Back in Ohio…Keys in One Hand, Passport in the Other
First stop on our journey back to Ohio was Ocean Park, Wa. Jerry and Loraine Hofer, friends from the RV Resort we stay at in Tucson. They have a great property, a few house rows back from the water! They had a spot for us with full hookups! Jerry is a fisherman and went out early one morning and caught 2 huge salmon and a dozen Dungeness crab. We had a grand feast with them and some of their fishing buddies! Had a wonderful time!
On to Seattle for a Rooney wedding. Kevin and Pat Rooney’s daughter, Abbey got married on a rooftop venu. Fun time, and great to see all Kevin’s siblings and their families! The wedding was lovely, as were the Bride and Groom! We had to store our house on wheels about 15 miles away from downtown Seattle. Once again, our friends, Mike and Heidi from Missoula, came through with help locating where we could park for a few days. They have a friend who had a property that even had an electric hookup. Dave was so kind to let us use his property for 3 nights. It was an easy Uber into the city and to The Hyatt. We were overwhelmed with being in a big room on a king bed with a big TV! We have truly become so cozy in our van that it was weird having so much space! When we picked van up we felt like we were back home!
On July 28, we headed east from Seattle. Typically, we like to drive 4 to 4.5 hours a day. We wanted to get back to Missoula in one day, so we ended up driving almost 10 hours to Mike and Heidi’s. We really haven’t experienced delays on the highway, but we did that day. We had about an hour of no movement on I-90 due to bridge work. After about 55 minutes, we decided to turn our seats around and play cards. Of course, immediately after getting situated, the traffic started moving. So, we quickly got the seats turned around and tried to start the van, but it wouldn’t start.
With at least a two-mile backup behind us, this wasn’t good. Tim was in a bit of a panic and just couldn't figure out what could have happened. We only got one angry horn honk, and when Tim turned to look at the honker, his seat locked in, and the car started. What a relief! Note to self: van safety features won’t let the engine start if the seats aren’t locked in place.
We got to Missoula in time to see Mike’s sister, Robin Koehler, and their mom, Marilyn, before they hit the sheets to get a few winks of sleep. They had a flight back to Ohio first thing in the morning and needed to be at the airport by 4:30. We loaded some boxes into our little trailer to deliver to her in Findlay. She picked four gallons of cherries at Mike and Heidi’s cherry orchard in Flat Rock and froze them for us. Most of them made the trip all the way to Findlay in our Iceco freezer, except for the ones we ate. They were delicious!
On August 1, we headed to Minneapolis to see Brian and Barb Sykora! We went to one of their favorite restaurants for dinner and had fun catching up. The next day, they picked us up and we went to their house, played five crowns then they took us out for an afternoon of cocktails and appetizers on their pontoon on Lake Minnetonka. They brought us back to the campground, and we cooked out. Had a wonderful time visiting with our friends!
August 4 we made it home to Findlay. We have been staying at Sean and Ashley’s and getting to spend lots of time with all the Findlay grandkids. We were apprised of a small house located on the south end, close to the hospital and Kroger. It is vacant, and we took a look at it on Saturday. The owner is in a nursing home, and we have been meeting with her family. On Sunday, we made a verbal offer, which the owner accepted. Monday, Phil Rooney put an offer together, and we all signed. We will be homeowners again this Friday, August 15. We are not moving back right now. We plan on being on the road for another year at least. We will probably use it as an Airbnb until we decide to come back to Findlay. It will be a great spot to land whenever we return to town to see the kiddos.
We leave again on September 9 with Kim and Doug Cameron. We are headed to Europe for a Viking River Cruise. We will return on September 30 and stay for two to three weeks in our new digs before heading out again. Our plans for now are to return to Findlay next May for a couple of months. Next blogs will be from the Danube.