Great Summer Adventure 2018 - Installment Four - Washington - After

After we left Seattle, we headed east on Highway 2, taking the more scenic route through the mountains. We were on our way to Wenatchee when all of a sudden we had buzzers going off and warning lights on the dash. Pulling over to the side of the road, we realized that the engine was overheating. We let it cool down and then started the engine again. It was barely 5 minutes before the same thing happened again. 😒

We were able to drive to the Stevens Pass Recreational Area - it had a big parking lot and because it was off season for them (ski area in the winter) they let us park there without any problem. This was on Monday afternoon and of course, with the time difference, the Tiffin Service Center was just closing when we called. We did call our roadside service, which assured us they would find someone to tow us. (Tiffin had suggested we be towed.) Andy spent most of Tuesday morning on the phone trying to figure out what was going on, when we would be able to get towed, what the probable problem was, etc. Finally, around 5:15 on Tuesday night, the tow truck showed up. We had originally been scheduled to go back to the Seattle area. However, after asking, they found us a dealer in the Spokane area since we were heading east. It took nearly 3 hours for the guy to hook up the motor home. It's a bit scary when you see your home being towed down the highway. (We drove in the car.)

It takes a big truck to tow a motor home!

Making sure things are attached

About ready to leave

Monday night we drove to Leavenworth, WA. This city is a replica of a Bavarian town in Switzerland with everything (even McDonald's and Wells Fargo) having Bavarian architecture and design. 

Leavenworth, WA

After a long day, both the tow truck and motor home and us made it to Spokane. We spent the night in the parking lot of the dealer. On Wednesday, our initial diagnosis was confirmed, a failed clutch fan on the engine. A part was ordered from Tiffin. We were able to keep our reservation at Alderwood Campground near Spokane. On Thursday,we took a day trip to Coeur d'Alene, ID. While there we enjoyed a boat trip on Lake Coeur d'Alene. 

Lake Coeur d'Alene 

The part arrived as promised on Friday and we were able to get installed without any problems. And, we were able to leave the area on schedule. All in all, it was not as bad as it could have been. We went from "OMG, what are we going to do now?" to "Well, that wasn't as bad as we thought". We have certainly heard of others who have had it worse than we have. It's still scary when something this big causes you to have to have your motor home towed. We survived, and that is what's key. 

Our west coast adventure done, we head on going east. As always, more adventure to come! 

Great Summer Adventure 2018 -Installment Four - Washington - Before

It's probably unfair to the state of Washington to divide it into two parts, but it will be forever remembered that way. More on the "after" in a bit.

After leaving McMinnville, we headed north on I-5 . Mt. St. Helens National Park was our first stop. It's amazing to see what is left of the mountain after the eruption in 1980. At the visitor center, we watched a video of the event - bringing to light the destruction of life and homes, and of course, the forests and mountain.

Squirrel at the edge of the parking lot entertaining us 

Best view of Mt. St. Helens is from the Johnston Ridge Observatory

You can see the portion of the mountain that was blown away

We decided to drive along the Washington coastline on our way to the Olympic Peninsula and Chimacum, the location of our next campground. While scenic, it's not nearly as spectacular as the Oregon coast. 

Washington Coast

Chimacum is a small town on the Olympic Peninsula. We especially enjoyed Port Townsend. It has a nice downtown area with interesting shops and a great ice cream store (Elevated Ice Cream - www.elevatedicecream.com ). Being right on the water, Port Townsend reminded us of towns on Cape Cod. The buildings are old and architecture unique.

These unique doors are the entrance to a bike shop 

Part of downtown Port Townsend

Interesting looking place to eat but (not so) great food

On the Olympic peninsula there is a city called Sequim (pronounced Skwim). Known as the "Lavender Capital of North America" it is home to numerous lavender farms. The city re-invented itself in the late 90's as the previous industry of dairy was in decline. It was found the soil in the area were ideal for growing lavender. In 1997 the city celebrated it's first lavender festival.

Lavender Farm

While on the Olympic Peninsula, we decided to take the ferry from Port Angeles, WA to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. We left our car in Port Angeles, and reserved a hotel room for one night in Victoria, taking the ferry back the next day. We walked around downtown (just happened to be there for their annual Pride parade and festival) and took a bus tour of the city. As a teenager I recall going to Canada with my parents and remembered how clean the cities were. I'm saddened to say Victoria did not live up to my expectations. We also saw homeless people, again, did not expect that. 

Downtown tree art in Victoria 

Our first attempt going to Olympic National Park had us turning around because of construction in the park. We would have had a 20-30 minute wait until the guide car came back for us. We didn't fare much better on our second attempt. This time we still had the road where there was only one lane for parts, but most of the back-up seemed to be at the entrance booth to the park. There was only one booth to handle the stream of traffic waiting to get in. (We've been at other national parks where they have an express lane for those of us who have senior passes.) We've made good use of our senior pass this summer using it for six different national parks. We've also been in several national recreational areas.

View taken from Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center

Another View 

Campground reservations were hard to get in WA. Our original plan had been to spend a month in the Seattle area. But since we couldn't do that, we ended up with another campground in Bothell, WA. We had met Chris and Jenny in Red Bay at the service center, and we knew they were going to be in WA in July. So I reached out and sure enough, they were going to be there and we happened to end up at the same campground. But who would have thought that we would pull up to the office to register at the same time? Small world. It was great to catch up with them and enjoy a couple of meals together. 

You can't do Seattle without seeing Pike's Place market. It seemed much bigger than the last time I had been there. 

Bakery

Busy Place!

We also toured the Chihuly Garden & Glass Museum, featuring the works of Dale Chihuly, and the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP), founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project. 

Beautiful colored blown glass 

Amazing colors!

Outside, glass among the bushes and flowers 

Display of guitars at MoPOP

From Seattle we headed towards - well, that's the "after" part of the story. Stay tuned for the next installment! 

Great Summer Adventure 2018 - Installment Three - Oregon

After staying in Bend for a week, we headed to Olde Stone Village RV Park in McMinnville, OR. This would be our base for the month of June. Several of our reservations are made sight unseen, and we were glad this one turned out to a good one. I was excited to learn that they have a water aerobics class 3 mornings a week. However, this might be classified as an "polar bear" water aerobics class! 😀Most mornings the air temp (at 9 am) was between 50-55 degrees. When I told them that in FL they don't have class unless it is at least 70 degrees they all laughed at me! But I toughed it out and made it to the classes. (Most days once we got moving it warmed up pretty well.)

Oregon. Crater Lake National Park. ✔ Painted Hills. ✔ Mt. Hood. ✔ Columbia River Gorge. ✔ Oregon Coast. ✔ Multnomah Falls. ✔ 6/8 recommended "must-see" places in Oregon, not bad!

We had heard a lot about the Oregon coast, and it did not disappoint. We made several trips to the coast and saw something different every time.

Oregon Coast

Beach 

Cliffs overlooking Pacific Ocean

Sand Sculpture competition in Cannon Beach

More Oregon coast

One of the more spectacular sights we saw was at Cook's Chasm, where we witnessed the power of the ocean crashing on the coastline. Spouting Horn is basically like a blow hole, that was created from a cave with a crack or hole in the roof of the cave. So when waves roll their force and power creates a geyser of water erupting up into the air from the crack in the cave.

You have to watch this!

In Florida we are accustomed to seeing signs for hurricane evacuation routes. In Oregon you see these signs.

This picture is for our family members who love blue herons - Sara & Hope, and Jack & Patty. The tile mosaic is outside the Blue Heron Cheese factory. 

Columbia River Gorge

Multnomah Falls 

Dinner with my brother Greg and wife Diane 

While we explored the coast, we also went into Portland for a farmer's market, craft market, Powell books (a wonderful place!) and of course, Storables, where I had trained years ago. We had also been told not to miss Voodoo donuts. It is a wildly popular place and is interesting for the people and the building. Donuts were a bit overrated, we thought. Voodoo donuts come in a box like this.

And in the spirit of you can't make this up/quirky things we see category, here is a picture of a gal in Portland carrying her pet goose. He was on a leash walking before she picked him up. 

More adventures to come as we head to Washington. Stay tuned!

Great Summer Adventure 2018 Installment Two - Hells Canyon, Painted Hills & Crater Lake

Before we left Idaho, we took a trip to McCall, Idaho. Different people had told us that we should not miss Hells Canyon. While McCall is a beautiful town, Hells Canyon provided spectacular scenery. A boat trip down the Snake River provided thrills as we went through class 5 rapids (scale of 1-6, 6 being the highest).

Hells Canyon Recreation Area covers an area with the Snake River being the border between Idaho and Oregon. This canyon is deeper than the Grand Canyon!

A view of the canyon

Another view

On our way to Bend, we drove through the Painted Hills Area in Oregon. This was worth a short side trip to see these hills.  Traveling in the RV, we're always concerned about getting into situations where we can't turn around. Luckily at the end of this road, there was a small park/interpretive center that had a road for us to circle around without any problems.

Painted Hills 

While in Bend,  we took a short day trip to the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. 

Mount Bachelor (left) and the Three Sisters Mountains on the right

Paulina Falls (lowest point of the Newberry Caldera)

The highlight of our time in Bend was our trip to Crater  Lake.  We had researched ahead of time and learned that part of the rim road was still closed due to snow. We had cloudy/misty weather most of the way there, but didn't think we'd run into snow as we ascended the mountain. (We had thought ahead and brought winter coats and hats with us.)

Yes, it was cold enough for winter jackets and hats! (Barely 40 degrees)

Our first view of Crater Lake

Someone offered to take this pic of us

(lake in background still overcast)

It cleared up after lunch, we finally have good views!

Wizard island is in the forefront

A different angle, yes, the water is really this blue!

Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the U.S. It is fed entirely by rain and snow. No rivers or streams flow into it. It is considered to be the cleanest large body of water in the world. The lake rests inside a caldera that was formed about 7700 years ago when a 12,00 foot volcano collapsed following a major eruption. Later eruptions formed Wizard Island.

Once again, pictures don't quite totally capture the beauty of this lake. But we are left with our memories of this beautiful place.  We're now camped in McMinnville, OR for a month. We have a lot of exploring we want to do while here!

Great Summer Adventure 2018 - Installment One

Tomorrow it will be two weeks since we left Red Bay. We've made it as far as Idaho and have seen a lot on this trip already!

It's obvious we're not in the south anymore. Familiar sightings of Menard's, Kohl's, Lutheran churches, black dirt (instead of red), Pizza Ranch, and lilacs in bloom tell us we're back in the midwest. After sitting in one place for so long, we've forgotten how bad roads can be (Memphis, and 1-29 through Omaha), how much dust gets raised, and how something always comes up. So far we've had to check out the check engine warning light on the car (it's fine), and we now have a cracked windshield on the RV. 😒 That will have to wait until we are in one place for a while before we can get it replaced.

Then there's the first time stuff- we called 911 to report a truck driver who was all over the highway with his driving. As we passed him, Andy sounded the air horn and the guy didn't even flinch. We're assuming he was either drunk or on drugs - never did find out. You always have to be on alert! And the absurd - we call this the redneck sun roof- it's black plastic with a white plastic center.

Our route took us through Kansas City on our way to Pender, NE for Blue Ox service (our hitch supplier). While in KC we were able to visit with Dawn K., a friend from Luverne, MN. Dawn treated us with tickets to the Trevor Noah show. Thanks again, Dawn!

Outdoor Venue where Trevor Noah performed 

After Pender, we headed to North Platte, NE. The attraction there was the Golden Spike Tower, a railroad hub for Union Pacific. Bailey Yard is 2,850 acres, 8 miles long, has 2 hump yards, and a diesel shop to repair train engines. Their slogan is "With two hump yards, it's always hump  day at the world's largest rail yard". This yard operates 24/7. A hump yard is where the cars are pushed to the top of the hill (hump), where they are sorted and then go downhill to the train they need to be on. 

Me at the tower with the trains in the background 

More trains, diesel service center is at the left of the picture

It was hard to get a picture that showed the actual size of Bailey Yard and a closeup of how many railroad cars that are there. As we were leaving the area in the RV, the road we were on got us close enough to get a good look of one of the humps and the cars getting sorted and loaded. 

Our next stop was Fort Collins, CO. After calling several campgrounds and finding out parts of Rocky Mountain National Park were still closed, we choose a campground in Fort Collins and decided to do sightseeing by car. Hwy 34 was closed to Estes Park so we took an alternate route and drove as far as we could in the park before we had to turn around. 

Mountain brook where we stopped to take a hike-yes, there is still snow

(This is actually a recording. This is the first time I've tried including a recording in the blog. Feedback would be appreciated.) 

Lookout where several people had stopped 

Love the snow capped mountains!

One of our challenges is choosing routes. We tend to favor more scenic drives (as opposed to freeway driving).  So, when leaving CO we decided to take the northern route using State Hwy 14 and US 40. (This was after vetting it to make sure the roads were safe to drive a 40 ft. RV on, and determining that the tunnel height was high enough for us to go through.) Andy did a great job doing all of the curves and switchbacks. At one point we were high enough that rain drops were snow flakes. This is the first we've done "mountain" driving and we've been pleased at how the RV has handled the inclines and heights. 

After CO, we headed west towards ID along I-80 in Wyoming. At the last minute, we decided to take a detour to see a dam in the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. As I already said in a Facebook post, sometimes the best route is the unplanned route! While the dam was interesting, we didn't realize that as we drove through the gorge we would come upon some of the most beautiful views we've ever seen. 

Start of the gorge, you can see the lake in the background

Sun came out at the right time to highlight the rocks and the lake

Picture taken from Sheep Creek Overlook

This picture doesn't do the scene justice. We both agreed it is one of the most breathtaking views we've ever seen! 

Right now we are in Caldwell, ID for a week before we head to OR.  Yesterday we took a day trip to the Snake River Birds of Prey Natural Area. This was a lot of driving through prairie before coming to the river and another natural gorge.

While not as stunning as the previous one, it still was beautiful. We're constantly amazed at how diverse and interesting this country is. 

So far we have added 4 new states to our list- Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho. We've got a lot more to cover. Next up is Bend, OR., stay tuned!