Prosser, Washington

The high desert is such unfamiliar landscape to us. Prosser sits 700 ft. above sea level in a wide valley between the Horse Heaven Hills and the Rattlesnake Hills. The hills have no trees! There are no trees in the valley save for the few that have been planted. Tumbleweeds blow over a dry, parched landscape. That said, a lot of irrigation turns eastern WA into a lush, green agricultural mecca. Vineyards thrive...nine wineries are within walking distance of the Park and dozens of others in the immediate area. Huge, hillside orchards produce cherries, peaches, apricots, apples, plums and pears. Hops for making beer grow on sturdy, tall, wooden frames. The Yakima River meanders through downtown Prosser providing the much needed water. Wine is plentiful, reasonably priced and ever-flowing. Thrown in for fun, a chocolate-covered-cherry factory is around the corner from the Park and right on the paved, bike trail. What a great summer we're going to have!

I've been in denial; we are actually here to work. Egads, did I say work? During our year of glorious travel and never-ending freedom, we encountered many full-time RVers involved in this thing called "workamping." Loosely defined, workamping requires a few hours of work, usually at an RV park, in exchange for a full-hookup site...and some extras. We perused the Workamper.com web site, sent in our resumes, had a phone interview and wala we're hired. I think Al and the kitties have become dizzy with the traveling and conspired to spend some time stalled in one place. :)

The sun rises in Prosser, WA as it does in other places, and I'm not usually witness to it. Ok, I never witness it. You can imagine my surprise at being awakened by a blazing light at an obscene hour of the morning. I have only to lift my head slightly off the pillow to see the glorious sunrise every day!

Lilacs are blooming beside rhododendrons and beautiful dogwood trees. Trees, plants, bushes, flowers, fruit and vegetables that I associate with specific parts of the country seem to all be growing here. The word on the street is the asparagus harvest will be any day now.

There appears to be some discontent among our fellow workampers. I'm sure it will work out.

Idaho & Oregon

As we climbed out of Salt Lake City, we climbed into winter. Darn, the weather is going to be a problem...

For the next two days, as we finished up the Nevada Barr book we've been reading about winter on Isle Royale, we were rained on, sleeted on, hailed on and snowed on. We camped both nights on the Snake River where the wind blew white caps on the water. We're wondering if we should have delayed our arrival in Washington until the first of May instead of April. Too late now. Al scraped the ice off the windshield, and we hoped for the best.

It is a little scary pulling a 40' RV up a mountain in heavy snow that is accumulating on the ground...and there is the coming down the other side!! We stopped at Dead Man's Pass coming across the Blue Mountains in Oregon to play in the snow. Al thought it a good time to revisit my poor judgement in disposing of his tire chains along with the house in Pensacola. I pointed out my good judgement in keeping one ice scraper in the truck...the one with the snow brush on one end!

All's well that ends well. We left the snowy mountains behind and descended to the high desert of eastern Washington state. Wine Country...our home for the next 6 months.

Antelope Island

As we traveled north to Salt Lake City, the temperature began to dip and the mountains became snow covered. A stop for fuel provided us a view of a beautiful snow-capped mountain.

We chose an RV Park close to Antelope Island where we planned to bike for a day and then be on our way. We love it when the view out the Bighorn window is picture perfect!!

Antelope Island, true to its name, is home to hundreds of antelope and numerous herds of buffalo. The biking was hard! The hills are steep and the trails are covered in loose gravel. Al had a crash that would leave him black and blue and hurting for several days. I am more cautious! Aside from the tumble, it was a great day of biking, stunning scenery and wildlife viewing. What more can anyone want in one day?

Our route to Prosser, Washington will follow the Snake River into Idaho and Oregon over the next two days. We should arrive at Wine Country RV Park as scheduled on 31 March.