Sep 23, 2012 - Ellensburg, Washington, The Rodeo

September 2-4, 2012, Ellensburg, WA We left Spokane after a few pleasant days and headed West again on our now very familiar Interstate 90. We returned to the wide open spaces, lots of mountainous terrain and some lovely rivers. For the first time in our now long journey, we saw a large number of wind mills on the way to our next stop. We are sure there must be many windmills in the country but we were surprised to cross this whole country and not see any until after 3,000 miles. In fact, what we did keep running into was the trail of Lewis...

Jul 29, 2012 - Magnificent Mountains

We woke to a chilly Oregon morning, George had the fireplace going to take the chill out of the camper. It worked like a charm! We headed north into Washington in hopes of seeing Mt. St. Helen and Mt. Rainier, but we weren't too optimistic since the cloud cover was heavy. We took a chance anyway and it worked out in our favor. As we headed east on Rt 12, a scenic byway, the sun burned through and the clouds disappeared. It was a perfect blue sky, light winds and temperatures in the 70s, a great day for traveling through the mountains. Our...

Jul 12, 2012 - Ellensburg, WA

Yesterday was tiring. Today we regroup. At 8:00, we are at the local RV Center. It is five minutes away. We are able to get an oil change, etc. around 9:00. We use the hour to tour town. It is not very big. There are some nice shops. We will not be doing a walking tour. While we wait for our RV, we create our own mini RV Show. There are many RV’s for sale on the lot. We climb in and out of RV’s. We discuss the pros and cons of each. Because of the heat, we spend the afternoon at the campground. We have a stir-fry lunch. We watch a DVD. We...

Jul 11, 2012 - To Ellensburg, WA

All works out well today but not as we expect. We have two routes that will take us back over the Cascades. We can take the Interstate north and then east. We can take Route 12 that everyone tells us is a good road. We opt for Route 12. We climb to 1000 feet and level off. It is a beautiful ride but we want to start a gradual climb. We know we have to get over White Pass at 4500 feet. We pass Packwood. We see a deer. No, it is an elk. We pull over. It is a small herd of elk. Neat! We see a sign for the pass. We put on the flashers. We...

Jul 1, 2012 - Leavenworth, Crescent Bar, Ellensberg

Leavenworth is a Bavarian (touristy) town in a beautiful location which reminded us of the alps in the Italian Dolomites. A man played the accordion, sang and yodeled as we walked the streets, crowded with tourists. We found a konditorei! Someone recommended Cafe Verona off the main drag for lunch -- excellent. I found the most unusual quilt shop, a combination bed and breakfast, quilt shop and Bible retreat. They had quilt books I have not seen in years. I bought a set of patterns for a Baltimore (applique) quilt. The Thousand Trails...

Oct 7, 2011 - Day #30, 10-7-11

Day #30, 10-7-11 Today we awoke to the wind blowing, Bulls in the Pasture and SUNSHINE! One of the 4 patrons of the park got an early start as I heard them talking and then pull out before 7am. I rolled over and went back to sleep for an hour. I started the morning locating a place to fill the propane tank. I found McIntosh’s Towing, in Ellensburg. The Tank was down ¾ and it only cost $32.50 to fill it (10.2 lbs.). Damn they have been ripping me off in Simi. I paid about that much for ¼ of a tank last time!!! There was a Rite-Aid across the...

Jul 20, 2011 - We are now in Washington

We got up early Tuesday morning and were fueled up and on the road by 7:30. There was a wind advisory out for the area we would be traveling starting at 2 pm so we wanted to be off the road by then. It started to do a heavy mist thing but it never really rained. It wasn't too bad except it made for bad pictures. We are at the Yakima River RV in Ellensburg, a Passport park. It is attached to a working ranch so we have a bunch of rodeo bulls in the pasture next to us. Other than them singing once in a while it is really quiet and a super...

May 17, 2011 - Visiting Linda in Yakima

We slept in this morning then headed down to Yakima to visit Linda. On the way we got some nice views of Mount Rainier (which "was out" today). We had a nice visit with Linda talking about old times, families and travels. We went to lunch at a Mexican Restaurant near her home and visited until the restaurant people probably considered asking us to leave. On our way home we took a scenic route that Linda had suggested which runs along a river through some foothills. When we got off of the main highway to get to the scenic route, we stopped...

May 16, 2011 - Heading East to Ellensburg

Beginning Mileage 115909 Ending Mileage 116016 Ellensburg KOA 32 Thorp Hwy S Ellensburg, WA 93926 800-562-7616 8.5/8.5/7.5 $37.50/nt We got a later start since we had only a little over a hundred miles to go. When we left Auburn, it was cloudy but not raining. By the time we got into the Cascades, the clouds were veils on the mountains and it was raining and cold. In fact, by the time we reached the top, it was snowing (just a little) and 31 degrees. As we headed down into the valley it cleared up and got warmer. We arrived in Ellensburg...

Oct 9, 2010 - KOA Ellensburg, WA

We have safely arrived at the KOA in Ellensburg, Washington. We will only be staying for a couple of nights rest before heading to the Sequim, Washington area. We will be checking out all the campgrounds in area. It has been raining the whole trip. We are hoping for some sun tomorrow. We are parked facing the Yakima River. What a great place to rest. We had dinner at the Rodeo City Bar BQ. It was delicious. I am adding a few pictures of the site and the town. The rain put a damper on my picture taking but I managed to get a few. :-)

Sep 7, 2010 - Ellensburg

W left Kelowna, British Columbia around 0815 and we arrived at the border around 1030. Customs stole our tomatoes but they apparently had plenty of everything else we had as they didn't want any of our apples. pears, bananas, or fish. They asked where we bought our dog food but I guess either the officer didn't have a dog or she was off the dog food diet herself since she didn't steal any of the dog food. Traffic at the border was light and we were through the entire process within 15 minutes. We headed south on Highway 97. Highway 97 takes...

Sep 5, 2010 - Loose on the Palouse

The poetry of a plowed field Sunday South of Spokane lies heartland wheat country known as the Palouse (Pah-loose). Our first introduction to the Palouse was when John and Susan took us there one Sunday years ago. That day our first impression was of a simple land of stunning geometry. Our second impression was of small towns with lots of grain elevators and no open gas stations. If you venture out on the Palouse on Sunday you’d better have a tank full of gas! Today we made sure we did. We’ve returned to the Palouse a number of times since...