Hey, I've been busy!

Road trip to Montana- My friend Nancy retired from Metro in April. I invited her along on my planned road trip to see my friend Linda who just retired to her mountain retreat in Montana. July is possibly the only month we could expect to be free of snow. So I picked Nancy up on July 16th and we headed out along Hwy 18 to I-90, stopping to see my niece April in Ellensburg. We cut over to Hwy 2 and got to my brother Joe's place outside of Kettle Falls in time for dinner.

The next day, Joe and his wife Cheryl took us on a history tour of the region. This pix is of Joe explaining the accomplishments of a pioneer named Rickey. We had a great dinner of local food that night http://www.lovittrestaurant.com/ and later heard the "Planetary Refugees" play reggae in the produce section of the Meyers Falls market. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLumsg9FZco

The trip across Idaho and Montana took a lot longer than we figured and we had to stay in Butte the next night. But early on Sunday we found our way to Linda's in the Bridger Range of the Rockies, near Livingston. Here are pictures of Linda's valley, Linda and Nancy on Linda's porch, Linda and Suzie in a nearby meadow (did I mention I brought my dog Suzie on this trip?) For more on this part of the trip, check out Linda's blog "Sweet Home Montana" posting. http://clemoyer.blogspot.com/2009/07/visiting-season-is-upon-us-and-murphys.html

We then had a nice return trip on Hwy 12 in Idaho inspite of the ever-present road construction, stopping for the night in Orofino and the next night at my brother John's place in Richland, WA. He gave us apricots fresh from his tree which he needed to pick immediately before the resident skunk got them all. It was 100 degrees in Richland. But that just prepared us for the weather waiting for us at once we got home.

The encampment at English Camp was just a little more special this year because this summer marks the 150th anniversary of the Pig War on San Juan Island. That is why the Lady Washington and the Hawaiian Chieftan graced us with their presence in Garrison Bay and nearby Wescott Bay. Roger and I went on a "three-hour tour" last Sunday. We needed to take the longboat to the Hawaiian Chieftan as the water was too shallow at the English Camp dock. It was a glorious day!

Earlier that day, Suzie took part in a "Doodle Romp" to celebrate her labradoodle friend Emma's 2nd birthday. There were over a dozen goldendoodles and labradoodles and one standard poodle--Suzie! Look at all the doodles retrieving from the water. Suzie is still watching from shore.

Yesterday we hosted Roger's brother Guy and his wife Brenda from Sacramento. We plan to visit them in October. Here ends our very busy month of July.