First stop ... Ellensburg

We picked up our wonderful housesitters, Natalia and Will, at the train at 10:30. We conducted a whirlwind reindoctrination to the house and a fun lunch where we caught up with each other. Picasso registered his nose-out-of-jointness by alternately running downstairs, coming back, running out of the house, coming back, and complaining just enough to be sure he had reminded Will and Natalia who was boss. At 1:30 we hopped in the geezer-mobile and headed for our first stop ... a quick hop over the mountains to Ellensburg.

We stayed at a lovely KOA with a campsite right on the river. We took a minute to get off on the right foot with our fitness plan for the trip, doing a few planks, 1legged squats, before heading into town for dinner. Boy, did we luck out with a beautiful place called the Valley Cafe. Chicken chipotle corn chowder, full bodied and perfectly seasoned, fresh garden salad with toasted pepitas and basalmic vinaigrette. And as we were getting up to head out, we were undone by our crafty waitress who brought out the dessert tray. We opted to SPLIT the key lime pie. It was heavenly, and deserved to make it into our photos.

We finished the evening with a stroll around the surprisingly historic and interesting Ellensburg downtown (see photo of H with friendly native), followed by another brisk stroll down by the river to make sure we reached our 10,000 step goal for the day.

Soon showers and to bed after a MOST satisfying induction to our 2015 Southern Crawl.

A few photos follow, as well as a link where we THINK you can take a look at our detailed route for the day. If it works, Gordon will be very proud. Please let him know!

Your two geezers in paradise, Day One

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