Safari Rally

Yesterday we traveled from Ilwaco (such a fun word to say) to Newport for the Safari Rally.

We did manage to find time to stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory along the way, but more on that in another blog entry.

We're now in day two of the rally and having a great time. This rally has a completely different feel from the other two rallies we've been to. This one is basically just a chance to socialize with other Safari owners. It's been great fun so far. Today Tom participated in a golf tournament. It was a scramble format (all players hit from the spot of the best ball on the team) and Tom hit one spectacular 285 yard drive on a par 4 hole to land just short of the green. His play earned the team a birdie (one under par) on that hole and the team finished 3 under par. We have to wait until tomorrow to hear the final results.

Ilwaco, WA

Today we traveled from Silver Creek to Ilwaco, WA which took us across the Columbia River twice. The route we chose dipped us down into Oregon, then along the Columbia River for about 40 miles, then back into Washington. This is a picture of our bridge crossing from Astoria, OR back up to Washington.

The bridge, which is very close to the mouth of the Columbia where it empties into the Pacific Ocean, is raised on both sides of the shore to allow ships to pass beneath, but through the middle, it's fairly close to the water.

We are staying at another Sunrise Resort property in Ilwaco for the night. It's a lovely wooded campground with glimpses of the ocean from the clubhouse building.

But between this park and the one we stayed at last night, both of which have dirt/gravel roads, our motorhome is d-i-r-t-y! We are afraid we'll look like the poor relation when we get to the ritzy Outdoor Resort park where the Safari Rally is being held. Weather forecast is for showers tomorrow morning so if we're lucky it will be a strong enough downpour to rinse off the worst of the dust.

Tomorrow we will follow Hwy 101 down the Oregon Coast to Newport. We'll pass through Tillamook and I'm trying to talk Tom into stopping there for the cheese factory tour. Should be a lot of gorgeous scenery along the way.

Silver Creek, WA

This was day two of our four day trip to get to the Safari rally in Newport. We took Hwy 12 which goes through a mountain pass just south of Mt. Rainier. For thirty or so miles it followed alongside a beautiful river with clear blue waters that had Tom itching to pull over and get out his fishing rod. All the scenery was just gorgeous. I tried to get pictures, but this was a twisting mountain road with very few places to pull over, so I was taking the pictures out the front windshield of the motorhome with less than wonderful results. Still, here are a few of the better ones.

We are stopped for the night at another membership network park in Silver Creek, WA, which is just off Hwy 12, about 10 miles before the junction with I-5. We checked in at the front gate and the "ranger" told us the spaces were first come first served, so just to find an empty space we liked. She gave Tom a map and sort of explained where we should go, but somehow we ended up in RV storage area without knowing it. We were thoroughly unimpressed with the campground until we realized we were in the wrong area and found a real campsite.

Moses Lake, WA

Today we completed the first leg of our 4 day trip to get from Deer Park near Spokane, WA to Newport Oregon. We traveled about 150 miles to Moses Lake, which is more or less in the middle of Washington. We decided to take some of the smaller highways instead of staying on the interstate. We figured it would be more interesting. And we sure did see something interesting. We saw 3 Dromedary camels along the side of the road. And no, we hadn't been drinking. We have no idea what they were doing there or how they got there. We're guessing they belonged to one of the farms or ranches in the area, but why you would want/need a camel on a farm is beyond me. I wish I'd gotten pictures, but by the time I thought to grab the camera, we were well past them.

We didn't see any purple majestic mountains or fruited plains, but we did see acres and acres of amber waves of grain. For several miles the fields spread as far as we could see in all directions. Quite beautiful.

We are spending the night at the Pier 4 RV resort, which is part of the Sunrise Resorts campground network we bought a membership in last month. This is the first time since buying into the network that we've stayed at one of their parks. The spaces are a little closer together than we would generally prefer, but it's on a lake, has all the basic amenities we need/want, and it's only $1 per night, so we can't complain.

We're now relaxing under the awning outside our motorhome sipping wine and snacking on fruit, cheese and crackers. Life is rough.

Tomorrow we'll hit the road again. We plan to travel another 200 miles to Silver Creek, WA where we'll stay at another membership network park.

Scenic Drive

Yesterday we took a scenic drive through some of the surrounding countryside. There was a lot of farm and ranch land as well as a couple of beautiful lakes along the way. We saw one farm with the Alaska flag painted on the side of one of the outbuildings. We have really enjoyed our stay here in the Spokane area and look forward to returning at some point in the future.



Today we visited Townshend Cellars again to stock up on a couple more bottles of our favorites from there, along with another package of some of the best chocolates I've ever had. This time Brenda's brother, Don, was there so we got to meet him and visit with him for a few minutes before he had to run off.

Tomorrow we leave to go to Newport, Oregon for a Safari Owners rally. It's a little over 500 miles but we plan to take a few days to get there.

Golfing at Deer Park

We went golfing again today to see if any of our lessons have improved our game. Weeeelllll, with the help of a few mulligans Tom's score is improving and is staying under 120. Jo is still learning her swing as is Tom with his driver. Jo could kick Tom's butt if she can take a few strokes off of the fairway. She's great on the green and Tom learns new words not listed in the dictionary.

Hey, but the view is nice and we got to see many types of birds that hang close the ponds around the course. Jo got a closer look at the pond today than Tom did. We both lost a few balls today which didn't hurt too bad because we found most of those balls at Suntides Golf Course in Yakima. Tom's not going to buy any expensive balls until he can break 100. The ball budget catagory is definitely going to be in the "black" for awhile.

We have one more lesson this coming Thursday and hopefully we can remember all of the things we learn on the next golfcourse we play at. We are going to be leaving this neat place on Saturday.

Golf Lesson

Yesterday Tom and I had a golf lesson with the Deer Park course golf pro, Kathy Jensen. It was supposed to be about an hour session for the two of us combined, but she spent well over an hour with each of us individually.

How great to have a lesson with a woman! She really helped me a lot. There are certain, ahem, anatomy issues affecting a woman's golf swing that only another woman can understand. It's amazing how well I can do when there's an instructor right there telling me the little adjustments I need to make. Wish I could keep it all in my head when the instructor's not around.

Killdeer Chicks

Today we got a visit from mama Killdeer and her chicks. They were hatched just a few days after our arrival here so they are probably only about 10 days old. The babies fledge from the nest within the first couple of days after hatching so they've been up and about for over a week now. They are soooo cute! There were four little Deerlings but we couldn't get them all in one photo, they are way to busy.

Townshend Cellars

Tom was on the phone with some friends back in Fairbanks the other day and when he told them we were currently in the Spokane area, Brenda told him her brother owns a winery - Townshend Cellars - nearby. So of course we had to visit. We stopped by last Friday. Don, Brenda's brother, wasn't there at the time, but we spent a great couple of hours with the winery's manager, Jill, in the tasting room, working our way through the over one dozen wines the winery produces. They were all delicious but I found a new favorite. It's their 2005 Lemberger. I'd never tasted that particular varietal before. I love it. It has a nice spicey flavor to it I thought was very unique. They also make one of the best Rieslings I've ever had. Jill described it as a fruit salad and that's pretty accurate.

We ended up buying several bottles of each. We're looking forward to spending future evenings on our patio overlooking the golf course sipping these fabulous wines.

4th of July Spokane Dog Show

Last Friday, (the 4th of July), we pulled up stakes from Deer Park Golf and RV Resort to go to the "Inland Empire Kennel Assn.'s" dog show at the Spokane, WA. fairgrounds.


Friday, "set-up day" we grilled some steaks and corn on the cob. The big steaks were for us and the small ones were for "Dash" our Norwich Terrier who we were showing that weekend. Dash's' steaks are also known as "bait" to encourage him to do as we please and not as HE pleases in the show ring.


That night we were treated with a fireworks show that were set off in a baseball park also in the fairgrounds. We were entertained but the dogs there for the show were NOT impressed.










At the show, we met a man named Don who shows Labrador Retrievers. He knows Sherry Walsh in Fairbanks. If you don't know Sherry Walsh in Fairbanks then you probably haven't been to a dog show in Alaska. Sherry is a well known breeder/handler of Labrador Retrievers.


We also made a new Norwich Terrior owner handler friend, Rusty. She showed her two lovely little female Norwich. And we met Phil and Cindy who show a PBGV puppy, a breed that we used to breed and show. They got a few helpful hints from us.


The first day of the show, Jo showed Dash who took Best of Breed and competed in the "Group" ring later that day. Unfortunately he wasn't one of the chosen four for a placement ribbon. The next day Tom went into the ring with Dash. Dash took "Best of Breed" again and went on to the Terrier Group ring again later on that day. Well... nope, no Terrier Group placement ribbons for him either. I guess it doesn't matter how much hairspray Tom put in his own hair for primping, it still didn't help the dog out with the judge's opinion. The dogs that beat out Dash were all very good specimens of their breed so we couldn't really complain too much.

We packed up the motorhome and moved it back to Deer Park and re-unpacked and setup housekeeping once again. Tomorrow, it's the driving range for Tom.

Rainbow

Tom caught this rainbow on camera between the rain showers this evening. We've been having rain with some thunder and lightening off and on since we got home from our trip to town. We don't mind though, it's cooling things off from the 90+ degree heat we had today and feels very refreshing.

A Trip To Town

We've been at Deer Park for 5 days now and hadn't even left the grounds of the RV Park & Golf Course. Today though we needed to replenish the larder so we took a trip into Spokane. Spokane is about 15 miles south of us - well, about 15 miles to get to the outskirts. We realized Spokane is huge.

Luckily most of the places we wanted to go were close together because at $4.01/gal, it cost us just over $50 for 13 gallons of gas today. Will this madness never end? Rhetorical question. We all know the answer.

The good news is we found a Great Harvest Bread Company. YUM!