Sharing of our stateside visit and treasures of “home” continue. Our first priority upon our return was to head to Chelan to view the massive 5,000 square foot (460 square meters) house Herman’s neighbors are building five feet (less than two meters) from his property line. We are shocked the City of Chelan allows such construction, especially on recently brought in fill. Of course, we also wanted to see Herman’s neighbors and meet the tenants who are renting Herman’s house.

Lake Chelan runs 50 miles (80 kilometers) through the fjord-like mountains. The day after we arrived a fire started about 100 yards/meters up the hill from Herman’s neighborhood. We were out for a bicycle ride and saw the first fire trucks and helicopters scooping water from the lake. Our neighbor Sue called and suggested we return home and when we arrived a few minutes later, the planes were flying over the house. Fortunately, the fire was contained fairly quickly and burned relatively few acres, especially when compared to the fires that followed.

Later in July, Chelan experienced much bigger fires that burned over 100,000 acres, hundreds of homes and outbuildings and took several lives. One fire is expected to burn until the snow falls (hopefully) later in the season. Smoky air was devastating to tourism and residents.

In spite of the smoke, we visited Chelan a few times and had a chance to break bread and play cards with our neighbors and friends. We also attended a Saturday Night Live party at Mellisoni Winery and laughed the night away as we took our roles of Mary Katherine Gallagher and Mr. Robison seriously.

Tieton

Herman’s brother Albert and wife Jo travelled to Tieton for a high school reunion, which provided the opportunity for five of the six Koempel siblings to gather. Herman’s brother Byron and wife Diana generously hosted the sibling reunion at their home on the family farm in Tieton. It was a wonderful weekend of laughter and catching up.

We also returned for another weekend with Bryon and Diana. We went for a couple long walks and visited Herman’s niece Ashley at work. Ashley is a sommelier and runs Freehand Cellars in Yakima.

Mike & Mo

We so appreciate that Mike & Mo introduced us! They were in the process of selling their home in Bremerton and moving to a new home in Wenatchee. While they waited for their house to sell, they rented a small cabin in Plain. We bicycled around the area where the Little Giant fire started a couple weeks later, which completely smoked out the valley. I have fond memories of visiting our mutual friends Wendy and Roman (also introduced us).

Mike & Mo’s house sold and they closed on their new house in East Wenatchee. We headed over for a few days to help them unpack and settle into their new house. It was great to be able to spend such quality time with them.

Wheeler, Oregon

Meredith’s sister Janet and her husband Richard own a beautiful home overlooking Wheeler, which is between Cannon Beach and Tillamook on the Oregon coast. They’ve hosted many extended family gatherings and our children have come to anticipate the yearly get together. Some are social media shy, so photos are limited. We were fortunate to have three visits to the coast and enjoyed many hikes, trips to the beach, beautiful sunsets and shared time together.

What’s Next

We’ve been in Australia for two weeks and having a great time. SV Tieton is still “on the hard”. More will follow.