Once again Linda and I headed out for another summer in the Northwest. It was our fifth since we began working on a new place to live up there. We passed our final inspection last summer and Linda's mother Cathy moved there from Florida.
I began the trip by riding the Buell to deliver it to its new owner near Austin. Linda picked me up there in the GTI and we met Kevin and Danielle for lunch at the East Side Cafe. We spent the night with them in Dripping Springs and went on to the Kerrville Music Festival.
We've learned that going to Kerrville on the way to Washington saves hundreds of miles compared to doing it as a separate round trip from Wylie. This year we left in such a scramble that I forgot all about photos until our camp at Quiet Valley Ranch, so that's where they begin.
This was an especially important Kerrville for those of us who are part of Camp Coho. Since last summer, Coho lost it's mainstay, Michael Terry, as well as Jack Hardy, who always comes from New York to spend his festival time with us there. Dozens of friend turned out for a celebration of the lives of two of the truly great Kerrverts.
Linda's hats always draw a lot of interest
"Too much Corona, You Get Lime Disease" Jack Hardy
"Everything's Bigger in Texas" Jack Hardy
How to make Coho Coffee, as illustrated by the master, Michael Terry
Sun dried cheese and Texas wine. It doesn't get any better.
Ross, are you sure?
Time for the main stage, with . . .
Susan Werner
Cheryl Wheeler
David Wilcox
Time to pack up way too soon
and head west
First stop is the home of friends in El Paso
John has a smoker just like the great one he gave us a few years ago
Our great host and hostess
The York kids (especially John) like the new snow cone machine
And Deb likes Linda's hats
So does John
That look is right on
El Paso by night
and by day
Too soon time to roll on
San Xavier mission, on the Tohona-O'odham Nation reservation, near Tucson
Our mission was to get some of the great fry bread
Mission accomplished
See the dome on Kitt Peak in the background
You can't miss it now
The McMath solar telescope
Looking up at the celostat
One of the mirrors is placed by the trolley on this track
One of the research astronomers we met there
another who gave us a close up look at the McMath focus
Linda checks out the sun with a Coronado
Our friend from earlier works at the celostat
This is always my favorite view of the mountaintop
Hoover dam from the new bypass bridge
I took the helicopter ride last year before the bridge was completed
non-stop thru Vegas. I've already been too many times
Can you spot Mt. Whitney?
Mono Lake, near Lee Vining
Enough of that
You may have seen this from 30 years ago on our living room wall
Rosies is always a good place to stop in Tahoe City
Statue at the Donner Party site
The old Truckee Hotel
Mt. Shasta
First time here for either of us
This is our idea of spelunking
Crater Lake is still a must
Looking toward Mt. St. Helens from the town of Hood River
Rainier is home to Main St. Cookie Co. and Zambuto Optical
A good cigar is the secret to the quality of Zambuto mirrors
Blanks for the next five Teleports
The base at Bremerton
and here we are
Ursula was waiting
as well as Cathy
this tree was looking toward the house, so . . .
Digger Dave prepares the trench for water and power to the new shop
Supervised of course by Quixote
Who was rescued by Barbara
A hose bib for Barbara's garden
Clearing brush for the new hammock space
Our computer area and the yoga space
the theatre
The new kitchen
I modified these Ikea cabinets in the LTFWT and we hauled them up
Cathy's flower garden
What was stored in the garage for the winter
had to get relocated to the new garage/workshop
as soon as it's new loft was finished
the hammock is a perfect fit in the cleared space
The water and power connections are now complete
as is the countertop for the new range cabinets
I sourced the Okume plywood for the next Teleports here at Edensaw in Pt. Townsend
Pygmy boats will provide kits for the kayaks we want to build next summer
We tried out a finished one here
Cleaned up the Ducati
and filled it's tank before heading for the motorcycle "Rally In the Gorge"
The Tacoma Narrows bridge
My favorite breakfast place in Spanaway
Can you guess which of the five volcanoes in the area this one is?
The road to Windy Ridge was still closed with snow. I rode it last summer.
This road, NF-25, was just opened a few days ago
You can look but you can't go
Our campground for the rally is the city park in Stevenson
The finest in covered parking for these bikes
and tent sites on the north bank of the Columbia
Looking south toward Mt. Hood
Hood river has great windsurfing
Do you remember Clem Salvadore (center) from our Edelweiss ride three years ago?
Overlooking the Columbia river near Multnoma Falls
Reminded me of the Rhine
This hike promised a view of the five nearest volcanic peaks
St. Helens
Ranier
Adams
Hood
Jefferson
Will I ever learn to identify these five peaks?
Thanks to these fellow riders for the photo of me
Clem shows a photo of 750 Honda like mine from 1969
Time to dry and pack the tent
I headed east along the Columbia
After they tapped all the available hydropower, they turned to the wind
Headed up the road out of Ellensburg
Since I would be close, I had to stop by the Table Mountain Star Party
Missed seeing Hulan Fleming, who painted the portrait of Carl Zambuto
I've been to the TMSP three times before. It's a great star party.
There seemed a good turnout this year
This was my first time to cross the entire mountain. The Ducati was up for it.
I met Linda and Barbara for an outdoor concert featuring some of our songwriter friends
These are our friends, and we even admit it.
Pierce Pettis
Cary Cooper
Tom Prasada Rao
It went on into the evening
Please try to imagine many cool photos at the place in Poulsbo in this space here.
Somehow I lost about 40 of them taken during the last part of our time there.
We start again here on the return trip home with Barbara.
The home of Bill and Mary Muse, our friends in Missoula, MT.
The Two Muses will soon be moving back to the Texas Hill Country
Down there is Nederland, CO
and the home of our friend Darryl Purpose
Darryl has a great view of Nederland
We met Bernice Lewis, from Massachusetts, for lunch in Pueblo
We stayed that night with our friend Tim Keller in Des Moines, NM
We stayed in Christina's Studio C. She was away in Santa Fe.
Tim recommended this café, named for the nearby mountain. Good breakfast!
We met up with friends from Australia and Texas at Comanche Springs Observing site
The 3RF campus is the largest public observing facility in Texas
Three Rivers Foundation is the brainchild of our friend Fred Koch
My old dome that came from the White Sands Missile Test Range.
I had donated it to 3RF to welcome visitors to the campus.
Linda and I plan to create a series of proper signs for it this winter
They will tell the story of how Clyde Tombaugh was once in charge of it.
That's all folks!