Everyday is an Adventure for Tomie and Karen

Having some difficulty with uploading, photos to follow....

Tues Sept 18th,2007

The days seem to just run together. I am always asking Karen what day it is - she looks at her watch and tells me. Losing track of time didn't take long. Today we are in Sandpoint, ID. We are sitting on a lake drinking coffee and enjoying the free wi-fi. So we will go back to our last entry..

Friday Sept 14th: Bend.OR

we went out for a nice scenic bike ride along the Cascade Scenic byway near Mt. Bachelor. We decided to do a loop ride since the first part of the bike was all down hill and we wanted to avoid major climbs. we road past many lakes and lots of trees! I was in Heaven... We have no pictures due to the batteries going out in the camera. Just as well. The ride was great, not many cars and no stops along the way. We were out there in the wilderness. We then were getting close to our turnoff to complete our loop and head back to the car when we came upon a road closed sign. WHAT?? well the road back to our car had been closed since may and wasn't due to open for another week. So we had to take a detour on a gravel road with our road bike for 7 miles.!!! To say the least it was a challenge to our mental toughness!!! we then got to the main road that would finally lead us to the car. We were now at 51 miles and the car was near the base of Mt. Bachelor - - 15 more miles - uphill. Remember this is Karen's 3rd ride in 10 years. I decided to ask this couple who just pulled into the turnoff for a ride to my car. They were from the Netherlands and were very friendly! thank goodness. Not sure how happy we would have been if we road up to the car. After the ride we went into downtown Bend and I had a few beers! Karen drove again. The only time Karen gets to drive is if I've had more than 2 beers.

Sept 15th Sat.. we Drive to Portland

We have decided to take a detour to Portland to visit with some friends from San Diego. We took the scenic route through the Columbia River Gorge. We stopped at Multnomah Falls, the first time we encountered so many people. It was a bit of an adjustment for us. We then made it to our friends Suzanne and Helena's home. Suzanne was working on building a shed and we got to help put up the fourth wall! We had to work for our free place to stay. They took us to a tavern in the pearl district of portland. we then walked from their house to a hostel/movie theater/pub/resturant called McMenamans. It was an old elementary school that they converted. A great Idea!!! Off to bed..

Sept 16th

Our first Run!! This week seems to be a first for lots of things. We decided that since we were so close we would drive to Seattle. Karen had never been and it is only 3 hours away so why not??? Our first rain was in portland and it seems to be following us. We decided to stay in a hostel across the street from the Pikes public Market in Seattle. This was again a first for both of us - in the states. We paid $27 pp for a bunk and got free dinner, free wi-fi and free breakfest. Not to mention it is in the heart of the city!! This was a great first. We went out wandering for a drink. At least for me. Karen will have some famous Seattle coffee. We happened to come across this very interesting place down below the alley way.. Curiosity took us inside.... it turned out to be the place that our friends in Portland told us to go called the PINK DOOR.. I highly recommend it. It then started raining again on our way back to the hostel (green tortoise). off to bed with our new roomies from SF.

Sept 17th

Today started off with a jump start for me. We had parked our car on the street and new we needed to move it by 8am. Well i woke up pretty early and decided at 7am to go find a new parking place. WEll, when i got to the street, my car was the only one on the block. OH SHIT@!# We were to move it by 6am. As I sprinted up to my car a tow truck was pulling in front of it to take it away. I got there in the nick of time. Thank goodness. That would be another adventure that i wouldn't want to take on. I then put the car in a garage and got Karen to go grab some famous seattle coffee. ( i think we drank like 4 cups today) We walked around the Public market watching them throw fish and amazed at the price of flowers. Then we headed to Idaho!! Back to the trees and wilderness. I am done with city life for awhile. I can park my car almost anywhere in the campground.

OUR FIRSTS: first free campground shower here in Sandpoint; first night camping in the rain here in Sandpoint; first big cities; first time Karen drove when Tomie had not been drinking; first Monday night football viewing - Karen was interested in the Women's World Cup - no luck in getting the bar to change the channel; first stay in a hostel this trip; first volunteer work opportunity with Suz. & Helena's hom-improvement project; first travel souveneir - "The Moonglow Dragon" - from Suz. & Helena; first waterfall sighting; first morning the camp stove wouldn't work - we left it out in the rain OOPS. What an adventure!!!