Our Travelscapes #3

Hi Family and Friends....Time to catch up with all of you. We spent five VERY hot days in Bend, Oregon (just outside Sisters where we were planning to see the big quilt show on Saturday) from Wednesday to Sunday a week ago. I never would have believed the Oregon High Desert was a close match to AZ's desert and heat! But to compensate, the RV Resort (Crown Villa) was a beautiful spot. The sites we were in (Loy and Dan Rheinauer from Sun Lakes were beside us) were brand new to the park and were all brick pavers! Huge sites, enough for two rigs! Beautiful lawns and flower gardens, but sadly...no swimming pool! Loy, (from Sun Lakes quilt guild and golf group) and I took an all-day class on Thursday which was lots of fun and at least cool for the better part of the day. The guys played one of the three golf courses. Everyone's happy!! On Friday, Loy, Dan, Roger and I took an all day ride (in our van, NOT RV) into the snow-capped mountains.... Mt. Bachelor, Mt. McLaughlin, Three Sisters, Three Fingered Jack and some other areas where the many lakes and rivers were gorgeous as well. We stopped at one lake, had a picnic lunch and then drove on further up the mountain to another lake. Here we got to enjoy the cooler temperatures; tho' still in the 80s! We brought our bathing suits but declined to get totally wet; rather we "waded" in the beautiful cold water. We arrived at one of the ski areas where we took the biggest chair lift (called the Quad) up to the top and had dinner at the summit restaurant. Oh! The views! Most interesting was the large clouds of smoke coming across the valley from the advancing forest fire in Enumclaw. You could smell it, and taste it; the mountains now took on the look of the Great Blue Smokies. Witnessing our share of forest fires on this trip for sure. On Saturday, Loy and I spent the day doing the Sisters Quilt Show with about, 29,999 other people! Though the temperatures were about 102 degrees we still had a good time. This great little Western-themed town with snow-covered mountains all around, swells from the usual 900 residents to somewhere around 30,000 on this second Saturday in July! There are dozens of classes and lectures to take during the week as well. They have had 27 years to smooth out all the wrinkles and they handle the crowds well. While we snapped photos and bought fabric, etc. Dan and Roger hit the links again. Last week we had a call from our neighbor in Sun Lakes to inform us about the severe wind storm back there. Apparently there was a fair amount of damage even at Sky Harbor where a few planes were actually pushed across the tarmac damaging other parked aircraft. Also victim to the high winds, was our patio table which we had leaned against the house under the patio. It had smashed to smithereens (the glass top) and there was a lot of sand in the pool. Roger says the sand will take care of itself, but the table is a loss; maybe a replacement top? The chairs were all INSIDE the house! Guess we should have stuck the table inside as well. I can imagine what the yard looks like. Seems like if one had to put up with the wind storm they should have gotten the advantage of some rain as well! But Sun Lakes got little in the way of precipitation. We¹ve seen what we thought were some pretty fierce wind storms, but obviously the one we missed was the worst since '96. We arrived in Bellevue, WA Sunday afternoon. This campground, compared to the last couple of spots we were in leaves a lot to be desired, but it¹s about the only one close to Seattle where Roger¹s daughter Kate lives and we're only here to sleep! On Monday Roger and I, with Kate and her friend Galen, took a boat tour of Lake Union and Lake Washington (they are connected by canals) seeing Bill Gate¹s home; also the homes of the founder of Starbucks, and Nintendo, among many other multi-million dollar properties! You can imagine what they were like with their beautiful waterfront lots. It was especially fun to see the wonderful ³floating houses², one of which was the site for ³Sleepless in Seattle². They are all quite individual while having the same ³liquid² foundation! Each one cuter than the last; most adorned with lovely pots of flowers, and others with sculpture, and unique artistic décor. Though there were many with two stories and looking quite spacious, most were small, but ALL totally UN-affordable!!! Some of the most expensive property in town. In the same area of the boat tour, we shared the water with sailboats, many kayakers, and even float boats that took off and landed close by. At the height of the tourist season, it was a busy place with much to see and do. Tuesday, Roger and I (Kate and Galen both had classes at the massage therapy school they attend) drove in to the wharf area and did Pikes Place, the famous open farmers' market where seafood abounds and they toss the fish back and forth amongst the tourists who gather to watch the ³performance². There are hundreds of shops, restaurants and vendors to keep you busy spending money or just ³looking². We enjoyed lunch at the famous Ivar¹s Fish House; the ³New England² clam chowder was exemplary and the fried razorback clams delicious! Picture Boston¹s Quincy Market and Legal Seafood restaurants. Wonderful! Oh! And then the giant waffle cones on the walk along the wharves to fill up any empty spaces that might be left. Ha! Today the four of us again made it another ³tourist trek² day! First we did the Space Needle, had lunch on the revolving observation deck restaurant and then took a Duck Boat tour. This, due to the talented comedic Captain, was one of the most fun adventures. Tomorrow we have plans to join the kayakers in Lake Union. I was concerned about Roger and I staying afloat at this point, but Kate assures us the kayaks come in all sizes!!! Can you believe that we have had perfect, sunny weather in the high 70s, low 80s since we arrived in Seattle?!? The gorgeous sight of snow-capped Mt. Rainier has been with us every day! Friday we head to Anacortes and Fidalgo Bay RV Resort where we will be for the month of August. We will put the RV in a storage site and board the cruise ship in Vancouver, BC on Sunday at 2:00. We return the following Monday when we join the 36 other rigs from the Roadrunners Club at Sun Lakes. Finally a chance to relax?? So until we return from Alaska's inter-coastal waters, it¹s over and out! We'll tell you all about it when we're back on solid ground on the 29th! Stay cool and have a great summer! Hugs, Dennie and Roger