Lovin it in Lyle

June 13 – Camping on the river bank did not turn out to be the great thing we thought. You see, there was this train; no lots of trains, that went up and down the tracks we didn’t see before we parked. At least a dozen trains went by before 11 pm, a couple between 11 and 6 am then 4 or 5 more before we left about 9 am. Argh

We contacted a guy we met in Big Bend National Park earlier in our trip. Let’s say his name is Bob. He said if you’re ever up my way stop by. Well, if you invite me, I’m there. So, we sent him and email and said; “Hey remember us?” He invited us to breakfast the next morning and we spent the good part of the day together. He lived outside a small town called Lyle, Washington, right on the Columbia River; very pretty. Check out the photo of Mt Hood. I took it through the binoculars.

While we were visiting, he told us about a grand opening of a small bar in the local town. They were having 3 live bands and smoked salmon and prime rib; Cha Ching! We decided to stay and sample the local food and hospitality.

They had two people that performed that were fabulous. Mark sounds a lot like Clint Black and Tammy does some killer Patsy Cline, Reeba Mac Intyre and others. The sang until 2 am and we stayed until 2 am. Never closed down a bar before.

The River Rat & Tap Room bar is a great place. Jerry and Colin, the owners, are wonderful people (see photos) Jerry’s eyes are usually open. I just caught him taking a cat nap I guess. They let us park the motorhome along the side of the bar and we spent two nights there. We parked our butts inside and the motorhome outside. We had a great time. Oh, and they have this waitress, let’s call her Brenda, she’s a hoot. If you are ever up on the Columbia River you gotta stop by.

This morning we left Lyle and headed toward Seattle (McChord AFB). We want to stock up at the commissary before we leave the country. We plan on being in Canada tomorrow night. So, if you can’t get us on the cell phone or we don’t return your email for a while, it’s because we don’t have access. Don’t worry, we’ll get back to you eventually.