6/25/07

Hey-finally we’re back on the blog with more stories from Lake Kachess! Have been so busy and been trying to find time to write and post some pictures but it isn’t easy with the schedule we have been keeping. The good part is that it hasn’t just been work that is keeping us hopping. We have been having lots of visitors and we love it. Also, we have managed to go and visit several friends on our days off and enjoyed seeing them and their beautiful homes and surroundings very much.

In our last blog update we mentioned that we were going to visit Jim & Diane Fisher-Baker. They were camp hosts here for 3 years and we got lots of good tips from them during our time together. They have recently purchased a very nice manufactured home in a gated community overlooking Lake Chelan so we were able to drive up there in our car and stay in their spare bedroom. Their home is lovely and so is the view and the weather there – much warmer and drier than here. We enjoyed 2 days of yakking and walks in the area, great meals prepared by both of them, and a nice lunch out at Blueberrry Hill Restaurant. On the way home we did some much needed shopping in Wenatchee, the largest town in the area.

When we got back from that visit, we had an e-mail from Terry & Vicki Webb, a Boomer couple we met last January at Quartzsite. They wanted to come to our campground with 2 rigs of people from their Unitarian church. So we reserved them 3 spots in our loop and had three days of visiting with them at Happy Hours. Their friends were delightful, we so enjoyed getting to know Terry and Vicki better, and we hope all three couples come back again since they all have homes in the Seattle area.

Next we were very pleasantly surprised when our young friends Anja and Ole and their dog, Moritz, appeared at our campground. We met them in Mexico about 10 years ago and have had several visits with them since then but not for about 5 years. They live in the Los Angeles area and work in the film industry. They were on their way to a wedding in Seattle and came early to see us. What fun, with lots more yakking, Happy Hours, and shared meals for 2 days.

On our next day off, we went with Frank, one of the other camp hosts here, to visit his friends Chuck and Jerry who have a small farm in Enumclaw. They have done wonders with the property, which has a fabulous view of Mount Rainier. Since it was a sunny, beautiful day, we had an awesome view of the mountain. We were also able to enjoy a delicious lunch in their garden in the sunshine-hooray! They raise a few chickens and turkeys, as well as a pheasant and a few baby turkeys, plus three horses. After serving us a feast for lunch, Jerry took us to do some exploring and shopping in nearby towns. They sent us home with dozens of fresh eggs-yum.

The day after that trip, we were very pleasantly surprised by a phone call from our old friends Lee & Susie Blattner, that they were heading our way. Luckily we have a campsite fairly near our rig with a long parking slot for their rig and car. They stayed three nights and there was, of course, more gabbing and eating. They were here through part of the weekend and we are always busy checking in campers and doing other chores, so we were glad they understood about our time restrictions.

They left early on Saturday, and several hours later, our friends Joe Jackaway and Karen Blue arrived. Joe traveled with us down to the Panama Canal and back in 2004 and we haven’t seen him since. Blue has been his traveling companion ever since we introduced them on that trip. She was a high school friend of mine whom I hadn’t seen in 40 years. She wrote a book about women reinventing their lives by moving to Mexico and when I read that book, I got her current e-mail address and arranged for our Panama group to visit her in Ajijic, near Lake Chapala and Guadalajara. She and Joe hit it off and the rest is history. It was fabulous to see them again and catch up on all their news. They could only stay until Sunday, but we managed to have a great dinner together around a blazing campfire and a nice breakfast the next day before they left.

Since we have been complaining about the weather, we need to admit that we finally had about 4 days of nicer weather last week. The sunshine rejuvenated us and recharged the batteries on the rig as well as our own! Unfortunately, after all the wet and then the warmth, it also brought a big mosquito infestation. They were here for about 5 days and smoky fires were encouraged to keep them away! Today we noticed that they are pretty much gone, but perhaps that is because we had a huge rainstorm starting yesterday and continuing all night and the temps today were cold again, with snow returning to the slopes above the lake.

Despite the changeable weather, we have been having more and more campers. Last weekend the campgrounds were all full again, the first time this has happened since Memorial Day weekend. I’m sure we will be having lots of campers over the week of the 4^th of July too.

Tomorrow we drive to SeaTac to pick up Adrianna (Paige), my 16 year old granddaughter, who will be staying with us for 13 days. I’m sure we will be getting out the kayaks, going for bike rides, and hopefully getting in some fishing while she is here.

I am posting some pictures below of the people mentioned in this episode. I have some great ones of Chuck & Jerry and the super shot of Mount Rainier from their place, but I am having trouble keeping my internet connection so I will try to post those next time.