nom nom nom

 If pictures are to believed, all we've been doing here in Spokane is eating!    Well, eating, preparing to eat, drinking wine, eating.

one of the few meals I've cooked at home, crab cakes!

In reality, while we have definitely been enjoying our food,  we've also been enjoying the pleasurable relationships and conversations that surround preparing and then sharing a meal with people we love.

Sometimes just Dave and I enjoy a meal out in the world (finally!).   We try to find places where we can sit outdoors and enjoy the sunshine along with our food and wine.     At Osprey Bistro (beside the Spokane River) we lucked in to Half Price Wine Wednesday and had a lovely bottle of French Rose.   Since it was just lunchtime, however, we didn't finish our bottle and wanted to take it home with us.      The cork was one of those lovely synthetic "corks" that wouldn't fit back in the bottle, no matter how we all tried, so our waitress got creative with a rubber glove and rubberband. 

We put our bag of wine back in the Jeep and had a nice walk along the river before we headed home.

under the bridge

see mama duck and her chicks?

  When we got back to Beluga we decided to enjoy the last of our Rose' and when we  took it out of the bag we had a very hearty laugh!

Dave is helping Jesse with some projects at his house a couple days a week.    When they're done, one of them comes back to Beluga to pick me up and we all have dinner together.    Sometimes we're included in the prep. work.

a man concentrating on his task

Dave rolled the sticky chicken meatballs, Erin kept the prep dishes washed, Jesse worked at the stove.   I was the sauce master and official photographer. 

   We all had a really nice family time and ended up with a wonderful meal!    Greek Chicken Meatballs with Lemon Butter Orzo....nom nom nom.

Later on we all took a post prandial stroll around the nearby and historic Manito Park.    We chose the Rose Garden for our walk this night.   The day's heat had calmed and we all enjoyed the ability to walk without  "glowing".

sniff sniff sniff

not roses

Another "work" day ended with Jesse and Erin preparing one of their favorite meals for us.   Tahdig with Spiced Golden Chickpeas.   Oh, and marinated, grilled chicken too!   nom nom nom

Jesse performs the careful "poking of holes"

Daves checks the temperature

I set the table, under close supervision.....

Mmmmmmm

One day Dave and I took an enjoyable drive along the ever present Spokane River to Arbor Crest Winery.    It sits high atop a bluff overlooking....guess what? (yes, the river) .     The grounds are beautiful, we had it pretty much to ourselves since it was a Monday.     

our only company was a flock of busy turkeys

the glasses are not as big as they appear!

While the drive and the surroundings were stellar, we were disappointed with the wineries offerings.  We didn't enjoy our samplings and the charcuterie tray, while delicious, was served in a plastic to go box with plastic silverware and cups.     It looked different on their website...surprise!    All well, it was an enjoyable afternoon all in all.

Yesterday we had a another dining pleasure - with friends!    Jodee and Bill Gravel were just a few miles away, in Liberty Lake, for a few days and she suggested we meet for lunch at an old Spokane legend, Clinkerdagger!     We hadn't seen each other in a very long time - we had a lot of catching up to do....

We had the perfect table, outside, overlooking the falls.    The company was wonderful as was the food.   We spent a lovely warm afternoon filling each other in on what has gone on in our our lives and our future plans.   It was so nice to see them again, Thanks Jodee, for suggesting it.

Today is another work and dinner day -  I look forward to it mightily!

  

It's almost the middle of July already!

 It's still hot but not over 100 anymore, for that we're thankful.    We've added a little more tacky silver insulation to Beluga's exposed glass and it has helped keep us comfortable.   The piece we had was a little too short so Dave cut it and taped the two pieces together.

think the airstream's sewer hose is long enough?

The sun was so intense that the tape melted and the pieces came apart.   He tried to staple them then, without success.     Jesse provided the perfect fix....heat resistent duct tape.   

We've been doing a little gentle exploring of the area and spending time with Jesse and Erin.    One day we followed the beautiful Spokane River to the Long Lake Dam in Tum Tum (giggle).   The drive was beautiful and we were able to get out and walk around in a few spots without our shoes melting into the blacktop.

 

these two were overhead waiting for lunch to swim by

We've enjoyed several dinners at some of Spokane's great restaurants.   On the way to Cochinito for some knock out tacos we stopped in for a quick, walk through tour of one of the grand old Hotels, the historic Davenport.   We strolled around the Mezzanine and ducked into one of the huge, fancy ballrooms, which was conveniently left open.....

Our meal (and margaritas)  at Cochinitos was all we expected.....Mmmmm.   We ate under the watchful eye of a very unusual woman.

 

When Jesse and Erin are busy we're trying to check out close to us places for dinner.     There are so many good places here, we're giddy with choice.    One night we scored a table at Italia Trattoria in nearby Browne's Addition.    Mmmmm    I took no pictures.

On Jesse's birthday, July 10, we met them for brunch at Chaps.   We sat outside in a beautiful garden setting and, once again, had a great meal.    Afterward we spent the day together.    Nice.

The next day Erin had planned the perfect birthday celebration for Jesse.....she rented a boat on beautiful Lake Pend Oreille for the whole afternoon.    She provided all Jesse's favorite things for the ride and we all enjoyed the most wonderful and relaxing day zooming around the lake, swimming, tubing and, of course, eating.    

Only a few of my pictures turned out well, I brought "the bad" camera along and I didn't want to to take my phone out of the glove compartment for fear of dropping it in the lake.

floating with a cup of Rose....what more could a guy want?

we boated under this railroad bridge, while a train was passing over it - cool!

Erin gets tubing instructions

Dave assumes the spotter duties

Yeeee Haaaaa
Erin's first time, ever!

We're having a wonderful time.    No need to try and "see everything" in a short time, we have the whole summer to explore.     Yesterday I finalized plans and reservations for our going home trip in September so now the pressure is totally off.    For the first time I'm finding the no vacancy sign out at some of the places I wanted to stay at.     I don't know if that is a sign of the times, or if it is because I'm not making plans far enough ahead.   Either way, I'm glad the planning is done.

July 5

  This was the first 3rd and 4th of July holiday, in many years, that we didn't host a party at the lake.

I have to admit it felt odd, but being in a totally different place this year, it didn't weigh on my mind long.....

Yesterday afternoon (4th of July) we enjoyed a bbq (complete with Erin's beautiful strawberry/rhubarb pie) at Jesse and Erin's house.    We met a lovely couple and their two cool young daughters.     Food and conversation flowed freely,  lots of thoughtful and interesting questions were discussed and the girls drew pictures of us as we talked and ate.  

look familiar?

We were back at Beluga in time to dab some lavender essential oil behind Lew's ear in an attempt to keep him calm for the evening's festivities.    We're staying at Northern Quest Casino RV Park and evidently the Kalispel Tribe is able to have a fireworks display when the rest of Spokane County is not,  due to high fire danger.      Lewis has become very disturbed by thunder and fireworks as he's grown older so we were concerned that he'd freak out with the big boomers being shot off quite close to us.

 They shook our walls......but either the lavender deal really worked or he's becoming deaf!    He stayed very close to me while I watched out the show out the window, but was just very very still.   Catatonic?

We survived it and had one of the best fireworks displays we've ever seen.   Perhaps that's because I'm usually running around making sure everyone's drinks are full, they have enough to eat, the food is replenished, the hot stuff is hot, the cold, cold, there is enough beer and wine on ice, enough glasses on the table, the garbage is emptied, enough toilet paper in the bathroom, the s'more fixings are brought out at the right time, coffee made,  etc.,  to just enjoy the show!     

This morning, while Dave was up on the roof, fixing and fiddling, he saw this in the distance....Oh my.

The fire is south of us, we don't know the cause yet, but it made our drive along the river today quite smokey.      A new reality for us.....