RV Travels With Huggy

Tuesday morning I got up at 04:00 & did get away from home at 05:05. This got me through Everett about 05:45 with only a traffic slowdown to 30mph on the freeway and little or no slowdowns in Bellevue, so I was onto I-90 eastbound about 06:30. I stopped at a rest stop in the mountains to stretch & for a cup of coffee, then continued east on the freeway.

Just across the bridge over the Columbia River at Vantage I left the freeway & headed south on SR-253. There was almost no traffic at about 8am. About three & a half miles from the freeway I met three Sherrif's dept. cars coming the opposite way. As they got up to me the rear one turned on his flashing lights, turned around & proceeded to pull me over. It seems I had not slowed down to the state highway speed and was still running, he said, 74mph in a 60 zone. I now owe Grant County $122. But this was the only bummer on the trip.

I got to the Tri Cities a bit after 9 but due to road construction, I couldn't figure out how to get to S.W.'s townhouse. I called her, she drove over & met me at a mocha place where I had stopped (isn't it amazing how I seem to be able to FIND those places!) and, after we had a mocha, I followed her home. We did a lot of talking, ate a nice lunch she fixed, went to a lab for an appointment she had and worked with the furniture people who brought over a couple of pieces she had bought for her new home. They setup & mounted her big clock on the wall. After that we went out to dinner at Applebees, then drove around to show me some of her town, including where the motel I had my reservation for the night was located.

When we got back we took her dog, Sammy, for a walk in the dark along the Columbia River which is across the street from her home, on a walkway. There is a golf course on the other side of her home. We met a skunk not far from the house but stayed clear of it. When we got back from the walk we came around the low wall at the edge of her back yard, with Sammy in front, & met the skunk again. This time we were not so lucky & Sammy got sprayed. We took him inside & washed him up (he is only about ten pounds) so he smelled better, then I headed for the motel.

Yesterday after I checked out of the motel I went back to her home, finding it on my own this time. We did some more talking, she fixed another lunch, more talking, then I headed for home and she off to find out the results to the lab work from the day before. I have learned that we will probably be very good friends but perhaps not more than that, although I don't think finding a new very good friend is a bad thing. She will come over here sometime this fall & I may get back over there again this year, hopefully without the visit with the police again. We did attend grade school together for at least our sixth grade year, four years of high school and two years at the same college. She married while still in college, they moved to the Tri Cities after finishing school and she raised her three kids & taught school there. She has been divorced for 15 or so years.

I did drive back home a different way. I stayed on the freeways (and out of Grant County) to Ellensburg, then went north across Blewett Pass to US-2 and the town of Leavenworth. Leavenworth adopted a Bavarian look a few years ago so is quite a touristy place. I didn't stop in town but west of town, along the Wenatchee River, is a chocolate place called The Alps which we always stopped in while driving by. Somehow the car almost wanted to stop there on it's own. I didn't buy sugar free candies this time but did buy a package each of divinity and chocolate rum pecan fudge, & a bottle of water. I also took a few photos. This first one is looking down the river, with the highway along the left side:


The Alps is located five or six miles out of Leavenworth, but they still follow the Bavarian theme with their architecture. Here is the steeple thing on the top of their building with a little knome in it:


The road here is starting up into the Cascade Mountains and you can see some of the foothills in these photos. It is a beautiful area but it does get quite a bit of snow in the winter. The next photo I took at the summit of Stevens Pass which has an altitude of a little over 4000 feet. I was starting to get into clouds and you can see that one has covered much of the ski slopes above the homes:


I went this way because it allowed me to bypass Seattle completely. It was a little farther but a beautiful drive with very light traffic until I hit I-5 on the north side of Everett about 18:20. By then the worst of the rush hour was over so I got to Mount Vernon before 19:00 & stopped at Umi Teriyaki for a chicken dinner to take home. Huggy was glad to see me and has been staying pretty close. One of my neighbors had fed her while I was gone & my older son spent the night here Tuesday night so he probably petted her some, too.

There was some rain here this morning but it cleared up and was nice the rest of the day. My neighbor & I went over to Haggen's for sandwiches for lunch to eat with mochas at Starbucks, so I got my mocha fix taken care of today and at my home store.

I think the trip was worth going on. I met a neat lady who I will enjoy talking with and probably do some things with over the years. It was a break in my routine that was neat (except the ticket.) Perhaps there are some changes coming in my life.

Labels: Friends, Photos, Trips to see things