Blossoms!

 Three weeks ago, when we arrived in Wenatchee, this orchard was pruned, but bare of blossoms. I've watched every day, eagerly awaiting the signs of eminent bloom. I know from living in the Wenatchee Valley for 22 years that the apricot and peach trees are the very first to burst out in flowers, with the promise of lots of delicious, fresh fruit. And, at last, the beauty is beginning.

 I love this old, old tree with its massive trunk. It's still flourishing. I'm not sure if these trees are apricots or peaches, though I'm guessing peaches. Time will tell!

 A close-up. Seen from a distance, the apricot and peach orchards look a gorgeous lavender.

 Our home is framed in pretty blossoms!

We found this sign leaning against the Produce Market, out back. I just like it, no other reason, though it would be really fun to work here. I can't wait for more blooms. There are big, old cherry trees behind us which will be next, then last, the apple trees on the other side of our orchard. What a beautiful place God has given us to park, through our friends Bob and Karen. We're so grateful for their generosity.

Orchards and Pianos

 Our days here in East Wenatchee and Wenatchee are passing pleasantly. On a walk down to the river I snapped this photo and was thinking about how it will look in a few more weeks when the fruit trees burst into bloom. The buds are beginning to swell already. I think these are apple trees. The apricots are the first to bloom, so beautiful in their pink and lavender dress!

There are apple trees next to our rig. I always wondered who wrote the old song, "It's cherry pink and apple blossom white..."  He must not have known that cherry trees sport purely white blossoms, while the apple flowerets are pinkish white. I can't wait for these to bloom, but we may be gone by then.

A wonderful fact about the Wenatchee Valley is that there is a paved walking trail completely around the cities along the riverbanks, up one side, across the river, and down the other side, depending on where you begin. There are probably close to 12 miles of trail. Just up the road from where we are is the beginning of the trail on the East Wenatchee side. Or maybe it's the ending. Hmmm! We picked the wrong day to walk. The wind was fierce, raindrops began to pelt us, not to mention tumbleweeds zooming about. I caught this one with my cane as it tumbled by.

When we began full time RVing I knew I had to have a piano in our rig. I researched and found this Yamaha digital piano and I have been very happy with it. One slideout is my music room, complete with 3 file boxes of the music I also couldn't dispense with. Selling, giving away, donating almost all our possessions in order to move into our 5th wheel was not easy. The one thing I couldn't part with and also couldn't take with me was the Yamaha upright that I used to teach my students for many, many years in my home studio.

So... my solution was to ask the pastors of our home church if my piano could come live in the fellowship hall. They, both musicians themselves, gladly agreed, and I believe it does some service for recitals. Knowing we would be in the area for a couple of months, I obtained a key to the church so I can come practice whenever I have a chance. The other day, I let myself in, found the light switches, walked up to my beautiful instrument, lifted the lid, and got  teary and emotional as I sat down and tenderly began to press the keys. I've missed this lovely and very important part of my past life. I hope someday I might have my big Yamaha with me again. In the meantime, I will be happy with my little digital. It serves me faithfully and well and I am grateful to have it.

Going Home

 Once again we're on the move. Our job in Oregon ended and we were anxious to travel back to the town we consider to be our "home", even though "our home is where we park it". We had no trouble moving in the slides, unhooking the water, sewer and power hoses, and hooking up BigTruk. A couple of the residents of the park in Fairview, and one employee, came to say good-bye and to wish us well as they saw us preparing to leave. In the last few days 4 people have given us money to help us on our way! What a surprise, and what welcome gifts! People are good. We needed to stop by the Tire Factory in Gresham and get a minor valve repair as well as having the right amount of air pumped into each of the 12 tires on the 5th wheel and on BigTruk. We felt happy as we left rainy country and traveled into sunshine.

We had a scary time a few miles past The Dalles. Mr. Keith told me, over the walkie-talkie, that the orange fuel warning light had gone on. We were positive we had 70 gallons of diesel on the day before our departure. Our thoughts were that maybe someone had stolen our diesel during the night. We were near Biggs Junction so we carefully pulled into a Pilot Truck Stop and got in line. Mr. Keith turned off the motor till time to move up, and when he restarted, suddenly the gauges shot back up to say we had 61 gallons of diesel. Big sigh of relief! Back on the road we went, and happily crossed the bridge into Washington. The photo above shows us traveling down the highway into the Ellensburg valley.

We stopped for lunch and a potty break, for us and for the cats, somewhere over Satus Pass, then continued on. Before we got to Tonasket I saw the awning for the bedroom slide shoot up in the air and begin wildly flapping in the wind. Oh, no! That awning was just installed in October! We didn't stop because I could tell it wasn't detached, just unrolled somehow. We will get that fixed while we're in Wenatchee.

Here we are heading towards the Columbia River and the beautiful Vantage Bridge. We usually travel over Blewett Pass to Wenatchee, but we were unsure of the snow conditions, and we wanted to try the less mountainous route for a change. Later I figured out mileage and discovered the route through Vantage and Quincy is about the same, within a mile, as the route over Blewett Pass. Good to know!

We were so happy to pull into East Wenatchee about 5:00. The sun was still touching the foothills and the gorgeous, snow covered Cascades. The Columbia River was glowing with a reflection of the sky.

Setting up at the First Fruits Produce Market went smoothly. We love being right beside an orchard, though at this time of year the trees are bare and have just been pruned. We've stayed here a couple of times before, once for about 5 months in the winter of 2009 and again for 5 days last October. Our dear friend Bob has put in a 50 amp hookup for us. We are thankful to God for a safe trip and for this wonderful place to park for the next 2 months! We have family to visit to our heart's content, as well as the many friends we've missed since we've been workamping. Though we've made many new friends in our various places of employment, we always have to leave them when the job ends. Old friends warm our hearts and we are glad to be with them again.

Looking Back - Bear Country Critters

 We have so many wonderful sights and scenes and memories on which to look back in our years of workamping — so many from Bear Country USA especially. Here is a sampling of critters we were privileged to see nearly every day in the summer of 2006. There is a magnificent herd of elk in the drive-through portion of the park as well as reindeer and several varieties of mountain goats and sheep. This beautiful big guy is just getting his new sprouting of antlers, still in velvet.

 Pretty foxes, one of my favorite animals.

 The two grizzlies were a constant source of amusement and inspired not a little awe. This is Cherokee, the female, making a funny face for the tourists.

 And, just to prove that grizzlies can climb trees, too, here is Cherokee again, mastering this very scrawny pine. Tank, her mate, waits at the bottom for the daring climb to end. He looks a little bored!

 The tourist industry in Rapid City would yearly host a showing of the various attractions in the area. Each one would have a booth with information, handouts, and folks to man the booth, which we were doing here. Our Bear Country display happened to be right next to the Reptile Gardens booth, which came complete with live examples of what one might see there. This yellow fellow got quite a bit of attention! After a bit of trepidation we weren't too "yellow" to hold him.

 Of course, every tourist attraction needs a mascot. There is a brave teenager in that costume, greeting the tourists, handing out treats for the kids, and even doing a little dance to special "bear" tunes. Bet it was hot in there!

 The bear cubs, usually between 10-15 each summer, were the most popular attraction of all. The tourists would stay lined up along the fence watching the cubs' hilarious antics for long periods of time, moving along reluctantly only when the little guys collapsed into sleep. There would be a young employee standing inside the enclosure several times a day interacting with the cubs and giving a talk about bear life, always very interesting.

I had several "favorite" critters. One was the porcupine. You would think they were not so interesting, with their slow movements and their prickly "stay away from me" coats, but I was fascinated to watch them eat. They would hold their food in their little hands and nibble away much as we would do. They made a soft humming sound towards each other. I will never forget the exciting days we spent at Bear Country, still our favorite job. I wish we could be there still!

Fort Vancouver

 I haven't blogged for awhile because of illness and weather preventing us from getting out. We did have one short trip over the river to Fort Vancouver. When I lived in Vancouver from 1968 to 1983 we visited the Fort many times. It was always a favorite place, so I wanted to take Mr. Keith there to see for himself. Here he is, posing by this massive cannon. Hey, Mr. Keith, you're supposed to stand behind it, not in front of it!

 In 1818 the United States and Great Britain, locked in a struggle for control, agreed to share access to the fur rich Oregon Territories. In 1825 Britain sought to anchor their claim by moving their Hudson's Bay Company headquarters to the new Fort Vancouver, on the banks of the Columbia River. Dr. John McLoughlin was instrumental in settling the area, which eventually became Oregon, Idaho,Washington and British Columbia. The company moved out in 1860, the era of the beginnings of the Oregon Trail settlers. The Fort burned completely to the ground in 1866. In 1947 archaeologists began digging up the remains of the foundations, and in 1966 reconstruction of some of the buildings was begun. The large house in the picture above was Dr. McLoughlin's residence and the hub of the social life at the Fort.

 This Blacksmith Shop is well equipped and quite accurately duplicates the original shop. The volunteer blacksmiths here have mastered the iron works projects very well and do a good job explaining how it used to be, as closely as can be discovered.

  Mr. Keith always loves to pose in the old outhouses. I can't break him of that habit! This one was next to the Blacksmith Shop.

 The 1845 Bastion was built to protect the fort against threats and to fire salutes to arriving ships. It was three stories high; the top floor held eight three pounder cannons. In my reading, I don't find any evidence that there were Indian attacks or other enemies of any kind.

Officers Row is above the actual old Fort and is a tree lined street of great beauty.
As part of a national reorganization, the U.S. Army returned the headquarters of the Department of the Columbia from Portland Oregon to Fort Vancouver in 1878. Several new buildings were constructed on Officers Row, including this 1886 Queen Anne style home for the Department Commander.  The most famous Commander to live here was Brigadier General George C. Marshall, who lived here with his wife Katherine from 1936 to 1938 while he was in command of the Third Division's Fifth Brigade and directed the region's Civilian Conservation Corps camps. Mr. Keith and I hope to return for a more in depth visit to historic Fort Vancouver when the weather is warmer and we can spend more time exploring.

Looking Back - Bear Country USA

  Our second summer workamping at Bear Country USA began in April 2006. When we arrived there was still some snow in Rapid City. The peacocks were strutting — it was mating season for them. Throughout the summer the peacocks shed their long, beautiful feathers and they turned out to be quite a prize for us and for the tourists. We would drive around in our cart early, picking up any feathers we could find, then during the day we'd look for people to give them to — one for a child, whose eyes would fill with wonder; one for a handicapped person in a wheelchair who would get a big smile; one for a lonely looking tourist, joy, and the others to just anyone we thought would like one! It became a highlight of our day, passing out peacock feathers.

 We were asked to come early this spring to help with the brand new cubs in Baby Land. What a thrill that was! Baby bears have an odd behavior that was so fun to watch. They would use each other's ears as pacifiers. These 4 are lined up, each one sucking the ear of the next. Well, all except for the first one in the line. He was out of luck! They continued this till they were quite large. We saw as many as 8 or 9 lined up once! For helping out with the bottle feeding and cleaning I was given the privilege of naming one cub. I chose the cinnamon cub, third from the left, and I named her Annie!

These two, Mary and Martha, were twins. I held the cubs carefully along one arm, an arm with long sleeves on to protect from the sharp claws, while with my other hand I would hold the bottle. After feeding, I would hold the cubs over a bucket and rub their little bellies so they would defecate, like the mama bear would do with her tongue in the wild, only without the bucket, of course. Some of the cubs were big and strong enough when taken from the dens so that they didn't need to be bottle fed, but some, like these two, still needed the bottle. The others learned quickly to feed from a dish filled with special "bear" formula, and did they ever make a mess doing it. It must have made the ear pacifiers taste all that much better!

We did some volunteering at the Rapid City Rescue Mission. One of our friends there, Monty, was thrilled to be allowed to visit, with us, the closed off region of the park where the babies were kept, and he even got to name this cub "Concho".

Here is Annie again, quite a bit bigger, out in the big viewing enclosure later in the summer. Isn't she pretty? After the first season the cubs go to a section for juvenile bears, not open to the tourists, till they are big enough to be let into the drive-through portion of the park, usually by their third year.

Cubs, and big bears, too, love to climb trees. They would spend quite a lot of time there, much to the amusement of the tourists. All it took was for one to climb up and the rest would follow. We learned early that the cubs were very destructive of the trees, so the caretakers would cut trees in the forest property, stand them up in reinforced holes in the ground, and when they were stripped of branches and needles they would be removed and new trees brought in. That happened several times during the summer.

 The bears and the wolves were together in the drive-through section of the park, but they began their lives, after being removed from the dens, in Baby Land and then in the walk-through area. Here is Vanessa with a new cub. I want one! We were allowed to pet and hold these cuties before they were put out for the public to see and admire.

 Growing pups! They were all quite tame during this stage of their lives.

Here are some adult wolves out in the drive-through area, probably no longer as tame as they were. We enjoyed watching the bears and wolves together. The bears didn't have time for the wolves but the wolves were fond of teasing the bears and trying to snatch their food. There were at least 2 different kinds of wolves at Bear Country, mostly Arctics and Greys. Watch for more critters in a future post!

Looking Back — Our First Workamper Job

Going through old photos, remembering our earlier workamper jobs, I decided to use some of my best pictures and catch up to where I actually began blogging, in 2008, about our adventures. We moved into our 5th wheel in January of 2005 and left for our first workamping job in June of that year. With great excitement and anticipation, and entering into the unknown, we set off for South Dakota. Crossing Montana was an awesome experience. We fell in love! The early pioneers must have traveled in a wagon much like this one. We found this gorgeous scene near the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument near Hardin MT.

Here we are in our modern covered wagon, much more comfortable, just leaving the 7th Ranch RV Park in Garry Owen MT.

We've arrived safely in Rapid City in the gorgeous Black Hills of South Dakota! I'm talking to my best friends to say, "We're here!" Our employer, Bear Country USA, furnished us with a nice spot at the Lazy J RV Park. What we liked best about this park was that it overlooked the east part of the city and on a clear day we could see almost to the Badlands, an hour away. The sky was always gorgeous with frequent rainbows and awe-inspiring cloud formations.

Our boss, Vanessa, was truly the best boss we could have had for our first job. We will never forget her wonderful and kind treatment of us as we began our workamper job at Bear Country USA, a drive-through wildlife park. It has its walk-through area, too, and the new crop of black bear cubs each summer is probably the largest draw to the park. True to the name, the park has around 250 bears, but there are also many other kinds of animals, mostly North American varieties. In future posts I'll include many other critters.

That's a bear sculpture swatting at the plaster salmon in the waterfall above the otter enclosure, and those are real workampers in our "mule" where we spent our days going from restrooms to gift shop to flower beds, to garbage runs, and, most important, to tourists with questions and needs. The best part was that as we drove around we got to watch the animals all day long. We did spend quite a bit of time watching those adorable bear cubs, too. We loved this job so much that we returned for 2 more summers, 2006 and 2008. The park changed management and no longer has workampers, or we'd be there yet.

We shared cleaning duties with one other workamper couple, Ron and Connie, who trained us and then alternated days with us. It was their second summer at Bear Country. Next to them is Vanessa, and seated is Richard, whose job was to pick up handicapped tourists in his golf cart and drive them around to see the sights. We came to love these fellow workers as well as all the other employees at this wonderful and exciting place.

Mr. Keith looking "cool" in the Mule. 

I have hundreds of photos of the bear cubs. This is one of my favorites. We could, and did, watch them for hours, along with hundreds and thousands of tourists. 
Each spring there are approximately 10 to 15 cubs born. They are taken from the dens at about 2 months old to protect them from the male bears and to accustom them to humans. When they are old enough they are returned to the larger bear population in the drive-through area. Bear cubs are like human toddlers. They play endlessly, entertaining everyone. They are even cute while they are sleeping! Their enclosure had a swimming pool, lots of grass, trees for climbing and logs for scampering over. What fun!

The most amazing animals at Bear Country were the two Grizzly bears, Tank, the male, and Cherokee, his mate. They had a beautiful enclosure with a deep moat for protection, but they seemed almost tame. Tank would wave and do funny things to entertain the onlookers and to get treats. We frequently were asked to throw strawberries, or hotdogs, or muffins to the begging bears, for the enjoyment of the tourists. These grizzlies were located right outside the main restrooms so we got to see them several times a day as we cleaned and checked the facilities. I also have hundreds of photos of Tank and Cherokee and I will share more of them in future posts.