Visiting Friends and Doing A Little Sight Seeing

We have had a wonderful weekend full of visiting friends and doing a little sight seeing.




We loaded meat and bone meal in Wallula, WA on Friday afternoon. While we were there, another truck pulled in to load and turned out to be someone we know. It still amuses me that in a country this big, we frequently run into other drivers we've gotten to know, or met just once. In this case, it was a gentleman from South Carolina who also works with Mark, our broker. We loaded onions with him last summer in southern California. Ironically, he is working his way back to southern California to load onions, as are we. In fact we might be loading together later this week.



After loading, we went to the truck stop in Pasco, and a little while later Jerry, that South Carolina driver, rolled in. We sat in the truck stop diner and talked till 10:30 that evening. It was a really nice visit.


We spent the night there and then visited with Jerry again in the morning over coffee and toast. Malcolm and I didn't want to eat too much because we had a lunch date with another friend.



I got to meet another blogger! Marcee, also known as frugalmom, has become a blogging friend of mine. I don't know who found who's blog first, but we read each others, and I have so enjoyed sharing in her recent adventure of moving from Illinois to their new property in Washington. She's got land now, complete with a garden and fruit trees that I am seriously coveting! Animals are soon to come and I'm looking forward to reading all about it. You can too at her precious blog, Fancyin' The Farm Life.

Marcee, her mom who was visiting from Illinois, and her little man met us at a gas station on a corner near their home and we all enjoyed getting to know each other over a Subway lunch. Marcee is just as sweet and precious in person as she sounds on her blog. She even showed up with a beautiful bright yellow flower pot filled with these...

They are delicious and I'm having a really hard time staying out of them. Like the tissue paper around them was suggesting, they have made me happy happy happy!

After lunch, her little man got a tour of the big truck, and what kid gets in a big truck without getting to blow the air horn...several times. I was standing outside visiting with Marcee and I have to say, that horn is a lot louder from outside the truck than it is inside. I think I jumped three feet every time he blew it! The look of delight on his face was priceless.
After the tour of our truck, Marcee took us and the girls to their new home so the girls could play in the back yard with their dog, Darby. Darby is about the same age as Ella, and she is part Chinese Crested, and once the girls were side by side, you could really see it in her face, especially her erect spotted ears. Darby was beside herself with joy, actually so excited that she overwhelmed my girls a bit, which was good for them. They are usually the ones that are too much for the other dogs, so it was good for them to be on the bottom side of things for once.

Eventually though, everyone adjusted and we all had a great time sitting in the yard, visiting, soaking up some sunshine and fresh air, and watching the dogs run around chasing each other and having the time of their lives.

Eventually we had to get on the road and let Marcee and her crew get on with their Saturday. It was such fun and I hope we'll be able to get together again sometime. We're often in the Pasco area with a long weekend stretched out before us, so maybe we'll be able to make that happen sometime soon. Marcee, thank you for a wonderful visit and your hospitality and your wonderful cookies! And thanks to your family too. You have a beautiful home and an absolutely adorable and delightful family.

After we left Marcee's house, we drove about 100 miles down the road south and then west along the Columbia River. We stopped at Maryhill, WA because Malcolm has been wanting to see StoneHenge. OK, I know its not the real one, but this one has an interesting story. The girls were exhausted so they weren't too distraught at being left behind, but Paris did drag herself out of bed to make sure we weren't going too far.

The views from the Columbia River Gorge are just breathtaking, no matter which way you turn.

StoneHenge was built by a man named Sam Hill as a memorial for the 13 men from that county that were killed in WWI. Mr. Hill also built a mansion nearby, and had planned on starting a Quaker community. His plans were never quite successful, but his home is now the

Maryhill Museum of Art, which is open to the public and StoneHenge is part of the museum and sits near the property. I hope to one day visit the museum as well.

FYI, Marcee, this is only about 1.5 -2 hours away from you. It would be an easy day trip and the kids would probably enjoy exploring it. Just a thought.

The monument sits on a hill overlooking the Columbia River, and Mr. Hill is actually buried there. There is a stone staircase that leads down the hill to the grave sight.

The view from the memorial is amazing. The small town of Maryhill sits below and you can see miles of Oregon countryside across the river. Thanks to all the wind this week, the air was incredibly clean. I've not seen Mount Hood that clearly in a long time. It's on the right side just above the river.I couldn't decide which picture to post, so I put up three of them! I just couldn't get enough of looking out over the river!Once we left StoneHenge, the road drops down off the hills and we crossed the river. You can still see Mount Hood peaking up above the horizon, and a barge making its way to Portland.

We had dinner, and then drove about 80 miles to a rest area where we stopped for the night. This morning we have about 600 miles to do, a nice easy day's work. We just stopped in Madras, OR for some coffee and now I'm sitting here sipping my vanilla latte (and munching a couple chocolate chip cookies), soaking in the beauty of God's creation as we travel down US97. It smells SO good today! I don't know what causes it, but it smells like hay, and pine, earth, and home....where I will be in less than two weeks, God willing (please God?)!

To all my friends out there who are Mom's I hope you all have a wonderful and special day! And Happy Mother's Day to my Mom, Mother-in-law, and Grandmother! You have all three been a huge blessing to me, and I love you all dearly!