Dug Out, Melted, Gone

Well, we survived the Mondo Winter Storm Events in good order. Other people around Western Washington were not so lucky and loads of trees fell, closing roads and squashing homes, people, cars, and power lines. People got chased away and warned away for sledding down Queen Anne Hill. Big fines for sledding on city hills. Most of them didn't have sleds and the sled-substitutes were fun to see, but I do agree it's dangerous. In other places when there are snow warnings, people stock up on milk, bread and toilet paper, blankets and space heaters. Around here, it's huumus and salsa. Truly. It was in the Sunday paper. Ron Judd's "The Wrap".

There are still some people without power, and I am so sorry for them. It's been so cold.

It is warming up now and the snow in our yard is 99.9% gone. Unfortunately, it got cold enough to cause black ice from all the melt water runoff and even our neighbor got caught by ice this am. She escaped without injury to herself or her car, but she sure got a heart rate boost out of spinning thru an intersection. Yike!

Today has been sunny and in the mid 40s and so that's a treat for January. Norman has spent all day outside soaking up the sun. On the deck, as he does not like laying around in wet grass. He's a sensible dog and sticks to the nice dry deck.

Our downspouts froze solid and that was interesting when the rain came along. Poor ol' Ray's gloves got full of ice water before the job of clearing ice cores out of the downspouts was done. What a mess!

We're still trying to find a place to store the mh in a secure place. We don't want it in the driveway to suffer the fate of another mh we saw up at the dealership. (extreme vandalism costing the owner $70,000 to repair--and the mh was parked next to the owner's home) Better to have it inside a nice tall fence and patrolled. Golly people want a lot of money for a secure mh parking spot.

On MLK weekend we went out to Pacific Beach with Brett and Alayne. We had good times in spite of Alayne having a migrane all weekend. She was such a trooper and still played games. Brett once again, cooked and It Was Good. It snowed several inches on Friday night, and that snow stayed all weekend. If we'd planned on staying over Monday night, we would not have gotten home until the next Friday or Saturday because that's how long it would have taken to get the roads in between Pac Beach and home cleared out. That would have been fun! But then Ray would have spent vacation days on snow days that the office was closed, so I guess it's ok we came home. We were in the house all week anyway. Ray got cabin fever, I did not.

Justin has a permanent job at PSE that he starts on the 25th! Yay, Justin! I am sure it's a huge relief for him. It was for his father and I.

Relaxation

means you are so relaxed and enjoying sitting in the sun so much that you don't blog for 2 days! We had a grand time in Verde Valley, just sitting in the afternoon sun and enjoying the breeze. Norman seemed to enjoy it too. We fixed all our meals in the motor home as we were waaay out in the country, but that was ok. Ray helped by drying the dishes which was much appreciated by the cook/dishwasher.

We had some shade from a kind of tree unfamiliar to me. It had sort of maple-shaped small to medium sized leaves and white thin bark that flaked off the tree. There were quite a few of those trees on the lower rows where we chose to park. We saw bunnies one day, but luckily Norman didn't. He behaves so well away from home that it's hard to believe he's the same dog we live with day to day. We should stay on the road.

One night it got down to 37 in the motorhome because we forgot to turn on the furnace when we went to bed and brrrrrr! I don't know about Norman, but MY nose was cold! Lucky for me, Ray woke up first and turned on the heat! We didn't know it got so cold in Arizona. It frosted the three nights we spent at Verde Valley. But it warmed up so nicely it was worth freezing.

Today we passed an area named Fort Rock, in Arizona close to the border with California. Those were stacked rocks, like on the train ride at Disneyland. But even bigger. The formation went on for miles on both sides of the freeway. Fascinating!

We saw a sign on highway 89 that said, "Coyote Wash" and I wish I could have taken a picture for my brother in law Ron. He'd have done something funny with that picture, I just know it. Sorry, Ron! Maybe next time. Ron didn't tell me that they washed the coyotes down here. (yeah, I know what a wash is. That was a joke, people)

At the California border crossing there is always an obligatory fruit and vegetable checkpoint and today on I-40 was no exception. We were forced to declare that the entire motor home contained no fruits and veggies unless they wanted to count potato chips. Disgraceful, eh?


But, we had stopped at Subway for lunch at a truck stop and so we did actually eat something moderately healthy and vegetable containing. Yay, us! And thank you, Robin, for the Subway cards! We got our sandwiches to go and ate in the motorhome. It was much quieter than in the busy restaurant. And we kept Norm company. Poor thing suffers from separation anxiety and moreover, hates to miss out on good food.


Immediately after leaving vegetable check, the road went to pot in a big way. And after we bounced, rattled and jerked along the badly deteriorated highway for about 5 miles, we came upon a sign announcing "Rough Road". Ha. Too late. Although Ray says the sign should say, "Rough Road Throughout Entire State".

We had a short day today, only getting as far as Needless, I mean Needles, CA. We're at a very nice RV Park called Desert View. It's manicured to within an inch of it's life and every site is level and well-gravelled and had a nice big concrete patio. All the roads are concrete. All the amenities are here even wireless in the rv. We are actually on part of Historic Route 66! The mother road!

Ray and Norm sat outside while I fixed dinner. It was a new recipe from the convection oven book, Tamale Casserole. It has potential, for sure, but tasted fine to hungry people. And we have enough to have dinner tomorrow. Everyone is very friendly here and about talks your ears off. Everyone else is here for the winter. There are only 2 spots for overnighters right now. I am glad we made reservations.

Tomorrow we are going as far as Santa Nella on I-5. We will be spending our first night with the big trucks at a truck stop. No hookups and no unfurling our wings. If we don't get our undies out of the drawers tomorrow morning, there will be no clean undies the next day. Got to plan ahead in these motorhomes! We may or may not have wifi tomorrow night, it all depends on the truck stop. But we will be getting in late and leaving early and we have ear plugs so I think we'll do ok sleeping. Norm may have a rough night, as we have no dog ear plugs. Do they make those?

So if you don't hear from us tomorrow night, don't worry. We're fine, just roughing it in our squeezed in motorhome.

At Last! A License Plate!

We finally got the final paperwork from McMahon's RV in Colton, CA. Do not go there unless you are prepared to nag, nag, nag for an end to the paperwork stoppage. 2 months from the day we signed the purchase papers (many of them) we finally got what we needed to license our motor home.

However, so far, we love Roy Robinson Chevy & RV up in Marysville, WA. The service department has been wonderful and treated us so well. Our motor home is fully checked out and ready to go!

We love our Winnebago! I bet we're going to love it more once we get out on our very first trip. Ray is taking tomorrow off so we can pack up all the things we think we'll need to take with us. Well, ok. We'll pack up all the junk Ray thinks we'll need. Poor motor home will probably be squatting by the time he's stuffed in an entire garagefull of tools that he'll never touch. (I hope we don't need any of them) Ray was a Scout and he loves to be prepared for anything. We still have a few things to pick up for the trip, don't quite know when we'll squeeze that in.

Ah! It occurs to me that we have not named the motor home yet! It's a Winnebago SightSeer, hmm. Winnie is obvious. Something less obvious? We could call her IOCC short for Icon of Conspicuous Consumption. There is something slightly embarrassing about roaming around in a semi-giant, lane-hogging, gas-guzzling motor home after all.

So tomorrow is packing day! Saturday morning way too early for me, we leave. Our destination Saturday night is Seven Feathers RV Resort in Canyonville, Oregon. It looks to be a very swank place. They even have 4 off leash dog parks! Norman is going to love it.

Keep tuned for the further road-worthy adventures of Susan, Ray and Norman. Hopefully, not in the rain.

Motorscicles Into the Teeth of the Wind and Rain

Oh, golly, was it cold yesterday. The thermometer on Ray's bike read 48 when we left Grand Island and soon dropped to 41 degrees where it stayed until about a half hour out of Alliance when it raised up to 44, Nebraska and our next motel.

It rained almost all the way. Not hard, just omnipresent. The wind was gusty and cold. The clouds were low and dark and the day was completely wretched and gloomy. Gas stations on Highway 2 in NE are not what you could call numerous. They're spaced about 70 miles apart, so we had to ride that long before we could warm up.

We stopped along the way and put vinyl gloves on over our glove liners and under the gloves. My gloves and Ray's were saturated by the time we reached the first gas station. I bought a pair of heavy men's winter gloves. The fingers were way too long, but they were warm and above all else, dry. Ray bought a pair of heavy cotton liners, and our fingers barely avoided frostbite. My fingers got so cold in between stations that they hurt.

At our first station we both had big hot chocolates to warm us up. At the second, we had hot chocolate and gas station food. I could not recommend the fried chicken, but it was a 3 piece serving and Ray was filled up with the thigh and leg and I by the breast. The onion rings were less than appetizing. Both had, however, the much appreciated benefit of being hot. We lingered there a fair time until we had to get back out and face the weather. At the third, it was more hot chocolate, and I'm glad they all had it, but I was totally prepared to drink gallons of decaf coffee and plead medical emergency, just to get something warm in me. People from cars felt sorry for us out in that raw weather and didn't hesitate to say so.

The route is one of Nebraska's scenic drives and winds it's way thru the Sandhills area. It was beautiful we think, but honestly we only noticed the landscape particularly once when it wasn't raining and Ray commented that it looked like a scene out of Dances With Wolves. And it did, with Angus cattle standing in for buffalo. There are unfortunately no pictures, partly because we didn't want to risk the camera getting soaked and partly because Ray didn't think it was worth taking off all his gloves and partly because we were so cold we didn't want to spend one extra minute on that road. I bet today it is totally beautiful out there. It's still very green in Nebraska, one of the few years it's stayed green all summer and into fall, the natives tell us. There are supposedly lots of wildlife out in those plains but we could not testify to that as any animal with any sense was tucked away out of the rain.

I have never been so cold in my life. I think I had totally used up my ability to make my own heat. The only warm spot in my entire body was right were the hot chocolate sat in my tummy. About a half hour after we got warmed up the shivers would start again. You know you are cold when your helmeted head shivers too. All the vents on our helmets were closed, our rain suits buttoned up to our necks, rain boots on. We did everything we could do, but it was still TOO cold. Yeah, I know you guys think I'm just always saying that, but for yesterday, it really was true. It was a horrible day and I will never, ever ride in 41 degrees wearing only summer clothing. Nope. Don't ask me to do it, I will turn you down. In fact, I am not sure I'd do it even if I had a heated suit, gloves, boots and bottom warmer.

I turned the heat up in our lovely room and we both took hot showers. We dashed across the parking lot to the Arby's for supper. We had not thought we were in the mood for Arby's but it hit the spot and was just the right size for our supper. After that, we didn't do much and fell into bed about 10. I still felt chilled.

Today dawned cloudy but not too cold. We woke up in time to go to church. There were 13 people in Sunday School and 4 of us were visitors. There were 7 ladies in Relief Society and 2 of us were visitors. The Relief Society President is also the RS pianist. They have a nice little building with room to grow some, 18 benches in the chapel and not one was full. When we came out after meeting, the clouds had cleared and it was a wonderful day. We came back to the motel (went over to church in the sidecar...no ladylike way to get in OR out) changed our clothes and then walked across the street to try Martin's Family Restaurant. It was closed so we went next door to an Italian place, Sam and Louie's. The aroma was delicious, so we figured it was a good bet. We were right! We both decided on lasagne, with an appetizer of fried ravioli. Yum! We had enough leftover that we ate supper in our room. Beats gas station chicken hands down.

After lunch, we decided to drive out to see Carhenge. It's very odd. Why a family decided that this was the proper way to memorialize their farmer father is well beyond my imagining. But it is interesting. The family turned the installation over to the local government and now it's quite the tourist attraction. And free too.








And there was corn growing in the adjacent field, so we decided a picture there would be appropriate. This is field corn and is very near to ready to harvest. There are also many ripe wheat fields in the Alliance area, once you're out of the Sandhills part. The Sandhills are rangelands. But since you know I am 5 feet tall in my stocking feet, you can see how tall the corn is. Notice the corn on the edges of the fields grow a bit shorter than the corn a few rows back. It's always that way with corn.


After the excursion it was back to the hotel for laundry and repacking. Things seem to have gotten scrambled here and there in the luggages and need to be straightened out. So the laundry is still drying, but it's the last load. Ray has parceled out his pills for the week in his pill dispenser. The sun is setting on a beautiful day, the moon is up and tomorrow promises to be sunny and hot. I know. Tomorrow I will probably say it was too hot. But it won't be 103, and it won't be 39, so that will be a treat. We both have sore throats and snuffly noses and hope it won't come to more than that

We're starting to feel like we've been away from home for a long, long time. But I have to tell you that if you've got to be away from home, the Holiday Inn in Grand Island and the Holiday Inn Express in Alliance are great places to be. They have the most comfortable beds we've encountered the entire trip so far, the staffs have been wonderful and the breakfast is not the usual run of the mill stale muffins and toast. We recommend them both. Neither town amounts to much, size-wise, but the people are friendly and Grand Island has a Jimmy John's! We drove 3 miles there just to get a Jimmy John fix. In the absence of Beef Villa, it will do.

We Are Betrayed

Betrayed by the formerly trusted weather service AND the weather channel. So much for all of Iowa overwhelmed by severe thunderstorms and flash flooding.

We awoke to find the storm systems had not joined forces to create huge storms, but gone their own ways to north and south, leaving Iowa mostly in the clear. We'd have probably gotten almost to our destination before running into heavy weather. And there are still rumblings about severe weather south of I-80, which is where we will be. So maybe just as well we stayed here.

O well. Lesson learned. Check in the morning before you go cancelling reservations.

In the meanwhile Nauvoo, outside of a distinct lack of eating establishments, is not a bad place to be.

We went down to the restoration area again this morning and visited the brickworks and the blacksmith shop and walked out Parley Street to read the journal entries posted along there. On the way, we stopped to watch some oxen pulling a wagon and eventually, the teamster asked if we'd like to ride in the wagon too. Oxen are huge and their noses are leathery not soft like horses noses. And they drool. But they had beautiful coats and horns. The ride was rough and I'm glad I didn't have to ride across the plains in one of those wagons.

We got a little tiny horseshoe at the blacksmith and a "Prairie Diamond" ring made out of a square nail. At the brickworks we came away with a little brick. It was fun!

Late lunch today was Creamy Chicken Soup at Hand, warmed up in the little microwave down at the Hospitality Room, a banana and diet soda. For dessert, we have homemade carmel corn from the Old Mill Bakery.

Ray is napping and I'm making this entry. It is still supposed to thunderstorm here later today and overnight, but it will all be over by morning and we will scoot off across Iowa in partly cloudy and mid-60s. It hopefully will be less humid than today is.

Catching Up

I was too tired to post the last two nights, so I'm catching up. If I can remember that far back.

Thursday we spent with Marcia, once we got our laundry done. She took us to Red Wing for lunch and then to Stillwater for ice cream. Both towns are full of beautiful old houses and their downtowns are as they were in the beginning, with the addition of electric lights and traffic signals. Chock full of interesting architecture. Stillwater is on the St. Croix River, and the river valley and the river itself are gorgeous. Such a blue blue river, sparkling in the sun. This area of Minnesota is hilly and boasts many trees. It is a pretty part of the country. There are lots of big old oaks and maples.

The remains of Stillwater Prison have been converted into lovely waterfront condos! Stunning views. I guess they built a modern Stillwater somewhere else. The Warden's house is still standing and has been turned into a museum. I can't imagine why anyone would park a prison in such a beautiful place, but they did!

We ate way too much ice cream at Nelson's, a place which make enormous cones. We had baby sized cones and they were still enormous. I am sure we ate a pint of ice cream each. And maybe more.

Marcia, Kelly, Christian, Ray and I went to a place out in the country for supper. It was sort of a retro place, like we used to go to with our folks when we were kids. We all enjoyed our dinners and the company. It was fun to spend time with them, and we both wished we'd had more time to spend there. I hope Marta doesn't get fired for calling in sick on Thursday!

We hit the bed like bricks when we got back to our motel and slept like logs until time to get up and hit the road once more. It's surprising how quickly you get out into the country in the Twin Cities area. Ray planned our route on country and state roads, avoiding big cities, so we saw lots of little towns and villages, populations from 112 to 600 or so. We passed some outstanding old courthouses and didn't stop to take one picture. Shame on on! The domes on those old places are astounding sometimes. Dinky little town of 435 and the most incredible courthouse you ever did see. Those old ones put modern courthouses to shame, they are so beautiful. For part of the day, we traveled along The Great River Road, which follows the Mississippi. Very lush, very beautiful, very fishy smelling, lots of bugs. There were pretty rest areas, with old fashioned pumps to draw water and smelly ol' pit potties. They always had a nice view of the river. The Mississippi is very broad.



Shortly after we left the Mississipi we stopped in Mount Sterling to visit the Mount Sterling Cheese Factory. They make goat cheeses. We bought about 5 kinds to bring to Lynn's house for tasting. The road from Mt. Sterling went up to a plateau where we took some pictures. This is the resulting Panorama.



At one point, we missed Wisconsin country road E and in the middle of turning around, Ray's bike decided to nap. I had already turned around and was at road E when I heard thunk! Crap! *&%$@*%!!! in my earphones. I looked back and there was a heap in the road. Ray was fine and didn't even hurt the next day and the only damage the bike suffered was a broken clutch lever. No scratches anywhere even.

There we are in the middle of Wisconsin nowhere and a broken clutch lever. Ray got out his tool kit and jury rigged a fix with a zip tie. It worked sort of and we limped in to Lancaster, Wisconsin (the correct Lancaster!) a bit later than we'd thought we'd arrive. Dan and Audre were already there and Lynn & Jeff arrived about an hour later. Perfect timing, as it was time for supper. We walked a couple of blocks to a place recommended by the desk clerk. It was across the street from another astounding old courthouse. The food was good and we all ate way too much. It being Friday, they had Fish Fry and Ray, Dan, Audre and I indulged in that....Friday Fish Fry is an unknown thing in the Seattle area. We miss that, among other food things. Jeff and Lynn ate burgers. The place had amazing french fries. Wish I could remember the name. Something with a D...

We do not miss the weather. It is hot and it is humid. But it was not 103 and so we endured to the end. I have decided I will not willingly ride in 103 degree weather again, dry heat or not. Hot is hot, wet or dry.

Ray made a trip to the local hardware store on my scoot and got some liquid welding stuff for the clutch lever. He applied it properly, let it set overnight and it lasted 3 pulls of the clutch. But if he held the clutch lever in place, it would work. So he came the whole way from Lancaster to here holding the clutch lever pressed in place. His left hand was tired!!! We all had to pull over several times when the clutch lever slipped out of place. But we got here.

I needed gas near Freeport, IL and we all wanted to pull into an empty business parking lot on the left side of the two lane road to discuss where the nearest gas was. (nothing in sight but corn and soybeans, soybeans and corn) Ray was into his left turn and I was just starting my left turn when a speeding car passed the bunch of us and jetted between Ray and I. Talk about startled! I nearly went into the ditch! Ray missed seeing anything and the family behind us was sure I would end up dead or a hood ornament. But the Guardian Angels were on duty and all escaped unscathed except that driver, whose ears were surely blistered. We had to come within 50 miles of home to have a close call.

Ray and Jeff talked to my brother, who went about trying to find a Moto-Guzzi left hand clutch lever. He has declared Ray's bike to be "obscure". No clutch levers in the midwest, except for a place in Madison, Wisconsin, and they are shipping the clutch here. Ray says he's going to carry extras from now on. More load for the poor sidecar.

The verdict on my rig is that it is not little and that the scoot really scoots. Told 'em so.

Gratefully getting off the bikes at the end of a 2230 mile adventure, we are here at Sister Lynn's for 2 weeks. Last night we ordered in pizza, our brother and his wife came over from Wheaton, Dan and Audre stayed on and we had a great big gab fest. It was so good to have so many of our sibs together.

Today Kim and Terri are bringing food for dinner, he's slow cooking stuff on the grill. Lynn has already been to the grocery store, I'm connected and Ray and Jeff are gabbing. Muzzie is still asleep, at least I have not heard her downstairs.

We are ready for some off-bike resting time. We are tired. We're rethinking the route home and how long it might take. But we made it all the way on our bikes and some guys in the Microsoft office pool have surely lost their bets. And we have to find time for new tires.

Especially for my brother: we went 500 miles on the last 2 days, but I don't know how far on each day.

Resting, Resting

We have safely arrived in Hastings, Minnesota, far exceeding the expectations of certain nephews, who thought we'd turn back in Spokane. HA!

Yesterday we drove thru endless cornfields interspersed with endless soybean fields. We didn't see much because the corn was so high. After a while endless fields of corn cease to be interesting, except as inspiration for dreams of eating endless cobs of wonderful midwestern corn! And I suppose even that would get old after a time, but I am not sure. I'll need to experiment with that. Beef Villa sandwiches and fresh corn on the cob! A dream dinner. I'm easy to please. lol

Minnesota is not as flat as South Dakota, although the central part is as flat as that. The roads were a bit curvier and we hit a good series of twisties, only to have the speed limit drop to 30 mph. Now, what fun are twisties at 30 mph??? Bah. It was a dumb idea to put a town right there.

We saw some nice looking little towns that looked like they might actually have enough "stuff" that a person might happily live there. Alas, the winters here are snowy and very cold, so that's not happening. Not for us.

The route was planned to avoid the Twin Cities and so we were on state highways and country roads all the day. Mostly the surfaces were fine, although a few were totally awful, rough and grooved and lumpy. You have not truly felt a lumpy road until you've ridden a 3 wheel vehicle on it.

At one intersection, we were supposed to continue on, but there was a big sign that said "Road Closed", and a barricade on half the road. Just past that, there was a sign that read "road closed to vehicles over" such and such a tonnage. So while I drove in circles in the roundabout (oh how I hate those things and they are springing up everywhere, even in the wilds of Minnesota) Ray decided that the signs did not apply to us. So on we went. The surface was new and lovely for a little while, until we toppped a hill and could see that on the other side, going back up a hill, the road was all dirt and gravel and large machinery. It really WAS closed. So back we went, took a look at the map and worked out a way past. We ended up miles out of our way and we were in and out of Dakota County 3 or 4 times.

But we got here in late afternoon, and it was a good day for riding, sunny and in the low to mid 70s. There was a cool north wind and so we wore our rain jackets for the better part of the day. Plus, we got to see more of the Minnesota countryside! Corn, corn, corn.

There are no broken down buildings in Minnesota. All the farms and farm buildings are beautiful and well maintained with the straightest rows of corn you ever saw. I think it must be a law. In several places between towns we came upon large old beautiful churches plunked down in the fields. We'd see a spire from way off and think there would be a town surrounding that church, but nope. Just corn. Often there were cemeteries next to the church and I could tell from the look of the headstones tha the cemeteries were old. But there was no time to stop and investigate. Too bad for the inner genealogist.

Sister Marcia and nephew Gordon came to the hotel to take us out to dinner. We went to a place in St. Paul (!) called Senor Wong. It was an interesting place, very hip and one of those places where if you didn't know it was there you'd never find it. Marcia, Gordon and I all had phad thai and Ray had a beef and green/red pepper dish. It was nice. Then we came back to Hastings and stopped by Marcia's house to see Kelly and Christian and meet Koda. Koda is a huuuuge Alaskan Malamute who is very playful. When he stands on his hind legs he's taller than I am. And he does that alot, as he likes to put his paws on people's shoulders. Marta had to squirt him with lemon juice to keep him off everyone. It was a beautiful night so we enjoyed hanging out in her yard.

Today we are going touring and washing more laundry. Not sure in which order. And tomorrow it's back on the road, aiming for Lancaster, Illinois. I know. I grew up in Illinois and never heard of Lancaster. But there is a tiny Best Western there and that's our destination.

Yesterday we went something over 250 miles, I can't remember the exact mileage and Ray is sleeping in the recliner. Since we don't have an extra blanket in the room, he's covered himself in pillows. He looks so cute!

Text and pictures by Susan and Ray Rathburn Copyright 2010

Flat and Sassy

Tonight we're in Montevideo, Minnesota. There are way more trees in Minnesota than South Dakota.

Eastern South Dakota is fairly flat and tends toward very straight roads. Once more we made more turns in the gas station parking lots than actually on the road. It's much greener than the western side of the state, and you do begin to see some trees in the low spots and along the fence lines. It's greener than the Western side by far. And Minnesota is greener still. 99% of South Dakota seems to be farmland/rangeland. There is little traffic on the roads and it can be a challenge to find a place to eat and buy gas. This is a typical SD view:



We saw several abandoned buildings today. We passed one place that was a sizeable old home, and in its' day must have been a real beauty as you can still see what a fine place it was. Now, it's windows are broken out and the paint it once proudly bore is but a long-ago memory and the porches are sagging. Whatever gardens once were are long gone to weeds and grasses. I wish we had stopped to take a picture there.

Sometimes it's only the house and sometimes, there are barns and sheds and other outbuildings mouldering away. We wondered what had happened to the people who lived in those places and how long they had been gone. Why didn't the descendants want it? Do the current owners think it would be too much trouble or too costly to put the poor old buildings out of their misery and tear them down?





The towns we passed were often very small, only 47 people in one case. I'm sure others had fewer than that. The biggest place we saw today was Aberdeen, with 25,000 people. The place we are tonight has about 2500 people.

Once again we had terrible wind, but mostly it was at our backs. When it was blowing crossways it was a battle to keep the bikes where we wanted them to be. We both have sore shoulders and necks tonight. The wind pushes so much on the helmet that one side of the neck gets really sore from holding your head straight. Minnesota 7 is a horrid road surface! Stay away from it!

In the room next to ours is a couple from Palma, who are touring Canada and the US by motorcycle for 4 months. They'll visit Minneapolis and then go down to Miami. They've been touring for a while now.

It dawned on us we have not seen a Pho shop since we left home, nor a Thai restaurant, darn few Mexican or Chinese restaurants and Italian seems to mean only pizza, no taco trucks at all. Weird. I don't think I saw a coffee stand all day. Neither have I seen an Italian Beef place. I think maybe they are only in Illinois.

I forgot to tell you that while we were on our way out of Roosevelt NP, the Buffalo herds were in the middle of the road. They were not inclined to move either. There were bulls in the herd and they especially did not want to move for us. Robin rolled her window down and was yelling at the bulls and whistling, and waving her arm around. Bull just rolled his eyes and stood his ground for the longest time. We had to drive around the animals, because they moved the minimal distance. I rolled my window UP. They were too close for my comfort, but Robin is a brave Forest Service Ranger.

Now We Believe...

....that we are really going to take this trip. It took so long to get to this point that we weren't sure it would happen. But it has!

We could not leave without a last dinner at Todo Mexico, our favorite Mexican restaurant, which we enjoyed in the company of our good friends Brion and Geneva. Hi, you two!





We got on the road in good time yesterday, despite the fact that we went back home to get my overnight kit, the one thing I cannot live without. Someone, Who Shall Remain Nameless, left it sitting outside the garage and didn't pack it. O well. Short detour.

We got to North Bend so quick it was unbelievable. And starting out from there saved us time this morning, since we didn't have to deal with Seattle traffic. We went back to the hotel because at breakfast Someone, Who Shall Remain Nameless, was missing his wedding ring! Sadly, we didn't find it in the room or in any of his pockets. We still hope it will turn up in some odd place in the luggages. Here is the view out our motel room door.



Also, believe that Western Washington has the best weather in the country. Well, maybe Hawaii has better weather. But Western Washington sure beats Eastern Washington when it comes to weather.

It was actually cold up on Snoqualmie, and we had to put on our rain jackets or freeze. But when we topped Snoqualmie Pass, the skies cleared and just past Lake Kachess (which our boys called Stump Lake) we stopped to take off the jackets. By Ellensburg it was 91 and there were no more trees.



Just past Ellensburg, we passed a field with about a dozen motorhomes dozing in the sun. I am sure they were feeling the call of the open road in their aluminum bones as everyone went rushing past on the freeway.

Man alive, are there some bad smells around the east side of the state! Phew! That's one thing you all miss, driving around in your cars...the smells! When it comes to giant composting heaps, you are lucky indeed. But then we passed mint fields and the aroma was incredibly fresh and good. Kinda made up for the heaps.

The landscape changed after E-burg, sere dry hills lying around like giant sleeping dun-colored mangy beasts, tufts of grey-green prickly fur sticking up here and there. It was so hot and it was so dry. We were grateful when a cloud hung around for a while. It's really desert, sagebrush is the only thing that grows.

We stopped way out in the country at a little diner called Barbara Ann's. It didn't look like much, but it was clean and the food was truly tasty. The fries were among the best we've ever had and we know our fries. There was a gas station there and I was getting low on gas, but Someone, Who Shall Remain Nameless, said we'd go to the next one. Just after we passed the next one, Someone, Who Shall Remain Nameless, said oh, oh, I need gas!! But there was no gas for many miles and we ended up hauling out the emergency gas can in a rest area and each bike got about a gallon. It was enough to get to the next station and thirsty bikes took on a load of gas. Someone, Who Shall Remain Nameless, took on a load of teasing. (and still is, as you can see, but there is no one else I'd rather be traveling with) She Who Will Remain Nameless thought it was silly and dangerous to carry gasoline, but I'm glad we did.

We arrived in Spokane before rush hour and that was good. However, it was now 93 degrees and sunny again. Horrible for people used to a summertime average of 76. Hot, hot hot. The longer and hotter the day, the tighter my helmet gets. By mid-afternoon, nothing fits and the fidgets set in.

Just before meltdown, Coeur D'Alene popped up and we gratefully retreated to a nicely a/c'd room to cool off for a while. We'd discovered that Ray's communicator was malfunctioning, so we hunted up a m/c dealership that had our kind of communicator in stock. We couldn't buy just the broken part, we had to buy a whole new 2 person kit. It's our first unplanned expense, but we did plan for those in general, so as long as there are not a lot more unplanned expenses, we'll be ok. On the way back we stopped for dinner at a Chinese Buffet. My favorite things were the stuffed crabs, the crab salad and the vegetable egg rolls. They had hot and sour soup, and shu mai and pot stickers, but they were not near as good as Fu Man's.

So now it's time to relax a bit before bedtime. We are tired, but we're fine, and we're really on the way. I will share with you one lesson from todays travels: in one rest area, there was no toilet paper in the porta-potties, in one gas station, there was no paper in the stalls. Always, always carry your own t.p. when traveling! We do, and we were glad we used up space on it. Hope you all are well and happy. See you tomorrow, with any luck!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

Home once more. It wasn't easy getting back though. Friday afternoon traffic was hideous all the way from the Nisqually Delta through to Everett. Sitting in traffic in Tacoma (took an hour to get thru Tacoma!) we decided to get off I 5 at the airport exit and take the back road. we were glad we did. We left Newport at 10:30 and rolled into Shoreline at 6:35. We decided to stop and try the new Philipino restaurant on highway 99 and so got home late, but it was worth the stop to try the food. We were both frazzled and ready to be fed. The lumpia was good, but not as good as mine. Ray had pork adobo which he said was tender. The sauce was spicy hot, but the meat was mild. I had Spamsilong, which is Spam breakfast. It is grilled Spam, of course, with 2 fried eggs and some garlic rice. Very tasty.

Back in Newport on Wednesday evening we drove into town and chose Abby's Legendary Pizza. It pretty well is, in fact, legendary. It was the first time I've ever seen a pizza packed from rim to rim with sausage meatballs. We also had mushrooms and onion put on it, so with all that it was a pretty heavy slice. The crust was spectacular, thin and crispy on the bottom but not crackery, nice and bready tasting. We plan on going back to Abby's. It's only failing was a shortage of cheese, so next time, double cheese.

Thursday night we opted for Kum Lum chinese. It was ok but very bland, even Ray's mongolian beef. There are 2 other chinese restaurants in town and one noodle stand, so maybe we'll find a good one next trip. More restaurants are open Thursday-Sunday in the winter time, but not on Thanksgiving weekend. Too busy being thankful one hopes.

Thursday's sunset was nothing short of spectacular. I think it was the best one of the entire trip. A full moon rising to the east and a blue and orange cloud free sunset to the west. Breathtaking beautiful.

And Friday we toiled home. Yik, that was a nasty trip. The only good thing was the sunny weather. Today it's cold, cold, cold with Arctic air. The weather guy says it's going to be sunny and ccccccold until at least Wednesday. At least it feels like Christmas more than rain does.

My brother seems to feel that I left out something or someone in my Thankful list. And he's right. So I'll add I'm very, very Thankful for my Illinois and Minnesota, Arizona and North Dakota families too! I love my sibs dearly and am grateful for how they care for our Mom when I am so far away and can't help. I love them for far more than reading my blog!

Vacating

So, here we are in a nice cabin south of Newport, Oregon. It’s Monday. We were lucky enough to get a free week that we had to use by the end of the year and this was the only dog-friendly one open til into late January. So we came down here.

We’re lucky enough to have a peek-a-boo view of the ocean from our back deck! The ocean is always moving, waves always coming ashore. At this spot we are not in a bay so the waves hit full force. Today, the ocean is disturbed by something we cannot see or sense and the breakers start tumbling over way out, build another rank closer in and break, build another rank and break still closer, build again and break, and then build yet again only to spend themselves on the shore. The water is noisy. We can always hear the roar of the waves. Even the noise of the day traffic on highway 101 cannot cover up the ocean. At night, it’s lovely to listen to and lulls us to sleep quite nicely.

There isn’t much traffic even on 101 at night. That road is exceedingly dark and people love to speed on it at all times, but especially after dark. I don’t know, maybe the Sasquatch will get you if you don’t hustle on your way. Around here, if they don’t think you’ve been going fast enough, they will honk at you as they pass. And some will salute you in the time honored fashion using only 1 finger. As I don’t see well at night with oncoming lights, Ray does our night driving. HE doesn’t see too well even during the day at this point in time (eye troubles) and so we get passed and honked at a lot.

We have not done much. We’ve had the blessing of lovely clear weather with daytime temps in the mid-50s and low cool breezes, so we have sat out on the deck and read and listened to the satellite radio. I made a barricade of unused deck chairs so that Norman cannot get down the stairs to chase other dogs and he likes to go out there and “patrol” for the squirrels and chipmunks he can smell are there. We go for walks which Norman always finds exciting.

Unexpectedly, many restaurants have shuttered their doors for the winter. In Seaside, they close the month of January, but here they close early. Luckily, we had stopped in Seaside at McKeown’s for lunch and had tasty leftovers for our first night here. It’s a long trip down here by way of Seaside and neither one of us wanted to get back in that car.

Saturday, we decided to find a Chinese restaurant as we know there are 2 or 3 of them, but the ones we found were all closed tight. So we ended up at the Arctic Circle, which once upon a time was a car-hop place, but there’s a newspaper clipping on the wall inside the place that says, “Last Car Hop Now History”, so I think mayhap the poor girl up and croaked. They had decent burger on fresh buns and really good fries. It reminded me a bit of Herfy’s in the menu, they had a little bit of everything.

Sunday after a bit of cabin cleaning and sitting around, we decided to find the Mo’s, an Oregon seafood destination. Alas, we could not and were pretty hungry, so we decided to try to find a Thai place. Lo and behold! There’s Thai Elephant, painted a bright yellow-orange, right on the main highway, and you can’t miss it. They are open! Hurrah! Ray had Ginger Beef and I had Shrimp Pad Thai. Yummy in the extreme.

Today, we got up late and read a bit and then decided to have lunch of Elephant leftovers. Ray’s reading again, Normie is napping, having completed his patrol (several times) and I’m writing blog entry. The satellite radio is tuned to the “Escape” channel, appropriately enough. Today the rest of our schedule is filled with resting up and some evening tv. We may go out for supper or we may stay in. We may play a game. Life is good when your biggest questions of the day are “who is going to cook my dinner today?” and “where are they?”

Tomorrow is a busy day, being Laundry Day. Several decisions will have to be made that day, hot, warm or cold? Permanent Press or Normal? Fold, or hang up? Whites, darks, lights?

I was hoping that we’d both get rested and rejuvenated this week and that I’d finish getting better. Well, Ray is slowly getting rested and rejuvenated and I’m not. I’m struggling with the cough and congestion. Several times a night I wake up in the midst of a hack attack, even though I take a Ny-Quil. Even had to use my inhalers several times. Ah well. I don’t suppose I’ll get a lung transplant any time soon, since I’m not even on the list, so I had better learn to live with it or figure out how to beat it down.

I have done a bit of work on the genealogy. I brought an inch or so of papers with me and I’m processing them when I feel that ambitious.

We have watched 2 Netfli, (Netfli, plural of Netflix) “Love On A Diet”, which is a very quirky Japanese movie with bad fat suits on thin people that I’m not sure were “real” actors, and “Alien Invasion” which is a very quirky 1990s American movie that hearkens back to the B movies of the 50s in every way it can and employs every Sci-Fi monster movie cliché that you ever heard of. And it’s so earnest and sincere, we weren’t sure we were supposed to laugh when we found it funny. Unless you are really wanting something weird, I would not recommend either of them. I think Ray slept thru most of “Love”…..

The one thing we miss from home, other than our people, is the channel guide on the tv. We didn’t know how spoiled we were by that on-screen tv guide! We don’t know what channel is what, we don’t know what’s on where or what it’s about. Talk about primitive! At least there are plenty of mysterious channels to choose from.

And that’s today’s dispatch from the Oregon Coast, where the sea mist is rolling in and making the hills and forest look slightly otherworldly. One almost expects to see elves slipping quietly between the trees. The air is redolent of sea and sea creatures. Ahhh. I’m glad I’m here.