North Eastern Washington! Wow!!!

Greetings from Colville, Washington, in the heart of the logging country. A huge lumber mill is in town and there is the smell of fresh cut wood all around.

We drove today from Ellensberg WA along Hwy. 90. The town of Ellensberg is quite interesting. The downtown is suffering the pangs of growth on the outskirts of town, but much of the downtown area still has the charm of buildings built in the early 1900's. We slept in a bit and were in no hurry as we checked out of a very comfortable Holiday Inn Express. We drove around town and walked down the main street taking pictures of many interesting buildings. In an antique store we got the scoop on a very odd home we had passed which was highly decorated with reflectors, nails, sculptures,totem poles, metal bottle caps, rusted pieces of flotsam and jetsom, painted outlines of people, old mailboxes, a carved 8 foot #2 pencil, to name a few things. It has been under construction/decoration by Dick and Jane for the last 27 years. Popular thinking on the project is that Dick and Jane were a couple of hippies who settled in Ellensberg and bought a house right across the street from the Police Department. A sort of in your face sort of statement. It is really a traffic stopper.

We headed out of town continuing on Hwy. 90 east to Spokane. We were in a very warm and dry area with mile after mile of wheat! Suddenly we came upon the Columbia River Gorge. Stopped at a rest stop where I talked to my son, Matt, and tormented him by saying we could see the fish jump from our vantage point. That wasn't true but what a beautiful sight. We didn't realize where we were since the metal plaques at the lookout point had been removed by vandals. Later looking at the map we realized where we were.

Had to set the cruise control to keep the car under 90 mph. There was very little traffic and the miles melted away. Stopped in Spokane for a late lunch at a Chiles in a mall! I know, I know, we should be eating only at interesting local places, but it was easy to get off the route, park, and be back on the road with very little effort. We seem to be settling in to a bit of a pattern, for dinner tonight has been some fruit, crackers, cheese and cookies in our room. It's easy on the budget and probably better for us physically. That doesn't mean we will not have our occasional pig-out. No chance of that!

Lee drove from Spokane to Colville. My cold is icky so I slept in the back seat. They woke me a couple of times but I really slept most of the hour and a half. The countryside is beautiful and we remarked how interesting the terrain was when we crossed into Spokane County. We were in the grain growing area and then whamo--there were great stands of trees, particularly pine.

After checking in to a new and comfortable Comfort Inn we took off to explore the town. Lee and Judi's maternal family are from here and we went to the local Historical Society to look around. It was closed but we were greeted by three deer who were taking their liesure in the backyard of a lovely Victorian farmhouse. In addition to the farmhouse there are buildings housing old logging equipment, a recreated blacksmith shop, one room school, trapper's cabin and homesteader's cabin complete with an outhouse out back. Lee and Judi were quite taken with the homesteader's cabin as it was probably in a similar building that their grandmother and grandfather lived as a young people here in Colville. We are going to try to make contact with someone in the Historical Society tomorrow when it opens.

After that we are on our way over the mountains and a scenic route to Sand Point, Idaho and spending the night in Kalispell Montana. We will be there for 2 nights visiting people and hope to get a little laundry done. I'm sorry to have to miss my cousin Ron Welch in Sand Point who will be out of town tomorrow.

Now for the latest techno fiasco. While at the Historical Museum gounds, my camera said the memory was all used up. Ok back to K-Mart! When I went to down load all the pictures from today the memory card was not in the camera! Oooops! I had left it in the laptop. Anyway How do I get those pictures out? I think I have to go to K-Mart and get a cord to hook the camera up to the computer. If anyone knows any other solution I am up for it. I put the card in and hoped that maybe it would transfer to the card automatically. No such luck. And I did so want to share the pictures from today. Oh well, just another glitch in techno-land.

Nose still drippy but Lee and Judi seem fine. It's just a matter of time though! At least they haven't put me out beside the road and driven away. Will check in tomorrow.

Love, Gerry

Scenery, Sniffles, and New Friends!

We were up early this morning and on the road by a little after 8:00 am. Fortunately Lee is really a morning person so it does get Judi and me moving. We drove to Fort Clatsop. I hope that is the correct spelling because I am not going to get up and check it. Anyway, we poked around the National Park Service Lewis and Clark exhibit which was fabulous, watched a movie, and visited the re-created fort. I saw the raising of the flag which was the same flag design that flew over Ft. Sumter and I'll be seeing that in a few weeks! Oh migosh! And then a bit later we saw the demonstration of firing a flint lock musket. Made a loud bang and we all cheered. Very entertaining and inspiring couple of hours.

We then drove to the Astoria Tower which affords an incredible view of the Columbia River and its tributaries. How did those early explorers and settlers accomplish what they did. They truly were made of stern stuff!

And then I was relegated to the back seat and I promptly fell asleep. I awoke a few times to Lee and Judi ooohing and aaaahing over the scenery as we drove along the Columbia River and over Snoqualmie Pass on Hwy. 90. We called ahead for a reservation in Ellensberg which is on the way to Spokane. Not going to make the same mistake we did yesterday!!!

Since we had a big breakfast at the motel in Astoria we weren't very hungry so midafternoon we pulled off the freeway in Centralia WA to munch on some of our snacks. We pulled up to a shady place in a little park like place across the street from the most adorable little cottage that would make the guys on HGTV drool. As we are settling ourselves on our blanket on the grass, here comes the owner of the cute little house, a woman a little big younger than we are, with her camera in hand stating that she had never seen the likes and just had come and get a picture. This is our new friend, Julie, and she ended up sitting down, chatting with us as we ate, dumped some of our garbage and gave us a tour of her beautifully verdant and tidy yard. The two gardeners I'm travelling with were in seventh heaven. She was so charming and soon she was standing in front of her house waving. We are considering making an award for the jerk of the week and hero of the week. Our heroes are really piling up and we may need to have an independant source make the choice. Julie is right up there at the top and is contender.

We drove on east on Hwy. 90 to Ellensberg through some gorgeous country (so they told me). Lee and Judi are out to dinner and I am sitting here sneezing and nursing (and cursing) my cold. Will post some pictures from today. In spite of me not feeling up to par, we are continuing to have such a good time. On to Spokane tomorrow.

Love to all. Gerry

Pictures and a Few Musings

Well,

We really had a long day today. But we saw some of the most glorious coastline and wonderful river valleys. But we drove too long and ended up in Astoria, Oregon at 7:00. By the time we found a motel (Best Western and 3 steps up from the Brookings Spindrift and the smoking room!) had a bite to eat and tended to our business we are bushed. Trying to plan tomorrow with an earlier stopping time and really choosing the things we want to see! Judi and I are fighting a cold and doesn't make for happy travelers as we cough and sneeze. Bah Humbug!!!! Lee is probably not far behind us as we are sharing very close quarters. Thought I would send a couple of pictures from today. Had a grand lunch in Florence, Oregon right along the Siuslaw River. Will write more another time. Have to go blow my nose!

Gerry

From Lee August 27, 2007

Ger has pretty well told the tale but I promised to "blog" too, so here goes....

Got off in fine style from Watsonville, sure to be at friend Jane's for lunch around 10:30 am in San Rafael. Took a brief break and when we started the car again, the Green Avalon's computer screen had flat-lined. Judi immediately called her personal mechanic in Tustin to demand a solution. Don't we all have our mechanics on speed dial? Anyway, no solution offered and the first opportunity to fix the problem will be Kalispell. Jane's luncheon was so good and spending a couple of hours with her restored our high spirits.

Arrived at first destination--Garberville--around 6:00. Garberville is a depressed little forest town sitting at one end of one of the most glorious avenues in the world. One senses the scent of pot in the air even if not actually inhaling it.

Next morning we drove thru the giant coast redwoods and marveled as well at the wide river bed of the Eel River-astonished that the river rose to ninety-six during the devasting flood of 1964. There is just nothing like the absolute stillness and majesty of this forest. Even footsteps are muted by the duff below the trees. Reluctantly we came to the end of the road and headed on toward Oregon. The sign for Ferndale lured us right off our planned path and we were again awed, this time by vast green pastures ringed by faraway purple hills and dotted with happily grazing pretty brown cows--right out of the TV commercial. Ferndale is a designated state historical monument so the gorgeous Victorian homes are all spruced up and are fabulous as is the town's vertical cemetary.

The day came to an end at Brookings, Oregon and our motel of choice turned out to be the bar we won't go under. Our room did have a bottle opener and a fabulous shower head, according to Judi.

So far--day 2--I love this trip!

"30"

Still Going! Aug 26, 2007

We are in Oregon! What a day!!! We left Garberville this morning at 8:30 and headed to the Avenue of the Giants. I have lived around the coastal redwoods all my life but never have I seen such trees. They took our breath away. Lee had been there before and relived many wonderful memories. Judi and I were first timers and we ooohed and aaahed the entire 31 miles. She commented that it was like being in a magnificent cathedral.

Thanks to the suggestion of Alice Lewis, we stopped at the visitor's center which was fabulous. The exhibits were very well done and my favorite was the " Travel Log" designed and built in 1910 and recently lovingly refurbished. It was an early day motor home and was hand hewn from a single tree. The builder, a Mr. Kellogg, used it for travelling on the vaudeville circuit. He was also an acomplished bird caller and we listened to recordings he had made. Quirky but very entertaining.

One of the volunteers at the visitors' center suggested a place in Eureka for lunch and since it was already on one of Lee's lists we headed in that direction. We made a detour into the charming little dairy town of Ferndale. Lots of cows, verdant fields of grass, Victorian houses, and a very old cemetary. Then on to Eureka.

I had decided to bite the bullet and buy a new digital camera. We stoppped at a K-Mart and found Geoff in the camera department. He suggested lithium batteries and IT WORKED!!!!! I offered to adopt him but he declined nervously. Thanks, Geoff!

The restaurant in Eureka was the Samoa Cookhouse. For those of you familiar with the area you probably have heard of this place. It is an old cookhouse used to feed employees of a lumber company. Everything is served family style and we had a wonderful ham dinner with soup, salad, calico beans, corn, baked potatoes, huge slices of soft yummy squishy bread, and tapioca pudding for dessert. All this was washed down with pitchers of iced tea. We left there groaning.

We left Eureka around 3:30 but we were committed to sleeping in Oregon. We pulled in to Brookings, Oregon around 5:30 and proceeded to choose the worst motel in town. We settled for a smoking room downstairs so we wouldn't have to carry all our stuff upstairs since there is no elevator. The room stinks, we only have 2 chairs, and there are few amenities. From our window we can see several other motels that would have been better! Hopefully we have learned to be a bit more discerning. On up the Oregon coast tomorrow eventually getting to Astoria, Washington on Tuesday. Have decided to skip Seattle and spend more time on the coast.

I am having trouble posting pictures so please excuse the higgeldy-piggeldy way they are arranged on the page. I need some practice. For now there is a picture of my hero Geoff, shots from the Samoa Cookhouse, and our "fabulous" motel. More tomorrow. Gerry

On the Road, August 25th Garberville, California

WE DID IT!!! Up at 6:00 am and we were driving out of my driveway at 8:14! Unfortunately my digital camera chose this morning to give up the ghost so the proof is stuck in Lee's camera waiting to be developed. A stop at a store tomorrow is a must so hopefully there will be pictures tomorrow.

This was not the only electronic glitch! We stopped at the rest stop on Hwy 280 south of San Francisco. When we started the car back up the radio wouldn't work and the display panel that has all kinds of interesting information was dead. Judi grabbed her phone and called the Toyota dealership in Tustin where she bought the car and talked to the service department that serviced the car last week. We are quite suspiscious of the IPod connection they installed for when we stopped at the Toyota dealership in San Rafael they discovered the radio had shorted out. Hmmmmm! Since it takes 3 working days to get a new radio we figure we will have to sing until we reach Kalispell, Montana next Thursday. We will call ahead and have the repair department at the ready. Judi tried teaching us a song this afternoon and we laughed so hard we almost drove off the road.

This minor problem only slowed us down a bit. We had lunch in San Rafael with our old roommate, Jane Sullivan Cobb. It had been over 15 years since Lee had seen Jane and we shared lots of great memories and were back on the road at 2:00.

The drive through Santa Rosa was horrible. They are widening the road which I'm sure will be great when they are finished but today it was a nightmare of traffic. (For those of you from Santa Cruz County, think "fishhook") But after Santa Rosa we sailed right along and the countryside is beautiful. Lee and Judi have been here but it was a first for me. By the time we reached Garberville around 6:00 we were oohing and ahhing over the redwoods. Tomorrow we head into the Avenue of the Giants which is a 31 mile drive through some magnificent groves of trees. I can hardly wait. The weather here was warm but pleasant. We walked down the street to a deli and had a very good dinnner. Cute little town and we were amused by the Hemp Store on the main street. We were reminded at one time the largest cash crop raised in Humbolt County was marijuana. For all we know it may still be the winner.

Packing this morning had us all in a sweat but I think tomorrow might be a bit easier. The back seat was pretty full and every available inch in the trunk was taken. Sort of like a jigsaw puzzle. Tomorrow we won't have the 6 giant cans of frozen berries from theGizdich Ranch which we were delivering to Jane for her family's annual jam making event!

I was very excited to turn on my computer and get right on the internet. I can't thank Tim Murikami enough for giving me the confidence of working with my laptop. Now if I could just get the damn camera to work!

Tomorrow after the redwoods we will continue north through Eureka and up the coast of Oregon. Taking the scenic route and hope to be in some quaint little beach town tomorrow night. We all three agreed today was great and we feel so fortunate to be doing this. Stay tuned.

Love and regards to everyone. Gerry

We Continue

It has been over a month since the first flurry of activity took place. We haven't been idle though. Books continue to be read, people talked to, and then there is the endless practicing this rather technology challenged "Girl" is having to do. If it comes down to taking a walk along the Missouri River or sitting in some motel trying to figure out how to post a picture to the blog the River is going to win. Wish we could stash a 12 year old in a suitcase to handle all the technical details.

Today is the day I will add a couple of pictures taken last month in my driveway in Watsonville (on the way out to a fabulous Mexican dinner, I might add). We hope to return the lovely pale green enchanted coach to California in November in close to its present pristine condition. At least this is what it looked like when we started out.

Proposed departure date is August 25th. Hope we will be ready!

Gerry