August
1-19... We started the month off
with more work. We decided to drive to Harlem and pick out our 26
boards for the back deck. Of course that led to staining them all.
All sides got one coat. We laid them on the frame and will screw
them down another day. Danny, Lexi and Dad came over and we went to
Kimber's for a burger.
2nd
– we drove to Hogeland to say goodby to Danny & Lexi. Then we
headed to a huge rock pile and picked out a bunch of rocks for our
border. That afternoon was the staining project. Can you say
exhausted???3rd- we went to church and then put down all the rocks we picked in Hogeland. We also laid out a border for some landscaping that will happen next spring!
4th – Today was the day for screwing down the deck boards. Mike & I tackled this project on our own. We did good – we just had to go get Doug's drill mid way thru the project. Each board needs 14 screws – we put in 7 for now just to get the job done. We will add the additional ones at a later date. We also mowed, trimmed and watered the yards so it was ready for our next trip. We had a big rainstorm late in the afternoon.
5th – Today was spent getting ready for our trip. Dixie colored & cut Denita's hair and late in the afternoon we had visitors to tour the house....Nancy S., Ron & Sandy Thompson (it was her parents house), Marge Hickel and the Gayle Doyle. It was open house day!!! Later Doug & Fran came over for Pizza and a haircut for Doug.
6th – We headed out just after 8am for Great Falls. Dixie had an appointment for 'nerve conduction studies' on her elbow at 1p. We made a few stops to stock up for our trip and then overnighted at Dad's condo.
7th – Left again around 8am and headed to our destination of Haugen, Mt to meet up with our FMCA group. We stopped in Missoula to meet Levi for lunch at the Cracker Barrel. Good to see him again and check out his longboard accident injuries. We arrived at the $50,000 Silver Dollar just after 3p. The rest of our group was there already. We were surprised to get a complimentary electric hookup. We all had happy hour and then went to dinner at the restaurant.
8th – We left around 830am and headed for our next stop of Boardman, Or. We stopped for fuel at Ritzville and lunched in our motorhomes. We arrived at the Boardman Marina RV park about 230p. It was a nice park but hard to get to our site as roads were very narrow. We happy houred at Tom & Diane's site as they had a water site. Gene & Susie arrived around 9pm.
9th – We all headed out around 8am for Redmond. We made a fuel stop in Madras which wasn't easy for 5 motorhomes! We pulled into the Redmond Fairgrounds just after noon. We got parked with just a small amount of confusion. We will dry camp for 8 days! We then attended a Early Security volunteer meeting at 3pm. We got our duty assignments for the next 2 days. Of course when then had our Happy Hour at Klaus & Johanna's coach.
10th – Our shift was from 7a-10a. We worked an area where they were to be parking motorhomes for sale. However, our area was dead. Nothing happened! The area the others were working had a bit of action but not much. That afternoon Gene & Susie went with us to Bend. We drove around the downtown area and then made a stop at Trader Joes. We went back to the coach and then drove into downtown Redmond and met up with Brenda Cooper-Cole. We worked with her at Continental from 1985-1990. She works at the Police Department so she took us on a tour. Then we had a drink at the Dawg House Grill. It was fun reminiscing. We made a stop at Fred Meyer and Lowes looking for a patio table.
11th – Today our shift was from 1p-230p...it still was not busy in our area so it was a pretty boring volunteer shift.
12th – We left just after 7am to make the 119mile drive to Crater Lake. We stopped at Lowes in Bend & also fueled up there. We arrived at Crater Lake about 945a. It was a beautiful site. The pull overs are all very high up and we could view the whole lake. It is a very different lake as it was formed by a volcano – it is pretty much round. The deepest point is over 1900 ft. The weather at that time was perfectly clear. Once we arrived at the visitor's center we had a sandwich and then attended a ranger talk where we learned a lot about how the lake came to be and the volcano that created it. It was very informative. Just as we were getting ready to leave the rain started! We didn't make any other stops on the way down due to the weather. We drove back to Bend and made a Walmart and Fred Meyer stop. We found the table we liked and they had it in a box at this store so we purchased it. It was on sale and then 40% off so we got a good deal. We got back to camp just before 4p and it began raining very hard. It let up a bit so we were able to get to our volunteer dinner at 6pm.
13th – Wed. we attended some seminars in the morning. We went with Gene & Suzie to Sisters, Or. and walked around the shops. We also stopped at Fred Meyer in Redmond where we purchase 3 patio chairs for our table. They only had that many left – we were only going to get 2 but they made a deal so we got all three for just over $16 each – another good deal. We had a short happy hour and we all went to look at the motorhome display and look at all the new models for sale....there were over 400 of them so we made a small dent.
14th – the full rally began. We attended seminars throughout the day. We had a happy hour with a little potluck before going to the entertainment. There were 3 choices but our group went to a band called the Young Bucks. They played 50's and 60's music. It was a bit cold but we had a good time.
15th – Friday was more seminars and shopping at the vendor booths. We curtailed ourselves, only making 2 purchases the whole rally.....Grill Mats and vents for our black/gray water tanks....exciting! In the afternoon we attended the Northwest Area gathering where we enjoyed some Pizza and visiting. The entertainment tonight was in the grand stand. We had seats down front as the volunteers were recognized for their service. The show was William Florian who was a lead singer for the 'New Christy Mintrels in the late 70's. He was excellent. He played folk music from several 60's/70's groups as well as some of his own. He had a wonderful voice and is a great entertainer and comedian!
16th – Dixie attended one seminar in the morning. We walked through more motorhomes and vendors. We also went into Redmond for a quick lunch and a grocery stop. The group got together for one last happy hour and then went to the evening entertainment. Tonight is was Johnny Counterfit, a comedian and impressionist. He did 25 plus different voices/characters in concert. He had a great voice and sounded so much like the original singer. He was also a super comedian! The members of his band were also great singers/musicians.
17th – It was time to depart...we headed out just before 8am. We drove 360 miles to an Ponderosa Falls RV park in Cheney, WA. We arrived around 4p. The park is in the trees and the sites are small and lots of tree so we didn't get satellite.
18th – Today was a 283 mile drive. At Coeur d'Alene we went north and connected with Hwy 2 at Sandpoint. We continued on to Bonner's Ferry and into Montana. We made a stop at Kootenai Falls. We hike to the falls and then the swinging bridge. The falls were very impressive as they are much wider and numerous than most we have seen. From there it was a great lunch stop in Libby at the 'Burger Express'. We continued on the pretty into Kalispel where we made a fuel stop at Smiths. We arrived at Sundance RV Park in Coram around 530p. This is same park we stayed at a few years back. The sites haven't gotten any bigger or easier to get in and out of but it is a nice location and it is in our membership park system which means the price is discounted!!! We didn't unhook the car so we stayed in for the night.
19th – Left Coram at 8am and continued our journey home. We stopped at East Glacier and got a cup of coffee and a sweet treat! Next was a surprise visit at our long time friend, Merelene's Beauty shop in Inverness. We missed Roger as he was back at school in Browning. We made a stop at Walmart in Havre to restock our groceries. We completed our 308 mile day at home sweet home! We had a fun trip but were ready to be home.....more work to do!!!
