Small Towns

Well, we have a little change of plans today.  Last night we had planned to go through McNary dam today and make our way to Walla Walla Washington and stay there two nights.  Luckily, before we left, we determined that there WAS no place to stay in Walla Walla.  And if we needed to get all the way to Kennewick, we would need alot more time than we had allowed for today.  SO, we are laying over in Umatilla, waiting to see if we can rent a van to carry the six of us on a winery tour.  But the only van available is being used by a woman whose car is in the shop, so I guess it's not available, and it is now nearly 4:00.  If that's not going to work, tomorrow we will get two cars, which is only $12 more, and do our tour.

Early to rise on Saturday!

So I washed and hung a load of laundry, got another ready to go, washed dishes, and the windows, and did a spider web sweep.

Oh, and with all the cloudless days we have been experiencing (5th today), how do you like the shade curtain I improvised?  Al is not crazy about the c-clamp on the wood, but I told him I was gentle.  And he has acknowledged that it has made a BIG difference in the comfort of the main cabin!

Then the six of us headed in to town.  Don't you love small towns?  Umatilla is a big bigger than Arlington, but downtown is still only 3-4 blocks long.  A visit to the carneceria inspired us to have enchiladas and guacemole for dinner tonight.  There was a Dairy Freeze where we stopped to enjoy the air conditioning and burgers and fries.  We spent some time in the library.  We saw a laundromat and a bank, and a Napa Auto Parts.  And I was amused by this sign at the video store:

Last night when Walt and Marti returned from their walk they were picking stickers off their socks and shoe laces.  She called them 'bull horns'.  I am a Midwest farmer's daughter who grew up with burdock and cockle burrs, so I was curious.  On our way back to the boat I looked in the area Marti pointed out to see if I could find a sample.  And I could find no plant that looked like it bore any type of sticker or burr.    But as I approached the boat ramp, I could feel something needling me through my flip flops, and sure enough, I had a HUGE sample!  Thank you Al for using the needle nose pliers to save my flip flops, maybe.

Doesn't he look like a mean old bull!?  And this one is still pretty green.  They are really hard and poky when they turn brown.