Quality Inn Yakima

... glad we went. THen we trekked two hours further north and back into Idaho to Couer D'Alene Cellars where Shaner also worked and tried some more wines! Also amazing!

Finally we made it to Ellensburg, WA just before Seattle to call it a night before we make the rest of the trek to VanCity while the rest of the country stuffs their faces with Thanksgiving Dinner.

... we are planning to move to. I cannot wait to see what that part of the world is like. I have never been any closer than Orlando and that was just for two days during a business thing (I worked for a company that manufactured those bouncy houses for kids parties and we had a convention, LOL). I wonder if we will have time to pick out any presents ...

... done, we drove up to Pike Place Market (where they throw the fish) and had a very nice lunch.

By the time the coach was ready, we had missed our appointment at Cummins in Renton, WA, to have the air filter replaced. They suggested that we continue on to their facility in Yakima, WA, which was right on our way. We called Yakima and found the filter in stock. Our arrival time was right at ...

Hello again!

We are here! In Washington...the state, not the city, you can all keep breathing and not worry that we've been driving EAST for the past 5 days instead of west! A few little notes....

1. Skip the Montana Old Prison Museum....it's totally not worth it and I'm pretty sure that I'm going to get the plague from the spores I inhaled there!

2. Rav's a wonderful vehicles....and are good at climbing hills....especially if you name ...

... around and stretch our legs a bit.

Our plan was to get to the Best Western in Leavenworth, WA, but when we got off the highway in Ellensburg, there was a brand new Hampton Inn which had only been open one month, so we hurriedly called and canceled the Best Western (fortunately, they were really nice about it).

Chris went in search of food while I ...

Bill's Mum came from Yakima so we drove the 3 hrs from the airport to see some remaining cousins and relations. Yakima is such a different place to Seattle - rolling dry plains and almost no trees, yet, interestingly, it is becoming one of the nation's biggest growers of wine - grade grapes, for instance. We stayed with Anita and George Sargent (B's cousin) and Mickey the Cat, who decided to impress us one morning by capturing a bird and presenting ...

... it and yes, it is as easy as it looks, I know what I want for Christmas! Regardless of the revitalization that Toppenish is going through, Sam and others like him are making the little western town a great place to visit for a day. After battling between staying in Toppenish at the Day's Inn, on the Mayor's wife's recommendation whom we ...

... burger, with a side order of potato salad. The burger was piled high with all the extras; lettuce, dill slices, a thick onion slab, and an equally thick tomato slice. It had mayo, mustard and ketchup, so juicy it dripped off my elbows as I ate. The salad had big chunks of potato, just the way I like it. All that, and a bottomless cup of excellent coffee, came to $4.55 including tax. As an added free benefit, I could be reminded of the date from any ...

... creating wounds sure to leave permanent ugly scars. I suspect it has been this way since the beginning of man-time. The only difference is now there are more people generating more trash to perpetuate outrages against the environment. I saw soiled diapers discarded in Death Valley. In that climate they may never decompose. The diapers will be there to greet travellers hundreds of generations after the bodies of the infants who soiled ...

... the volcano had rumbled I wouldn't have known. Each time I awoke I looked out, and not seeing anything that resembled the fires of hell escaping from the crater, I went back to sleep. It is difficult to comprehend how any force could be so powerful as to cause the damage this eruption inflicted. Miles around the crater all the huge redwoods that forested these mountains are lying flat, all pointing in ...