It is Sunday, and as usual up early. Don’t want to miss any of another beautiful day. During the day, some people saw the sign on the back of the 5^th wheel. And we heard a lady say, "Are you Miki?" Steve put this sign on the back:

Next to Grace is a picture of a lady with a shopping list. Next to Jerry is a fisherman and next to Miki is a dog with a paper in its mouth… Really cute. A lot of people are leaving the park today. So it is getting more private and nice. Steve and Jake went swimming. Jerry and I and the dogs just loafed. In the evening we took the dogs to a meadow where they ran in circles at full speed. Sure was fun to watch. 

We had hot dogs for lunch and BBQ hamburger and baked potato’s for dinner.

It rained last night. Thunder (which I didn’t hear) and lightning and it poured. The 5^th wheel held up. No leaks… Up at 7am. Had a bite to eat. Took the dogs for a run then hitched up and off to Rugby. Stopped and met Pete and Caroline Hoffert. What nice people. They are the parents of a friend. She fixed us a nice lunch. Got back to Minot at 1 PM. Jake left at 2:30. We really enjoyed meeting her and having her camp with us. Jerry gave her a bad time but she could take it and give it back. Steve and I went to Wal-Mart to get a few more odds and ends. We went out to the Ground Round for dinner. It was very good. I’ll hate to get home and have to cook again. That evening, Miki spotted a stray dog and dashed into a very busy street. Luckily the cars stopped. Steve tied up the stray, a really nice golden retriever. No name tag etc. So he called the animal control to come get her before she got hit, or another dog got hit because of her. If she had had a name tag, or vet tag on her he would have tried to find the owner. Now that we are back, Jerry and I decided to sleep in the 5^th wheel, since the bed is easier to get in and out and the bathroom is closer. I called Rick and all is fine there Except the hot tub needs a repair. He made an appointment for them to come down and fix it. When we got home I found I put the first Boo- Boo in the 5^th wheel. I didn’t snap the sliding door to the bedroom area and it put a small dent in the wall. We put a stopper over the dent. So it won’t happen again. And it hides the dent…

Today would have been Grandma JO’s 85 birthday. We got up at 7am. Had coffee. I started a load of laundry, took a shower and ready for another lazy day. Jerry and Steve left to get a hair cut. So I walked 6 hot blocks to K-mart just to look. Well I found a vacuum cleaner on sale for the 5^th wheel, plus several other things. So I bought them. I left them at the store, and will have Steve bring me back up with the truck to get them. Had them deduct $20 mistake they made. When the guys got back, they had come home and I was gone, so they went out to the garden. Had some neat stuff from it. Darn, I missed out on picking and weeding. At 4:30 we picked up Everet and he treated us to dinner at a buffet. Sure was good. Back home Steve and Jerry was tearing an old microwave apart to find 2 magnets that are suppose to be in it. They had almost given up when a CO-worker stopped by to meet us and he told the guys where to look. So now they have 2 magnets…We went over to Steve's friends, Leroy and Dee and visited. Later some more friends came by. The Shannon family to visit. Steve has such nice friends. We leave tomorrow and head west with the 5^th wheel. Then Steve will have room to work on his old pickup.

Up at 5:45am. Steve took pictures of the 5^th wheel all hooked up

And Jerry and I and Miki next to it. On the road at 6:30 Filled the gas tanks at Williston $1.54 $46.40. Headed west stopped at a rest stop at 9:30 to let Miki run. We are looking for a café and can’t find one. In Glasglow Montana the gas prices were $1.67 a gallon. So glad we can hold so much, so we can by pass these high prices. Stopped and I fixed sandwiches for lunch. It is cooling off and thunder showers. Some of the clouds were odd looking, but we outran them. We are out of water, but that is O.K., we will be stopping for the night and will fill it up. We stopped at Havre for the night. It is 3 pm, 4 Steve’s time. It is a fancy park with lots of fancy rigs there. We fit right in with our fancy rig. Didn’t feel like the poor relations. Filled the gas tanks $1.59 $70 worth. Jerry can’t find the jacks handle and I can’t find the thermometer. Who could have taken them Big mystery…? About 5:30 after looking and looking I found the jack handle in the laundry hamper and the thermometer on a high shelf. Another mystery solved.

August 3^rd.

Today would have been Grandma Jalo’s (my mother) 87^th birthday. Up early as usual. Went to bed early, as it was a long drive. During the night I got up and when I got back to bed, a bed thief has taken over. Miki made herself comfortable on my pillow. Needless to say she retreated to the floor. We were on the road by 7 am. Today’s route will take us into the Rocky Mountains. Stopped at Chester for breakfast. Stopped at Cut Bank filled one tank $1.59 $23 worth. Also got ice. Drove to Kalispell then south to Missoula. Stopped and bought some fresh cherries. I wanted to find a campground with a meadow, stream and hook ups. At Arlee Montana we found mostly what I wanted. A meadow, stream and electricity. Water was there to fill your tanks and a dumpsite. Just perfect.. The electricity didn’t last. Couldn’t hold up to the air conditioner. But it cooled off and the sound of the stream, we slept real good. Had baked potato’s, steak and corn on the cob, which I tossed away. Too ripe. Can’t wait to get home to our garden for fresh vegetables. There was a family from Switzerland staying there. They were touring the west. I enjoyed talking to her. Called the Pelissers to tell them where we were and we would be there tomorrow.

Up at 6am. No rush to hit the road, as we are only 4 hours from Spokane. Went to take a shower at the camp. It had a pay station which I think is wrong since you pay to park there. So my perfect camp spot had flaws. But it did have the stream and it was peaceful. We stopped at St. Regis for breakfast. They were short handed and slow, but we were not in a hurry. Stopped at a State park and rested for an hour. At the border Washington we got gas. $1.59 -. 56 gallons. $89.95. We were getting low. Arrived in Spokane and followed the map we had. Went down a washboard road, even at 5 mile an hour is shook bad. But we did drive right up to the house. Jerry and Geri Ann were at work. But one of their sons, Dave was there. It was so good to see him after all these years and is such a nice young man. He had us park in the field, hooked us up to water and electricity. It was very hot out so we started the Air conditioner. It worked for a while, then nothing. Then when Geri Ann got home, no water. The problem was 2 fuses were out, because of us. They fixed it with a smile. They had a boxer dog named Sammy. A real sweet dog. She and Miki got along really well. Geri Ann and I went to town and got Kentucky fried chicken for dinner. We visited until 10 p.m. It cooled off and we slept really good.

Up early and when I opened the door Sammy was waiting for Miki to come play. We went into the house and Miki disappeared. She went into the bedroom and got Jerry P. up. Also went up stairs to see Dave. Geri Ann and Jerry left to help a friend that was having car trouble. I did one load of laundry. We just sat under the awning. It was cool out. Geri Ann came home and fixed a big breakfast. Then pizza for lunch. For dinner steak I’ll never be hungry again. We still owe them a dinner. They wouldn’t hear of us taking them out to eat. We will get even some day. Their son Dave was sick today. We felt sorry for him. To bed at 9:30 Miki is happy to be off the leash and she is getting so dirty. But she is having a good time. Geri Ann and I went to town twice during the day for odd and ends. Old friends are so special

August 6^th

Up at 6 am. We will head for Colville to visit with Karin and Hack. More old good friends. We got to Colville at 10.15am. Went to the fair grounds and parked the 5^th wheel. We unhooked the pickup and headed for the Boatman’s. Karin was sitting on the pouch waiting. Miki got acquainted with their two dogs. Penny and Macy. They seem to be getting along fine. We talked and talked. Jenelle came by with her youngest son. 18 months old. Also had a young girl with her. Had a nice visit. So good to see these kids all grown up and doing so well with their families. Walked to the city park where the town was having a celebration. Looked over the booths to get ideas for stuff we could make. Back to the house. Karin and I gave Miki a bath. Now she is white like she should be, not gray. We all went out to the fair grounds, to show the trailer. Then to a Mexican restaurant. What a good meal We went back to the fairgrounds and visited. We went to bed about 10pm. WOW night owls. Huh..

Up at 6 am. Another hot day. I took a bath in the little tub. YES, I did fit into it. And didn’t need help prying me out of it. We to Wal-Mart and got more stuff. Then to Safeway where we got Ice, beer, pop. Ran into Hack as we were leaving, he was coming in to get milk etc. We went back to the fairgrounds and got Miki and headed to Boatman’s. We sat around and visited. Jerry went back to the 5^th wheel to shave, he forgot to do it and looked pretty shaggy. He looked so much better. Hack and Jerry walked up to a fish hatchery. Saw some very large trout. About 3:30 it was hot and everyone was tired. So we went back to the fairgrounds and took a nap. Shows how old we are getting. Back to the Boatman’s Had a wonderful dinner. Hack picked the first ears of corn from his garden. It was sooooooo good. Had steak, baked potato and green salad. Karin said Hack did the honors on the meal. Penny and Miki want to play but the barking (Miki’s barking) drives you crazy. Went back to the fairgrounds at 9pm. Karin has to work tomorrow and we will head off heading to Loren Martin’s. We were just thinking of going to bed when there was a knock on the door. It was Karin with the wine coolers. She should have kept them, but I’ll drink them sooner or later. Called Steve to let him know where we were and how things were going. He wanted to know where all his underwear went. Also his shot glass he bought at the Peace Gardens. Leave it to Mom to loose stuff. I guess I must have packed the underwear with Jerry’s stuff.

Up at 5:30. Ridiculous isn’t it. On vacation and up so early. We headed out for Cle Elm Washington. Called Loren to make sure they would be home. It is about a 5-hour drive. Gave Miki her pill. We are making a drug addict out of her. When the trip is over, she will have to go walk the streets to get her fix and hopefully she won’t come home with Aids. But it is better than having her have a nervous breakdown. We saw a fawn on the road. Still had its spots. Saw mountain quail. The road is really a pretty drive. Stopped at 8:30 am in Davenport for breakfast. Transferred gas at 10am. At 1 I called Loren to come lead us in. He had us pull into his yard between a gate. Really surprises me that Jerry can maneuver the 5^th wheel like he does. We visited for 2 hours. Then headed off at 3pm. Anxious to get home. Filled the gas tanks They were thirsty. $1.59 $106. At Yakima. We stopped at a RV park run by the Yakima Indians. It is really beautiful, but it was HOT. At least 100 out. It took almost 3 hours to cool it down. I fixed the last of the polish hot dogs. For dinner. I went to bed at 8: 30. I have a sore spot in my mouth.

I was up and down all night. And at 4 am took my teeth out as my face was swelling up. Got up at 5am. Had coffee and on the road at 6am. Getting real anxious to get home. Gave Miki a small piece of a pill. Just enough to keep her mellow. Crossed the Columbia at Mary Hill into Oregon at 7:30am. The swelling is going down on my face. Came across one accident in the entire trip. Transferred gas outside of Portland. At 9:45am. Gassed up at Creswell at 11:20 $1.49 - $65.25. Only 5 miles from home. Home by noon. All in all a great trip. As I unpacked and did laundry I see I did have some of Steve’s underwear. OOPS, I have to do something about returning them I’ll buy some new ones and send them with the ones I took… Some facts – We put on 3523 miles. Gas cost was $646. We stayed in 2 motels and 8 campgrounds. All in all we had a great trip. But one thing for sure… "There is no place like home."

Grace and Jerry Hansen