We're here!

We met up with Norm and Barb at Coeur d'Alene. Their dog is Loki, named after the Norwegian God of Mischief. What a cutie.








We drove past Lake Coeur d'Alene,. The drive past Clark's Fork River and Flathead River had Gary drooling, ready to go fishing.








I discovered I could put unusual frames around photos on my camera--that is Norm and Barb's RV.








Here you can see Norm and Gary--happy with their fishing licenses in hand.











We got to the most beautiful RV park we've ever seen. It is new and gorgeous with a view!
All the dogs loved being off leash at the little pet area.









Elsie and Loki had lots of fun playing.







This photo shows Norm and Gary sitting outside their RV, looking toward our RV and the Rocky Mountains.








The view out of our front window of Flathead Lake can't be beat.

We reminisced all evening after a great dinner prepared by Barb. Our turn is tomorrow night.

Idaho

We made it to Idaho today. Most of the trip looked the same like this.







Then we hit Spokane County and trees appeared. Beautiful after a pretty boring day seeing one harvested field after another.






In Spokane we noticed that all water towers and other towers were painted in a red and white checkerboard pattern. Brightened up the area quite a bit and sure made all the towers obvious.






We got to Suntree RV Park and we're parked under a beautiful Mountain Ash tree--lots of pretty red berries.





We got to know some people who used to have our same RV. They came by for a visit and their dog was content to play with our dogs' toys. Our dogs enjoyed having company.






We've already spoken with Norm and Barb--we'll meet at a Safeway parking lot and caravan to our first stop in Montana. Can't wait to see them.

Eastern Oregon

We had such a good visit at my brother's. And I finally got a photo of my sister-in-law as she and the boys were saying good bye to our dogs.






We headed on our way from Bend toward Biggs. This is what the scenery looked like almost the whole way.








Then we made it to Biggs and the Columbia River. There were some interesting land formations along the gorge.








We saw more trains on this stretch of the trip than any trip of our lives.










About halfway to Pendleton from Biggs there were acres and acres of this particular tree grown as a crop. We're not sure--maybe Cottonwood? Or Birch? Probably Cottonwood.









And for my knitting update--this is how far I've gotten on my scarf using Tule as a backdrop this time. Good dog!

Brrrrrr!

It definitely was cold when we got up this morning. Can you read the thermometer? 29 degrees outside and 44 inside the RV. We soon turned on the space heater. But as soon as the sun warmed things up it was a nice 70 degree day.


We did a tour of downtown Bend. They have beautiful flowers like these here and there around town. It really dresses up the place.







As we strolled along this tree covered with knitted patches jumped out in front of us--Josh tells me lots of people sit and knit in the coffee shop next to the tree, so I guess this is their signature keepsake? And this morning as Gary was playing with the tv he found a knitting show!









Last time we were here there were forest fires so we couldn't see the view. This time it is nice and clear and the view from my brother's house is fabulous!

New Record

From the time we left home until we crossed into Oregon we saw 16 CHP vehicles--a new record since we only saw 15 last month. We noticed a lot less snow on Mt. Shasta.



Speaking of crossing into Oregon--what a difference! The roads smoothed right out as we entered Oregon on Hwy 97. Such a nice ride after all the bumps of CA roads.






We enjoyed a beautiful trip from Mt. Shasta City to Bend, then had a great time greeting my brother and his family. My sister-in-law hides from the camera even though she is absolutely stunning.







Monte and the boys accompanied me to Juniper Fiberworks--what a beautiful yarn shop! And the boys enjoyed using the shop equipment to turn my skein of yarn into a ball. I got enough to make the Multnomah shawl. Gary stayed in the car with the dogs. I guess he's seen enough yarn shops by now. ; )









Then it was off to the dog park to give the dogs their fun. They had a ball. There was a huge Great Dane puppy named Max who really wanted to play. Our dogs could walk under him without touching him a bit. Then his owner saw Gary petting Max and said, "Oh my goodness! He makes Max look like a chihuahua!" Gave us all a good laugh along with several other people standing around watching their dogs play.

After a wonderful dinner the boys helped us walk the dogs one more time and it is off to bed for all of us. We're ready for another fun day with them all tomorrow.

Heading to Montana

We're on the road again on our way to meet some old friends in Montana. We had a beautiful ride today, but the weather was not cool.


At Lake Shasta it was 103 degrees!










We are staying at the KOA in Mt. Shasta City--what a darling town. One of Gary's hunting buddies lives here, so Bob and Gary had a nice chat and we all went out to dinner.





At this KOA I realized our dogs can read. They crossed their legs and rushed over to the sign that said "Pet Walk". I've been noticing they seem to recognize that sign at each park before they get close enough to sniff the other doggie smells. Such smart dogs we have. ; )




Somebody at this park is a talented wood carver. Carvings like this are on every post. It is fun to see all the different characters.






I got a nice thank you gift for talking Gary into hauling the spinning wheel for my knitting friend, Tami, on our last trip. This is the beginning of my new silk and merino wool scarf with Elsie being a very patient background.

Home Again

We made it safely home this afternoon. The RV is unloaded and ready to be cleaned and the first three loads of laundry are getting done.


Gary decided to take a different route home. Since we stayed on Hwy 99 in Corning, he drove home down 99 thru Chico, past his duck club (where the ducks won last year when he broke his ankle) and past this interesting display in Gridley. These bras all represent donations to the Pink Passion Campaign against breast cancer. Sure did catch our eyes!

The weather was cool for here (in the 80's) so we hurriedly unpacked the RV, then harvested what grew in our garden while we were gone--20 ripe tomatoes, one huge patti-pan squash and two large yellow crookneck squash . I think I'll make patti-pan or crookneck bread for the next trip.

Elsie did her usual dash into her crate as soon as she saw it--and she's still there. The big surprise is Tule hasn't gotten in the pool yet. She thought about it, but decided she'd rather come in the house.

We'll be home for about 10 days, then off on the next trip--to Montana with college friends.