A Smokin' Memorial Day BBQ

Gary fired up his smoker tonite for a Memorial Day bbq with John and Kay.

These two had a great time making...

these! ...and these were amazing!

LC's Spring Concert

LC's Spring concert was amazing this year. Two highlights were Taryn having her first concert choit solo, and the Chamber Choir walking down the aisle singing Down to the River to Pray.
I'm so thankful Taryn and Steph had this year of both Concert Choir and Chamber Choir together.
Mr. Smit...well, he's awesome!

You can tell from her every expression she loves this!

The band!

Wandering To The Middle Of Nowhere And Back

Woke up to rain this morning so we decided to stay in bed and listen to its gentle sound on the roof of the bbow. Felt a bit sorry for our neighbor with three little ones huddled under their canopy.
This is a wandering day. We started with a little trip thru old Maryhill where we found this wonderful old gas station. Gary loved the pump and found that gas was 38 cents per gallon, and those purchasing were also notified of that 8 cents of that was tax.

This sad sight is an aluminum plant being disassembled and sent to China. It was built right next to the dam for power, but environmental regulations have closed it down. China will now benefit from the aluminum and the jobs.

We took I-84 on the North side of the river heading East and then inland a bit to visit the Columbia Crest Winery in Plymouth WA. I didn't even know there was a Plymouth WA. It was still raining so the picture doesn't look as beautiful as it really was.

There were an enormous amount of barrels being aged there.

After that we opted for a road less traveled for a reason I do not know. This led to an adventure where Gary busts over a hill in the bbow and right onto a gravel road...at 50 mph. The gravel was a shock to us...and we were a shock to a flock of sheep pasturing next to the gravel road. They bolted in every direction and I was shrieking about the gravel road (such a bbow no no) We could have seriously been in a scene of a Chevy Chase Vacation movie.

It really was the middle of know where. I was speechless that Gary drove the bbow on gravel by choice for nearly 10 miles.

We have become quite good at finding local dives for the very best burgers. We found this gem across the river in Umatilla OR and it did not disappoint!

This was rich...watching cattle grazing between the windmills.

Ah yes, we also found a dam for Gary to ogle. Now on to the Dalles.

Wind & Wine in Maryhill

Ok, this is a really great place to wake up. Maryhill State Park is a very lovely resort on the banks of the mighty Columbia. The wind here is always blowing!

We started our morning with a walk thru the park enjoying the river. Later we noticed this very large barge making it's way up river. Pretty cool.

After a mid-morning breakfast we were off to explore the community of Maryhill...starting with the winery! With views of Mt Hood and the Columbia river Maryhill Winery has a superb location.
Built on the existing slope is a 4,000 seat amphitheater right next to the winery and tasting room. I can only imagine how incredible it would be as a concert venue. What a great idea!

To enter the tasting room you walk through this lovely, expansive arbor designed for you to enjoy your lunch featuring their wine. It was a quiet day there and if we had known we may have skipped our late breakfast and enjoyed a meal out there. Note for next time for sure!

This is Max the Maryhill Wine Dog. He greets you at the entrance and pretty much has the run of the place from there. At different times we saw him inside the tasting room. He pretty much goes where he wills and everyone accommodates him. For Whatever reason my interior shots of the tasting room were all blurry so I have none to post.

All the hills around the community of Maryhill are filled with the sight and sound of these windmills. At night they dot the sky with their red flashing lights as far as the eye can see on both sides of the river.

On a lonely bluff overlooking the Columbia River and the town of Maryhill is a full-size replica Stonehenge built by Sam Hill, a road builder, as a memorial to those who died in World War I. Something you just have to see when you are here. Again, it was quiet and peaceful here and we spent a lot of time simply gazing out over the bluff.

This has to be one of my favorite shots. How ironic to be photographing Stonehenge and still those windmills are in every shot.

For Gary the value of a river is in its dams. He loves dams. This is the John Day Dam, a new dam for us. Yahoo! This one is extra special because it has the highest lift navigational lock of any lock in the U.S. at 110 feet. We watched this barge entering the lock.

From Stonehenge we became infatuated with the quiet little town of Maryhill tucked between the hillside and the river. Maryhill has a population of 98 people.

This little church is the prominent structure of Maryhill and looked so delightful from the hillside we simply had to go find it. What a treasure, and obviously the center of their little community.

I especially fell in love with it's steeple and would cheerfully take the whole building home with me if I could. How lovely it would look on Eagle Ridge West!

Finally...We're Heading East!

Finally....we are off and heading East in the bbow. Gary's been wanting to make this trip for the last six weeks and every time we were not able to get away for some reason. Not a cloud in the sky today as we breezed over I-90. We've never seen the water higher in the reservoir before. Ya think? Also ran into some major construction just beginning on the pass which means it will be a brutal commute on the weekends from now on through most of the summer it would appear.

Now this is "the pursuit of happiness" for the big guy!

I'm always amazed by the transition of scenery once we are on the East side!

The big guy was feelin' bbq for dinner so we found Miz Dee's in Yakima...and quite the southern belle she is! They spoke bbq to each other for a bit - rub, bark, smoke rings, vinegar sauce - and such. Miz Dee is from Mississippi. She and her husband, a barber, moved here in the 80's after visiting friends near Yakima. Realizing there we no African American barbers in the area they moved here. He opened his barber shop, and since bbq is her passion she later opened Miz Dee's BBQ. She proudly showed us pictures of her husband, and of two son's who are who are serving our country in Iraq. We'll be back to visit Miz Dee again sometime for sure!

This is the wonderful road just outside Toppenish on Highway 97 that took us right into Wild Horse Canyon!

At least that is what I'm calling this delightful road which travels through the Yakima Indian Reservation. It was early evening and we were fortunate enough to get to enjoys herds of wild horses making their way into the valley for their evening meal. Unfortunately we passed by the most spectacular herd before realizing what we were indeed seeing. That group was quite large - 30 or so horses - they were so stunning. These two we were able to pull over for and they were quite curious about us for a few moments...and then took off!


And this was almost comical to see the horses heads poking out between the sage brush. It was nearly dusk and not quite enough light for good photos, but such a fun drive.

After dark the hills lit up ahead of us with the red flashing lights of wind mill farms. They were everywhere - hundreds of them as we came in to Goldendale. Tonite we are staying at Maryhill State Park near the mighty Columbia River. Tomorrow we shall sleep in and then explore.

Dan's Grand Adventure to India Begins!

Dan left today for his grand adventure in India. He will work for Logos there for the next year. We had a little celebration for him last night after Wednesday night dinner at Grandma's.

Karin brot a special cake and we all gathered in the kitchen and prayed as a family for him. Can't wait to get our first communications from him when he's there.

Brandon and Todd took him to the airport in Vancouver and Brandon posted this picture from the airport.

OutsideFun

We get the boys over night while Ross and Taya are in Kentucky. The loved playing with the red exercize ball in the back yard.

It was great that there was one for each. This went on for hours and they got lots of energy out!

Almost as big as he is!

Randomly Elijah gave the skooter a try and for the first time was able to work it by himself. He was so proud!

Replacing that energy!

Coloring with bunny!

Isaiah made some wonderful lego creations!

Oh Bert!

Got a call from Luanne this morning that Bert was barely walking. It really scared me -I don't do well with pain with pain in humans or animals - so Gary met me at the farm. Obviously something was very wrong with Berts left front hoof. We had to call the vet.

And yes, she soon found an abcess. After draining and wrapping we went back into the routine of soaking and wrapping his hoof for who knows how long. This is really crumby. Taryn had her first lesson again last week and we were hoping to get asa many in as possible before JH & berries. Poor B.

Wilsom Gets Mail

Guess who got mail today?

Too funny! In 2007 when we traveled the U.S. Gary signed up on-line with Woodalls. Not wanting to use his own name he signed up as Wilson Honcoop. I remember him saying "If we ever get anything in the mail for Wilson Honcoop we'll know they sold our name."

Well, four years later Wilson got Mail!