Salem, OR - Premier RV Resort

Steve is ready to move in here. Not only do we have a daily paper delivered to our door, there is a free continental breakfast everyday, a movie in their theatre every night, a hot tub, free dvd's to watch at your trailer, excellent desk people who seem to know everything, AND they taught Steve how to light the gas fire at the pool. What a life!!

Our first touristy event was to take the Silver Falls Tour Route through some very pretty scenery. We stopped at the Silver Falls State Park to check out one of the falls.

Then we were on to the Oregon Garden, where we saw some beautiful flowers, and a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

On another day, we visited the State Capital building, where we listened to a great docent talk about the "citizen" legislature. NO ONE GETS PAID TO LEGISLATE! They all have real jobs and only have a session every 2 years, unless there are problems to be solved. What a great idea! We also saw an "objet de art" that was donated by a retired sewer worker. All the drains have screens that sift out stuff, and he decorated a fake manhole with all the "finds" of his career, including a retainer, and a lot of change.

Then Steve went on a tour of the Bush house and garden, no not those Bushs. Then we were on to a winery and a visit with the winery dog.

Steve checked out the Air and Space museum, which includes the Spruce Goose. Once he got back we went to the first ever Salem Beer and Cider Festival. There were some very tasty beers and ciders from local brewery's, but I have never seen so many babies at an event like this!!! There must have been 25 babies during the hours we were there.

The next day was a tour of 5 local winerys. What fun!

Everett, WA - Maple Grove RV Resort

It rains constantly around here!!!!

We did manage to go to North Cascades National Park. It is one of the least developed parks, with a lot of wilderness. Some hiking trails you have to make yourself. The ranger suggested a route around the southern end of the park, ending in one of the last glacial ice holdouts, but warned us about a primitive road. When a ranger warns you about a "primative" road, be warned! You and your vehicle will be shaken within an inch of your lives by washboarding, hairpin turns, and steep grades!!!!!! At the end though was a beautiful view:

Steve went to the Husker/Huskie game on Saturday. He found a ride by flying his Husker flag from the RV roof, and another fan showed up. She was being driven to the game by her husband, and Steve was invited along. Great game (56 to 21, Huskers). Small world update: The husband of this fan was a retired NE National Guardsman who knew Cathy's mother!

One day we took the Boeing tour, which is a must see in Everett. What big planes. As it was a Sunday, we didn't get to see the workers in action, but it was still worth the price of admission!

We also met a former phone coworker of Steve's, and her husband and son. Had a wonderful buffet and talk at one of the local casinos.

Coeur d' Alene, ID - Blackwell Island RV Park

Wow did we eat well here. The park gives out drink coupons for about 6 different restaurants, and we ate at only 3 of them. The first day we were here, we stopped at the visitor center, wandered around the city park, and took a Lake cruise. While on the cruise, we saw some beautiful estates, some funky houses, and the floating 14th green at the resort golf club. Steve hiked Tubbs Hill city park, and kayaked twice around the island. There is only very narrow canal that makes this place an island, and Steve missed it the first time, and kayaked up the Spokane river for awhile.

One day we went to Sandpoint, on Lake Pend Oreille. This lake is over 1200 feet deep and was where WWII sub testing took place. As it is the deepest lake west of the Great Lakes, it is still used for submarine testing! While at Sandpoint, we partook of the local Laughing Dog Brewery tasting (Steve did anyway). This tasting includes 8 small beers delivered on a "dogbone" tray, and munchies served in "dog bowls". We even made friends with the brewery dog.

One day we went to lunch at Beverly's, which is on the 7th floor of the resort. While we were waiting on our next course, looking out over millions of dollars worth of boats in the marina, Steve mused about what the "working folks" were doing. Cathy supposed that they were not spending 2 hours having a 3 course lunch with cocktails.

One of the last things we did here was to ride (on our bikes) the Route of the Hiawatha. This is a rails to trails ride of 14 miles that is all downhill! Yes, the shuttle will bring you back to the top! Yeah! Unfortunately for those of impaired night vision, there are 9 tunnels on this trail, including the first one, which is 2 miles long. Cathy got disoriented in the dark, and hit the wall on the right side, slid on the ucky wall, but continued on! She looked like a mess for awhile (until the mud dried), but apparently hit each leg on a pedal, and had some very ugly bruises for awhile.

What an inaguration of the bike!

Polson, MT

We traveled a whopping 64 miles to our next campsite in Polson, at the Eagle Nest RV Resort. Polson is at the south end of the Flathead Lake, where we inagurated our new kayak.

We met some great people at this park! They have a nightly happy hour, and then sometimes go out to eat. We joined them for dinner and had a great time. Steve pumped info out of everyone we met, on all kinds of subjects.

We attended a highschool football game for the first time since either of us were in school, and now we know why we waited that long. If you don't know someone who is playing, it is pretty boring.

One of our park hosts took us to see a woodcarver, and his work is fastinating. He uses a scroll saw to cut each piece individually, and then sands the edges, stains, and glues them back together. We saw one of his eagles and there must have been hundreds of pieces, as each feather is an individual cut and stain project. Beautiful!

Coram, MT

We're having so much fun, we forgot to blog! So now to the update.

We stayed at the North American RV Park near Glacier National Park. The first day we visited the park, we took the shuttle busses from the west entrance, to the east entrance, over the Going To The Sun Road! The whole trip took 7 hours, due to road construction in the park, and waiting for the next shuttle bus to appear. We saw a VERY fat chipmonk, and what looks like a pair of tidy whities, but was actually a deer.

Steve went back the next day (It was too cold for Cathy), and hiked some of the trails. He saw a lot of wildlife on his hike.

Steve had a great time at the nightly campfires with Chuck (who owns and runs the general store by the camp) and his dad. Tall tales were shared by all, no doubt. We also met the dad (Al) of one of our Las Vegas friends (Paula), who camps in this area yearly. He cooked us a great steak and we had a good long visit with him and his cat, Patches. Speaking of cats, we actually got ours to go outside and sit, and we have a picture to prove it:

We were going to rent a kayak again, and go on the river, but they wanted an arm and a leg, so Steve got mad and suggested we purchase our own. We did find a great one on sale, and they also sold bikes! Guess who now owns a PURPLE Electra Cruiser bike? Yes, the unlikeliest of cyclists, Cathy.