Washington

On July 13th, we arrived in the State of Washington. Hello Washington!

We finally took advantage of our points and spent a free night in Spokane at the Holiday Inn.  

We walked over to Pint House Burgers and Brew, right across the parking lot, not very impressed, pricey.

We got a workout in before heading out to do some sightseeing.

We stopped to checkout Spokane's Riverfront area.

We did the Numerica Skyride, a 15 minute, round-trip, ride in an enclosed cart.  The Skyride gradually drops down 200 feet over the Spokane River.

You know how much Rob likes heights well, we are at the top and I turn to take a picture and the cart jolts and I fall on the floor. I'm literally laying on the floor (by the door) and Rob is in a panic and says "JESUS CHRIST WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU". He didn't even ask if I was okay.  I'm now back in my seat and laughing so hard I'm crying. 😂 🤣😂🤣 

Next stop, Richland, WA, two more free nights 🌙 at the Holiday Inn.  

When we arrived at the hotel, there was music being played in the park across the street. The young lady checking us in informed us there was a free concert in the park with music 🎶 and food trucks. The band was Black Rose Concept, they were good.  Our dinner was a pulled pork sammi with coleslaw from one of the stands and they had a beer garden.

On July 15th, there was a farmer's market, my favorite, not so much Rob's.  This one was pretty decent and it was packed. There was music and limbo.

Now time to hike the Badger Mountain ⛰ Trail 👣. Well, one of us hiked 🚶‍♂️ the mountain ⛰.  I only made it 1/4 of the way up and said I'm going back down.

That little speck is Rob!

I went back down and did the lower trail 👣 🚶‍♀️ that was flat and overlooked the neighborhood.

After my little hike, I got my chair 💺 and my book 📖 and enjoyed the shade 😎 while I patiently waited for Rob to come back off the mountain.

We had dinner at The Frost Me Sweet Bistro & Bakery. The restaurant was featured on 3 Food TV shows including Triple D. Guy Fieri had the Duck Bahn Mi.  Both choices were delicious 😋. 

Lusty Lemonade & Old Fashioned

The Chicken & Artichoke Panini
House-made garlic focaccia with roasted chicken, 
fresh spinach, mozzarella, & artichoke hearts
paired with house made garlic cream cheese
served with a half house salad 🥗 

Duck Banh MI
Pickled jicama, carrots, daikon, yellow
onion 🧅, cucumber 🥒, fresh jalapeño,
cilantro, and sweet chili duck confit on a
soft roll served with a half house salad 🥗 

We strolled along the Columbia River!

We left Richland and headed towards Vancouver, Washington. We took the scenic route and followed the Columbia River all the way across. The views were amazing.

We stopped at The Maryhill Museum of Art. It was a great day to sit at a picnic table and enjoy our lunch.

Quantum Man

More driving views:

This is not a very good picture and I really couldn't capture all the wind surfers on the river.

We finally arrived at our friends: Tony and Michelle's house in Vancouver, WA. We met them at the boaters Thanksgiving potluck in St. Augustine, FL, 2019.  They set up their family room as our bedroom complete with dresser space and our own bathroom. 

I think we sent them into full panic as we unloaded everything out of the 4Runner into their family room. It looked like we were moving in for a long duration.

Their home is in a great location, close to the Columbia River, the Interstates, shopping, and restaurants.

We had a great walk along the Vancouver Waterfront.

We went to our first Cannabis store and had no clue what we were doing.

Before arriving in Vancouver I made an appointment to get my eyeglasses replaced. My current glasses were no longer transitioning and never really fit properly (Key West replacement). I had an appointment for Monday, July 18th. I was told it would take about 2 weeks before the glasses would arrive. I was praying they would arrive earlier. I should have replaced them while in Maryland.

Tony and Michelle took us to Mount Hood where we visited Timberline Lodge. A great ski lodge, especially if you like to ski.  There were people skiing ⛷, we just checked out the lodge and had a delicious cup of hot 🔥 chocolate 🍫 (with floaters!).

The aerial views of the opening scene of Stephen King's The Shining are of this lodge. Film of the exterior was used for the Overlook Hotel. 

Each railing had a carving

Spiked hot chocolate 

On our way home from Mt. Hood we stopped at the Stave and Stone Winery 🍷.  Absolutely beautiful views.  We had seats outside on the patio and Rob, Michelle, and I each did a tasting. Rob was red, Michelle and I did white and Tony was our DD.  

This was another one of those first, the waitress brought out 3 wine glasses and 2 trays of wine carafes.  Our white wine was to be shared between the two of us, but Rob's carafes had the exact same amount as ours.  We pointed this out and instead of leaving the first set of carafes she took it back and doubled the serving.  It all worked out and the wine was good.

Rob and I really needed a pedicure, so Michelle made a reservation for three in Portland at a place recommended by a friend. They had the best massage chairs and the working ladies were making fun of Rob.

We took care of some more business, we all had new military ID cards issued.

Our evening was spent at McMenamins Edgefield a former "poor farm", a 74-acre property with a winery, distillery, brewery, spa, restaurants, golf, gardens, and concert venue. 

We started with wine 🍷 🍷 tasting while Tony played golf ⛳.  In 1934, an infirmary wing was constructed for the aging Poor Farm population. It's basement opened as a Commissary, selling supplies to residents.  In 1990, the McMenamins turned it into a winery and tasting room.

The candlelit interior features antique British pub tables and a glass encased view of the winemakers.  Rob and I did a flight of red and Michelle was white. 

We checked out the lodge and we even stood on the balcony where Tony and Michelle got married, which overlooked the entrance to a concert.

This is us enjoying our wine while waiting for Tony to finish his 9 rounds of golf.

We had dinner at The Black Rabbit 🐇 Restaurant and then enjoyed a stroll through the herb garden. 

On Friday we took a 3.1 mile hike 🚶‍♂️ 🚶‍♀️ 🚶‍♀️ on the Salmon Creek Greenway Trail.

On Saturday July 23rd, Michelle took Rob and I to Moulton Falls via Lucia Falls.  We started our walk at Lucia Falls and walked the trails up to Moulton Falls.  Our hike was 7.3 miles and took us a little over 3 hours.

We had dinner at a local Oregon dive bar called the Anchor Bar. The food and service was really good.

Tony and Michelle took us to their friend's beach house in Manzanita Oregon.

Our drive took us through Astoria where we stopped and climbed the Astoria Column.  The Column was completed in 1926.

We stopped for lunch and a stroll in Seaside. We chose Norma's where they serve world 🌎 famous clam chowder.  The chowder was excellent, would get it again.

The beach house 🏠 was really nice.  The weather was not a great sunny 80 degrees, but we still had a great time.

Michelle created several charcuterie boards. We enjoyed this one during our beach visit. The smoked fish was delicious 😋.

We decided to take a ride to Tillamook. Our fist stop was to get fish 🐟 and chips 🍟 at Riverside Fish & Chips.  They were so good we went back for lunch another day.

We knew we wanted seafood for dinner so we stopped at the JAndy Oyster Co to pick up oysters and then while in Garibaldi we stopped at the Girabaldi Cannery for shrimp and crabcakes.  We also picked up fresh clams from the Manzanita Fresh Foods.

Tony grilled the oysters and Rob made linguine with shrimp and clams. Super yummy! 😋 😋 We had so much food we saved the crab cakes for another dinner. 

Back to Vancouver, WA, we took care of some more business. My glasses were ready to be picked up. YAY! I was so afraid we were going to have to spend another week. Rob went to the barber to have his ears lowered.

We all went to Michael Jordan's Steakhouse for dinner.  The steakhouse was located in the Ilani Resort Casino. It was hard to walk through the casino and not play a slot machine 🤑.

Marionberry Lemon Drop
Marionberry vodka, fresh lemon 🍋,
Gran Gala Orange Liqueur 🍊, &
Rhubarb bitters

Friday night's is Surf & Turf and the steakhouse offers 3 course dinner for two.  We each were able to choose a salad two Caesar's and two Wedge salads.

The Wedge Salad 🥗 

Caesar Salad 🥗 

Our entree included a 10 oz New York Strip Steak served with a 4 oz lobster 🦞 tail, and five garlic shrimp 🍤. We were able to choose two side dishes which were Corn 🌽 off the Cob and Bacon 🥓 Macaroni and cheese. Tony and Michelle had a 14 oz ribeye instead of New York Strip. The table was not big enough for 2 boards plus plates and wine glasses.

Each couple received New York Cheesecake for dessert.

No one went home hungry! 

I wished I would have taken more pictures 📸, we had delicious dinners and desserts prepared by the Lawrence's. We had fresh picked fruit from their garden for breakfast and dessert. In addition to the sightseeing, we chilled out, we learned to play pinnacle, we met their friends Mike and Judy, we also met Tony's sister Marti and boyfriend Chris.

Random pictures during our stay:

Sharon enjoying Tony's 
Spanish Coffee

More Spanish Coffees with our
Tight Ass Tuesday shirts 👕 

We sadly left our friends Tony and Michelle and we are so thankful that they put up with us for 2 weeks. We had a great time ⏲ and already miss them. Looking forward to our next adventure and their's, as they purchased a new boat and will be heading to Maine to sail her down to Key West. 

Our next stop is Seattle. We had a reservation for the Graduate 🎓 Hotel, that I booked months ago for my $30 a night deal.

View from our room

We checked in to the hotel, a historic 1930s art deco, in Seattle's University District. We decided to check out the area. We spent about 20 minutes walking around when I said I'm done. The homeless, graffiti and trash was unbelievable. We actually walked past a pile of human shit. Such a sad situation 😞.

Back to the hotel. At least it was only for a night 🌙. 

So long Washington until next time!

According to little Ms. Google, for the month of July, we have traveled 2,728 miles with July 11th being our longest travel day. We covered 256 miles from West Yellowstone to Choteau.