Farming in central Washington

Wednesday morning found us on my cousins' farm near George, Washington..... yup that's right George. It's flat farm country and farming is done on a scale much larger than I'm used to in Minnesota.We parked the trailer behind the house at "Arnie's Acres" RV park.

I rode with Cousin Steve as he baled straw. The current technology is just amazing. The baler and tractor both have computers and the tractor also has a GPS. The baler knows ans displays a variety of data to the operator and alerts him to any anomaly.

We drove over to a winery/ inn on the cliff overlooking the Columbia River Gorge. You can taste local wine, eat in the grill or stay the night in the cottages. What a pretty sight just standing on the deck and looking across the river.

There was the mandatory photo as we departed this morning. We said goodbye and promised to see the cousins soon. Thanks to Arnie and Ginny for all they did for us. Off to Gig Harbor just north of Tacoma

Monday in Spokane

It's Monday and that finds us in Spokane.
We started the day by visiting the Cemetery where Sharleen's grand parents are buried. It turned out to be a disappointment since, as can be seen in the picture, the cemetery is in a sad state of disrepair and we couldn't find the grave markers for either of them. It would be a pretty place if not for the weeds and lack of lawn and flowers.

After leaving the Cemetery we drove to downtown Spokane and had a delightful time walking the river front. The Spokane river runs through downtown Spokane and includes a falls with a power generating plant. The picture at the left was taken a short walk from Nordstroms' department store!

The River front park meanders along the Spokane river and provides a beautiful and tranquil area for those folks working, living or just visiting downtown. It was truly quiet there on a Monday morning in July.

While walking in the park we came across the biggest Radio Flyer wagon I have ever seen. Look closely and you can see the children standing beside the wheel. The Tongue is a slide and the stairs are at the back. I really wanted to go up and give it a try but my better half told me to act my age and not embarrass her for once.

What do you think Ella? Pretty cool, huh?

Off to George, Washington tomorrow morning to visit a cousin and her family. More of this later in the week.

St Maries, Idaho

We traveled to Heyburn State Park about 40 miles south of Coeur d' Alene Idaho on Thursday. The park is one of the oldest parks in the Pacific Northwest at 100 years old. It's a awesome place with pine covered mountians and lakes. The trailer just fit in the camp space and we could watch the deer birds and squirrels from the back window of the trailer.

The park consists of about 6000 acres on the shores of Lake Chatcolet. Fishing was good and we caught a "mess" of Crappie from the shore.

The View from the mountian looking back at Lake Chatcolet is truly awesome !

The view of the lake just seemed to get better around each turn.

The best part of visiting the area was seeing Sharleen's Niece Robin, Great Niece Ananda and Robins' boyfriend Jerry.

Robin and Jerry took us to the cabin they are building on the top of a mountian. It's truly a "labor of love" and working in such a pretty place has got to be fun. I wouldn't get much work done because I would be constantly stopping to admire the view.

I's now Sunday afternoon and we are in Spokane at the KOA. Too bad we had to leave Heyburn but we will be back to see the loved ones and the awesome scenery.

Heading north on Wednesday

We departed Cresent Oregon today and headed for Washington. Driving up the central Oregon high desert we found spectacular views of the volcanic mountians that make up part of the Pacific ring of fire. Mounts Bachelor, the three sisters, Hood and Adams showed their snow covered peaks for most of 4 hours.

We stopped to look at the Crooked River Gourge and found a spectacular vista. The gourge is 300 feet deep with the Crooked River at the bottom. Not the Grand Canyon but a close second.

In the distance we saw the snow covered peaks of Mt Bachelor and the Three Sisters.

Tomorrow we head for the Idaho backcountry and will spend three nights at Heyburn State Park near Plummer, Idaho

Back on the web Sunday night at Spokane.

Tuesday at Crater Lake

It's Tuesday and today we got reacquainted with a old friend....Crater Lake

We first visited Crater Lake in 1971 shortly after we were married. We didn't spend much time that trip but vowed to return, So.... today we kept that promise.

Crater Lake was formed nearly 7000 years ago when Mt Mazama erupted and collapsed forming a bowl. Crater Lake is 6 miles across, nearly 2000 feet deep at it's deepest point and covers 27 square miles. It's the 7th deepest fresh water lake in the world. The rim of the crater is about 1000 feet above the lake and provides spectacular views of the lake. The lake has no inlet or outlet so the lake is replenished from the melting snow each spring. The rim drive is breathtaking with every turn better than the last. 33 miles of spectacular scenery along the rim drive provide the visitor with ever changing views of the lake.

The phantom Ship is a rock formation that sits in the lake and was formed when a smaller volcano erupted after the crater was formed. I climbed down a rocky trail to get this picture under some tree branches. Best not to look down from this point.

Crater Lake has about 500 inches of snow a year...... that's right.... over 40 feet. So here it is late July and snow is still around. Lots to slide in, throw snowballs with and just keep cool. Remember... don't eat yellow snow!

This last picture is for my girl Ella. Chipmunks are all around and come to beg for food. Pretty cool huh, Ella?

That's the day .... on the road to Pasco Washington tomorrow morning,

On the road again.

Since this is my first attempt at this (after being beaten by my lovely cousin) I really don't expect much.
We're on the road again ...this time to Oregon, Washington and Idaho. I'm going to try to post a picture or two along the way just for fun.
We traveled to Redding, Ca yesterday and this afternoon we're in Cresent, Oregon. We stopped for a little lunch at a roadside rest and took a picture of our "home on wheels".
Tomorrow we're off to Crater Lake national park ....haven't been there in 30 years.
More tomorrow if I'm not too tired.