Jacqueline’s Jaunts

Little Miss Emery Saturday  was sleeping in, breakfast, then checking out the pigs, horses, chickens, and, of course, playing with Nalu and Lindy. Later in the morning, we all congregated in the barn for a decorating party. I have not decorated for a party in a very long time, so it was fun. Addison gave us direction on where she wanted the ice cream bar, the taco bar, and the photo area. We also set up corn hole, darts, and axe throwing (it was silicone, so no real axes). With all of us helping, it didn’t take us long. Sometime during the day, Barry and I gave Addison her 16 th  Birthday present along with her normal check. We had diamond earrings made with diamonds from one of Mom’s rings.  We have had this planned for years. She was very surprised, and once I told her the diamonds were from one of her great-grandma Wanda’s rings, she was very happy. She wore them the entire time we were there. She said she will always cherish them. Made us so happy. The weather was bea...

We left this morning at 9:45 AM after going to the office to pick up our free hats. They have a deal that if you give them a five-star review, you get a free hat. Haha, sounds like extortion, but we would have given them a five-star review anyway. The park is awesome and close to the things we wanted to see.  I will, again, mention that the bridge we had to take from the Washington side to the Oregon side is a nightmare. It is very narrow, and if you're wider than 9 feet, it is not recommended. It’s OK until you meet a semi-truck. People with cars will stop on the bridge to let the semis pass. We had to do that but ended up hitting Julie’s lug nut wheel caps on the right side. We thought we hit the side of the RV and stopped at the first pull-out we could to investigate. Thank goodness it wasn’t the side, but only the decorative wheel lug nut covers, which saved the paint from getting scraped. Whew...how lucky that was. We loved the campsite, but because of that bridge, we won’t be...

Our Camp Site in Gorge Base Camp RV Park Woke up to great weather today and no wind. Gotta love that! Today is our last day at the Gorge.  We visited the  Bonneville Dam Power Generator # 2 on the Washington side. There is no visitor center, but there is a store where you can get passport stamps and stickers. That always makes me happy. We were able to join one of the turbine tours at 1:30 PM, so we had a few hours to walk around. We also had lunch outside and we enjoyed the sunshine. The turbine area was also featured as the  evil   laboratory in the 1980s film   Short Circuit .   We started the tour on the top level. Our Ranger was very informative and fun. Six of the eight turbines were shut down, and we learned that during fish migration times, they do not run them. Shad and Lamprey are working their way up the ladders this time of year. We did get to observe the crane moving above the turbines, which was cool. Our group then moved down to the leve...

We are up and off to 1) check out the tunnel for the ride home. 2) Head down to the Dalles Visitor Center on the Oregon side.  The tunnel was an alternate way to leave other than taking the crazy bridge. The tunnel is narrow and only 12.5 inches high where it curves up. This would mean we would have to go straight down the middle. Something for us to think about. We are aware that logging trucks take this tunnel, but we will have to think about this.  Well, the Visitor Center was closed. It’s only open Friday-Sunday. The information site was not updated. But we were able to see a life-size eagle's nest outside.  Instead, we headed West to the Bonneville Locks & Dam and the visitor center on the Dalles side.   A huge facility on the Columbia River, in addition to a dam, is a fish conservation site, hydroelectric generation, and locks for ships to navigate.   Life-Size Eagle's Nest It was an interesting place to explore. They actually count the fish ...

Darn wind. It’s an awful drive again. I wish Mother Nature would calm the wind down.  We headed south on I-82, then west on I-84. We followed I-84 to the campground with a few detours. More fields of mustard and wheat. As stated in another blog, the mustard fields are beautiful. Lots of cattle roam the hillsides. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before, but on this trip we have seen many trains hauling oil tankers in both Montana and Washington.  As we followed the Umatilla Lake, we could see whitecaps. At times, the wind would hit us so hard that it would move us onto the shoulder. Not a fun drive at all.  We passed the  Umatilla Army Depot  and could see the munitions storage bunkers from the interstate. The link I provided is to an article that provides lots of great information about the depot.  There are huge windmills along this route, which makes sense, but if you're in an RV, it’s a nightmare. At times, the road was right next to the river, an...

We decided to drive an hour and a half to Pendleton and tour the  Pendleton Woolen Mill . The drive from our campground was nothing but open range and windy. It was everything for me to stay awake. I can fall asleep in a car so easily. Mom always said when I was little, if I would not go to sleep, she or Dad would drive me around the neighborhood. The town has a rich history and many well-preserved buildings. We found the store/mill and checked in for our tour. We shopped before and after our tour. The one thing I was excited about was purchasing a solid wool blanket for our king-size bed at home. The solid blankets are not as expensive as the patterned ones.  The tour was very interesting. The looms are unbelievable. Takes two people three days to wind up the main thread roller, and it will run continuously for a month—miles and miles of thread — and it’s fascinating. There is only one woman sitting at a white color bar looking for imperfections! She fixes most on the spot. N...