George in George — and a day of Drama.
Today’s plan was to visit George, WA — yes, an actual city named George in Washington. Lynn loves it. There isn’t much there, but one of her Roadside Attraction stops was calling. Before that, we needed to swing by the Ford dealership in Moses Lake so Kirk could have the speedometer recalibrated for the new tires.
Lynn was up at 0630. The air was still somewhat unhealthy (AQI 118), but better than Idaho. A cool breeze made it a perfect morning to sit outside with coffee and watch the sunrise — her favorite kind of start. She got a walk in around 8am; one loop around the huge campground was about 1.8 miles, plus a little exploring. Kirk was up before she returned, and we had a light breakfast in the RV before tackling chores.
By 11:15 we headed to Moses Lake. Kirk preferred having Ford recalibrate the speedometer rather than Les Schwab. But as soon as we walked in and explained, the service girl told us they couldn’t do it — only Ford Corporate could change the truck’s specifications. Confused, we left and continued exploring Moses Lake before heading to George, WA for Lynn’s next stop. Kirk will have to follow up with Ford.
At noon we arrived in George, searching for the bust of George Washington in George, Washington. Lynn is endlessly amused by the name — simple, clever, and very on‑brand. We found the statue outside a busy gas station just off the highway. Slightly underwhelming but still fun. We wandered the tiny town and spotted an axe on top of a flagpole, old signs, and learned that on the 4th of July they have the World’s Largest Cherry Pie. A fun little stop full of George‑themed puns. Exploring George took about ten minutes. Meanwhile, Kirk was on the phone with Ford Corporate, trying to resolve the calibration issue. Corporate said, “Go to the dealership.” Ugh. So back to Moses Lake we go!
The drive was surprisingly entertaining thanks to farms posting crop name signs along the highway. We’ve always wished crops were labeled, and here they were — though photographing them at 70+ mph was a challenge. Every Canon photo came out blurry. Thankfully, the return trip gave Lynn a second chance, and the iPhone’s Live feature saved the day. The most confusing sign was “Timothy,” which we only knew as a boy’s name. A quick search revealed it’s a type of hay widely used for horses, rabbits, guinea pigs and other herbivores. It’s high in fiber, has moderate protein and low in calcium and sugar which provides consistent gentle nutrition. Mystery solved — learned something new!
We arrived back in Moses Lake around 1:30pm and stopped for lunch at Tacos Mi Rancho. Decent, nothing spectacular. Kirk was still on the phone with Ford Corporate throughout lunch. After lots of back‑and‑forth, Corporate said the dealership could do the calibration. Very frustrating. Corporate finally told us to go back to the dealership and call them when we got there so they could explain directly to the service techs.
By 2:30pm we were back at Ford in Moses Lake. Kirk called Corporate and handed the phone to the same service girl who said it wasn’t possible. Kirk could tell she wasn’t using the right terminology with Corporate. Thankfully, a Ford tech hanging around overheard and immediately knew what needed to be done. He grabbed the manager, and they recalibrated the speedometer in about five minutes. Perfect. The new tire size was outside their standard specs, but they got it within 1–2 mph — far better than being 6 mph off. No charge, no paperwork, and we were out the door. Kirk was thrilled, and grateful that “Dave” happened to be nearby and overheard the conversation.
We were back at the RV by 3:30pm. Kirk met our neighbors, then settled in for a nap while Lynn blogged and reviewed pictures.
Around 7:30pm we headed out to explore the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge. Lynn had read about interesting Ice Age-like formations in the area called Drumheller Channels, but her directions were off, sending us on a 20‑minute detour. We eventually ended up at an entrance practically next to the RV resort. Inside, it was all gravel roads. One led us to Upper Goose Lake — a dead end. We stayed a few minutes, then headed back. We never found the Ice Age-like Drumheller Channels nor did we see any wildlife, and with daylight fading, we called it.
We returned to the RV park at 8:45pm, stopped at the store for firewood (thankfully fires are allowed here), and came back to a beautiful sunset.
But the night wasn’t over. At 10pm, when Lynn went to shower, she discovered we had no hot water — because Kirk hadn’t turned it back on after yesterday’s battery issue. So, Lynn would have to wait about 20 minutes or so to shower until the water got warm again. It was baffling since we seemed to have hot water yesterday – doing dishes and showering! The tanks must’ve held the hot water for a day…???
And still the night wasn’t done. At 11pm, the water alarm sensor went off in the storage bay. Again. Those alarms are loud, and of course it happened late at night during quiet hours. Kirk will investigate tomorrow. That was the final event of the night — thankfully no more drama.
A day of fiascos (Ford, detours, water issues) offset with fun George and sunsets. Still a good day overall – any day not working is a good day! Loving retirement life.
Weather – High 99*, Low 63*. Winds 2-11/21 mph. No rain, no humidity. AQI 118 (Unhealthy).
Traffic – None.
Food – Nothing to report.
Notable – Ford fiasco. George, WA. Columbia National Wildlife Refuge. Water issues. Sunset.
