April 23rd – 28th
On the 23rd I headed north from Boise through Oregon on I-84, stopped for gas in Pendleton and then took I-84 west along the Columbia River. My destination was Mosier, OR just a bit east of Hood River. I met up with Kristen McNall and her partner Freddie there. It was her family I visited in New Hampshire and Boston in March (see Travelogue #16). Her mother Milan and father Carl were good friends when Chuck and I lived in California. I visited Milan in NH, Carl passed away before COVID, and we met up with Karlyn and Cam in Boston. Kristen and her sister Karlyn and brother Cam were 10, 8, and 6 when we first met!
Kristen and I have a very special relationship and a lot in common: computers and technology, dogs, and love of travel. We went for walks with their dog Ellie and talked late into the night. The next day she had to leave at noon to go to Portland. So I left at the same time they did, headed back east on I-84 and crossed over into WA. Then I spent some time visiting the Stonehenge Memorial in Maryhill, WA. The last time I visited it was with Virginia in 2015. It’s a fascinating “reproduction” of the original erected in 1918 as a WWI memorial to veterans who lost their lives, perched on a hill overlooking the Columbia River and with Mount Hood in the distance. For more info: Stonehenge Memorial.
From there I headed north and spent the night in Ellensburg at a truck stop. The next day I headed to Monroe to visit with Sue Morgan, a fellow RV traveler. We had dinner in Monroe with Richard, another RVer. I was ready to spend part of the next day (Friday) with Sue then head home, but that meant taking the ferry on Saturday and that was the annual Tour De Lopez bicycle event which meant that the ferries would be overfull with bikes and cars! So I stayed at Sue’s for one more night and planned to go home on Sunday when the traffic was mostly normal. We went into Snohomish to a wonderful place called Flower World and I bought an Eastern Red Bud tree named Hearts of Gold!! I was fascinated with them in the early spring everywhere on the east coast — they were the very first tree to bloom before any other tree even had leaves – and I decided I wanted one. I’ve named it “Red Buddy”. We brought it back to Sue’s in her tiny car and had dinner together, then said good night. She was leaving early in the morning.
The next day, Saturday, I managed to get Red Buddy into the trailer (after trimming the tallest branches), and headed toward Mount Vernon and Anacortes. Did some shopping and spent the night at the Swinomish Casino so I’d be able to get an early ferry on Sunday. Lots of unloading, but it was several days before I got the water working. Winter travel always means possible frozen pipes and other issues. It was good to be home, but it felt weird not having Sunna with me. What an amazing trip this was, so many places and visits with family and friends all over the country. I’m so thankful I was able to do this!
Postscript: I got Red Buddy home in my trailer, but after a few days I found it knocked over and some of the lower branches munched by deer. So I moved it into my backyard but the fence was only 4′ high, and after a few days, it got knocked over again, but no leaves lost–probably scared the deer. So then I put some 6′ fencing all around it. It did fine for a few weeks, then after a very windy night, I found it on the ground again. So this time I tied ropes around the stakes and it has survived since then! It’s doing well, lost a few leaves in the heat wave in July, but otherwise it’s OK. I will plant it when the weather cools. I’ve added a few more pics of Red Buddy at the end of the slideshow.
Last travelogue – trip ended back on Lopez on April 28th.
