Fall, Quilts, and Fests

The trees are showing their colors, and we have a healthy rainstorm coming our way. It has been cool enough on recent mornings that the furnace has kicked on. I am in the mode of thinking about hearty meals of stews and soups. We had kale soup and homemade biscuits for dinner tonight which should help to keep the chill off.

I finally finished the Quilt of Valor quilt top and now need to contact the organization to find out where to send it to be quilted. I am quite pleased with how it looks, and know it will only get better once it is quilted and bound. So now which of my UFOs should I work on? I probably have eight or ten choices. All the patterns and fabrics in the stores are so tempting; but I have resisted all year because I know I have lots at home to keep me busy.

We chatted with all the east coast Kirkwoods this weekend and all is well with them. All are busy with school, and Rachel is going to be extra busy because she missed this past week of school due of mono. I think she will be ready to go back tomorrow, and fortunately, in her new Catholic high school, all the teachers assured her parents that they would see that she gets caught up when she returns.

We hope to spend some time with Craig and Cassie next weekend either at the Shelton Oyster Fest or the Puyallup Oktoberfest. Either one will afford us an opportunity for good beer and good food. I would like to return to Germany in the fall just to enjoy some of the fests in the small towns. The Germans seem to be able to find many excuses to put up a tent, cook up some wursts, and get the local oom pah pah band together.

Ken is off having some work done on the motor home which should be the last before we take it south for the winter. The fall RV show at the Tacoma Dome starts on Wednesday so we will make our annual pilgrimage to kick tires and chat with sales people, but there is not a new motor home in our future. I quite like what we have, and the only change would be to go to a diesel, which is more money for everything and less space to squirrel stuff away.

You may recall my blog of about one year ago when I talked about our niece, Linea, who was suffering from some severe mental health issues that called for extended hospitalization and electroshock therapy. I was circumspect at the time, but since have learned that she and her parents are quite okay with my naming them. I am happy to report that she is dong well, but is fully aware she will always have to deal with this health issue. She is in a relationship with a young man named Josh who has been there for her every step of the way and they are both students at Columbia in Chicago

Linea is very bright, attractive, and articulate; has journaled ever since she was in middle school, and has continued to do so through all of her health problems. As she has written about her journey, so also has her mother, Cinda, and they have been contacted by an editor to publish their experiences each from their own perspective. I admire Linea and her parents for all their inner strength and honesty, and I know this book will be an invaluable source for others who are struggling with this disease. I'll let you know when it is published.

I hear the sewing machine calling me..........Ciao

Some Trips down Memory Lane

Tomorrow we are homeward-bound, but the last two days have been a lot of fun. Yesterday was a memory trip for Ken, and today it was for me.

I have been wanting to go fishing, so I purchased a one-day license, and we headed for Lake Roosevelt north of Davenport. We meandered our way there and back, and Ken pointed out the various farms and who lived or used to live there as well as the canyons and fields where he had shot deer or pheasant when he was growing up in Davenport.

We ended up at a little federal park called Hawk Creek, and after schlepping poles, tackle, chairs, cooler, and dog over a little path and then encountering a small seemingly harmless snake who wriggled away, we settled in on a little sliver of rocky shoreline. Ken did not even get a bite, and both of mine, one a perch and the other a shiner, were about six inches long. But it was still great fun.

On the way back to town, we meandered some more and took a look at the old Ft. Spokane as well as the nearby campground. Then across the bridge on the reservation side is Two Rivers Casino which has quite a nice RV park with full hook ups and lots of green grass. By the time we got back to Davenport we were hungry so we ate at the Mexican restaurant that opened about one year ago. We were pleased to see it is thriving because we thought the food quite good.

I can’t believe how beautiful the country and farmland look to me when I didn’t give any of it a second look when growing up here. The rolling stubble fields in Lincoln County were like undulating pieces of art dotted with the occasional farm or outcropping of trees.

Today, Ken wanted to attend a gun show at the Spokane fair grounds, so rather than pay admission for me of little interest, I drove out toward the valley in search of the Quilting Bee quilt shop. I poked around for a while, and suddenly came face to face with the owner, Jackie Wolfe, who lives at Liberty Lake and whom we knew when we lived there. In fact her husband, Jamie, was a Realtor when we moved to Spokane and he was involved in our purchasing the Liberty Lake House. So Jackie and I visited about our families and folks we both know. We tried to tell each other that it was just yesterday when we were neighbors rather than almost twenty years ago.

After retrieving Ken from the gun show (he spent no money!!), we decided we were hungry so made a beeline for North Division and the Steer Inn. When I was in high school, that was the closest place to the high school in Mead where we could go after a game or a dance and get something to eat. As I sat eating my hamburger which tasted as good as it did when I was a teen, I could even picture the stately white haired gentleman who owned the Steer Inn at that time.

Then on to Green Bluff which is just over the hill from where I grew up. Green Bluff was just a few truck farms back then, and now there are lots of “truck farms” all with their individual styles of promotion. This time of year the peaches and cherries are finished, but the apples and pumpkins and cabbages and squash are coming on strong. The Hansons are friends of Mike and Mary’s so we stopped, and I had a chance to visit with Rod Hanson a bit before making one of my purchases – the yummiest and juiciest caramel apple I have ever had. I have the drips of juice on the front of my shirt to prove it.

So yet this afternoon I want to go up the hill to some neighbors who sell fresh eggs so I will have a supply to take home tomorrow. The sun is shining beautifully in this part of the country and it has been a great place to sit and enjoy the beautiful surroundings over this past week. Ciao

Big Meadows Road to Montana and Back

Hello from Big Meadows Road. We are into our second week of being vagabonds and are in no hurry to get home. We returned from Montana on Monday and are now comfortably set up at Rod and Karen’s “RV Park” with my favorite view looking out over their lovely garden and out to the fields and hill beyond.

Rod and Karen are still on their three week Seafood Tour in western Washington and it sounds like it has been fun. We might get to see them once we get home and before they leave to come back here.

We started our Montana trip a week ago Monday with two nights at a very nice Montana state campground about 40 miles west of Marion, Montana – Logan State Park. No hookups, but very large secluded sites, and the park has a boat launch and fishing dock. We couldn’t partake since we didn’t want to spend the big buck for an out-of-state license. The park is right on Highway 2, but surprisingly, that highway is not very heavily trafficked.

Then it was on to Little Bitterroot Lake to spend three nights on Keith and Janet’s property where it was very peaceful and relaxing. There are some properties being developed around them, but it is still very much country. I walked Cooper up on the road the first morning we were there, and after I heard the second quiet little “woof”, I decided we should get back to the motorhome. I know it could have been anything, but I am convinced it could have been a bear.

One afternoon was a drive into Glacier NP and a drive on the Going to the Sun Road up to Logan Pass. The weather has been beautiful so it made for a lovely drive. It has been years since we have been there, and it is still just spectacular. Glacier is my favorite national park of those that I have visited. We saw one small black bear making his way down over the embankment on the side of the road and two mountain goats were grazing near the Logan Pass Visitors Center.

We are always on the lookout for huckleberries when in that part of country, and our usual spot in Hungry Horse still had fresh huckleberries – not inexpensive, but they did have huckleberries, so Ken and Craig will have their birthday pie around the first of March.

It is frightening to see the growth and development in the Kalispell/Whitefish area. Every turn of the road shows another piece of land being developed. It will soon be a solid corridor of business from Kalispell to Whitefish.

I am always keeping my eye out for that perfect piece of property, but I have about decided it is not going to happen – and certainly not waterfront. But I still love any part of eastern Washington-northern-Idaho-western Montana that is quiet and ‘country’.

We found a nice little RV park in Thomopson Falls on our way home. It is called Birdland RV Resort and is not fancy – no pool, spa, or WiFi, but big sites and the area is surrounded by trees and undergrowth. Train tracks almost run through the park, but few trains, and we love their sound so it was not a problem for us.

Keith, Janet and the girls had a very difficult week last week as they had to put down their beloved little Springer – Shelby. She had been failing and developed seizures, but it has been heartbreaking for all of us because she was a little sweetheart.

Speaking of dogs, we drove out to the Sure Thing Kennels in Heron, Montana where Cooper was born. Dan and his wife were surprised to learn that there were any dogs still living from the litters of Cooper’s parents, Peat and Aspen They seemed to be quite impressed with how good he looked and how handsome he was – but of course we already knew that. They still breed Gordons and had six on site.

Yesterday we went to Joel’s property that is located north of Deer Park where he is in the process of building the biggest shop/pole barn I have ever seen; and it will include a 1200 square foot apartment on the second level. He is very good at building/fixing/rebuilding most anything so he has purchased everything from a huge flatbed trailer to a backhoe/tractor to a four-wheeler at ridiculous prices, fixes them and is good to go. In fact he gave me my first-ever ride on a four-wheeler yesterday.

Tonight we are having Mike, Mary, Becky, Joel and Benjamin here for dinner. So I had better get busy and get to the grocery store. The next blog will probably be from home since we need to head that direction sometime in the next few days. Ciao

Lake Tahoe Wedding

Home again for a few days after our jaunt to Lake Tahoe. We will do a bit of catching up around here and go to Spokane on Saturday. We enjoyed our time at The Ridge and visited with some Spokane friends as well as Rana’s sister and husband who were there from Las Vegas. In fact 3 ½ years ago we were in Las Vegas for their wedding.

The four days of driving were uneventful, but we had a very good time for the weekend of the wedding. All the guests stayed at The Ridge so we were all within a building or two of each other. Our room was so small that it made the Quality Inn room in Oregon look like a suite. The Ridge room had a coffee maker and filters, but no coffee; there was a promise of a free paper delivered to our room which didn’t happen on Saturday, and didn’t arrive until nine on Sunday. I was thrilled to find two bars of bath soap because there were no other goodies such as shampoo or lotion.

The wedding was aboard a small cruise boat on the lake – I believe there were about 60 people all together including the bride, groom, and families. It was a civil ceremony with the boat captain officiating. But it was quite a nice venue; we were below the deck so weren’t exposed to the wind and sun. Champagne and hors d’oeurves were served after the short ceremony and then we later adjourned back to the restaurant at The Ridge for the reception.

Rana’s dress was quite stark, but very pretty, and the story of her shoes and earrings were interesting. She is a shoe buyer for Nieman Marcus and found her $1200 shoes for $50 at a sample sale. And the earrings which were designed with pave’ diamonds were the result of an employee drawing at Nieman’s. Pretty good I would say. And she looked lovely.

I chose a fillet for dinner, and it was outstanding, both in flavor and presentation. The little mound of mashed potatoes was topped with a tiny pink baby rose!! Rana’s cake was very pretty, but almost stark; white frosting with the layers circled with bands of navy blue ribbon.

Bob’s birthday was on Sunday so we were all invited over for afternoon drinks and birthday cake. As usual, most of the cards were NOT sweet and sentimental.

So that is what we have done for the past week. Next blog will probably be from Spokane – or Montana!! Ciao