Round Two

If you haven't been following Sam's Facebook link, you don't know that he's made it as far as Payette, Idaho.  He's met some wonderful and generous people already who have housed and fed both him and his horses.  He's only been turned away once, so far!

After Sam's Milton-Freewater send-off, the Bearded One and I headed back towards Bellingham.  We stopped briefly in Yakima and drove by the old Whitaker homestead which was depressing to say the least.  The owners have let all the gardens that Betty so tenderly tended go completely to seed, the house looks run down and instead of using the multiple driveways for parking their vehicles, they have torn up the front yard and planted them there.  So, so sad.  I couldn't bear to take photos of it all, so nothing to share on that front.  I want to remember it in its glory.

Next we headed for Ellensburg to spend the night and visit with Stacia, one of Jessi's good friends from high school and one of our "adopted" daughters.  She is a youth director at the Chestnut Street Baptist church there and we wanted to worship with her on Sunday.  We arrived around dinner time on Saturday and took her out for dinner in her "new to her" car.  We were so thrilled to see her new wheels, a 2008 Subaru Forester.  To understand our joy, you would have to know that ever since high school she has had to drive beat up, broken down, barely running vehicles that would maybe/maybe not make it to wherever she had to go.  She's on a tiny salary and they were all she could afford.  Her wonderful church family took up a collection and provided her with the funds to purchase a working car... hallelujah!  

Sunday after church we continued west on I-90 and made a not-to-be missed stop in Cle Elum to visit the bakery and the meat shop.  Cle Elum bakery is the only place we've ever found that makes the Italian delicacy known as torchetti.  They are a light, crispy, slightly sweet treat that is  

the perfect accompaniment for coffee or tea.  We cleaned them out, but as you can see, there weren't many left!

Next it was on to Roslyn to get some lunch at Village Pizza which Stacia highly recommended.  We were not disappointed and it was obvious by the number of folks taking up space that it's a well-loved community hangout.  And for those of you who are "Northern Exposure"  fans,

I couldn't leave without sharing the iconic mural from the show's opening

We managed to take the wrong road out of Roslyn that went on and on and on for half a hour until we came to the sign that said "road closed".  Hmmm, don't you think they could have told us that at the start of the road?  That added an hour to our return trip but we finally made it home and now I'm back at work and you won't hear from me again for months.  :)