Washington and Oregon

Greetings all:

Brenda and I entered Washington early this morning.  It was pouring rain when we left Osoyoos.  We took Hwy 97 South to Hwy 17 South and saw much beauty along the way.  The 3 photos below were taken at Dry Falls.  Apparently it used to be a waterfall.  It was absolutely beautiful!

 

We drove a bit further down the road and came upon Sun Lake State Park.  It was closed for the season, but you could put your money in the box and stay if you so desired.  There were no campers there at all. We decided we would continue on and find a Wal-Mart to park at.
 

I have never seen clouds reflected in a lake like this before.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  There were so many beautiful spots along this hwy that we stopped several times just to take photos. Have you even seen such a beautiful reflection of the clouds in a lake?  This is Lenore Lake and the following photos is Lenore Caves.

 

 

Brenda and I had a great day....that is until we reached Wal-Mart in Moses Lake, Washington.  I pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot and went to the back of the motorhome to check that I was not blocking traffic.  To my horror the strap on the front driver side had come off and the front wheel was off the car dolly.  I was not a happy camper to say the least.  I had stopped every 30-50 miles to check the straps and they were fine.  I called AMA and explained to the service person on the phone what had transpired.  It took a while before she understood the problem and said she would send a tow truck to "extricate" my car.  In about 10 minutes a tow truck arrived with 2 nice young men in it.  They raised my car with a winch, had me drive the motorhome forward so the dolly would not be under the car and then lowered my car.  They then hooked everything up for me again and explained that the two clips at the back of the tires (on the straps) should be turned around.  It is difficult to get them in that way, but will have to do it that way for sure.  It was quite the evening, but help arrived quickly and the men were very efficient, and there was no damage done to dolly or car, so I felt very lucky.   I had just been to a service station for gas about 5 min. before and had checked the straps and found them fine.

 

We went into Wal-Mart and bought ourselves some cheap libation to calm my shaking nerves after that episode. The difference in prices is substantial. Today we paid $3.69 to $3.89 a gallon for gasoline in Oregon.  We saved $1 on a can of Campbell's soup and a bottle (26oz) of Kahlua is just over $10.  They had a nice wine at Wal-Mart for $2.47.  

We are parked at the LaGrande, Oregon Wal-Mart for the night. I did have to drive through two mountain passes, but it cannot be helped.  I planned the route to avoid mountain passes and I think there is just one more I have to go through in Nevada.  There was no snow and it was a very scenic route (Hwy. 84).  Tomorrow we will probably stay overnight in Boise, Idaho. 

 I am going to put my laptop in my backpack and see if I can find an internet signal to send my blog.  Wish me luck!