Yes, I’m still around, still RV’ing. Nothing terrible to report about my absence, just run-of-the-mill laziness.
Anyway, I’m back to posting and this post will cover from the end of July after I returned from my visit to Troutdale, through December to finish out the year. In a few days, I’ll post from 2024.
—————–July 2023—————-Brunch with the family in Walla Walla——————-
So my sister Teri and Gary invited us over for brunch. Daughter Mush came with me but my son James decided to skip. I’ve always enjoyed their back yard. But I’m beyond enjoying yardwork.
Had a great meal and wonderful conversation with a lot of laughs.
————————-August 2023————————————————-
Wanted to try out a new to me brewery called the Red Monkey in downtown Walla Walla and passed by some cool grape vineyards. I’ve mentioned before that WW now has something like 250 vineyards within a 50 mile radius of town and I pass by several on my way from Milton Freewater where I park my RV, into downtown WW.
Gotten pretty popular here in Walla Walla to have a well stocked beer cooler along with multiple wines.
A few days later, just driving around the countryside to help quell the boredom, I happened upon this microbrewery in the hills outside of Milton Freewater. I was surprised at finding it and since it was late afternoon, good reason to drop in for a brew. Rather pedestrian it was so only had one.
Then on the 7th of August, this giant rainstorm rolled in…I was aware of it’s coming so I’d already battened down the hatches.
It was awesome. Cats, dogs, even a cow floated by on the wind.
Dunno if you remember the news about this but there was a hell of a fight to keep the Dayton, Washington public library free of religitards asking for censorship. Actually made the national news. What happened was they scared the librarian out of his job, and caused so much noise and idiocracy that those of us who disagreed with their list of books to remove from the library started a backlash against them. In order to combat their stupidity, daughter and I drove from M-F up to Dayton to show our support. I donated $20 to their ‘keep the library open’ fund and we had a good time exploring their facility. Eventually, they made the stupid mistake of trying to get it defunded and closed. Which outraged thousands. After a few gyrations by the county and city, I’m happy to report that it was just a candle in the wind and they lost their attempts to close it. Anyway, took some pictures of the library for fun.
Then we wandered around downtown Dayton for a while.
The old train station in Dayton. Pretty cool building.
And to finish out August, went over to daughter’s home they bought last year. Talked about starting a garden with lots of radishes. More on that later.
And a few days later, tried another brew pub. I know from my posts it may seem like I’m in a pub every night, but actually, once a week at most. One beer and I’m off again. Testing. This one is in a small town west of M-F, Umapine. I’ve been here before and had a great prepared bar pizza.
So that’s it for July 2023 thru August 2023. I’ll be back soon with the rest of the year.
The Unipine Tavern and the library look nice.
Those——–need to mind their own business. Libraries were my safe places as a kid.
I just had waffles for dinner..
Ride-on!
I was honestly surprised at how nice the Library looked in that old town of Dayton. I expected a run down building and interior but it’s the exact opposite. Seems it was updated a few years before. Waffles for dinner are just right.
After 2 years of staying in Vancouver, WA for the winter, we got back down to Tucson again – staying at our favorite Park, Desert Trails, off of San Juaquin off of Ajo Rd. Been here a month, 2 more to go. Every time we take Ajo into town I wonder if you’re back down here. We’ll be here until Mar 15 with our ’04 Journey.
Hey, we should get together for b-fast at the Ocotillo Resturant near you. I’ve been a couple times and the food is great. Let me know, weekdays is best since they’re not as crowded as on a weekend.
What? No Yuengling at the breweries? Just joking. And locally on July 8th it rained 10+ inches in this area causing major flood damage. We were home and bailed and sump pumped the basement for 8 hours. Good thing I’d saved the old sump pump. You know how in the movies someone is electrocuted when an electric line falls in the water? The 1st sump pump was completely submerged and running. Luckily I turned the furnace/AC unit off. It only needed the circulating fan replaced. $900. This was a new unit installed the Fall before. Prolly the water heater should be replaced.
Censorship? What’s this Red Korea?
And old train stations. During the ’60s I’d ride the trains between Phila. and Reading, Pa. Then in the 80s? no trains. The new millennia- no buses in the Reading area. The higher-ups talk about starting train travel again. Uh-huh. The local township has spent-mis-spent millions. Enjoy your stay at home. The southern border must be crazy. Have a better New Year.
Nope, haven’t seen Yuengling in the PNW. There is some here in Tucson, but I wouldn’t buy it. I tried all the flavors of Yuengling when I was staying at a bit north of Orlando and just didn’t like any of them. Just another flavorless type of Bud, IMO. But…to each his own.
Sorry about your flooding, hopefully your homeowners insurance covered some of the costs.
I’m a big fan of train rides myself. When I was a drive away driver stationed in Elkheart, IN, I’d insist on destinations near a train station, then I’d take the train back after delivering a truck. Loved that. Saved bunches of $$ over taking a flight. Sometimes crossed nearly the entire country via Amtrak. Delivered from San Jose, CA, to Memphis, TN, to Washington DC and could often take the train back to Elkheart but a few times, had to take the bus. Hate the bus.
And how’s your health? After visiting the VA I have to wonder if their funds have been cut during 2023. And my previous Medicare PCP (doc) stopped performing wellness visits. Hope you have better experiences. Online I visit Reddit. They have veteran groups and most everything else. Including road trip discussions. Stay safe. Don’t party too hard. Nudge nudge.
Maintaining my status quo in the health department. I am now living with 1.5 eyes as the eye that had the 3 surgeries last year has scar tissue on the lens and the ophthalmologist said I need a cadaver lens replacement. Now down here in Tucson where they damaged it originally during surgery and will go visit them on Jan. 28th. See what they think…but really just to show them how it’s doing. I wonder about the funding of the Walla Walla VA clinic might be in the same boat. Often seems like there’s hardly any medical professionals there. They readily give permission to visit a local Dr. though. My last yearly check up in Sept. was a video conference with a PA in Boise, Idaho.