June 14 thru June 20, 2006 (Days 21 thru 27)

It’s been a week since our last update. My, how time flies when you’re having fun!

On Wednesday, the 14th, I took off the morning of work to take an in-town tour. These non-tourist tours had been arranged for the early workers by the Club. My place of interest was “Loose Ends”. This was a large store that serves artists, decorators, craftspersons, or people who just like “stuff”. They had many, many items--mostly organic and natural—that were of great interest. They sell their items all over the world, by internet, and they shop for these items from all over the world (at local marketplaces). A couple of their clients have been Martha Stewart and Oprah.

On Thursday, the 15th, I took off work in the afternoon hours to go to “Greenbaum’s Quilted Forest”. This fabric store carries beautiful materials and batiks, none like I’ve seen any where. A demonstration was held showing us how to make a wrap with fabric strips and enhancements. I could have spent a lot of money there buying fabric. (But, where, oh where, would we put it?!)

On Friday, the 16th, Dan and I both toured the Forest River RV Manufacturing Co., in Dallas, OR. They make RV’s and 5th wheels. We have never toured an RV factory before, not even Airstream’s. It was very interesting. They made over 500 RV’s for Hurricane Katrina survivors.

Last Saturday, the 17th, our friends from Clearwater, FL, Joe and Jackie Walker, came to visit with us. We learned from a phone call one week before we left Wentzville that they were going to be vacationing in the Northwest and would be in our area last weekend. It was so good to see them and visit, even if only for a little while. We had not seen them for over six years. We had lunch together, then they left mid-afternoon.

That evening we went over to Cousin Jim’s for dinner. We sat on their deck overlooking their beautiful flower gardens, sipping margaritas and munching on chips and salsa. Then Jim grilled steaks and Kathy fixed a great salad and steamed artichokes. We had a nice time visiting.

On Sunday, after interdenominational church services here at the rally, we drove about 40 minutes up into the foothills to a neighboring town for a strawberry festival. It was a small event, but we enjoyed eating strawberry shortcake and ice cream, all-you-can-eat style. We won’t say how many times we went back for seconds, and thirds, and, etc.! It was lunch.

On the way back to the rally site, we stopped and did laundry. (Such fond memories from college days!) Got a few groceries and then back to the trailer.

On Monday, the 19th, we had one more tour. Dan and I went thru a tortilla and chips factory, called “Don Poncho Foods”. It was interesting, and we even got to munch on chips, still warm off the conveyor belt! Yum!

Today, June 20th, Dan and I went on a professional tour that we had signed up for 4-5 months ago. This one was by motor coach with a professional guide. We went to Mt. Hood, at an elevation of 11,239 ft. However, the tour only took us to Timberline Lodge at 5950 ft. It is a beautiful lodge built with big timbers and iron. The tour was impressive. It is hard to imagine what it was like to build it back in 1939. Our lunch there was great with a view from the dining room out to the top of the mountain, and and we saw skiers coming down the slopes. There is still a lot of snow up there, and people ski year-round. Temps were in the 30’s. We were lucky, though, as the skies were so clear and blue, and we had great viewing of the mountain. The drive was beautiful. We also saw Mt. Jefferson in the distance.

Coming back, we stopped at a fruit farm and saw their operation. This whole area is called the “fruit loop”, as there are many fruit farms in the same area. They had bing cherries and strawberries in season. There were also beautiful flowers and flower pots for sale. Wish I could have bought one, but it would never make it through Alaska!

We stopped at Multnomah Falls, as we traveled through the Columbia River Gorge. These falls are over 620 ft. high. We saw several other falls, too, as we descended from the falls on one of the nation’s top 10 scenic drives.

Now tomorrow, it is back to work for both of us. Many more Airstreamers have arrived since last week. The fairgrounds are filling up. Yet, the rally doesn’t officially start until the 27th.

We miss all of you. Till the next time….