West – Yakima to Spokane

We received a warm welcome from Uncle Daniel and Aunt Betty and their family.

Uncle Daniel is a master wood carver and his living room is filled with these creations. The colors come from different kinds of wood.

     

Aunt Betty has made quilts and more quilts for her children and grandchildren.

They took us on an outing to Mount Rainer. At a rest stop by the way Emily took advantage of the time for a picture with them.

The cloud over Mount Rainer just wanted to stay put. It looked like a gigantic pancake covering the top peaks.

I’m not sure if Claire Bleu saw this sign or not,  but …

… she kept veering off the path to get the best pictures.

We saw a lot of beautiful creeks, gorges, and waterfalls.

Cousin Doug fixed, smoked, and carved the pork loin for dinner one evening.

Cousin Doug and Sharon and part of their family

Cousin Phil and Colleen. He reminded me a lot of my brother Oren Jr.

Jim with cousin Elaine and Larry

From Yakima we traveled to Leavenworth, WA …

… and enjoyed being a tourist in this mock Bavarian village

Traveling east we enjoyed the sights of Steamboat Rock near the north end of Banks Lake in the Grand Coulee.

We stopped at the Grand Coulee Dam and enjoyed a very informative talk and interesting facts about the dam.

Mother was a trooper and never complained once. She enjoyed the chatter on the bus, read a couple books, and dozed often. It was such a blessing to have her along.

We arrived at Spokane, WA in the evening and couldn’t find a motel because of some basketball tournaments, so they dropped 6 of us off at the airport and the rest traveled on through the night toward Glacier National Park.

I was one that “jumped ship” and came on home, sorry to leave the bus. The sun was setting as we drove on to Spokane for our flight.

West Coast

One of the highlights of San Fransciso for me was walking down the winding Lombard Street. Cars were lined up waiting their turn for the trip to the bottom.

I also enjoyed seeing the fancy Victorian row of houses called “The Painted Ladies.”

We took a bus tour through the city since it was too foggy to have a boat ride around Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate Bridge. Chinatown was quite colorful.

Claire Bleu and Polly got a ride in a rickshaw.

The fog was starting to lift as we left SF.

 

We drove up the California coast and through Redwoods National Park. Our bus was just too big to drive through the Chandelier Tree.

We were disappointed that it was so foggy at Crater Lake. Even though the sky was white the water still looked blue.

In Sisters, Oregon we stopped at the wonderful quilt store The Stitching Post. I felt honored to have my picture taken with the owner, Jean Wells who is also a Quilt Artist, Author, and Instructor. She has written 27 quilting books.

 

At Brownsville, Oregon we stopped for soup and homemade bread with raspberry jelly at Mark’s cousin Sharon Yoder Kraybill’s place.

And then Dorcas Smucker, bless her heart, drove to meet us there for lunch too. I was so pleased to meet the author of Life in the Shoe. She has written 4 books and “Tea and Trouble Brewing” is in the top 10 list of World Magazine’s self published authors. Congratulations, Dorcas. I love to read her writings.

We drove on to Portland, OR to visit our 1st cousin Yvonne who graciously served us supper and hosted all 15 of us for the night and breakfast.

Sheila and Polly enjoy the view of Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge.

Paul waves at us from the bridge.

On Labor Day in September 1995, a 400-ton boulder, loosened by erosion, fell 225 feet (69 m) from the face of the waterfall into the upper cascade pool, above Benson Bridge. It caused a 70-foot (21 m) splash of water and gravel to wash over the footbridge, causing minor injuries to twenty members of a wedding party that happened to be on the bridge posing for photos at the time.

And now we are in Yakama, Washington visiting our father’s brother, Uncle Daniel & Aunt Betty and their family.

West

Grand Canyon

Sequoia National Park

Inside a sequoia tree.

Breakfast

Yosemite’s Bridal Veil Falls

Yosemite Falls

Kings Canyon

We have seen so many gigantic, mammoth trees in Sequoia and Kings Canyon that I can’t remember what we saw where.

Elephant Seals on the Pacific Coast

 Glen & my sister Coleen on the beautiful Pacific Coast.

 At McWay Falls …

… Clair Bleu did an en plein air of this scene.

Zion National Park

Just northwest of the Grand Canyon we took a shuttle bus through this park.

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Remember the “Highlights” magazine? … In this large picture can you find … me?

I love the nostalgia and colors of Route 66.

And here’s my street out West.