Tuesday, 21 August

"Fish and guests smell after three days." So it was time to move on. Jean's cousin had made an 8:00 am appointment for her at the dog groomer so we were off by about 7:50 (early for us). We dropped YumYum off at the groomer and started looking for a place for breakfast. About that time we got a check-engine light, so when we came across a garage, we pulled in and had them look at the codes. After much surfing on the computer they determined that it was "particulate filter in the exhaust" and wouldn't affect the engine. In fact, the light turned itself off later on.

However, they gave us a recommendation for a good breakfast place, so we went to Mike's Log Cabin, which is in a Conoco station, not a place we would normally look for food. Was pretty good, though. After breakfast we got a call that YumYum was ready to be picked up so we did so and got on our way to Seattle.

Maybe it was because it was cooler, but we didn't have as much trouble going over the hills out of Yakima. On the other side is a beautiful valley with lots of green fields (thanks to irrigation) and orchards. We also caught a glimpse of a snow-capped mountain in the distance, presumably Mt. Ranier, but that was only briefly.

We crossed the mountains through Snoqualmie Pass. The views are breathtaking. You look around and realize that there is no way you can squeeze all of that into a little square. The most carefully made photograph is a paltry reproduction of the magnificent scenes you see at every bend in the road.

Then we were into the outskirts of the Seattle area. Jean chose an RV park as close to Seattle as possible, in hopes that our friend, Linda, might be able to meet us tomorrow and save trying to maneuver the motorhome in downtown Seattle. But we determined that was not likely. The woman at the desk told us we could find parking for the motorhome at the Space Needle, so we guess that is what we will do.

The RV park is like none we have seen so far. It is basically an RV parking lot. The whole area (not very big) is paved and striped. Each space is just wide enough for a trailer and a car parked next to it. No picnic tables, practically no grass.




So tomorrow we will try driving downtown to the Space Needle and exploring from there. We will make contact with friend Linda after lunch and play it by ear.