Friday, September 2, 2022 - We drive from Cashmere (the Chelan County Fair Grounds) to Walla Walla. Their is considerable smoke in the air from local fires. The drive is uneventful and we arrive near 2:00 pm. We get parked in the Blue Canyon RV Resort and let Bill and Gina know that we have arrived. This RV park is one of two in Walla Walla and is in pretty nice condition. They have a ton of rules here and the make sure that all RVers adhere to them. We generally follow the rules, but this park is one that is so picky that it takes some of the fun out of staying there.
In the evening, we went to Bill and Gina's home and then went out to dinner at their local favorite Mexican food restaurant. Bill and Gina showed us their new patio deck that Bill and some friends had built. I is a magnificent structure and extremely well built. They also purchased some new patio furniture including a fire pit making their backyard a "go-to" location to visit an party. After dinner, we went to the VFW Hall for their Friday night dance. We enjoy going to these dances when we come through Walla Walla. The three-piece band is pretty good and the music is varied. We get a cha-cha-cha occasionally, but a song that allows a salsa is rare. Mostly east coast swing and country. After the dance, we returned to the RV.
Saturday, September 3, 2022 - We went to Bill and Gina's home at 10:00 to visit with them and then go to the fairgrounds to see the exhibits. Bill was having trouble with a stomach issue, so he decided to stay home and try to get well. We left with Gina and went to the fairgrounds to walk around and see the exhibits. We were early, so we walked right into the grounds without showing our tickets that Gina had procured for us. We checked out the new rodeo grounds improvements and saw where we would be sitting later in the evening when we went to the rodeo. We then walked the entire fairgrounds looking at the animals and the exhibits. It is a fun venue and lots of cows and sheep. No chickens due to the threat of the bird flu. We then walked through the food venues, but it was not time for lunch.
After departing the fairgrounds, we stopped at a local sandwich shop right near where we had parked our car to eat lunch. This is a nice sandwich shop that Bill and Gina frequent frequently. The food is really good. Lisa and Gina ordered salads and I ordered a mushroom, Swiss cheese burger. As it turns out, the waitress brought me the wrong burger and I had started to consume it. I did not even think about it being different until she informed me of the error. It was really good and I like it a lot. This was a very nice place to eat.
After lunch, we drove over to Ann's care facility to visit with her. I had taken along our computer and wanted to show her what we had seen on our trip to Alaska. On this day, we only covered our activities from departure until entering Canada. There is just too much to cover and we did not want to miss some of the key activities. While we were gone to Alaska, Ann had made a beautiful calendar for us that is covered with sequins. It is a patriotic theme and we really appreciated the job she did. She gives them to all her friends. Ann really likes to travel and was very interested in where we had been and what we had seen. It would have been amazing if she were in a strong enough physical condition to travel with us. She will be 93 years young in November.
After departing Ann's home, Gina drove us to our truck at her home. We drove to our RV to rest before we went to the fair and rodeo in the evening. Bill was still "under the weather," so we went to the fair with Gina. On the way to the fair we drove to friends of the DeWebers who had purchased a small church and were converting it to a residence. It was awesome what they had accomplished so far and we had a very nice visit with them. We all then walked to the fairgrounds to go to the rodeo. The fair was packed and since it was about 7:00 pm, the food venues were packed. We found some food that appealed to us and had dinner before walking over to the rodeo. The rodeo was excellent and a lot of fun. The Walla Walla rodeo is one of four major rodeos in the region. The others are the Lewiston Rodeo, the Tri-Cities Rodeo, and the biggest at Pendleton, Oregon. It was a lot of fun watching all of the activity at the rodeo. One bull rider was sent to the hospital when the bull bucked him off and the proceeded to try to stomp him into the ground. We have not heard what this riders condition is, but he sure took a hard hit. Not a line of work that I would find fun. After the fair, we walked back to the "church home" and picked up Gina's car. She gave us a ride to our truck and we called it a night. We were tired, but the evening had been a lot of fun. We lamented the fact that Bill could not join us, but we hoped that he would be feeling better on Sunday so that we could go to church and see Ann.
Sunday, September 4, 2022 - We had breakfast and then went to church with Bill, Gina, and Ann. Pastor Tim gave a great sermon on why we go to church. It was very uplifting. He also mentioned that he would be glad to take the diesel fuel that we had mixed with some gasoline off our hands. He could use it in some farm equipment that was being used to clear land he owns. We made arrangements to pump the diesel into his 55-gallong drums on Monday.
After church, Bill, Gina, Ann, and Lisa and I went to lunch at The Red Monkey. This is another restaurant that Bill and Gina like to frequent. The food and fellowship was awesome. After dining, we all went to Ann's apartment so that I could show her more photos and video s of our trip to Alaska. This time, we got from the Canadian border to Alaska. Bill and Gina left a little early to head home and they invited us to stop by in the evening to visit. We had a great time with Ann and showing her the photos and telling about our adventures. Sure is fun when you have a captive audience. Ann also told us about some of her experiences when traveling during her youth. She could remember these experiences very well. After "tiring Ann out," we went back to our RV where we took a rest. On the way to Bill and Gina's that evening, we stopped at Safeway to by an apple pie and some ice cream. We visited with Bill and Gina and enjoyed the apple pie and ice cream. We decided to take remainder to Ann's apartment on Monday evening to enjoy after some more Alaska trip photos. We had a great visit with Bill and Gina and then headed back to our RV.
Monday, September 5, 2022 - We start the day by going to Bill and Gina's house were we would start a bike ride of 22 miles. It was a beautiful morning and we headed out into the countryside towards Milton-Freewater. When we arrived back in Walla Walla, we rode all around town looking at the homes, golf course, and even the local cemetery. We returned to Bill and Gina's house where Gina made us a great lunch of chicken wraps. We had made arrangements for Pastor Tim to come by the DeWeber's home to pump the diesel, but he was delayed finding his pump. We had planned to go to Ann's at around 3:00 to 4:00 pm, but the fuel pumping job took more time than we had anticipated. Eventually, Pastor Tim and I went to Harbor Freight where I purchased a new pump. We then went to The Home Depot to get a hose to attach to the pump. This all took time, but it worked great when we got back to Bill and Gina's house. I really had fun running around town with Pastor Tim; everybody knows him and I got to meet some new friends. I appreciated having the diesel tank empty and felt good that we could help Pastor Tim by giving him the pump and the diesel.
After Pastor Tim departed with his diesel, Bill, Gina, Lisa and I drove over to Ann's apartment to show slides. On the way, though, we stopped at Mod Pizza to buy pizzas to take to Ann's. The pizza was great and we all enjoyed the meal. I then showed Ann the last sequence of photos about our stay in Alaska; especially our time with Bob and Charlotte. Once the slide show was done, we were ready for dessert and our left-over apple pie and ice cream. It was great. Unfortunately, we had to say good bye to Ann as we were leaving the next day for the Boise, Idaho area. After saying "our goodbyes," we rode with Bill and Gina to their home to collect our truck which was now very light with an empty diesel tank. After saying our goodbyes to Bill and Gina, we headed back to our RV to prep for the drive the next day to Boise. Lisa and I want to extend our sincere appreciation to Bill and Gina for their hospitality over the Labor Day Weekend. They opened their house to us and made us feel like family. We really appreciate them for their effort and time spent with us.
Tuesday, September 6, 2022 - We started out this day by preparing the RV for travel. We pulled in the slides, came off the stabilizers, and made ready to travel. We then (without the trailer) drove to Milton- Freewater, which is just across the Oregon border to fill the trucks tanks with diesel. It took $571 to fill the tanks a $4.79 per gallon. We were full of fuel and could likely get all the way to California without refueling. We went back to the RV park and hooked up the rig. We then departed for Boise. It was and easy drive by heading south towards Pendleton and then taking Interstate 84 all the way to Caldwell, Idaho.