Twisp Washington

Twisp, Washington

Today we drove from Bellingham to Twisp via US 20. This was a really nice drive up the Skagit River and over a couple of passes. Then, down the valley to Twisp. It was interesting to see the change from the east to the west side of the Cascade Mountains. The east side was very treed with steep mountain valleys while the west side was more like the Colorado mountains. Broader valley, fewer trees, less underbrush and a more open feel. We are more at home being able to view things at a distance.

The trees are starting to turn in this part of Washington. There are yellow leaves on the ground here at the Riverbend RV Park. I think Fall is really here.

We learned that the native americans used this area to dry the fish that they had caught. Apparently the drying of all the fish attracted hornets. The native american name for hornets was "twisp".

Rain Rain Rain

Rain, Rain, Rain

It rained all last night and it has rained all day. When I got up this morning I noticed that I had a ‘missed call’ on my cell phone. The number was of the yacht broker who had shown us a Bayfield 29 yesterday. I called and he had just listed another Bayfield 29. I checked with the campground and they said we could have a late checkout so I drove up to North Vancouver in the driving rain to check out this boat. On the way back I was stopped dead on their interstate because of emergency vehicles coming down the road. Luckily the stoppage didn’t last long and I was able to get back to the campground and leave on time.

In order to minimize out driving on major highways, we drove east for a while then south on route 13. We crossed the border without any problems. The US Customs seemed concerned that we didn’t bring any meat into the country while the Canadian Customs had asked us several questions about firearms.

We stopped for the night at the Bellingham RV Park (they have Wi-Fi) so I could take a second look at the Challenger 40 I had briefly seen when were last in Bellingham. A REAL nice boat but out of my price range. By the way, on the way back to the campground I bought another lotto ticket……….

The rain finally slowed and then stopped. We’ll have to dry out the awning in the next day or so.

Stanley Park

Our 13 mile bike ride included riding in Stanley Park, which is Vancouver's well known park. We had planned to ride clear to Granville Island, but the rain and cooler weather cut our ride short.

Anacortes

We have spent 4 nice days in the Anacortes area. On the 27th there was a 'gathering' of about 10,000 motorcycles in the downtown area. Needless to say we avoided Anacortes that day. One day we had a great breakfast at a local cafe, probably better than our favorite at home, Bodine's. Dan spent some time looking at sailboats and we drove up to Bellingham (see previous post).

We stayed at the Northern Lights Casino and RV park which is right on the water. Could see Mt Baker out our window. Donated $20 to the Tribe one evening while being asphyxiated with secondhand smoke.

Next up is Vancouver, British Columbia, where Dan wants to look at some boats built by Bayfield.

Bellingham

We drove up Chuckanut Drive which gave us a beautiful view of Samish Bay, Chuckanut Bay, and Bellingham Bay. Dan dropped me off at the Farmers Market in the center of town while he went to look at sailboats. As you can tell by the picture, I spent a little money here. Delicious produce and flowers to enjoy.

Moving Day

We had to move today from our 'free' camping just east of Seattle. It wasn't really free, we had to attend a 2.5 hour presentation on buying something of a timeshare in this group of campgrounds. They wanted about $7500 up front plus over $500 a year in maintenance fees. With all the extras it wasn't really a bad deal, but since Karen has been retired such a short time we aren't prepared to commit to a certain kind of lifestyle yet.

We ended up near Anacortes, Washington, which is north of the Seattle area. We found a local indian casino which has a fairly inexpensive RV park attached and gives us a view of the water. They also have Wi-Fi for the campground and cable TV. We can surf the internet and get email, but for some reason cannot send email. Also, since we haven't had TV for a while we hadn't heard of Hurricane Rita until today!

I just HAD to drive into town to check out a couple of marinas and talked with one sailboat broker for a short while. I'll go back tomorrow or the next day and have them show me some boats.

On our projected agenda may be some gambling, kayaking and taking another boat cruise through the San Juan Islands. I found a place where we could rent a Capri 22 sailboat for a day, also.

Love ya.....

Seattle Boat Tour

After we had a seafood lunch on the dock, we took a two and 1/2 hour boat tour starting at pier 56 in Seattle and ending at Lake Union. We went through the Chittenden locks, saw the space needle from the water, many boats (all kinds and sizes), some houseboat communities, and saw the houseboat that was in "Sleepless in Seattle."

Chai

Before we checked out Seattle's Farmers Market we stopped to have a chai.

Seattle

Pike Place Market is full of beautiful cut flowers, fresh fish piled high with ice, colorful fresh produce, and over half of the open air stalls are devoted to locally made arts and crafts.

Travel Day

We finally left the state park about 10am. The new FRS radios we bought yesterday worked real well in hooking up the truck to the motorhome. We drove to The Dalles and then east to take US Hwy 97 northeast to Yakima.

From there we drove to a private campground outside of Seattle called Tall Chief. We had found a brochure earlier in the trip where we could stay free for three nights at this campground if we agreed to listen to their sales pitch. Well, we got to stay there for four nights for free and eventually heard their spiel. A campground membership to this group of campgrounds for about $7,500. Very expensive but at least they were nice about it. We even got a check for $50.00 for listening!

The picture was taken halfway between the Columbia River and Yakima. It is amazing how far away you can see these volcanic mountains.

Hood River

We drove to Hood River on the Columbia River this morning. We left the motorhome in the parking lot of the local Walmart. We stopped at a coffee shop to have chai and update the blog. Later we went down to the river to watch them kiteboarding and windsurfing. There were some spectacular stunts being performed by some of the kiteboarders.

We then continued east and stopped at Memaloose State Park for the night. Oregon has really nice state parks.

Cascade Locks

We left Astoria today and drove east on US Hwy 30 thru Portland and up the Columbia river valley. This is just a beautiful area and if you ever get the chance to drive this valley we highly recommend that you do so.

We got off the highway at Cascade Locks and quickly took a wrong turn into a dead end street where we couldn't turn around with the motorhome and the truck. We had to unlook the truck to get out of there. We finally turned into a road leading to a campground only to run into a sign that said there was only 12'5" of clearance in the tunnel we had to use. Luckily we only need 12 feet of clearance but we were a little concerned until we cleared it without any problem.

We found a very nice campground administered by the Port of Cascade Locks. It was near the boat ramp and the unused locks. It was fun watching boats being launched and retrieved and people catch fish in the lock. We also watched a wedding party rehearse on the river's edge. A nice spot for a wedding.

Astoria Bike Ride

Today we drove into Astoria with the bikes in the back of the truck. We parked at the Maritime Museum and rode to both ends of the trail. We saw and heard some seals at one of the marinas and rode out to see them. There must have been 50 or so that had taken over some of the docks and boy were they LOUD! There are so many on one of the floating docks that it is underwater.

For lunch we stopped at the Wet Dog Cafe/Brewery. Karen had a Mango flavored beer while Dan had one called Beach Blond Ale. Both tasted very good with the food. Karen tried Clam Chowder for the first time in her life and didn't think is tasted all that good.

After the bike ride we drove up the hill to the tallest point in Astoria where they had built a tower called the Astoria Column. Karen climbed to the top of the tower while chicken Dan stayed down. The views from both places were just beautiful. The tower is decorated with pictures of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, indians, explorers, traders, etc.

All in all it was a very good day.

Astoria, Oregon

Today we drove to Astoria, Oregon and are accessing the internet via the free Wi-Fi provided by the town's library. We are staying at the Fort Stevens State Park which is located about 10 miles west of Astoria. This is a huge state park with over 500 camp sites many with full hookups. We will stick around tomorrow to do some bike riding and looking around.

This picture was taken at the South Jetty of the Columbia River in the State Park. Dan is checking out the North Jetty, which is in the process of being repaired.

We forgot to bring the book in which we write down our daily travels so we'll have to update the days between today and our last posting at another time. We have enjoyed very good weather for the last weeks with every day having at least some sunshine. We awoke to a heavy mist this morning but it finally burned off and the sun came out.

The Fort Stevens State Park is located on the south side of the mouth of the Columbia River and the views from the lookout at the end of the land are just beautiful. The Pacific Ocean on one side and the Columbia River on the other. The river's bar, which is famous for its huge waves during high westerly winds, was quiet when we were there. The bar is formed by the sediment that flows down the Columbia and is deposited at the river's mouth. This creates a shallow area which causes the waves to be so large and is compounded by the river's current flowing in an easterly direction.

In another day or so we'll be heading back north to spend some time in the Seattle area. We'll keep you updated.

Bay Center, Washington

Today was a travel day. We left camp at about 11am and went south on route 101. We bought gas for $2.95 a gallon, groceries at Safeway and ended up at a KOA in Bay Center. We did a bunch of laundry (Karen sez this laundry room was the best she has used at a KOA) and had a nice walk on the beach while the sun set. The picture of the sunflower was taken on our walk on the beach.

Dahlia Farm

Dahlia Farm

Close by our campground, Bogachiel, which is state owned, we stopped at the Dahlia Farm. What a beautiful site! There were over 50 different kinds of dahlias growing in rows of 5 to 6 inches of “dust.” Since no one was there, they had an honor system to buy a dahlia dozen (14) flowers for $4.50. Since my vase is small, I picked out only 3 and left $1.00 in the mailbox depository.

Hoh Rainforest

Hoh Rainforest

Hoh is the most famous of the Olympic rain forests. We took a walk on Spruce Trail and saw some “hohmungus” trees. We were lucky to see two Roosevelt elk resting in among the lush green foliage. This has been a very dry season for the state, so it didn’t feel like a rainforest.

Cape Flattery

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Cape Flattery

This is the most northwesterly point in the lower 48 states. We took a ¾ mile walk from the end of the road through the forest to Cape Flattery. The 60 foot cliffs fall into the raging Pacific. Tatoosh Island is close by and on it is a lighthouse and Coast Guard station. As you can tell by the picture, it is another beautiful site in the US.

Neah Bay

Neah Bay

Neah Bay, which is located in the center of the Makah Indian Reservation is an old fishing town. We went through the Makah Cultural Center, which has one of the USA’s greatest collections of Native American archaeology. Their exhibits helped to illustrate the day-to-day life of the ancient Makah. They had some canoes with whaling weapons, baskets, tools, and clothing that were used by these Indians.

Kayak Trip

Today was the day we finally took the kayak trip which we had planned for this trip. We found a place only a little way down the road and set up a one-half day trip with a guide. Although we have owned boats for many years and have taken three canoe trips into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota, kayaking was a bit different. For one thing you are closer to the water so can't always see as far as you'd like. For another, in a two man kayak the person in front is close enough so that your paddles can collide if you are not in sync. Third, your legs are stretch out in front of you with little room to move or adjust their position.

The kayak had a pull up/down rudder which is controlled by the person in back, in this case, Dan. The guide asked for Dan's inseam to set the rudder controllers. Unfortunately, they were set too short and Dan had to scrunch up his legs in order to use them. Leg cramps were the result of this problem. Secondly, the rudder controls were set up so that you pushed the left one to turn left and the right for right. For whatever reason this was just the opposite of what Dan's brain was telling him to do. Consequently, he ended up pulling the rudder up and paddlling without it for much of the trip.

We were luckly during this trip as we saw 3 river otters (yes, river otters) along with many harbor seals, assorted birds and one large jellyfish.

Victoria

We boarded the 8:20 ferry at Port Angeles and an hour later we were in Canada. After booking a room, we bought tickets for the bus and Butchart Gardens. How beautiful. My favorite flowers were the dahlias, many different varieties.

We sampled the wares of multiple pubs. It was an enjoyable trip.

Hurricane Ridge

Yesterday we went into the Olympic National Park with our friends Steve and Veronica Spencer. We met the Spencers while in San Carlos, Mexico, while on spring break in 2004. Steve spent a lot of time in this area as a young man and had lots of memories to relay to us.

When the clouds parted, the view of Hurricane Ridge was spectacular. We enjoyed a mile long walk along the ridge.

We are leaving the KOA in Port Angeles and moving about 30 miles west to a county park. On the way we will stop in Port Angeles and make reservations for the ferry to Victoria, British Columbia. We'll spend two days there seeing the sights, especially the Butchart Gardens of which we've heard so much from others.

After Victoria, we'll head farther west and visit Neah Bay, and the western coast of Washington. That is about as far as we've planned so far but we may cut back east south of Olympic Park and then go north to see Seattle. Maybe I'll even get to look at some sailboats!

Sequim

Today we are in the town of Sequim going to the Farmer's/Artisan's Market. More artisan than farmer. This area is noted for its lavender so Karen bought some lavender tea and herbs. She also purchased a couple of tomatos and some corn. Guess what we're having for dinner tonight? Yumm.

Zac wanted to see how pretty Mom and Dad are so I have uploaded a picture we took of ourselves yesterday while on a bike ride out on the spit that sticks out into the Strait of San Juan de Fuca from the town of Port Angeles. While on the ride we crossed a small stream via an old railroad bridge. Looking down we saw some salmon in the stream. The males were chasing other males away while the female was turning on her side and flipping her tail hard to wash away small particles from around the rocks into which she planned to lay her eggs. Every time she did this the male would swim up next to her hoping she would lay her eggs so he could fertilize them. We got tired of waiting for the final event so we left. A most interesting display.

Our 20 mile bike ride left us very tired. Luckily we had some of Karen's taco salad ready to eat when we got back to the motorhome.