Happy Fourth of July

Sagle, Idaho                     High 72 Low 45

It was a nice day but with the wind it was a little cold. When the sun finally came out it was pleasant.

We went to the Sandpoint Parade which started at 10:00 this morning. There were a lot of people out to see it. I felt like it was a pretty typical small town Parade with the dignitaries first. Then there were a lot of old cars. The high school here was pretty well represented with marching band, cheerleaders, and football team.

Golf Cart Drill Team.

Old helicopter that was being restored.

Old tear-drop trailer pulled by a 1947 Chevrolet van.

This dog was on one of the floats and was all dressed up for the Fourth.

A group of off roaders.

Every parade has to have horses.

The emergency people brought a lot of fire engines through with the ambulance people. The parade lasted about an hour.

This afternoon we went to some friends of Ken and Sabrina’s house for an afternoon happy hour, if you will, which was followed by a good dinner. They had a lot of friends and family there and we played games and visited.

Tomorrow is Penny’s haircut and after we will probably go out in Ken’s boat if the water is calm.

I hope everyone had a good Fourth of July.

Thanks for visiting. 

Blue Berries

Sagle, Idaho          High 79 Low 46

We have had some cooler weather here than it was Friday. It definitely is a welcome change.

We went picking Blue berries yesterday. I don’t remember how many acres there are, but with the 6 varieties there, there are many blue berry bushes. We probably paid a little more than what we would have in the grocery stores, but these had a lot more flavor than store bought. Besides we got to eat some as we picked. A little daughter of the owner told us the first rule was to eat as many as you put in your bucket, but that wasn’t possible.

Sabrina talking to the owner.

Cindy's and my gallon.

Cindy sorting out the bad berries and leaves.

 Sabrina pouring berries into bags.

We ended up with about 15 pounds of blue berries. After we got back home, Cindy made most of them into freezer syrup. She also made some of it into blueberry butter. We put the syrup in our freezer for later use.

I’m afraid Cindy over-did, because she was hurting last night. She seems better today, but has decided to spend a day or two longer getting back to Utah.

Sabrina has something going on the next two nights and there is a parade in Sandpoint tomorrow.

Tuesday morning Penny has an appointment with the groomer to get a haircut. She is getting kind of shaggy because it is going on to four months since her last hair cut in Yuma. It was so cold going up the coast that we thought she would freeze if we got it cut sooner. Now that summer is here she will do better.

Wednesday we start heading back to Riverton.

Thanks for visiting.

We Are In Idaho

Sagle, Idaho            High 79 Low 55

We left Washington and Headed toward Spokane, where we stayed the night before continuing on to Sagle, a small town just outside of Sandpoint, Idaho.

Before we left Randle, we noticed one of the campground peacocks by one of our neighbors. This peacock was so tame that it would eat out of the ladies hand. They told us they called this one Pete and there is another male that they call Repete. Pete didn’t seem at all afraid of us and just went on eating.

In the morning we left and started toward Yakima and before we got too many miles we started to notice the scenery changing from trees and lake to sagebrush and dry.

This looks just like a lot of Utah.

When we got near Yakima, we noticed many acres of pole-beans. There were also lots of apple trees.

The closer we got to Spokane, the more evergreen trees there were. We had decided to stay at the Northern Quest Casino, as it was RV friendly. When we woke up, there were about 2 dozen RVs throughout the large parking lot. A lot of the perimeter is painted for RV parking and marked RV. There also were several large trucks, but they seemed to have their own area so we had a quiet night.

After we arrived we got the trailer set up and then went and found one of the local quilt stores. The only thing we left with was the free Row by Row pattern. I then went and filled the truck at a station belonging to one of the Indian tribes. It was near the Casino and diesel was 15 cents a gallon less than anywhere else I found on Gas Buddy.

Yesterday morning we left Spokane and made it to Sagle. We are staying in my daughter Sabrina’s driveway. Last night Sabrina and Ken took us to a restaurant on their boat. I was about a 20 minute ride on what I thought was part of Lake Pend Oreille, but Ken told me it is part of the Priest River and the Lake doesn’t start until the other side of the train tracks which we went near getting to the restaurant.

The Restaurant we boated to. 

My daughter Sabrina and son-in-law Ken.

Cindy got this bird looking at us as we went by.

Sabrina and Ken's house on the River. They seem to have lots of Canadian Geese come and visit and help fertilize their grass.

No, Penny isn't spoiled (much).

Today we went blue berry picking, but I’ll wait for another post before talking about that.

I saw that Jim and Sandy Dixon lost one of their dogs today and feel sorry for their lose. It is always hard to have one of you fur babies pass away.

Thanks for visiting.

Repairs

Randle, Washington            High 80 Low 54

The temperature today was a little cooler, but still warm.

Cindy was trying to get hot water out of the sink and finally told me that there wasn’t any hot. Since I’ve had this problem before I knew what it was. When I checked the temperature sensor and reset and sure enough it was burned out. I don’t remember if this is the third or fourth time I’ve had to replace it, but I have learned to have extras. I might mention that it is the electrical side and not the propane. The water heater is a Suburban and last time it happened we were staying in Benson, Arizona and I had to use propane until we drove past Casa Grande to get the correct part.

The other thing I worked on was to take the grill off the truck and wash all the bugs out of the radiator and air conditioning condenser. On our way here at one time the transmission got a little warm and I hope this takes care of the problem.

We are not doing much else except Cindy has been busy sewing.

Thanks for visiting. 

Mabel Was Not So Smart

Randle, Washington         High 84 Low 55

We finally got the warm weather. In fact it was almost too warm to sleep well. Today was hot compared to what we had got used to on the coast.

We wanted to drive to Mt. Rainier National Park. We picked a good day for it. When we left Randle it was about 75. When we got to the Visitor Center, it was only 69 degrees. When we got back to the RV Park it was 84 degrees.

After we entered the Park, we got to see several waterfalls and several glimpses of the Mountain. At first there were lots of clouds around the summit, but as we drove on, we finally got to see the top of the mountain. We got to see lots of snow drifts along the highway into the Park. Some of the creeks and rivers had glacier fed water running in them and some were cleaner from the snow melt.

 There are also several small lakes on the way to the Visitors Center.

This lake was called Reflection Lake. Anybody know why?

As we drove along we got to see several other rugged looking mountains. Mt. Rainier is totally snow covered. The parking lot had lots of water running onto it from all the snow melting. When we got to the Visitor Center, the clouds had obscured the top. We took several different pictures of the Mountain so you can see the difference in the cloud cover.

 These next pictures off of the Paradise Inn which was built in 1917, 99 years ago. It is on the National Historic Registry.

At the Visitor Center we watched a movie that told that the mountain is high enough that it creates its own weather. The warm moisture filled air hits the glaciers and snow pack which causes fog and then rain.

When we left, we decided to go back to our RV Park a different way than what we had driven in on. I finally made it to the highway leading back to Packwood and Mabel, my GPS, seemed alright at first. But as we got closer to Packwood, she had me turn off the main highway, to a secondary highway, FS-47, that was only one lane for most of it. And about a mile and a half in, she told me to turn on an unpaved road. She kept going from bad road to worse road and finally to an impossible road. I then turned around and went back to FR-52, which is the main road. At that point, Mabel agreed with me and we were soon in Packwood.

 From two lane Highway to single lane to dirt. I had a hard time finding a place to turn around.

When we got back to the trailer, I got on Google Earth and found the road she had me turn on at first (FR-47) and it was at least 10 times as far as the main road and then US Highway 12 would have been. I’m not sure what she was trying to get me to do. Perhaps she decided we needed to see a little more of the forests in Washington.

Cindy is improving a little at a time and keeps trying to overdo. We still are not taking any hikes.

Thanks for visiting.