We decided it would be good to visit Diane's parents in Washington and maybe drive around the Pacific Northwest a little.
July 5, 2013
We got off about 9:30 am and took the scenic route (I-84) to Washington. We stopped at Minidoka National Historic Site, a memorial to the forced relocation of Japanese Americans during World War II. It is in the middle of nowhere (outside of Jerome, Idaho). It was interesting to look around and contemplate what happened there.
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| Minidoka NHS |
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| Ruins |
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| Some were repatriated |
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| Messhall |
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| Mess? |
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| One man never went home |
We then went on a back road past Thousand Springs where waterfalls come out of the side of the canyon wall.
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| Thousand Springs |
We continued on to Haggerman Fossil Beds National Monument by Hagerman, Idaho, a site for fossils of ancient horses (maybe it's the some of the horses from the Book of Mormon). It also has
part of the Oregon Trail going through it.
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| Hagerman Fossil Beds NM |
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| Lake where fossils are found |
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| An Oregon girl on the Oregon trail |
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| What happens to horses after a million years in the desert |
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| Downtown Hagerman |
We stopped by Nampa, Idaho to visit Darwin and Missy and their girls. We really enjoyed seeing them again. It has been a long time. We then went on to Calwell, Idaho and spent the night with Tony and Emily. We really appreciated their hospitality.
July 6, 2013
This morning we had a nice breakfast with Tony and Emily before we continued on to Washington. They have a fun family and it is always good to see them.
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| Reading to Lia and Micah |
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| Add Tony and Adam |
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| that green stuff actually tastes good |
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| The Bradshaw family |
We left about 8:30 in the morning and headed to Washington. When we got to Baker City, Oregon we decided to stop at the
Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.
It has nice dioramas of what it was like to be a pioneer. We really
enjoyed the film presentations also.
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| The Oregon Trail |
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| Trading time |
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| Modern pioneer |
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| In a rut |
We had lunch in La Grande and then
continued on until we arrived at Mom and Dad’s at about 1:30 pm (Pacific time).
We had a good visit in the afternoon then spent the night with John and Karen. They have a lovely home, just the right size for a retired couple.
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| John & Karen's family room and kitchen |
July 7, 2013
Today was Sunday. We went over to Mom and Dad's about 9:30 then joined them for church starting at 1 pm. After church we went to Don and Nadine's for a wonderful dinner. Jericho was there. It was good to see him again.
July 8, 2013
Today was a work day. I helped Mom sort out files on her computer. Diane helped lay out a quilt top. Daddy worked in the yard. We ran some errands in town and ate lunch at the Country Buffet. We went to John and Karen's for a marvelous gluten-free dinner, including ginger snaps and banana bread.
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| Daddy with his mower |
July 9, 2013
Today was Diane's parent’s 65th wedding anniversary. Diane helped Mom make apricot jam. We went to the store
planning to get some apricots to make more jam, but the didn’t have any. We met Don and Nadine at a
restaurant called The Country Gentleman and had a very good meal and enjoyed
visiting with everyone.
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| Mushrooms grow big in Wahington |
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| Daddy cares for Blair's bonsai plants |
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| Mom prepares breakfast |
July 10, 2013
Today we headed off to Oregon. We traveled toward Portland then took took the
Mount Hood scenic route starting at Hood River. It was a pretty drive. We had
nice views of Mount Hood.
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| Mount Hood through the trees |
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| Mount Hood |
We stopped at Timberline Ridge Lodge and there were
people skiing on Mount Hood. Mount Hood has the longest ski season in North
America.
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| Timberline lodge |
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| Skiing in July |
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| View of mountains in the distance |
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| Mount Hood from the lodge |
We then continued on through the Cascade scenic byway. They were
pretty drives.
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| Cascade mountains |
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| Lake in the Cascades |
We spent the night in Springfield, Oregon (which is next to Eugene).
July 11, 2013
We
left at about 9 am and headed for Oregon Caves National Monument. We stopped briefly in Grants Pass and saw the Oregon Caveman.
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| Oregon Caveman |
We then went on a very windy, but
scenic road to the monument.
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| Oregon Cave NM |
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| Monument Entrance |
We were scheduled for the 2:45 tour. The tour was nice. The caves are marble caves, but they
have many of the same formations as other caves we have been in.
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| Cave entrance |
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| The long tunnel |
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| Giant monster |
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| Bleeding hearts |
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| We made it through |
We took a
nature trail back to the visitor center after we got out of the cave. It had
beautiful views of the mountains.
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| Nature trail |
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| Handsome couple |
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| View from the trail |
We then headed to Crescent City CA and are
staying in the Bayview Inn.
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| The restaurant |
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| Dinner |
We
had a nice breakfast this morning. We took some pictures before we headed south. We were able to see
some nice scenes of the coast.
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| Looking over the Pacific Ocean |
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| Beautiful flowers at the Inn |
We were able to see some nice scenes of the coast.
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| Coastal scene |
We stopped at one lighthouse, but we looked at
it from the distance.
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| Point Arena Lighthouse |
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| Rocky shore by the lighthouse |
We continued on to
Bodega Bay. The
lady at the visitor information center told us that our present route would take us about 5 more hours to get to
San Jose so we decided to take a different road to Highway 101. We continued on
that road until we got through San Francisco and onto I-280. We arrived at Rich
and Ginny’s at about 3:30 pm. We enjoyed visiting with Steve, Melissa, and Rich
and Ginny.
July 14, 2013
This
morning joined Rich and Ginny at their church. In the afternoon we were able to visit and rest.
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| Anna and the TV |
This
morning we went to the container store with Rich and Ginny. In the afternoon Rich and Ginny caravanned with us
to Oakland. I rode with Richard and Ginny rode with Paul. As we got to the
airport area we pulled into a parking area of a business and changed cars. Rich
and Ginny then went on to the cabin and we just went around the corner and soon
found the Courtyard Marriott Hotel. We checked in and Paul had his conference
call. We relaxed and then we went across the street to Carrows for dinner.
July 16, 2013
Paul attended a deposition at the hotel all morning as an expert witness. I watched “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” and did some rug
hooking while Paul was in his meeting. We then went through slow traffic until we got to Fairfield at the Jelly Belly Bean factory. We were able to
get something to eat then go on their tour. It was interesting to see how they
make jellybeans.
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| Jelly Belly factory |
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| Jellybean-shaped pizza for lunch |
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| Jelly Belly tour |
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| Ben Franklin out of jellybeans |
We got
into Reno at about 7 pm. We checked into the Lexington Inn and Suites. We went
to the Grand Sierra Resort Casino and ate at their buffet.
We checked out and were on
our way by 6:45 am. We drove straight through, stopping for lunch in Elko, Nevada. Traveling along Highway 30 we saw an interesting cloud formation.
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| Clouds over Highway 30 |
We got home about 5 pm. It was a long, but enjoyable road trip.
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