Our time with the girls and their families was such a delight! We're so proud of our family and how they support one another.....

Our stay in Pt. Ludlow was great. It was nice to have hook-ups, park in the shade and meet new people.The family reunion was across Hood Canal on the Kitsap Peninsula. It was a Saturday, and the traffic headed the opposite direction was lined with cars for over two miles! Reason #458 NOT to ever return to live on the west side of the state! The reunion was held in a park on Hood Canal, and the grand- and great-grandkids and I had fun beach-combing, while the girls, their dad and Uncle Paul went through old family photos Paul had brought. It was a relaxing day and a great opportunity to catch up with those loved ones we don't get to see often enough.

 We returned to park at grandson, Alex's house, where he and his family made us feel so welcome! Rachel, the kids and I went to a park on Puget Sound not far from the house that used to be the site of a gravel pit and has remnants of the gargantuan structures now inhabited by ospreys and adventurous children! Another day of beach-combing, too!

After spending a few more treasured days with our loved ones on the west side, we pointed back towards home for the final pack-up. On our way home, we stopped in Spokane to get the oil changed in the motor home and car. As Fritz pulled the motor home into place, the attendant was standing near the right front tire. The m/home rolled to a stop and there, on the top embedded in the (new!) tire was a medium-sized bolt! Yikes! They were able to extract the bolt, which thankfully didn't penetrate deeply enough to weaken the tire. If it had, we would have had to replace that new $600 tire. Thank GOD that this was caught by the attendant, didn't penetrate so we avoided a blow-out going 65 mph over the pass and lose a steering tire on our 26,000 lb vehicle!

Finally, we hit the road. I have to admit, I had mixed feelings and tears in my eyes. Call me crazy, but the thought of leaving my home, my local family and my friends for eight months makes me sad! If it weren't for the anticipation of seeing more far-flung family and making new friends, I might never leave!

We arrived in Kennewick where we have been enjoying the hospitality of my sister, Carol, her husband, Skip, and hanging out with my 91-year old mom (who, by the way, beat both Carol and I at Scrabble today!!!).

Tuesday, we head for Oregon and actually begin the trip. This may seem odd, but it wasn't until I gave mom her copy of a route map Fritz had made that I discovered exactly where we're going and what we're going to see! I leave all the planning up to Fritz, throwing in a request here and there, and he does a mighty fine job of coming up with a great plan. I'm going to see if I can get it copied, scanned and uploaded so you all can see our planned path. If not, you'll just be stuck reading the blog to find out where we're going next! ;-)

Til next time.....

SAYING GOODBYE!

There comes a point where you just have to stop packing and preparing and go with what you've got, and we hit that point Monday morning, August 11th (2014).  Part of the delay is caused by me preparing both for our short-term trip to Tacoma and, at the same time, taking care of some of the packing for our long-term trip. What to take and what to leave behind? Always a source of consternation for me, so I pack up bags and bags of 'stuff' and haul it to the motorhome wondering where I'll fit everything. After putting it all away, I realize I still have quite a bit of room left, so I go back for more.....

So we headed west a little later than we had intended Monday morning. Fritz was kicking himself for not previously checking out the gate and, upon attempting to close it, found that guests had taken up residence in one of the posts....the stinging kind of guests!  He had to gingerly close the gate while attempting to avoid the increasingly agitated yellow jackets and was praising God it was still a little cool for them to have the energy to attack with a vengeance!

We decided to avoid Spokane and took the northern route; Highway 2 to Coulee City. It was so hot, and smokey from all the wildfires, I could barely breathe! (Oh, did I fail to mention our dash air conditioner never really has worked?)  I should have taken pictures, but all you would have seen would have been a grey/brown deep haze over everything.  This route is a little slower than I-90, and it was getting hotter and hotter.  We were aiming for some relief from both the smoke and the heat by heading for a higher and more westerly elevation to stop for lunch.  We finally stopped east of Ellensburg and found no relief from either.  It was 97 outside and 92 inside!  Ugh!  Made me crabby, so we turned on the generator and ran one air conditioner to cool it down into the 80s inside, which made for a nice reprieve and comfortable lunch. 

After a short nap, we resumed our westward trek and encountered a first in Fritz's lifetime: the temperature on top of Snoqualmie Pass was a blistering 95 degrees!  This, at an elevation of over 3,000 feet!  The heat pursued us all the way to Tacoma where, upon arrival some 10 hours after departure, the temperature was still in the 90's.  We ran the generator to cool things down a bit inside, but relief eventually came by bedtime in the form of a thunderstorm and cooling rain. Ahhhh..... I haven't been this happy to see rain in a long time!

We are enjoying the daughters and their families immensely.  It's been too long since we've been able to hang out with them!  This in spite of the fact we are discovering more 'aging-motorhome-issues' for Fritz to address before our big trip.

Tomorrow we leave for Pt. Ludlow and a weekend of catching up with extended family at the Johnson-Cannon-Cramer family reunion. It will be so good to see everyone!  Next week, we return to Tacoma for a few days of final farewells before heading back home Thursday. The final pack-up will go pretty smoothly as we have already accomplished much on our lists.  Woo-hoo, and eastward bound!