A Winter Blast and We Head for Texas.

 After a quiet Northern Michigan Christmas at home we dug out from a snow storm.

We seldom get ice in our river because of the current, however this shows that the ducks were wondering why they decided not to fly south.  It was cold.

Loading the truck was a challenge as we had to first clear the sidewalk.  Bill was thankful that our snow blower worked well to clear the driveway.

On Christmas afternoon we took down our Christmas decorations.  After a good night's rest we hit the road south on Monday December 26.  The roads were icy through Michigan and most of Illinois.  We spent our first night in a motel in Effingham, Illinois and our second night in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Late Wednesday afternoon we arrived in Harlingen, Texas just down the road from from where our travel trailer was in storage.  After another overnight motel stay we picked up our trailer Thursday 12/29 morning and arrived at our Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort before noon.  Above you see the smoke from a sugarcane field being burned, so we knew we were in Texas.

Happy New Year.

🎆   🎉    🎊   🎋

Another Family Christmas Weekend in Frankenmuth

 

The second weekend of December we again took our family to the hotel and water park in Frankenmuth, Michigan.  The celebration included the annual family shuttle ride and chicken dinner downtown.

A Challenging Drive Home - But Now Back To the Real World

 On Sunday morning, October 23, 2022,  after a short bus ride we found our car  at the Louiston, Idaho airport where we had left it when we rented the car to drive to Portland.  It was safe and sound so we were on the road east by 9:00 A.M.

We ran into a snowstorm  before we stopped for the night in Billings, Montana.

On Monday we ran into more snow before we entered North Dakota.  The roads were often snow covered and slippery.  We saw four accidents with one semi in the ditch.  The drive was not easy but we made it to Fargo, North Dakota where we spent Monday night.  We pushed on Tuesday and the farther east we drove the warmer the temperatures became.

We ran into heavy rain driving through the Upper Peninsula but we made it home safely Tuesday Night after a long day's drive.  It was a fun trip.  We want to express how much we enjoyed the daily talks and slide presentations on  our ship, The Song,  by Bill Wiemuth.  He knew just about everything about Louis and Clark and he shared his knowledge in a most entertaining way.  The Columbia and Snake Rivers are certainly worth a look if you ever get the urge to go West.

Goodbye for Now.  See you next trip.

⛴        🚗         🏠

A Full Day of Sailing up the Snake River to Clarkston , Washington

 Saturday October 22, 2022 we awoke to cloudy skies and cool weather, but by afternoon the sun was shining again as we viewed the Snake River Canyon on both sides of the river.  We were sailing east in Washington on the Snake River.

The landscape was drab and uneventful with little vegetation to be seen.

 

By afternoon we entered the last of the locks we have encountered on the Columbia and Snake Rivers.  Above we are heading to the lock on the right.  Electricity is generated on the left.

It is fun to watch as the boat crew slowly and gently bring the ship into the lock.

Once inside it is amazing how fast the the ship is lifted to the top.

In the afternoon on the ship we were entertained by a Nez Perce Native American (not Indian) who told us many stories about his life as well as singing some songs in his language.  Actually he used the word "Indian" numerous times.   The Nez Perce Indians were the tribe that helped Louis and Clark as they explored North American.  Since we got on the ship we have come 465 miles, gone through eight locks, and are now 738 feet higher than when we started.

Tomorrow we disembark and head for home. 

It has been a fun trip and we may have a few more things to say!

⛴

Up the River to Richland, Washington

 

We left Hood River early and soon  were leaving the green vegetation behind for the barren dry country that you see above.  These two large rocks above are called the twin sisters.

We noticed this abandoned boat on shore in the distance and decided he did not have a good boating adventure our here in the middle of nowhere.

We tied up at the dock in Richland, Washington and after lunch we had a bus ride through town to the Reach Museum.

The Reach Museum had many displays about normal local attractions and natural history.

but..

During WWII this area was the home to the Hanford Project where the atomic bomb was created.  Therefore, the bomb history is the major attraction.

The town of Hanford was created for the people who developed the bomb that was used in Japan.  It was crowded and employed hundreds of people.  It was also kept secret to the World.

Bill liked this display of scientific tools used by the bomb scientists as he has a sliderule collection at home.

After our visit to the Reach Museum we walked up town in Richland and noticed this unusual business sign above.

Tomorrow we enter the Snake River and will loose all communication with our phones as we sail through the Snake River Canyon.

Wish us luck!

⚓

Hood River, Oregon and What a Museum!

This is what we saw when we walked out on our balcony early Thursday morning.

then..... we pulled into shore at Hood River and the American Song put out her  extension walk for passengers to disembark onto shore.

We took the walkway and got on a bus for a ride to one of the best museums we had ever seen.

We went to the WAAAM museum which stands for the Western Antique Aero-plane and Auto Museum.

The displays were almost all related to transportation.

The indoor museum covered three acres and every vehicle had been restored to "like new" condition.  Here is Karen above with a few of the 160 airplanes.

The airplane displays were the the best we had ever seen.

And there were even more old restored automobiles.

This old 1950 Oldsmobile was one of many of the cars built in Lansing.

A lot of the cars were very old and rare.

This electric car from 1914 reminded us how we are now turning full circle as new electric vehicles are replacing the internal combustion vehicles of today.  

There were tractor displays like this and displays of almost any vehicle you can imagine from the USA.

We saw motorcycles, outboard motors, motor scooters, bicycles, snowmobiles, etc. as well as paraphernalia that is associated with the vehicles.

Beautiful and all restored!

We made it back to the ship for lunch and then walked around Hood River, Oregon for the last warm day in the forecast.  We shall see....

🌞     🌂

 

A Fun Wednesday With More Sightseeing

 On Wednesday morning,  October 19, 2022, we went through our first lock that lifted the ship about 25 feet and soon thereafter docked at Stevenson, Washington.

At 9:00 AM, after breakfast, Bill got a tour bus for about a twenty-minute drive across the Columbia River into Oregon to this place - above.

Multnomah Falls is the second tallest waterfall in the United States after Sequoia in California.  Because of recent drought conditions it was not as full as some years but it was still impressive to see up close.

The Falls had this beautiful old welcome center with restrooms and a gift ship - of course.

After lunch on the ship Karen and Bill got on another tour bus that dropped them off at the Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center.

Like most museums, the center was full of numerous local displays and artifacts.  My late sister, Judy, would have loved this quilt display created by women in the town.

The Stevenson Center brags of having the largest Catholic Rosary collection in the World.  Above is Karen standing in front of one of the three display cases.

Wednesday evening we were entertained by a magician who put on magic show on board.

🎩

Further Upstream ---> ro Kalama, Washington

 On Tuesday morning, October 18, 2022, we awoke in port at the small town of Kalama.  The main reason this is a cruise ship stop is because we are close to Mount Saint Helen, the mountain that blew up in 1980.  Most of our ship passengers took an early 1-1/2 hour bus rides up to the mountain to get a closer look.  Bill and Karen have seen it before so we stayed in town to explore.

Just off the ship is the McMenimans Hotel with Native American totem poles to the right. 

Above is Bill standing next to the tall totem pole that was actually reduced in size.

State officials thought the totem pole was too tall to be safe so it was cut and the upper portion is under wraps for protection - next to the standing one.

We walked into downtown Kalama and checked out a couple large antique stores. We then stopped at the Port of Kalama Interpretive Center for a douse of real history.  Above you see what used to happen around here on the river with the native fishermen.

In the museum we saw the largest train engine we had ever seen that used to haul lumber up and over the mountains in Southwest Washington.

🚗

Astoria, Oregon

 When we awoke Monday morning our ship was docked at Astoria, Oregon which is about 10 miles east of the Pacific Ocean.  The day started out cool and cloudy but was warm and sunny by afternoon.

The Columbia River is quite wide here and out in the middle we saw ocean-going ships anchored that were waiting for pilots to drive the boats up the river for cargo.

Here is a pilot boat going out to drop off a pilot to navigate one of the ships.

We took a walk around Astoria downtown to inspect a few stores and found an interesting antique shop.

Here are a trumpet and a clarinet both made into lamps.

And here is a blender (like we used to own) - but now also transformed into a lamp.

This store above was chocked full of musical instruments both new and old. 

A  major attraction is the Columbia River Maritime Museum.

The museum had great displays and we learned much about the area around Astoria which is the oldest city in North America west of the Rocky Mountains.  Tonight we move on east up the Columbia.

⛴

 

 

Sunday and Our Ship Comes In - and We Board

 On Sunday morning, October 16,  when we looked outside our Portland, Oregon hotel we saw that our ship - the American Song - had arrived.  You see this below.

The ship was built by American Cruise Lines in 2018.

We were on board by 11 A.M. and found our luggage in our cabin.  After lunch we got to explore and above you see Bill on the upper deck enjoying the warm weather.

At about 2 P.M. we set sail down the Columbia River toward the Pacific Ocean.  Everyone we have met so far have been friendly and easy to talk to.  Above you see Karen outside on the balcony of our cabin before the sun had set.  Out stop tomorrow is in Astoria, Oregon.

🌞