~Monday, June 20, 2022~
Day 736 (Travel Day)
Boy, am I getting spoiled here. Another nice breakfast from mom before heading to the airport. Not for one second did I take for granted a normal shower, a bigger kitchen to prepare a few meals in, and my time in the garden. But best of all was my time spent with my sweet mom. Thanks for having me!
On our way to the airport, Jeff texted me to say that he, Trevor and Shane had left Tally Lake Campground in Whitefish, MT at o’dark thirty to get to Spokane Airport on time. Along their route in the pouring rain, they drove through one of our favorite towns….Wallace, ID, where in a fleeting moment, they could at least have a glance. Hopefully Shane will have an opportunity to visit this adorable town one day. With our anticipated arrival at Hidden Acres Orchard this evening, I wasn’t sure if Jeff had phoned ahead to make sure we were good to go. It appeared Jeff beat me to the punch when owner Nicholas said they were already on their way to the airport having already dropped the trailer off. I’m really looking forward to seeing my hubby as we haven’t spent this much time apart since my 2008 trip to the Mediterranan with my mom and sister. The biggest question we get is how do you spend 24 hours a day/7 days a week together all of the time, and not drive eachother crazy? Though we do have our moments, in the end, we don’t just love eachother, we really LIKE eachother. I’d have Jeff as my 24/7 person anytime.
Meanwhile, back in California, aside from nearly hitting a series of orange cones in trying to find the signs for Southwest Airlines 😳, we arrived in plenty of time for my 3:15 departure. After exchanging a few hugs, and giving her dog Bella a pat on the head, I boarded the shuttle to security, where thankfully I was met with a short TSA line and a Starbucks nearby. Now how is it that I had to wait for nearly an hour for my coffee, yet have less than a 2-minute wait at security? What we’ll do for a good cup of coffee!
We boarded on time, but had a delay of 30 minutes in taking off, due to some glitches in the baggage department. If it takes an extra 30 minutes to ensure my bag stays with my flight, I’m all good. My direct flight went pretty smooth except for the first 10 minutes of take off and landing. I owe a thankyou to the the adorable 1 year-old sitting next to me, who kept me distracted.
And then came the flood of texts…..”where are you??” “I thought you’re plane arrived at 3:15?”, etc., etc. For some reason, Jeff had written down on the calender that my arrival time was 3:15 right around the time of Shane’s 3:55 departure. So obviously the wires got crossed between arrival and departure times. I didn’t land until nearly 5:30 with my poor hubby waiting in the cell phone parking lot for over 2 hours, not to mention he’d been up since 5:00 a.m. along with the hours of driving to make sure Shane and I were taken care of. Despite it all, I still got a great big hug and kiss from my dear husband. So nice to be reunited once again!
Driving through Spokane, we were impressed with the scenery…….gorgeous coniferous forests, rugged mountains, and an endless array of green landscape. And the scenery just kept getting better on our approach to Mead (just outside of Spokane), where our Harvest Host location was. Harvest Host allows free overnight stays at either private residences or businesses who sign up for the program. It’s a win, win as it give us travelers a “free” place to stay and more patrons to their establishments. This one was an apple orchard called Hidden Acres in their 4th season of being Harvest Hosts.
On their beautiful property they grow peaches, apples, cherries, pumpkins, Morel mushrooms, rhubarb and garlic. Today’s special….U-pick Rhubarb which we didn’t partake in. Had it been apples, we would have been all over it. Owner Nicholas and his wife are third generation growers with the 60-acre property devoted to their u-pick orchards and petting zoo. It is a true working farm. We’ll definitely pay them a visit in the morning as they have an adorable small shop too, filled with jams, pies, candies and of course, fruit! And we couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful campsite. Owner Nicholas had us plop our rig amongst the apple trees, making it feel like we had our own chunk of real estate. I think the other RV’er was somewhere at the opposite end of the property, to ensure we felt “alone”. It was a wonderful evening as we sipped wine while enjoying the spectacular sunset…..all at 9:30 p.m. We better get used to what will seem like longer days, the further north we go. We may have already had the summer solstice, but with our direction, it will be a while till we feel the shorter day effects.