THE GREAT WASHINGTON
STATE FIBER RUN
JUNE 12-15, 2009
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Our special thanks to the farms who volunteered to be collection sites for this
3-day, 1,091-mile excursion! We couldn't have done this without you!
Shelley Moore - White Dog Alpacas, Washougal
Debbie & Richelderfer - BronzeLeaf Alpacas, The Dalles, Oregon
Collins & Nikki Griffiths - Sandollar Alpacas, Kennewick
Diana & Merle Moberly - Hidden Valley Alpacas, Spokane
Laurie Duff-Richardson - PNAA
Marlys Brown - Shadow Ridge Alpacas, Wenatchee
Mark & Rebecca Suryan - Alpacas from MaRS, Snohomish
Randy & Beth Brealey - Chelsea Farms, Renton
Deby French - Eagle Valley Alpacas, Enumclaw
Cindy Iyall - Iyall Alpacas, Olympia
Penny Holbrooks - Black Hills Alpacas, Chehalis
Ruth & Daryl Gohl - Columbia Mist Alpacas, Woodland
Stacy Ballensky - Red Barn Alpacas, Yacolt
Barbara Zimmerly - Glenbar Alpacas, Ridgefield
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Day One (June 12). We left Stayton and made a pickup in
Washougal before stopping in The Dalles. Before we left we had a
flat on the trailer with no spare so ended up buying 2 new tires with
the one left for the spare. When they put on the spare they pinched
We made the discovery just past Washougal after about half our
plug wore off on the pavement.
Wind turbines along I-84 near Umatilla. So many of them! Just past
here the awning on the trailer decided to start opening in the wind.
Fortunately we caught it just in time. Was starting to think we were
cursed.
Day Two (June 13) After driving until about 10 pm we stopped in
Kennewick and stayed in the Walmart parking lot with dozens of
other RVs. Found out that we had blown the fuse in the battery of
the trailer. Good thing Walmart is open 24 hours! Parking lot was
noisy and finally drifted off to sleep around 1 am. Up at 5 am to start
picking up fiber. This was our first stop. Took 2 hours to load it. Then
discovered we forgot our rope. Back to Walmart!
Eastern Washington between Kennewick and Spokane. A whole lot of
nothin'
Spokane. Couldn't fit any more on the truck so started to fill the trailer
(a Jayco 17-foot hybrid tent trailer). This happened WAY sooner than
we had expected! Found the extra weight made the safety chains drag
so had to remove a couple of links...
Leaving Spokane and heading for Wenatchee. Such a pretty drive!
Reminded me of Central Oregon.
Coming into Wenatchee. Sort of reminded me of parts of Idaho, especially
with the thunder storms off in the distance. It was about 95 in Spokane. A
little cooler in Wenatchee but a lot more humid. The cherry growers were
all worried about rain and the forest service was watching for lightning
fires.
Day Three (June 14) Spent the night at the KOA in Leavenworth. I've been
to a lot of KOAs but never saw them pack folks in like they do here! I swear
you could hold hands while sitting in your RVs! Our load drew quite a few
stares and several tentative questions. The nice maintenance crew let us
buy another rope. Forgot our propane cover at our campsite.
A few hours of relaxation before hitting the road! Had to hit Uncle Uli's, the
bakery for some cherry strudel and a hot mocha, and then the Cheese
Mongers for some of their excellent cheese, wine, and sausages! And of
course the beer store for some authentic German beer!
There was a whole lot of yodeling going on in the town square!
Then we were off again, headed through the Stevens Pass toward
Snohomish and our next pick up.
Stevens Pass. There was still snow on the side of the road! I know I heard
our trailer and truck groaning. And we started noticing a slight lurching on
stops and starts. Felt like the U-joint was going out on the truck. Great...
After Snohomish our last stop was Ballard to visit with our daughter, Cassi, for
an evening. We got into Everett around rush hour. Ahh, now I remember why we
live in the country....
We were lucky to get two parking spots. They live near the Ballard locks, and
we walked there after having a great dinner at Hamburger Harry's and saw
the boats coming through and the fish ladder. We had a great time! Wish we
could have stayed a wee bit longer, but we had many more stops to make the
next day...
Day Four (June 14). After coming down I-5 and stopping at farms in Lacey, Olympia,
Chehalis, Woodland, and Ridgefield, it was time to go home. Our little 17-foot trailer had
more than performed for us. Oh, and that jerking sound that we thought was the U-joint?
Turned out the lock that goes around the ball had popped up and wasn't latched. The
jerking was the trailer hopping on the ball of the hitch! Good thing were were so loaded or
we might have lost the trailer somewhere between Seattle and Olympia!
We got home about 6 pm. It took about an hour to unload everything.
Unpacking the trailer. It was in relatively good shape, all things considered. At least it was
until I pulled into the drive when we first got home and, while pulling into the back yard to
back to the shed, I buried one of the trailer's stabilizers into the ground, stopping the truck
dead in its tracks and nearly pulling the stabilizer off. Se la vie! Glad my man is so handy!
Bag after bag, box after box. Our sorting shed SEEMED large to begin
with.
Hard to believe this was all in one trip....
Oh, and the Oregon run begins in 2 weeks.... <sigh>