Adventure 142: Spokane, Washington/Home Sweet Home/End Year One

Real time.

After a night of dreaming about winning millions at the gaming tables at the Wild Horse Casino in Pendleton, Oregon, we awoke to the reality of frozen rain. It was actually good news because it meant our decision to press on yesterday was the right one. We took advantage of the weather break to play the final round in our ongoing cribbage tournament. Amazingly enough, the Wily Cager prevailed due to superior skills, excellent luck, and a winning smile. The overall tournament result ended in a tie (How fitting). We've had a journey full of laughs, only half of the stories made at Judy's expense (And I usually made those up for the sake of  reader interest-I mean who among you didn't root for Judy). We wore out two decks of cards, and the new deck, which is barely broken in, remains at the ready for future adventures. We finally pulled out late in the morning after the freezing rain let up. We drove quite slowly (45 MPH) for about forty miles because the road was slippery and there were a couple of crashed semi-trucks in the ditches (It's always a bad sign when the professionals are crashing). About the Tri-Cities the temperature warmed up to 34 degrees and the roads dried out visibly, so I increased our speed to normal levels. The forecast had predicted bright blue sky and it proved to be accurate as we made our way toward Ritzville on highway 395. Actually, our traveling mercies couldn't have been better. The day before the area received close to ten inches of snow, but today everything was excellent, especially for winter traveling. We cruised into Spokane (Quite surreal actually), mid afternoon. We took Frac right to the Airstream dealer so he could winterize it. It is winter here (Some of you may have heard of it). I'm actually trying to break up with winter because I think summer is hotter. That's a joke, but I'm serious. The Airstream folks will keep Frac for as long as we need. I plan to fly to Seattle Thursday to continue supporting my cousin as much as I can. Judy will fly over at the time of the service. It feels good to be home. We did our usual post trip ritual: unpack the truck, read the mail, feel thankful, etc. All in all, we put 12, 533 miles on Fric. Less miles were put on the trailer, but my guess is that we put over eight thousand miles on it. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, we're thankful nothing untoward happened, and above all we felt adventurous. This will be the last post until we take  Fric and Frac out again. I've heard that Spring is on the way. I tell people that I'm glad they've read the blog. It's been fun knowing there's somewhat of an audience out there. I can only say two things in closing. First, if you are harboring any thoughts of taking a great adventure of your own: Don't wait. Second, Life is good, especially today. Bye for now.

 The Bunny's yard will start to take shape soon.

 Flowers will bloom.

 Herbs will sprout.

 Tomatoes will  climb.

 We'll sit on the sofa.

 Or maybe the leather chair.

 We might even share this easy chair.

 We'll even water the Christmas Cactus.

But mostly we'll enjoy our Home Sweet Home.

Good bye for now.