Friends

Sunday we had lunch with Jim’s friend, Buddy, and his wife, Nancy, who live in Kennewick, WA.  Jim has known Buddy since they went to grade school in Yakima, WA and they graduated from the same Yakima high school in 1966.   Buddy and Nancy recently retired from long careers; Buddy was a junior high teacher and coach, and Nancy was an elementary school secretary.    It was fun for me to meet them and Jim had a great time catching up.  

Later that day we visited Sacajawea State Park in nearby Pasco, named for the Shoshone Indian interpreter and guide for Lewis and Clark. Sacajawea was only 17 when she traveled with Lewis and Clark.  It’s believed Sacajawea was kidnapped by another tribe (the Hidatsu) when she was just 12, became the wife of the French trapper Toussaint Charbonneau when she was 13, and had a two-month old son when she and her husband joined Lewis and Clark.  While acting as an interpreter she discovered that her brother, Cameahwait, was a chief of a Shoshone tribe the expedition met along the way.

That night Cathy came out to the rig and had dinner with us and we continued the “catch up on life” session.  We’ll see you later this summer, Cathy.

Buddy, Nancy, Jim and Bev after brunch at Sterling's Restaurant in Kennewick, WA.

Bev and a statue of Sacajawea at the Sacajawea State Park Interpretive Center.  After the Lewis and Clark expedition, Sacajawea, her husband and son settled in St. Louis, where Clark took over the son’s education and became his guardian when Sacajawea died in 1812. However, an oral tradition states Sacajawea left Charbonneau, moved west, married a Commanche, and died in the 1880s. 

A short video taken at Sacajawea State Park.  The Lewis and Clark expedition were here for two days in October 1805, and then continued west on the Columbia River.

Our campsite at Hood Park, an Army Corps of Engineer facility right on Lake Wallula, an offshoot of the Snake River.  It’s a beautiful, well-cared for park.