Staying busy and having a great time in Kalispell.

Last Friday we drove straight through to Kalispell instead of  stopping in Libby for the night as all the campgrounds were full.  Aunt Eloise was ready.  She said she just had a feeling we would arrive early.  John has started on Aunt Eloise's chore list.  One thing on the list was cutting limbs off her apple tree.

As always, Aunt Eloise has beautiful flowers.  She loves working in the yard with her flowers and her vegetable garden. 

The view from her back yard is just beautiful. 

Today Aunt Eloise took us to pick cherries at one of her friend's orchards.  We picked lots of cherries....six Walmart bags full. 

Aunt Eloise wanted to pick some too. 

We have also had fun playing our nightly card games.  Another nice thing about this area is the weather.  It has been in the low 70s for the last couple of days.  

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Last day in Washington.

John has completed his U.S. Dept. of the Interior safety certification classes at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge. He is now certified to operate the following pieces of equipment:  grater, dozer, Ag tractor, backhoe, excavator, wheeled loader, wheeled skid steer, track skid steer and forklift.   Way to go John.

This morning we drove over to Turnbull one last time and rode down the auto drive to check out the wildlife.  We didn't see much in the way of wildlife just deer and a few ducks.  The deer moved to quickly to get a picture and the ducks were too far way so I settled for photographing a few plants.  

 

 We walked down and looked around at one of the overlooks and encountered another couple (Al and Sharon) looking for wildlife.  After talking a few minutes we realized we are staying at the same campground and they are parked four sites down from us.  They are also Escapee members.  It's a small world. 

John looking for wildlife. 

The overlook.

The view from the overlook. 

After leaving the refuge we ventured over to Spokane to have lunch at Elk's Public House.  It was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Network the other night and looked real interesting.  The weather was nice enough to eat outside. 

We had the BBQ chicken quesadillas for an appetizer.  Real tasty.  

John had the traditional Reuben sandwich with a side of corn pasta salad. 

Getting ready to devour that sandwich.

I had the grilled chicken Caesar soft taco with a side of corn pasta salad.  This was entirely too much food so I had to get a doggie bag.  Just a note about the corn pasta salad....it is delicious but IT IS VERY SPICY.

On the way back home I saw a large Radio Flyer wagon in a park.  John drove by slowly so I could get a picture.

The wagon is actually a huge slide.  The kids seemed to enjoy it.  Very cool. 

Tomorrow will be a travel day for us.  Our destination will be Libby, MT for the weekend then on to Kalispell, MT on Monday. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Leaving Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge

Well our travel day as finally arrived.  The time has come to move on down the road.  It was hard to say goodbye to the fantastic people at Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge.  We will miss them.

Yesterday we went by to visit Rachel and Mesha to say goodbye to them.  They are off on Mondays so we had to catch them while we could. 

Me, John and Rachel.  

Me, John and Mesha.

Rachel, Me. John and Mesha.  Yes we are a little crazy. haha

Rachel, Me, John and Mesha.

John and Rachel.  This is her favorite picture. LOL

John and I met George and Mike for breakfast at Shari's before stopping off at the refuge headquarters to say our final goodbyes. 

George and Mike.  Thank you both for breakfast. 

George, me, Sarah, Brenda, Lily, Jenna and Eva.

Me and George with one of our MSDS books from the Chemical Inventory.  We will never forget that project. LOL

Our trip was uneventful and we arrived in Cheney, WA a little after 5:00 p.m.   John has training at Turnbull Refuge Tuesday-Friday.  We rode over to check it out tonight and were able to get  some pictures.

A moose.

A large beaver den and ....

a nice sunset.

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Going away party and One Last Hoorah.

Happy Independence Day.  Hope everyone had a safe one. 

This has been a busy week.  On Monday George and I completed our work on the chemical inventory for the refuge's audit held on Tuesday.

Tuesday night our refuge friends held a going away party for John and I at Big Al's. 

Lily, Brenda and Jenna. 

Eva and John.  

Trevor with his wife and daughter.

George, Pat and his little boy.

Our boss man John Schweitzer.

John, me and John Schweitzer.  Wow they sure are tall. LOL

Here we are all laughing.

The friends of the refuge group gave us T-shirts with the Tualatin logo on them and the refuge staff gave John a Leatherman.  He is really excited about that since he lost his last one.  They gave me a new I-pad cover.  My old one was really looking shabby. This wasn't just any I-pad cover it was one with pictures highlighting our work and stay here.  It is going to be hard to leave here.  John and I both have really enjoyed working with everyone here. These guys are awesome to work with.  Thank you to everyone for the thoughtful gifts and for making our stay here such a great experience.

This is a picture of the I-pad cover.  I just love it.

Wednesday night John and I met up with Escapee RV friends John and Lora Newby who are a few miles away working at a fish hatchery. 

John, me, Lora and John.

It was great catching up with them.  Hope to see them again down the road real soon. 

Thursday a large group of us went to Crazy Shushi for lunch to celebrate Lily's birthday.  Happy Birthday to Lily. 

Erin, Olivia, Cooper, Blair, Lily, Sarah W., Rachel, Jenna, Dara, me, John, Brenda, Sarah G., and Eva.

Today we had one last get together with our refuge friends before we head out.  I worked my last shift at the Wildlife Center yesterday and finished some last minute details on the first aid kits so now my projects are officially completed.  Chef John cooked BBQ ribs, hot dogs, burgers, slaw, baked beans, chocolate cream pie and blueberry cheesecake for the cookout. 

Getting ready for the cookout.

John checking his ribs.

Sarah, Sam and John.

Rachel, Mike and George.

Lilly and Rachel.

Lily, Rachel, John.

Sarah, Sam, George and Mike.

Tomorrow will be a clean up and pack up day.  We will head out Monday morning and journey to Washington.  John will be attending large equipment certification training classes at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge in Cheney, WA.  From there we will be of the Kalispell, MT. to visit with John's aunt.

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe.