Ramada Limited Yakima, Wa

We made it out of Weippe...hanging onto the last sliver of liver we had left. And we've begun the final leg of the journey home. Home? Loose word since we're going to a city that i've barely been to, to a house we don't have, without a job. It's a weird feeling calling a place home that you dont know anything about. But that's what it's going to be for the next 6 ...

... 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 ...

... to Heather. All three made us most welcome and the two men caught up on lots of family news. Goerge took us around downtown Yakima and showed us the sights. It was amazing to realise how big the towm has grown. A family dinner one night, then breakfast with the same family members the next day topped the event. Finally H could put names and faces together and we caught up on lots of family history and news. A distant cousin Karen from Arizona flew ...

... in the newspaper office, and staying in Zillah the next town over, at a Comfort Inn located near the wine trails, we decided on Zillah. After an effortless check-in and quick, refreshing shower at the Comfort Inn, we were off to drink our way through the first section of the Rattlesnake Trail wine country. Vineyards and orchards blanket ...

... By late afternoon, about 4 p.m., beyond Midland and Hayes, sunshine and blue skies became visible through breaks in the clouds. That considerably improved what had been a cold, dreary, dismal day. AS did the unexpected view of four hawks sitting in a row on roadside fence posts THE rains returned as I crossed the Missouri river and headed for Pierre. North of Pierre, along US-83, rolling grassland and wheat fields level out to become huge flat expanses ...

... and their descendents are again one with the dusty earth. The earliest people left litter. What we know of them we learned primarily from their litter, including their bones. And all men have destroyed species, including his own. The earliest men, who hunted, fished, planted crops, and domesticated some animals were, in small ways, beginning to interfere with and alter/damage the environment. It seems to me the environmentalists are allowing ...

... along the way. Ocean City in and of itself is hardly worth driving several thousand miles to see, but I'm glad I came. It's what I experienced along the way that makes the trip worthwhile. The destination is secondary, but the voyage is what counts. The same is true of our lives. Reaching a certain status or position or age ...