Paws and Friends

Olde Stone Village RV Park Here it is in September, and we have experienced our first 90 degree days! We left Valley Camp September 8, for the Old Stone Village RV Park in McMinnville, OR. This is a nice park! We shall definitely return, perhaps for a month next fall! And, it is right next to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum! We did not visit the museum this time around, but will do so on our next visit! We are now in Sisters, Oregon, at another very nice park, Bend/Sisters Garden RV Resort. Lots of smoke around from forest fires--not real close, but smell still there. Typical in the North West! We did notice that it is very dry--all the way down from Valley Camp, in fact, so "summer" finally came! Bend/Sisters Garden RV Resort We are spending just one night here, but this is one of those places we are noting that we shall return! Temps seem to be decreasing--tomorrow may be in the mid to low 80's--but we shall enjoy! We realize that the further south w...

The Rest of the story--Roof Repair Part 2:  We did research while at the dealer doing the roof repair on FRED, a good thing to do, right? We had no intention of purchasing a new rig--just gathering information so we could be informed... We looked on Monday (August 1) and liked what we saw, putting the information into "storage" for two to three years later. Thursday, when we came to pick up FRED, we were asked if we wanted to go for a drive. We said yes, for we needed that piece of research--we had never driven/ridden in a diesel pusher. That did it for both of us! So, that 2012 Phaet on is now ours! It also has an oven, in addition to the microwave/convection oven, which helped seal the deal for the cook (NOT Lindy!). We carefully drove FRED back to Valley Camp that afternoon, August 4th, returning--again very carefully--August 16 to complete the trade. It took us two days to complete the transfer of items from FRED to our new coach! The morning of August 18, we drove our ...

Full timing in your rig does have some limitations. When repair is scheduled, regardless of assurances that you will be able to stay in your rig at night, a stay in a hotel just might be necessary! Our stay was not planned, hence comic to all who stood by and watched our frantic gathering of all items necessary for such a stay (initially one night...we thought...); our many visits back to our rig to pick up items forgotten, including an early morning run to replenish the dog food containers...! Such were the limitations and frustrations during the repair on our rig August 1-4. So, we gathered up the dogs and took a day trip to Whidbey Island, riding the ferry crossing from Mukilteo to Clinton, at the bottom of the Island, and sight seeing up the Island, crossing Deception Pass Bridge, returning to I-5, making a circle back to Everett. We had a perfect spot on the ferry, kind of our own private parking spot! Rupert and Rusty loved it!  The crossing took a little longer tha...

July 6 we drove up to the parking lot at Hyak, the eastern portal to the Snoqualmie Tunnel of the old Milwaukee Road, now part of the John Wayne Pioneer Trail . The tunnel, more than 2 miles long, has been closed due to safety concerns but was opened finally sometime in June. We had purchased LED lights for our bikes, but still, riding through 2 miles of dark was interesting! There indeed was a light at the end, that at first we thought was another biker coming....! Ummmm!  Mike had a LED flashlight in addition to her head lamp which did make things easier to "see". Lindy followed....feeling like the walls were closing in--but after adjusting the head lamp, was able to successfully navigate! The road bed was a little sloppy, with water dripping on our heads in several spots. It was chilly! We had gloves, and sweats over our shorts. As soon as we emerged, however, we shed the gloves and sweats!  These pictures are at the eastern portal, before we embarked on the great advent...

When the North West gives you a glorious day, you take it! The morning of July 1 we grabbed our bikes and rode down (note that word!) 4.4 miles to the Snoqualmie Valley Trail up to Cedar Falls/Rattlesnake Lake from the North Bend Highway. The trail is on the old railroad bed of the Milwaukee Road, the Everett line, so it is a "gentle" railroad grade--but still goes uphill! At the Riverbend housing development we met a group of about 25 Bernese Mountain dogs, along with their owners, running/walking up the trail! They were just a group that gets together now and then for fun! Those dogs were a treat to watch! Gentle, fun-loving, dashing into the ditch in the water, back up on the trail, running along side their "people!" We had stopped along side the trail so they passed us, then later we passed them, as they stopped for us! We rode three miles up, slow and easy, with stops along the way. This is were we ate our snack, right after crossing a former trestle, high...

June 13:  From our trip to Coeur d'Alene, ID, we piled the dogs in the jeep and drove a loop east on I-90, exciting south on Idaho State 3, to St. Maries following the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes southwest toward the  Plummer trailhead. We stopped at Heyburn State Park for lunch, and walked the trail to the bridge over the southern tip of the Lake. It was chilly with a cool wind, but still fun to walk the trail even just a small section. The Route of the Hiawatha follows the old Milwaukee Road railbed, as does the Old Milwaukee Scenic Alternate Trail, from St Maries,  through Avery, then north to Pearson. The Hiawatha begins at the East Portal of the 1.6 mile long Taft Tunnel in Montana and exits in Idaho. The journey continues through nine more tunnels and across seven high steel trestles. We definitely will return and find a way to ride both trails. We'll probably only be able to ride a short section of the Route of the Hiawatha--but it is definitely in the planning...

Yesterday we drove east over the mountains to Yakima with Mike's dad. We visited the cemetery where his mom and grandparents are buried, and told us of his experiences as a kid delivering telegrams for Western Union in the 30's. They lived in Union Gap, and in Yakima. We took back roads as much as possible, enjoying the drive, as well a learning more history from Jim as he recalled just where the old road went--"...through a tunnel there, coming out over there...." It was a great day, and great weather for the first official day of summer! On the return trip, we drove up as far as we could to the land the Irvins had in the 60's north and east of Cle Elum. Many new, large houses we noticed on the road up to their cabin. We found the gate locked, however, to what was their land, so were unable to see if the old cabin was even there. We did note that the place is currently for sale! We had a glorious time, dogs and all! And the dogs behaved very politely show...