Forward ho to Oregon we go

Pioneer RV
Site #301 - $32, p/w/s, Internet, Temp 33C HOT!

My last update was sent while fuelling up in Yakima. That's typical for me when travelling. I'm always checking for wifi and doing my emails on the fly. Tonight we have internet.

Umatilla Bridge over the Columbia River

We are spending tonight in Hermiston, Oregon. We checked out two campgrounds prior to stopping at this one. This was not a great choice either, but it will do for a night. We really needed groceries and wanted to stop early to allow for that. So we are in the middle of town. On a fairly busy street. Our drive today was mainly on the I-82. It was an arid and desert like stretch. And it was hot! The temp was 32C once again. The irrigation in the valleys allows for some lush vineyards, but otherwise it's pretty barren! There were some steep climbs for the old Dodge.

We stocked up on our groceries, beer and wine. We are now sitting in the RV having a beer with the air conditioning running. And we are catching up on internet postings. I am uploading pictures. Ron is reading obits. Ha! Such is our life. 

Great little kitchen. Missing from photo - 3 dogs!

I forgot to mention the older lady camped beside us last night. She wasn't with the "Sisters" group, but she could have been. She showed interest in the group and I suspect she'll be checking them out. She has the neatest little custom built teardrop' camper. Basically a kitchen and a bed. She travels alone with her 3 rescue dogs - a small, medium and a large! It was a very cute unit. She gave us the tour - that would be a peek in the door, ha ha. I loved the unit, but I would certainly miss having a bathroom. I figure it must be very crowded with those 3 dogs!

U.S of A. and Easton, WA

Lake Easton State Park

Site #28 - $32, p/w/s, no Internet, Temp 31C

Going through Customs was a breeze yesterday. The hour plus 20 minutes sitting in the lineup awaiting our turn? Not so fun! I can only imagine what this would be like on a busy holiday weekend!?

However . . . Once we were finally on our way, we really enjoyed the drive. It is always nice when you can get off the Interstate and take an alternate route. We drove through some cool little towns. Duvall had a collection of very old construction trains gathered together and Snoqualmie was just a very quaint and unique looking town that I would have loved to explore more.

We finally arrived at Easton State Park at 5 pm. We were assigned a site that had previously been assigned to someone else, so an extra ½ hr was wasted getting that straightened out. (It was Site 13 would you believe and today would be Fri 13th?!) It was a nice enough campground, but it wasn't far off the highway and the noise was constant. We needed our fan for white noise overnight. Weather wise? It is very hot and muggy. It was 31C when we arrived and it continues to average 28-32C.

Easton Lake State Park

There was a group camped at park called "Sisters on the Fly". A mix of both single and married women from the western states and BC, who meet for camping. Their little camping units were all decked out and neatly decorated. Very cool. It looked like they have a lot of fun. 

Today we are headed to Oregon. We need to stock up on some groceries. And beer!

Rolley Lake Prov Pk

Site #46, n/s, cell but no Internet, Temp 24C

Tonight will be our 3rd night at Rolley Lake. It is a small campground beside a very small lake - more like a pond. It is nestled in some huge cedars and hemlocks(?) just north of Mission, BC. It was a bit of a winding twisty climb to get here.

People on the beach at Rolley Lake

The stillness and the quiet of the forest is amazing. Even though the sun has been shining and the temps have been in the high 20's, we are pretty much in the shade all day. Not a lot of sun can get through that thick growth. There are mainly young families (tenters) camped here. Either the children are home schooled or they are taking extra holidays before starting school?? 

our backyard

We've done our usual biking tours and a driving tour, but we have basically just been doing plenty of reading, relaxing and enjoying the daily campfires. 

A margarita kind of afternoon

One little oddity. When we were camped at Harrison, there was an abandoned 36' trailer parked beside us. We were told the owner owed three years of rent ($3,000) and won't return calls. They just walked away leaving clothing in closets and dishes/food in cupboards plus TV's and an old computer. (The door was wide open and yes, Ron was snooping.) In this campground, we are parked across from a large abandoned tent. A couple with 3 young children paid for the weekend, but left Sunday without this very nice two roomed tent, some lawn chairs and a mattress?? What's with that??? The campground attendant said they have to leave it in place for 14 days before they will claim ownership.

You never know where this guy will showup - Roly at Rolley

Too many jays - Pretty bird, not so pretty sounds

That's about it for my Rolley update. We will likely cross the border and head south tomorrow.

A Vancouver Weekend

Today we say our goodbyes to Vancouver. We enjoyed the visits with Kari and family and with David.

We were treated to great meals. (thanks so much for the spring salmon, Richard. Yum!) We watched some soccer. Went on a bike ride to Granville Island and back (Ron, Kari, Gerry, Morgan). Did some laundry. And in the evenings, we sat around the propane fire pit. The weather was perfect. Everyone is back to school and to work today. We will miss the Kesslar-Belecs, but we certainly won't miss the traffic or the noise of this big city.

part of the biker gang

nice haircut, dude!

We will pick up the RV at Harrison Lake and it is off to Rolley Lake Provincial Park which is north of Mission, BC. Neither of us has been there before. Everyone says it's a beautiful park. There are no power hookups so we probably won't be staying beyond three days. Also, we may be off the web for a few days depending on the cell service. So here's to a great week . . .

the web - hahaha

Last Night in Harrison

We had to vacate our pretty little spot beside the pond today as it had been pre-reserved for tonight. We are now shoehorned in to a campsite in the centre row of the campground. Our view is the campground 'lift station'. Yes. It is quite the change from those first two nights. We opted to stay an extra night as the owners are such nice accommodating people and have said we can store our RV here for the weekend ($7./night) while we visit Kari and family in Vancouver. We scratched the plan to head to David's cabin as Richard and Janice had to cancel out. 

a blue heron drops in for a visit

After re-settling in our new spot, we biked along the lake and around the village. I can only imagine how busy this place is during peak season, but it is certainly quiet now. 

Testing the hot springs

Nice foot spa!

Back at the RV, I decided to try out a new prune plum recipe. Did I mention Jeff has fruit trees in his back yard?? The plum tree was loaded and I had Owen picking and filling pails. It was a great distraction when Mom and Dad were busy with wedding preps. I hated to see them wasted!

picking plums

Anyway… the dessert went to Richard's and Janice's house with us tonight. It was okay, but another time I would opt for a crumble. Dinner? It was excellent! Richard's daily catch of pink salmon. Yum.

Janice blows off on the Didgeridoo

The Bros digesting dinner

Tomorrow we are off to Vancouver.

Today at Harrison

It was rather nice to have a leisurely morning sipping coffee. No where to go and nothing to do. It gave me a chance to catch up on my photo postings and my reading. 

the room with a view

We did drive down the road to Agassiz to pick up a few groceries. Also, Ron did a bike tour along the beach front and around the Village. He took some cool photos from around our campsite. It is rather like stepping in to a rain forest here.

Richard and Janice drove up from Abbotsford. Great company and a good visit including dinner with wine. The four of us are working on a plan to drive up to David's cabin in Lillooet for the weekend. Either way, it looks like we'll spend an extra night at Harrison. Unfortunately we will have to move to another campsite as this "room with a view" was booked.

The winding road to Harrison

Sasquatch Springs

Site #16 *best! - $49, p/w/s, patio deck and propane firepit! poor Internet, 

My driver had a bit of a sleep in this morning, but we were on the road by 10 am. We opted for the 'little longer scenic route' and took Hwy 8 from Merritt to Spences Bridge. A very pretty drive.

Jill, our GPS lady kept insisting that we should make a U-Turn, but we muted her and continued on our way. It was well worth the little detour. Of course, Hwy 1 winding along the river to Hope is also one of our favourite stretches. A beautiful drive! Even if I had to fight to keep my eyes open!

We are now camped at Harrison Hot Springs for two nights. We were here 11 years ago. Pretty spiffy digs! We have a nice little wooden deck creek side. The campsite comes complete with a fancy ceramic propane firepit! We poured a glass of wine and took advantage this evening.

It is still not the best internet, so my picture upload might get postponed once again.. Our bikes have been unloaded and we will do some pedalling about the townsite tomorrow. It sounds like Richard and Janice may join us for dinner tomorrow evening. That's it for tonight's update. Bedtime!

Reflections on our pond

A Wedding in Vernon

Silver Star RV Park

Site #55 - $45, p/w/s, poor Internet, Temp 21C

Where to start? It has been a whirlwind in Vernon. House renos plus a wedding make for an interesting combination. All those last minute finishing up preps . . . Yikes! Add to that combination an 8 month old baby plus a 2 year old little boy who couldn't quite figure out what the heck was going on. Yes, it was a very busy few days leading up to the two "I do's".

Uncle Greg meets Evelyn

Neice Taya and nephew Aiden create some artwork

Hanging pictures

speech writing

Sister Cara, the flower lady

the shade tarps

hmm..who goes where?

Happy baby

iPhone distractions

I think those past five days are best explained in the attached photos. Perfect weather, beautiful bride, handsome groom and a great party. I will post some pics and a link when I find some decent wifi. The internet at Silver Star campground in Vernon sucks.

A quiet lunch before the ceremony

with this ring . .

husband and wife

The wedding party

a bit of mom and dad time ;)

cutting the cake

Tomorrow we hit the road once again. Possibly Harrison Hot Springs?? We talked about it a bit while we had some relax time at the campground this evening but we didn't come up with a sure plan. Too much brain work required. I will know where we are going when we get there!