July 28 through July 31, 2008

Monday 28th & Tuesday 29th~~~ We were going to get an early start this morning, but our good intentions don't always work out that way. It takes awhile to close up your home for a 3 month vacation. We drove as far as Boardman, Oregon and spent two nights there. As we have written before, we love camping at that beautiful park along the Columbia River. We pulled in and parked and decided to move to another spot, when we were setting up there, the people next to us heard Kent ask Sharon to do something. They thought "gee that voice sounds familiar and he did say Sharon!". They came over and we sure got a good laugh out of it and also a great visit that evening and again in the morning before they took off. We met Dallas and Lawanna in Monterey, CA on our first trip in 2006, this is the 3rd time we have found each other on the road. It is always in a different state and we are headed in different directions. We stayed two days here and we wrote on our blog to try and catch up again. We are headed for Coeur d' Alene, Idaho in the morning.
Wednesday 30th~~~ Kent noticed we had broken one of our shocks on the trailer so we tried to get it fixed here in Coeur d'Alene but we couldn't find a welder without a 2 week wait. Kent grilled some great steaks for dinner and we will try and find a welder in Bozeman, Montana.
Thursday31st~~~ We got off to an early start this morning to find a place to fix the truck.Today is Shelby's 17th birthday, so we called her the first thing. We are missing the cake and ice cream party, Darn!!! After climbing the big hills out of Coeur d' Alene, we smelled something hot, so we pulled into the next roadside park to cool the transmission down. Parked there with the semi's was a repair welding truck; (pictures) a truck driver had called him to fix a problem on his rig. Kent went over and asked him if he was interested in doing another job and of course he said yes they were waiting for a part for the semi truck. What a blessing to come across this repair truck and not have to hunt one up and wait. We decided if the truckers use him, he must be good ! I asked him where his wings were, as I couldn't see them and he must be an Angel!!!! We were so glad we got on the road early or we would have missed the angel in disguise. Sharon fed the sea gulls at the next stop, just like at the beach!! (picture) We stayed in a little town called a few miles from Butte, Montana for the night. (picture)