Saturday 10 June 2017

A leisurely morning saw us to the car by 9:30 a.m. We’re doing uncommonly well at this early morning take off! And, this is our last day. All we have on the docket is to return home at a comfortable pace.

First, a stop. We traveled 30 minutes up the road and stopped at the Manhattan Project Historical Site in Richland, WA. The tours to go out to Reactor B and the military town that housed the hundreds of thousands of workers were both full, with people waiting for the tour to begin. We opted to look through the museum and read all the signage and return at another date for the full four hour tour.

There is so much I didn’t know about this project – and so much still to learn. But, we saw pictures of the budding encampment and tales of what it took to feed and house so many workers. It was astounding to think what took place on this site.  

Of particular interest is the list of groceries it took to feed all the workers – per day, or per meal! I could not believe it! Take a close look at the insert in the photo. And, this kind of endeavor was taking place at every military base all over the world as our troops fought for freedom during WWII. We must take those tours. Another date is required. Maybe later this summer.

We packed back into Dixie (our little Prius) and amid sun, popcorn clouds, and the rolling hills of Eastern Washington, we headed toward home. Just before crossing the Columbia River – yet again – we stopped at a roadside stand and bought four pounds of ripe, juicy, delicious Washington cherries – right off the tree. And, they are heavenly!  Nothing like tree ripened fruit to excite the senses.

Listening to “Along Came a Spider” we traveled on. About the time we came to Cle Elum, we made an executive decision to stop at the Sunset Cafe, along main street, for a late lunch. We were not disappointed. The fare was tasty and abundant. The portions were so large, I had to package half of my sandwich to take with me.

One last stop – for comfort, coffee and shopping – at North Bend’s outlet stores, and we were home free.

I always find driving back into familiar territory so comforting. We rolled to a stop on I-90 as Mariners traffic brought everything to a standstill. Fortunately, we were able to take the 4th Avenue exit and continued through town. Home again.

The poppies are blooming in our front garden. Everything looked greener and more lovely than when we had left. It was good to be home.

There is still an hour remaining on our story – we have no idea who done it yet, so we brought it in the house with us to listen while unpacking. That’s yet to happen! We are just enjoying being home and relishing in our memories of a lovely mini trip.