Unexpected freeway sighting in E. Washington

Friday and Saturday, April 27/28, 2012 Days 320/321

Here's a picture of the Handiquilter boxed up inside Howie...not too crowded!

We left southern Idaho early in the morning. The wind had been blowing all night, as well as lots of rain, but it wasn't too bad when we started out. Then it hailed on us! Definitely time to head for home.
Later in the afternoon, the sun did come out, so we had to take a few pictures to remind us of this.

Crossing into Oregon, we were debating where and when to stop. Last time we stopped near Hermiston, close to the Washington border. This time, Harris decided that since there was a Mariner game on the radio, he'd just keep driving toward home. We planned to be there about 10 or 11 PM.
This is a picture taken before we were going over the Blue Mountains in Oregon. This area is one we'd like to come back to and explore someday, when we're not at the end of a 7000 mile trip!

As we left the Tri Cities area of Washington, headed for Yakima, Harris's phone rang.
"hello?"..."Look at the truck in front of you...well, now we're 2 cars, 3 cars, 4 cars in front..boy, you guys poke along!" (too true, we do, trying to get that good gas mileage). "who is this? we don't see a truck?" "Mary!"
Judy's sister, Marilyn, husband Gene, son Jeff and his wife Mary were returning to Yakima Sportsman State Park from the Walla Walla area. They had been wine tasting, and when they were going down the freeway, they said, "Hey, that vehicle sure looks like Howie!...what do you know? that's Harris inside!"
So, they called us. What are the chances of this? Meeting someone you know on the freeway?
We decided we just had to stop and see them. So we pulled into the state park and found they had saved us a spot right next to them. We could have gone home, but what the hey, the sun had come out and we didn't have a definite date we had to be back, so...what's for dinner?
Marilyn had plenty for us, she said...and she always says this! We had a wonderful beef fondue and salad and home made bread and cheesecake for dessert. Jeff made a great fire that we sat around while it got dark. It was fun to catch up, but after all the desert we'd been in the last month, we were feeling the cold and had to get out layers we luckily had packed back in March.
The next day, Saturday, Marilyn and family went to Zillah for more wine tasting, and we hung around the campsite for the morning because the sun was shining and warm. Finally, it was time to leave...the Mariners were on the radio again, so we could listen all the way home. We got home about 4 and started unloading....

Oops! forgot about this pic...geese on the river in the park...

total miles driven Friday= 524



total miles driven Saturday= 175