We have been very busy over the last week visiting our old friends and family. Mike and I had dinner with Dennis and Vicky Derks and newly college graduate- Bailey. A trip to Chuck Hook's leather shop was completed so I could get a belt adjusted and to obtain laces. Coffee each day like the "good old days" and discussions about the world's issues were in order. A trip to Nordstrom's Anniversary sale, the nordstrom rack and a visit to our friends at the Jewelry Source made our wallets thinner.
Since we were leaving on Friday- Casey and Star decided to ride with us part of the way. We made our travel plans one night after dinner and Lola was showing her disgust with our idea of leaving her at home for the weekend. What a character!! Casey and Star's neighbors (Danny and Linda) were invited to ride with us to Goldendale, WA. There is a WWI Memorial that has been there since 1929 and is the very first USA War Memorial.
The trip to Goldendale started at 0830 hrs on Friday Morning. It was a cool morning- about 45 degree. We geared up, got ready to go and then took a look at the skies....it looked like rain. So out came all the rain gear....15 minutes later- we were all covered in rain repellent coats/pants and boots.....all of us except Danny and Casey. We took the backroads to I-90 so we could "go over the mountain". Breakfast at North Bend was the goal and hopefully no rain. A quick stop at a gas station for Danny to get "rain geared up" made the rest of us appreciate that we had already done that. Getting all of that stuff on is like trying to stuff sausage.
We did get breakfast and we did not avoid the rain. There is nothing like entering the I90 freeway with Walmart trucks throwing water all over you. Luckily that was just a short span and we exited off to get breakfast.
Yakima was the stop for a late lunch at "world famous" Miner's- (I had never heard of this original burger joint). Huge burgers and salads greeted us as we sat outside in the sun. What a difference a few hours made - now we had sun and no wind.
Further south we went to Goldendale....the War Memorial was calling. We wanted to get there before sundown. Curvy roads and wind farms created this wierd eerie feeling. The winds were unbelievable and the wind mills are so close to the road that the blade's shadows are cast on the road as they rotated. The War Memorial is just off the Columbia River and is a recreation of Stonehenge as it was perceived to be prior to its demise. 
Our evening was spent at the Ponderosa Motel. The challenge of the day was finding a place to eat that had real food (no bar food and open). Finally we found a place at 830 pm. They were glad to have us and we were glad to have found the Sodbusters restaurant. Saturday we would all go our own ways- Danny and Linda were heading back to Marysville while the kids were going on their own adventure.
Saturday we woke to cool sun and light winds. 40 degrees required more layers and headgear. Heading down highway 97- we headed for Crater Lake. Little did we know that the weather had other things in mind for us. Just 22 miles north of Bend, Oregon- we stopped at the weigh station. I had to go to the bathroom (thank goodness for all that "Alaska wilderness training". The skies looked like rain so once again we geared up with all the rain coats/pants. Just a couple of miles down the road and we were hit with small hail, sleet, snow and rain. This was a major problem- my windshield was quickly covered with solid white. I could not see anything!! Mike was in front of me and I could see his glowing tail light so I just kept going... 55 mph. I did not want to get run over by the traffic behind me. I just sat straight up and peeked over the top of my windshield every little bit to make sure I was still avoiding deep standing water. Obviously we made it through that weather situation. Mike was saying "good job". I think he now knows he is married to a really tough one. Three miles of that crap and we were out of it and back into rain- YES!! Rain feels much better than sleet. Bend, Oregon looked so good and the Olive Garden was our haven while the weather continued outside. We found a hotel and are staying the night. Hopefully tomorrow will be better weather. 
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