In Bismarck, we stayed with two friends of Roger’s, Shawn and Marlys. Roger and Shawn grew up together in North Dakota. They were really nice to me and I really liked them. One morning, Roger and I went for a long walk in a park near the zoo. We couldn’t see as many animals through the zoo fence as I hoped so I was kind of bummed about that.
Along the Missouri River in Bismarck.
Columbia River in Oregon and Washington.
Lots to tell you about since my last post. We have been camping almost every night since we left Aunt Viola’s house so I haven’t been able to update everyone as often as I’d like. The first day we left Corvallis and headed up towards Portland so we could see the Columbia River. It is the biggest river I have ever seen. I don’t even think I could swim across it.
Buster
Before I forget, I’d like to dedicate this trip to Buster. He lived with Roger for a long time after just showing up in the backyard one day. He had recently been sick and had to take medicine everyday so Roger didn’t like to leave for too long. That’s why we haven’t been taking a lot of long trips. He acted like he didn’t like me but Roger said he was just scared of dogs because some dogs had tried to hurt him. I never would have hurt him but I guess he didn’t know that. Buster passed away on Easter Sunday of this year. It made Roger very sad. He says the house isn’t the same without a kitty around. But since kitties don’t travel well, we are going on some adventures first before we adopt another kitty. Unless of course, one shows up in the backyard…
Simon
Our next stop was in Corvallis, OR to visit Roger’s Aunt Viola. My favorite part was that Viola would give me real cookies and Roger couldn’t stop her from doing it!!! Mostly I took long naps as Viola and Roger talked and told stories. We got to meet and visit with Viola’s brother and two sisters who lived in Corvallis too. We stayed one extra day as the battery in the van died and he had to get it replaced. (Roger said it was old and he was probably negligent in just not replacing it before we left home). I really liked the cookies!!! Roger said we might be back next year to visit so I am pretty happy about that.
We left Friday morning after breakfast and headed north towards the Columbia River.
Simon
Me in the Middle of a Volcano!
Tuesday was a very loonngg day. It started out great as we visited Lassen Volcanic National Park. Here I am at the Visitor’s Center. Roger said we were in the caldera of a volcano and the mountains around us were the rim of the volcano. I kind of got a little nervous about that but Roger said everything would be OK.