Jacqueline and Terry's Visit, Tony's Surgery

Tony's brother Terry and Jacqueline from UK arrived in Spokane on June 22.  We picked them up in the car at the airport and drove to where we had parked the motor home ~ Northern Quest Casino.  The next morning Terry was missing....he found his way inside the casino ~ drinking free coffee and gambling at 5 am!!  Must have been the jet lag!!!


As always, click on the underlined hot links for more information....and double click on the pictures for a better view.

This is a picture of the map showing where we were going to vacation for a week with Terry and Jacqueline in the motor home before returning to Moscow....a circular trip around the center of Washington.  







Day Two we went to Grand Coulee...we must have crossed this bridge ten times....going back and forth to the dam, to the casino, to get the motor home parked for the night, to the dam tour, and just generally riding around the town.

Before getting started on the tour of the Coulee Dam, Tony and Terry were both searched more than the rest of the tour participants.  Picture is of Tony getting the search.

We.went down inside the dam.....














a view of the dam from below....

and then up on top to see the massive amount of water flowing.....this much water has not been available to let loose from the dam for years.  We watched the spectacular laser light show against the flowing water on the dam at night.

There was a cute statute where we had our picture taken with the dam as the back ground (Sharon, Terry, and Tony).  Thank you, Jacqueline, for being our official photographer for the trip.












Day Three we traveled on to Lake Chelan....parking the motor home at the Mill Bay Casino in Manson for a couple of nights.  We spent the day looking over downtown Lake Chelan:

We visited a museum with a permanent wave machine that used to be  in all beauty shops.....

and a telephone operator's switchboard (am sure this is similar to the one my Grandma Alma Phillip used to use).

We stopped at the Lake Chelan winery for wine tasting and a tour.

This picture shows Tony and Terry getting a glass of wine straight from the vats.  


We even went bowling and to the local bar at the bowling alley..

We walked around the street vendors in Lake Chelan.  None of us had ever seen a booth where people off the street could go in and make a CD or DVD of themselves.....maybe they are preparing for "America Has Talent".

Day Four was spent on the Lady of the Lake boat ~ a ride up the Chelan Lake to Stehekin.... a one way 50 mile trip...inaccessible by car....only seaplane or boats can get here.  This is a sample of the scenery along the way.

A picture of the buses (look as if they are from England)....and our boat beside the bus.  We assume vehicles were barged to Stehekin.

One of the prettier and bigger waterfalls that we saw along the way.

This picture shows the countryside with all the vineyards.

On the way back from Stehekin, the jet boats were getting a thrill from the wake of the boat we were on.

Day Five we moved on to Wenatchee ~ parking in a Walmart parking lot.  We told Terry that his job in the morning was to return all the shopping carts....as you can see he did just that.  Double click on the picture to see him moving carts near the stop sign.

We went to the Ohme Gardens.....an amazing Evergreen oasis.  This is a picture of their unusual fountain for drinking water.












This picture is of Tony, Sharon, Terry and Jacqueline in the gardens....Jacqueline really was on the vacation with us!

We took a bus ride around the town (picture shows inside of the bus).  We made a visit to l local pawn shop and tavern.  

There was a lot of art around the town....not sure that we were as impressed as we should have been

Day Six we spent in Leavenworth....a small touristy Bavarian town.  On the way we stopped for the aplets and cotlets tour in Cashmere WA...unfortunately it was the week-end so there wasn't any work to be seen.  







 In Leavenworth we saw dancers.....

....rafters on our walk along the river....


.... and an art show in the park, as well as a stop at a local pub.

We introduced Terry and Jacqueline to Cold Stone Creamery....my favorite ice cream.

Day Seven we returned to Moscow.  Many of our friends and relatives were wondering how the new motor home would fit in our drive way.....and here it is....with just enough room to get either one of our cars between the swing and the back end of the motor home out to the street.

Teresa and Jim invited all four of us out to their home for dinner....last time Terry was here, we had dinner in their garage because their home wasn't finished.... 

...and a view from their backyard....a view of the Palouse.

Tree trimming took up a couple of days for all of us....most of the work was done by Terry and Jacqueline.  This is Terry up in the tree.....











....and Tony working on the ground...

...and one of five trailer loads taken away.

Logs were delivered by Mike and Kylie while Terry and Jacqueline were here....now I'm sure all our UK friends are just so anxious to come for a visit after seeing all the work we got done while Terry and Jacqueline were here.

We spent an evening at Dennis and Jeanna's home....kids by the pool and adults by the bar.

We got out the scooters for Jacqueline to try out.

....attended the local Farmer's Market where they had a full fledged brass band (Pullman Concert Band) with members ranging in age from teens to senior citizens....

....introduced Terry and Jacqueline to Cowgirl Chocolates.....

....and stopped by Dennis and Jeanna's Moscow pizza store to see the recent improvements and pick up lunch.

We went to Albion to an estate sale of an old friend of mine....

....which produced this picture of small town America during the Fourth of July celebrations.

Friends, Phyllis and Jerry, came over for an evening of fun with the infamous steam engine given to Tony by my Dad.

Jacqueline got a shot of me cooking....a rare sight....making cabbage burgers with my huge rolling pin left over from Daylight Donuts.

On the Fourth of July we started out with a trip to the Johnson parade, another small town that goes from less than 200 population on the Fourth to over 4000.  A clown stopped in front of Jacqueline to pose for a picture....she had the camera pointed at him.....he stood still....then he asked if she was done.  When she replied that she was taking a movie....the clown immediately started dancing around.  




You can watch a You Tube video here of parts of the parade....towards the end is the car that separates.

Later in the afternoon, we went up to Meadow Creek to visit with campsite friends for their annual Fourth of July cookout.

Jacqueline was able to eat a couple of s'mores after the cookout.

On the way back, Jacqueline snapped this picture of the two tired brothers in the back seat.  

We took a trip to Spokane for Tony's pre-op appointment, with lunch at Dick's hamburgers before the scheduled time.

Afterwards we went to Cheney to brother Bill and Janet's with a tour of Bill's workshop, and then dinner at Lenny's Steak House Restaurant.

On the way back we saw an unusual sight....a train going through the Palouse....where gates had to be opened to let the train through....a lot of train cars were stored there full of chemicals....so any train coming through had to be let through the gates.

Another unusual site in a small town on the way home from Spokane is their local police car sitting on the side of the road with a dummy made up to look like a policeman in the car.

Jacqueline caught this unusual picture of the bridge near Rosalia WA....

.....and this old barn just off the airport road after a trip to see the Grizzly Bears at Washington State University.

Our trip to Lewiston for lunch with cousin Linda and Mike provided us with a boat trip along the Snake and the Clearwater Rivers in Linda and Mike's boat.

Terry and Mike in the front of the boat; Tony and Linda right behind.....the two lightest weight people were in the back....Jacqueline and I!!!

One of the sights on the boat trip were all the logs stacked up ready to be loaded into barges.

Our next stop was to see Terry and Tony's cousin Audrey....both Terry and Tony offered to do an onsite repair on Audrey's trike....payment for the evening meal cooked by Audrey.....

...then Terry tried out the trike...

....only to find out that Audrey was much better at riding her trike than he was.

The day finally came when we had to load up the motor home for the trip to the hospital for Tony's surgery.  As we left Moscow, we realized the suspension was not working.  Luckily we pulled into the Wheatland Travel bus barn where they were able to get us going again....not repaired, but workable.

We stopped close to Spokane....and as dry as it has been, we found ourselves in nothing but soft silty dirt.  As we prepared to unhook the car for the remainder of the trip into the hospital parking lot, Terry was not willing to get his shoes dusty.  As you can see by the picture...he found the perfect solution.

We spent part of the evening in the park close to the hospital.....

...and then went downtown to Riverfront Park.

Tony has had so many well wishes before and after surgery.  He is shown here talking with his  friend Arnie at the Riverfront Park the night before surgery .  Notice the hospital bands on his arm in preparation for the big "open heart surgery" day.  For those friends and relatives not aware, Tony had an aortic valve replaced, a mitral valve repaired, and one bypass on July 9th.....

...at the Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.

During Tony's recovery in the hospital, brother Bill and Janet entertained Terry and Jacqueline with a trip to their first rodeo.....

...and an Icee...something they had never had before.

And....one last picture from our photographer.  Jacqueline took a lot of pictures of birds and animals....here is a collage of just a few of those.












The holiday for Terry and Jacqueline was packed full of travel, tourism, photography, manual labor, and hospital visiting.  Terry and Jacqueline flew home two days before Tony was released from the hospital.    We had a great holiday with them....and were so thankful that they were here during Tony's surgery and most of Tony's hospital stay.


Thank you also, everyone, for all your calls, emails, cards, gifts, and visits.  Tony is still feeling like a celebrity with all the attention from all our family and friends.  


Stay tuned for our next blog.....more UK company will be arriving soon....and hopefully Tony's recovery will be speedy.