CHECKING IN

Day five of our ten days off, and nothing says you are home like the sound of gunfire in the morning. Either the shooters were really bad shots, or they were target shooting, but if the deer we had in our yard, when we came home late last night from Walla Walla had it's say, it would rather the shooters take up a more peaceful sport, like maybe becoming a professional TV channel surfer, like my husband.

Our first couple of days off consisted of stopping by a few stores on the way home and then getting reacquainted with our new home. It was nice that most of the seasonal residents had packed up and headed south for the winter. We basically have the entire area to ourselves and we are enjoying the solitude.

Thursday, we decided to head to Walla Walla, WA to pay a visit with my BFF Cori. We took a leisurely drive south and checked into a hotel for the night. Friday morning we hooked up with Mike and Cori and headed to Pendelton, OR to take an underground tour of the city. This tour took us into the lives of immigrants who resided underground, along with the more shady entertainment of bars and bordellos.

It really was amazing to see how people lived back then, but we also joked on the way back to Walla Walla, that a hundred years from now, people will be laughing at how we lived in the mid to late 1900's. We enjoyed a great lunch at a new restaurant in downtown Walla Walla, before heading back to their property to check on the building progress of the main house.

We stayed for a wonderful home cooked meal inside the guest cottage, where we all participated in preparing parts of the meal, with Craig enjoying the opportunity to flambe' the sauce. After the meal, we were given lessons on how to make the perfect espresso on the espresso machine that Mike and Cori so graciously gave us. It was getting late, but with the espresso flowing through our veins, we reluctantly said goodbye and headed back home knowing that next month I will be visiting again.

Right now, as we sit in our respective leather chairs in our cozy living room, the last of our first home made espresso still lingering on our tongues, the gun shots have stopped, the sun is out, and the temperature is a nice crisp 42 degrees. Life is good here in Usk, WA and we will be enjoying the rest of our time off. We may just decide to go exploring and see where the road less traveled will lead us.