Our Time Ends at Wildwood

Sunday - Last days of work.  We had fee booth duty again today.  The park was busy, several groups in the picnic shelters and many day visitors picnicking.  We checked bathrooms and garbage cans - worked at the shop cleaning up supplies.  Supper and a campfire.

Monday - our last time duty cleaning bathrooms at Sandy Ridge, the mountain biking park monitored by the BLM.  Park cleanup from the busy weekend and I worked on my curb project, Gary worked on other projects.  This evening was the going away potluck supper for us.  We had a great time visiting with our co-hosts.  We enjoyed our months with all of them.

Tuesday - as we worked on park duties, I continually did laundry, - rugs, rags, towels, and bedding.  We took our canopy down and cleaned up other items in the storage shed at our campsite.

Wednesday - time to pack up.  I worked on the remaining laundry and Gary sorted and packed up the outside bins of the motorhome, putting in everything we had used over the summer and the couple additional things we accumulated.  We turned in our keys and our golf cart and signed our final paperwork for the BLM.  That night, Dick and Anne took us out for supper - we went in to Sandy for pizza.  On the drive home, we saw our last sunset with Mt. Hood. Back in the park, we stopped by and said goodbye to Leslie and Chris. The best things about the jobs we have done in our travels, are  the people we have met and the new lasting friendships we have going forward.  Our time in Oregon is done, we are so glad we came.

Mt. Hood sunset

 Thursday, July 31 - We left the park at 8:00.  In Sandy, Gary stopped for gas for the motorhome and I bought a few groceries - one last time with no sales tax in Oregon.  We drove up to I-84 and headed east.  We crossed the Columbia River into Washington at Umatilla and then up Hwy 395.  We had estimated that we might stay in the Tri-Cities area of Washington boondocking that night, but it was a sunny 95 degree day, so we knew it would be best to be parked and plugged in for the air conditioning that night.  In researching RV parks north of there, the best option we found was Connell, WA.  We checked in to the Coyote Run RV Park there, a nice full hookup park.  The manager was very helpful, we got checked in and set up by 2:00.  Time to rest, we did not even drive around town, just stayed in our cool home.

Our empty site in the forest

Farewell, Wildwood

Sunset - Connell, WA

Colorful clouds

Amazing colors - Connell, WA

Friday - August 1st!  We left Connell at 8:00, driving northeast on I-90 to Spokane, then north on Hwy 395 to Chewelah.  We arrived about noon, hoping to get a site in case the campground filled up for the weekend.  We found the City Park campground and took the last shaded spot of the available sites, it was another 90+ temp day and the weekend forecast was for the same.  We visited with the couple next to us, they were from Canada and had come to town to visit friends for the weekend.  We picked up some groceries and then stayed home that night, watching movies and the interesting campers that arrived.

Saturday - slept in and then took a bike ride around the neighborhood.  Rain clouds were forming, so we were watching the weather.  We discovered my nice mountain riding bike did not have a kickstand, so we visited the local Ace Hardware store and Gary put one on for me. After lunch, we walked across the park to the car show they were having that day.  A lot of vintage cars and trucks.  It was a fundraiser for area military veterans.  Another hot day!  We went to Mass that afternoon at the St. Mary of Rosary church and then stopped at the Chew Vine for an early supper.  We had a nice visit with the proprietors, she told us a lot about the area.  While there, it began to storm, rain coming down in sheets.  We waited until it let up and then went back home.  It continued to rain hard, we were concerned about tree branches coming down on us - we did have a branch on the car when it was done.  No damage, but a mess.  Gary crawled up on top after the storm and cleaned a pile of branches and leaves off.  Then to bed, we will go to Canada tomorrow.

St. Mary of the Rosary Church - Chewelah, WA