in spokane at last

Hello from spokane,

It is early morning 1 July and as usual I'm awake while my hosts are still in bed. But as with Shannon and Miguel's, they have left the coffee machine ready for me to turn on so shortly I'll go upstairs ( I'm in the basement ) and have a coffee and read the paper which is supposed to be delivered.
Yesterday, we DID get off about 10 am as I expected. On the way out we did a trip to the tip....$30. for a regular load.... and then stopped at Trader Joe's for supplies for the lake. We also had one more stop along the way for a subway ( we split one ) and I was again charmed by how beautiful washington state is. Seattle is pretty spectacular and Buzzie pointed out where Bill Gates lives and some the other important sites. Of course, as you leave the area it gradually goes through the Columbia Gorge and then turns into desert. I looked for and finally did see some ash on the side of the road near Moses Lake.
We stopped at Maria and Robert's on the way back...a couple of blocks from home....and then decided to stay in Spokane overnight instead of pushing on to the lake. By this time it was about 4 30 pm and it was a good call. Maria suggested a bbq at her place later and that is what we did...after first hitting the Roesars for contributions.
One of Maria's friends Donella ( I think I figured out how she got her name ) was there along with Robert and Maria and Nico and Cruse their two boys.
then it was back to 17th avenue and pretty much straight to bed.
Spokane is still beautiful and if I ever got deported from Oz this is where I would go back to.
So later this morning we'll head to the lake to be joined in the next few days by Robert and Maria and Michael and DB and various members of their families.
Hugs to all,
dad