July 11th to 16th - Vancouver Island to Spokane

July 11th - Fri
Colin & Linda took us sightseeing today. We went to Englishman River falls where the water comes over a wide flat area and then drops off at an angle for a different effect from most waterfalls. A very high bridge provides a view of an incredibly clear pool below the falls. We went to Coombs and "Goats On A Roof" which is exactly what it says – goats living on a sod roof above a store which is great for browsing. We wandered around other stores and ended up have ice cream cones which were huge. We drove through or past RV parks, downtown Qualicum Beach and then stopped for a few groceries before heading back to our RV park.
I had put a roast in the crock pot for the 4 of us for dinner so I had time to do a couple of loads of laundry and post the blog using Linda’s computer before finishing dinner with peas, mashed potatoes and a Greek salad from Linda. Of course I had to introduce them to 321 cake for dessert. Linda had seen it mentioned many times in the blog but had never asked me for the recipe. They liked it as much as we do.

July 12th – Sat – to Victoria
We left fairly early this morning so we could meet my brother & his friend Cheryl for breakfast. Doug & I texted last night and decided on a Thriftys grocery store parking lot at Mill Bay. Thank goodness for cell phones as I couldn’t find that Thriftys in the GPS and it is off the highway enough that we would have had trouble finding it. We had a nice breakfast on the patio of a restaurant. We were happy that we got the chance to meet Cheryl and really enjoyed chatting with her.
We continued on to Colwood (near Victoria) to visit Joe & Stella who are our neighbors in Mesa. They had moved their motor home to the lawn so we could back into the driveway and hook up to electricity. We spent most of the rest of the day on the deck catching up with each other. Joe’s stepmom Joyce dropped in for a quick visit and then their friend Sherrill came to join us for a nice steak dinner.

July 13th – Sun
After coffee and toast, I posted the blog using Stella’s computer and then we went for a lovely sightseeing trip. Residents often don’t go "sightseeing" in their own area and this was the case with Joe & Stella so it was really nice that they enjoyed revisiting the same sights that we were seeing for the first time. We went up a mountain with viewpoints over several parts of the city and water. We went to Fisherman’s Wharf where we wandered along the float houses that are moored to several wharves before we had excellent fish & chips at Barb’s which has won awards for their fish. We walked out & back a man-made breakwater that is slightly over ½ mile long. The weather was perfect - sunshine but not hot near the water. The protected water inside was calm for great pictures. We then drove through several scenic neighborhoods on the way to Beacon Drive-In for the best, richest, soft ice cream cone that I have ever eaten. We stopped at Costco on the way back for some dry ribs that Terry had to get after Dar made them for us.
Now it was time to return to the deck. We taught Joe & Stella how to play Cross Crib and took a break partway through for a snack. We thought we would make 321 cake later but we were all still too full by the time we finished playing cards.


July 14th – Mon – to Anacortes WA
We left at 9:45 for the hour or so drive to the terminal at Sidney where we were to catch the 12 o’clock ferry to Anacortes. After the little loop for bigger rigs that can’t make a tight turn, we were checked in at 11. The web site said to arrive an hour ahead of sailing and we were the next to last large rig to arrive and not too many cars came in after us.
At the US customs quick check, a guy noticed that license plate on the trailer was missing. We showed him the paperwork and he told us to report it missing or stolen. Terry had actually noticed it a week or so ago but there wasn’t much we could do in Canada. The ferry crossing is very scenic through all the islands. This ferry didn’t stop at Friday Harbor and we arrived right on time at 2:00. Ten minutes to unload and 30 minutes in the line for customs. I had to show the agent the veggies in the fridge which was kind of interesting since you can only open the fridge door about 4 inches with the bike inside. Everything was OK and we headed for Tulalip Casino near Marysville. We made a stop for a late lunch on the way.
We have stayed there previously so we parked and went to the casino where it took us a long time to lose our allowance. It was quite hot so the air conditioned casino was nice. Stella picked the last of her raspberries this morning and sent them with us so dinner was berries on ice cream – yum! It is a good thing that we had the ice cream because we forgot that the fridge does not restart after the propane is turned off for the ferry ride. The ice cream was soft but everything was OK.

July 15th – Tues – to Spokane
We left at 6:30 to take highway 2 to Spokane. Yes Barb, we did drive right past your house! We stopped in Ellensburg for the worst IHop breakfast that we have ever had. We arrived in Greenacres at Bill & Georgia’s house about 1:00 after stopping to pick up our mail and get Terry’s new driver’s license. He informed me part way through the drive that his temporary license had expired a month ago and he didn’t want to tell me and have me worry! Nothing like driving with a missing license plate and an expired license! I kind of wondered why he was driving so close to the speed limit.
We hadn’t ridden the motorcycle for several days and the battery was too low to start the bike when we got here so we sat in the shade and visited while it charged up. We had time to set up before we all met Vern & Denni for Taco Tuesday at Azteca. They came back with us after dinner and we sat in the shade again – this time with an after dinner drink.

July 16th – Wed
Terry went golfing with Bill at 6 this morning, Georgia went to the "Y" for exercise class and I goofed off until the guys returned at 8.
Then we took the motorcycle to run errands. We got a replacement plate for the trailer and then took the computer to a repair place recommended by Bill. They couldn’t even look at it for 3 days so we went to Best Buy which wasn’t open until 10 so we went and got some breakfast and made a stop at Total Wine. A nice guy at the Best Buy Geek Squad counter had a look at the wifi problem and couldn’t find anything so he took it to another tech in the back room. After they spent nearly an hour altogether, the "back room" tech said we could throw money at it but he recommended buying a new computer. The CD drive quit some time ago so I guess it’s time. We have a large external drive so moving data shouldn’t be too painful. Yeah – dream on!!!
Terry & Bill found that the seemingly easy job of screwing the license plate directly to the trailer bumper wasn’t so easy. They drilled holes, broke a screw off in a hole and went for different screws. Terry ended up hammering the screws into holes in the bumper so they will have to be drilled out or cut off to replace the plate.
Georgia & I picked a large bowl of raspberries for dinner – and ate a few as we picked of course. I worked on my blog but kept joining in on conversations so it was slow going. Georgia made dinner and afterwards we taught them how to play Cross Crib. We usually play Sequence but they really enjoyed learning a new game.