Oregon to Michigan

The Dalles to New Hudson

June 13, 2011 to June 15, 2011

We left The Dalles, Oregon on I 84 on Monday morning climbing out of the Pendleton Valley and up Cabbage  Hill at about noon.

 

We crossed over the Blue Mountains of northeast Oregon along the Old Oregon Trail.  As we headed down the other side into Idaho, we passed by one of our Lost Dutchman mining claims called Blue Bucket.

There was no time to stop at Blue Bucket to search for a little gold because Bob needed to be back to work by Thursday.  In fact, we decided to drive straight through the night.  We connected up with I 80 and continued east to Lincoln, Nebraska before stopping for the night on Tuesday evening.

We passed the Great Salt Lake in early evening on Monday.

Near Ogden, Utah we climbed into the Rockie Mountains.

 

We made it safely to Lincoln, Nebraska on Tuesday evening after many short catnaps in the rest areas during the night and day.  In Lincoln we stayed at an old, fairly dilapidated but clean Days Inn.  I drove downtown and then across the residential part of town in Lincoln looking for a Walgreens and was very impressed by the city.  The houses were all older, two and three story turn-of-the-century homes but all were in excellent condition with landscaped lawns.  People were out walking their children, strolling with their babies and jogging in their neighborhoods.  It seems like a most pleasant city in which to live.

On Wednesday morning, we headed for home in New Hudson.  One stop we made was at a rest area overlooking the Mississippi River.

We would have made it home around 7 p.m. on Wednesday evening if we hadn’t ended up in stop and go traffic in South Chicago.  It took us four hours to drive about forty miles through there!

We were definitely glad to be home.  Patty was glad to see her motorhome.  She was a good traveler, but I am sure she was weary of sleeping in a different place very night.

All in all, it was a great trip home for Andy and Kristen’s wedding. 

 

 

Oregon

DeMoss Springs Memorial Park near Moro, Oregon

June 11, 2011

My son, Andy, was to be wed to Kristen on June 11, 2011.  The night before the wedding we held the rehearsal dinner at the Country Cafe in Lyle, Washington.  Many thanks to Rose, Dave, Amber and Ellie for hosting the dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

It seemed like everyone had a good time at the rehearsal dinner. 

Andy and Kristen’s wedding was held on June 11, 2011 at DeMoss Springs Memorial Park.  DeMoss Springs Memorial Park is situated on the homestead of the pioneering DeMoss family who settled on this land in the 1800′s.  The family was very musical and became known for taking their music and songs worldwide.  The DeMoss Family members were ancestors of Kristen’s.  That is why she chose to be married in this lovely park out in the country. 

The day was nice; the ceremony was wonderful; and many people have commented on what a good time they had.  The ceremony was followed by a potluck.  It was awesome to have so many friends and relatives there – including all of my siblings: Betty & Tom, Lee & Joyce, Andy, and AnnaMarie.  I will let the pictures tell the story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We all enjoyed the potluck and the opportunity to visit with friends and family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Much fun was had at the Lane-Walker wedding.

 

The Dalles

June 2, 2011 to June 9, 2011

We enjoyed the time in The Dalles. 

We spent the week getting to know our Grandsons Abel and Atreyu.  It was nice to see Andy and Kristen  and Joe and Tamara too. 

 

We had Kristen’s wedding shower while we were there.  It was fun to see all of the Sorensen’s and other friends.

 

 

I went to Portland with Kristen and her mother, Cyndi, one day to finish the shopping for the wedding and the reception.  We had a great day going to the party store down by OMSI in Portland and eating lunch at Olive Garden out by Mall 205.  We stopped at WalMart in Troutdale on the way home.  It was a fun day.

Our children from Texas, Bobbie and Mark, flew up for the wedding.  They spent some time with Mark’s sister in Tri-Cities and then came on over to The Dalles and checked into Cousin’s Motor Inn where we were staying.  We took them to the Maryhill Winery, showed them our favorite RV Park at Maryhill, and then hit the freeway for Troutdale so that we could show them the old Historical Highway and all of the waterfalls on the way back. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed our time in my old home territory and especially our visit with Bobbie and Mark.

 

 

 

 

Michigan to Wisconsin

New Hudson to LaCrosse

May 30, 2011 to June 2, 2011

We left New Hudson at about 5:30 in the morning to be sure that we would make it to the ferry terminal by about 9:15 a.m.  We drove west on I 96 to Muskegon, Michigan and made it with plenty of time to go and eat breakfast at Subway and then watch the ferry arrive.

 

Lake Express is a high speed  auto and passenger ferry that crosses Lake Michigan from Muskogen, Michigan to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  The aluminum hulled catamaran reaches speeds up to 34 knots (40 mph) and makes it from dock to dock in two-and-a-half hours.  It’s powered by four diesel engines that produce 3000 hp each.  The engines drive four independent water jets.  As we were leaving, I was standing in line at the snack bar and heard the pilot say over the employees’ radios, “I’m going to energize now.”  The ferry accelerated and lifted up out of the water to ride along smoothly on top of the waves.  The ferry will house 46 passenger vehicles and 12 motorcycles.  There are kennels for animals and seating for 248 people in the passenger area.

You park your car and then go up to the passenger area which is very comfortable.  They show a movie and have snacks available, comfortable seats that lay back, and tables to eat on.  We enjoyed the trip.

 

We left Milwaukee on I 94 and drove west to connect with I 90.  We spent the night in a Motel 8 at Sparta, Wisconsin.

The next day, we continued west and crossed the Mississippi River at LaCrosse continuing on into Minnesota. 

 

Everywhere we drove on this trip home we saw water out standing in its fields.  It is a very wet spring, and the rivers and creeks are flooding all over the country.  The scenery across Minnesota is beautiful.

We crossed into South Dakota and across the Missouri River.

 

The evening of the second day found us in another Super 8 in Murdo, South Dakota.  The next day, we took a break in Wall, South Dakota and then drove on to Billings, Montana where we spent the night in a Days Inn. 

From Billings, we crossed Wyoming and Montana and ended up in a Comfort Suite in Post Falls, Idaho.  It was exciting to be so close to home.  We still saw plenty of snow on the mountains of Montana.

We were up early and on the road again.  We left I 90 in Spokane and drove south on 395 to Tri-Cities (Pasco, Kennewick, and Richland, Washington). 

I am always excited to get my first glimpse of the Columbia – the river I grew up on!

We pulled into The Dalles, Oregon and checked into our motel a couple of days early.  It was nice to be home.

 

 

 

Michigan

New Hudson

May 13, 2011

Around the first of May, we took out motorhome out of storage and drove it to Haas RV Park to unwinterize it and get it ready to use.  While we were sitting at the dump station, I said to Bob “I love being in my house.  I don’t want to go back to the motel!”  Bob told me to go ahead and check at the office to see if they had a space for us through August.  They did; we paid; and that night we slept in our motorhome!

I spent the next week sorting and emptying out the motel room and stuffing our possessions back into the motorhome.  By Friday, we were completely moved to Haas RV Park. 

 

 

 

This park was a gravel mine.  The holes they dug filled with spring water so now there are four lakes here.  They have placed RV sites all around the lakes.  It is very beautiful with lots of wildlife.  Apparently they stock the lakes, too because we see a lot of people fishing.

We are enjoying being here, and Patty is very happy to be “home” again.