LaGrande Appointments...50º

6:30AM, Herb and I were in the car headed for LaGrande...We both had eye appts, shopping to do and an MRI scheduled on my knee at Grande Ronde Hospital...Everything done we were back home by 3:30PM...Dusty was finishing his day working on our bathroom, Herb unloaded our car and Pat arrived with just picked raspberries...A quick visit with Pat, then Herb set me up on the deck to sort apricots, ripe from unripe...I sat on the deck, ice pack on knee and finished reading a book...Seemed good just to look at the mountains.

That saying, "be careful what you wish for" came to my mind...Early this year I remember saying, "This summer I am going to spend more time on the deck looking at the mountains"...Well I certainly am but it is "imposed sitting" while Herb does his chores as well as mine...Now I want to be pulling weeds, dead heading or just slowly meandering around looking at what might bloom next or checking for zucchini, cucumbers or our own raspberries...Deep breath, sit back and be thankful for what I can do!..This morning will be spent putting apricots and raspberries in the freezer until later when I can make jam for the cellar shelves.

Rusty will be here today, maybe he can do some of my "honey do's" and Herb can look at the mountains!...OWAV:)

July 26--Day 5…Awake early this morning so I will finish up with the adventure of yesterday…After breakfast we explored the ship some more…Herb and I checked out the other restaurants that they have well hidden in the very middle of the ship, decks 6 & 7…Two more actual sit-down restaurants instead of the huge buffet on deck 12…The menu for the "Indigo" sounds good as well as the "Summer Palace" which also serves breakfast…The meals at these two restaurants are included in the price of our cruise but unless someone tells you about them or you really go looking for them you continue eating at the not so good buffets…Maybe the food will be hotter and the seating not so crowded.

We catch up with M & J before noon as they return from a walk into Skaguay where they checked out the shops (just touristy stuff)…They did buy some bottled water and Pepsi since it is so expensive on the ship…I called guest services and ask for a wheel chair to take me to the boarding place for our train ride…About 1pm we are seated in the train and on our way for a round trip of 40 miles in 3½ hours…The White Pass Railroad was built during the gold rush in 1898 so supplies could be moved easier into the gold fields…Before the train everything was first carried on the backs of the miners and then by mule train…The train zig zags up the steep mountain over hand build tressle's and through 2 tunnels…For the scenic trip 3 trains traverse the mountain side then swap engines from front to back on sidings at the half way point of our trip…The train track continues on for 100 miles into Canada.

We dined at the Indigo cafe, arriving about 5pm and ready to try something besides buffet fare…We all ordered rib steak with baked potatoes, roasted tomatoes, spinach came with the steak and we all ordered a salad…Dessert is included but most drinks are extra…It was a much nicer dining experience as we were treated like special guests and had servers at our beck and call…The food was served hot and we didn't have to walk half of the ship to find a table…Both girls that served us were very nice but one especially so as she really enjoyed serving people.

M J & I went to the evenings entertainment, a comedy and improv act…It was loud but enjoyable and funny…Herb headed for our cabin to stretch his hips and back, stiff from the train ride.

Aboard the train

The train ahead of us

Mountains up close

One of the old train trestles