Hello. It’s me!

I had a smile on my face … at one time. Then Mom and Dad spent two days packin’ in the events.

At first, the idea sounded good.

But after embarking on a dizzying pace, even Dad made a fatal mistake today, likely due to exhaustion.

What the …. ?

It all started yesterday at lunch. Dad elected to go with the grilled ham ‘n cheese and tots. Nice choice, #amirite?

We drove to Walla Walla. We stopped at the Whitman Mission National Historic Site … where the Whitman’s introduced Native Americans to arsenic, measles and God … and after accidentally killing a ton of people via incidental disease the Native Americans introduced the Whitmans to murder.

Dad got a chance to see the prototype for the modern recreational vehicle.

I employed the time-honored tradition of waiting for Mom.

Fortunately somebody cared about me … how about this lovely employee!?!?

Thank you for caring, Evelyn.

Later, Dad purchased a lot of wine.

We parked the RV, and Mom & Dad let me sit in generator-cooled comfort (hint … it’s not comfortable when you are abandoned in an RV) while they supp’d at a local restaurant.

I smelled the alcohol on Dad’s breath when (nearly two hours later) Dad opened the RV door and (at an abnormally loud decibel level) yelled “WHO’S THE GOOD BOY??” It isn’t you, Dad. It isn’t you.

Too bad we are going to miss the big event.

We spent the night at a Best Western Plus … in all likelihood so Dad could partake in a Sysco-Inspired free breakfast the next morning.

Wasting little time, we got in the rig and stopped at Sacagawea State Park, strategically located at the confluence of the Snake River and the Columbia River. Holy ground, according to Dad.

I wanted to carve out my own place at this spectacular State Park, so I hopped in an old-school canoe.

Moving right along, Mom wanted to see where the Manhattan Project changed the course of history. So off we went to the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. It was time to learn how the A-Bomb was built by Washingtonians.

Turns out there was even a Sears on-site … because catalog shopping and managing plutonium go hand-in-hand.

The last picture came courtesy of a woman at an obscure gift shop down the parking lot from the Visitor Center. Her Dad worked on the project (he was an engineer) with GE. She lived in an “F-House” (one of the styles of home on site) and she currently lives in a “Y-House” (a one-story home, which suits an aging lifestyle, of which I know nothing about). The beds and stuff in the last image were actual furniture items from the 1940s.

At this point, Mom and Dad decided to drive all the way across Washington State. We followed the Columbia River for a time …

… notice the whitecaps on the river … we were buffeted by 40mph winds for about three hours.

The winds were so bad that they may (or may not) have caused a semi-truck to overturn on I-90 near Snoqualmie Pass. We sat in a nine (9) mile backup for about 65 minutes.

 

Once traffic opened up, we enjoyed the scenery surrounding Snoqualmie Pass.

We roared down the Cascades … and that’s where things got interesting.

As we closed in on Issaquah we heard a loud scraping sound from the bottom-mid-right side of the RV. Dad quickly pulled over, Mom and Dad jumped out … and saw a six-inch bolt dragging from the rig. Turns out when Dad got new house batteries installed the installer didn’t install the harness that holds down the house batteries properly … so the nuts and washers were left to nature and the rest of the harness is missing in action and all that was left was the six-inch bolt that was digging into the concrete surface of I-90 at 70mph.

Dad unscrewed the bolt, said a prayer, then asked the Holy Spirit to hold down the batteries for the next 2,500 miles. We continued on our way. Amen.

Did I tell you that the frame surrounding the side door is falling off and the window is rattling all over the place and Dad has that secured with tape? It’s travel with the Clampetts I tell ya!!

Also, Dad blew out his left knee on Monday and he doesn’t even remember how he did it but the top of the knee hurts so he’s hobbling all over the place.

But I digress.

Mom and Dad hopped back in the RV, and guess what? We were introduced to a July soaking.

Regardless, we arrived at Lake Pleasant RV Park in Bothell prior to sunset. I succumbed to exhaustion …

And even though I really need to go to the bathroom as we speak, it’s pouring outside, and I have no interest in any of that action whatsoever.