HEADIN' TO A WEDDIN' July 1-9 2017

I was amazed at the gorgeous days we had driving the coast of Oregon! Brilliant blue skies in early July isn't the usual weather pattern for the west coast, I was expecting our foggy coastal mornings, but so happy to have this view. 

We love staying at the Elks Campground north of Florence, Or and had reserved a couple of days there just to relax and stay off the road. We had been pushing pretty hard for the month of June and this gave us a chance to get some house keeping things done, I even stated a sewing project.

After our 5 days we packed up and continued the drive north turning inland at Lincoln, Or. Our next few days were spent visiting friends, Alan and Sue, just south of Portland. It was one of our first times parking the RV in a residential neighborhood, but Paul managed it well.

After getting settled in on their driveway, we caught up on life with a beautiful hilltop view. We were up early Monday morning for a day's outing to Mt. Hood east of Portland. Another fabulous day, stopping for a picnic in the woods before driving on to the lodge at the top of the mountain. We sat in the sun with views south towards Bend, Or and behind the lodge the beautiful snowy Mt Hood.

We spent one more evening together and were up early the 4th of July to continue our drive but first a visit with Jan Omara who had moved to a new neighborhood last year and was now only 15 minutes away...I couldn't pass up a chance to see her new home and catch a little time together. 

Leaving the Happy Valley area south of Portland we followed the Columbia River Gorge with a stop to see the Maryhill Museum of Art built on  bluff overlooking the eastern end of the gorge and on the US National Register of Historic .

Built by Samuel Hill, it was begun in 1914 but in 1917 Hill decided to turn his unfinished home into a museum. It was dedicated in 1926 by the Queen of Romania, a friend of Mr. Hill's and opened to the public as a museum in 1940. The eclectic collections include an entire lower level of Native American basketry and a large gallery of Rodin scupltures. 

One of my favorite temporary exhibits was the Theatre De La Mode, fashion mannequins in miniature  crafted by top Paris fashion designers after WWII. Not sure if the summary below is readable, but what a fascinating collection.

The view back towards the gorge was stunning, but extremely dry and as we walked back to the RV we saw a huge plume of smoke on a field nearby.

We weren't sure if we'd be stopped or rerouted, but the fire had gone up the hill and the roadway was still open, a bit scary!

We wanted to get about 8 miles further east to see the second part of the Samuel Hill creations, the Maryhill Stonehenge, a memorial to those who had died in World War I. Such an interesting character, Sam Hill, a businessman, lawyer, railroad executive and strong advocate for good roads in  the Pacific Northwest, even building roads at his own expense along the gorge.

But with still lots more miles to drive and days disappearing we drove later than usual that evening and stayed at the Yakima Sportsman State Park., not our favorite state park by any means. Even though it was July 4th, we were too tired to seek out the local fireworks though we heard the booms for hours!

Finally, one enormous drive north following the Columbia the whole way we reached our destination of Winthrop, Washington that Wednesday afternoon and WE had a wedding to attend on Saturday!!! I was so excited, our nephew Zachary was getting married!  Zach and Amanda live in Bellingham about a 5 hour drive over the Cascades. Having once driven that road in an RV, we had chosen to drive the eastern route this time and stayed at the darling Pine Near RV Park about a block away from the little western town of Winthrop.

We were back to the really hot days but such a beautiful area and pretty enough to sit outside to do some of my finish work on the lavender sachets I was making for wedding favors.

Mama of the groom, my sister Emily, arrived the next day and we started the fun with dinner at the Methow Valley Cider House.

The property where the wedding would take place on Saturday afternoon was lovely.

Most of the family and friends were staying at The Rolling Huts of Methow Valley, a combination of these huts, a large cabin and tent cabins. Interesting...

Friday evening Kurt and Ali arrived just in time for a fabulous salmon dinner after flights from Denver and Minneapolis, plus a really long drive from Seattle.

And, as it turns out we had our one family group photo together.

Zach and his mom, Emily

The wedding fun began about 10;30 that morning with a bike ride to the nearby town on Mazama, which is actually a little gas station and a fantastic general store. The 6 mile ride through the woods and along the river was beautiful!

Though we had started out with the whole group we soon found ourselves pulling up the rear, too many stops along the way, plus...we were the elders on the ride! Amanda came back a couple of times to check on us and then

she and Zack both came to see how we were doing and make sure we found the trail markers>

This was the perk of being last!

After a delicious lunch at the store everyone headed back, and since Kurt and Ali had driven over to join the lunch time fun, we traded vehicles...they rode our bikes and we took the car back for them.
With time for us to get back to the RV to change, the wedding venue was taking shape. Amanda's sisters had been busy with food prep and decorating!

In their wedding details, Z&A had asked friends to bring blankets or chairs to enjoy the picnic style wedding! And what a perfect afternoon! The day was warm but not too hot and the mosquitoes left us alone all evening!  

So, here in this gorgeous setting of the Cascaade mountains, woods and bright blue sky, Zack and Amanda exchanged their loving vows, through tears and giggles, surrounded by friends and family.

Then the party fun began! My happy sister Emily, with her 3 guys!

Family photo time.

Zack and his Best Man and brother, Lars.

A quick and blurry photo of Zack's stepmom, Gina, Emily and me.

Kurt and Lars as the evening changed from dinner to dancing and the lights started coming on.

Sunday morning everyone was up early to clean up the yard and the rental properties with return destinations to drive. We stopped by to get a last hug from the newlyweds.

We still and two more nights at our campground so Kurt and Ali joined us there and we spent Sunday afternoon at the lake nearby and then dinner and tent camping for them at our park.  They headed out early Monday morning for their flights out of Seattle, while Paul and I had one more lovely day in Winthrop.