It's been a long time since I've been here. We've been busy running around the U.S.

We decided when we were both retired that we would spend as little time as possible in weather above 100 degrees F. Success has been near complete these last 3 summers.

This summer we left the desert the last of May and headed to the Pacific Northwest. Trying to be as frugal as possible with fuel for the motorhome we attemped to keep the path as straight, up and back, as possible. We traveled hiway 395 off the desert to Bishop and then hiway 4 and 95 to get to I-80 as directly as we could go. Also, there're not as many steep grades on that route as compared to 395 to Reno, NV.

Our interim destination was with family near Riggins, ID, where the river flows and the trees are green. A few off-shoot trips in the car took up the next couple of weeks. One included our granddaughter's graduation from jr high preparing to enter high school. We senior adults wonder how time has passed so quickly that our tiny grandchildren have already reached these milestones. Another trip took us to the Columbia River Gorge for more water and green. The friendship and hospitality of friends there may be equalled but never surpassed.

We traveled on to Spokane, WA where we stayed in a very nice park on the northeast side of the city for a month. We discovered the wild huckleberry crop, in the Priest Lake, ID area, was early and prolific. We came away with several quart bags full, to hoard and meter out carefully over the year until we have opportunity to supply. The young people in the area harvested the berries and sold them at prices that seemed high until one considers the effort involved in the gather. We would require a "King's Ransom" to give up any we gathered. Prime gathering spots are not revealed to just anyone. We were fortunate to have "insider access" with friends living in the area.

We planned a trip to historic and fun spots in the eastern US for September, so time came to return home on the desert to prepare. Thank the good Lord that we have a cooler for the house, 'cause the desert is still HOT at the end of August.