From Puyallup to Pasco

We are in Pasco, WA. We actually arrived last night about 5:45 p.m. Pulled into the KOA and was set up by 6:00 p.m. $35 a night seems a little pricey but since we have not had to pay for camping the last seven months it will be okay and it is only for two nights.

Let me back up a little….Saturday morning found us straightening up the motor home and getting it ready to travel. We were not quite sure if we were leaving Saturday or Sunday. We were waiting to hear from Cory & Karen ~ Cory was Jamie’s 3rd grade teacher at Dick Scobee Elementary in Auburn, WA. We have kept in contact with them through the years. Ron saw both of them at the Puyallup Spring Fair and then again at the Big Puyallup. Cory did surprise me one day at the Big Puyallup by coming by the Customer Service Window. Cory called and we made plans to meet for dinner at Applebee’s on the South Hill. Here is a peak at what Cory & Karen are busy doing:Aren’t they just the cutest little babies. Hmm…wonder if we could take one with us in the motor home?

So we finished cleaning up the motor home and then went to play for the afternoon. We went into Sumner and walked up and down Main Street. We saw lots of Halloween decorations, scarecrows and people. We enjoyed looking in antique stores, found a little book for Christopher about Halloween, and just enjoying being together with no demands.

In the evening we joined Cory & Karen for dinner. We had the 2 for $20. The guys each had a steak and Karen and I had the chicken w/spinach ravioloi. We also had spinach/artichoke dip with chips and mozarella (know it’s spelled wrong but can’t get my spell check to give me any suggestions) sticks. Here we are at the end of our meal. We had a good time getting caught up with each other and sharing memories of Jamie in 3rd grade. Cory mentioned how much of a reader Jamie was – he still is and I think he is passing that love for books onto Opal.

On our way home from Applebee’s we got a text from Ron’s brother, John, asking us where we were. Told him we were still in Puyallup. After texting back & forth found out John & Fawn were in Puyallup to see her mom. John asked if we were up to some company ~ any time to see family we are! So after a few minutes John was at the motor home. It had been since March since we had seen him. It was good to catch up with him and his family. We had a good visit and before we knew it, it was 11:00 p.m. and John had to get back to his m-i-l’s. Thanks for visiting John we can’t wait to connect with you and Fawn once we are back in Blaine.

Sunday morning we were up early and readied the motor home for our trip to Pasco. We made many stops along the way…first stop being Costco for gas for the motor home and the suburban. I had picked it up while in Blaine so that we would have a car for visiting and taking side trips while in Pasco, Lewiston and wherever else we stop on our way back to Blaine. It is great to have the car but also adds to our expenses of buying gas for two vehicles and we don’t get to ride together. While in Salem we bought walkie-talkie’s so we could communicate with each other while in separate vehicles. Well we found out Sunday morning that one had not been set into the charger correctly so it was a quiet drive for both of us.

After stopping at Costco we drove to Enumclaw to attend church. We went to

We got there in time for Ron to have a cup of coffee before the service started at 9:30 a.m. It was wonderful to be back in the house of the Lord and sharing in fellowship with other believers. To our delight they were only singing hymn’s. We had mentioned earlier how much we both love hymns and wish that we sang more at Northwood (hint, hint) and here we were blessed to sing hymn after hymn. We were made to feel welcome by everyone we met. The sermon was from 1st John 2: 18 – end. I was reminded how important it is to remember what I have been taught and to keep the Lord’s word hidden in my heart. There were many times while working/traveling with the carnival that God’s word would come to mind. I am so thankful for the verses I had committed to memory as a child. Reminds me now that I should be memorizing more scriptures even today. We were also able to participate in the taking of the Lord’s Supper. Communion and being with other believers is something I truly have missed the last seven months. As I have mentioned to a few – you really don’t know what you have till you don’t have it any more. Believe me, I will not be taking it for granted any more that I can go to church when and where I want to.

After the service we made our way back to the motor home. We had parked on the road across from the church. It was too sharp of a right hand turn into their parking lot with the motor home. So we parked the motor home and drove the suburban ~ thank goodness we have it with us. We then got back on Highway 410 and headed to Mt. Rainier. This is the view I had as I drove the suburban:

Ron is leading. The skies were overcast and it was drizzling a little bit. The following pictures were taken in the park…this is a picture of the river along one of the campgrounds. Once we were in the park we parked the motor home and took the suburban up to Sunrise Point. We were looking to see if we could find a place to camp for the night.

This is a picture of the lodge up at Sunrise Point. As you can see it was very foggy.

Another picture of another old building up there. It was so foggy that you could not even see the trees behind the buildings.

This is a small waterfall in the campground. We drove through it to see if we could camp there for the night BUT no vehicles over 27′ and we are 37′ so we continued back down the mountain.

This is a bridge we crossed leading out of the park. It was good to be out of the fog. The bridge was over Frying Pan Creek.
This is me following Ron after we left the park. At some points the fog was so thick it was like driving through a snow storm. We both commented how scary it was going up and then down the mountain pass.

Clear skies once we were over the mountain and safely in Eastern Washington.

We drove down the east side and passed many campgrounds along the river. I need to teach Ron how to check his mirrors once in awhile. For approximately 15 miles I flashed my lights, turned them on/off trying to get his attention to pull over. We did not have cell phone service so I could not call him. I was trying to get his attention to see if he wanted to stop for the night at a campground along the river. Once we had cell phone service I sent him a text saying “Stop when you can.” He finally pulled over, said he never saw me flash my lights at him ~ we both said in unison “we need to make sure the walkie-talkie’s work when we leave Pasco.”

So Ron was on the lookout for a place to stay for the night. Deciding that Wine Country RV Park was too expensive we just drove on to Pasco. We pulled in at Shady Point RV (aka KOA Pasco), paid our $70 for two nights of camping and settled in. Realized I didn’t have Gayle’s phone number so left a message for Brandy on her cell phone and then sent Facebook messages to Gayle, Brandy & Lindsey to call us when they got the message so we could catch up with them. Brandy called in the evening and we made plans to get together for lunch on Monday.

All in all we had a great day: celebrating with other believers, enjoying God’s creation even though it was scary at times and had an uneventful trip to Pasco. Talk to you all again soon.