Our daughter, son (in-law) and grandson went on their first outing today to the Washington Cherry Festival at the Rutledge Farm Corn Maze.
It was a very low key event, but gave everyone in the area a chance to get out of the house and see something a little different.
Our grandson was taking it all in from his carseat.
The drive through festival was by appointment only and was free with a purchase from the farm. We checked in when we arrived, so that our order would be ready for us after we completed our drive.
We toured the farm and learned about all of the equipment that is used for farming in this area. Right now they are growing lots of sunflower seeds of all types.
And some corn for harvest and their maze.
They hire a "maze consultant" each year that plants the corn only where it's needed for the maze. Ingenious!
This farm is doing a great job of finding creative ways to get the community involved and support the local businesses in their area. Their audio tour talked about the local tractor sales and service company, the cherry growers and the bakery that produces the baked goods they are selling.
A cow train for the kids to enjoy.
As we ended our driving tour, we approached the covered stand where we would pick up our purchase...4 pounds of cherries, cherry bread and a cherry pie. Yum!
Our wonderful helpers of the day that made this all possible! Thanks Rutledge Corn Maze for a great first outing!
Our hope, being here in Washington, is to be as much help as possible to our kids, get to know our grandson, of course, and to give our kids as much time as possible to become a family, get into their routines and bond with their new son, without interruption from us. And we just want to respect all of the family members that can't be here yet because of the circumstances of this crazy pandemic. So we will share some really cute pictures that our kids share with us because this little face is so hard to resist!
This little man has stolen our hearts beyond belief! We feel so lucky to call him or grandson and will cherish every moment we have with him through the years! He is truly a blessing to our family!
Today's drive was through the beautiful Columbia River Gorge as we made our way from Caldwell, ID to Lacey, WA. This was our first glimpse of the Columbia River, so I sent a picture to all of the kids. Our youngest daughter's boyfriend edited it and sent it back! He's hired!
The Columbia River has a lot of dams on it, but cargo barges run between the dams.
Again, sorry for the bugs on the windshield, but I couldn't pass up Mt. Hood rising up in front of us!
We stopped for lunch at a scenic overlook in the gorge. There were a few other people, but everyone did a great job of keeping their distance.
We were originally going to stay one more night on the road, at an Elks in Vancouver, WA, but our drive went so fast today that we called our RV park in Lacey, WA and asked if we could check in early. They said to come on down, so we just kept driving until we made it to the Lost Lake RV Resort in Lacey, WA.
We were on the road this morning before sunrise, making our way from Beaver, UT to Caldwell, ID.
We drove through a lot of farmland this morning, and even encountered this brief dust storm.
We enjoyed the beautiful mountains driving through Provo and Saltlake City, UT.
Our only glimpse of the Great Salt Lake.
I'm not sure what this crop is, but it's really pretty on the hillsides.
Our stay tonight was at the Caldwell, UT Elks Club. Registration here was not as "hands off" as last night, but still an easy process. This Elks offered a dirt parking lot with 30 amp electrical and water, but no sewer. It was just what we needed for our one night stay. It was also right across the street from a park with a beautiful rose garden where we could stretch our legs without encountering any people.
After a few short weeks of getting settled into our new home, it's time to make some changes again. Our new grandson has arrived, and we're so excited to head out to see them.
Our poor kids have had change upon change while waiting for the arrival of their little boy. Originally, they were supposed to be in South Carolina for his birth, but the Corona Virus pandemic postponed their moving plans several times. Once they realized that they would still be in Washington for his birth, they started trying to figure out how they were going to get a new born from Washington to South Carolina without exposing him to the virus. Life for them was getting so complicated! They couldn't fly, they couldn't use hotel rooms, and yet, they had to move cross country with a new born. That's where we were going to step in with the motorhome. Together, we all came up with several plans for keeping them in a safe place while their furniture was in transit to South Carolina.
Then in early June came the final change of plans. Our son (in-law) was asked to stay in Washington for an extra six months. This was the best news they had received in months. They could have the baby in Washington, and wait an entire six months before they would have to move him!
Having a baby in a pandemic is not ideal, family can't fly in, they can't stay in hotels along the way without the risk of being exposed to the virus before they get here. So now, we were no longer needed for the move, but since we have a motorhome, we could still be a support system for them in the first few months, and of course, steal some baby snuggles! So we are now on our way to Washington to see our kids and meet our grandson.
We decided to take three day to get from Phoenix, AZ to Lacey, WA. So our first leg was from Phoenix to Beaver, UT. As we were making the drive, Steve commented to me that he feels like he misses all of the sights along the way because driving the motor home takes so much attention. So I decided that I would take pictures of the landscape so that he could enjoy "looking at where he has been" once we get there. Pictures out the window are never great, but here is our day in a nutshell:
Page Arizona
Lake Powell
Glenn Canyon Dam
On the Utah side of Lake Powell, heading north
This is as close as we would get to Bryce Canyon National Park from the highway.
We made it to Camperland in Beaver, UT. They had an interesting check-in process. Everything was completely "do-it-yourself" without any in person contact at all. Choose any open site, fill out the paperwork and put it and your money in the drop slot. We never saw a single "worker" during our overnight stay, but the campground was really nice. They had some spots with 50 amp, but I think most of those are taken by full time residents. We had full hookups with 30 amp electrical.
The last month in the motorhome was getting pretty hot, with the temperatures reaching well over 100 degrees and us without full hookups. Our brother and sister-in-law were wonderful to let us continue to stay at their place! It was such a life saver!
The superintendent of our housing development was also great about working with us, and even got us into our new home a week early. There were still quite a few outstanding punch list items, but we have been working through those since we moved in. We are looking forward to having our house to ourselves once all of the inside "touch-ups" are done, and we are getting so close!
Steve and I have also been doing a lot of work around the house ourselves, we cleaned paint splatters off about 2000 sq ft of floors and sealed the grout, back filled the dirt around our yard walls, cleaned up excess concrete from the walls, painted gates, dug a trench for an RV dump, and so many more little things. The projects have been a great way to get some exercise since we can't go to the gym.
Speaking of not being able to go to the gym, I guess I should provide a Corona Virus update... All 50 states have started reopening in small steps. Gyms, salons and restaurants are open again, but requiring 6 feet between people, so the number of people in any facility are limited. Face masks are required in public in some states, but not in Arizona. The reopening is going pretty well in some states, but not in Arizona. Our new cases of the virus have surged, and are continuing to climb. Steve and I are still continuing to just stay home. I've been cutting Steve's hair for him, but I haven't had a hair cut since early March. Yikes, it's time! We even did a Costco delivery order for our last grocery shopping trip. It was a bit more expensive than shopping at Costco ourselves, but the young lady that shopped for us was awesome, and called us with any questions as she was shopping. She delivered right to our door with the kindest smile.
We're still trying to wrap our heads around moving during a pandemic. This really isn't what we had in mind when we decided to move. We've met all of our immediate neighbors (from six feet away), and they seem to be great people, but we can't invite anyone over to get to know them better, we just have to talk in the street. We can't play golf, or go to the gym, or go shopping for all of the things we need for the new house. The blind manufacturers are on limited production schedules (to keep employees 6 feet apart), so we can't get the blinds we want for the house (so temporary blinds are perfect for now). And most importantly, we moved here for the access to the airport, and for now we can't even fly, but someday we will be back to seeing family whenever we want, and maybe even exploring the world again.
Pandemics have been a part of our history, with the worst pandemic in my mind being polio. But it was so long ago that very few people remember going through it, or even the lasting effects of it. We get bored, and frustrated and even a little stir crazy at times, but in the end, for us, it hasn't been bad. So many people have lost loved ones to this virus as well as their livelihood, and we just need to remember to be grateful for everything and everyone we have.
