HEAD 'EM OUT MOVE 'EM OUT!! RAWHIDE!

NATURE AT ITS BEST

just amazing how nature can sculpt!!

HEADING FOR GARYOWEN? WHO?

Sept. 28
This morning we bid Cody a fond farewell-we really had a great time learning about the history of the town-and just plain had a wonderful time there!
We head east toward a town called Garyownen-wasn't he the announcer on Laugh In?
anyway-we are going there- it is the closest town to be able to camp and see the place where the battle of Little Big Horn took place-and that is the main readon for our visit there.
The hwy took us over the Big Horn Mountains-thru the Big Horn Nat. Forest. We had no idea how beautiful a drive it would be-the phrase"takes your breathe away" fits here- we stopped a couple of times just to look and catch our breathe. I took a lot of pics-I don't think any of them can do this hwy justice-but I did try! two pics show 1)a sign telling how old the rocks and cliffs are-and the 2nd) show the actual rocks close up-it is amazing! we got back in the truck after one stop-almost dizzy from looking up at the cliffs-this is a must see!!
Mike is a world class driver-just going around ther sharp curves-and keeping all of the wheels of the truck and trailer on the hwy-I have to give him so much cresit-and so I will! Mike-you are the best!
We finally got to the top of the grade-9003Ft-the truck was a bit confused by the thin air-but it did a great job.
We finally got down towared the valley-actually by a small town called Dayton-there was a traffic jam-they were herding the cattle-Ginger barked and barked at the horses-dogs and cattle-how exciting it was to see this up close and personal!
We drove and drove-just beautiful open range-free cows everywhere-and horses too.
Mike commented how clean the hwy was-no trash,billboards,grafitti-nothing. It is very peaceful and beautiful-ranches here and there-just open and calm.
We went thru a few cute towns-finally reached our camp. We are awaiting a great sunset-and ready to go see some history tomorrow. I will post a couple of pics here-but please look on flickr in the next day or so for the full story of todays sights!

100 YEARS OF HISTORY IN ONE HOUR

Sept. 27
Today we got up and did the most cool thing!
We took the Cody trolley tour-we learned so much in one hour-and had so much fun! The tour is owned and operated by Mike and Margie-long time Cody residents who have a passion for history of anything Cody and Buffalo Bill. They take you on a tour of the town and the surrounding area-they tell you anything of interest and do it with humor-we had a ball and learned so much! we were lucky to be in Cody today-as this was the last trolley tour of the season. After the tour-I was lucky to get an appt to get my hair cut-tonight is the big founders ball-a huge event in town with all of the "whos who" all decked out in their finest western formals and such-it is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Historic center.I wish we could have just hung out in front of the museum to see all of the fancy stuff going on! This is a great town-the people really love where they live-they support the town and lots of activities and just enjoy all of the history around them-We love Cody Wyoming!!

DINNER AT THE IRMA

Sept. 26
We had a full day of history and museums-and now we were ready to do the town!
6pm is a scheduled gun fight in front of the Irma-we are there- well, we were not so excited once the guy came out with the rubber turkey suit-so we went into the hotel a bit earlier than expected for dinner. good call! we took seats at the bar-a beautiful hand carved bar that was a gift from Queen Victoria to Buffalo Bill-a really beautiful piece that is like new today. We ordered dinner-including "rocky mountain oysters"-and enjoyed the ambiance-and the food.Mike spyed a set of guns in a case across from us at the bar-turned out to be a commerative set made specially for the Irma Hotel-there is a picture or two on flickr-and hopefully one on this blog-really beautiful and Mike was thrilled to be able to go behind the bar to inspect them more closely. We sat next to a nice couple from central Calif-they were doing the same route we are doing-just a day ahead of us. We had a great dinner-and a fun evening at the Irma-the Hotel is named for Buffalo Bill's oldest daughter-it is a beautiful piece of history-and way fun to visit!

CODY IS COOL!!

Sept. 26
Today we will go to the Buffalo Bill Historic Center-actually 5 museums in one place.
Mike is so excited about this-and I am too. We spend most of the day here-there is so much to see. It is billed as "history in your face" and they are so right! there are exhibits of beautiful western artwork-oils from the best-bronze sculptures from the most well known-a beautiful detailed story exhibit of the plains Indians that just makes one feel so sad for all the bad things that happened to them. Beautiful exhibits of native clothing,utencils,camps and everything else one could imagine. there is a very complete firearms display-Mike actually finds a Scott and Tripplet 50 cal. short barrel version of the gun he has in a long barrel version-this gun was produced for the civil war between 1865-1866 but was never used as the war ended. The exhibit was huge-there was every type of gun on display-and it was fun finding one so similar to the one Mike has. We really enjoyed the museum-the grounds were beautiful-a must see if you all are in Cody! I actually found my moose here-finally!

WYOMING SCENERY

Just a couple of neat pics getting into Wyoming

HEADING FOR CODY

Sept 25

We are leaving Yellowstone-but actually we will be going thru the park to the East exit. The scenery is strange-thick forest-then nothing but miles of fire ravaged acreage. At times it was a little spooky-so many dead trees,and no green whatsoever-anywhere! We kept our eyes open for signs of wildlife-but the only animals we saw-again, were the bison. We saw many great fishing spots, and stopped to see the Gibbon falls-really beautiful! There was a huge raven in a tree on the path to the falls viewing area-he just kept yelling at everyone that passed by. I had to take his picture!
We were really enjoying the change of scenery as we went thru Wyoming to the exit of Yellowstone Park-Wyoming was just as I has pictured it-jagged mountains,wide open blue skies. I really thought we would see some big horn sheep-or at least a moose-but no. The skies and the mountains were enough to make us say "wow" so there was no complaining. We finally were getting close to Cody-we went by the beautiful Buffalo Bill Dam, the tunnels built thru mountains millions of years old-just amazing the work that was done so we could get from one place to the other.
We get into the town of Cody, find our rv park-the Ponderosa-it is beautiful,the staff is friendly and we are happy to get set up for the evening.
We decided to go out for an early dinner-and had passed a steak house-Cassy's-it looked interesting-oh, and we were hungry! Cassy's proved to be a great choice-it is the original "house of you know what" in town-the Madame-Cassie was quite famous-and the building was cool and full of history. It turned out that they were having a big banquet that night for all of the custom wood workers in the area. there are many skilled artisans here-and their furniture is fabulous-in style and price!
they had hired a local band to perform for the party-they were practicing and warming up-and they were good! So, we had a wonderful dinner in the oldest whore house in town-complete with great music-it was a good first night in Cody!

TOURING WEST YELLOSTONE

Sept. 24

Today we have decided to go to town and do some window shopping-and check out a bear and wolf preserve here. We had planned to go back in the park(yellowstone) and do some fishing-but they regulate all of the fishing-and the majority of it is only fly fishing. We will be going thru another section of the park tomorrow on our way to Cody-so town it is!
We found a great little cafe-breakfast is great here-and Denise, there are cute birdhouses hung everywhere!
There are lots of great stores in town-a lot of them too touristy-but some are in original buildings and have been family owned businesses forever. We found Eagles-one of the original ones-did a little shopping,and were entertained by the owners too. I fell in love with a leather jacket with fringe all over-but left it behind for someone else to discover-I am sure I am getting points for that one! I did find some great socks covered with moose-a good alternative!
We headed over to the preserve-hoping to see some bears and wolves. the preserve has rescued animals from the wild that were either injured or orphaned-they have made a good place for these animals that otherwise would not survive. It is sad they will never be able to return to the wild-but at least they have a good home-and food on a regular basis.
The wolves are hanging out in their area and happy to just sit and look at us looking at them-they are huge! the bears are on the other side of the property-they(just two we could find) could not have cared less that anyone was there-one was just sleeping up on some rocks-the other happily chewing on something-we did not want to know what that something was! We were a little disapointed in the preserve, but they are doing a good job there.
Time to get back to camp-it will be a travel day tomorrow-and Mike is grilling us a steak! We have enjoyed our visit to Yellowstone-and the town of West Yellowstone-
Forgot to mention the best thing we did today-the museum! The exhibits were all about the railroads that came to yellowstone in the early 1900's. We were lucky,also-they were having a very special exhibit of railroad china-actually a lot of china and menus and really neat things that were given to the children on the trains.
there was china from the 5 railroads that serviced Yellowstone-don't ask for all of the names-please! I wanted a little creamer that was on display-it was so cute with three little bears on it. Anyway-really a great museum to check out if you all get to West Yellowstone one day! There is a lot of history in this little town-and everyone is very friendly and happy to share with visitors.

YELLOWSTONE

Just a couple of interesting sights from our visit yesterday-
the mudpots and arctic springs

OH DEER!!

these deer were coming to eat in our camp at Kalispell-we threw them and apple-but they were a little suspicious of our intentions!

THERE SHE BLOWS!!!

Sept.21
We left Kalispell-heading toward Yellowstone and new scenery and adventures!
We travelled thru the community of Swan Lake-and Seeley lake-both just beautiful. There are some really smart-and lucky people who decided to purchase property and build homes in this area-we will be back to take a closer look at this pretty area.
We arrived at the KOA campground in West Yellowstone. We are about 6 miles away from the West entrance of yellowstone Nat. Park. The campground is pretty deserted-they close Oct.1st-so we pretty much have the run of the place-Ginger loves that!

Sept, 22
We take off for the park and anxious to see Old Faithful. We can take Ginger today, as we will not be going on any "back country" trails. The park is pretty-but we soon see how much fire damage Yellowstone endured. There are downed trees everywhere-and sparse areas everywhere. It is not a lush forest as is Glacier Park.
There is a lot of strange sights in the park-geysers, mudpots, hot springs,fumaroles-streams that are steaming-water that is arctic blue-and icy and hot all at the same time.
We walk across a bridge and get a sulphur facial-strange!
finally we get to Old Faithful-the area is crowded-even in the late season and on a Tuesday! there are benches all around the geyser-and they are all full. We all are waiting for the "big one" to happen-and in about 40 minutes or so, we were rewarded for our patience. We got some good pics of the eruption-so please look at flickr!
After the big show-we went to the visitor center and got panini sandwiches to take on the road with us. The whole center-including the restaurant-is staffed with seniors-and they are great and appear to really like the jobs they are doing. they live together in a big dormitory in the park. So, we took our lunch and Mike found a beautiful picnic spot along the river-Ginger was given a biscuit when we entered the park by the ranger-so she was ready for a snack too! we sat and ate, and watched a couple fly fish on the river. They were cute-the husband was teaching his wife-one of them had a walker close by just in case-it was a sweet sight to watch them-and we hoped they would catch something while we were there-but no. the park has a lot of fishing restrictions-and most of the area is fly fishing only.
We had a great day of sightseeing, and were ready to get back to our camp and put on our fireplace and warm-up!
So, here we were-sitting on the sofa,just relaxing-waiting for our soup to heat-and for Jeopardy to start(we have to keep our minds working even on the journey)-I look out the back window,and see something quite large-and quite black-moving just outside the fence of the park. I hope it is bear-or Bison,but it is instead a herd of black angus cows-a lot of them!! I gotta go look-and Mike follows. Here are all of these cows-they live nextdoor on a huge ranch-they are just out for their evening meal-and we get to watch. They are so big-and they moo and eat and move on up the road. I know Mike wants to jump the fence to go play with them-and I am so glad when he has a change of heart. then, we look up, and here come about 20 horses just across the pasture from the cows-they are just running free-and what a beautiful sight. I did not have the camera with me-but it was a memorable sight-like watching Bonanza or something! anyway, it was a great day, and we had a nice little bonus to end it.Oh, and we did not see Boo-Boo bear, or Yogi or Cindy bear-but we did see several elk,the bison and a wolf-

"LEAFING THE HEELS BEHIND

I am leafing the heels behind-at least for now!

PICTURES FROM GLACIER PARK

MONTANA BOUND!!

Sept. 12,
We left Clarkston Wash. heading for Montana!
The hwy was beautiful and we followed the Clearwater River and still the Lewis and Clark Trail. This was also the route the Nez Pierce Indians took to escape the US Calvary toward Canada. We were not nice to this Indian tribe who took such good care to help Lewis and Clark when they were in need of food-shelter and supplies-it makes one feel really bad how they were treated by "us"
We arrived at Anglers Roost,Hamilton Montana by late afternoon. The Bitterroot Valley is just awesome! Our camp is beautiful-we are just so close to the Bitterroot-after so long thinking about and wishing we were here-to finally "be" here is great!
We took a hike along the river-Ginger only took about two second to get in the cool water.
the next day we took a little tour of the town of Hamilton-we are impressed! the historic downtown area is nice-we shopped at a true old fasioned dept. store. we bought hiking boots-yes,Mum, I have hiking boots! we found great water-proof jackets and other necessities-went back to camp and bought worms. it was a full afternoon! Later that day we tried our luck on the river-we had a good time-but no fish for us! Fortunately I had taken something frome our freezer-so we did have dinner. the next day we had a great visit with Darrel's Dad-Dave. He was a true Montana gentleman-and gave us lots of info on the area-oh, and a story about Darrel and a certain horse-maybe you need to ask Darrel about that one! Anyway, it was a pleasure to meet Dave, and we hope to see him again one spring!
the next couple of days were spent just enjoying the area-and hiking up and down the river looking for the elusive trout. We really did not care that much about catching one-the trying is the best part. Ginger had a blast trying to catch the worms on our poles. We went one day to see the Daly mansion-Daly was the man who founded Hamilton. He made his fortune in Copper. we did not have time to go do the tour-but there are some great pics of the home on our FLICKR site. the grounds and flowers were really pretty! Fall has turned the maple trees here a flaming gold and red-I love it!
We will look forward to another visit to Hamilton-by far our favorite town and area so far!

Tuesday,Sept. 16
We head for Kalispell,Montana
Mike and have eagerly awaited getting to this area of the Flathead valley. the trip here was again a pretty one! all of a sudden we come around a corner-and there is this huge-beautiful alke-Flathead Lake. It is awesome! we go thru the town of Bigfork
and I want to move here right now1 great homes right on the lake on one side-great homes with beautiful orchards on the other-I could not choose-so we keep going. I told Mike that since he would not stop in Hamilton and buy me a buffalo robe(they were for sale by the side of the road-right next to the post office we stopped at to mail Kris'b.day card) that he really owed me either a home on Flathead lake or an orchard. We are still in the middle of that discussion!
We arrive at our camp-again really nice-the Flathead river is just behind our house-it is rushing pretty fast-and we can hear it when we are outside. The camp is pretty empty and is like having a huge backyard to ourselves-nice!
Sept. 17
today we are taking a tour of the Conrad Mansion.Charles Conrad founded the town of Kalispell. He made his fortune in the shipping business-the family story is really interesting if anyone is interested-check it out on google!
the home was fantastic-many luxuries and inovations not heard of in those years.
we toured 28 rooms that were pretty much original to when the family was living there. The home, furnishings,even toys and clothing and linens were all like new-the family really seemed to appreciate and value all they had-which was a lot!!
we had a great tour guide-Cindy,she made it fun and knew so much about the family and ythe property too. My Aunt Jan had told Mike and I about the house-she had toured it just a week or so ahead of us on her trip to see some friends in Whitefish.
This tour is a must do if any of you out there are in Kalispell!

Sept. 18,
today we drove to Glacier National Park. We packed our warm clothes in a daypack-and yes, our new hiking boots! The park is pretty close to Kalispell, and a beautiful drive. When we got to the park entrance-we were told that a good portion of the park was closed-due to road-paving. We went to McDonald lodge first-beautiful! we had a great lunch at the lodge overlooking the huge lake. the lodge is fantastic-we will be back here also. after lunch we took a hike part way up to Avalanche Lake. it is a four mile-each way trip, and we had to leave Ginger at home-so we went as far as we could before turning around to go back home. Really beautiful park-and one could just take a week at least and just hike the trails. Next visit we will make sure the rest of ther park will be open! We had a great day-and Ginger was quite happy to see us return. I came in the house to download the pics from the camera-Mike called me out again- seems the family of deer that we saw a little of the night before were back-and so we went out with an apple for them-we don't have bunnies here-so it was fun to try and feed something! The deer let me take some pics of them-one of them did check out the apple-but were a little to nervous to stick around. I bet they will come back later for the apple!
we will be staying home tomorrow to get some things done around here-then fishing on Flathead lake on Sat. Sunday we will be heading out for a new home on our way to Yellowstone Park.Please remember to go to the FLICKR site for all of the great pictures we have posted! go to flickr.com/photos/mikejangin/ if you can enlarge the pics it is better!! all for now-over and out!

THE AWESOME SNAKE RIVER

Just a couple pics of this awesome river-please check on Flickr to see all the pics we took!

LOIS AND JOHN AND LEWIS AND CLARK

CLARKSTON WASHINGTON AND THE SNAKE RIVER

Sat.Sept.5,2008

We left Toppenish,Wash. and headed east again-went thru more wine country,there are a lot of wineries in Washington! Mike said I had done enough "wineing"-so we just waved as we passed thru. We waved the Chuck and Carols house in Prosser-never saw it of course,but waved anyway!
Sept. 5,
Arrived at Hells canyon RV Resort-Clarkston,Washington. We are right on the Marina,it is cool and a beautiful late afternoon. Mike has had a long day on the road-so we will relax tonight and see what is what tomorrow!
Sept. 6,
It is so very nice here-one of the most well kept and pretty parks yet. Everything here is all about Lewis and Clark-and Steelhead. This is the Steelhead capital of the world! This month is all about the Salmon and Steelhead fishing, and the people here are very serious about their fishing! We will most likely nor partake in the fishing here-we don't have that kind of gear!
Decided it was time to do the hair color thing-and I am not supposed to tell-but Mike did help a little with the back of my head! Our friend Lois came by for a little visit while I had the baggie on my head-that was fun! She and her husband John live in Clarkston,and are the reason we are here! I went to get the color out, and Lois gave Mike a lot of info about the town and surrounding areas here.
WE had a nice walk with Ginger and watched the sun go down-another beautiful day in Washington!
Sunday,Sept. 7

We just enjoyed our little home today,this eve we went to Lois and Johns for a fabulous dinner-their home is beautiful, and they have a backyard like a park-beautiful views,and fun "critters" everywhere! Thank you John and Lois for a really nice evening!

Sept. 10,
Today is Nolans 30th b.day-happy Birthday Nolan!!!
We decided in honor of the big day-today we would do a jetboat tour of the Snake River. Well, we actually planned this a few days ago-but the timing was great!
Up and out of the house and down to the dock at 6:30-we are ready for an adventure!
We board our boar-the "jewell"-along with our Captain Gabe, and 10 other crazy retired people like us.
this is going to be an all day tour,up to the Dam and back-we had no idea how much we would see! We took a lot of pictures,but I know they just can't do justice to the scenery and excitement we had today! We went where the roads end,and the power ends-and where people still just have to build a home-any way they can. Our first stop wad Cashe Creek- the forest service maintains this small settlement-well, them and the deer-and one lone kitty cat. We had a great little breakfasty of juice,coffe and rolls-saw some deer,picked apples,and figs and plums-admired the beautiful view down on the river,then back to the boat. We went over large rapids-but the major ones are closer to the dam. the jetboat is like being on a great big seadoo-or waverunner. It can run on as little as 6" of water-it glides and swoops and you feel like it is totally out of control-thats when it is the most exciting!!
We stopped for a great buffet lunch at an old homestead-Kirkwood. There is a museum there, and the original home built at the turn of the century. The grounds are beautifully maintained. It is a warm day up there-but we are lucky, we are told it can reach temps of 122 in the summer! today it is a perfect 75-80.
after lunch, back in the boat ready for the "really big rapids" ahead of us.
Our captain,Gabe has been running this river for 13 years-we trust him-but when he gets within inches of those huge rocks-well-eek! we are all getting wet,and loving it! he knows every part of this river,and tells us about everything we are seeing. There is so much history in this place. I am not going to start-but look up the snake river and the Nez Pierce Indians, and it is amazing all that happened here.
We reach the dam, it is huge and amazing-this is the only tour boat company that takes you all the way to the dam. We have had to put on lifejackets for part of this tour-we have gone thru the largest rapids there are-stage 5-that just means "really" big!! you all need to go to the Flickr site-there will be a lot of pics of everything we saw today. The trip back down the river was even more exciting! The water is very rough-and Gabe made sure we all got wet-again! We stopped to see Indian Petroglyphs-really cool. they are Indian writings on rock that date back at least 500 years! make sure you enlarge the pic of these-really neat!!
well, we are back at the marina-for being entertained all day, we are all wiped out tired. If any one is in this area and has the chance to do this jetboat tour-do it!!!
Thursday,9-11
we took a beautiful walk with all of the doggies this morning. there is a park and paths that wind along the river-really nice. the dogs had fun chasing squirrels up trees-and of course meeting other dogs! This eve we had John and Lois to our camp for dinner-we have had such a good time with them-and like I said, they are the ones responsible for that great adventure yesterday! We played a game of 31-Lois won.
We said goodbye and we will be sure to keep in touch with these new friends in Clarkston!
trying to upload some photos here-computer is not cooperating-will put them on next post!

YAKIMA VALLEY WINE COUNTRY

A view of Mt. St. Helens in the background
and a most friendly wine host!

SOME PICS OF TOPPENISH

A couple of the murals of Toppenish

NOT SCALPED BY THE YAKIMA TRIBE

Thursday,Sept.4th

Today Mike is going to take me to the Rattlesnake Hills-seems they have many wineries in this area! The climate is very much like regions of France and Italy-and the wine industry here is HUGE!!! We are going a little way to a town named Zillah-I have 4 wineries picked out to visit-funny, they all boast great Cabernet Franc-Mike has a favorite kind of wine-when he drinks wine-and cab Franc is it! gotta keep the tour guide happy!
It is really pretty in wine country-we tasted some good wines-only bought a few bottles-met some great people-it has been a fun day! we went through the town of Toppenish on the way "home"-it is city of many murals-they have over 70 now-all hand painted on the sides of the building in town-they commision a new mural each year. Some of the town is so cute-really neat and tidy-pretty little houses and flowerbeds. There are other parts that need a little tending to-we have had a long day of sightseeing and wine tasting-we are starving,so will not do the museum of Indian cultural heritage today!

after a little time to rest and get Ginger a good walk-we headed back to the casino for dinner. tonight was seafood night-all the crab, shrimp, and oysters one could want-and prime rib and great vegetables-the food is great-inexpensive and fresh here! no gambling for us-we are done for the night! tomorrow is a new adventure!
we did take some time out this morning for a little photo op-the guys were getting a little wrestless under that bed! We have enjoyed seeing this part of Washington!

MOST BEAUTIFUL MOUNTAIN RANGE EVER!!

Wed.Sept.3rd

This morning we have to leave the beautiful Gig Harbor-we have had such a good time here!! We are heading East-to Toppenish,Wash. we will spend two nights there and see what there is to see.
Wed. afternoon-we have had a great trip over the Cascade Range-most beautiful drive ever! it is so nice to go down the road and see nothing but beauty! we made a couple of unplanned stops along the way-seems that John Wayne has a trail named after him-so of course we gotta investigate! this is truly beautiful country-the air is clean and crisp-we are so very lucky to be able to be doing this trip!!
Wed. evening.
arrived Toppenish-we are staying at the Yakima Nation RV resort. We met friends in Sandy Oregon who live in Clarkston,Washington-Lois and John Boodry. They are full of great stories and information about the Eastern part of the state-and Idaho also! They gave us the info about this RV park-and it is a good place to stay! Lois and John also told us about the jet boat tours on the Snake river-and so that is why we are headed the way we are now! It is funny how a trip can just take an unexpected turn when you least expect it!
this camp is fun-and there are Teepees one can camp in if they so desire!
lots of grass for Ginger-life is good!
tonight we will go across the street to a big casino for dinner-we have a coupon from the park for a free meal there-so what the hay!!!

ok, back from the casino-really good "free" dinner-great steak and salad and anything else we would want there-great food-and again-free! Mike won a little at 21-the slots are all the dumb video kind that I not only don't like-but don't understand-so a big savings there! tomorrow we will check out the town of Toppenish.

A GOOD DAY WITH MY DADDY

Tuesday,Sept.2nd

Today we got to spend most of the day with my Daddy!
We met at Patriots Landing for lunch-all three of us hungry and ready for a meal.
Again, the menu was pretty much anything we wanted-and the food was great. Mike and I would have no problems living at Patriots Landing! After our lunch we took Daddy shopping at Fred Meyer-this is a wonderful store-actually many stores all in one-Daddy LOVES this store! We found a few things we all needed,then headed back to Daddys home. We spent the rest of the afternoon just visiting-it was so good to see where my Daddy lives, and meeting some of the great staff, and other residents. We left knowing that Daddy is in a great community-and that we would be back soon to visit. I am so glad that Dave(the really good bad big brother of mine)and Sheryl are so close by-they really make sure Daddy has everything he wants and needs.
Mike and I got "home" and made the house ready for our next morning trip east.
We had a great time in Gig harbor and everywhere else we were able to visit!
tomorrow-we head east!!

DUNCAN AND NIKE

just had to post pics of Gingers new best pals!!!
Duncan took a second to pose for me-Nike was just too busy chasing that ball with Ginger!

SEATTLE WATERFRONT

Just had to give you all a couple more pics!
If anyone out there does not have the address to see ALL of our pictures(except those of the ARMY guy,DAVE) on the FLICKR site-please email or call and we will give it to you!

SEATTLE OR BUST

Sept.1 Labor Day!
We started the day with breakfast with Daddy at Patriots Landing. Daddy lives in a beautiful military retirement community in Dupont,just outside of Steilacoom. We met him in the dining room-had a great breakfast-just like a fine hotel,you can order ANYTHING you might want to eat. After our meal, Daddy gave us a tour of his home-and we also met some of the other residents daddy has come to call his friends.We gave Daddy a hug goodbye-and the three of us(Dave and Mike and I) headed off to "the city"
the trip took about an hour-with lots to see along the way. When we got to Seattle we decided to check out the famous Pikes Market-and then the waterfront. The public market was very busy-tons of people looking for everything from fresh flowers to fresh fish-and everything in between. the flowers are totally unbelievable to see-every color,size and shape-Dave and Mike didn't get so thrilled as I, but hey they are guys. Fresh vegetables,fruit-candy-everything all locally grown. Mike and I bought fur hats-getting prepared for a cold winter! The fish market famous for its daily "throwing of the fish" spectacle,was sadly closed-but we had a great time seeing so much stuff in one place!! We then started walking toward the waterfront-wow,its busy too-lots of ferry boats coming and going-lots of fun shops eveywhere!
one thing I have learned-you spend way less money shopping when you are with two guys-two guys that really do not like to shop! they were good,though-I got to peek any place I wanted. We then went to IVARS for fish and chips-it is a local and famous landmark for Seattle-I had fried Oysters and chips-the sea air was crisp, but the sun finally came out-along with the hungry seagulls that have a love for french fries!! after lunch we did some more sightseeing-Pioneer square was beautiful-so much architecture-and flowers everywhere! We enjoyed seeing the city-and will go back again-way too much to see in one afternoon! They were having a festival in the center of the city-by the spaceneedle,and other attractions-we opted to stay out of that crowd for this trip-but next time...oh, and Nordstroms flagship store is in Seattle too-yeah-next time!
We headed back to Steilacoom and to Sheryl, Nike,Duncan and Ginger. They had spent the day chasing balls and eating apples(well,Nike,Duncan,and Ginger,anyway-Sheryl did not fess up to the apple eating) Dave and Sheryl took us to one of their favorite places for dinner-Jakes-we sat outside on the patio,overlooking the Sound-great food-company and atmosphere! We had a tour of the town-Mike and I agreed,Steilacoom would be a wonderful place to live!