visitor" in the last posting???  Two of these beautiful Owls flew in together and one of them landed on the tree right next to our coach...lucky break.

19 June ‘08

Thursday

We called Bonnie and Doug last week to see what they had been up to in Mount Vernon, but when Doug answered the phone I found out that he was in Cabo San Jose.  Apparently he has found a way to take his “house phone” to Mexico and still receive the calls that are directed to their home here.  They are getting to the finishing touches on their new condo down there so he went back to make sure all goes well and make sure they don’t find any unwanted surprises when they go back this next winter.  I finally got a hold of Bon through her cell phone so we kind of invited ourselves up for a couple of days  It worked out great because Doug decided to fly home tonight as well.  About 9 we all headed out for Sea-Tac to save Doug from having to take a 3 hour bus ride home.  Friday we just kind of played it easy, enjoyed their beautiful yard,

had a spectular Salmon barbeque.

Saturday morning Doug and I took the kayak out for a paddle in Clear Lake.  Clear Lake is located just northeast of Mount Vernon, or about 5 miles from their home.  What a perfect day for a paddle and what a perfect lake to do it on…  Apparently Clear Lake was used as a staging area for the logging that was prevalent in this area many years ago.  On the shoreline, there was this large stone circular wall that stood about 6 feet high.  This was apparently used as the foundation for a wood smelter.  Then there were the hundreds (well maybe not hundreds, but a lot…) of log pilings in the lake.  I believe these were to hold the logs that were brought down from the heavily forested hills all around the lake…well that’s my guess anyway.   Saturday night we took in a movie.  Quite honesty I don’t remember the name of it, but it was about a young couple and a single man that were caught up in an illegal immigration bust…it was a great movie and a great subject for this time in our lives.     

16 July ‘08

Monday

Saturday night I (and Louise) was invited out to dinner to celebrate “Fathers Day”.  Mikleane is a bachelor-ette this week while the rest of the family is visiting Texas, so it was just the three of us.  I really enjoy the food at PJ Chang so when asked where I wanted to go…  Again, I wasn’t disappointed.  Sunday, Fathers Day, I started with the process of getting ready for Mondays colonoscopy so that’s why we enjoyed dinner on Saturday.  Early Sunday morning I took two little pills and just sat back and waited for nature to take action…all day long you’ve just got to stay close.  6am this morning I was up and started with my next step before going into the hospital later in the afternoon.  As all of you know that have had to drink the full bottle of Halflytely/Golytely, things really get going now. 

A fortunate distraction this morning is the play-off between Rocco Mediate and Tiger Woods.  With Tiger having the bad knee and not playing up to his “norm” and Rocco playing pretty well for his position in the world’s standings, it’s making a pretty interesting match. 

Well we’re back…  I can’t believe how easy that was.  We were asked to be there an hour early so I walked into the front desk at 2:45, checked in, immediately called back to visit with one of the nurses, answered a few questions, and was given my beautiful gowns…one for the front and one for the back.  About 10 minutes later my doctor walked to introduce herself, making me feel comfortable, and looking beautiful (a very good looking young lady).  I was then asked to follow her back to another room where I was asked to lie down on.  An IV was inserted into my hand and….  I was sleeping so hard when Louise told me it was time to head back home and we’ll make something for dinner.  Boy, that was something I would love to have available on some of those nights when I find it tough to get to sleep!!!

13 June ‘08

Friday

Well we’re through with one of the doctor’s appointments now and are ready to move onto the next.  Yesterday was just a follow-up for me and to start my Hep A shots.  For Louise it was to get her final shots for Hep A & B.  I had to feel sorry for her as the nurse that gave her the shots really did a number on her…”ouch, that hurts”…  The shot given to me was by my nurse and it was hardly felt and I’m one that really doesn’t like shots.  We were supposed to “fast” from 6 the night before but we forgot so we have to make another appointment for next week for our blood work-ups…nuts! 

Today we traveled into downtown Seattle to see our dermatologist.  I had a couple of spots frozen so that they will hopefully just drop off, and Louise had a couple that she had removed by knife…all are fine.  Tomorrow I’ll pick up all the material to start doing the program for my colonoscopy.  I’m looking for a volunteer to do it for me, but so far no one has stepped forward. 

The other day I was on-line looking to see what inverter other full-timers might suggest or have gone to after having a need to replace theirs.  It seems that the top two are just about split down the middle, so I made a “command decision” and ordered a 2000 watt MagnaSine pure sine inverter.  The product line is carried by John at Palmer Energy Systems, who just happens to be a full-timer.  I called him in Florida to order and he told me he would make sure that it was sent right out…I received a phone call from the main gate here at the campground this morning…”we’ve got two boxes up here and they are so big….”.  John wasn’t kidding he would get them right out, it was less than 9 hours.  What I didn’t know was that Magnum is manufactured right next door in Everett…surprise, surprise.  Now to get it installed.

5 June ‘08

Thursday

Back on the road again.   This afternoon we will be checking into our “home” campground.  We joined Western Horizon at Tall Chief RV Resort just 2 years ago and have found it to be one of the best “investments” we have made since.  I wished we had kept a journal of our nightly camping expenses.  I am sure we would have found our expenses more than double what we have paid though Western Horizon.  We have “dry camped” a little and know that the more we can do that the more we will be saving, and that’s one reason that we are getting ready to up-grade our inverter and add a couple more solar panels.  Well that’s getting a little ahead of myself.

One of the main reasons that we have in coming back to Seattle is that our Doctors are here and it’s time to set appointments again.  I’ve got a follow-up from the Hep-B episode and to start the Hep-A shots.  Along with that, I have to go through the colonoscopy exam I had to cancel last October….fun, fun, fun.

On the bright side we are able to spend time with some more of the family…Coeur d’Alene, Yakima, and now Woodinville. 

2 June ‘08

Monday

We both hate to leave Coeur d’Alene but today was our check out day.  One thing is for sure, CDA is still one of those places that will give you any and all of what you may be looking for while on vacation.  You just can’t miss while here.  Right now we are planning our return for August and giving a lot of thought of work-camping or a camp host position at Farragut State Park until the end of October. 

Unfortunately we have found that this spring has been one for the record books…for wet and cold!!!  We had a great time in CDA but we were hoping for a little more sun and warmth.  Well, we are heading now to spend a few days in Yakima and we sure would like to see a little more of that sun while there.  Leslee, Lena, and Vinny have “guaranteed us that we will find the hidden Garden of Eden were the sun shines 24/7.  The drive from CDA to Yakima was under broken skies and thank God, the wind was blowing with us all the way to Ellensburg.  At that point we took the road alongside the Yakima River and enjoyed the views and serenity through this long canyon.  One of these days we are going to get our kayak into the Yakima.  It has been one of our “must do’s” for some time and who knows, maybe this is the year.  Well right now we are going to make it into town, re-stock our grocery supplies, call Leslee and the kids and set up for dinner with everyone.  We also want to see if we can make an appointment with our favorite RV shop.  We want to have a fair amount of work done and we have total respect for this little company here in Yakima. 

21 October ‘07

Sunday

After having dinner and saying our goodbyes with our daughter and her family, the Chouinards Friday night, the day finally came…  We are finally back on our “journey”.  Saturday we checked out of the Tall Chief Campground and headed north to Marysville.  We had an appointment Freightliner to have the oil and filters changed and go through a 13 point chassis/engine/transmission check.  While the work was being done on the coach, we were invited to spend the night at the Rohrer’s.  We took in a great movie and had a late dinner before heading back to their home.  The movie was “Into The Wild”…we would highly recommend that you take a date, grab a bag of popcorn, a coke and watch a movie you will both love.  Sunday morning we picked up the coach and headed down Interstate 5 heading south.  We stopped in Vancouver Washington for our first night and to see if we could get together with Ricardo and Susie in Gresham.  Ricardo told us that he had just purchased some Chicken Parmesan from Costco and wanted us to join them for dinner.  Hell, it was just what the doctor had ordered…it was a great dinner with some great friends.  They will be heading to Cabo San Lucas on the 26^th of December for the season and it would be great to join them.  Unfortunately we’ve got to pass this year. 

11 October ‘07

Thursday

We spent Tuesday afternoon at the hospital so that Louise could have surgery on her neck.  She has had a growth that started to look pretty ugly, so we set up an appointment for her at the dermatologist to see just what she might have.  It turned out to be a basal-cell carcinoma.  Then on Wednesday I had my last appointment on this damn Hepatitis B virus before leaving the Seattle area. 

Well there was one more thing we did this week…we bought ourselves a new (used) motor home.  We’ve had a little too many problems with our Hurricane motor home so we decided to move on, and while we were doing so, we went from a gas unit to a diesel, and from 34 to 38 feet.  We did trade down in age, from 2006 to 2002 with 33,000 miles.  Our new home is a Holiday Rambler Endeavor that is much different from the Hurricane.  First it has 2 slides instead of 3 and it is 4 years older so it has a few years of “use” in it.  Yesterday we went to IKEA and bought some moveable shelves for which I made a large pantry.  It turned out really well.  Now we’ve got to continue stowing all the gear that we brought with us and making it fit even better than it was before. 

8 October ‘07

Monday

The first weekend of October has always brought to mind the fun and wonders we’ve enjoyed over the years at the “Issaquah Salmon Days”.  We were very lucky to have picked Saturday to go, as Sunday was pretty wet with all the rain.  Salmon Days is so named because of all the spanning Salmon coming up Issaquah Creek.  Along with the salmon the day is filled with a huge market selling hand made goods, paintings and pictures, tasty foods, and great music.  I would guess that there were over 300 different booths to visit not counting the food and music areas…it was as much fun as always !!! 

On Sunday Louise and I drove up to Snoqualmie Falls to see how much water was flowing over the rocks.  With all the rain that we’ve had over the last few weeks we weren’t surprised to see the huge flow that awaited us.  With the changing of the leaves, the coolness of the day, the spray flying up the rocks from the pool below, and the thunder that shakes the ground from the water hitting the bottom of the falls….my gawd what a sight and experience, it was awesome !!!

1 October ‘07

Monday

First off…HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOUISE !!!  I’m a little surprised that we are still here in the Seattle area to celebrate it, but at least we can celebrate it with family around.  I’ve had my last doctor’s appointment now.  The only thing that she wants from me now is another follow-up blood test at the end of November and I will have to fax the results to her then.  My “anti-bodies” are still down so that is why the test in November…let’s hope they get back up there by then.  Louise is still seeing her doctors too.  We both saw a dermatologist last week.  I had a small scaly area cut off and Louise had a bad looking mole cut off.  Unfortunately, Louise will have to go back in to have a little more work done on her mole…it was found to be Basel-cell carcinoma and will have to be taken care of before we pull out. 

Ric and Drew (son in law and grandson) treated me to the final game of the Seattle Mariners last night.  It’s unfortunate that they fell out of the play offs because they sure showed that they had what it would take (before falling 12 straight towards the end).  We really enjoyed the game and it was great to see they finish with a win.  Safeco field is one beautiful stadium.  We enjoyed a ton of very expensive food and with a special parking pass, we enjoyed getting back on the highway and back home in record time. 

Louise and I have gone out a number of times in the last 3 or 4 weeks to see what motor homes were on the market that we might enjoy.  Let’s see what happens…

18 September ‘07

Tuesday

What, another doctors appointment ???  Yep, I’ve got one in about 2 more hours, had one yesterday, and I’ve got one again next week.  As good as I’m feeling I hope this will be all.  Yesterday it was with our dermatologist …  I had a small growth that she took care of and Louise has a mole type of growth that will have to be “typed”.  The doctor will be getting back to us in a couple of days, but she’s not too concerned.

Last Friday Louise and I went to tour our old high school.  We had been watching TV one night and heard that there was going to be an “Open House” there to show off some of the remodeling and new electronic equipment that they now have available to the students.  When we got there we found the doors open so we walked in to enjoy it all.  It wasn’t too long before we looked at each other and asked “why are we the only one’s here???”.  It didn’t stop us from walking the halls and telling each other little stories that came to our minds from a few years past.  That night, we were watching TV again and found out that it was "Lincoln High of Tacoma" that was having the open house...Oh well, it was fun to see the ole school anyway.  For those who don’t know, I asked Louise to “go steady” with me in this high school…she was a sophomore and I was a junior, some 51 years ago (Oh my gawd…). 

We also took time out to have lunch at one of our "Hang-outs"...Dick's

Last Thursday we decided to take in the Fall RV Show here in Seattle.  The Fall show is about half the size of the Spring show but we were curious.  I did try to put together a “deal”, but it turned out we just couldn’t get close enough.  Louise was happy…  me, I’ll most likely keep on trying. 

Our trip to Panama is still on hold, and it’s driving me crazy.  I like to have more control and right now I don’t feel I have much.  If it comes down to putting Panama off for a year, we will most likely just tour the south from California to … 

12 September ‘07

Wednesday

It has been a month since I’ve written in the journal.  Stepping back a month ago we left the area of Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens and headed to a small town on the out skirts of Seattle…Enumclaw.  We were to spend the weekend with a bunch of Louise’s cousins coming in from as far away as Minnesota.  Let me tell you, we had such a great time and ate so well it was tough to leave, but leave we did. 

One of our granddaughters was playing in the Junior League World Series of Softball.  This series is held each year in Kirkland, Washington and there are teams coming in from all around the world to participate.  Louise was playing shortstop and second base for her team and did a great job throughout the tournament, but unfortunately they had some tough competition.  We were very proud of her and her team…what a great opportunity and memory for a 13 year old and her grandparents. 

On the second day of the tournament I woke up to find every joint in my body so stiff that I could hardly get out of bed.  I had a couple of other problems that accompanied the stiffness so I made an appointment with a doctor and went right in.  It seems that some how I was exposed to Hepatitis B and for the last 4 weeks it hasn’t been much fun.  At this point I would highly recommend that ALL of you who are reading this go right out and get your Hepatitis A and B shots.  Louise and I were going to get our Hepatitis A shots prior to going to Europe but some how it didn’t get done.  I don’t know if we would have gotten the B shots, but now that I know what I know about Hepatitis B, I wouldn’t hesitate.  Please look into getting them….  I’ll let you do your own investigations on the Hepatitis viris, and when you do I want you to know that I’m one of those that have NO IDEA as to how I came into contact with this virus, but I did.  After 4 weeks I feel I have finally gotten back to about 75% as to were I was prior to coming down with this. I still have at least 2 more visits with the specialists and at least 3 or 4 more blood work-ups before they let me go.  Louise has also gone through a lot of tests to make sure that she wasn’t a carrier or had come down with either A or B…Thank God she’s clean !!! 

10 August ‘07

Friday

Yesterday was another day full of incredible sites and hikes…Mount St. Helens.  On the 18^th of May, 1980 Louise, the 3 girls, (Mikleane, Leslee, & Joelle) and I, were visiting some great friends (the Ostrems) in Vancouver Washington.  After we dug ourselves out of bed and sat having breakfast, we heard over their TV that Mt St. Helens had erupted.  We had met Leroy and Linda in 1969 when we had moved to that neighborhood, and one thing that we all enjoyed was the incredible view of that “snow cone” Mount St. Helens.  Now we were standing out in their front yard in stark amazement watching the gray ash and smoke rise high into the stratosphere.  We hadn’t heard a thing when the mountain slid away, but now watching the lightning come out of the rising cloud of dust, the indescribable feelings, and the reality setting in that we wouldn’t see this mountain, that we had known for so many years, the same way again.  Now we are driving the winding and twisting road to get as close as we can to the crater that was left behind.  With a few stops to see the different views of St Helens, Mt. Rainier, and Mt Adams we continue to our goal…”Windy Ridge” viewpoint.  Let me tell you, Windy Ridge is well named (we’ve been here before), but today it is just a tamed breeze which we welcomed.  Our first hike is almost straight up.  They have built these steps into the side of a hill to give us a great view point of the crater.  Unfortunately, like so many mountains, when the weather has made up it’s mind to have a cloud cover over the critical part of the mountain, there is nothing you can do but enjoy what you have.  There is a trail that we took that ended up splitting up into 2 others just about half way up slide area. 

Hiking there got us closer to a wonderful waterfall that seemed to come right out of the base of the crater.  (Now a note:  for some reason we have fallen away from preparing for a “hike”.  Our clothing was OK for today’s hike, but we didn’t bring water and most of all, we didn’t bring any food…WE’VE GOT TO GET BETTER AT THIS !!!)   For this reason, we hiked for only 2 ½ hours and only got as far as were the trail split to go up and to an overlook above the crater or down to the base of the slide…I guess there is always a next time, baring another eruption. 

10 August ‘07

Wednesday

Tuesday morning Louise and I said our good-byes to Ricardo and Suzie.  Before leaving, Ricardo grabbed his camera and coaxed us to take a minute for pictures.  With a photographer of his caliber it was a “no-brainer”…we just smiled and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity.  Our destination…Cascade Peaks Golf & RV Park, just outside of Randle, Washington.  This puts us right between Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens. 

Wednesday morning we drove the loop road up to Mount Rainer.  It took us through the east gate and out the west gate.  Our first stop was the “Grove of the Patriarchs”. 

It was a short round trip hike of 2 miles through one of the most memorable forests.  The towering Douglas firs and Western red cedars that are as much as 1000+ years old and some measuring more than 25 feet in circumference.  We crossed a steel and wood bridge that had been wiped out by a major flood this last November (’06).  It rained over 18” of rain in 3 days and took out 28 bridges in the area before it was all over.  Even as we sit here in the campground and drive down the highway in both directions, we can see the damage.  Two major rivers in the area even had their “normal” river bed drastically changed, and all along the fields we can still see the thousands of trees and stumps that lay tangled in huge piles stretching for miles.  Continuing our loop drive, we enjoyed the many stops to admire the natural beauty that the National Park of Mount Rainier has to offer.  From waterfalls, to glacier fed streams and lakes, and to gazing across the many “foot hills” of Mt. Rainier.  Then it was up to Paradise Lodge.  Again the views were amazing, although we still couldn’t see the mountain (top), but that didn’t matter too much as it gave us a great place to have a much needed lunch break.  Back in the car again we passed by the many lakes that stand close to the road and finally find our next stop…Longmire.  Another full day and one that we have taken before many years ago but as we found today, can still be unforgettable and worth a second, third or more times and still enjoy it.

3 August ‘07

Friday

These 3 days went by FAST…  Its not that we ran around a lot, but just the opposite, we just took it easy and enjoyed each others company.  Danni and Con have a great “second” home here in Illwaco and it was easy to relax and enjoy the day without having to meet any time requirements, and besides, the weather wasn’t the best for running around.  We did take a couple of hours and walk the streets of Long Beach.  We did that after we enjoyed a “breakfast” of sweet rolls at the Long Beach Bakery…what else do you do after downing all of those high calorie treats ??? 

Thanks for having us again Eversons…  we will be back !!!

31 July ‘07

Tuesday

We really enjoyed our stay with Leroy and Claudia and congratulate them on the beautiful new home that they have built for themselves in Long Beach.  Saying goodbye to them this morning was just like the many times in the past that we have said the same words to them.  It’s always great to see good friends and always sad to say “adieux” (sp?). 

Now we move 4 miles down the road to Ilwaco and pull the coach into the yard of my sister and brother-n-law, Danni and Con Everson. Last year when we visited with them we left the coach in Seattle for some warrantee work, but this year we have come complete with coach and toad…ready or not…  To give you a little reminder of their place it is located in a “Full Timers RV Court” with most of the rigs staying here either semi-permanently or permanently.  Theirs is permanent and sits on a great corner lot making up 2 lots in one.  It’s really done very well and I can see why they like it so much.  They are great hosts and have made us feel very welcome, brother or not. 

It is always great to get together with family and Louise and I have 2 great families to get together with.  The only problem we have is also one of the advantages…Louise and I are on the road so much that we only have a chance to see most of them once every or every other year if we’re lucky.  We’re looking forward to these next 3 days.

29 July ‘07

Sunday

The Long Beach Rodeo is in town this weekend and the four of us (Claudia, Louise, Leroy, and I ) were looking forward to attending.  Just about noon we arrived to see the young queens and their courts swinging their mounts through their paces with flags flying high.  This rodeo is just that, there are no carnival rides and just a few tents set up to offer you those many tempting food and drink items, but that’s OK.  The rodeo was what we came to see and rodeo we saw !!!  The pageantry at the beginning is always wonderful and especially when they present “Ole Glory”.  First on tap was the calf roping, followed by the barrel racing, team roping, bronc busting, and finally bull riding.  Lots of excitement from some very talented young adults.  I must admit, I would never have made it as a “cow boy”…it’s too tough and you can really get hurt doing that crazy stuff.  One of the crowd pleasers was when they brought in the very young on their horses to do their rendition of barrel racing…what a treat !!!  Some were as young as 3 years old (the horse being led around the barrels by mom) and others as old as 12. 

After dinner each night that we were with Leroy and Claudia we played -----.  It’s a card game that they taught us the first night we arrived.  We did have a blast, and I must admit we (the guys) beat the pants off the gals.  It wasn’t that they were inferior at playing cards but it was most likely that we just wanted “The Win” more !!! 

28 July ‘07

Saturday

The Hogs Have Arrived…  Ocean Shores is hosting the 2007 Harley Davidson Ocean Shores Run and the town is filling up with “Hogs”.  Yesterday we ran into town to watch the town and vendors get all set up.  Fact is, they even had some great entertainment for those of us that wanted to get an early start.  We’ve seen them on TV before but this is the first time that we’ve watched the flying bicycles in person.  It’s amazing how these young men and women get these little stunt bicycles flying so high into the air and then go into some twists and turns, release of the handle bars, or just lay out flat as they fly through the air.  It was very entertaining.   We looked into all the booths that were showing so many items related to motorcycling, and then there were the tattoo booths… In all the business that was conducted yesterday, the tattoo booths took in about 90 percent.  It was amazing.  Lou had set up for a haircut in the afternoon so we ran for lunch and then on to her appointment. 

Today (Saturday) we pulled up stakes and headed on down the coast to Long Beach.  Leroy and Claudia Ostrem offered their hospitality and a place to park the motor home.  It’s not always that we get such an invitation (actually we get a lot of them and wish we could get the time to take in all this great hospitality), so we were very happy to take it.  Last year when we were in the area, Leroy and Claudia were just about finished with the exterior construction and were starting with the interior.  Now it is finished and what a great job they have done.  Well I was going to show you a picture of a flying BMX bike, but i erased a lot of pictures from Ocean Shores...SORRY, but here instead and looking better than any-old BMX bike are Leroy and Claudia in their new home.

26 July ‘07

Thursday

Juzzz it’s nice to get up to sunshine !!!  I must admit I love to grab my coffee and head out the door.  We have our awning out, patio chairs and table in place, and now me and my cup of coffee…I love it.  Yesterday started out the same way.  We will be here until Saturday morning so Louise wanted to finish the laundry that she started last Monday and I wanted to wipe some of the dust that has found home on the vehicles prior to leaving.  Unfortunately a couple of the dryers at the campground were out of order so we decided to take the wet clothes into Ocean Shores and find a dryer there.  Across the street from the Laundromat was a Quickie Lube so I took this advantage and took the Tracker over for an oil and filter change.  It is amazing how fast the miles pile up from one oil change to the next.  Everything done for another couple of weeks and with our tummies growling we went looking for a new lunch experience.  It’s been a while since we’ve had pizza so finding Dugan’s Pizzeria fit the spot.  Walking through the door told us this was the right spot…it smelled like “real pizza” and lots of wonderful garlic…  There were 2 sizes to chose from and I wanted the larger 18 inch while Louise thought the smaller 12 would work out fine.  I, unfortunately, was wrong…  we had enough pizza for 10 of us.  I know, we could and did take the rest home, but that was really too much…So sorry Lou, you know best (I’ve just got to remember that).  A little later in the afternoon Jim Manolides called and wanted to come out, so about 4:30 he pulled up for a visit before we left the area.  Again, it was really good to see him and hear all about his travels and other adventures he has had since we last saw each other.  We’ll have to do it again. 

26 July ‘07

Thursday

It’s not often that we are out of bed and on the road before 8am, but today we were.  The forecast was a mix of sun and high clouds so to make this a sightseeing day just made sense.  First we had to get a full tank of gas in the toad and then it was off to Micky D’s for a quick Sausage Egg Mc Muffin…good travelin food.  Our goal today was to travel as far north up the Olympic Peninsula as possible, see as many sights as we can, and get back before dark.  We had wanted to get as far as Lake Ozette but soon found out it just wasn’t in the cards this time around (it’s always good to leave something behind so that you have something to come back for )                                                                              

We traveled about 60 miles up the coast and made our first stop at South Beach.  We drove the coast line for the first half hour before it turned inland.  About three quarter’s hour later we were traveling the tree lined coast road to South Beach.  Walking down the trail to the beach, through the tall fir and cedar trees, heavy ground cover of huge ferns, ended at the Quinault River as it flow into the Pacific Ocean.  Fortunately this time of year the river isn’t flowing at capacity so we were able to carefully cross it and find our way down to the log strewn and rocky beach.  The sand here is almost black, as are the small flat stones and the high rock pinnacles that dot the surf line.  Some of these pinnacles are as high as 30 feet that dot the surf and then there are those that are off shore that must be 3 to 4 times that.  We made 3 more stops further north until we ended up at La Push.  La Push is an Indian fishing village on a beautiful point that also enjoys having more of those off shore pinnacles to draw the photographers and tourists besides the sport fisherman.  Now it was time to head back, but not without a couple more incredible stops.  Just south of Forks we make a left turn and head into the deep woods of the Hoh Rain Forest.  We were lucky to be here on a sunny day, as they experience over 140 inches of rain a year, no wonder they call this a “rain forest”.  We seem to be a little lucky in visiting areas like this by coming “off or in-between seasons”.  Today wasn’t one of those days in the rain forest.  The parking lot was filled to the brim.  Fortunately we have a small toad so we found a “slot” to jockey into and we were set for our exploration.  They have a number of walking and hiking trails ranging from ¾ mile to 18 miles, so we decided after a short deliberation that we were going to take the 1 ½ mile Spruce Nature Trail.  After all, we had already hiked some of the Kalaloch and La Push trails and beaches all ready today, and we still had one more site to go to.  We really enjoyed the Spruce trail, but for me it came in second compared to the Quinault Rain Forest trails we had taken earlier this week.  Just 2 hours later we were looking for the worlds largest Red Cedar Tree.      

This ride took us south down 101 again and then it was a left turn, up a hill, going right and left, onto a dirt road for a 5 miles and then finding this HUGE Red Cedar all by its self.  The bark and most of the tree looked like it was dead, but at the top and some large branches near the top, there was enough green cedar foliage that you knew that this tree was indeed still doing very well. 

24 July ‘07

Tuesday

With the rain letting up a little, we braved it and ran for the toad…we’re getting out of here.  We didn’t have a destination but we were out and looking for just anything but staying home, looking out of the window and watching more of the rain.  I guess we were fed up with eating at home as well, as the first thing we did was look for a sea food restaurant.  I don’t know what took us into Mikes Sea-food and Market, but that’s were we stopped.  You know how you determine how good a restaurant is by the amount of people eating…well we couldn’t see inside to tell so we decided to “chance it”.  Rap one up for the “chancers”…it was really good, fact is we decided to return today as well.  Getting back to yesterday, after finishing lunch we drove the beaches all along the ocean side of the peninsula until we found just the right one to explore.  The sun was nicely warming while we walked the beach watching the surf crashing onto the sand.  The surf was so strong, because of the weather pattern we had just gone through, it sounded like the constant roll of thunder during one heck of a storm.  We really did enjoy the walk but all good things have to come to an end.  This end took us down the street to the movie theater.  We quickly looked over the marquee and made our choice…”HAIRSPRAY”.  Everything we had heard about Hairspray was true…it was really enjoyable and made you want to sing and dance through the isles of the theater.  After dancing out to the car I got to thinking about someone that I had heard was living here in Ocean Shores and as it would have it, was the bass player in the “Frantics” (the band that I was a part of while in high school).  Sitting there in the parking lot I picked up my cell phone and dialed Jim’s number.  The phone rang and rang before Jim Manolides picked it up and said “Hi Joel”…those damn phone ID’s…  Jim was just heading out to the casino to buy some of those ---- cigs so we decided to meet each other there in 20 minutes.  It had been 47 years (the best I can recollect) since I last saw him.  We were going to meet in the bar and I happened to get there first.  All the tables were filled when Jim walked in.  This guy with a full gray beard, wearing a wide brimmed hat, glasses, and looking a little older than the last time we saw each other walked right on by me.  When I called out to him as he walked by the second time all he could say was “where’s all your hair?”.              BALD !!!

21 July ‘07

Saturday

All right, we’ve just about had enough of this rain !!! 

You might say that it has kept us captive today.  We are in the middle of a down pour with the wind blowing it horizontal at times and we just don’t want to tough it out anymore.  It’s amazing just how high the humidity rises in the coach on a day like this.  If it keeps up we just might have to look at a dehumidifier to keep the coach from molding.  A couple of pluses that has made this palpable are the satellite TV and satellite Internet.  One thing I wasn’t aware of, is when the rain and wind hit the TV satellite dish it makes a mess of the signal and of course the TV itself…picky, picky, picky.   Bonnie and Doug Rohrer called yesterday and thought that they might want to come up and see us, but when I mentioned our weather…Doug tried to be diplomatic about it, but all of a sudden there were a lot of things that they had to do around their place…  Well, we’re here until the 30^th so lets hope we have a couple of days left of good weather so that we can dry-out a little before heading off to our next camping experience.    Well, anyone ready for some Top Ramen ????

20 July ‘07

Friday

Gawd, 5 days of rain already and the weather report is saying another 3 or 4 more to come…  I know, just get the heck out of the coach and the rest will take care of its self.  Sometimes its easier said than done.  After lunch yesterday we put our raingear on and headed out to see some more of the northern coastline.  Its been ages since we made a drive up to Taholah, on the Quinault Indian Reservation.  Not much has changed.  The buildings are mostly the same as they were then, but the Quinault River running out into the ocean, the same but yet quite different.  It is a beautiful site watching the river rush out to the sea and then when the tides change come running back in.  When it comes back, the sea gulls are there to find their fill of small fry. From there we headed further north but still staying within the Quinault area.  Our destination was the Quinault Rain Forest in the Olympic National Forest which is on the south side of Lake Quinault.  The Rain Forest was absolutely amazing.

Our first stop was to see the largest and oldest Spruce tree in the WORLD.  I’d like to say that the sun had come out and the rain had left us, but that’s not quite the way it was.  It didn’t rain hard but when it did rain it was like walking through a fine shower mist that left you thankful that you had your gear on.  Our hike through the Rain Forest was cut short because of the wetness, but what we did hike and what we saw was great.  We are looking forward to a much milder and dryer climate when we get to the Hoh Rain Forest further north on our next outing.    

18 July ‘07

Wednesday

We left our campground at Hoodsport and arrived here at Ocean Shores Monday night.  The first night we parked at the Quinault Beach club Casino.  The first thing was to get the OK to camp on their parking lot and the second was to sign up for their “Club Card” and get all their free or discounted goodies.  We had a real good club sandwich in their restaurant and then back to the coach to set up.  We were about 200 yards off the shoreline so we decided to take a long walk up the beach and take in some of the clean air that can be found at seaside.  After dinner Louise took one of her coupons into the casino with $20 and they gave her another $10 to either gamble with or just take home as a winner.  She had another idea…$20 plus $10 is a perfect amount to compound into a fortune…ya, you bet…

Tuesday we moved down the street towards Ocean City and our new campground at Western Horizons “Ocean Shores RV Resort”.  We will be here for 2 weeks and hopefully be able to take in more of the Olympic National Park from this side. 

Yesterday it sprinkled off and on, but today…it was constant. 

    The weather report isn’t looking too good for the rest of the week so we’ll just have to take it is and get out and enjoy it anyway.   

14 July ‘07

Saturday

The annual Wiener Family Picnic was today and we all had a great time.  Susan and Mark have their summer home just up the hill from this waterfront park and through their neighborhood association have full access to this wonderful private beach.  I didn’t keep tab on how many family members were able to make it, but we had a full beach.  Lots of conversation, food and drink kept all of us enjoying the day.  Louise and I took the kayak to the picnic and I would say that throughout the day it must have been under paddle by everyone there twice or more.  Great location and a great time for everyone…now what about next year ???

13 July ‘07

Friday

Friday Louise and I drove up to the Hamma Hamma recreation area looking for the hiking trail to upper and lower Lena Lake.  We found it after turning off of 101 at mile post 318 and following it 9 miles on a roadway that was wide enough for a one lane road.  Fortunately we only met 2 cars coming towards us over those 9 miles.  Another one of those absolutely beautiful areas of the Olympic National Park.  The morning started out overcast and stayed that way for most of our hike.  The trail to the upper Lena Lake area was closed for hiking so we stopped after 1 ½ hours of climbing a great trail to return to camp and await our family.  We did make an addition to our exploration… when we got back to the car we decided to take and follow the dirt road that extended further up from the trail head because we had heard that there was one heck of a great waterfall up there somewhere.  Well we found it and it did live up to its reputation…it was beautiful and it was at the end of the road.  What was funny about this whole thing was, not only was it at the end of a dirt road 14 miles off of Hwy 101, but we found a bridge that spanned the river and the falls below...  On the far side of the bridge…a turn around area with a outhouse, yep, an outhouse 14 miles up a dirt road from 101... 

About 6:30, the Chouinard family arrived to stay in the camping bungalow next door.  Louise and I had stopped by the fish market and picked up some Lingcod for dinner.  I was trusted to barbecue it and I must say it turned out fantastic.  Tomorrow…the family picnic…

12 July ‘07

Thursday

What a change in the weather.  This morning was 20 degrees less than yesterday and with an off-shore flow of clouds.  Quite honestly I really prefer this over the 90 to 100 degree days.  We have a visitor coming about 2 this afternoon so we are going to stay pretty close by.  Our visitor is an insurance adjuster from GMAC.  She is coming to take a look at our fire damage and get us all set up to get it repaired.  We drove the 2 ½ miles down to Hoodsport, just to look around.  Totally there were 4 shops that sold just about the same “stuff” as the other one.  That’s OK because we were “just looking”…  2 o’clock arrived and left and so did Brandy…everything is going forward.  Now it’s time to head out and do some hiking.  About 6 or 7 miles from our campground and at the end of Lake Cushman, is the hiking trails going up “The Staircase”.  The road followed Lake Cushman for about 6 miles and then eased away on a dirt road for another 3 miles before coming into Olympic National Park and the start of the Staircase trail.  Our trail followed a beautiful river and some “old growth” fir and cedar trees for about 1 ½ miles before it came to an abrupt stop…the bridge was washed out.  The huge ferns, tiny flowers, mushroom, the hanging moss, and then of course the “Giants” of the forest that I mentioned earlier.  It was common to see trees that were 6 to 8 feet across and, gawd how tall is it ???  OK, now let’s get home and get ready for that CRAB…  Our Patio Dinner was just as I had pictured and the meal, one that we will remember for a long time. 

11 July ‘07

Wednesday

Early this morning it was already showing that today was going to be hotter than “heck”.  First thing first…grocery shopping.  We drove down Hwy 101 to Shelton to fill the gas tank on our toad and then across the street to Wal-Mart.  We were trying to get all this accomplished before the temperature drove us inside for the rest of the day.  With the back seat filled with our new “goodies”, we headed back to the air conditioned coach.  Hell it wasn’t but 15 minutes after we had lunch that we both thought it nuts to sit inside all day when the weather and the area around here were too good to pass just because it was “HOT”.  Now I don’t know if you remember it or not, but our air-conditioning in the toad quit working last summer and we still haven’t had it taken care of, now we’ll suffer a little.  With the windows down and the wind blowing through the windows we traveled north on 101 following the shores of Hood Canal.  When it came time to turn around and head back we found a sea food stand that was advertising “Huge Dungeness Crab”.  Now that was a sign that was made just for me…  Yep, we stopped and bought a 3 ½ pound fresh Dungeness that I can’t wait to dig into.  I must say that I love those little “Fresh Fish” street markets…everything they have I want to go home with.  Tomorrow is supposed to be much cooler so I will start preparing for our “Patio Dinner” of Dungeness and beer…a lot of both…man that’s living…

10 July ‘07

Tuesday

The heat of the day was starting out early and it was also time for us to head toward Hoodsport and Hood Canal.  With the temperature rising to 90+ for the next couple of days in Seattle area, we decided to head closer to the Olympic Mountains and Hood Canal.  Besides, this is where the Wiener Family Picnic is being held this year and we wanted to arrive a little early.  Our campground is about 3 miles out of Hoodsport on the road to Cushman Lake, about 15 miles from the park at Hood Canal were Mark and Susan (Louise’s brother and sister-in-law) live and the location of the picnic.  In the next 6 days we hope to take a few long drives and take the kayak out to explore some new areas before heading out to the coast (Ocean Shores on the Pacific).

07 07 ‘07

Sunday

“777”   7^th day, 7^th month, 2007…”Anyone buy a Lotto Ticket ? “

Well yesterday was “the” day for Lil Louise and her Bellevue softball team.  They took both games and now are heading to “THE WORLD SERIES OF GIRLS SOFTBALL”.  The series will take place in Kirkland WA on the 14^th of August and will be a once in a life time experience for all the girls stepping onto the field.  Today we are just going to hang close to the coach and enjoy the sun.  We have moved to a new pitch here at Tall Chief.  This one sits high on the hill over looking the club house, pool, mini golf course, and the Cascade Mountains.  It is a very nice spot.  The kids are all coming over for a barbecue dinner, swim and most of all…smores tonight.  It should be fun.     

5 July ‘07

Thursday

Our granddaughter Louise is playing shortstop on a All Star baseball team this year and we had the opportunity to see her play Wednesday evening.  Unfortunately her team lost to their close neighbor Bellevue.  If they had won this game, they would have moved directly into the “Host Team” for the Girls Softball World Series coming up this August.  Now they have to beat their next opponent and then move up to play Bellevue again.  If they get to that point they must take three straight games to finally become the Host Team…let’s root them on !!!  On the 4^th we joined the family at Louise’s next game after we took the kayak out for a couple of hours of paddling.  This is number one of the “must win” games.  The opponents weren’t quite up to the challenge and the game was one by Redmond, now on to winning two more games from Bellevue tomorrow.  Enough of baseball…IT’S THE 4^TH OF JULY.  Louise and I have decided to stay “home” (we’re parked at Tall Chief RV Park in Fall City, WA.) and watch the Seattle fireworks on TV…gawd, we must be getting old !!!  Mario and Carl were over the other night and invited us to their condo in Seattle to watch the fireworks but we decided that it would be better for us to stay home…Thanks guys.  Wamu sponsored the fireworks at Seattle’s Gas Works Park and boy that was some display.  I don’t think we have ever seen a better fireworks display.   

30 June ‘07

Saturday

Today was “Farmers Market Day”.  At least in Issaquah and Redmond.  We took both of them in this morning.  Our goal was to pick up a fresh whole salmon and re-supply my need for Bing and Rainier Cherry’s.  The cherry’s we found but the salmon is still on our shopping list for tomorrow.  A funny thing happened when we pulled into a parking garage in Redmond.  We tried to park in the lot next to the market but we were turned away and told we could park for free in the parking garage across the street.  As we pulled into the first entrance we were abruptly stopped.  Our car-top carrier hit the overhead beam with an unbelievable crunch and stopped us just as we passed through.  Well what goes through has to come back out…it sounded bad but fortunately it was flexible enough that no damage was done either coming or going.  I’ve just got to remember its up there and needs at least 8 feet of clearance to pass through.  We also setup both of our satellite dishes today.  The dish for internet and the new one for DirecTV.  Just what we need…more things to carry with us.

29 June ‘07

Friday

It’s been 10 days that we’ve been here in the Seattle area.  On our way here from Coeur d’Alene we encountered a very strong head wind after climbing out of the Vantage Gorge.  It was so strong that it dislodged the driver’s side windshield.  Fortunately I was able to find a place to get off the road before it completely blew out.  I pulled off and found a place behind a large truck so that it could block the wind.  After securing the window with duct tape we thought it better to head towards Yakima and get the heck out of this wind.  We had the window reset in Yakima, visited with Leslee, Lena, and Vinny for a couple of days and then continued to the Seattle area.  We have had a continuing problem with the dining room slide leaking every time it rains.  Our dealer/shop has had the opportunity to fix it 3 times but so far without any luck.  Now they want another shot at it.  We took it in last Tuesday and they jumped right on it.  Two days later we got the call that they thought that this time they had finally discovered the leak and we could come and pick it up.  Having gotten this call before, we picked it up with a little bit of doubt.  Well that night we got ourselves into one heck of a rain storm.  It rained so hard that neither Louise nor I got much sleep.  I was out of bed at least 3 times checking the floor to see if it was wet yet.  Finally 7am arrived and again I was out of bed to check the floor area…it was totally dry….for the first time since we’ve had the coach and it’s rained, we are DRY !!!  I know it has been a challenge for the shop, but for us it was really getting old and we are really glad to have this over. 

3 June ‘07

Sunday

We have been in a period of hot weather here this week.  They are telling us that it is most unusual for the temperature to get this high this early in the year.  We’ve topped out at 98 each day and our air conditioning has been running quite a bit to keep us comfortable.  Yesterday we went into the little town of Soap Lake to pick up some groceries.  While shopping we came across a couple of blow-up cushions that we thought we would enjoy floating on when we got back to the campground.  Earlier in the morning we had walked out to the shore of Soap Lake, took off our flip-flops and went into the water…water with about 6 to8 inches of sticky mud…  The water is warm because of the shallow depth of the water and the fine-sticky mud sitting just 6 inches under the surface.  You can walk out in the water about 100 yards and you will most likely be deep enough to finally swim.  Each and every step is taken with a “squishy” feeling as you put pressure down onto the new foot print and then there is the “sucking” sound as you pull it up to take the next step.  The water feels “silky”.  When you put your hand in it, it almost feels like you have just taken a bar of soap and started to wash your hands.  My legs felt like I had suntan lotion on them throughout the whole day.  They say that when you swim it is like you are swimming on the very top of the water, you never seem to sink.  And then they tell us of the healing qualities of the water and the mud.  The stories are told by just about everyone that you come in contact with…one person healed to a whole group being healed because of the water and mud of Soap Lake.  An interesting note about the water is that it has minerals and other elements that float at different levels.  If your looking for mineral “X” you find it on level 3 (just kidding), but those who know say it does lay in a number of different levels and doesn’t permanently mix. 

Well so far we haven’t taken our swim in the lake but we will before we leave, I promise.

Friday night we purchased tickets for an off Broadway play in town.  It was called See How They Run by Phillip King.  It was a British satire.  A little slow in getting started but as it went on, it got funnier and funnier.  Overall it was worth the time and money and we would recommend it to anyone who is suffering by not having any culture around them for a long period.  Last night we went to one of the most popular “eateries”.  Don’s has been here in Soap Lake for quite a few years and is “the“ spot for the locals to gather for a Friday or Saturday night dinner.  We got there about 7 and didn’t get our dinner until after 8.  It was good, but not worth writing home about.  We did have an “interesting” bottle of wine.  It was called “Working Girl Wine”.  The name should have warned me… The last couple of mornings we went over to the clubhouse here at the campground for breakfast.  For what they were charging, we couldn’t do it at home.  The rest of the day was spent sitting around the pool and meeting and chatting with the rest of the campers.  There aren’t too many of us here.  I would guess that maybe 25 units out of a possible 140.

1 June ‘07

Friday

It has been too long since we’ve taken the kayak out (at least a week) and with the lakes that we have around here, it was a “no brain-er”.  We were in the “toad” just before 9am as the forecast was said to be “HOT” in the late afternoon, and we wanted to enjoy ourselves without burning up.  Our first stop was at Alkali Lake because it was one that had some of the most interesting rock formations and grasses that called out for our examination.  The other day as we were checking the area we found the trail to the caves at this location and as we got to the top of the cliffs and the caves, the view down into Alkali was magnificent.  This morning as we pulled off the highway and into the lake to find a place to put in, we encountered this sign that told us that we “Must” have a permit to park and enjoy this and all lakes that sit in or on Washington Fish and Wildlife grounds or pay a $65 dollar fine and have your car or truck towed…  Well CRAP, we didn’t have one…  OK, we’ve got to get one, now were do we get it ???  The sign didn’t say and Louise wouldn’t let me stay without one so back to the campground (about 6 miles) and see if they either sold them or knew just were we might be able to buy one.  We go a couple of places to check out, but when we got there they were both closed.  Well we’re out and trying to do the right thing, so we head even further up the road.  After 3 more stops and not having any luck we finally find what we are looking for at a Mini Mart about 20 miles up the road.  I’ve done quite well in keeping my temperature down but this almost did it….this DAMN state and its fee’s and then not having the “system” set-up so that a person could get what is needed without having to search all over the countryside.  ( DEEP BREATH …)  OK, change of plans, and besides this darn pass will give us a full year of stopping at these Fish and Wildlife locations all over Washington state.  We are now much closer to Dry Falls State Park.  When we were here earlier in the week we saw at least 4 lakes below us that looked like we could enjoy ourselves with a day of kayaking.  We stopped by the Information Center above the falls and got directions as to how we could get down there.  After leaving the highway, going through the State Park, turning left, and then following a dirt and big rock road about 3 miles we found ourselves parking beside the bank of this beautiful little lake.  It sat about 400 feet below the cliffs that at one time made up those magnificent falls.  This dark blue lake had its own rock islands and reed grasses that we explored from one end to the other.  We were there kayaking for just over 2 hours and enjoyed this unusual and beautiful spot far below the cliffs.  We didn't see any 4 legged wildlife but we did see some waterfowl that we were new to us.  It excited Louise so much that she had to finally purchase a book on North American Birds.  She has wanted this for sometime and now the excuse to finally get it done. 

30 May ‘07

Wednesday (1)

Soap Lake was only one site we had heard raves about and Dry Falls was the other.  When we decided to come to Soap Lake we were constantly told that we must see the spectacular Dry Falls State Park.  Dry Falls is only about 20 miles up the road, and with the forecast of a sunny day and reaching into the high 80’s, we were underway early.  Our route took us north up WA-17 which ends just past Dry Falls State Park Visitors Center.  Our first surprise was coming along side Lenore Lake.  Just as we have approached Lenore Lake we are traveling at the base of a canyon, with the lake on one side and the walls of the canyon on both sides.  These canyon walls will be with us for at least the next 40 + miles.  There was no wind today so all the lakes that we saw this afternoon were just like reflection ponds…mountains, hills, rocks, trees and even us were reflected in the waters. 

Wednesday (2)

Wednesday (3)

After the hike up to the caves we were back on the road just long enough to see this incredible waterfall out of the corner of our eye as we passed.  We both gasped long enough to make a quick “U-Turn” and head back.  Again we encountered a 4 wheel drive path.  This one took us back through some high brush and rougher pathway.  Finally coming to a spot we couldn’t go any further, we carefully stepped out of the car and headed out again through some “snake infested” brush (at least that’s what we thought and that’s also why we will be taking our sticks).  After climbing over our last rise we found our waterfall.  What we saw from the road was OK, but what we saw from the bottom of the falls….WOW !!!  There wasn’t a ton of water falling, but what was…it fell with such grace and style it captured your heart.  The fall was about 100+ feet and ended up falling into this pool that was about 40 feet in diameter.  Right in back of the pool was a huge cave that gave all this a perfect “10”.  It really was worth every minute it took to get back to it and enjoy the sounds and sights of this that Mother Nature created. 

Wednesday (4) 

FINALLY…Dry Falls State Park….

Can you imagine seeing a site of glacial ice reaching over 10,000 feet high?  Now imagine having a river blocked off and forming a huge lake.  Imagine having this lake “lift” this ice, breaking it and moving it all down “stream” at a speed over 60 miles an hour.  This ice and water mass is now over 2,000 feet high and moving from what is now Montana and heading toward the Pacific Ocean.  All this happened about 18,000 years ago and it happened several times at this same area.  One of the outcomes of this “movement” was the creation of what were the largest and widest waterfalls in the world.  It is 2 ½ times higher and 5 times wider than Niagara Falls.   Overall it was 400 feet high and 3 ½ miles wide.  Today there is no water flowing over the falls, but the water that sits below is but a small reminder of the beauty and wonder that must have been. 

Wednesday (5 and 6)

Noon and its lunch time.  We have just pulled into Steamboat Rock State Park, on the shores of Bank Lake.  Steamboat Rock has long been a point of reference for the nomadic Indian tribes, pioneers traveling west, and travelers today.  For us it was a wonderful spot for lunch.  We have been wonderfully surprised at finding places like this on our drive today.  We can’t believe we have lived here in this state for most of our lives and have never taken the time to explore this drive up WA 17 and WA 155.  Shame on us…  Well as long as we are this far up, why don’t we drive a little further and see Grand Coulee Dam one more time, so we did. 

Wednesday (7)

This has been a full day, but then again we haven’t pushed ourselves too hard to see all this either.  Fortunately it is all taken and enjoyed in just over 90 miles round trip, and that includes our next and last stop for the day, Summer Falls State Park.  These spectacular falls are created by water from Banks Lake that ends up flowing over basalt rock and into the upper end of Billy Clapp Lake.  Again, we were duly impressed and saddened at the same time.  Impressed with the absolute beauty and saddened by the tragedy of 1979 when twin boys and a teenaged boy friend lost their lives by getting too close to the falls and were caught up in a whirlpool and were killed.

29 May ‘07

Tuesday

We arrived here at the Great Soap Lake in eastern Washington state this afternoon.  We have 7 days here and plan to enjoy each and every one of them.  First, we have heard so much about Soap Lake that we already felt quite at home here moments after arriving.  We chose a pitch down by the edge of the water, but we had to sacrifice not having a hook up for our gray and black waters.  If we think about how much water we use and use their wonderfully clean toilet and shower area, we will make 7 days without having to dump the tanks without a problem.  Another reason we wanted to be down on the front row was, we need a clear shot towards our satellite so that we can use our new (used) internet satellite system.  Prior to getting our system, we talked with a lot of RV’rs who have used them for some time, just to get their input on the usability of this kind of system.  There are basically two to chose from…the first is one that is set up on a tripod and physically aimed at the quarter sized satellite somewhere out there in the Southeastern sky.  The second is one that is installed on the top of the RV and has all it takes to do the sighting automatically.  We chose the first type for 3 reasons....it was by far less expensive to purchase at the get go and second, if we get into a campsite that has a lot of trees around it we can move the tripod dish to just about any position in the campground that we need to move to get our signal (“just about…”).  We also had been told that it would normally take an “experienced” user, 20 to 30 minutes to get it all set up and on-line…for us, I think it was better than 2 hours for the first time.  We WILL get better. 

May 26^th 2007

Saturday

Well… I’m Lena, and I have very bad typing, spelling, and journaling skills.  I’m Joel and Louise’s granddaughter, and I’m here, so here’s my journal entry….

            Yesterday after an extremely long day of school and drill team I went home and was loaded into the “coach” and whisked off.  I got to ride shot gun, and it was quite the experience.  The windshield is huge, and you can see every little bug coming at you right before they splat on the windshield.  I counted 28 bugs on my half of the windshield.  We also got to see plenty of natures other wild life like deer and elk.  The scenery was calming and green.   Traffic wasn’t bad either, grandpa said that all the cars were behind us and that’s why we couldn’t see any traffic. We got to Entiat at about 9:00.  It’s interesting…   There’s a pretty lake right out in front of us.  It’s idyllic.  We sat around and watched TV then went to bed.
            This morning I woke up to the usual whenever I stay with them, the lovely aroma of coffee.   After getting showered, shampooed, and shining we headed off to Wenatchee to watch Lou play softball.  She’s incredible.  Both of her games were so fun to watch.  They won one and lost one, but the one they lost was really cool because they come back during the last inning making the score 6-8.  It was cool all the same.  Then we went and bought some knee pads because drill team has turned my lovely knees a purple blue color.   After that we returned to the “coach” and went kayaking.  That was also fun and very chill.  My arms got a nice little work out too.  We sat around and listened to this really cool radio show, some guy from Minnesota, he had poetry on there and it was cool.  Then, Aunty Mikleane, Uncle Rick, and Drew came over for a lovely dinner.  We had grilled chicken and peppers, corn on the cob, and bread.  Dessert was good too, ice cream cake is the best.  Then we sat around and talked for awhile and Grandpa told me to write this.   Sorry its not too good.  I think now I’m going to sit down and read my book, and think about all the cool things I could have written that I spaced on. 

Happy Reading!

Lena – The Middle Granddaughter   

25 August ‘06

Well we are back in the Seattle area once again.  This week we will be camped at Tall Chief in Fall City for the next 3 days.  Tuesday, we start heading toward our volunteer position at Farragut State Park in Idaho.  This morning,  Mikleane was out of bed and on her way to the starting point of “The” walk by 5:30am.  She is walking the 3 day, 60 mile “Walk For Breast Cancer”.  This walk is the climax of all the long practice walks leading up to this day.  Totally for this northwest group, they have received pledges for over 7 million dollars…great job for a great cause.  Last night we roasted hot dogs and BBQ’d hamburgers (Drew did the hard work) with Ric, Drew, and Louise and then ended the evening watching the video “RV”.  I think I learned a few special moves in driving our coach from this movie, so if you see me on the road…runnnnn… 

17 August ‘06

We had to put the coach into the dealership for some warrantee work on Tuesday so we decided we had enough time to drive out to Longbeach /Illwaco, Washington and spend a few days with Danni and Con (which is long overdue).  The drive is one that we have made many times but it still is one that we enjoy very much.  Once we get past Olympia and settle into the 2 lane roads, it just becomes a quiet and beautiful event.  Con met us out at the gates to their complex and took us on back to their “home away from home”.  For a lot of summers they have taken their 36 foot travel trailer and enjoyed the Oregon and Washington coast, so it makes good sense to see them settled into their present location.  Louise and I were greatly impressed with what they have made for themselves here.  The only problem I can see with what they have, is that “guests” like us find ourselves so comfortable that we just might be tough to get out once we get in…  Con had caught a couple Sturgeon which he had some smoked and the rest put into steaks.  Our first taste of this was smoked and let me tell you, it was great !!!  A couple of days later Danni cut the steaks into chunks and deep fried them…WOW !!!  We were blown away with just how good that Sturgeon was.  We were also re-introduced to the bakery in Longbeach.  You might say that we ate our way through Illwaco and Longbeach over the 3 nights and 4 days that we spent there.  On Sunday we met Danni and Con in Astoria, Oregon were they have a booth in the “Farmers Market”.  It must have been our appearing that they had their biggest Sunday Market in Astoria ever…  We tried to get the key to the gate to their place but Con said that they would come out and get us instead…can you imagine that????  

14 August ‘06

On Sunday after enjoying the farmers market in Astoria, Louise and I drove out to Oysterville and then back to Longbeach.  I had made a call to Leroy and Claudia earlier, but they hadn’t come out yet to the coast.  Just as we were coming into Longbeach, Leroy returned our phone call and insisted that we drop by and see just what has been going on “at the beach”.  Leroy, obviously we were greatly impressed….your dream has come true and it looks great !!!  As always, it was good to see Leroy and Claudia and then toss in Pam and Norm, it was just like “old times” all over again.  Unfortunately we had to get going too soon but we will be back.  The Longbeach Kite Festival was going to start on Monday morning, but we had to leave before all the kites were up in the air.  Oh well, there is always next time. 

2 August ‘06

It was about time that we got Lois (Mom) in the front seat of the motor home and took her on an outing.  We picked her up just before noon and headed out for Hoods Canal on Puget Sound.  Our route took us around Olympia and then onto highway 101 and Shelton.  About 15 miles further up 101 we turned onto route 106 and headed to Hoods Canal and Mark and Susan’s (Louise’s brother and sister-n-law) new home.  I found a test of my driving skills in getting the coach parked at their home.  Thanks to Mark and a little luck, we slid in beside their home with about 6 inches on one side (the corner of the roof was very close) and a foot on the other.  Now it was time for a shower and a cold beer…  We were with Mark and Susan for 4 days and had a blast !!!  I helped Mark put another coat of paint on the garage, which gave me a chance to remember just a little bit of what I was missing by not having to maintain a home any longer….oh ya, I almost forgot…  We took a couple of drives out to see the sights of the canal and enjoy some of the local “haunts”.  One “haunt” that we really enjoyed was ------- for a great dinner.  Their property is tied to a wonderful private beach club.  One morning about 10, we headed down there at low tide and enjoyed an hour of “picking” clams.  Seeing as how the tide was out, we had a huge beach to rake and pick.  The top layer was filled with oysters ( we passed on the oysters this time around because the water was too warm) which we raked aside and found the small clams laying just under a layer of mud.  We ended up picking enough to feed the 5 of us with more clams than any of us had any idea we could hold in one sitting….WHAT A GREAT TREAT !!!  Now to leaving…I had Mark out there beside me again as I pulled out from beside his house.  I had to pull out exactly as I went in which put me heading down into a dead-end street that I couldn’t turn around in…sooo, I had to back out about 300 yards until I found a place I could turn-around in.  All worked out great, no one run over and no scrapes or dents…Great Grandma made it home just fine. 

19 July ’06.

Ok, first let’s make this absolutely clear…I am writing this on the 21^st of August and trying to remember as much of the past month as possible.  This will be a journal from hell I’m sure.  All the details have been jumbled together, so I will do my best to unscramble them and make this worth the effort to write or more importantly, worth the effort to read.  After leaving Coeur d’Alene we headed to Spokane for our “Wiener Family Picnic”.  Boy, the weather has continued to be HOT !!!  John agreed to have the picnic at his “ranch” for another year…”What a guy…”  We parked the coach as close to the drive as possible so that when we put the canopy out it might give shade enough to save a number of the family members from heat stroke.  Three days of great family conversations, games, and battles (water balloons) and of course more food than we could ever have consumed in a month.  Thanks to John again this year, we have had a place to gather….