Another Overcast Dreary Day

According to the weather forecast, it wasn't supposed to rain yesterday nor was it supposed to rain today. I don't think the weather listens to the forecasts. It started raining yesterday afternoon and rained off and on all night. It was overcast and gloomy when we got up this morning and didn't get much better anytime today. We've had a few showers this afternoon as well. As a result, my bones have been achey all day...

Funny, I don't remember rainy days when I was a kid. Granted we lived in Ritzville on the dry side of Washington State (east of the Cascade Mountains), but I have no memories of ever playing in the rain. Until my paternal grandfather retired and Dad moved our family out to the farm, we lived across the street from the City Park and the swimming pool. Down the street just a half block were the tennis courts and a few feet further on the other side was the High School.

The swimming pool was a great incentive to Sister Sherry and I to get our chores done early so that we could be over there when the doors opened at one. A good many of my memories have to do with the long afternoons and later evenings, spent in or at the swimming pool.

We learned to roller skate in our Grandfather Kubik's basement. In those days -- before they put in the fancy court surface -- the PTA (I think) sponsored skating in the evenings at the tennis courts. They would put coins in the Pay-for-lights boxes and plug in a record player so that we would have music to skate to. None of us had special skate shoes. What we had were wheels with with an ankle strap and metal clamps that fastened onto your regular shoes (leather ones -- none of us wore tennis shoes). The front of the wheels could be extended to make them fit larger shoes. There was a skate key you wore around your neck that you used to tighten the clamps. It was a bit of a disaster if you mis-placed your skate key as it seemed like the clamps always needed tightening...





Later when they built the new grade school, we used to skate on the expanse of asphalt around the playground. Even the country kids would bring their skate wheels to school so that could skate during recess.

But as I think of all the things we did as kids, I cannot remember it raining. I do remember the snow, shoveling sidewalks and making snowmen, but no rain. Memory is a funny thing.

Checkin' In

Another quiet day at Riverbend RV Park. Seemed like there was a lot of traffic in and out today. Several rigs around us and across the road packed up and moved on. The one on our left appears to be deserted. There's a car parked behind the trailer, but there's no one in or out and no lights at night. Could be that this park allows rigs to be left here unaccompanied. Most parks don't allow you to be gone even overnight. This is our third night here and we've not seen a soul over there.

The folks on our right pulled out early this afternoon. Our awning almost touched their rig. I think it gave them more shade then it gave us. I brought the awning in to allow them more room to maneuver as they pulled out. I also moved Toad II from in front of Auntie Violet to the back for the same reason.

A bit later another rig was backing into that same space. I again brought the awning in as a courtesy to them -- and to keep them from hitting it. Turned out they were only backing into that site in order to get a straight shot into the space across the road. Right now, that site is still empty. It's the first empty site we've seen since we arrived. Riverbend is a busy place.

It was foggy and chilly again this morning, but quickly warmed up and turned into another gorgeous day. My Brother Pat and his wife Cindy were driving over to Anacortes from Moses Lake this afternoon. They sure picked a beautiful day to drive across the Cascade Mountains.

Californee, Here We Come!

It was our last night at Seven Feathers and it rained. It was quiet when we went to sleep, but by 2:30 AM it was raining loud enough to wake us up. It's a good thing we had decided to sleep in the living room again as it was dripping into the pan on the bed...

The picture on the left is one I took the first day we were here of the little stream that flows next to the campground. You have to look very hard to see the water. I took the picture on the right just before we left. It's still not a great deal of water, but it's sure a lot more than it was a week ago!

This is what Interstate 5 was like when we left this morning --

As we left the mountain passes and came into California (and were stopped with all incoming traffic at the inspection station checking for citrus fruit) we began to see blue skies --

Our first glimpse of Mount Shasta --

The closer we got, the bluer the sky --

Mount Shasta loomed cold and beautiful on the horizon when we stopped at the Weed Rest Area --

The trees in California are still golden, holding their color. The ones in the NW have already dropped the biggest share of their leaves and the forests no longer show the contrasts.

Interstate 5 goes south below the Cascade Mountains into the valley between the Coast Range and the Sierras. We began to see flat land fruit and nut trees AND olive groves --

We drove south until about 3:30, ending up at Old Orchard RV Park in Orland where we have stayed many times before. It's a small park and the people who run it are elderly. Since we didn't come this way last year, we weren't sure it would still be open... We'll spend a couple of nights here then continue moseying towards Arizona. We're thinking we'll most likely try to be there December 1st.

Over the Mountains

We drove over the Cascade Mountains to Mount Vernon today. There is a great deal of construction on Snoqualamie Pass and they have been warning about the fact that there is only one lane of road open each way -- long delays are to be expected. So we decided we would take Highway 2 over Stevens Pass instead. We came home the last time we were on the coast over the North Cascades Highway which is a gorgeous drive, but long. We hadn't been on Stevens for several years. It's a slower drive because much of it is only two lane highway and it also goes through many small towns with 25 mile per hour speed limits.

It was still a bit cloudy and hazy from all of the summer fires, but the colors of the trees were beautiful. We probably caught them at their height as many of them were just beginning to drop their leaves...

This is Palisades State Park on the other side of Wenatchee. It's where all of the rock climbers come to play and test themselves and their gear. As today was a week day, we didn't see any climbers, but in the past we've seen large parties of them on the rocks.

The reds, oranges and yellows of the orchards are in sharp contrast to the dry hills above them --

As we got further into the mountains, the colored undergrowth showed quite brightly against the evergreen trees --

Even on the steep rocky hillsides, the brilliant yellows stood out --

 

And yes, that's fresh snow over there on that mountainside!

It was raining when I snapped this picture. It's fascinating to see the colors of the scrub brush on otherwise barren rocky walls...

By the time we got to Mount Vernon, it was already dark and raining very hard. I had been talking to Daughter Mary Mae on our cell phones and found out that they were all over at the Lincoln Theater for tonight's dress rehearsal of "Witches, the Musical." It was an open rehearsal, so we grabbed a quick sandwich and drove to the theater to watch. This is a World Premiere of an original screen play about the Salem Witch Trials. There are over thirty people in the cast -- including our Granddaughter Claire who is one of the three little girls in the play.

What a treat to get to see this preview of the Opening Night we'll see tomorrow. It's a long play and it was after eleven when it was finished! I was very impressed by Claire. Her part involves singing and dancing -- and she's on stage most of the time.She plays a little Puritan girl and is also seen as one of Satan's minions in a dream sequence.

Grandson Varick is working with the sound crew while Scott is working backstage changing scenery and MM is helping with costumes. Quite a family production!

North Cascades Highway

September 4, 2012
(Once again, I'm not getting internet at the ranch, so am sending it on our way to Spokane.)

We came home from Mount Vernon over Highway 20, the North Cascades Highway. This highway closes down in the wintertime as it goes through some of the most scenic mountains in Washington State. It's been several years since we had driven this way and it was a gorgeous day to do it. After some last hugs from the grandkids and their mother, we left around eleven o'clock.

It's still cold up in the Cascade Mountains and the snow remains on some of the north facing slopes! Most likely some of it will still be there when this winter's snow starts to fall on top of it...

Our drive took us through the beautiful Methow River Valley on the eastern side of the state. This is orchard country. You could see all of the apples beginning to turn red, getting ready for harvest.

It was easy to see it was getting towards harvest time, as trucks were busy transporting the big boxes out to the orchards.

We made a stop in Brewster for gas and a bite to eat, finally getting back to the ranch just as it had gotten dark.

Over the Rivers and Through the Mountains...

We were sitting there eating breakfast (I actually made Forry biscuits and gravy!) this morning when I suggested that Forry should call Daughter Mary Mae and see what they were doing for the Labor Day weekend. When he talked to her, it sounded like they really had no concrete plans and had sort of been kicking several ideas around, but nothing firm.

So, we asked if they would like some company, and just like that we started packing the Toad getting ready to head for Mount Vernon. I had to do a bit of a treasure hunt through Auntie Violet for all the corners I had used to stash birthday presents and other goodies I had picked up for MM and her family during our travels this past year.

We stopped by the farmhouse to let Jeff and Barb know that we would be back on Tuesday (so they could keep an eye on Auntie Violet). Jeff suggested that we stop and pick up a box of peaches to take over with us as they are at their peak this week. We did just that, stopping at the fruit stand in Kittatas for a gorgeous box of peaches as well as a small bag of apricots and one of cherries.

It was a very pleasant day for the drive across the Columbia River and the Cascade Mountains, sunny with just a wisp or two of clouds along the way. We stopped at the Marysville Dairy Queen on the way and had hot dogs and smoothies for dinner, arriving in Mount Vernon a little after seven.

Our Grandson Varick (14) is now taller than I am and Granddaughter Claire (11) is not too far behind. We did have to laugh when we arrived with fruit in tow, as MM had purchased a box of peaches from their food coop today. I can guess that tomorrow we will be slicing peaches for the freezer and making a bit of jam as well...-