19. Friday-Saturday August 29-30 Wayne and Nita in Carleton, Oregon

Friday; Drove to the Oregon Gardens in Silverton. A fascinating, very large garden east of Salem. We took a tram ride around the complex and then wandered through different garden settings.

One of many beds

Moss covered roof tops

Hidden garden spots

After the tour, we went into Silverton for lunch at Macs Pub. Marvelous!

A fixture since 1890

Lunch on the creek

We went to a dinner at the Ken Wright Winery held for the running team our host runs for. Oregon wine is way better than Virginia wine, sorry......

Saturday: A more relaxed day. Toni and Nita did the Goodwill shopping thing, Lee and Wayne installed a new stove in the Wiebke's rental unit.

Lee and Wayne went to the Evergreen International Air Museum in McMinnville, OR. to pick up the runner package for Wayne and let Lee see the Howard Hughes Spruce Goose airplane (again). Howard Hughes was WAY ahead of his time.

B-17G bomber

Too cheap to pay admission, we saw the tail of the Spruce Goose

DC-3. The king of the air for decades.

Saturday night is a dinner in Carleton with Wayne and Nita's friends, then off on Sunday morning to the coast early as Wayne runs a half marathon. We prefer riding in a car to running 13.1 miles. Anyday.....

18. Wednesday-Thursday, August 27-28 in Carleton, Oregon with Wayne and Nita

Wednesday: We left Leslie's house around 10:00 and headed south toward Nita and Wayne Wiebke's house in Carleton Oregon,  southeast of Portland.

Naturally as this is a 'wandering trip', Rt. 5 (the big road) would not do.  As we crossed into Oregon, we headed directly west along the Columbia River toward the coastal town of Astoria.  Astoria is the oldest settled town west of the Mississippi. We had a great lunch in the Fort George Brewery and Public House. I counted 40 draft beer taps.

40 taps of draft beer in Fort George Brewery.

We headed south along 101, past the Lewis and Clark Monument (but could not find the sign to go see it) and turned inland to go see Wayne and Nita.

We arrived around 2:30. Our driving distance was only 229 miles, shy of average for a daily drive. We got caught up and took a tour of the property. Wayne and Nita have lived here for 34 years and have created a very diverse 'home-scape', full of plants, trees, gardens, a chicken coop setup for the 'girls'. We also met a new friend (Barbara) had dinner and a great time.

A nifty house

Tons of development all around the property

A very nicely created home

Thursday:  Today was a trip to the Hood River area and Mt. Hood. Fantastic to see from several angles. We went to Timberline Lodge and saw skiers on the glacier on the mountain. Something odd about skiing in late August, even though there was no snow, just ice pack.

Mt. Hood

Tourist, much?

Timberline Lodge, a beautiful setting.

The woodwork and craftsmanship is outstanding.

We left Timberline Lodge and drove into Hood River, a really neat town on the Columbia River where the Hood River joins. We had lunch at a Best Western restaurant which sounds kinda funny but which turned out to be great.

We headed back to the house, had snacks and conversation and hit the sack fairly early.

Tomorrow is a tad unclear but seems to be going to a very large garden in a picturesque town for tourist and friendship time. More tomorrow.

17. Monday-Tuesday August 25-26 Leslie's house

Where to begin?

One of the "joys" of home ownership is the "thrill" of "making it your own". I put this all in quotes because whoever coined those cliches needs to be dealt with very harshly and not in a "joyful" manner.

From Friday morning to Tuesday night, it was all action:

• Removing an overhead light and installing a heavy fan is not a "joy",
• Hanging TV sets on the wall, building shoe racks in the garage, putting quilts on pegs on the wall, installing under-cabinet lights, hanging shelves and clocks on the wall, moving refrigerators and rearranging a garage--none of these qualify as "joy" but they do "make it her own". Mission mostly accomplished.....

Off the kitchen

Can you say 'Purple" bathroom?

Mostly organized garage. Yes, that is a beer refrigerator......

Very bright kitchen. 

Love that quilt. Leslie worked hundreds of hours on it and it is her best work

We are leaving Leslie's Wednesday morning to head for Nita and Wayne Wiebke's home in McMinnville, Oregon for a several night stay. We both are looking forward to seeing them and their marvelous house/garden.

Then, back on the open road. The plan continues to be meander down 101 thru Oregon and California, maybe San Francisco, hook a left and aim for southern Utah and the National Parks, arriving in Denver @ September 18-19 for Lee's brother's wedding. 

Stay tuned.........::))

16. Thursday afternoon August 21-thru Sunday August 24-At Leslie's in Lacey

We arrived at 4552 Colleen Street Lacey Washington about 4:30. Leslie was still at work at the hospital and texted us that she would be leaving work around 5:30, home about 6:00. We went into the house via the garage side door, opened the garage main door and unloaded the car into the garage.

Leslie's new house

The house is fantastic! Leslie had the inside completely repainted in her colors and a purple powder room, a purple laundry room, a green living room/rust kitchen with a green/yellow bedroom kinda says it all.

3 bedrooms, open kitchen/living room, fireplace, small back/side yard, 2 car garage. Very nice all around. The neighborhood landscaping is maintained by the HOA and the entire subdivision is immaculate, green to a fault, and dotted with green areas and play parks for kids. A really nice area.

Friday, August 22. Leslie went off to work at 5:45 to intake a new crew of 3 interns. As Director of Critical Care, Madigan Hospital, Leslie monitors multiple patients, some with life threatening illnesses, some actively dying, some with multiple symptoms of different illnesses, some recovering from 'deep' surgery. Part of her task is to ensure these 'pass through' medical interns get the training needed to understand the role of the Intensive Care Unit.

There is a 'daddy-do list' of things that need to be done and the day was spent around the house.

Saturday, August 23. Went looking for glasses for Leslie, bought a new TV to mount on the living room wall, went to a beer fest (but could not enter as Toni did not bring any ID). Went to a "Sand in the City" event in Olympia.

Building Elvis

Quite a process

Not finished and the judges are approaching....

Sunday, August 24. Hung one of Leslie's quilts on the living room wall, tried to install a fan in a bedroom but ran into problems with the electric outlet (will finish on Monday), traveled to Vashon Island to have lunch with Michael and Sara Low (wonderful house on the Puget bay), visited Point Defiance near Tacoma, came back to the house in the late afternoon.

Leslie's quilt on the living room wall. The wall is actually not pea soup green.

Monday will be more finish work on minor items to do in the house.

15. Thursday August 21-enroute Lacey

Made it. To Leslie's. But first......

The Best Western Plus in Prosser, Washington is not a desirable location. Period.

We got underway at 9:00 and headed out toward the end goal of reaching Leslie's place in Lacey Washington in the afternoon. Still determined to take smaller back roads, we made a minor mistake in direction that resulted in finding a gem in Zillah, Wa. See below.

Teapot gas station, restored from original location 

Gas pumps from a bygone era

We left Zilla and, still on back roads, drove through Toppenish, Wa. Another unique town off the main road. There must have been 50+ murals spread out over the town. A sign posted outside town said "Toppenish, Where the West Still Lives!" Does that mean everyone is packing heat?

All over town

One of 50

Beautifully done

We drove through downtown Yakima and it is quite a town to see. Very clean, nothing boarded up, people everywhere.

We wanted to see Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier so we drove a circular route around Mt. Rainier, on route 410 through Chinook Pass. This whole Cascade Range is magnificent!

View from the road on the way around Mt. Rainier

Mt. St. Helens

 We got to Leslie's around 4:30 and got the car unloaded before she got home from work. Tomorrow, the car gets cleaned!!

Stats to date:

Total miles driven: 3874.8
Gallons of gas: 99.8
Motels: 9
Money spent: Lots
Arguments: Lots
Arguments lived through: All
Sights seen that have not been seen before: Tons

Good trip so far, probably about 1/4-1/3 of the total we will be doing. We will be at Leslie's for several days and then head south to McMinnville Oregon to visit some good friends. This blog will be updated just a few times over the next week or so, but more pictures will be added to the 'extra picture' blog posting from time to time.

14. Wednesday, August 20-A meander out of Oregon into Washington and...?

Last night after getting back to the hotel, we were pooped. The Best Western had a restaurant and bar, both with discount coupons furnished by the front desk. We decided to stay there to have dinner and BOY, were we ever delighted!  We both had the ribs and they were outstanding! The beer was pretty good too...

We both had full breakfasts at the hotel, again using coupons. $9.50 for two full breakfasts is not a bad deal.

We took a short ride off our planned route to see the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Even though primarily designed to educate children, the whole thing was a marvel. An estimated 300,000 emigrants traveled the worn trail from Independence Missouri (the jump off spot) across the majority of the United States to find new lives. 30,000 lost their lives on the trip.

Built on a bluff overlooking the wagon ruts through the small pass

Going in. Get ready....

Depiction of travel types

Realistic depictions

Diary selections throughout building

We decided to head up to Walla Walla to do some wine tasting in the southern Washington area, then head back down to the Columbia River to continue toward the Tacoma area and Leslie. Plans changed.

Once in Walla Walla and after having a great lunch in the "Green Spoon" restaurant, we headed for Prosser Wa. and a recommended location for wine tasting. But...seems that on Wednesday many of the wine tasting shops are closed. We made the best of it in those that were open and then decided to stay in Prosser and continue on tomorrow.

A closed winery in Prosser. Bummer.

We actually found another Best Western just down the road from the last tasting shop and are staying there. Tomorrow, on to Leslie's new house and more adventures.

Pictures that did not make the cut for whatever reason

This is hopefully a file of lotsa pictures that we took along the way in some semblance of time order. Mostly in order......

Pope County Museum indian heritage display

For real two headed calf

Toni said this "would not fit in the car, so stop crying Lee"

You do not see this every day.

Buffalo Bill Cody Reservoir behind the dam

Pretty interesting area

Sculpture next to Paul Bunyan and Blue on the art walk, Bemidji Minn.

Huh? Next to the road in Wyoming

Mine shaft complex in Wyoming

Yellowstone river Upper Falls

Fireplace in Old Faithful Inn

Teton National Park. Magnificent