Here is Phil letting his inner child out to play! A real curiosity at the park is the huge Radio Flyer, an oversized replica (27 feet long) of the traditional red wagon beloved by generations of youngsters. The larger-than-life version is a favorite of children of all ages, who climb to the top, go down the slide at one end and play on the gym bars beneath it.

Gorgeous summer flowers are everywhere in the park.

The Clocktower was built as part of the Great Northern Railroad Station in 1902. An outline is visible where the rest of the building extended east and west of the tower. The tower is brick outside, and plaster inside. Maintenance personnel must climb two vertical ladders, three steep flights of stairs, and a section is twenty to thirty feet high.
The clock is simply a giant grandfather clock, with four faces. The clockworks are enclosed in a small room on an upper level of the tower. Maintenance personnel actually stand inside the clock to wind or set it. The pendulum is a metal ball that weighs approximately two hundred pounds, and is suspended on a thin strip of metal. The counterweights descend approximately forty feet, between windings. The clock is an "eight day" clock, and is wound once each week. Instead of a key, a crank (similar to a tire iron) is used for winding. It winds a cable around a spool that is approximately two feet long. The clock is set from inside the clockworks room. The hands are attached to shafts which extend from U-joints from the clockworks. The face is lit from inside.
The chimes are electronic. A small organ is used to program rolls (similar to piano player rolls) with tunes. As the rolls play, fine chords (similar to piano strings) are tapped, and the sound is amplified to speakers in the top of the tower.

This carousel was created for Spokane's Natatorium Park in 1909, http://natpark.org/ where it remained for 59 years. It remained under the ownership of descendants of the Looff family during that time. When the park closed in 1968, the carousel was dismantled and put into storage, where it remained for seven years. In 1975, the carousel reopened in Spokane's Riverfront Park, where it is still in daily operation throughout most of the year. The carousel features 54 jumping horses, two dragon chariots, a tiger and a giraffe. All of the figures as well as the Ruth & Sohn band organ are original, making this one of the only complete Looff carousels still in operation.

This carousel is huge!

The children were having a screaming good time in this beautiful fountain.

11:20 am Sunday, August 12, 2007

Our last day in Moses Lake has dawned sunny and beautiful. The Pier 4 Campground (Coast to Coast park) where we parked Penny the Pace has experienced the ebb and flow of all manner of RVs during this past week. There are many empty sites around the perimeter of the park but we have pretty much determined they are for Class C RVs, truck campers and tent sites as most are very short back-ins. Most of the larger Class A sites are full.

We have been resting and exploring the area with the bonus of a wonderful visit with my COX cousin, Norine in Othello added for good measure. Thank you Norine for your hospitality! Of course, we made our usual stop at Wal*Mart for two prescriptions, groceries and some other supplies. We strolled through the little Farmer’s Market in mid-town and attended an afternoon matinee to see the new movie, “The Bourne Experience.” After sitting through two hours of intense action I am still not sure it is the “last” movie in the Bourne series. For those of you who care, the plot did answer some questions concerning the main character, Jason Bourne’s true identity before being programmed by the government as the “perfect” assassin.

A day trip to Cashmere via Quincy and back through Ephrata by way of as many back roads as possible was a wonderful experience. It was another one of the area’s typical grand weather days and driving down into the gorge then back up to over 3,000 feet gave us a major dose of wheat farming on top of the world! Absolutely gorgeous and my “farmer gene” was thoroughly sated with this view across thousands of acres of golden grain.

Tomorrow morning we are off to Spokane for a week. I have never spent any time there and am looking forward to checking out the area. Also, meeting a LITTLE cousin and her family in Medical Lake is a much anticipated visit. Lea and I have corresponded for many years but this will be our first face to face meeting.

A huge baler on the road in eastern WA. Farm equipment travels between fields on the highway and we always give them a wide path.

Is this an adorable face or what? If I lived in a stick house I would have a dozen of these little sweet hearts.

Phil turned the Lone Ranger around so I could get a better look at these wonderful animals.

Adorable Alpaca just outside Moses Lake, WA.

Front of the Aplets and Cotlets store and factory. Lots of yummy goodies inside!

Aplets and Cotlets candy factory in Cashmere, WA. That is powdered sugar all over everything. Yummy candy!

Cousin Norine's large ranch house up on a shady hill.

My cousin Norine and me at her beautiful ranch in Othello.

Cousin Jack in happier days on a horse back moose hunt. This is his widow, Norine's favorite picture of her much loved spouse.

My cousin, Jack at work in his veterinary clinic in Othello about 2001. We were sad to learn that Jack passed away in January of 2002.

Our last glimpse of best friends, Gloria and Les. They hosted us and our Penny the Pace for three months in Shelton while we took care of business. Thank you dear friends! We will miss you!

Great Granddaughter, Carly trying on her new sunglasses.

Carly's chocolate chip cookie birthday cake! Different and yummy. Her Grandma, Bobbie treated the family to a wonderful buffet dinner at the Casino south of Shelton.