A glorious Pacific Northwest day.

It was with great sadness that we departed Potlatch today. The weather was perfect again today. Well, there was a bit of a breeze, but the sky was cloudless and the sun was warm.

We had a relaxed morning, lounging over breakfast and coffee. Watching a little of the Winter Olympic Games and enjoying the view out of Sadie's picture windows.

At last it was time to get ready to go. Thanks to my Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS), checking tire pressures is a matter of turning on the monitor and reading the reports. I did add some air to one of the suspension airbags. Otherwise, air was not an issue. I checked the oil and coolant levels, too.

Jill has become the master of preparing the inside of the coach for travel. She stows everything that is loose, checks the cabinet doors and drawers, turns off the furnace, water heater and ice maker, locks the refrigerator door and usually has a cold soda stationed by my driver seat.

I finished up my duties by draining the holding tanks and stowing the hoses and electrical cords. After a final walk around to make sure nothing was unlocked or still deployed on the exterior of the coach, I declared Sadie road-ready. Jill fetched Daisy Mae, and we hitched her up to Sadie's tow bar. Then, off we went.

We stopped on the Indian Reservation for gas, which is cheaper there than on the economy. It turns out that we got the best mileage we have ever achieved while towing Daisy Mae! I won't mention the actual MPG, lest I offend some "greenie" who might happen to be reading this post. Suffice it to say that MPG is going in the right direction.

We had a lovely drive home in brilliant sunshine. There were two stops, other than the fuel stop. First we stopped at the Toutle River Rest Area, where we used the facilities. We watered Pogo and then had a little lunch. Back on the road again, things went well most of the way home. We both heard a noise along the way, and wondered what it was. We stopped at another rest area, and I inspected the tires, towbar, Daisy Mae and the underside of Sadie. Nothing seemed to be awry. Later, I heard the plastic wine glasses that hang over the dinette table clink together and thought, "That is a familiar sound...kind of like what I heard before we stopped."

The end of the story is that we arrived home safely and in one piece. We unloaded Sadie. Jill began doing laundry and baked an apple cake for our Bible study group, which is due to arrive at 7:00 PM. I tidied up the things we had brought in from the coach, and now we are ready to entertain.

It was a wonderful trip, and although we hated to leave Potlatch, we have a pretty wonderful life at home, too. So, being home is also a great blessing!