Travel Log Pacific NW (Mount Vernon, WA)

Rest stop in Colorado

A lot of miles traveled and a lot has happened since our last blog.  We made it to Washington State in one piece, but not without adventures.  We would have posted earlier, but our WiFi has been weak.  We are happy to say that we are connected once again.....well, sort of.  It is still slow, but the campground's lodge WiFi is decent for bulk software updates.

Back to our cross-country travel:   We managed to miss the worst flooding and hail storms in Texas by a couple of weeks.  We kept our visit short with our daughter in OK to get to Spokane WA to see Dan's ailing parents.

We enjoyed a great meal and an interesting one night stay at Terry Bison Ranch in Wyoming.  So many animals to see and not all of them are the typical ranch animal.  A great place for families to visit.

'Give us a kiss!' - Terry Bison Ranch

The next day, our luck with decent early spring weather ended when we ran into heavy snow fall and closed roads while still in Wyoming.  The following morning looked quite a bit better and we left with hopes of finishing our trip to Spokane uneventfully.

Kaycee, WY

But uneventful - NOT!  The motorhome had a few problems. Two major ones were the exhaust brake was not working and a hose burst to our air system which is used for suspension and brakes. Dan was able to fix the exhaust brake problem. The air line leak was more major and we were lucky the line burst while we were parked at a truck stop. Dan called it our lucky breakdown because if it had happened on the mountain passes in a construction zone we would have been blocking the pass for hours (as the rear brakes lock when air pressure is lost). When air does not build up, the motorhome does not move. Dan was able to get a mobile RV/Truck service to source and replace the burst hose within a couple of hours.

Good Morning Colorado!
Lowered our blood pressure with this peaceful view for a few days.

We made good time through the rest of the states and spent a couple of weeks visiting Dan's family in Spokane.  When we left, we knew it would be the last time we would talk to Dan's Mom.  She passed away during the night on 3 July.  

Vivien Weaver May 1927 - July 2016

She will be missed not only by family, but by a great many Wenatchee HS graduates from her 19 years of service in our high school's Social Studies and English Resource Center along with coaching and taking the Knowledge Bowl and Academic Decathlon teams to State Competitions.

Weavers 1995

 After our goodbyes, we moved on to Crescent Bar in central Washington.

We were finally able to enjoy some sunshine since leaving Florida.  A little dry, but a pleasant change from a winter of humidity.

 We visited our old homes in Wenatchee and in Manson.  Wenatchee has changed and grown so big that the roads can no longer keep up with the traffic.

Lake Chelan, Manson, WA

 Manson, on the other hand, has done some growing, but not to the point that it has ruined the small lakeside town feel.

Manson's old library

We drove over the North Cascades highway to Concrete, WA.  The views never gets tiresome.  Of course, we have only gone through this pass a few times.

The road is a little narrow for our extra wide motorhome, but the views are spectacular.

The cats agreed that the campground in Concrete was wonderful with plenty of trees to climb, grass to roll in, and bushes to explore.

Hitch surveying his new surroundings.

They were in kitty heaven!  They actually protested when they realized we were getting ready to move.  Squirrel, Dusty, and Max all sat at the door howling as we packed.

Max and Squirrel relaxing in the shade.

We could not blame them.  We also enjoyed our time in Concrete filled with friendly people, good food, and very scenic surroundings.

Concrete named after the business the town produced

Since June, we have been bouncing around the Thousand Trails campground system in the Puget Sound area.  After Concrete, we moved to Blaine 

Across Blaine's marina, we can see Canada

Blaine

to La Conner

to Mount Vernon, and now we are back in Blaine for the next three weeks.  It is great to be back.   To be able to visit our favorite spots, to catch up with friends we have not heard from in years, and to visit with family as well.  It does feel like coming home. We were able to get together with Sandy's brother Steve and his wife Deb while our son Shaun was staying with us during the 4th of July weekend.

Shaun and Dan enjoying the view in Washington Park, Anacortes

One thing that is different for us is the legalization of recreational marijuana, but we are getting use to seeing the Marijuana shops throughout the state and smelling the smoke once in awhile.  (No, we are not partaking).

Blaine WA

Well, the sun is out and it is calling to us.  It is going to be a perfect day of 75 degrees and we should not waste a minute of it.  Until next time....

Happy Trails!

Catching Up

We made it to Albuquerque and got our green chile, breakfast burritos fix. But before we got to Albuquerque, we spent a few nights at Mesa Verde National Park. We toured all three cliff dwellings: Balcony House, Cliff Palace, and Long House. All were very interesting to see and to hear what the rangers said about all of them. We enjoyed our stay at the NP campground during the three days. It was hot and muggy – thanks to the monsoon season. During our tour of the Balcony House, a waterfall started cascading down the cliff near the dwelling. We were happy to be under the cliff safe and dry. You know what they say about your home: Location, location, location – and this was a very good location.

Once in Albuquerque, we had our car detailed, waxed, and interior cleaned. The poor car was so dirty from being towed; the carwash put our car through twice before waxing it! Dan also replaced a driving light taken out by a rock and had new tires and  brake pads put on the car. The car is back to looking good! Well, for a little while….

We spent some time catching up on the latest with our son, Shaun. Some of our cats actually remembered him. We then split up so we could visit our friends in the area. It was great seeing our friends again. We missed a few of our friends so we are hoping to see them the next time we are in town. Yea, we don’t have any idea when that will be, but we promise to let you know in advance.

Sandy spent Saturday at Project Linus. She had a great time visiting with all the Material Girls and participating in the Show-n-tell. There were a lot of beautiful quilts for personal use as well as for Project Linus.

After Albuquerque, we went to Lawton to see Misty and our grand-daughters. Both Bry and Vi are becoming beautiful young ladies. Both have a great sense of humor and we had lots of fun with all three. We decided to try the Ft. Sill military family campground next to Lake Elmer Thomas. Other than the fact that it was in the high 90s most of the time we were there, it was a very nice campground. Misty and the girls came to our place on Saturday for lunch and a day at the lake beach.

We are now in Weatherford, TX, parked next to Ernie and Brenda Ekbergs house. Our friend, Ernie is replacing all of our motorhome’s flooring. All the carpet and tile will be replaced by engineered bamboo flooring, with new carpet in the drivers cockpit and around the bed verticle surfaces in the bedroom.

Just a quick note:  Sandy had a request from White Sulphur Springs.  They asked to use one of her photos on their home page.  She is very excited about having one of her pictures published from one of our Webshot albums.