Mossyrock, Washington

Disclaimer: It is so difficult to post a blog entry from my phone and I couldn't edit the pictures after posting them without starting over adding them. I want to credit Robyn with some of the photos I posted here. I think at least 4 or 5 of them are hers and I hope she will forgive me for stealing them. 

Whenever I refer to my friends, the Bowes, I always describe them as the family with quadruplets. They used to live in Arizona, but moved to Mossyrock over 10 years ago and I haven't seen them since. We keep up with each other through blogs and email, but the kids didn't really remember me. Their family has grown to include nine children by now (and may continue to grow if more adoptions are in their future.) So we had lots of catching up to do!

They have a large farm in west central Washington with spectacular views of mountains, trees, lakes and blue sky. We tried to position Minnie where I could see those views out my windows, but we just couldn't get her level, and I ended up in the driveway right by the front door. That was handier anyway, and we could reach a power cord to a nearby outlet there.

We ate dinner on Friday evening in their outdoor gazebo wearing out our jaws talking. Afterwards, we walked down to Swofford Pond, and then drove up the hill to an overlook where we caught this breathtaking sunset over Mayfield Lake.

The Bowes had a previous commitment on Saturday, and I chose to stay home catching up on laundry and reading. But one of the quads (Valerie) who breeds Labradors, had a mother dog giving birth that day. She delivered five puppies fine, but then seemed to be in distress, and Valerie decided to take her to the vet. It turned out she had two more puppies who were having a tough time making their entrance. One finally came on his own (I got to watch it!), but the last little guy had to be delivered by C-section. It was quite an exciting adventure! I didn't do anything except try to stay out of the way, but Valerie assured me she was glad to have me there for moral support. We got the little family home and tucked into their pen and Valerie went to bed. Poor girl had been up all night helping her dog deliver puppies.

On Sunday morning, we went to church, and heard a great message by their pastor. Then that afternoon, Ted got out their pontoon boat and we went out on Mayfield Lake. It was a blast, and even Hanna seemed to enjoy it! After a couple hours of trying to throw the boys off the inner tube, (Ted did get a couple of them) we tied up to some trees, and barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs right on the back of the boat! Okay, Ted did the barbecuing, but I sure helped do the eating!

Their oldest daughter, Lydia is married and lives about 15 miles away. I hadn't had a chance to see her and really wanted to, as she is the only one of the kids who remembers me. So I decided to stay one more day so we could get together with her and her husband. On Monday morning, Robyn and I did a little sight seeing around Mossyrock, driving through a beautiful park (with a campground!), viewing the dam, stopping at a tulip farm nursery, and last but not least, a blueberry stand! That evening, the Bowes took dinner over to Richie and Lydia's farm, and we sat outside eating barbecued chicken and blueberry cobbler while watching all the baby animals frolic and gambol around in the fields.

The next morning, I said my goodbyes and backed my Minnie down the driveway, and headed her out on the road.

Please visit Robyn's blog post for more details and lots of fantastic pictures.