Days 12-17: Getting back to Bellevue

Well, it didn't happen all at once. I spent five more days at Spring Ridge, actually getting some work done! Mark is finishing up his final proofread of The Shiva Paradox, and with luck we'll get it to the printer this weekend. It's an exciting Advaitic Adventure in which a man gets cross-wise of a religious cult and flees to India for his own spiritual quest. Unfortunately, the cult is upset enough and resourced well enough to send five hit-men to track the spiritual seeker across India and separate body and soul (or head, in this case). Based on some of Mark's actual experiences in India, the story is definitely a must-read.

High on my list of things to do was a visit to what appeared to be the busiest restaurant in Newport, WA, Audrey's. As Jon pointed out to me, part of their popularity must be the parking spaces large enough to park their extended crew cab, full bed, 4x4s. Mine included. The reality, though, was that there just weren't any spaces marked so people parked wherever they could fit. And there was some pretty darn good food inside. The Little League World Series was playing on the television and the chili-burger and fries were so big I could only eat half! The next morning I went back and had much better luck downing a chicken fried steak, eggs, and potatoes. I felt vindicated!

I did a little decorating of my trailer. Thought it would be fun to start tracking where I've been as I wander around the country. There are only four or five states that I've never been in, but I expect to visit all of them in the coming few years. Periodically I'll post a new map with updates as I travel. I'm also posting the stickers from National Parks that I visit along the way. So far, that only includes Glacier, but I know I'll visit more. I'm hoping to actually camp in some of them this time.

The end of the week turned rainy and the wind buffeted my little home. I had to take a picture before the wind came up and then pulled in the awning. I didn't want the trailer to turn into a box-kite overnight. It was spectacular watching the lightning flash above my skylights.

I waited to leave Monday morning until the fog had burned off. My cheap, crappy, little Styrofoam ice chest that wasn't worth a lick anyway, took off in the wind and landed in the field. I never found the lid and I searched quite a ways out for it. Later, I bought a nice small ice chest that fits perfectly behind my driver's seat in the truck and keeps things cold.

After breaking camp on Monday, I headed South to Post Falls and bought myself a good Buck camp knife at the Buck Knife factory store. My flimsy little pocket knife is nice if I need to open a box, but just isn't much of a utility knife. Now I have one. I also stopped at Cabela's just before I crossed into Washington for the trek eastward. The inflatable mattress that plugs into a 120v outlet went back as did the mirror extensions for the truck. Apparently, they changed the design of the F150 mirrors and the kit no longer fits. But then I was off across the State of Washington on I-90. This isn't my favorite way to travel, but I mitigated the problems by stopping at each of the  five rest areas along the way to have a cup of coffee.

I've crossed the Columbia River four times on this trip, I think. I get confused as to where it goes sometimes. But it's always an amazing sight to me to crest the rise coming into the gorge on I-90. I stopped at the scenic overlook to just appreciate this astounding view. It's also another of those areas that you learn a bit about the people who once called it home. In this case, it's the Wanapum Indians. They never had a war with the United States and therefore never signed a treaty. Apparently, in U.S. policies, it is okay to completely overrun a native people if they don't put up a fight. As a result, the Wanapum have virtually disappeared. They are commemorated with a plaque near the river.

Now I have to take a different tack on this subject. Like all liberals, I lament the loss of a native culture, decry the mistreatment by the white blight that marched across the country claiming all as its own, and want to see all people treated fairly. Yet, I look at the unending strife between people who defended their lands and wonder if perhaps the full integration of one people with another isn't the right way to go. Whether it is Croatians and Serbs or Europeans and Native Americans, or Laotians and Cambodians, I believe that the preservation of national and racial identities has outlived its usefulness. We're not going to get people to stop hating each other until the parents have held their noses and bred across the boundaries. We need to stop identifying our cultures, religions, and national boundaries as worth fighting over. </End of Rant>

All the times that I've crossed the State of Washington, I'd never taken the time to stop at the Gingko Petrified Forest State Park just north of Vantage. This time I did. Wow! There are 27 different species of trees preserved here as a result of both volcanic and glacial action. They are fascinating and the interpretive center is great at showing the differences and explaining the process. Apparently there are a dozen petrified forest monuments at various places in the U.S. I'm looking forward to visiting the National Park when I'm down in Arizona.

 

 

I camped at Wanapum State Park Campground just five miles south of the petrified forest on the shores of Wanapum reservoir. The campground is center in this photo with Wanapum Dam in the upper left. Saw several different birds in this area, including eagles and some black and white bird that I didn't recognize.

 

 

There's  my little home behind the tree in the foreground. It's a beautiful little park with a gorgeous beach. The wind picked up again with a little rain Monday night, so I pulled in the awning again and was tucked nice and cozy in the trailer for the night.

 

Of course, it did not escape my attention that others share the campground and the park. I always carried a walking stick with me when I went out for a hike, but didn't see any of the other denizens of this area.

And then Tuesday morning, I headed for Bellevue. But that's another day.

Day 10-11: U.S. 95 to Lewiston

As a theme for the first part of my journey, I chose the idea of following U.S. Highways from end to end. The one that I'm looking forward to most will be next summer when I plan to travel the 3,700 miles of U.S. Hwy 20 from Boston to Newport, OR. It's just too late in the season to start that trip now. Instead, I'm headed south for the winter. My plan is to travel U.S. Hwy 95 from the Canadian border in Idaho to the Mexican border in Arizona. Driving the Selkirk Loop was part of my master plan. So I re-entered the United States at Eastport, Idaho and was greeted immediately by this sign at mile 538.6.

 



The territory in Northern Idaho is absolutely beautiful. But the government ownership of that parcel came at a huge cost to the Kootenai Indians. Kootenai elders have passed down the history of creation and the beginning of time, much of it so sacred that it cannot be shared with non-tribal members. It can be told, however, that the Kootenai people were created by Quilxka Nupika, the supreme being, and were placed on earth to keep the creator/spirit's covenant. The covenant is simple. It says: "I have created you Kootenai people to look after this beautiful land, to honor and guard and celebrate my creation here in this place. As long as you do that, this land will meet all your needs. Everything necessary for you and your children to be happy forever is here, as long as you keep this Covenant with me." For thousands of years, the Covenant guided the Kootenai.

In 1855, the U.S. Government sent representatives with a treaty for the tribes of the Northwest. No Kootenai ever signed that treaty. In 1860, the greeted the International Boundary Commission surveyors and helped them across the Kootenai River, showing them safe trails, and sharing food. "We helped them and then they drew a line through the middle of our house and said we couldn't cross it." That line is the U.S. Canadian Border.

The Kootenai Nation was reduced to seven tribes, five north of the border and two south. No matter how they tried, they kept losing their lands. On September 20, 1974, the 67 remaining tribe members, having lost all their aboriginal lands, declared war on the United States. It was a peaceful war, but it got the attention of the bureaucrats, even though most of the U.S. was ignorant of the war. The Kootenai were finally deeded 12.5 acres near Bonners Ferry. There is a hundred times that amount shown in this photo--land that was once protected by the Covenant between the Kootenai and their Creator.

I'd crossed Lake Pend Orielle at  Sandpoint, Idaho and stopped for a bite of dinner in Coeur d'Alene before heading further south along Lake Coeur d'Alene. When this beautiful full moon arose, I decided I needed to find a resting place for the night.

It was like an omen when my headlights illuminated this sign. It's at the Fightin' Creek Crossing where there's a little truck stop. I parked in its abandoned parking lot for the night and slept in the back of the truck. Imagine my surprise when I discovered the air mattress I bought at Cabela's, complete with built in pump, ran on 120v instead of 12v. It's not like I wanted to inflate it in my living room. Now I need to make another trip to Cabela's!

Tuesday morning, I headed south again and the terrain and landscape changed radically. For those of you who have never seen it before, this is called food. Hundreds of miles of wheat, oats, and other grains that feed a nation. I passed combines harvesting and dozens of huge trucks filled with grain on their way to elevators.

 

The elevators look like this. Along the left edge of this photo, you'll see a train with tank cars for carrying grain, that should give you an idea of the scale of the silos.



 

I finally made it to Lewiston, Idaho and the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers. That's the Clearwater coming in from the East and the Snake from the South (top right). That twisting road you see goes ten miles to get from the top of the bluffs down to Lewiston. It was a great feat of engineering in the 1920s. Later U.S. 95 took a more direct but steeper route southeast.

And from Lewiston, I headed back north toward Spokane, skirting Pullman and Washington State University. I pulled into a rest area about two-thirds of the way and this bus pulled in a few minutes later. The young couple have been full time travelers for seven years with three children in the back. They just travel and looked and acted like the quintessential hippies. They were nice folks and let me know that there is a future to this full-time RV thing!

Day 10: The Selkirk Loop

The International Selkirk Loop is billed as a two-nation vacation. From Newport, WA, it follows State Route 20 north along the Pend Oreille River to Tiger, WA where 20 turns west toward Colville. From Tiger, State Route 31 continues north along the Pend Oreille to the Metaline Border Crossing into British Columbia. From their, you can take the long loop via BC6 and BC3A north to the ferry crossing over Kootenay Bay, or the short route, taking BC3 just north of the border to Creston BC and then south back into the states. Since this was a "day trip" for me, I took the shorter route, mostly.

The Pend Oreille is beautiful and I pulled over at every rest area and scenic pull-out, of which there are many. I was a little disappointed to find that I'd missed the Pend Oreille County Fair the day before, but stopped at the new Kalispel rest area. Just north of there, I joined the river road.

The drive was beautiful, spending the entire time in or on the border of the Colville National Forest. At the little crossroads of Tiger, WA20 splits off east and continues over the north pass of the Cascades. Sometime I'll take that route, too.  There's a little general store/museum at the junction as well as restrooms and a blacksmith shop. It's all staffed by a volunteer.

It might not be as Grand as the Coulee, but the Box Canyon Dam is pretty impressive nonetheless. I had to remind myself that the Pend Oreille flows north to join the Columbia in BC. I forget how incredibly long the Columbia River is and that it flows out of Canada to cut across Washington before forming part of the border with Oregon. Driving out here, I had to cross the river two or three times on U.S. Hwy 2 and it was a steep climb out of the river gorge each time. Apparently Box Canyon was a major obstacle for commerce and transportation until the railroad was built that traversed it.

Just north of Box Canyon is a large nesting area for Bald Eagles. They nest in the Cottonwoods along the river. I saw one fly into a nest across the river, but the camera isn't good enough on long distance to get the picture. I had to settle for this one of a bald camper. Eagles have a long lifespan of 35-50 years and return to the same nest year-after-year. Nests can grow to over two tons and sometimes break the trees they rest in. I also didn't realize that Bald Eagles' primary food source is fish, hence the nesting along the river.

The trip from Newport to BC is only 80 miles and took me about two-and-a-half hours, pulling over at every scenic overlook to snap more pictures. Once into Beautiful British Columbia, the scenery continued. I had a pleasant picnic beside a little creek that ran along BC3. It was a steady climb up to Kootenay Pass at 1770 meters, and then a long coast down into Creston, BC.

About ten miles out of Creston, I came to the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area and Wetlands. It was time for a long walk out along a boardwalk into the marshlands where a birding tower about three stories high gave a panoramic view of the wildlife area and marshlands. I stitched together eight photos taken from the eight sides of the tower. If you start from the left you are looking north-northeast and then progressing clockwise around the tower. As my first panorama, this didn't turn out too badly. I should talk to Rick about the stitching program he uses to improve the next one. This is the biggest picture I've posted, so you should be able to zoom in on it for a better view.

I loved this sign on the tower. Very grateful to Dr. Brown for  beginning the start of this project, but am curious as to who started the beginning.

The highlight of Creston was a cuppa joe and a sinker at Tim Horton's, the Dunkin' Donuts of Canada.

I didn't take the border loop to Porthill Border Crossing, but instead continued over to Yank, BC and picked up BC 95 to the Eastport Border Crossing. I spent the rest of my Canadian money on a bottle of wine at the duty free shop and then crossed back into Idaho. I'm stopping the log for this trip even though it was only three o'clock. This was a significant moment for me as I want to follow U.S. Hwy 95 from the Canadian Border to the Mexican Border. This marks the beginning of that trip and I'll continue it in the next post.

Day 6-9: Spring Ridge Estates

In my effort not to overwhelm the inboxes with daily updates, I completely forgot my one-week anniversary of being on the road. Ah well. How quickly we forget! Especially when I had to focus on getting some work done as soon as I got back to camp. And that's pretty much what the past four days have been like, with a small exception.

First of all, let me tell you about Spring Ridge Estates near Newport, WA. Gary and Mary Anne Chantry own this RV retirement destination. http://www.nwlands.com/id446.htm. There are about 60 lots ranging from two to ten acres each. Each has water, septic, and electric as well as a nice level RV pad. At their most basic, that's it. But Gary and Mary Anne want this to be a summer destination for retirees (purchases are for those 55 and over). So you can buy a lot for between ~$85-150k. If all you want to do is come out and park your RV for a few months, that's great. But Gary also owns a construction firm and is happy to build to suit on your property. That can be anything from a pole barn to park your RV under to a retirement home.

My hosts are Jim and Mary Noh who bought out here four years ago. They were driving their motorhome up from California each year, but this past year decided to build their dreamhome. It's really beautiful, as you can see, and that's my little trailer just to the left of the house. It's a beautiful place and Jim is doing a ton of landscaping. He says that electricity is so cheap out here that he planted grass and waters regularly. Since it is well-water and cheap to pump, he figures all is good.

It happened that Thursday was the annual community barbecue on a lot for sale just across the road. The folks were very friendly and I met many people who were full-time RVers. Some had been on the road for four, seven, and even thirteen years. Something to look forward to!

Saturday I decided to take a little drive and went to Spirit Lake, ID on my way to Spokane to do grocery shopping. This shop was the highlight of the town, though the whole little village was a treat. Lots of home-baked goodies and quite a wide selection of books. Mine wasn't on the shelf, but since the owner wasn't working at the time, I couldn't get any placed there.

After the trip across so many dirty roads on Hwy 2 and through Glacier, the truck was pretty filthy. I had to swing into a carwash in Post Falls, ID for no other reason than the Post Falls Trojans cheerleaders were holding the fund raiser. From one high school Trojan to another, right? They worked for half an hour on First Exit and even put conditioner on it. ??? I guess it's all soft and silky now.

I intentionally went through Post Falls to go to the Buck Knife factory store, but of course I failed to read the fine print that it was only open Monday-Friday, so I couldn't go in and get a great deal on a knife. I went on to Camping World and then to Trader Joe's. That was my main reason for going to Spokane for groceries. I needed coffee. I'll have to figure out how I'm dealing with that in the future. That's the last Trader Joe's headed west until Minnesota and headed south until Las Vegas. I will need coffee again in that timeframe.

I'm currently working on fine-tuning Mark Sawyer's new book layout, "The Shiva Paradox." Also writing/rewriting a piece I did in the 80s called "The Props Master." It will probably end up in my adult section. Also, probably the first of those that will make it to print after a little clean-up and judicious editing. It's an occult fantasy set in 1969. Some fun!

I've got a template to finish for a client and just received a request for a bid on a new book from a cover designer I've worked with in the past. I'm looking forward to checking out the file on that one.

But first . . . Tomorrow night I'll post about days 10-11 when I did the Selkirk Loop. I'm currently ready to go to sleep in the back of the truck at a deserted truckstop on U.S. Hwy 95 between Coeur d'Alene and Moscow. I'll let you know how I got here!

Days 4-5--Glacier and Beyond

Well, I've been mostly out of touch for the past two days as I took Q on a cross-country drive to see Glacier National Park. I drove a weeks worth plus in two days and now I'm planning to stay "home" for a few days and get some work done. But, that being said, it was a great two days. We headed out on Hwy 2 from Newport, WA to Glacier, a total of 236 miles. It took a long time. There was a fair amount of road construction going on.

This was several miles, waiting for a pilot car and then traveling at 20 mph along a dirt road as U.S. Hwy 20 is re-worked. We got out promptly at 8:00 Tuesday morning, but didn't get to Glacier until after 1:30.

We entered Glacier from the West entrance. Of course this is the peak season for traffic in the park. The one time we stopped to look at the information center, there was no parking available. We parked about half a mile away and just ran to the restrooms before joining the line of cars on Going to the Sun Highway. It was just our day for construction. Even the main road through Glacier was being resurfaced.

We got to The Loop and looked at the glaciers which are much smaller than we remembered, but we'd only ever been through on the train in the winter. We had to keep reminding ourselves that Glacier National Park isn't a park of glaciers, but of what glaciers did.

What those glaciers did was pretty amazing. The horizontal light streak in the middle is the road we came up to get to this point, about three miles from the continental divide.

At Logan Pass, we crossed the Continental Divide at 6600 feet. We had to decide whether we were going to turn around and go back through the construction to leave by the West exit or continue 25 miles to the East exit. We decided on the latter, but found there was an hour's delay going that way for construction as well.

That left us on the east side of Glacier National Park and Q's train was slated out of Whitefish, twenty miles west of Glacier. We went down U.S. Hwy 89 from Glacier to Rt. 2 at East Glacier and then headed back west, following the train tracks that she would get on in the evening. We were a little concerned that we'd be on time as we'd been caught in a pretty heavy downpour and a road that was 25 mph for 20 miles. Then just as we rolled into Whitefish, Q got a text message that the train was two hours late.

She considered just commandeering the Burlington Northern engine next to the train station, but we finally settled in to nap a while in the truck before the train finally came rolling in at 11:15 p.m. I sadly let my girl go and she headed back for Seattle. I spent the night trying to find a comfortable sleeping position in the truck. Have to work on that one. I finally got up at 7:00 and headed to the  Mystery Spot in Columbia Falls. It wasn't opened yet. Knowing what the construction on 2 was like, I decided to head south on U.S. Hwy 93 and cut back on I-90. I spent an hour or so flanking Flathead Lake. What a great way to spend the morning. With the Rockies rising across the lake with the sun, this was one of the most beautiful drives I've had.

I stopped for gas in Alberton, MT. I only mention this because this gas station had one self-serve pump. No office. No people. It was just the gas pump.

Getting back wasn't a short trip. I went through Coer d'Alene, ID and took a stroll along the beach. It was really beautiful. (And so were the bikinis.) I spotted this playground in the park, though, and remembered that M, Q, and I visited here fifteen years ago on a vacation near Sandpoint. What impressed us was that the kids of Coer d'Alene designed it. There was no one in the park when we visited (in the middle of winter) but Q had a blast. We came back inspired to give playground equipment to Aldersgate Church for the preschool. It was a warm feeling to visit the park again and see the dozens of kids running around having fun.

Well, the travelogue is over for this post. I expect I'll do much less travel over the next few days as I get caught up on my work. But I have to say how much fun I had with the darling daughter over the past four+ days. I'm so glad we had a chance to launch this adventure together. We talked a little about everything. Meaning I'd ask a question, she'd answer it, and we'd be silent for another twenty miles. It was okay, though, and we started discussing everything from why M and I were separating so I could do this to when we'd see each other again, who was important in her life, and what we were writing.

That last, I suppose, occupied more words than anything else as we discussed everything from mixing past perfect and past tense to how to occupy and claim an uninhabited island. We talked about plot, motivation, character development, and even conversations that our characters have. I explained that this was probably one of many reasons I wasn't a very good father or husband. Those conversations go on in my head all the time and I have a hard time thinking about other things, or doing anything else. While attempting to excuse me from poor fathering, Q said that she thought the trait was hereditary since that was how her head was always working as well. I think we realized we have a lot in common and we'll continue to hold that in common for years to come.

I love my daughter and my wife very much and the fact that we can't live together doesn't change that. Right now, we each have our own path to follow.

Day Three--Guess What's 30 Miles North of U.S. 2!

We were up, hitched, and rolling out of Daroga State Park at nine o'clock promptly. We got the tanks emptied before we headed out and were soon thankful we weren't carrying any extra weight. The climb out of the Columbia River Valley was arduous as we were behind a semi and the max speed reached was about 30 mph. But the views were breathtaking and the slow speed let us enjoy them that much more.

We stopped at a delightful little coffee stand in Waterville and were told the storms we experienced near the river Saturday night were nothing compared to what was up on the plateau. Winds 75 mph had downed trees and power was out for several hours. But it happened that the stand was celebrating its tenth anniversary that morning and drinks were two-for-one. There were road crews clearing some mud in places, but we saw little sign of any damage and farmers were out in the fields harvesting and baling hay.

Q and I started laughing as we crested the ridge to head back down toward the Columbia and saw the sign for Ephrata. If you listen to radio ads, you know that Ephrata is where WGU's one billboard is located. (That's an on-line university. WGU.edu.) Just beyond the junction was Coulee City. We'd had coffee and traveled an hour and a half, so we were ready for breakfast and a bathroom. Nothing in Coulee City opens before 11:00, except, perhaps, the lawyer's office. We hung around until 11:00 and had lunch at the Stampede Bar and Grill. Q declared the chicken strips to be among the top five she'd ever had. (How many has she had?)

The big discovery was that Grand Coulee Dam was just 30 miles north and the drive is one of the most beautiful in Washington. The principle of the trip is never pass up an opportunity to see something cool, so we took the detour along Banks Lake.

Gorgeous. As to Grand Coulee Dam, touted locally as the eighth wonder of the world, yeah it was cool. They say that the concrete in the dam, if made into a sidewalk, would be four feet wide, four inches thick, and circle the globe twice. For sheer beauty and magnificence, I'd take Hoover Dam, but the work was certainly impressive.

We pulled into Spring Ridge Estates at exactly five o'clock and met with owner/developer Gary Chantry.  He showed us a couple of available sites and we chose to use the RV guest pad at the home of Jim and Mary Stoll. I'm sure we'll have some stories to tell here, but this site is shaded, quiet, secure, and lovely. The trailer will stay here for a couple of weeks as I settle into the life.

Off to bed early so Q and I can drive to Glacier National Park on Tuesday.

Day Two--Exploring Wenatchee

After last night's storms, Q and I got a late start this morning. Well she did. I was up about six, made coffee, and went outside to survey the damage. Remarkable that there was little or no damage here in the park. A couple of twigs and a blown away sign, but nothing more significant. Even the tent campers seemed to come through it without any problem.

"It" what? After dinner last night the wind started to pick up and rain came. I got everything tied down and packed away, including rolling in the awning. By ten I was dozing off, but every so often the trailer would rock with the force of the wind. Then about midnight--maybe earlier as I was in and out of sleep--the thunder and lightning started. Quite a display in the sky and very noisy. A couple times our power went out (we're connected to shore power) and Q says that even the Internet went out which is dependent on cellular service. The rain pelted down. So that's what "it" was that the tent campers made it through.

I made bacon and eggs in a nest for breakfast, using the grill as a stove outside. That was only partly successful. Everything got cooked, but it uses a lot of gas to do what would take very little on the stove. I'll either cook pan things in the kitchen on the stove or pick up a small camp stove for cooking outdoors on. I went in to suggest that we go into town, only to find Q asleep again. It was 11:30 before she finally came outside again. So we headed off to explore Wenatchee. That took ten minutes.

Actually, we went to Fred Meyer where I found a hose that was safe for drinking water that I could replace my split hose with. Also picked up a small broom and a toilet brush. Gotta do some cleaning around here. We stopped at the Wenatchee Valley Mall and I picked up sheets for the guest bed that would fit. We found coffee, had lunch at a Sonic drive-in that really wasn't very good, either in service or flavor. Don't bother getting chicken at a place that specializes in burgers. Should have gone to KFC.

On the way back to camp we stopped at a couple fruit markets and got yummy peaches and nectarines. Around six I grilled a steak for myself and chicken for Q. Okay, this isn't going to be a blog about what I had to eat every night, but look at this and tell me it isn't worth the picture!

This was from Costco, but I can't wait to get some of Ava's steaks from Paradise Ranch over Labor Day.

The storms started to roll in again after dinner and I pulled in the awning and stowed everything securely. We got a little rain and a lot of wind and a little after 8:30 it all seemed to have blown over. We'll see what the day brings tomorrow.

Speaking of which, we're pulling up stakes tomorrow morning and heading East to Spring Valley RV Park. Nearly 200 miles, but I think we'll be pretty relaxed. Just have to follow the checklist!

Until then!

Day One-To Daroga State Park

Well, we shipped. We had a minor delay at T-minus fifteen minutes and held while I mopped up the gallon of water I spilled when I moved my bottle of water to the shower. Well, the floors needed to be mopped anyway and as to the rugs . . . Oh well. We finally rolled out of the drive at 10:45 a.m.

But we didn't actually leave. We stopped by Safeway downtown so M could come out and wish us a safe journey and snap our picture. Q had the brilliant idea of having me pull through the Safeway loading dock so I wouldn't have to deal with the tight quarters. Worked perfectly. That's where this first pic is taken.

We got tangled in a bit of construction when we found out I-405 is closed through Bellevue this weekend, but we got around it and managed to get to Everett where I got gas and we picked up U.S. Hwy 2 at it's western terminus. We traveled the route all day.

 Our next stop was at the 59er Diner fifteen miles east of Stevens Pass. Rick and Annie met us for a late lunch. Annie heads for Spain the first week of September. Wow! We had a great time talking and giving them the grand tour of the new home.

We pulled into Daroga State Park at exactly 5:00 p.m. The campsites here are spacious, grassy and beautiful. It took about ten minutes to get the Lance unhooked, powered, watered, and ready to go. We immediately checked email and messages!

 The first order of business was the ritual cutting of the hair. My gosh! I look more like Aldus Manutius every day. I wouldn't have needed makeup or a wig to play him today. (That's an inside story for all you former Aldus employees. We're still out there!)

Well, with the hair piled up I could try to deny that all that silver was mine, but what good would it do? We cleaned up and I unpacked my new table-top grill and made dinner. That's grilled tomatoes, chicken sausage with feta and spinach, and portabella mushrooms with sesame garlic teriyaki sauce. Good eating!

The first thing I bought for the trailer six or eight weeks ago was sheets for the spare bed. The dinette makes up into a full double bed. Cool! Unfortunately, when I made it up this evening, I discovered that I'd pulled Twin sheets off the shelf instead of doubles. This is not the first time I've pulled the wrong size at Bed Bath and Beyond. They all look the same and sit right next to each other. Geez! Q is surviving with short sheets, though and we've finally got the trailer cooled off enough that it will be comfortable sleeping tonight.

 Well, the day has been a little longer than I anticipated, but we're out here in Central Washington and are now totally relaxed. It was so wonderful to receive so many good wishes from people today. I was answering so many emails and text messages this morning that I forgot to mail the taxes. Hmm. Must mention that to M tomorrow!

See you all then!