Britta's book!

This is your commercial break:

Go to EerieElegance.com to read about Britta's first book. So far it has been quite successful, selling 70 some copies in the first two weeks and it can only be ordered online so far. If you go to her site and click on ordering it thru Amazon.com, you can see 3 reviews written by people who have bought the book and don't really know Britta! Two of them have never met her.

If you want an autographed copy, you can email her and ask for her to send you one and she will be happy to do it. Otherwise, the easiest way is to order it online. Enjoy! It really is a good book if you are into Halloween, lots of good recipes and how to make things.

Heading across Nevada

I know I am easily entertained. It was so exciting to see old fashioned telephone poles! I remember leaning against the window as my Dad drove us across Montana on our way to North Dakota and watching the telephone poles go by. The only other thing to see other than farmland were the Burma Shave signs, so telephone poles were the big entertainment on the long drive--back in the olden days. ; )

Learned something new at one of the rest stops--we didn't realize President Eisenhower was the one to start the ball rolling on Interstate Highways. Also learned that the grassy looking stuff at the Rest Areas is not grassy and has lots of awful stickers to get stuck in dog's paws. We are now only walking on pavement and gravel and bare dirt.

Poor Gary stubbed his toe just before we left Roseville and it is lots of pretty colors now. It is sticking out a little funny, too. He pulled on it to straighten it out, but it is either dislocated or broken. We are very thankful for cruise control.

Resort Parks International--sounds like these should be nice places, right? All the other RPI's we've stayed at have been lovely. This photo is the "clubhouse" at this RPI in Wells, NV. There is only space for about 12-15 motorhomes and all gravel and dirt. There are a few trees, one of which is new to us and full of stickers. Lots of stickers inhabit this high desert.

We drove through Battle Mountain, which is one of those places where if you blink you miss it. Then Gary decided we should not eat lunch in the RV, so we stopped in Elko. We found a Pizza Hut that is still a sit-down restaurant and we had a ball people watching--it was very busy. There were two teenage boys having a birthday party and a mother with 5 daughters ranging in age from about 2 to 12, plus two of their friends. So far this was the highlight of the trip--laughed the whole time we were waiting for our food. Good thing, since my pizza did the usual thing and didn't arrive. Gary was finished eating and we finally asked for it to go. Got out to the RV to eat it and sure enough--they put sauce on it, so it is now Gary's. Smelled good, though.

No TV here tonight so I am going to knit. Couldn't talk Gary into a game of Scrabble. He is resting. Tomorrow we hope to get going early so we can spend some time seeing Salt Lake City.

Blogging along again--

Sept. 26, 2008

Got going about an hour later than originally planned. As we loaded the food in the RV, lots of neighbors dropped by to talk about the truck theft in the neighborhood earlier in the week. Finally got underway about 11 a.m.

Of course, right after we let the dogs out for their last potty visit to our yard they both got in the pool and were thoroughly wet as we started our trip.

I-80 up to Reno was so bumpy, I couldn't blog or read emails very well, or even knit. It was unbelievably rough. The curves didn't help, either, but it was the bumpiness that got to the dogs and me. Nevada roads are nice and smooth, even though the scenery is a bit boring thru the high desert.

After our GPS got confused and we drove around and around Winnemucca, we finally found our very nice RV park. It even has a tiny dog area where they can be off the leash. Had a little trouble hooking up the electricity. At first only half the plug-ins worked and no tv. A little troubleshooting (about an hour's worth) got us up and running on all circuits.

Now we're pooped and ready for a good night's sleep. Nice and cool out right now. Love this cooler weather!

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

As we headed toward Lake Shasta this morning, we could see the smoke from all the wildfires. I was hoping it would be gone by now. We are now driving in smoke, probably all the way home. The fresh, cool air was nice while it lasted.



We had a fast, fun lunch visit with Winnie in La Pine, OR yesterday shortly after we left my brother's house. She is such a lively friend--plays golf, lots of card and domino games and volunteers endlessly. She is never bored. Rhubarb is growing plentifully in her yard so she gave Gary enough for a real treat when we get home. Notice I figured out how to use the timer on our camera!
















This huge bug landed on our windshield as Gary pulled over to let trucks pass. It stayed on for quite awhile. We have no clue what kind of bug it is, but it is an Oregon Bug.









Finally Mt. Shasta greeted us as we neared Weed to spend the night. Today is the last day of our trip and this is the last blog of this trip. The massive laundry attack will soon begin, but it still will be good to be home.

Bend

As we traveled from Goldendale, WA to Bend, OR, we drove along the Columbia River Gorge and finally crossed it. It was amazing to see how deep the gorge has gotten over the years since we last saw it. It is becoming a mini-Grand Canyon. Gary insisted we have a photo as we sped alongside the river.

When we made it to Bend, we discovered they have been having a few wildfires, too, with enough smoke that we couldn't see the beautiful view of the mountains from my brother's huge house. In fact, you couldn't even tell there were mountains out there! But it was clear enough to enjoy the pool.

We had a good visit and lots of fun with our nephews. Alex, age 10, decided to try surfing on his Mom's new floating mat. And Josh, age 12, created a relaxing recliner in the inner tubes. The boys took the dogs for long walks and a couple of runs that they all absolutely loved.
We had a Silly String War that I lost--too bad we didn't get a photo of me draped with Silly String. I didn't even look in the mirror--just knew it was stuck to my glasses, in my mouth, my hair and even stuck to an earring, not to mention my clothes. But we had fun! And everyone enjoyed a good laugh at my expense.

Dinner last night gave us an opportunity for a good family photo. Josh, Grandma, Alex and their dad, my brother Monte are on the bench and if you know me, you know who is behind them. ; )









As I looked through our photos, I realized my sneaky sister-in-law, Brenda, managed to stay out of the photos again! We need more photos of Brenda, she is the best looking one in the family and she loves to hide from the cameras.

Now we're heading home. We'll stop in Weed tonight and be home sometime tomorrow. One more blog will show up tomorrow as Gary drives and I have fun on the computer. Love our "aircard".

113 Degrees!

So much for the nice cool part of our trip. Outside Yakima yesterday it was 113 degrees. It was only 100 when we stopped for the night in Goldendale, WA. Phew! Eastern Washington looks like Arizona without cactus until you get to the huge hay farms. Lots of dry rolling hills and heat. We hear Roseville is a lot cooler than we are experiencing. Today we are on our way to Bend where there is a pool and kids and space for the dogs to run.



Our last night in Edmonds, Mom and Gary and I went out to a nice dinner on the waterfront where we could watch the ferry we didn't have time to ride. It is such a beautiful view with the huge expanse of water and the Olympic Mts. in the background. If you have never been to the Seattle area, you really need to see it. Try to get there when the mountains are out. Not easy, but worth the effort.

Gary just spotted 4 antelope in a field along the Highway. There were several deer right outside our RV last night along with a few bunnies, so the dogs had a good time sniffing.

These last two photos were taken as we drove through the Cascade Mountains on our way to Snoqualmie Pass. The dandelions are very healthy at the summit. I could have picked a whole bouquet with long stems.

The Mountains Are Out at the Dog Beach!

What a view! We could see both the Olympic Mountains (in the photo) and the Cascades as we drove anywhere the past few days. I'm glad I got my rain in Seaside so I could see the beautiful views here. If you don't know the area, Edmonds is on Puget Sound.


We've been doing little repairs, etc. for Mom. She and I found an estate sale to browse, got a few little things. Mom loves to check out estate sales (not garage sales). And we did other shopping, like you'd expect. Yes, I found a yarn shop.

Edmonds has a Dog Beach instead of a dog park. Tule missed out on the salt water in Seaside because there was no fence. When we walked toward the water here, she took off and ran straight out into the water as far as she could run, then stood there smiling. Elsie took one look at the slightly bigger waves and balked--did NOT want to go past the foam, but really wanted to be in the water. You can see that eventually they both swam.

I missed my favorite photo op. Tule decided to swim out after a tennis ball, got out quite a way when a big wave came, lifted her up and carried her back to the beach. She just rode the wave like a surfer, smiling her happy smile the whole time. Then she turned around and went back into the water. That's our Tule! Everything is fun!

Of course, after all that we took them back to Mom's for a bath.

One of the neighbors got a new horse and the horse that Mom boards in her pasture spent the whole day complaining. I guess he doesn't like other horses around. He not only whinnied, but made several other unusual noises. Thank goodness he quieted down after dark!

Now we are on our way to Bend, OR to see my brother and his family. At this exact moment we are driving over the Floating Bridge to Mercer Island. Then we will head over Snoqualmie Pass and on to Ellensburg and Yakima. We will spend the night at Goldendale, WA so we can get to Bend early enough to have fun with the boys before we leave the next day. Mom is enjoying the view from the front passenger seat on her first RV trip. I'm enjoying the time to check the computer and knit at the table. We do enjoy this motor home, even after all the problems.