HOME

Today is Sunday and we are home. It feels good to be back. Yesterday we drove/rode down the Oregon coast and were met by a group of family and friends. It was nice to see them all again. We had a nice picnic. Then Paul and I came on home while the kids played at the beach. We found everything at home to be satisfactory. I thought I had left my fridge clean but had to do a little work on that and the toliets were gross from just sitting there so long. Christian and family and Jean and family came back from the coast and had a nice dinner with us, thanks to Yumi and Jean. It sure was nice that they took that project on. On monday I guess I will need to restock my pantry and fridge. It has been a good trip but for now we are glad to be home. This conpletes my blog. I'm so glad we were able to do this and appreciate all the good vibes from any of you following this. Adios

Newport

Well today didn't turn out quite like we expected. The roads that Paul wanted to take out to the Capes were closed because of road slides or road work. I didn't make it to the aquarium and we found an rv park to camp in. The day started out foggy but as time went on it cleared off and left a beautiful blue sky. There is quite a breeze here in Newport so it is chilly. This rv park is very close to the aquarium and we took a walk and looked in some of the shops close by. Didn't find anything we can't do without. I stopped at a fruit stand along the way and got a couple of ears of corn to go with our dinner tonight. I hope we get the chance to walk over to the water after dinner. Who knows, maybe we will have a nice sunset Hoime tomorrow!!.

Tillamook

What a pleasant day today has been. The sun has been shining and the drive down 101 is beautiful. We stopped at the Tillamook cheese factory and had an ice cream and I bought some squeeky cheese. Tomorrow Paul is planning on leaving early so he can ride the three capes. I don't have a place to camp for tomorrow night so we may just find someplace to park for the night. I think I will go to the Newport Aquarium for part of the day. We are very excited about getting home on Saturday.

Seaside Or

Yahoo!! We are back in Oregon. This morning I stopped at Long Beach, Wa where they are having a kite festival all this week. It was pretty cool to see so many kites in the sky. Paul was riding his bike so I was by myself and had a great time shopping. I bought some fudge, chocolate mint and key lime, yum. They had lots of venders and it was fun to see what they were selling. Then I traveled on to Astoria and down to Seaside. That bridge across the Columbia is quite a bridge and I must admit that big climb at the end was unnerving. It was great to see the welcome to Oregon sign. After we got set up at camp we went into Seaside and washed the truck. It was unbelievabley dirty. Then we took a walk on the beach. There were a lot of people on the beach but the temperature was kind of chilly. It sure is good to be back in Oregon.

South Bend WA

This morning dawned cool and calm. I looked out at the water on Hood Canal and it was like a mirror until a boat went by and sent ripples out on the water. It sure was pretty with all the trees etc reflected in the water. Now we are on 101 and headed south. Tomorrow we will be back in good ol' Oregon. I guess Washington has not had much summer this year. We heard that one newpaper had a headline that they had only had 72 minutes of summer or something like that. The news last night said they had only had 5 days when the temps reached 80 degrees. I am actually enjoying the cooler weather. This morning when we got up we could see our breath and even now I am wearing my flannel shirt.

Twanoh State Park

I can't believe we are in our final week. This morning we made another brief stop at Les Schwab's. I have been worried about my brakes but have been reassured that they are working fine. That is good because I still have a few miles to go. Today we are camped on the Hood Canal. I took a walk down along the water and there are many clam shells. There are signs that say to cook all shellfish from this beach to kill bacteria before eating. The campground here is beautiful with tall trees and that wonderful northwest feel to it. The weather is cool and pleasant. I have been sitting out reading my book this afternoon. Five more travel days to go.

Port Townsend

 Today is Sunday and we are in Port Townsend. This morning we attended church and had nice services. We met a nice couple from St George Utah that are in this area spending some of the hot months up here in the cool states. As soon as we came over the mountains the temperature changed to a maritime climate. The forcast calls for rain today but so far it has not. Yesterday we drove through Oak Harbor and Deception Pass and the traffic was heavy. Probably a Saturday in Aug. was not the best time for that drive. Tonight we are staying at someones house that we contacted through warm showers. It is very nice to have these people open their homes to us while we are traveling. Tomorrow we are taking the trailer into Les Schwab again because it is squeaking so much that I am nervous about driving it home this way. That will slow down our drive tomorrow. Hopefully it will not take too long. It is getting hard to believe that by next week at this time we will be home. We are meeting some of our kids at Florence by the welcome to Florence sign on Hwy 126 before it hits 101 at 1:00. We have visited with each of our kids except Aaron in the last few days. What a great time to be traveling, when we can still stay in touch with our loved ones.

Okakagan to Sedro Woolley

The last few days we have been in an area without internet reception. We are finally through the North Cascades. I must admit when we got into camp last night at Diablo Lake I had to let out a whoop. The is the last of the mountains we had to cross. The North CAscades are beautiful and rugged mountains. Yesterday after we arrived in camp we took a little hike up to an overlook where we could see snow camped peaks and Diablo Lake beneath us. The water in this lake is a very different color from the glacial flour the comes down from the mountains and is suspended in the water.   It is quite green but not swamp green. Paul lhas some pictures in his journal. Last night we went to a ranger pregram on how everything is I will sign off.

Okanogan

One more day closer to home. This morning's pass was not bad. We were already at about 2000 ft so we only had about 2,000 more to go to get over the pass. It seemed like we came down forever so tomorrow we will have a good climb to get back up to 4,000. After that there is only one more pass for the next day. Today it was quite warm, upper 80's and summy all day. I have to remenber it is August. I suppose that after these mountains we shouldn't have much more heat I would expect. Tonight is a nice evening so I think Paul and I are going to take a little stroll around the Okanogan Fairground where we are camped tonight.

Republic Wa

One more pass completed. Today it was Sherman Pass at 5,500. The road was under construction for part of the way and they were putting down gravel so that was dusty and messy. I worry about Paul when the roads have gravel on them because it is so much less safe. Saturday when I was coming down that days pass my breaks felt grabby so this morning we had to take the trailer to Les Schwab to have them adusted. He said one of them (on the trailer) was not working at all and the other one had a piece of metal that was rubbing. I must admit that I felt better driving over the passes with my breaks working well. We have been working on getting our last few weeks of camping spots lined up. I think we have them all except for 2 nights. This afternooon was very pleasant. There was a nice breeze that kept the bugs down and the temperature down as well. Paul and I sat under the tree at this campground and read for a while. Very nice. We are camped at a county fairground again and will be tomorrow as well. Last night I didn't sleep well so I think we are going to hit the hay soon. 

Colville

Today is Sunday so we are still in Colville. Lastr night we walked over to the park where they were having a local festival. They had vendors and outdoor entertainment. The preforming group was Irish. They sang and there was a group of dancers that preformed with them. It was very pleasant sitting in the shade and listening to the music. Today we attended church and then went to the park and watched one of the ballgames that the kids were playing. We found a shady spot so that was nice. We didn't stay for the whole game but when we left the Colville Allstars were in the lead at 3-12 against the Kalispell Allstars. It brought back memories off watcing our kids play ball. The weekend was a nice diversion from our trip. I have been looking at the maps and I guess we have 4 passes to cross this week. I am a little nervous about them. Once that is done it will feel like clear sailing to go home. We should be in our own ward 2 weeks from today.

Colville WA

Today we went over the first of three passes we have to cross here in Washington. The pass today was at the ski resort 49 degrees. I assume it is because it is 49 degrees north of the Equator. The pass was a little over 4,000 feet so it was not the biggest we have to climb but it still was a climb. Now we are camped in the Stevens County Fairground RV Park. So many of the places we have been have had camping in the fairgrounds, something I had never heard of in Oregon. This place is full because they have a big Little League tournament going on for the end of the baseball season. Maybe we will get to watch one of their games. Today is warm, about 90 degrees but there is a breeze and that helps. We also have electric hookups at this site so we have AC. We have been to the coin laundry so we have our clothes washed for the coming week. Two weeks from today we plan on being home so we only have one more laundromat experience next week before we will be home. Are we starting to sound anxious to be home? We are looking forward to it.

Pend Oreille River

Tonight we are camped along the Pend Oreille River. When we arrived here all the campgrounds were full because they are having hydroplane boat races here this weekend. The Rotary lets people camp here for special events so we are camped at a Rotary building and actually we are in a field, not a campground, We have been sitting outside this afternoon enjoying the day with a nice breeze but the breeze has stopped and now the mosquetoes are out. I just moved inside. I am reading Undaunted Courage about the Lewis and and Clark expedition and they mention how many different ways they spelled mosquetoes so if I get the spelling wrong on that at least I am in good company. This part of the country is very pretty with clear lakes and rivers. they sure are nice to see.

Hope Idaho

We are camped along Lake Pend Orelle in Idaho now. It is nice to finally be done with Montana. It is a long state and felt like it took a long time to cross it. We have been traveling through hills and along rivers and lakes the last few days and I have enjoyed seeing the landscape. This lake is very clear and we can see tiny fishes swimming in it. I wish Fern Ridge was so clean and clear. Paul and I met up in Clark Fork for ice cream today and we had a fresh huckleberry sundae. I had never had huclekberries before and it sure was good. We are camped in a forest service campground and when we pulled in there was a sign saying it was full but we managed to find a spot and it is very pleasant though a little warm without AC. There are many deer here and they seem to be quite tame. There is even a sign that says don't feed the deer. That's the first time I've ever seen that one. When we walked down to the lake we saw a deer trying to get food from a campground. It looked like it was just about sticking it's head in a grocery sack. We had one visit our camp and Paul took it's picture. Tomorrow we will go into Washington.

Libby MT

Today our journey took us along the shore of Lake Koocanusa. It is a very long lake and very pretty with trees all around it. It is impounded by Libby Dam. I must admit that driving along the lake with all the ups and downs was not real comfortable for me but fortunately the traffic was light so I could take it at my own pace. The river that flows out of it is Kootenai River. We are camped in an RV park tonight and it is very welcome because the day is quite warm, low 90's so the air conditioner feels real good. When we got to camp we walked to the grocery store and got some vegetables to go with our little steak that Paul cooked for dinner. It was pretty warm but it felt good to get out and walk a bit. We have been able to flush out our water system here and it really needed it. Our water was getting a little green so I put some bleach in it and we were able to flush it all out and put fresh water in it. Last night in Montana.

Eureka Montana

We are still in Montana. I guess we have one more night after tonight. We are camped in a city park and it has been a nice place to camp. The breeze has been strong enough to keep the bugs down pretty good.and we have been sitting under the trees and enoying watching the river flow by. This park and the river seem to get a lot of use. There have been kids playing on the bank and floating down on inner tubes and having lunch etc. The clouds have moved in and it looks like it could rain tonight. The forcast calls for a chance of showers. The country has changed again and we are in forested country and rolling hills instead of plains. This has been one of the few places we have been able to enjoy sitting outside for a while.

Glacier

Today was Glacier National Park day for us. We took one of the famous red buses up to Logan Pass on The Going to the Sun Road. To say it was awesome is an understatement. The drive is up a very winding road that goes up and up and when you get to the top the views are great. We saw mountain goats and bighorn sheep. They are doing some construction on the road but it is still open and they work around the traffic or the traffic works around them. Did I mention the views are fantastic? There is still snow up there and we walked in it for a few steps. I guess the road has only been open for 2 1/2 weeks so far this summer. Then after our tour up there we went on a tour boat ride on Lake Mc Donald. That was very relaxing and beautiful. Then we went to dinner. Now we are regrouping and getting ready to be back on the road tomorrow. We have had a short stay in Glacier but a good one. Definately someplace we should come back to again.