Oklahoma Bound Day 2 - Idaho

I woke up in the middle of the night with trouble getting back to sleep after having passed out at 7:30pm the night before.  When 5:00 am rolled around and I found myself checking my email  I decided it was time to get up.  Fortunately, my beloved was awake as well.....:-).   It didn't take us long to pack up and grab some coffee.

We took a few pictures with Scootard's mom before hitting the road realizing that our frequent visits would not be as frequent as we would be too far away for most of the year.

I don't remember what she said, but it sure was funny! haha

She waved at us from her door and we traveled on to our next destination......

the morning was just lovely.  It was a bit cool, but I had the good sense to put socks on this morning.  I know that being near water always makes things cooler than they would be inland.  this is a picture of Okanagan Falls in the background.  The forefront is the bottom end of the Skaha Lake.

One of the beautiful things about living on the West coast is there is always water somewhere near by.
This is the south end of Vaseux Lake.....I couldn't help but wonder how many people had made their way to the top of that massive rock.....:-)

The is a northern glance of the lake......

It only took us about an hour and 15 minutes or so to get to the US border.  They were curious to know if Scootard still had residency in Canada.  I guess because we were just there two months ago. After a quick check of our car, the guard let us through.  I was so hungry while we waited that I started munching on cheese twist.  Breakfast was calling my name!

Now, the journey officially begins.....

There were some tiny little towns we had to pass through on our way.  They reminded me of Canada.  I guess because we were still in the Okanagan; just on the US side of it.

We came into the tiny town of Tonasket Hard to believe that a town this small would have radar, but hey...who was I to risk it.

If you have followed my blogs very long, you know that I LOVE to go into antique shops.  I don't always buy things though.  Usually I just look around and do a lot of "oooowwing" and "awwwwing".  This time, I saw something that I really wanted.  Scootard had his eye on a few things as well.

It's hard to see it from this shot, but there is a green wrought iron "tete a tete".  Also known as a "kissing or courting" bench.  I just loved it and so did he.  I knew just where it would go in my garden in Oklahoma.  Unfortunately, the store was not open yet and would not be for another hour or so.

So, we decided to look around a bit more.  I was amazed at how trusting the people of this town must be to just leave their things sitting outside like that!  I came up with the brilliant idea to to load the piece onto the trailer and then call them later with our credit card number, but wasn't sure of what the name of the place was.....:-(.  As you can see, there is no sign on the building and there was none on the door either....:-(.

 
While I entertained the idea of loading now and paying later, we walked across to the visitor's center. They had murals on the walls......

and the history of some of the people who had come and gone in years gone by that made the town what it is today.....

And then our stomachs really started growling since we had been up so early.....We found this place just a block or so up the road from the antique shop.

you can barely see our car and trailer in the background across the street. The trailer looks lonely without "Ms Vickey" and "Maj".

We had a full breakfast and discussed the possibility of having to cart out new found treasure in and out of hotels for 6 days to guard against theft.

Scootard was ready to eat his food like he was mad at it or something.....haha.

After much discussion and having already experienced a break in twice in the past three months, we decided to look for one or something similar a little closer to our final destination where the risk was not nearly as great.  We traveled sadly on without our new found treasure.  The remarkable scenery took the "gloom" out of the loss we had just experienced....

This is the far northern end of the Palouse...

Just amazing how the hills roll.  They take on the appearance of "velvet", but not quite what I have seen in California.

This is a shot of the mighty Columbia River and in the very far distant is the Grand Coulee Dam.  That's the next stop....:-).  Yay!

getting cloooooserrrrr......:-)

It was further away than it looks.......

but we finally got there and took a seat ........

and a shot of us standing in front of this massive construction......It looks like snow in the picture.  Scootard said it reminds him of cake batter at times.....:-)

they had a small museum where I tested some of the equipment......

I know.  I need help.  ha

Scootard considers himself a "gear head" and likes to read all about the machanics of stuff.  I was still taking in the water scene through the window.

but I did run across this while walking through the tiny museum.....

Very cool piece of history lies beneath this sign....

and here it is.  We have come a LONG WAY in regard to wheelchairs.

We made our way out of the museum where I snagged one more shot of this engineering marvel.  Grand as it is, I still like the Hoover Dam better....:-).

We signed the guest booked and started on our way again.....

We headed east toward Spokane, Washington.

I managed to snag a pic of this church on the way through

and on to Idaho......

 What a beautiful place.  Your driving along and you suddenly see things like this.....

and then from out of nowhere comes this.

Then we drove right past a field of it and the fragrance filled the car!  I pulled my hands in the window and smelled them to see if any had stuck to me...ha.  I know, weird.
It's Canola.......:-). Yep.  The stuff we get that oil from.  Too bad that they run the smell right out of it by the time we get it in the stores....:-(.

here is a closer look......:-)

Just beautiful......what hath God wrought!

and so after eating some very weird Chinese/American food for a late lunch...we made our way to our hotel room and relaxed for the rest of the day.  Hoping to get a good night's sleep so that we are ready for the next day's road adventure.

Stay tuned!

Day of Rest /Oklahoma Bound Day 1

When you have to do as much pre work as we have had to, you will most likely need a break somewhere in between the road and the drama that can unfold before a long trip.  We decided to take a quick trip out of town for dinner and some down time before starting our long road trip.

This is the view from one of my favorite places to eat......:-) I shot this through a window that was not the cleanest.  So, sorry for the lines and smudges that you may see.

There were only two other couples there who were dinning outside.  I found it a bit chilly to sit on the deck, so we had the whole inside to ourselves....:-)

They were also preparing for a wedding the next day and it looked quite striking....:-)

We have often spoken of having a view like this from our bedroom window.  But then I thought with a waterfall right outside like that, I might be up running to the bathroom all night!  Bad idea! ha

We ate a light supper and decided to head back home since there was still much to do and we would be leaving very early in the morning.

Day 1- 6:00am

I woke up at 5:00am and decided "hey"!  Let's go! haha.  So, we got out of bed, finished the last of our errands around the house and hit the road by 6:00am....

Before we knew it we were crossing the new Port Mann bridge headed toward the Canadian Okanogan..
I like the way the bridge has all of these supports....makes you feel safe when your the one crossing it..ha

I have skipped a lit in between since I am running a bit behind in even getting this to you.  So, I have just added what I felt were the highlights of a long trip.
Manning Park......:-).

Here is a long shot of some of the property.  The last time we came through here, the snow was over my head on both side and we had a snowball fight...:-)

Manning Park is the home of the friendliest critters in the world.  When you call them, they come running as they have become quite spoiled by the hundreds of people that come through and feed them.  This is a ground squirrel...:-).  They scurry around and behave very much like the Prairie Dogs we have in Oklahoma. But the prairie dogs are quite ferrell and usually run if you approach them.

These little guys will let you pet them and will often stay there and eat while you stroke their backs....:-).  I passed on that one.  I kept thinking that they might mistake my dark complexion for pretzel or a grape or something...hahaha

And once their friends are sure that you are not going to eat them, they come over and take the food from your hand as well..

and then the birds show up.  and then a huge raven showed up.  The little birds left and so did we...ha.  He was a big one.

Our next stop was in a town called Princeton where we decided to get some lunch and something to drink.

You know who was already thinking about devouring a burger and enjoying the pleasant, but cool weather...:-)

We got our much needed drinks and settled in for lunch after lunch we walked back to the car and saw a few lady bikers out for a ride.

Outside of the A& W place were a group of lady riders out taking in the wind....:-).

Well, there were two guys in the group but the rest were ladies.  Go girls, go!

I took the shot for my friend Trobairitz......:-).  I wondered if it would make her smile or make her homesick....:-).

the Okanagan is littered with tiny little towns some no larger than 500 people I believe.  That's a bit small for me, but I don't mind riding through.

This is a shot of Yellow Lake which lies between Keremeos and the hwy 97 junction.

As we got closer to our destination, we rode past the long Skaha Lake......just beautiful....:-).

 So, we made it to our destination by 3:00 which was good timing since we have committed to being off of the road by 4:00 every day that we travel.  I fell asleep after preparing a fantastic curry dinner and arose early ready for the next day's journey....:-)

stay tuned!

Just Drifting.....:-)

Our time is winding down to start our journey back to the United States for a few months.  Of course all of this preparation is stressful and is a good reason for me to just get out and wander around from time to time. Today the forecast was for rain.  We were fortunate that it only sprinkled on us during the time we were wandering around. Especially if you are going to be near the water.  I love the beach with the exception of those sand shrimp thingees that scared the stew out of me on a previous travel.  So, that was our first destination today.....:-)

I have been living in this town for a few years now and have never walked down to the beach area.  I usually stayed on the asphalt were my car is usually parked.  Today, I decided to climb down the rocks and see what was what.

This had to be the biggest driftwood graveyard I had ever seen.  Even on television! Chris was having a time looking at all of it as well.  He is a BIG fan of driftwood......:-)
 

I mean you could build a house with all of this stuff!

And the pIeces were HUGE!  I was sure that some of it had to have brought in by crane, but Chris assured me that the ocean carries it in every winter and there it settles into its new home on the shore.

Our town used to be a very large logging town.  It still is a logging community, but not nearly as large as I'm told it used to be.  There were at least two sets of stairs that led to......well...NOWWHERE! ha
Which I thought was very cool......:-)
 

We spent quite some time there, but realized that we still had some errands to run for our trip.  On the way out, I snapped a picture of this cottonwood tree.  Or at least "I think" that's what it is.......
  

A little further down the road there was this Scotch Broom bush.  Invasive to Canada and originally brought over from Scotland close to 100 years ago, I'm told.

We made our way down to the local farmers market.  I noticed the beautiful trees that dotted the park. This is a Rhododendron tree (or bush) thingee....:-).

This is a picture of a small one that we planted a couple of years ago in the front garden area of our condo.  I shot this picture through the kitchen window.  Sorry about the "foggy" spots on the pic.  The little container at the base of the picture is a concoction I made to help control an ant problem.

 And just a few steps away was the market that is held each weekend in the summer into the fall.

Our town is NOT by any stretch a large place.  I mean 17,000 people is not that big of a deal when you come from a city of 1 1/2 million people.  I mean really.  In a place this size you could see your neighbors every ten minutes! ha

But I gotta give it to them, they are very much into nature here.  There were gluten free products....

Organic veggies and fruits......

and a neighbor!!  hahaha.  See ya in a few minutes!

I have no idea.......

Now, I gotta tell ya....I was eyeballing that cedar glider in the back since I am looking to beautify by backyard space in the states....but hauling it and making sure it didn't "wander off in the night" while we were sleeping in a hotel did not appeal to me.....so, alas!  We left it there.....:-(

And so, sorrowful of leaving the furniture....we ventured on to see what else we could get into.  Chris was ready for mischief.....ha

Fortunately, we didn't get into too much trouble...:-).  We did manage to snag these smokin bird baths to load into the car and take with us.  I know just where I will be putting them.  That is until I change my mind about it....:-)

 
And so, we headed back to the house to finish our preparation and to enjoy the rest of a quiet evening.

One week and one day before we head out.  We will see YOU somewhere on the road!