Month 4 - THE AMERICANA KITSCH AND CULTURE TOUR

Day 85 – Jul 26 Tue WEEK 13

Aaron went and saw the old prison this morning and the car museum. I stayed and read I the camper. Then we got on the road for Missoula, where Aaron had an acupuncture appt at 4.00. Stayed the night in Missoula, MT. Acupuncture very good.
 

Watchtower at prison

Day 86 – Jul 27 Wed

Drove into Spokane, WA, stayed the night at the Yogi Bear KOA.

They had Yogi Bear things everywhere. Very cute

 

Day 87 – Jul 28 Thu

Drove across WA state, started seeing mountains after about half way through… Just gorgeous. Stopped in Pike Place Market in Seattle and got sweet peas, salmon, cheese, yummmm… so good… Stayed the night at Bothall, WA, just north of Seattle. Loved being back in Washington. Really great energy. We felt like we were at home. Stayed at a nice RV park on a wee artificial lake. Very peaceful. Very nice.
 

The majestic Washington mountains. Gorgeous

Day 88 – Jul 29 Fri

Got up and went and saw our house in Woodbury near Edmonds. Fantastic. Exactly what we want. Cul-de-sac, big trees, lovely neighbourhood. Then caught the Edmonds ferry to Kingston and drove around to Port Townsend and to Uncle Ash’s place. Lovely quad level place in the bush. Really nice. Parked up and went down town for Chinese food.
 

The Washington ferries that ply their trade back and forth across Puget Sound

Day 89 – Jul 30 Sat

Borrowed Ash’s car, I had a stinking headache. Aaron sent a message to Thyler. We left for the Olympia Peninsula and got as far as Port Angeles. We went to dinner at C’est Se Bon, the French restaurant. And it was quite nice. Came back and crashed out, felt awful.
 

Day 90 – Jul 31 Sun

Aaron went and got a roast for dinner and we mucked around all day. Nice and relaxing, not a very sunny day. I made a roast lamb for dinner. Nice.
 

Port Townsend beach. This is where they filmed a lot of An Officer and A Gentleman

Day 91 – Aug 1 Mon END OF WEEK 13

Went and took the truck down to get her brakes done. Left her there. Went out to Silverwater with Ash for dinner. Lovely. Great food. Great night.
 

Crab cakes. So yummy!

Day 92 – Aug 2 Tue – WEEK 14

Were going to go today but were not that organized. Went and got the truck. Got her oil changed. Aaron did the washing etc. Mucked around all day. Sat in the sun. Aaron went and got Thai food. Very good.

 

Day 93 – Aug 3 Wed

Didn’t get going at all. Went into town and got some food at the Greek stand. Talked to Donnie. Came back and did my blog. Went out to dinner with Uncle Ash and Aaron to Bayview on the harbour. Really nice food. Just lovely. Had a great evening. Stayed up talking to Ash til 3.00 in the morning.

 

My Uncle Ashley and I out to dinner

Day 94 – Aug 4 Thu

Finally got going. Ran out of propane, and battery, so the fridge had stopped working. Went and got Propane. Drove to Port Angeles and stopped at the KOA. Noisy awful. Was so tired. Aaron talked to Sarah Jade on the internet about Thyler, then rung Gwenda and talked to her. Very good. Got a message back from Thyler on the internet.

 
Day 95 – Aug 5 Fri

Ate lunch at the Crab Shack in Port Angeles. Drove to Lake Crescent, very pretty. Went to the other side of the lake and stopped there early for the night. Very pretty but quite busy and noisy. Sat outside and read a book and drank a drink by the lake. Paid 25.00 for Leo Ray, even though he doesn’t get out of the camper. I was going to make him do a circuit of the campsite, just to get our money's worth.

Lake Crescent. One of the most beautiful lakes.

 

Day 96 – Aug 6 Sat

Drove around the Peninsula, up to Joyce on the Northern coast of WA, then down again. Picked up a maniacal talking hike hiker. Detoured to see the big Cedar Tree but got all the way up there and realized the road was no good for the RV. Then stopped at Ruby Beach. No rubies but very pretty spot. Stopped at the town next to Aberdeen and Aaron rung Thyler and talked to him for an hour. Very good. It went well. Very pleased. Stopped the night in Westport. Small town on the WA coast peninsula.
 

Ruby Bay on the Washington Coast

Day 97 – Aug 7 Sun

Got up and drove into town itself. Quite a pretty wee spot but quite busy. We ate lunch at a restaurant that was like an Aloha restaurant called The Islander (felt very homesick for the first time in forever, think it’s because Donnie has just gone home yesterday) and even had Kona Brewing beer on tap. Got a Live Aloha sticker from there. Very fun. Really nice food!! And had big Bloody Mary’s – with fantastic cocktail sticks on them. Pepperoni, tomato. Jalepeno, olive, cocktail onion, cheese… and a shrimp, very fun. Stopped in the wee town of Long Beach – home of the Big Frying Pan and got a dress and slippers for me. 4 neat t-shirts for Paigey. Stayed the night there at a campground just up the road. Very nice, by the beach. Went for a walk on the beach.
 

Oh, these were fabulous Bloody Marys!! Yum.

Day 98 – Aug 8 Mon END OF WEEK 13

Came into town the next morning and did some more shopping, getting 2 dresses for me. Then went to the Lost Roo for lunch. Very nice. Talked to the Scottish owner, that was fun. Crossed down into Oregon and along to Astoria, then along a bit and back over the river into Longview in WA. You could feel the change in energy immediately. We stayed the night at Castle Rock, near the entry to the Mt St Helens National Park.
 

Aaron and I's shadows on the beach at Long Beach, WA

Day 99 – Aug 9 Tue WEEK 14

I was as sick as a dog with sinus headache. We moved to another site nearby in the State Park, quiet and peaceful. Stayed there all day. Aaron went to the Visitors centre for Mt St Helens.

 
Day 100 – Aug 10 Wed
 
Went up the road to view Mt St Helens. Stopped at the visitors centre first. Saw an amazing video about the whole thing. Quite amazing. Then up the road to see the mountain. Woww.. Quite a site actually. Rather lovely. Very majestic looking mountain, still with snow on her and you can see where the side of her was blown out on the left. Came back down that night and stayed at Centralis, right next to the damn wood mill that started up at 10.00 pm. Grrrr.
 

Mt Helena wreathed in cloud.

Day 101 – Aug 11 Thu

Set off for Seattle. Had breakfast at the RV park restaurant which was actually very nice. Then up to Seattle, stopped along the way in Olympia for lactose, books, P.O. etc. Came up to Bothall again and stayed at the Pleasant Valley RV Park there which is very nice.

 
Day 102 – Aug 12 Fri

Left about 12.00 from the RV Park and wandered up to Snohomish for Aarons sky dive. Went into the wee town there which was rather lovely. Had lunch at Grotto Fish place and had gorgeous avocado and shrimp plate with amazing thousand island sauce. And we had very good fish and chips. Crinkle cut chips and bread crumb coating. Then we got cupcakes. Then we went to the skydiving place. Very fun. I got to watch Aaron come down with Vladimir… very fun and exciting. He had a ball. Liked this jump better than the last one he did. It felt slower and he got to see more. Then we drove to Fall City for the night.
 

Aaron all jazzed after his parachute jump with Vladimir

Day 103 – Aug 13 Sat

I was as sick as a dog with a sinus headache, so Aaron drove all day. Ended up in Hermiston, OR for the night at Ye Olde Very Busy Bloody Road RV Park. Aaron rung Thyler. 

Our Queen size bed in the back of the camper.

Day 104 – Aug 14 Sun

Travelled all day through Oregon, came in near Boise, Idaho for the night. Stayed at the best KOA so far. Very quiet, nice showers, pleasant, puzzles. Books. Very good.
 

Some beautiful flowers Aaron bought me. I love these old fashions, spiky Asters and the pom-pom Dahlias

Day 105 – Aug 15 Mon END OF WEEK 14

Traveled down through Idaho. There were some lightning strike fires. Some of them were out and some were still smoldering. Very very smoky and hazy in the day. Stopped at Shoshone Falls in Idaho near Twin Falls. Gorgeous place. Woww… They call it the Niagara Falls of the West. Very very pretty. A big waterfall, and then bridal view falls to the right. Very pretty. Came down into Utah, stopped for the night near Brigham City. Laundry closed at 7.00? Had a swim though. Nice to be back in the warm air again.
 

Shoshone Falls - these were gorgeous

 Day 106 – Aug 16 Tues WEEK 15

Got up reasonably early for us and went to the Hill AFB museum at Odgen. Really good museum. Had all fighter Air force aircraft. Great displays. Despite saying we’d spend an hour there, we spent 2. LOL. Then got on the road to go and see Bonneville… because this week is speed week. Amazing salt flats along the way. Very wow up by Bonneville… White as far as you can see and in one photo… you can see the curvature of the earth. Amazing. Went to have a look but getting on in the day.. so decided to go to Wendover for the night. No room at the inn (RV park) though… so stayed the night at the Motel 6. Aaron went up the road and won about a 140.00 at the casino. J Very good.
 

You really can see the curvature of the earth in places out at the Salt Flats. Fascinating place.

Day 107 – Aug 17 Wed

Went out to Bonneville Salt Flats to see speed week. Wowww.. So cool. We ran into 8 Kiwis there. 6 visiting and 2 at the pits. Steve who was an official had B Munro as his number plate – very cool. The other guy was House from Nelson. Drove out across the salt… it stretches for miles and miles… amazing place. Stopped at the 3 mile mark at the pits… then went back to the starting line which was really cool… Some amazing cars and bikes racing… Just incredible. Very very hot. But really fun. We had a great day. Left there about 3.00 and came back through to Provo for the night.
 

We had to photograph this shirt. This fabulous movie was based on a New Zealander Burt Munro, who raced here many times and still has some of his records that stand today.

 

Day 108 – Aug 18 Thu

I had heat stroke sickness from the Salt Flats but got better in the afternoon. Aaron went to the batting cages and made his arm worse. Then we drove to Moab in Utah, into the Red district. Wowww. Amazing red rock formations. Gorgeous. Like the little town of Moab. Stayed at the Portal RV park, very nice.
 

Moab red rock - even more stunning in person

Day 109 – Aug 19 Fri

Went into Moab and had breakfast. Then mucked around at the shops. Then went to Arches National Park… GORGEOUS… just stunning… amazing place. Then drove to Muncas, near Mesa Verde and stayed the night in a nice RV park there.
 

Arches National Park. Stunning in person. The colors in broad daylight - wow

 

Day 110 – Aug 20 Sat

Went into Mesa Verde National Park. Wound up and up to about 9000 feet I reckon. Had lunch at the café there and had Indian/Navajo fry bread taco… soooo good. Then feeling very very full – possibly the altitude. We went around to Cliff Palace and walked down a small amount of steps to view that. Wowww… amazing but the air was so thin, I could barely get air into my lungs. Very cool to see though. We stopped to see Balcony but you have to walk down and I was heaving… so we just left the park and continued on. Drove through Durango and stopped at the Walmart, then drove South into New Mexico. Stopped at Bloomfield, NM for the night.
 

Cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde National Park

Day 111 – Aug 21 Sun

Rolled into Albuquerque about 2.30 or so and got some flowers, and booze, then went to Lu and Kevins… Very fun. The girls Caitlen and Breanna were here and we had a really nice BBQ out the back. Great house… great energy. Amazing backyard

Our friends backyard, it was gorgeous

 

Day 112 – Aug 22 Mon END OF WEEK 15

Lu and I drunk all day and talked…

Leo Ray, catching up on his twenty third sleep of the day

Day 113 – Aug 23 Tue WEEK 16

Went to lunch at Garcias for Mexican food. Then to Santa Fe for the afternoon. Nice to see but not live. Had amazing Rudys BBQ for tea. Cream corn to die for.

 

Day 114 – Aug 24 Wed

Lu’s court case for changing her name to Elizabeth Devereaux Hudak. Went and did that… wore hats. New orange hat from Santa Fe. Then went to lunch at the Two Fools in downtown Albuquerque. Then came back and crashed. The altitude and one glass of wine knocked me out.
 

Elizabeth and I at an Irish pub after her name change

 Day 115 – Aug 25 Thu

Went and got Mexican take out with Issy (Elizabeth/Lu) and Kevin. Kevin went for a speaking engagement, then we ate out food. Went to Costco. Came back here and Issy and I went and got our nails done. Then the boys went to the Casino and Aaron won 400 dollars.. yay.  Issy had to much to drink and started raving… so went to bed.. Had enough. But was fuming.
 

Leo, sitting between his dad's legs, catching up on sleep thirty second of the day

Day 116 – Aug 26 Fri

OK today.  Sort of. Went up in the afternoon to the Tram on Sandia Peak with Kevin and Lu… very cool. Got some great views and quite a height. Then came back down and went to the Taj Indian restaurant and ran into Kevins brother John and family and ended up having dinner with them… very fun. What a riot. Then came back and sat outside for a bit.
 

All of us out to dinner at a fabulous Indian restaurant. Red dot, not feather.

Day 117 – Aug 27 Sat

Left Issy and Kevins place and headed south to Roswell. The most boring drive in history but stayed at a good RV park who has it’s resident alien, which we nicknamed Bob… took some great piccies with him in the camper, on deck chairs etc. LOL…

Aaron with one of the locals at Roswell, sharing a cigar and having a chat

 

We went on to Tucson, AZ after this and ran out of energy. But what a trip! Four months on the road, over thirty states. I'll have to count them up as we go along. :-)  Even just reading this through now, had me laughing in places. Hopefully the blogs will be slightly more enlightening, than my scribbled notes to myself. LOL. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy the ride, as much as we did. We had a blast. Thanks my darling Aaron for the great memories in my life. xoxox