Crescent Bar, Washington

It's always a thrill and a little dizzying to approach the top of the mountain and look at the road snaking down the slope to my friends, Rick and Carol's, home.

Their "spring" had not yet sprung but during my visit, it was quite spring-like.   This is Karma, a real mountain dog!

Each sunny afternoon, we gathered on lawn chairs down at the edge of the Columbia River with our glasses of wine and enjoyed the warm sunshine and soft breezes.  


Cassie tried to mimic the country-dog ways of Karma.  Unlike FooFoo Cassie, Karma is a "real dog" who accompanies Carol and Rick on long hikes and wears a doggie backpak!  

Cassie is seen here trying to track a snake that Karma found.  Karma grabbed it and whipped it around and flipped it and into the water.  Dazed, the poor mauled snake wobbled through the water.

She thinks she saw something... shortly afterwards, the unlucky snake drowned.

We took a day trip to Lake Chelan, which was described as "Washington's Tahoe" without casinos.  Most of the road leading up to this "butte" was an eroded dirt road.  You can just see it in the lower middle/left of the photo.

Carol and I hiked up another hill to the Flight Take Off site of the annual hang-gliding competition.  Here's Carol pretending to take flight!   I volunteered to be the cowardly photographer-- crouched and clinging to the boulder while Carol was brave enough to stand up on a 1000' cliff.

We had lunch at a loft-type outdoor bistro which served the best french fries I have had in years.  This is the riverfront that the bistro looked out on.

Rick and Carol and I are all Scrabble junkies.  I would play every day if I had someone to play with.  

Carol and Rick have developed a "matched" level of competence throughout the years.  Carol was quite put out that Rick kept winning.  She emailed me after I left and said she got even and blew Rick out of the water by using all 7 letters on a double word square.

Carol & I always drink wine during Scrabble whereas Rick just "sips" a spritzer; maybe that is why he won most of the games!

Note the dictionary is held together with duct tape!  Is there no end to the uses of duct tape?

Before I left to continue my trip, we had a mini photo session in their garden. 

We had such a fun together and these pics will remind us of our good times!

Before I left, I uploaded about 2000 mp3 music files from their extensive music collection.  Now I'll have some new great music to listen to on my trip back to Florida.

Thanks, Rick & Carol (and Karma).  I will always recall my wonderful visit with you in one of the most special places in the US--the Columbia River Basin.  Also, I appreciate your letting me squat on your favorite chair by the window and mess it up with my SueStuff.