Happy Thanksgiving!

Old Lincoln County Barn

Thanksgiving dinner included a rare sharing with my western kids about three weeks early. Since selling my RV in 2007, it is terrific to be with either of my daughters and their families without involving a plane. This time I drove my faithful 10-year-old Chrysler Town and Country, its first trip since driving NW from AZ in June of this year. I absolutely hate driving in big cities so I took the long way around to get my strangle-hold hugs.

Mountain Stream Route 12

I left Sequim in the dark of a 6:30 a.m rainstorm while playing tag with an enormous log truck. Two-lane #101 is the only major road on the Olympic Peninsula so neither of us had a choice.

My chosen route took me on to I-5, south to Route 12 and over White Pass. I chose that route for a good reflection picture of Mt. Rainier. The rainy day took care of that but the sun emerged as I drove east. I made one stop I couldn’t resist, a wide spot along a fast-moving stream where trees lining its banks, still courted fall with bright yellow leaves clinging to their branches. I locked my doors, put my seat back, cuddled into my fuzzy blankee, put the right window down a couple of inches and took a nap. The sound of that stream put me right to sleep. At 3 p.m. and 451 miles of driving, I turned into the Wadlington driveway.

Lincoln County Back Road

They treated me to a wonderful dinner at Anthony’s in Spokane next to a magnificent view of the lighted Spokane Lower Falls. The Saturday before I left, we all prepared a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner at home. Bill prepared the smoked turkey, baked ham, and baked potatoes. Janet and I did the dressing, Great Grandma’s Cranberry Sauce, salad, and along with Bill’s Mom, we all ate way too much.

Jan and Bill and I went in the truck along a questionable Lincoln County dirt road, angling down toward the Columbia River where startled deer watched our progress and plentiful wild turkeys scurried for cover. I love doing things like that.

Thanksgiving Turkeys?

The return trip to Sequim after a week, took me through waving wheat country, over Snoqualmie Pass on I-90 and various other routes, paring the mileage to 381 miles. The next time I’ll go after the northern route through North Cascades National Park opens in the spring. That will require a ferry trip from Pt. Townsend. Nothing is direct from here, part of the area’s charm. Happy Thanksgiving and God Bless until Next Week!

Winter in the Wilderness, (e-book & hard cover), and the fourth edition of RVing Alaska and Canada are available through Amazon.com.

Sharlene Minshall - The Silver Gypsy

At 45, Widow Minshall began 20 years of solo full-time RVing throughout Alaska, Mexico, and Canada. Sharlene canoed the Yukon, mushed sled dogs, worked a dude ranch, visited Hudson Bay polar bears, and lived six months on a Mexican beach. She lectured at Life on Wheels, published six RV-related books and wrote a novel, “Winter in the Wilderness.”