Pizza, Rummikub and 10 Penny with friends.

Yesterday John, Aunt Eloise and I joined RV friends Janice and Dave for Pizza and games.  Janice and Dave had never played 10 Penny so we brought it with us and played around of it.   Aunt Eloise was the winner.

Janice and Aunt Eloise sorting their cards. 

John and Dave.  Dave looks like he is thinking up a "win" strategy. LOL

 Dave and Janice. 

After playing a round of 10 Penny, Janice and Dave taught us how to play Rummikub.  That was really fun.   There were lots of laughs as the game progress.  I can see how this game could become addictive. 

Me, John, Davd and Aunt Eloise. 

Of course we stopped for coffee, water, lemonade and hot chocolate. 

Doesn't it look like we are all up to something. 

We had a blast with Janice and Dave and hope to see them again down the road real soon.  Thanks Janice and Dave for dinner and a wonderful game night.   Great friends and lots of laughs.  It just doesn't get any better than that. 

John has been making progress with the chore list at Aunt Eloise's.  He finished the new porch and concrete stepping stones at the front of the house and will begin painting soon.  I will be posting some pictures a little later. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Smoke in the air and BBQ.

Lots of smoke in the air due to the wildfires in Glacier and surrounding areas.  It hasn't been so bad until this week.

This is the road that leads to where we are parked.  The past couple days there has been a gray fog throught out the area and, of course, a heavy smoke smell. 

Our friend Sarah from Tualatin Refuge was in town along with her husband Sam, father-in-law-Jack and mother-in-law Mary Jo.  Sam and Jack had arrived a week or so earlier and hiked and camped in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area.  Sarah and Mary Jo arrived Wednesday evening and had dinner with us.  They met up with them to continue their hiking and camping adventure on Thursday morning.  While they were out there wildfires moved in the direction they were hiking in so they had to change their route.  They had planned to be out of the wilderness area early Saturday but wildfire conditions delayed that.  Mary Jo renamed the smoky area the "Bob Marley" wilderness area.  Mary Jo was helicoptered out along with a few other hikers.  Sarah, Sam and Jack finally made it out Sunday afternoon.  They were exhausted but safe.   We met them for breakfast at Sykes Monday before they flew back to Portland.  So glad they made it out safely.  It was good to see Sarah and Sam again and to meet Jack.

Jack, Sam and Sarah.

Yesterday John cooked up a batch up ribs, baked beans, slaw, pasta salad and a blueberry cheesecake.  Our RV friends Dave, Janice and Malia joined us at Aunt Eloise's for dinner.  The weather was so nice we ate outside. 

Dave, John, Janice and Malia.

Dave, me, Janice and Malia.

We had a great time sharing lots of crazy travel stories and laughing til we hurt. Hope to get together with everyone again before we or they leave the area. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Road trip to Kent, Washington.

Thursday morning John, Aunt Eloise and I got up early and hit the road for Kent, Washington to visit more relatives.  We stopped for lunch in Post Falls, Idaho and ate at a place called The Old European Restaurant.  Aunt Eloise decided to try the Danish Blueberry Aebelskivers.   We had never heard of them so our server also brought out some Sausage and Havarti Cheese Aebelskivers for us to share. The dough was light and fluffy inside.  They were delicious.  I would definitely eat them again.

This is what they look like.  The server told us they are cooked on top of a stove in a special cast iron skillet. 

We arrived late Thursday night and were very tired.  After visiting with Aunt Karen for a little while we were off to bed.   We slept late the next morning and went to The Krain Korner Inn, which is the family restaurant owned by John's late Uncle Glenn and Aunt Karen Hatch.  A unique place to eat and visit. 

While in Kent John got to see two of his cousins he hasn't seen in around twenty years. 

John, Andy Hatch and Ian Hatch.

Aunt Karen and Ian.

Aunt Eloise and Ian's wife Maria.

Ian and his little boy Glenn.

Kent has had a dry spell so the grass in most areas has started to turn brown.  On Friday morning we woke up to rain.  They were so glad for the rain.  It lasted all day. 

Yesterday we were up early and ready for our long journey back to Kalispell.  We rode through the little town of Leavenworth, WA.   The whole town was decked out with a Barvarian theme. 

The scenery along the way was beautiful.  At one point we were high enough to see the clouds.

We enjoyed our trip and send a huge thank you to Aunt Karen for her hospitality.  It was good to see everyone. 

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Painting and Renovations.

Monday John and I finally got to meet fellow full time RVer Malia.  We almost met in Mississippi back in November when we were staying at the same RV park.  Sadly, Malia's mom was ill and she had to leave early before we could meet.  One day last week John noticed on Facebook that she was going to be in Kalispell, MT and sent her a note.  We met for lunch on Monday and enjoyed sharing funny travel stories.  While she was here John was able to help her out by replacing her windshield washer nozzle.  We plan to get together again before she leaves the area.

Malia and I.

John and Malia.

John has been busy with a few jobs on Aunt Eloise's house.  It has been a while since it was painted so that is on the top of the job list.

Getting it ready for pressure washing.

About to start pressure washing then on to the painting the trim. 

I forgot to take a "before" picture.  He had finished all the trim except for the door in this picture. 

Here it is with all trim and door finished.  Next week he will paint the rest of the outside. 

Yesterday he took the front porch apart and started on the rebuild.  The new porch will have a railing and the boardwalk will be removed and concrete pavers put down.  I will post before and after pictures when he gets finished. 

Tomorrow Aunt Eloise, John and I will be taking a road trip to Kent, WA to visit relatives there.  We plan to do some site seeing along the way.  

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe. 

Fire in Evergreen.

It has been quite a while since our last post.  We are still in Kalispell, MT visiting Aunt Eloise.  On the last blog I posted pictures of our cherry picking outing.  We had a great time that day and picked lots of delicious cherries.  We had so many it took us a couple of days to pit them.  Of course we had to have a cherry pie.

It was yummy. 

The weather here has been pretty mild with a few hot days here and there.  Almost everyday we see some deer.  

A couple of baby deer on the other side of the fence.  

Mama deer is never too far behind. 

There are also a few bucks around. 

The bucks usually hang out int he wooded area.  

Aunt Eloise has been trying to save her plants from these deer.  It seems they like to eat her flowers.  She sprays an egg mixture on the plants to repell the deer.  So far it is working. 

Her tiger lillies are in full bloom.  These are my favorite. 

She also has some day lillies.

We have been playing lots of 10 Penny.  One night Aunt Eloise beat us real good with a score of 5 for a whole game.  Wow!  What a score. 

She beat us bad....plus she had four coins left. 

Last week Aunt Eloise and I had a girl's day out.  We left one morning and didn't return until after 4:00 p.m.   We went to several fabric stores and looked around and I finally found some fabric that would make nice looking pillows for our leather sofa.   It has been a long time since I have sewn something so Aunt Eloise helped me out.  A huge thank you to her for helping me and allowing me to use her machine. 

Wednesday of this week, John and I went into town for a few groceries.  On the way back he noticed lots of smoke. Of course we went to check it out.  As we got closer we discovered the fire was off of Reserve Drive, which we sometimes take to go back home.  It was a windy day and everything was so dry making it a serious situation.  Residents in the immediately area were using garden hoses to wet their yards.  We were able to get close enough for John to walk down to where the some of the fire engines where parked.  I waited a little while and was not surprised when he called and told me to go on home that he was staying to help.  Sadly, there were five structures including a house lost in the fire.  Multiple fire agencies including two helicopters were used to control and extinguish the fire. The local news reported a transient was smoking a cigarette and tossed it.  He thought he had put it out but apparently that was not the case.  They also reported possible charges against him.  Luckily no lives were lost and no one was injured. 

There have been several fires in surrounding areas recently.  In Columbia Falls last week a woman and her three year old son died in a house fire.  That one is still being investigated.  So sad. 

Last night during a game of 10 Penny what we assumed was a juvenile Great Horned Owl landed on a tree in Aunt Eloise's back hard.  We took several pictures. 

After sitting for a while he finally flew off.  It was so awesome to watch.

Laugh everyday.  Happy trails.  Stay safe.