My favorite parking place in Yakima was the Yakama Nation RV park, but they closed down last year, so I'm looking for another place. Today I moved to Suntides Golf Course, which is a tad cheaper and doesn't have tree canopy. I'll be here a week. I went into a garage to get an appointment to fix my truck, a place recommended by three people, and have an appointment for Wednesday. It will take two days, so I decided to stay over the weekend....

I'm at a pretty good but pricey RV park in downtown Yakima, but I'll move tomorrow to Suntides Golf Resort (resort?). Gotta get my leaking heater in the truck fixed, so I'll be here for a while. It was great seeing the gang at the favorite waterhole. Lillian wanted me to go through my brother Glenn's stuff, so we spent the afternoon looking at all his things. There was a lot of junk, er, collectibles, and a ton of family photographs and such. My...

I always hate leaving places, but once I get back on the road it feels better. I'm heading to Yakima for a few days but taking the long way along the Columbia river. Part of that is to avoid the traffic and construction on I-90 across the mountains, and part of it is because it's a prettier drive. Right now I'm in Kelso, WA, and will reach Yakima tomorrow. For the last 6 weeks or so a tiny amount of fluid has been leaking into the truck...

There's a lot of chatter in the news about upcoming votes on cannabis laws, most of it focused on California. While talk is of legalization that even when passed will be two years from now, 4 states are still "discovering" regulatory issues that need to be addressed. Colorado and Washington are somewhat settled down so they have functioning systems after dealing with the discoveries (lab testing, edibles standards) they encountered. Oregon and...

The Trump campaign got me today, count me in. A taco truck on every corner. I'll vote for that. I spend weeks at a time looking all over this damned country for a taco truck. Starbucks seems to be able to occupy every corner, but the taco places are always in weird corners and they move around like they're running from something. Trump's already expressed his fondness for taco salads, or whatever that was, so if we have a president willing to...

My cardio doctor said that things were normal, but I should check in when I return in the spring to discuss needed work on my arteries. So I'm good to get moving again. That's great, as I'm getting very tired of looking at trees; the damned things are everywhere. Yakima, Spokane, Montana, Colorado, Kansas, then head to south Texas, the RGV. That's the plan now, but it's a plan as fragile as a soap bubble. How about go East until it gets cold,...

There. I just devoted two weeks of my life in front of the TV, occasionally getting up to do basic real life things. It was worth it, though. Favorites were volleyball and rugby 7s. Most, by far, of the time I watched Canadian TV, which pretty much turns the cameras on at 5 in the morning and just shows events, any event, until the day ends. Commercials are few, but they are maddeningly repetitive. I swear I can recite the lines of every...

The Escapee park is installing super-duper beautiful fantastic broadband cable to every site, and I wanted a way to watch the Olympics. Installation only took a half day. The tech tried out three separate units ("boxes") before getting one to work. Each swap-out required a drive to the warehouse, about a mile away. But I had what I wanted, plus a bonus. I got all the NBC channels with coverage, including channel 506, NBC Sports Network with the...

Consumers spent $121 million on retail/medical cannabis in July. Since the program's inception, every month has shown an increase in prior spending. Retail store licensees are now at 415 (heading to 535), but only about 260 are reporting sales. Licensed growers are now at 1100, there being no upper limit on their licenses. After one month, the merge of recreational and medical marijuana programs seems to be going well, though there are those...

The cooperative where I have a lot held their annual meeting today, and we were out of there in an hour. Last year it took all day. Voting for three board members was held in advance with drop boxes, there were no rules changes, and complaints weren't allowed. As usual I went looking at options on how to see the Olympics this year. In past years I've moved to an RV park with cable for a couple of weeks, but this year our park was hooked up to...

Shortly after I arrived in Chimacum I noticed a bouncing or hopping in the rear of my truck when slowing down. Les Schwab balanced the tires, I replaced the two rears, then they turned the brake rotors under warranty, then I got a second opinion from my regular mechanic, then Schwab replaced the rear brakes entirely today under warranty. I then had the front rotors replaced just because. Everything is fine now, a great relief. So this summer...

After about 20 days, the rowboats are coming into Ketchikan. Two of them crossed the line within a minute of each other. Two more are still in the race, and getting close, but one may not make the race deadline and be disqualified. You row 749 miles in a 750 mile race, you lose. Well, not lose, just never did the race at all. Doesn't count. Not even last place. Nothing. On Saturday the participants in the Paddle to Nisqually reach Port Townsend....