Aug 27th to 29th - Spokane

Aug 27th – Fri – Spokane
Terry helped Bill do some organizing in his shop while I finally caught up my blog. Then I helped them clean out an unused horse shed in order to store some items belonging to Dennis that have been stored in the shop. Georgia had an appointment for a massage and got home just as we were finishing lunch.
Terry & Bill purchased and installed struts to hold open 4 flip up doors that required one hand to hold up the door which made it awkward to get items out of the cupboard. Not sure why they did not come with struts. I used the convection oven for the first time to bake cookies – works pretty well.
I made most of the dinner today. I cannot get Georgia to understand “nothing” when she asks what to bring! Then the guys finally beat us at Sequence.

Aug 28th – Sat – Spokane
We left at 8 with B&G to go to the sprint boat races at St John’s which is about 1 ½ hours from here. We had a red wagon loaded with a cooler, a folding shade canopy and 4 folding chairs as it was a fair walk from the parking lot. The viewing area is tiered grass and we got an excellent spot on the top tier near the starting gate. Qualifying heats started at 10. For the uninitiated, sprint boats race on narrow “canals” that curve around and cross each other. A different course through the canals is used for each meet and the racers get a “did not finish” if they do not follow the course.
Bill & Georgia’s son Dennis owns and races a boat. There are 4 qualifying heats for each of 3 classes of boats, then 3 more races with 8 then 4 then 2 boats for each class to get to the winner. Dennis missed getting into the top 8 by 1/10th of a second. B&G’s daughter Sherry, her husband Jim and daughters Janelle & Natalie from Walla Walla joined us there.
We didn’t need the shade canopy (we thought for a while that it might be a rain canopy) as it was cloudy and cool. There was an area between the race course and the parking lot where a lot of RVs stayed overnight.
The race course is called Webbs Slough and was developed in a farmer’s field. The parking area is still used to grow alfalfa and is incredibly dusty. I am glad that Bill wanted to drive as Terry had our truck washed yesterday!
We got on the road after the races at 5:45 and stopped for Chinese food for dinner. Then we went to B&G’s for a nightcap and to watch a movie. Terry didn’t last too long and headed for bed but I finished watching the movie.

Aug 29th – Sun – Spokane
B&G went to early Mass again and they still invited us over for breakfast before we could get anything going! Then we all went shopping. Costco, Dollar Store, Home Depot (finally found a folding table for the BBQ), Hobby Lobby which was closed and Fred Meyer. Then we spent time putting everything away which involved some more shuffling of items – an activity that will probably continue for a while as we “settle in” and use the new 5th wheel more.
We had a snack since we didn’t have lunch and didn’t want to spoil our appetites for the baby back ribs that we HAD to make today since we have been here for a week and a half and haven’t made them. I also made a fruit pizza for dessert which I haven’t made for a long time. The convection oven did a fine job again – especially since Terry & Bill evened out the legs on a wire rack that you have to use. When I made cookies, the pan wanted to slide off the rack. Terry & Bill also got into another “little” project of making a dish draining rack fit the smaller side of the double sink. They actually ended up buying a new one and making it work after messing up the old one which needed to be trashed anyhow.
Granddaughter Samantha came to stay the night so B&G left fairly early and we immediately went to bed to watch TV.