Saturday, July 17th

I will tell you about yesterday, July 16th, we left Omak, WA & saw some beautiful country, some of it kind of looked like MT & some of it like WY between Larmie & Cheyenne, it is interesting how some of this cournty looks alike. We stopped in Colfax, WA to see Darlene & Mike Kroll, Don worked for Darlene's dad drilling water wells when he was in seminary. It was really fun to see them, they have been friends for about 46 years.

We traveled on to White Bird, ID, which is on the beautiful Salmon River & all the way through WA & into ID it was beautiful, it was also very warm but we drank a lot of water & made it to Donna Gabica's in fine shape. She was in our Star church & we have known her for 32 years. She has a lovely home & it was really fun to stay with her. Her son Doug & a couple friends came from Ferdanand, ID for supper & we had a great time visiting. It was my birthday & Donna knew that & had a birthday dinner with cake & all, it was lovely. This morning she took us for a drive to the "top" to see where their cattle run, & OH MY it was beautiful up there. I hope Don's pictures does it justice. Donna is an excellent driver & I wasn' t even scared. :) We got back to her home abut noon & we left for home & she went to help a cowboy move some cattle.

We got home about 6:30, Joy, Paco & Javi were here with Elmer & Louella to welcome us & it is great to be home. Elmer & Louella are going to stay in our home while we go to OR next week for Yearly Meeting. God has blessed us with a wonderful family & friends & I say it again God IS good. We rode the motorcycle 7113 miles and drove Susie's car 945 so we travelled 8058 miles. Quite a trip.

Pictures: Railroad trestle heading south out of Lewiston, Gabica cattle, Donna Gabica's lovely house, Alfreda and outhouse in mountains, alfreda's 69th birthday party at Donna Gabica's.

Friday, July 16th

We are ready for a hot day today, water bottles are filled as we've been told it will be hot from here on home. This will be a pretty drive today too, the drive into WA is really pretty, orchards from this great valley that produces fruit they send every where. We plan to make it to Donna Gabica's home tonight, she lives by Grangeville. I don't think she has internet so will have to catch up tomorrow on the way home.

Don said last night when we came back from eating a bite that it was the first time he had drove in the dark in a month!! I liked all the light they have up north right now but I know I would NOT like all the dark that they will soon have. Idaho here we come.

Thurs. night July 15th

We have had another awesome day. We left Williams Lake & south to Spences Bridge, then went east to Merritt, then Princeton , & crossed in to the USA at Osoyoos. It was such a pretty drive across there, we saw high desert, sage brush, green hay fields, green pasture with cows & horses in them, high mountains, rivers, lakes. What a beautiful drive it was. It is very warm now, I'll not complain if I turn into a grease puddle. :) I think it will be hot all the way home now. We are in Omak, WA.

Pictures: Road on way from Spences Bridge, Okanagan valley and mining ruins ant Hedley. We could have taken a tour of the mines but decided to pass.

Williams Lake Wednesday night 7-14

We have had a wonderful day of very good scenery. We have seen a lot of the logging industry, saw & pulp mills, cattle & horses, the first since we went north. Some farming, haying I should say, it is so pretty to see the hay fields & then go right back into the forest. We are sure in civilization now going from one town to another with out too many miles between. Gas has come down in price, the cheapest we have had in a very long time & it was still 3.70 a gal. It has run into the 6-8 dollar a gallon. Anywhere from 1.o7 to 1.89 a liter and it takes 3.7 liters to make a gallon.We are in a camp ground right next to the rodeo grounds, so kind of glad there isn't a rodeo tonigth. :)

We called home & Joy had to have a root canal today so we are sure sorry about that. :( This will be our last night in Canada so home is getting closer. We went 386 miles today. A beautiful day & I didn't have to wear all the clothes I own to keep me warm.

I(Don) took along my camcorder and have been using it to take the pictures. It works better than my camera as it will zoom to 40X and take the pictures as fast as I can click the shutter so my regular camera has stayed in the trunk. Pictures: Williams Lake, we are camped in the valley beyond the building, water wheel at Quenel used to pump ground water from the mines, delicious lunch just before Prince george, Frazer river where the river boats could not go any further downstream because of the rapids and canyon, country side west of Prince George. Small hay fields and cattle.

It is taking some getting used to having the sun go down so early. It is 9:50 Pacific time and the sun is down. We are used to it not going down until midnight and rising at 3 in the morning.

July 14th, Wednesday

Boy, a person can almost loose track of what day it is but I do know today is Erik & Mandy's anniversary, so happy anniversary.

We are up & going, looks like a beautiful day for which we are thankful. So thankful for all the blessings our wonderful God gives to us in our journey of life. God IS good. Will report tonight if we have wifi, I have been amazed at how even far remote places has it.

Tuesday Night

We are in Smithers, BC we have had a really good riding day, the sun finally came out & it was really nice. I saw a black bear swimming in the river, we turned around & went back & he was looking at us so cute, but when we stopped, he ran in the trees like a scared bear & no chance for a picture.

We are in a motel tonight, day for allergy shots & glad that is over for another week. We ate at Boston Pizza, split a very good meal & then split a cho dessert & that was super good. Breakfast is served at 7 so we plan to be ready to eat then & get down the road. Even though we went 380 miles today, we are still a long way from home.

Took this picture of a billy goat statue in Smithers. This may be the closest we will get to one. The picture of the River is the Ness river. Sorry there are two of the same one. This is about 100 yards from where Alfreda saw the bear swimming across a pond. The picture of the mountains is looking toward Stewart, BC and Hyder, Alaska is. If we would have had more time we would have went the 45 miles west and saw the glaciers and the brown bears catching salmon. Maybe next time.

Tuesday July 13th

Hello from a little place way out here in no where but lo & behold they have wifi free, & no password. We left camp about 7 & thought we woud have to go 3 hrs till breakfast but we came upon this little cute place. They have 2 camps here, one drilling & one geology. I talked to a young looking kid & he said he was the pilot to helicopter, I thought OH MY then I found out that he is 22 & has a year experience. I thought right then that I wouldn't ride iwth him unless it was life or death. :) Don is ready to put some pictures on here. He says we have to make good time today. Seen this neat bike and sidecar and a stuffed moose. Have not seen one like this in the wild yet.