Glacier to McMinnville, Oregon

Just when you think that you are done with Tales from the Highway....

IT"S BACK!

Our last post was almost 6 weeks ago and since then we have traveled from

West Glacier, Montana to Coeur D'Alene Idaho,

to Seattle, and then south to McMinnville, Oregon where we have been

for the last 4 weeks.

First we said goodbye to West Glacier

Mt 28 from Flathead Lake heading west.

I90 crossing Lookout Pass -  the border between Mt and Idaho.

We stayed for 4 days at Blackwell Island RV Park in Coeur d'Alene Idaho.

While there we toured the local countryside again, and I climbed up onto

the roof and replaced my automatic satellite dish which had failed on us in the Yukon.

Leaving Coeur d'Alene we stopped at Speedco in Spokane, Wa for

oil and filter changes for the bus and the generator.

We are now set for the winter.

We stopped for one night at the KOA in Ellensburg, Wa so that we could pick our

time thru the Seattle Traffic to our next destination.

Enroute to Ellensburg, I-90 descends into the Columbia River Valley and then

crosses the Mighty Columbia River.

The next day we enjoyed great weather and crossed thru the Cascade Mtns over 

Snoqualmie Pass on I-90.    The fall colors at the pass were beautiful!

In Seattle (Bothell, Wa) we stayed at Lake Pleasant RV Park.

It is a very nice wooded park and super convenient to downtown.

While there we hung out with our friends Jim & Kristi and on Saturday we

made the obligatory pilgrimage to the Pikes Market in downtown along the waterfront.

The view of the waterfront from the market.

Many of the cruise ships  that we saw passing thru Seward this summer, began their

cruises here in Seattle.

There are lots of places to eat in the market as well as:

Flowers...

Seafood...

Fruits & Veggies...

Did I mention Fruits & Veggies?

High-rise  buildings tower over the market.

Of course...the Space Needle is here too. 

Leaving Seattle, we stopped at Tough Top Awnings in

Brush Prairie, Wa to have new toppers installed over the slides.

They do top notch work and we were in and out in 90 minutes.

Our home for the next 5 weeks has been the Old Stone Village RV Park in

McMinnville, Oregon.

Its a nice park with large grassy sites and lots of room to park the toad.

We've enjoyed mostly great weather and have been watching the slow progression

of the trees from early fall to full color.

There is a nice walking path from the park to the Evergreen Air & Space Museum which

is conveniently located next door.

The Evergreen Air & Space Museum is one of the nicest privately owned

Air Museums in the US

Since this is Oregon Wine Country, the

Museum is surrounded by.....

Grape Vines!

The Museum is home to a lot of great aircraft and the flagship of the Museum

is Howard Hughes Spruce Goose.

Photo by Gregg M. Erickson

It  400' wingspan with 8 engines towers over the other aircraft!

Looking at the Spruce Goose from outside the building that houses it.

With us for the day was Kates cousin Kate and her friend Greg.

So...  our group consisted of:

Greg & Kate

&

Greg & Kate

L-R Greg, Kate, Kate, Greg 

A German V-2 rocket from WW2

Gemini Space Capsule

We spent hours and barely scratched the surface of what is there.

We did not have time to even see a couple of the buildings...

We had wine tasting to do downtown!

And that brings us sort of up to date.

I did not mention our trip to Silver Falls State Park,

Ferry rides across the Willamette River,

A leaking windshield that fried my engine computer

(the glass company in Phoenix paid the full bill - almost $,000)

and much much more...

Oh... and I replaced our black stove top and Convection Microwave with

updated Stainless Steel appliances.

I think they look a whole bunch better!

Kate has ditched us for a week and flew out this am to NYC for a week with

her Bro.   Its just me and the Doodles for a week.

So...  Tonights menu is Pizza & Wings.

the Delivery Man Cometh.