The Drive from Boise

We were finally able to leave Boise just before noon on Tuesday, after having breakfast at Le Peep with our friends Jim and Patti Stevenson, who have been a tremendous help to us during our last month in Boise.   For our first night camping we opted to stay at Emigrant Springs State Parks (just south of Pendleton).  It's primary attraction to us was that it is convenient to the freeway, and it helps to break up the long drive to Seattle.

Patti & Jim Stevenson, at Le Peep.

Alea at our campsite in Emigrant Springs State Park.

The next day, we drove west on Highway 14 along the north side of the Columbia River, opting to stop at John Day Dam to let Lana stretch her legs.  By chance, The Lady of Washington happened to be motoring upstream near where we had stopped, so we took a couple of pictures.

The Lady of Washington on the Columbia River below John Day Dam,
with Native American fishing platforms in the foreground.

The Lady of Washington entering the dam lock.

Our destination for the evening was Vancouver, WA, at the home of our friends, Craig and Jodi Blackwood.  They were part of our circle of Seattle dog-walking friends that we'd run into often at Golden Gardens park (most of the rest of whom we'll catch up with on Friday in Seattle).

Jodi Blackwood and Alea, in front of Jodi's home.

From there we stopped in Chehalis to visit with Leah (Overman) Wegener.  I'd met Leah and her brother Bob in 1984 as we were all cycling south down the Oregon Coast.  At the time I was delighted to meet some other folks from Tacoma (where I was then living), and I also recall a great communal meal of East Indian food that was orchestrated by Lester Tanaka.  But eventually I crossed paths with Leah again in Tacoma, and we stayed in touch the following year as I rode solo across the U.S., and she and Bob did likewise a little later in the year (on a different route).  If cell phones had existed back then, we likely would have rendezvoused in the east, but that never happened.

Alea, me, Leah and Lana.
(Photo by Henry Wegener)

The fruits of the labor of Leah's church group as they prepare for vacation bible school.

Leah, Henry and Jacob Wegener.

We arrived in Seattle late on Thursday and we've been camping in front of the home our friends, Ken and Cary Blassingame, where there will be a potluck send-off for us this evening (Friday).  

Urban camping is yet another reason that we love teardropping!

Urban camping in Ballard.