Catching Up With Friends and Family

A couple of days spending time with friends and family. We got a nice email from our niece Jennifer wishing we going to be at her place for Xmas this year and we wish we were too. Its the worst part of Snowbirding for the winter. we sent her back a email and told her that maybe next year we will go back home for the Xmas holidays as we miss the decorations, family dinners, and watching the kids open presents. I told Jennifer that last year we celebrated my birthday (July 3) with a full blown turkey dinner and hope to make that a tradition. Since we had been missing turkey dinners on Xmas and Thanksgiving on a semi regular basis we thought it would be nice to do a dinner similar on the Fourth of July weekend. Maybe it will turn into a family holiday.

We picked up our Xmas cards and started doing them this afternoon, have to get them out soon. We talked to Paul and Linda over the phone, they are leaving for Tacoma tomorrow to spend the holidays with the kids. We had a nice chat with them and will be going over to Vegas on our way back home. We look forward to seeing their house when we get there. Hope to spend a week in town doing the Vegas thing. We also met Paul and Michele who live here in Palm Springs. We met them at Larry and Rose Mackey's wedding two years ago and reconnected with them last year when we ended up spending several weeks here in the desert. They are opening a nursery, "Aunt Effie's Garden" and we stopped by to see them there. Really nice place with a great selection of plants and gardening supplies. We bought a Poinsettia, white and red speckled. for our dinette table. We are going to meet them for dinner this weekend....probably for Sushi since we both like that a lot.
We also talked to Pat and Ed Tatman today and they are recovering from a week of the flu! That is part of the winter season that we sure don't miss. They are mostly over it and its nice that they got it out of the way before the festivities begin. I had the flu on Xmas about 30 years ago and can still remember just wishing Xmas Eve would get over so I could go to bed, and I love Xmas. My memories of that are still very very vivid. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

We had lunch poolside at the cafe today and sat under the awning but still in the sun and you could feel the sun hot on your back. Temps are up this week going to 75 the next couple of days.
We may get in the pool tomorrow if it stays as hot as it was today.
Not much on TV these days as most of our favorite shows are done for the year. We are keeping busy watching Netfix in the evening if nothing else is on TV. I can't wait for the final season of "Lost" coming up in February. We did buy tickets to see "Avatar" on Friday afternoon at the Desert IMAX in 3D... it will either be great or a bust but at a IMAX and in 3D we will maximize the experience one way or another.
I have been keeping up on the Seattle sports scene by reading the Seattle Times and Tacoma News Tribune and also listening to KJR Sports Radio 950 on IHeartRadio on my iphone. Lots going on with the Seahawks firing their GM and maybe coach, Jake Locker coming back to the UofW for his senior year, and the Mariners making huge moves in the hot stove league. I wouldn't mind spending a week in Peoria watching spring training before we leave for back home.
More coming later.

Christmas Lights

Our motor home set for the holdiday season.

Home for the holidays....

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Monday we had the first rain we have had on our trip to date. It rained most of the day and by our standards I would call it rain, not a sprinkle, but not a pouring rain. You would need an umbrella if you spent much time in it. It was overcast all day and reminded me of Tacoma however the temperature was still in the low 60's. We laid low and enjoyed how cozy our rig was. The furnace kept us warm and toasty while we read, napped, and watched TV. The next morning it was sunny and clear and only the new snow on the mountains reminded us that it had rained the day before. Storms are blowing through all of Southern California this week but we are just catching about 30% of the weather. This weekend is supposed to be the worst of it but the sun is coming out just as I write this. There has been no wind with the "storm" so we have left the big awning out which keeps all the chairs, BBQ, and bikes dry.
We now have an address with the parks post office and can get mail. This is nice as it allows us to use Netflix while we are here. We shopped at Costco the other day and ordered our Xmas presents, two sets of golf clubs, as well as buying eggnog and Xmas cookies. Mark and Carol are coming here for ten days starting on December 20th and it will be great being together for the holidays. We sent them ads for lot rentals that owners hac posted on the bulletin board in the main clubhouse and they got a good rate for the trip. Susan found out that the grocery store we shop at, just outside the park, cooks turkeys for the holidays with all the trimmings, including pumpkin pie so we are ordering one for Xmas. It will be nice to have some turkey leftovers.
We received a call from our neighbors in Tacoma, who check on the house for use, letting us know our furnace was off and the house is cold (45)....so we are dealing with that long distance.
I checked out the hot tubs (2) and main pool yesterday. One tub is 90 degrees for the people who can't be in really hot water and the other spa is 104 degrees and we intend to make use of that this evening. The low 60's temps have chased people out of the pool although the pool temp is 85 degrees but the park is more vacant with people going home for Xmas so its probably a combination of both. It should be leave more room for us in the spas and on the golf course while Mark and Carol are here for the holidays.
We put our Christmas decorations up yesterday so it feels more like the season. We have lights around the awning and a lit wreath on the front grill of the motor home for outside lights. I will attach a photo of the inside which is cozy with the little tree, hung stockings, etc. We also hung Santa hats on the outside mirrors. It all turned our very nice considering the space and storage limitations. Quite a few sites have something out for Xmas but not all as many are leaving anyway and will celebrate at home. The clubhouse is nicely decorated with lit reindeer, snowmen, Santa, presents, etc. on the front lawn and the long entrance street has white lights around the trunks of the palm trees lining the road...the effect is very festive. We have yet to attend any of the weekly events in town as we have been keeping busy. Each Thursday night is the "Street Fair" when they close down Palm Canyon Drive (the main street in Palm Springs) for about twelve blocks and have booths, food, music, etc. and the restaurants stay open until late. The other event is the College of the Desert, a shopping fest with about a bazillion booths selling everything you can imagine. This happens on Saturdays and Sundays from 7am to 2pm....year around. The early start and stop is due to the heat during the summer months. We are looking forward to that but since we will be here for the whole winter we are not rushing to it. Better to wait until it gets closer to Xmas and then shop for seasonal deals.
We can't say enough about how nice everyone in the park is. Some of the rigs in here are million dollar showplaces but the people don't seem to care what you are in, they treat everyone the same way. We didn't find that the case a couple of years ago in Indio where the lots seemed to be in a competition to see who had the most luxurious outdoor kitchens, coolest golf carts, or the sexiest electric boat to pilot around a very paltry lake system. "Boys and their toys". The people here refer to that park as "Outdo" instead of Outdoor...pretty funny.
I am enjoying NFL football down here although I miss the Direct TV Sunday Ticket package I had the last couple of years. I didn't renew this year because the Seahawks were looking so bad this year but I do miss not seeing ANY of their games and being forced to watch the games the Networks pick rather that the games I would like to watch (New Orleans, Minnesota, Indianapolis for example) but usually get the stinking Dallas Cowboys or the New York Giants. Next year I'm in with the Sunday Ticket again. Can't wait for the playoffs to start, then it will get real interesting for me!!
I should mention that I now think that the best fast food burger is "In and Out". I had one last year, and two this year and they are the best. It's probably a good thing that they are not in the NW if you get my drift. LOL
More next Saturday, Merry Christmas!
Larry, Sue, and Ollie too!

More of Outdoor RV Park

Outdoor Resort, Palm Springs

Home again, home again! At least it felt that way checking in here at the Outdoor RV Resort in Cathedral City. I had forgotten how nice it was. The two things you notice are how lush and pretty the grounds are with plantings, palm trees, lawns, lakes, and mature citrus trees on almost all the 1200 lots. The lots are owned but you can sublet them by the day, week, or month. We are in Lot 202 again this year. We like it because the location is just one site away from the main clubhouse, main pool, and the cafe. Nice when you just have to walk 20 yards to to get into the pool or hot tub, especially if you want a dip in the evening. Our site has a large orange tree in the back but they are not ripe yet and what looks like a grapefruit tree toward the front....they could be lemons but look huge. Our neighbor, Sam, from across the street brought us a half dozen lemons over from their tree. We used the juice over veggies and chicken for dinner and it was wonderful. Not as tart as store bought but super juicy. If the oranges are as good as the lemons...."Screwdrivers and Mimosas" for all.

The lots are big and private with parking for a couple of cars. We are pretty much set up and enjoying the weather.

Leap forward to Monday (today) and we have had the first rain of our trip. All of Southern California is getting wet today including the desert out here. In the sixties but looks like Tacoma today. Supposed to clear up tomorrow then maybe two days with partial showers as the storms move east over us. We are getting better forecasts than the coast however. We have been settling in this last week. We went to Costco today, then the grocery store. We have an address at the local park post office:

Larry and Susan Lee

69411 Ramon Road, Lot 202

Cathedral City, CA 92234-3350

Now we are getting Netflix again...yay! Just in time for the rain. We pretty much know our way around down here after being here three times and once at Happy Traveler but look forward to exploring the area more. We went shopping on El Paseo in Palm Desert which is know down here as the "Rodeo Drive of the Desert". It is loaded with really nice shops and the area is well planted and has plenty of restaurants. We had lunch upstairs on the patio at "Tommy Bahama's" restaurant and bar just a level above their store.

We take walks around the perimeter of the park each morning, it takes about 50 minutes to do that, and we have our bicycles to ride around on too. Looking to by some golf clubs down here and play the par three golf course on premises here. The have a total of 27 holes to play. Quite a few tennis courts, all lit, here also. The people here all seem pretty active so it does not feel as old as the other places we have stayed down here. We hung a hummingbird feeder and are doing boxoffice business even in the rain.

The Honda CRV we towed down here is really working out well. It was great in California traffic, I don't miss shifting the Wrangler one bit, and we can haul our Costco purchases easily. Also very quiet on the freeway and for today...nice and dry in the rain. lol We are lining up things to do for the Xmas season to help get us in the mood, but I miss not setting up our yard with outside lights and the house with a big tree. We did bring a lot of Xmas stuff to decorate, along with our Xmas DVD movies, and a ton of Christmas music on our ipods. Mark and Carol will be here from Dec 20 to Jan 2 so that will be really nice. We have found a couple of things to do in the days to come..."Wild Lights" similar to "Zoo Lights" in Tacoma and are looking for a few Candy Cane Lanes of houses that go "Sparkey Grizwold" every Christmas.

We bought some Xmas cookies and rum/bourbon eggnog at Costco today. Only about a gazillion calories and carbs in them. Actually, I am down to 205 from 221 in July so I intend to be careful about nonstop binging. We did find a place that sells a complete turkey (any size) and all the trimmings at a reasonable price and plan on doing that for Xmas day with Mark and Carol.

Not the same as home however.

Just remember 'nothing says Christmas like shades and a Hawaiian shirt!

Thanksgiving Dinner

We had a very nice turkey dinner with all the trimmings at "The Charthouse" restaurant in Marina Del Rey. A window table for four as Mark and Carol made it back from their Mexico trip in time to have dinner with us. Plenty to eat and for once I didn't need an alka seltzer after T-Day dinner. I do miss the leftovers and the turkey sandwiches that last all weekend but my body doesn't.

After dinner we drove over to the Turner's place and watched "Survivor" on DVR since we are all admitted junkies to that show. I can 't help admire Russell's ability to play the game, jerk or not.

Winding down our trip in LA and we move to Palm Springs on Tuesday.

Gladstone's Legendary Deserts

This is the Chocolate Cake we ordered to go. Eight big servings came out of this one desert. PS: You can order this ala mode with about a dozen big scoops of ice cream piled in front of the slice of cake. These deserts are usually shared by two couples and even then are too big to eat at one sitting.

Gladstone's

Every visit to Los Angeles we have lunch at Gladstone's restaurant, the quintessential Malibu beach restaurant on the sand at the foot of the west end of Sunset Boulevard. We always have lunch on the deck and have never be disappointed. This trip we both had the Seafood Cobb salad with lots of crab, shrimp, avocado, etc. and a portion of lox on top and two oysters on the half shell to the side. Even by NW standards it was a great salad. When we spend time in LA we always notice that the lettuce down here is much crisper that the lettuce back home. I'm sure its because the time from the fields to the stores is considerably shorter. Portions of everything here are very large and the waiters are trained to wrap leftovers in gold foil in the shape of different sea animals. Crabs, swans, whales, and many others are presented with the check. To the dessert lovers reading this; the deserts here are huge to the point of obscene! We have never eaten desert here because the meals are so large but have seen the plates being delivered to tables. Susan ordered the chocolate cake to go as she wanted to try it. We had two pieces that night with coffee while watching Dancing With The Stars, then took the rest to Mark and Carol's house to watch the season finale of DWTS and it still was four big portions. I took a picture of the desert at the table, yes it is one order, because you have to see it to believe it. LOL

View out our front window

Another neighbor in and vintage coach

Home on the beach

This is us on the right.

Beach Traffic

Lot's of traffic on the bike path. If you watch long enough you see most everything pass by.

Dockweilers RV Park, Playa del Rey

We had a beautiful drive down from Thornehill Broom Beach along the coast highway through Malibu, Santa Monica, and Venice on our way to Dockweilers RV Park in Playa del Rey just south of LAX on the beach. The drive took about an hour and we checked in just before 1pm. We have site 81 second from the last spot on the beachfront row. This is good as they build a large sand berm along beach in front of the park to guard against winter storm tides. We are far enough south that sand berm ends and we get a nice view of the water. Our neighbors on our left are here for three weeks also, that's the max stay allowed, and have a 2009 Allegro Bus. Jay and Julia, who live here in LA, just returned from a year long trip east and are winding down before returning to their home which they rented out for the year. He is a professor of Lit, and she teaches photography at the college level and owns a studio in Venice. Nice couple. The park is about a third full as they raised their rates from $46 a night to $65 as they are a LA County Park and under a budget crunch. We are in for $46 since we booked before the rate change. The result is the the space on our right has been vacant much of the time. Good luck for us.

We have just passed the midway point of our visit here in LA and the weather is almost hard to believe. The sun comes up at 7am and shines through the shades in our bedroom. We are up and around by 8am, I have been getting an hour long walk in almost every morning. usually sit in chairs at the front of our coach enjoying our morning coffee and watch bicyclers pedal by on the bike path between the park and the water. Sometimes I include a nice cigar along with the coffee. It is warm and sitting there in a tank top and shorts is very comfortable even at 8am.

A couple of days it was foggy until 9am but then sunny, clear, and warm like clockwork. I keep thinking of the movie "Groundhog Day" as the weather each day is so great. Can't say I miss home at all.

The CRV is definitely a huge step up from the Wrangler as far as driving around the freeways and in traffic. We loaded Ollie in the back, got the car washed in Santa Monica and drove around the houses just a block or two off the beach. What a life that must be. Many have been restored and run the gamut from small to large. I have to get back there with my camera as some are really picturesque. Ditto the houses on the Venice Canal. We drove around those for a while then drove north along "Ocean Boulevard" the main north/south street in Santa Monica. It is bordered on one side by the Pacific Ocean beaches and the park above the cliff and on the other side by old hotels, restaurants, shops, etc. Both sides are bordered by rows of old palm trees. When the Olympics were in LA in the 80's the Marathon event ran up this long boulevard. Even if you haven't been to LA you have seen this street and park in countless movies and TV shows. We followed it to the northern end and picked up the coast highway heading to Malibu. We have been eating healthy this trip but treated ourselves to burgers in Malibu....Ollie got his own fries since we are all breaking rules for this meal. We drove around up there admiring the homes along the beaches.

One morning we drove up to Venice to have breakfast at the Sidewalk Cafe, eating outside with the canopy over our heads. We have been coming here for about 30 years and always schedule a breakfast here. They have world class omelets and its a great place to people watch. After breakfast we walked along the boardwalk and I ended up buying three tank tops for $15. They work well in the sun down here.

I took a bike ride down the bike path a few miles to the Manhattan Beach Pier. Again it is hard not to notice the beach houses along the sand in Manhattan Beach. The whole little community is very nice, with lots of little shops, and restaurants. We drove down here a couple of days ago and had breakfast at "Uncle Bills Pancake House" which has a outside dining area with a view of the pier and beach in the distance. It is an icon in the area and on Yelp, Around Me, Zagat and all the other restaurant finder software. Great pancakes, and corned beef hash. Small, fast service, and reasonable prices. One of the better breakfast places in the area. If you want to try it on a weekend allow for a wait to get in as it is very popular.

We have shopped at Costco and Ralph's for groceries a couple of times, done laundry once, and went to an RV place to get an awning strap replacement. But otherwise it is sitting in the sun, reading, and on Sundays watching football. Before we left I had the compartment TV put on an "Arm" so it swings out and will tilt so we can watch TV outside and be able to adjust for sun glare. It works great. Love being able to enjoy a morning cigar while watching the game...can't do that at home for obvious reasons. LOL.

I will be better at entering more photographs in the future.

Thornehill Broom Beach

Rincon Parkway

The Trip Down

As usual I am going to document our winter trip with pictures and thoughts along the way that will be a journal of our trip and preserve some memories for future reminiscing. I have posted notes along the way on my iphone and finally I am taking time to getting the blog up and running again so for any of our friends and family who are interested in following along...here goes.

We were up at 7:30am on Sunday and loading up the rig. We had a few little chores to due; hooking up the CRV for towing, filling the freshwater tank, loading the last of the food, etc. We were on the road a little after 9:00am. It was a little foggy but it was only low clouds and was not a problem to drive in. We drove in and out of sunny patches as the clouds were burning off as we moved south. At 11am we passed through Portland, Oregon and the clouds disappeared for good leaving a beautiful sunny day to drive south. We stopped at a rest stop just north of Eugene, Oregon where we walked Ollie and had lunch a little after 1pm.

The Honda CRV towed very well, better that the Wrangler, probably due to the smaller tires on the CRV where the Wrangler had the oversize tires. Maybe just because its newer and more aerodynamic. One way or the other it tows sweet. We jumped back on I-5 after lunch, bought gas in Cottage Grove, and arrived at our first days destination of Canyonville, Oregon at 4pm almost on the dot. We spent the night at "7 Feather RV Park" just across the freeway from the big 7 Feather Casino. The park is immaculate, modern, and extremely well maintained. There are shuttles to the Casino every ten minutes. Full hookups for $32 a night. We stayed here last December 1st on our trip down and the Casino was all decked out for Christmas. Since we are a month earlier there are no decorations up yet. Cheap meals seem to be a thing of the past in all casinos these days. Hard to find a sandwich for under $8 but the buffets are probably the best deal if you don't mind eating until you explode to get your moneys work. We decided to eat "breakfast" for dinner since we skipped our morning meal, then read a little and get to bed early as we had covered 550 miles during the day. Tomorrow morning we cross the border into California and have a much shorted leg of the trip, 250 miles to Corning, California and the Rolling Hills Casino and RV Park. A nice place for a cheap $25 a night

It was a beautiful sunny drive down from Canyonville and we stopped at a rest area by Lake Shasta and had a nice lazy lunch. See the picture at the top of the column. We got into Corning about 2:00pm and stopped at the famous "Olive Pit" where you can buy every kind of olive you can imagine and quite a few you can't. Naturally, we walked out with a big box filled with Olive jars, pickled asparagus, cheeses, etc. Hey, you need proper garnishes for your cocktails right? Hot pickled asparagus for the Bloody Mary, or Martinis with garlic or blue cheese stuffed olives. We did buy some great pepper cheese that I really liked. Nothing like shopping for the basic food groups. We only were one exit away from our stop for the night and instead of using the GPS I remembered a side road adjacent to the freeway and figured we could take that right to the front of the casino.....wrong! We ended up on a dead end road which is no big deal unless you are 34' and towing a car. We had to unhitch the Honda to finally get both vehicles facing the right direction. Since we were so close to our location, Susan drove the Honda and followed me down the freeway to the correct turnoff. I did not mention that yesterday was the end of Daylight Savings Time and in California the days are not as long as in Washington. It was dark when we pulled into the RV Park at 5pm. We got set up very quickly with the slide out, levelers down, water and electricity plugged in, and satellite TV working. Those olives came in handy that night as "daddy needed his nerve medicine real bad" . We ended up going to the casino buffet for comfort food that night. We also decided to spend another day there just lazing in the 80 degree sun. We had been running all week long to get ready for the trip and decided we needed a break from travel the next day.

We had our extra day of leisure and then we were off heading to "Lost Hills" about as far south as we could make in the one day. We wanted to be able to drive into the Rincon Parkway camp area by about 10am Thursday as there are no reservations strictly first come first served and it is a popular place. We planned on staying there several days. The drive to "Lost Hills" was uneventful, clear and sunny driving, south on I-5 for several hours. Easy but maybe a little boring. The campground was a disappointment, these things happen even when using campground guides etc. You never really know what you are going to get until you arrive. We really did not have a choice as we wanted to get as far south as possible that day. It was $34 a night for full hookups but the grounds were dusty dirt and bare trees. No cement or paving, no gravel, no grass or vegetation of any kind. Just dirt. It was almost empty when we pulled in about 3pm but by that night it filled up quite a bit. As it was just an overnight stop we didn't really care about the amenities as long as we could get an early start the next morning.

We did get an early start and were climbing the infamous "grapevine" on I-5 by 8:30am and turning west just before "Magic Mountain". We were on Highway 126 which runs into the nice little beach town of Ventura. It was a very pretty drive after being on I-5 for the last couple of days. We got to Rincon and there were plenty of spaces left. Rincon is set up along the edge of a road with parking spaces set up for RVs that run along the water for about a mile. The spaces are 40-50 feet long so you have plenty of room for you rig and tow car, fifth wheel and truck or whatever. You are parking head to tail and your curbside is facing the water, You have about 10 feet from the rig to the rocks along the edge that keep you from falling about 15 feet to the beach below. When the tide is in the surf breaks on the base of the rocks just below you. The reason we like this place so much is that the water is so close and the roar of the ocean ever present, the beach is open to dogs and most beaches in LA are not, and your closest neighbor is either in front of you are behind you...not right beside you as in most campgrounds, which gives you a lot more privacy. As with most state and county parks in California there are no hookups so you have to dry camp or "boon dock" as RV'ers call it. We got all set up, which is pretty easy since we only have to put the leveling jacks down and run the slide out. We filled our fresh water tank, and emptied our black and grey water tanks that morning at Lost Hills so we were good to go.

Ernie and Cheryl Parsons stopped by Friday to visit as they live in Ventura. We made plans to meet them Sunday when we arrive at Thornehill Broom for a two night stay. We had a nice visit in the sun and then they had to head for home before dark. Again the weather has been killer with the sun coming up at 7:00am and shinning through the drapes. It is nice to wake up to that and the roaring of the waves below us. We took Ollie down for a beach walk, sat in the sun, read, relaxed, took the Honda into town to shop and just enjoyed the fact that we were in Southern California. We had a campfire and watched the sun set around 5pm each night, then ate dinner and watched some Direct TV or a movie on DVD using either the generator or inverter for power.

Sunday morning we left Rincon for a short hour long run to Thornehill Broom. This is a place we have camped with Mark and Carol for a long long time. Say maybe 30 years. It is just off Highway 1 about 10 miles north of the Malibu Colony. It is also head to tail camping but not close to a road. You curbside door opens right onto the sand and each site has a picnic table and a fire pit. Since it was Sunday people who had spent the weekend there had to leave to get back to the city for work Monday and we had no trouble getting one of the primo spots at the south end of the beach. Larry and Rose Mackey, and Ernie and Cheryl arrived about 1pm that afternoon and brought lots of food, we chipped in with wine, beer, chips, and appetizers, Ernie BBQ ed chicken and a good time was had by all. The rig held everyone comfortably and when sunset came we had a campfire with coffee and brownies. It was really great to see our California friends again. Hope we catch them again before Palm Springs, at Palm Springs, and in March when we work our way back home again.

Back on the North Cascade Highway

It was close to 3pm when we left the resort and drove back to the highway. When we left we saw several Porsche's pull into the lot and more coming when we were driving out to the highway. Still more coming west on the highway. Evidently it was a group rally or club trip with an overnight at the lodge. We must have seen 25 overall, and I was thinking it was a grand day and a great highway to cruise in a sports car. Along the rest of our trip we were treated to sensational views, brilliant colored leaves, and a relaxing drive. It was a lot of miles to cover in one day and if we do the drive again we will stay overnight. Probably at Sun Mountain as it was very picturesque and is really close to the town of Winthrop, which is done in a old western town motif and worth a couple of hours of sightseeing. As it was, we got back home at 7:30 pm, so we didn't have much time for a lot of pictures or sightseeing in Winthrop. Maybe next time! I'm sure we will do it again, the scenery was too spectacular not to see again.

More of the Sun Mountain Resort

The pool was open and the spa was sending up plumes of steam as the temperature was about 40 degrees due to the cold day and the altitude of the resort.

Lunch at the Sun Mountain Resort

By By 1pm we were getting hungry and the restaurant possibilities were somewhat limited. We decided to take a quick job off the route and have lunch at the Sun Mountain Lodge. We had heard of it but never seen it before. it was about a 15 mile winding drive to the top of the mountain to get there. Very scenic, and the resort location was well chosen, allowing you to look for miles in several directions. You look down on everything and the houses and ranches below look like tiny little Monopoly pieces from that height. The resort itself looks like a billionaires hunting lodge. Log style buildings, sweeping decks, hunting trophy heads hung on walls, big fireplaces, and comfy furniture. We were thinking it would be a great place to visit in the snow season. We ate in the lounge, french dip sandwiches, and enjoyed the ambiance of the place. Nice to relax for lunch and stretch our legs afterward.

The North Cascades Highway

We had talked about taking a fall drive over the North Cascades Highway before we leave for California and since Saturday was forecast to be a beautiful sunny day we decided it was the time to go. We took the Sebring convertible and although the weather was crystal clear with bright sunshine, the temperature never got to 50 degrees all afternoon so the top stayed up.

We left at 8:30am, it was to be a 500 mile drive, gassed the car and got breakfast to go at MacDonald's and headed up I-5 on our way to Auburn. We took Highway 18 to I-90 and drove east over Snoquamie Pass. It was a very pretty drive, but there was little snow on the mountains and mostly evergreen trees so the colors were what we were used to and nothing spectacular. We turned off I-90 North onto Blewett Pass and dropped down into Wenatchee, and all its apple orchards. We drove by Lake Chelan and headed north toward Twisp and Winthrop. We stopped along the way and bought a selection of apples, pears, and plumbs.

Anniversay Day

We had a nice drive home from Seattle with the top down on the Sebring in the warm sun.
Monday we did some errands. And Tuesday we took in a movie at the new theater in Gig Harbor. We saw "Love Happens" with Aaron Ekhart and Jennifer Aniston. A little corny but we both like romantic comedies. For dinner Susan cooked lobster tails and we drank a bottle of champagne with them. This has become our celebration dinner over the years and was much cheaper than having both at a restaurant.

Saturday Night and Sunday Afternoon

After walking around downtown we went back to our room, relaxed, and then decided to go down to F.X. McRory's and watch the Washington Husky game in the large bar. Another Seattle sports institution than we been going to since our Seahawks season ticket days...23 years of them, so it seemed like home. The Dawgs lost but a good time was had by all.

Sunday morning we had breakfast at a French cafe, Campagne, before walking to Quest Field for the Seahawks game. We had poached eggs over crouton bread with a wine sauce and pearl onions. Very very good. It was another warm day as we entered the stadium. We sat in the "Hawks Nest" area above the north end zone and had a really good view. The beer was cold, the sun was hot, and the game was close, two points spread, and wasn't decided until the clock ticked out. Another lose! Da Bears won...and had a lot of followers there. The crowd was crazy loud as always so Da Bears fans were drowned out in the din...thank god.