May Ends - June Begins

Monday, Memorial Day
We are off today.  It rained in the morning, so we took advantage and slept in.  Mid-day we went over to visit G&M and say goodbye before they headed back to Salem.  We will not see them again until late June, they will be traveling back to South Dakota for a family reunion and the Humboldt celebration.  Back home, we had supper and then went up to the park bunkhouse for a farewell celebration for Linda.  Her husband was to be released from the hospital on Thursday AM and then they will fly to Kansas.  We had a camp fire and everyone brought munchies to share.

Tuesday - Today, we were up and packing up the motorhome - Gary took it in to the Chevy dealer in Sandy to have the engine checked by the computer, before we go to Washington State this week.  I worked in the office, helping Brian with reservations and scheduling.  When Gary was back, he did the mowing again for the week.  We had supper outside and a campfire.

Wednesday - Rain - of course as we had to pack up everything to leave.  We took our golf cart up to the office compound, since we were going to be gone for 4 days.  Left the park about 11:30, the Captain/driver was glad to be out of the rain and on the road. We traveled today to go to Prosser, WA for the weekend, for Gary's RV Inspector Certification Training.
We drove back west on Hwy 26 to Gresham and then went up to I-84 to go east along the Gorge. There is beautiful scenery and waterfalls along there, from Troutdale to The Dalles. We crossed the Columbia River at The Dalles, Oregon.  It was interesting to us that on the Washington side, we immediately were driving through dry, bluff type of hills - more incline than we expected on that side. We then went on Hwy 14 and drove east.  We stopped along the roadside mid-afternoon for lunch - we were parked just above a vineyard/orchard farm and could also see the Columbia River and the Oregon Coast.  Another advantage of driving your home - you can stop anytime and have lunch in beautiful places.  We continued on, luckily avoiding a thunderstorm and arrived in Prosser, WA late afternoon. We pulled into our campsite and met the couple who would lead the RV inspector training for the weekend.  They left for supper, we set up and then sat through a brief thunderstorm.  When they returned, we all went to the RV Park office/store for a wine tasting.  The RV park has local winieries come to the park to host these events.  Afterward, Gary and I went to a local pizzeria for supper.

Our lunch stop - along Hwy 14, Washington side, east of The Dalles

Thursday - Gary was off to class at the meeting room in the RV park at 7:30 AM.  I slept in, then went for a long walk in the neighborhood.  We really enjoyed the openness of the RV park area and the Sunshine!!!  We were out of the dark forest for awhile. The Prosser area is very interesting, in the Yakima River valley, an oasis due to irrigation, surrounded by high, dry, brown bluffs. Another type of beauty.  There are over 30 winieries in the valley, they thrive there because with the irrigation they can control the moisture.  14 Hands, Columbia Crest, MaryHill, Airfield and Chateau St. Michelle are some of the better known winieries there.  We were busy enough with the class schedule that we did not get to any of them.
I worked on RVillage contacts and caught up on office work during the day.  Gary was home for lunch, then back to class.  I went out later in the day and got the car washed and picked up some groceries.  We went downtown for supper, ate at the Horse Heaven Saloon. Then we went over to look at some of the winieries by our campground.  There were seven in this area, all new, built around a courtyard type of setting.  More beautiful roses, the soil in this valley was perfect for them, so all many people had them in their yards and along their fence lines.

14 Hands Logo on the building

14 Hands Winery, Prosser, WA

From the vineyards courtyard

The walkway to one of the buildings

Gamache Winery building - one of seven in the courtyard

Beautiful

Roses palooza in Prosser

Friday - Gary said they wanted the spouses to attend today's meeting. Turned out, it really wasn't necessary for me to be there, other than meeting the other spouse, (there were only two inspectors and two instructors at this class). I had a nice time visiting with the husband of the other inspector and the wife of the instructor.  That night we all went back to the Horse Heaven Saloon for supper - kind of the graduation supper for the group.

Saturday - last day of class - hands on training - inspecting each other's motorhomes and looking at other motorhomes and fifth-wheels in the park.  It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day - we all enjoyed being outside.  After the graduation presentation, we had Happy Hour with the instructor and his wife and then went for a little supper to the pizzaria.  Back home, we packed up some things to prepare for our departure on Sunday.

Our camping site and view at the Vineyard Campground, Prosser

 Sunday - We went to Mass at Sacred Heart Parish in Prosser.  Then packed up and headed for Oregon. It was sunny, but windy on the way back along the river.  The Captain skillfully guided our ship homeward.  We went back on Hwy 97 in Washington and crossed the river south of Goldendale, to Biggs, OR and then west on I-84 again.  We stopped in Hood River for supplies from Walmart and then went back to Gresham, Hwy 26 to Sandy and back to our park.  Once back, we pulled out the hoses and washed the motorhome - it was quite dirty from driving in all the rain and wind.  We set up and went to bed.