Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Another day in Kennewick, then on to Oregon

As I write, I'm sitting outside our rig at the "Roamers' Rest" RV Park in Tualatin, Oregon, south of Portland. We're here because daughter Season, SIL Lee, and grandsons Owen and Connor live a few miles away and we hope to get in a couple of visits.  We also need some routine maintenance done on both the motor home and the car, and Portland seems like a good place to do that. Plus, we just plain like Portland.

Yesterday we had a food-centric day in the Tri Cities area of south central Washington: lunch with friends Buddy and Nancy, who live in Kennewick and were with us at Rainbow Beach Resort; and dinner made by Jim's sister, Cathy, at her Kennewick home.

This morning we took off for a 235 mile drive to Portland. Now we're relaxing and contemplating doing laundry.  We'll see.
The Tri Cities (Pasco, Kennewick/Richland, Washington) have beautiful bridges.  This one is called the "Cable Bridge."
And this one has the similarly straight-forward name of  "Blue Bridge."
Nancy, Buddy and Jim after lunch at Ice Harbor Brewery on Clover Island in Kennewick.  Jim and Buddy went to Davis High School in Yakima, WA, and Nancy was a year behind them.  Buddy retired after a career as a public school teacher and coach, and Nancy is a retired school secretary.
This light house on Clover Island (where we had lunch) is a favorite of Buddy's.
Cathy and Jim in Cathy's kitchen. Cathy looks like she's trying to prove a point, but I think she was looking at something on her phone.  She made a great dinner of roast beef, carrots, salad and fruit.  Thanks, Cathy!  Also, take a look at her counter top.  It looks like granite, but she actually painted it to get that effect.  She is a creative handy woman.
As we left our Pasco, WA, motor home park this morning, the big flag at the nearby convention center was at half mast in memory and honor of September 11, 2001.  In Kennewick, we saw a soldier standing guard at a half-mast flag flying from a steel beam that was once part of the the World Trade Centers.  It was brought to Kennewick to be part of a 9-11 memorial park.
The Columbia River as seen from I-84.  I'm reading "Undaunted Courage," a book about Lewis and Clark by historian Stephen Ambrose, and we traveled along some of the Corps of Discovery Expedition's route.
Conifers dominate the view as we get closer to Portland.
Our view as we sat out a traffic jam on the I-5 interchange in Portland.  We have not seen this much traffic since we were in Baton Rouge, Louisiana during rush hour.  Jim never has a problem driving in Portland, but we'll probably take the MAX (light rail) when we go into the city.
Jim sweeping off the patio at our Roamers' Rest camping spot in Tualatin, OR.  The Tualatin River is just yards away so we hope to get in some kayaking.

4 comments:

  1. Looking forward next year to the breweries of Oregon.

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  2. I have tried to remain silent on this, but sometimes the obvious, just screams at you. Has it not occurred to you that Jim and his high school buddies all look exactly the same? It is clear in every picture, but probably most pronounced in a picture several postings back in which Jim and his friends, Buddy and Pat are at the Northern Ale Brew Pub. Same hats, same hair color, same beards all trimmed the same way. This cannot be coincidental. Oh sure, it might be something as benign as triplets separated at birth, …. We could only wish! But I, for one, can recognize an alien space invasion when I see one. Though why they would choose to replicate themselves as old grey-haired guys is beyond me. Nevertheless, Bev, “Save yourself”! Having been the victim of multiple space-alien-abductions in the past, I can assure you that it is something that you just don’t want to happen On the other-hand, if you have already joined them, and are a participant in their evil plot to take over the world, please remember who your friends are.

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  3. We're hoping to get in at least a brewery or two :)

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  4. Carl, I'm thinking all those college geology and accounting classes somehow morphed into creative fiction.

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