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Published: August 11th 2009
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Slough Race Course
This is what the race course looked like from Berry's tent up on the hill. CHAPTER 27--TRAVELS WITH CALI
June 20: I heard the noise and saw a lot of cars and tents before I drove into the parking lot. There was a definite sound of powerful engines, but I couldn’t see any water or boats. The countryside consisted of rolling hills covered mostly in wheat. I wondered just where there were any boat races. I saw an RV with a red trailer behind it with a sign in the front window. Then I recognized Berry from the pictures Glenda had shown me. I was in the right place ok, but boat races?
Berry very generously paid my entrance ticket and we walked up the hill toward the “family” tent. What I saw was a swamp like setting with tight curves of channels of water about waist deep. Boats were navigating these channels--fast! Once in a while a boat would miss a turn and wind up scooting across grass until skidding to a stop. At this point volunteer workers would gather round the boat and push it back into a channel. This kind of racing is called “slough” (pronounced slew, it means a ditch) racing and I have never seen anything like it before!
Slough Boat Race
Here is one of the boats throwing up mud and water as it screams around a turn on the course. The water is only waist deep in the channels I decided I liked it as interesting as well as exciting. We watched intermittently throughout the day, going back and forth the rvs for lunch and breaks, until the races ended and a winner was pronounced. At that time we caravanned to Berry and Kathleen’s home in Fairfield, WA.
June 21: We had been invited to Berry and Kathleen’s daughter’s apartment in Spokane for bar-be-que, so we head that way. After eating, I was encouraged to take a nap because I felt and looked so tired. I slept over five hours and tried not to feel embarrassed because I was awakened in time to go back to Berry’s.
June 22-26: Getting to know Berry and Kathleen was great. The best part of my traveling has involved seeing and getting acquainted with so many of my cousins. Both Barry and Kathleen love to travel and sightsee, so they knew the places to go. Berry prides himself on being a good “tour guide” and giving all sorts of interesting information about the sights. We went into Spokane and saw the waterfalls downtown. We drove around the countryside and I took pictures of barns, of wheat fields, a covered bridge, flowers
Mowed Field
The farmers were mowing the fields and baling the hay while I there. I loved the look of these fields. and canyons. One day I rode with Berry on his motorcycle for three hours. My first ride on a motorcycle. Another day we did “aquacise” at a pool at a casino. (We did that several times. Another first for me.) I really enjoyed that!
Cali--Mommy spent a lot of time away from me and the RV. Some of the days got pretty hot, so she tried to let me out in my harness. If she didn't go where I wanted to, I just shrugged off the harness! Finally, she got frustrated and just let me roam! She left the door open so I could come and go as I please! (She finally got the message, he, he, he!) Mostly, I stayed under the RV, because that was where it was the coolest. Sometimes I would explore a couple of other yards, but always came back pretty quick.
Her cousin Berry scared me, though. He always wanted to play with me, but I would hide from him. Once, he picked up my rope and I did play a little. I will say, he always said "Hi," to me when he saw me in the window, on the dash Motorcycle Pair
Yep, it's me on Berry's motorcycle with him! We rode backroads for about three hours. or under the RV. I think he really wanted to be friends, but sometimes he would start up a noisy monster in the driveway and that would really scare me! I did let his wife, Kathleen pet me when she came out to the RV. Mommy said that made Berry jealous!!
Eastern Washington has fascinating geography. The rolling hills used to be mostly desert until the dams built on the Columbia River provided water for irrigation. Now these hills are growing crops, mostly wheat. I was reminded of the wheat fields of my home state of Oklahoma. These fields were not flat, however, but rounded, graceful and beautiful. One can drive 20 miles, however, and be in mountain foothills, complete with tall firs, pines and aspen trees as well as winding roads and sparkling mountain creeks and lakes. Idaho is about 30 miles from Berry’s house and they go back and forth between states several times a week!
June 27: Today we drove up to the Coulee Dam area. I found out that coulee means a ravine created by lava flow. We first visited the Dry Falls Park. This place had huge ravines/coulees which scientists say were created
Cali and her Rope
Cali let Berry handle her favorite toy "the rope" and actually played with him a bit while I took pictures. by earthquakes, volcano and water activity. It is thought at one time there were huge waterfalls which came over the cliffs which are now dry. It was an incredible sight to see and try to imagine the whole area full of water and falls which would have dwarfed Niagara Falls.
After Dry Falls we drove on to the Grand Coulee Dam. We arrived in time to explore the Visitor’s Center and see the dam before dark. After dark we sat on stone benches that lined the River bank. At that time, the sluices were opened slightly to allow enough water to turn the dam white on the sides. It was interesting to watch the water at it came through the gates and slid down the dam. When the sides were white, a laser beam show started with the dam as the “screen”. The show gave the history of the dam and the reasons for its building. The colors and beams were fascinating. I tried to take pictures, but they did not come out very well.
June 28-July 5: The week following, Berry and Kathleen continued to show me around the countryside and visited Spokane. We viewed Idaho, Washington
Dry Falls
According the posted signs this geological formation was once inundated with water eons ago, during the melting of the glaciers. and Oregon from the top of a butte. We explored the Rose Gardens in Spokane which I had remembered from my previous visit so many years ago. I loved the rolling hills, the cut hay, the color-changing wheat as it ripened, the barns and all the other agricultural sights that make up the bread basket of America. I very much enjoyed Berry, Kathleen and their daughter Terri and her son Josh as we visited, played games and got to know each other better.
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Berry
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Chapter 27
Hi Cuz, I finally figured out that something must have been wrong with Cali for her not to like me and I know what it is. It is that she now speaks in pure English and not in Italics as she had in all previous blogs. That big of change must have made her afraid of me. We love and miss you. Berry and Kathleen