Springtime visit with family!

I haven't been to see my family in Washington in a couple of years, and with my only remaining sister getting on in age (88), it was high time I get up there for a visit!  Jack wasn't up to taking the RV up there, so that left me with flying.  

We usually visit in the fall when it's cold, so I thought it would be nice to see it in springtime when the flowers were in bloom.  I thought May would be nice a break from here and just maybe not to rainy there.  People here leave in April to "go back home", which about 70% seem to live in Washington, so May seemed like a good time to go!  I knew I would miss the tulips in bloom (something I've always wanted to see), but hoped I would catch the daffodils (no such luck).

Being retired, I forget when holidays are, so completely forgot about Mother's Day, and booked the Tuesday after, (thinking that flying on a Tuesday would be less busy).  It wasn't until long after I had booked that someone asked me if I was going to celebrate Mother's Day with my sister?  Ugh.  I ended up calling her and telling her we would have to "do it late"! Sheesh! 

My sister now lives with her youngest son and his wife, and they gracefully made up their spare bedroom for me.  What a lovely room, I even had a mint on my pillow to greet me!

I have to say, Washington was lovely...all the flowers were in bloom, the grasses were green the trees were all in leaf, spring had absolutely come!  I even got lovely sunshine most of the days I was there, and was able to sit outside and have iced tea while enjoying the birds and butterflies fluttering by!  

Of course my sister and nieces had lots of activities planned for me.  The first being a whole family gathering at one of my niece's homes.  A wonderful casual dinner so that I could catch up with everyone and get all my missed hugs and news.  

We went to the movies, out to lunch, and to visit her friend's to see their "project".  They have been covering a tree with crochet pieces!  My sister crochets the pieces (all in different patterns and colors) and her friend Mickey puts them together and attaches them to her front yard tree trunk!  It's called "yarn bombing" and it's very popular in Tacoma.  It's really quite pretty and fun!  

We caught up on the "special occasions" of my birthday and Mother's Day by going to a really nice dinner at The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant that I have wanted to try for eons.  What a delight it was!  The service, the food, the place, everything was fantastic!  What a treat!  Way more food than we could eat...but we sure tried...the valet even gave us warm cookies as we departed, now that's service!

 We also made a trip further up north for the day to see my sister's oldest son and family.  It was a lovely drive, full of sunshine and a nice visit.  We even made time to stop and see some funky art and antique shop in Mt. Vernon on our way home! 

As with all visits, this one ended all to soon, and it was time to go home.  With promises to come again and hugs all around, I headed back on the plane (not my favorite way to travel anymore).  It may be spring in most parts of the country, but in Arizona, it's "summer" as the heat has arrived in full force...the "triple digits" as we call them, are arriving and we are in for a hot one!  Oh joy!

...kicking back in Arizona,  Marie

Hanging around...

We've been hanging around for the last couple of weeks in the small town of Warden, just outside of Moses Lake Washington.  Just killing time, over the Labor Day Holiday, visiting all the small communities around here...even learning a bit of "local farming"!

This area seems to be THE area for onions, potatoes, corn and wheat, sunflowers and then just down the road a bit you've got apples, apples and more apples!  We had fun one day just watching the tractors first digging up the onions, then the trucks hauling them from the fields over to the processing plants and dumping them and off they go again!  The smell was so strong just watching them, my eyes were watering!  What an education though!

Another day trip was over to see Palouse Falls in Franklin.  They drop 198 feet!  Even in late August they had a great deal of water, which I was delighted to see.  They are considered the "official waterfall of Washington".   Carved more than 13,000 years ago, Palouse Falls is among the last active waterfalls on the Ice Age floods path.  It was a nice trip!

We did a day's driving loop and wound up stopping at the Ginko Petrified Forest State Park in Ellensburg.  Interesting place, with a number of petrified logs on display of a variety of trees.  A nice museum with a video explaining how they get petrified (volcano & floods and centuries of time).  Pretty cool, actually.

The cutest town we visited (twice) was Ritzville.  It had a number of great old buildings for me to photograph as well as some wonderful metal sculptures that their local artist created for them.  They are intended to have historical connection to the city, its forefathers and the agricultural industry that surrounds the city.  They were pretty unique, I thought.

Plus a funny one outside an art studio!

They also had a really cool Railroad Depot Museum that not only kept many of it's own original pieces like the 1910 Ticket Office, terrazzo floors.  It also houses wonderful turn of the century artifacts and memorabilia like a horse drawn hearse, and an old sleigh, trunks, etc.  They also have a beautiful restored Northern Pacific Railway Caboose (c1970).

Our second trip to Ritzville was to attend their Wheatland Communities' Fair!  A four-day event over the Labor Day Holiday.  It's always fun to see local community fairs, and as I've shared, they are all different!  We thought, being that this was a multi-community, it could be bigger than the last one (and it charged an entrance fee), it would be bigger than the last one we went to...but, no, it was actually smaller!  Prettier setting, more spread out, in a park setting and nice metal barns, with a rodeo later in the evening (which we didn't stay for), but less to see and do.  More kid's activities tho, "good food" vs "junk food".  Far fewer entries in the Arts and Crafts section, which I was really surprised at.  We did stay and watch the the animal auction though, which was fun!  Amazing to watch young kids herding in thousand pound cows like city kids pulling on a dog.  ;-)

I loved that the judges made comments on the photo contests!

All in all, it's been a fun experience being out here in the farmland of central Washington - good for "city folk" to experience it!  Time for us to move on to Tacoma and be with family for awhile now...

...kicking back in Washington,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

That's a Wrap!

Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018!  When you camp in an area that doesn't have any WiFi service (or cable) the two pretty much merge together!  ;-)  So this "end of year blog" is a little late getting out...

Looking over our "goals" for 2017, which was pretty much to "complete our US map" and to take things a bit slower, spending more time during our travels, exploring...I think we were successful.  We checked off our last state, which was Ohio! by thoroughly enjoying that state.  We visited 6 cities/towns in Ohio, sampling their food (chili!), their attractions, and their beauty.  We never guessed Ohio could be so much fun!  We ended up spending 19 days there.

After 5 years on the road, and always visiting Texas (because it's there, and because it's where one of my son's lives) it's always a fun challenge to find a new place and/or a new route to take.  This year we managed to do both.  We also checked off another National Park to boot!  Visiting Big Bend in Texas was quite an experience, and like all of Texas, you can only get a taste of it because it's so very large!  Then later, after visiting my son, going through the Piney Woods area of Texas was such a lovely surprise.

Another state we were able to enjoy and spend some time exploring this year was Colorado.  In the past, it has only been for a few days, and only to visit our friends around the Denver area.  This time they met us in Colorado Springs for a week, but we camped several weeks before and after throughout the state as well and really got a great sense of what a beautiful state it is.  Having the opportunity to visit it in August was ideal for us, since their mountains are so high, most of the time one takes a chance of getting hit with snow or ice or road closures...but not so in August!  Yea!

I was also able to knock off a long time item off my "bucket list" this year, and that was to walk into and photograph a slot canyon in Utah.  What a wonderful experience that was!  Oftentimes something you've wished for, for years, doesn't always live up to your expectations, but this time, it exceeded it.  We ended up with a private tour because no one else had signed up for it that day, and the guide knowing my feelings, stayed longer, and took extra time showing me photo shots to take.  It was the highlight of our summer and one I will never forget!

With all that, we still managed to be at the birth of my last grandson, to get in (very) quick trips back east with family, and then the fast trip back to the west for a friend's wedding (phew!).  So no "vacation" out of the RV this year.  A longer than usual family visit in Washington...then to Arizona to "dry out".

Looking over our stats, they aren't to much different than last year actually...

We stayed at 62 campgrounds, for a total of 295 nights
Total campground fees: $10,758.63
(That averages about $36.47 a night, which is a little less than last year...maybe because we didn't stay in California very long this time)

Mileage for the RV: 12,945
Mileage for the toad: 11,823
Gasoline for the RV: $4,800
Gasoline for the toad: $1,130
Propane: $143
Maintenance & Repairs RV: 5,800(4 tires on toad, 6 tires on RV, generator exhaust, etc)

When you have a 10 year old RV, she needs a little TLC once a decade, then she's "good to go" again for awhile.  Now that that is done, we can relax a bit and see what 2018 brings us!

...kicking back in sunny Arizona,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

Fun, Family & Festivities

Every November we head to Tacoma for the month to spend with my family and to get our yearly "human & RV check-ups".  My two sisters and their families live there and our RV is registered there, so it's our "home base" so to speak.

We came early this year (in October) because my middle sister was recently diagnosed with leukemia and I wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.

We certainly had our variety of weather during the six weeks we were there!  Soon after our arrival, it snowed!  That's the first time I've seen it do that while we've visited, especially in October!  It came down all day long in big, fluffy flakes.  It had me really worried because I thought if it was snowing now, then what was the end of November, when we were scheduled to leave, going to be like?  Would we make it through the pass OK?  My worries were wasted, because just a few days later, the sun came out and we had warm, lovely weather that melted not only the snow away, but warmed everything up beautifully!  No sooner did I get used to the sunshine, then the rains came...and came...and came.  Cold, drizzling, gray days..."typical Washington weather".

What did brighten our stay, was a visit by our Canadian friends!  Sherrie & Ken drove down from Calgary for a few days.  They had never been to Tacoma, so we had a chance to share a wee bit of our favorite spots with them.  Top of the list, was Gig Harbor.  Luck was on our side, and the day we had, the sun came out in full force, making a great day along the harbor.  Lunch at Tides Tavern for fresh fish and clam chowder topped it off nicely.  All the trees were still showing off their autumn colors too, so that made a nice impression for our guests!

One of the things we do while "home" (besides all the doctor & RV appointments) is play Wahoo.  A good friend of the family brought a board that his father made, over to my oldest sister's a couple of years ago, and we play it all the time.  Last year, when Jack and I were at the campground in Surprise, he made several more boards (one for us, and a couple to share with family).  It's addicting!  Last year, at Thanksgiving, all the teens went in the back room and played video games.  This year I took one of the marble boards (knowing that one of the teens liked it) and suggested that they give it a try.  It was such a hit, they all played, taking turns, staying in the room with all of us, throughout the whole night...not a video game touched!  Ha!  Score one for "old school" fun!
cards and a marble board game called

Thanksgiving is always the highlight of our stay.  This year was going to be even better because the day before was my middle sister's 81st birthday - and her making it this far, was a double celebration for all of us!  To have all of my nieces, nephews, wives, husbands, their kids, friends, my two sisters and tons of incredible food all in a beautiful warm home for hours and to listen to fun conversation and laughter is pure heaven to me.  The only thing that would have been better would to have had my own children there as well.  We did the next best thing, and "face-timed" them on the phone.  Such a fun thing the new electronics are.  My twin sons and their families were together in New York enjoying full bellies, being three hours earlier.  They were celebrating as well, having a successful hunt the few days prior.  Unfortunately my daughter and grandson were nursing bad colds, so "celebration plans" were not on the agenda at that end.  I did see later that they were enjoying "pie" though...and that being her favorite part of Thanksgiving anyway, I'm thinking she got what she wanted after all! 

We found that we had a "hitch-hiker" that came with us...I think from Oregon on our way north, then had the run of the place while we were tucked in at my sister's for the six weeks.  We discovered the little guy when we checked in on the rig one day and saw his "droppings".  Ugh.  I had Jack go get a couple mouse traps and set them.  It looks as if it was only one, and we caught him, as I've not seen any signs since...but for only one little guy, he sure did leave a mess!  It's reminded me of the movie "Home Alone"!  While we were away, he certainly had the run of the place, and made the most of it!! Wow!  Now I have my work cut out cleaning out every-single-drawer-and-cupboard!  Ugh

We spent a couple more days visiting with my two sisters, eating wonderful leftovers, then it was time to leave and head south.  I don't blog while I'm in Tacoma...for two reasons, one the WiFi connection at my oldest sister's is almost non-existent, and two, I try and spend as much time "with" family as possible, knowing I can catch up on other stuff once I leave.

As I write this, we are "on the road" heading south as fast as we can to get to warmer weather!  Sunshine here we come!!  I've bundled up with Uggs, sweatshirts, coats, etc as much as I care to!  I'm ready to shed this heavy stuff and dig out my shorts again! 

...on the road, Marie

Crusin' thru the Cascades!

The Washington Cascade Mountains have been on my "bucket list" for quite some time, but when one only likes to traverse mountains during the summer months, it has limited us on when we can take this adventure!  There are only a few months each summer...and so many places calling us...one has to make choices!  This year, coming out of Canada when we did, it seemed like the perfect time to do it. 

The Cascades zig zag all through the state of Washington, and it's not like you can just drive from here to there in one fell swoop, oh no.  So, Jack got out his trusty yellow marker and found just about all the scenic dotted lines on the map he could find and started connecting them all!  It started looking like a loop-de-loop, but it seemed to work, and it got us around the mountains and from one end of the state to the other!  We weren't in any hurry, so it really didn't matter.  We checked with family and friends and made a couple of corrections, checked the weather, let the rain settle down one more day, then we were on our way!

I didn't make any camping reservations until we were on the road, not really knowing how long each day would take us, or how long we were going to stay.  It didn't turn out to be a problem, other than poor cell service in a lot of areas through the mountains, but even that didn't really slow us down much. 

Traffic was pretty good most of the trip, which I was surprised considering it's still "summer" and I would have thought more people would be out there getting the last of their vacation time in, but it wasn't even very busy in the tourist towns like Leavenworth. 

We had great weather too, except for some fog patches that surprised (me)!  All of a sudden we went from sun to deep fog as we climbed up and around a bend one day!  Wow, it just swooshed in on us, but thankfully it wasn't there for very many miles.  It was pretty scary tho there for a bit.  Otherwise, no rain and no cold to speak of, which I was really surprised and very happy about!  Love that sunshine!  ;-)

We certainly went up and down a lot, from down in the valleys to as high as 5890', which my head can attest to.  I had forgotten that migraines and altitude don't really do well together (for me), so that was a down-side for me this week, but worth it, anyway (I just don't think I'll be making the trip any time again soon). 

We ended our trip, coming out through the cute little town of Twisp Washington, then into Sandpoint Idaho and into Kalispell Montana where we are today.  I'll leave you with a smattering of pictures, as that's the real story...I took tons, as you can imagine, so if you want more, you know you can always find them on my flicker account!  ;-)  To really get the flavor...you should turn on a CD of nature music, you know the kind...with orchestra music and birds singing...then you will feel like you were right there with us!  ;-)  Enjoy the trip!

Skookum Falls, Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest WA

Fog!, Chinook Scenic Byway, Snoqualmie National Forest WA

Norse Peak Wilderness, Wenatchee National Forest WA

Cascade River, Wenatche National Forest, Tumwater Canyon WA

North Cascades WA

Gorge Falls, North Cascades WA

Ross Lake, North Cascades WA

 

 

 

Silver Star Mountain (8876'), North Cascades WA

 

 

 

Tower Mountain (8444'), North Cascades WA

Okanogan Forest WA

...sitting back in Montana,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

Thanksgivng Blessings...

We usually spend the month of November in Washington.  Both our toad and our rig are licensed there, and most of my family lives there.  So, once a year, we, and our vehicles all go there for "annual check-ups" and visits.  Now, November isn't the warmest of times, but, alas, that was when "everything" fell into place three years ago!

Three years ago, last December, we sold our house in record time (two weeks!), found the "perfect" RV (clear across the US) and loaded up what we didn't sell into a tiny storage unit and headed north.  Washington seemed like the perfect "home base" since we knew we would be on the road full time, and my sister was willing to be our mail person.  So, we drove up there, registered ourselves, got doctors, new licenses, etc. and celebrated!  Now, once a year, we brave the rain & cold and visit family and get rewarded with a wonderful Thanksgiving Feast for our efforts!

We started out thinking our adventure would be just for one year.  Jack was new to "camping".  Born and raised a "city boy", his idea of "camping" was "no room service" at a hotel.  I, on the other hand, love it.  This whole thing had been my idea all along, he was just "coming along for the ride...or the drive, actually, since he does the driving.  Now, this being our third full year, with no end in sight, he's the one who is still really loving it!  Probably even more than I, if truth be told!

Every year has been very different from the one before...just like life itself.  We are blessed with good health and this year I was reminded how much that matters as for the last four months I've suffered with limited use of my right arm due to some bone spurs in my shoulder.  I was thrilled that the doctor in Tacoma was able to tell me what all the pain was about and that a simple out-patient surgery will fix the problem once and for all.  I will have to come back in a few months to have it done, but that's minor, and we can go on with our journey from there, no further problems.

I also feel blessed that I have a family that allows us to travel the way we do and understands and loves us.  We don't get to see them as often as we would like.  Our children and grandchildren are spread all across the US and it's tough getting around to all of them very often and still see all the nooks and crannies of the various states, but we try as best we can, but of course, its never enough, and we miss them more than we like.

We are also blessed by the people we meet along the way.  Some are just in passing, but some we've managed to stay friends with, and that's extra special.  People like us who really get this crazy life-style of ours, who love this wonder lust.  This year, several of our friends who haven't been able to RV in a long time due to family issues, now can, are now planning on trips to either join up with us, or travel along with us.  We've always traveled alone, so we are looking forward to doing some "companion traveling" in 2015!

Doing what you love, being loved, and being healthy and happy...that's truly a blessing, ones I wish for everyone!

On the road again,  Marie

...On the road again!

The countdown to leave began.  Thanksgiving was Thursday.  The very last of the doctor re-appointments was Friday morning and by Friday afternoon we had taken two loads of "stuff" back over to the rig for reloading and reorganizing.  Phew!  It's surprising how many things wandered over to my sister's in the 6 weeks we were over there!

Friday night was the "good-bye dinner", the last of the turkey, a few more hugs with admonishments of "no tears tho".  No need to wake up extra early Saturday, because we were only going to Vancouver Washington.  So a nice breakfast, lots of hugs and kisses, and back to the rig we went!

I couldn't believe how slow I was at "remembering" to pull in the slides, to pull up the levels, at each of the steps to hook up the truck!  Jeez, 6 weeks and the brain cells went on vacation!  What used to happen without even thinking, actually took some thinking!  Tisk, tisk.  It was more than time to be on our way!!

As I've shared before, there's nothing like the feeling of getting in the passenger seat, strapping myself in, getting comfy and seeing the road ahead and the world passing by along the side, I was smiling now!  We were on our way - somewhere, it didn't really matter where!  It didn't matter that it was raining and it doesn't matter that the campground is just a pretty parking lot with gravel sites, we're traveling again!

We're in Vancouver for a couple of reasons.  We have a couple of dear, long-time friends who moved here years ago from San Diego that we see every time we pass this way.  They are special people that we don't get to see often enough.  He just retired this last May, so hopefully now they will get to travel a bit more, so that will change (their not RV'ers tho, darn).  The other, is that we are big fan's of the Powell Books in Portland, and can't be near this area without a day visit there!  If you've never been, and you love to read, you need to add this place to your "must visit" list!  One (they have at least 3 stores) store is 4 stories high, a square block full of every kind of book ever written!  Their other stores are specialties - travel, technical, etc. Way cool.  They have new & used, so you don't have to spend major dollars either.  We only carried out 6 books this time and spent less than $50.  That's really good for us!  A really nice dinner capped the day off, then back to our wonderful, cozy home for the evening.

Sunday, we ventured over to Portland's (famous) Saturday Market (yes, I know it was Sunday, but, hey, it's Portland, they can have it on Sunday too!).  What great finds we found!  So much better than buying in stores!  Those that know me, know I really don't like to shop, especially in stores, but I do like markets, or bazaars, boutiques, anything locals hand make or put together themselves.  That, I will support.  Something really special for the new baby coming in June, a incredible vest for Jack, some very unusual earrings (always can use new earrings, right?) for me, along with another knitted ear warmer (my ears get cold and I don't like to wear hats so much) and a fire starter for his cousin that he should have gotten one for every guy "on our list"!  ;-) Very fun!  A stop for pizza that turned out to be one of the best we've had in the two years we've traveled - so, again, if you are ever in Portland, stop in at Old Town Pizza!

A search for dessert led us to Voodoo Doughnuts, of course!  Our first 'go-round' we passed it up as it had a line down the block!  So, we headed out to check out one of their local gardens, Lan Su Chinese Garden.  It was just about to close, so the nice docent let me in for free!  I quickly snapped a bunch of pictures and scooted out.  Then, we headed to the "World's Smallest Park" - Mill Ends Park.  It was created by a man who gazed down on the busy Front Avenue thoroughfare.  He turned a a utility pole hole in the median strip at Taylor Street into "Mill Ends Park"!  Later it was made official.  What a hoot!

After braving the rain and the traffic, we deserved the donuts, so off we went back to Voodoo Donuts, this time, no line!  Jack was a happy man.  A great way to end the night.

Can you tell it rained all night?  Nothing "fancy"here, but, it's camping!

Only place I've seen where someone handmade a chain-mail "tie dye" shirt!

This is the elevator shaft where "Nina" went down and still "haunts" at Old Town Pizza!

Yummy Voodoo Doughnuts on the "doughnuts go-round"!

Lan Su Chinese Garden

 Mill Ends Park, Vancouver WA

...on the road in Washington & Oregon,  Marie

Day trips...

While staying in Soap Lake WA for the week, we looked around to see "what there was to do" and saw that there were a couple of day trips that looked like it would be fun to explore.

The first was town of Leavenworth.  A quaint Bavarian town that is "all decked out" for the tourists!  If you've ever visited Solvang in CA, it's very much like that.  It's loaded with wonderful shops filled with everything from apple strudel to  xylophones!  Of course there are many great restaurants to choose from as well - giving you a choice to sample traditional Bavarian food, or good ole American!  We chose French, and had a terrific meal.  I have to admit, I was more in awe of the beautiful paintings around all the windows, doors and walls.  Some with lavish murals, and plenty of fresh blooming flowers everywhere!  We managed to escape with only postcards as our purchases, quite an accomplishment I'd say!

Our next "day out" was to the town of Grand Coulee to see the Grand Coulee Dam, one that Jack had been looking forward to all along our East Washington adventure.  As I've shared before, I'm only marginally interested in the details of these types of places, but Jack, being the "guy and liking guy stuff", loves them!  I went expecting to spend a lot of the time wandering around taking pictures and people watching while he soaked in all the intricacies of "how this Dam works".

It didn't work out that way.  We first stopped at their Visitor Center where they have quite an elaborate set of displays as well as some pretty good (short) films to watch & learn the why, how & when "it" all took place.  They even had a free coloring book for kids that I picked up for my grand kids...and get this, no gift shop!   From there we got directions to a local restaurant for lunch and then to the tour loading area.

The tours are about 50 minutes long and begin at a parking lot on the other side of the Columbia River from the Visitor Center.  There, they welcome you and have you go through a metal detector and, of course, no backpacks, purses, weapons, etc.  Security guards are everywhere...watching.  Once through that, we were seated into their vans (they use buses in their high season) and off we went to the Dam!  First stop was the Pump-Generating Plant where Chris (our guide) explained "how it all works".  Because the Dam was created for the purpose of harnessing the Columbia River for use as a way to get water to the surrounding lands for farming, they only use about 1/8th it's capacity.  Even still, the power from the dam fuels the growing industries of the Northwest US.   The decision to construct an additional facility (3rd power plant) was influenced by growing energy demand, regulated river flows stipulated in the Columbia River Treaty with Canada and competition with the Soviet Union.  All in all, it's quite a structure.  From there we reboarded our vans and they drove us up to the top of the Dam.  This is something new, as they haven't done that in the past (since 9/11).  We were allowed to get out and take pictures, ask questions and enjoy the view!  It towers over 550 ft from bedrock (as high as the Washington Monument) and is 500 ft wide at the base.  Big.

They have an evening laser show using the side of the Dam as the screen.  It wasn't until 8:30pm and we were through touring the Dam, the "Sand pile" (all the sand & rock they dug out to build the Dam - quite a site in itself) and the local towns by 4:30pm and didn't really want to just hang around for 4 more hours, so skipped it, but it sounded cool.

Learning all this made the drive back to camp more meaningful as we looked out at the two lakes created by the Dam - Roosevelt and Banks, both beautiful.  Just even looking closely to the walls of the canyon were fascinating as they changed as you went around bends in the road.  Our last little stop was at Gehrke's Windmill Garden.  A whimsical display of homemade  whirligigs that one man created for his yard.  When he passed on, some of the town folks moved them all into a fenced off area next to a small park.

Great way to end the day, with a chuckle and a smile on our faces as we drove into the fading sun.

 Leavenworth WA

  Leavenworth WA

 Castle Mural, Leavenworth WA

 Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center

 Pump Generators, Grand Coulee Dam WA

 Electric Power Towers, Grand Coulee WA

 Looking down the top of the Grand Coulee Dam

 Gehrke's Windmill Garden, Grand Coulee WA

  Gehrke's Windmill Garden, Grand Coulee WA

...kicking back in Washington,  Marie