Respite at Maryhill State Park, WA

Dave has a few days off from officiating football, so we drove out to Maryhill State Park to spend a few days.  Now that it's October, Dave's Senior Off-Season Pass is in effect again.  We paid $50 for the season, which lasts until May 1.  The pass allows us to camp at any Washington State Park for $6 a night if we have hookups, and camp for free if we don't have hookups.  It's a terrific deal, but alas, the pass is only available for Washington residents 62 and older.  This park costs $28/night without the senior pass.  We like to use the pass as much as possible in October, because many of the inland parks turn off their water beginning November 1, and don't turn the water on again until March or April. 

Maryhill, located along the Columbia River,  is only two hours east of where we live in Vancouver, and it's one of our favorite parks.  This time of year the park's campground is first come-first served.  We arrived at 4:15 pm on Monday and had no trouble finding a nice big pull-thru where we were able to get a satellite signal.  This park has a lot of large trees, so some sites are more satellite-friendly than others.  Cell service is 2 bars of 1x Verizon service, but that's enough signal to be able to (slowly) use the internet from the comfort of our motorhome. 

Dave woke up this morning with a cold, so we didn't do much today.  Mid-afternoon he felt a bit better, so we went for a short drive east on Highway 14 to John Day Dam.  There were signs pointing to a COE park called Celilo Lake, but when the paved road ended, we turned around and didn't find the park.

John Day Dam

We also saw some buildings that looked abandoned but with several nice signs that indicated that the buildings were aluminum plants.  We spotted some salvage aluminum and a few cars in the area, so maybe that's what was going on.  Don't you hate it when you can't quite figure out what's going on?  That was us today.

Aluminum Plant--abandoned or not?

A view of the Columbia River east of the dam

Two forms of transportation along the Columbia River

We made a quick stop at the Stonehenge War Memorial, which is located just above Maryhill State Park.  It's a fun stop, with a great view of the orchards and vineyards which, with the help of irrigation, grow in this somewhat desolate terrain. 

Stonehenge

A closer view of Stonehenge

A view of the fertile valley below Stonehenge 

A Week's Worth of Travels

Dave and I have been gone for almost a week, but I haven't had a chance to post a blog.  Well, I've had chances but I chose not to do it--procrastinating again.

Last Thursday we visited our son Jonathan in Bothell.  We stayed at Lake Pleasant RV Park again.  This time we had reservations and needed them because the park was quite full.  Jonathan bought a new-to-him car the day we arrived, so he took us for a ride.

Lynden is a Dutch-themed town.

Friday morning we drove north to Lynden, WA and stayed at Hidden Village RV Park for two nights.  This campground was okay.   The sites are fairly close together are are arranged with two sites facing each other.  That's good since it means we don't have to look at our neighbor's sewer hose, but it's bad if you are friends with the people you are facing.  We happened to be placed next to a large group with one site, four cars, one trailer, one large tent, three dogs, six adults, and numerous children and teenagers.  Even if they were trying to be quiet (they were not) there's no way that the noise couldn't have spilled over to our site.  We tried to change sites, but the park was full.   The reason we chose that park is that we attended a wedding near in nearby Everson.  Jonathan's best friend of eighteen years, our former neighbor, Ryan, married Malorie in a beautiful outdoor wedding at the home of friends on Saturday.  Jonathan was the best man and gave a touching toast to the bride and groom.  Both Ryan's mother and I were moved to tears as Jonathan recounted a few of the adventures that he and Ryan experienced together, as well as meaningful times he spent with both Ryan and Malorie.

Jonathan returning down the aisle after seating the groom's grandmother.

Ryan and Malorie were both German majors and said their vows in German.

While we were in Lynden, I visited the quaint downtown and was again impressed with how clean and neat the town was.  I visited my favorite store there, the Homespun General Store and found out that the store will be moving to a new location across the street.  Flowers were blooming everywhere along the streets.

One of Lynden's spacious, clean streets. 

Sunday morning we had planned to spend a few days in Hoquiam, but on our way south on I-5, we discovered a leak from our toilet.  Added to a computer hardware problem that was waiting for Dave at home, we decided to come on home.  The two problems turned out to be easy to fix (that's my talented husband who's good at fixing things).  On Monday afternoon we were able to head north again, this time only 80 miles north to Centralia.  We are staying at Midway RV Park, but once again it will be time to leave for home on Wednesday morning.  As Dave's football-officiating season gears up, our RV travels will diminish.  We've had a lot of fun times this summer!

Flowers in Lynden 

Meeting Sue and Doug

Today was a special day.  We met Sue and Doug at McMenamins at the Columbia River in Vancouver, WA.  Sue writes an interesting blog called Big Dawg and Freeway. We even got to meet Tucker, their dog, who likes to travel, swim, and run on the beach, among other talents!

Doug and Tucker

I started reading Sue's blog when she wrote about their trip to Lincoln City, OR last year.  I always like to read what people write about places that we've visited.  And when Margie wrote on her blog about meeting Sue and Doug in person at Cabela's in Lacey last summer, I started following Sue's blog along with Margie's.  Sue and Doug live in Coquitlam, British Columbia, which is located east of Vancouver, BC.  They plan to start full-time RVing when Sue retires in a few years. 

Sue and Doug in front of the Columbia River

Sue and Doug were on their way home from their summer vacation, which they spent at Port Orford, Oregon this year.  We were privileged that they were willing to stop and have lunch with us on their way home.  As with the other bloggers we've met, we had a lot to talk about and felt, because of reading each other's blogs, that we already were friends.

It's fun to meet other bloggers!  We were happy to add this nice couple to the list of bloggers we've met, which include Russ and Donna (Travels in Therapy), Ali and Ron (The Wandering Workentins and Alice's Restaurant--Dishing Up Food for Thought) and of course, the late Margie and Bruce Mallin.  Click on the blog names in red to read each of their blogs. 

We were glad to meet up with and spend some time with our new Canadian friends, Sue and Doug!

Crossing and Re-Crossing the Columbia River

We left the lovely golf course at Deer Park bright and early this morning.  After finally finding our way to US Highway 395 South, we made our way through Spokane and onto I-90 West.  At the rest area near Ritzville, we saw this curious sign:

Sure enough, there were the seagulls, feasting at the rest area, only 300 miles from the ocean.

We saw amber waves of grain...

...and places to store the grain.

We saw dust devils.  It was indeed windy as the day went on.

The first time we crossed the Columbia River was in the Tri-Cities at Kennewick.

The second time we crossed the river was at Umatilla, where we entered into Oregon.

It was still very windy as we made our way to I-84.  See why this area is called the Columbia River Gorge?

John Day Dam

And the dam's patriotic U.S. flag

Biggs Junction Bridge near Maryhill, where we will cross the Columbia River back into Washington.

Maryhill State Park, where we hoped to spend the night, was full, so we went next door to Peach Beach Campark.  We were lucky to find a pull-thru site for the evening.  We have no sewer hookups, but we have free wifi, cell service, satellite signal, 50 amp power, and water--all for $30.  They can get those kind of rates because the park is right on the river and enjoyed by both campers and wind surfers. 

Site#69, our home for the night

Little peach trees and big peach trees at Peach Beach Park.

Tomorrow, after we cross the Columbia River back into Oregon, we'll drive for two more hours and then cross the river again near the Portland Airport to get back to Washington.  This summer's vacation trip to Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier National Parks will be nothing more than memories and pictures...

...and a rock chip in the motorhome's windshield that looks amazingly like a larger version of all the smashed bugs!

Highway 2 From West Glacier, MT to Deer Park, WA

It was another bug-filled windshield day as Dave and I left West Glacier and followed U.S. Highway 2 to Washington state.  After leaving Kalispell, this was all new road for us and we thoroughly enjoyed the drive.  We enjoyed beautiful scenery the entire way.

Entering Libby, Montana

Just outside of Libby we ate our lunch at a pull-out overlooking the Kootenai River.

After Libby, there was a town named Troy that had a pull-out for looking at a dam and falls, but we weren't able to stop.  So it was on to the Idaho border.

Bonners Ferry looked like a quaint river town, and then we looked forward to the drive through Sandpoint.  We spent some time there about 17 years ago but haven't been back since.

I was so busy looking at all the changes and growth at Sandpoint that I forgot to take any pictures!  We followed the Pend Oreille River but there were lots of trees in the way of getting a good picture.

Pend Oreille River in the next two pictures.

Then it was time to cross the river and enter into Washington.  There was no sign to welcome us back to our home state.  I liked the looks of the small town of Newport.  Now we have been to Newport, CA, Newport, OR, and Newport, WA.

Newport (the one in Washington)

Before we knew it, we were at Riverside, WA (we used to live in Riverside, CA, so I remember the name) and turned off Hwy 2 to go to our home for the night, Spokane RV and Golf Resort at Deer Park. 

Deer Park is a planned community and houses and RV lots are surrounding the golf course are for sale. 

This is a deluxe RV park with all sites overlooking the very pretty golf course.  We didn't think the nightly price was bad at $34.05 after the Good Sam discount.  No pull-thru sites here, though.  We could have had a pull-in site facing the golf course, but then the sun would have been on our front window, so we chose a back-in site. 

#139, the same site number we had at the Glacier KOA.  Yes, that's one of the greens right behind us.

Finally, a Beautiful Spring Day!

The last two days have been gorgeous with temperatures in the low 70s, sunshine, and not too much wind.  Dave and I went for a bike ride each day and it felt so good to be outside soaking up Vitamin D.  This was the first bike ride we've been able to go on since we got home from our trip to Wenatchee.

For seven days, I didn't do much because I came down with a bad cold.  All I was able to do was sleep, sleep, sleep.  But now I'm feeling much better, just in time for the sunshine.  Beginning on Saturday we're supposed to get some more rain, but at least we've had a dose of sun!

Because of my cold, I had to miss the big WHL hockey game between the Portland Winterhawks and the Kootenay Ice.  But Dave was able to attend, and was able to sell my ticket to a scalper.  Alas, the Winterhawks lost, so their championship season came to an end. 

I took a few pictures of some of the flowers in our yard.  What a difference a bit of sun makes!

Our very own lilac bush! 

A few lilies of the valley--they smell so good!

Our mini-rhody bush--the one that survived

Hockey, Lilacs, and Tulips--all for Mother's Day!

What a great weekend we have had.  On Friday night and Saturday night we watched the WHL Western Champions Portland Winterhawks play the Eastern Champions Kootenay Ice at Portland's Rose Garden arena.  Both teams won their conference championship and are now competing in a best of seven series.  Portland won in overtime Friday night, and Kootenay won on Saturday.  On Tuesday and Wednesday the teams will play each other in Kootenay, B.C., then next Friday, the 13th of May, they will meet again in Portland to play at the Rose Garden.  We are going to try and get tickets for that game.  Our 3-week old granddaughter, Sophie, slept contentedly in her mother's arms through both games. 

To celebrate Mother's Day, Tim and Kiersten (and Sophie) took Dave and me out for dinner at Stanford's at Lloyd Center before Saturday's game. 

Today was a mixed weather day--a bit of sun, lots of rain, and some hail.  Dave and I drove 20 miles north on I-5 to Woodland, WA and went to the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens and the Holland America Tulip Festival.  Both the gardens and the festival had been extended for another week because of the wet, gloomy weather in April.

We took a tour of the inside of the Hulda Klager's  house and learned more about her and her lilac gardens.  She was born in 1863 and lived for 97 years. 

This house was built by Hulda Klager's father in 1903.

One of the many lilac bushes

Then, it was on to the Tulip Festival, which was a treat because we thought it had ended on 4-30-11.

These large yellow tulips were my favorites.

Who is this handsome, smiling gentleman?  If it weren't him, I wouldn't be celebrating Mother's Day today!

This picture was taken of the fields across from the festival.  Note the ominous sky over over the hills in the background.

You know I never miss a chance to take a picture of an American flag!

To cap off this fine day, after we got home our younger son, Jonathan, called to wish me a happy Mother's Day.  It's always good to hear from him!

 GO HAWKS!