Portland and Sarah

Sarah at her home picking lettuce for supper.

One of the best parts of our travels is the opportunity to catch up with people who come into our lives through our children. Sarah was my daughter Kendra's roommate at KState and works in Portland. She is getting married soon and we were so glad to meet her fiancé Darrel.
Thank you Sarah for welcoming us into your lovely home and cooking a delicious meal for the Sisters.

Then this happened.....

Sister Shirley will fill you in on our fabulous day at Astoria and Ft. Clatsop.   But, I thought you might like to know that our travels and days don't ALWAYS go as planned.

First is the issue of shoes!  Since 2013 we've been fans of Fitflops.  This year we are wearing our  beige, cork Fitflops.  The problem is that we don't wear the same size and after a long day of sightseeing they end up in a jumble!  Secretly, we think that when we fall asleep at night they leave the hotel and go visit all the other places we have missed that day!!!









Also, sometimes our hair misbehaves and delays the start of our day's agenda!

And, lastly we try to comply with all emergency rules while we travel.  Today was no exception!

Our trip is about to move to Part III --- fun with our adult children -- cooking, playing games and a newly added Imax trip to view Jurassic World on Saturday!  But, first, Shirley will tell you about Ft. Clatsop, Lewis and Clark and traveling 8 miles on the Portland freeway in just over 1 hour!

The End of the Oregon Trail

I made it to Oregon City! 

Anyone who was in school during the 1980's remembers the computer game The Oregon Trail where you travelled the trail fording rivers, hunting and fishing for food, getting cholera, scarlet fever, and dysentery! My students have played this game in my room for over 30 years and it was a thrill for me to visit Oregon City today the end of the trail. Kay and I spent almost four hours here today touring the museum and seeing all the places along the trail. We even got to see a class celebrating the end of school on a field trip.

State Flags of the Oregon Trail Route

Oh, the places we go - Part Two

One of my long-time hobbies is genealogy....and while I knew we might be close to where our Neff family had orchards inWashington, I wasn't sure.  Luckily I had my laptop with me and my trusty Family TreeMaker program!  and, luckily Sister Shirley was agreeable to visiting a masoleum in Puyallup!

In the early 1900's our great-great grandparents, Rudolph Neff and Sarah Jane Loper Neff moved from Kansas to Pierce County, Washington.  Two of their adult sons moved with them and they established orchards.  In 1908 a third son (our great-grandfather) moved there, too.  Our grandmother was only three and the arduous trip was made by train.  In 1910 our grandmother's sister was born and only lived a few hours.  The little family was so sad and decided to move back to Kansas.  Our grandmother had a few memories of the baby and the train and of her mother being so sad.  Our grandmother already had other siblings and more were born after their return to Kansas but she never forgot the baby girl left in Washington.

We were able to find the beautiful marble crypts where our gggrandparents were laid to rest.  They were both born in Indiana and Rudolph served in the Civil War.  We thank him for his service and for Sarah's sewing gifts which were passed down to us.  Shirley thanks her for her middle name of Jane which was passed down to her, Shirley Jane, through great aunt Alta Jane!

Family Times

This weekend we travelled on the Northwest Passage to Bremerton, Washington where our Aunt Roma and Uncle Ernie live. We left Spokane Valley on Sunday and couldn't quite figure out why it was going to take us over an hour extra time to get to Bremerton. Then to our surprise the car GPS took us into Seattle to the Ferry. We had a delightful rest as we waited for the Ferry and then a calm ride across to Bremerton where our Aunt and Uncle were patiently waiting for us. We ate together, shared stories and memories, caught up with cousin Cindy, sang hymns around the piano, and did a load of laundry. We also added Skype to Aunt Roma's iPad and she called her sister Mary (our mother) in Topeka. It was so delightful to watch these two sisters sharing together.

Thank you to our family for a restful break on our journey.

On the Road Again!

We got up and shared one last meal together this morning before taking a final photo with our quilt tops. Notice the smiles on our faces? We said goodbye and then headed on to Kamiah, Idaho before our trip to Coeur D'Alene. Driving through the mountains and following the Lewis and Clark Northwest Passage was an amazing way to end our time in Idaho before heading over to Washington State.

Quilt Retreat Success!

Happy Quilters in Idaho!

Commercial Break... Dino Selfie!

This is the summer of Jurassic Park World.
Does the Sinclair dinosaur count?

This picture is for my students since we study about Lewis and Clark.

On the Lewis and Clark trail home of the Nez Perce.

Welcome to Washington State!

The Party is Over

Today we were challenged to complete as much of our quilt top as possible before sharing with everyone this evening. Our sewing machines were racing each other as we tried to get more and more completed. Each section was held up and everyone cheered our successes! Thank you to our hostess Elaine for the great week at the Quilt House Bed and Breakfast. Thank you to our new friends Marcia, Kim, Cindy, Kris, Pam, Delaina, Sharon, Barbara, Diana, and Janie. You filled our days with laughter and joy!