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.