Labor Day Washington trip

Over Labor Day Tammy and I drove out to Washington State to spend a long weekend with several of my uncles and aunts at their river properties.

It was a nine hour drive there and a nine and a half hour drive back.  Funny how a desirable goal makes the time shorter.

Tammy and I were surprised at how many large motor homes pulling a good sized SUV behind them were on the interstate.

Columbia River in Washington State

Wind farm near Columbia River

The following photos were taken on Highway 12 west of Yakima, Washington.

The next photos were taken near White Pass on highway 12.

Between White Pass and Packwood, Washington this large guy was calmly standing near the road.

Our destination.

Tammy and I had good weather until we entered the Cascade Mountains.  Then we started to get off and on rain.  By the time we reached the river properties it was raining really hard.  Fortunately the rain left by the next morning and we had sunny and warm weather the rest of the weekend.

The mossy trees indicate how much rain this area gets. 

Now I offered to bring some of my fencing material to help my uncles with their fencing but I was told they would have the fencing all done by the time I got there.  Guess not.  No matter... it looks like they wanted to go fancier than having a simple fence like I use to hold livestock.

While in Washington State Tammy and I took an afternoon and she attended a Tastefully Simple meeting with her team members.  During our drive back to my uncles' properties my car quit running just as we were exiting the interstate to get on Highway 12. I had to leave my car overnight at a gas station at the exit.

The next morning a buddy of my uncle Curt looked at my car and discovered the distributor's rotor was loose.  We tightened the rotor screw but it was stripped.  The screw held just long enough to get the car back to the river property. The distributor had been replaced a few months earlier in Kalispell but this was the first time I had really driven my car other than a few short trips around Kalispell.

I needed a new rotor.  This was Labor Day weekend and a Sunday. Amazingly a O'Reilly's auto-parts store was open in a nearby city and I was able to fix my car.

The weather was gorgeous on Labor Day Monday when we returned to Montana.  With the clear skies we could see Mt Rainer, something hidden in the rain clouds on our drive to the river properties.

Back near Yakima again.  I love these mountains.  The other side of the mountains was so near and so green.  And here? Dry, dry, dry.

The Yakima area apparently is a large fruit producing area.  We saw lots of fruit stands and trucks hauling fruit.

Fruit: Pears, Peaches, Apples... Wine?

Coming down the mountains that are between Yakima and Interstate 90. Interstate 90 is in the far distance.

We had a great time visiting my relatives and took our time when it came to leave. We didn't leave until noon Pacific time. We didn't get home until 10:30 pm Montana time.  Nine and a half hours after we left.  It was plenty dark by the time we got home.  Very little traffic was on the roads. Fortunately we didn't see - or hit - any deer.