2008 – Week 12

Tuesday, July 15, 2008:
We left the campground at 7:15am and arrived at the RV Repair Shop at 7:45am for our 8:00am meeting. The insurance adjuster was there, and the estimate the shop made was accepted. The shop removed the awning structure so that we would feel more comfortable driving down the road. We will return next Tuesday to have the work done. They expect it will take 3 days so we should be back on our trip the end of next week. Since we can drive the RV, we are planning to use the time until next Tuesday to visit Olympic National Park at the extreme northwest corner of Washington and Victoria British Columbia on Vancouver Island. We had lunch in a small restaurant, changed the engine oil and transmission fluid and then drove south from Marysville to Edmonds and took a short ferry ride to Kingston. This trip eliminated the need to drive south around to get around the head of Puget Sound. This part of Washington State would be an entirely different place if they didn’t have this ferry system. By the way, the State of Washington is auctioning off some old ferries and may have put them on eBay, so if you always wanted a ferry, here is your chance. We drove northwest across the Hood Canal Bridge towards Port Angeles. The bridge over the Hood Canal is a floating bridge as are two others in the Seattle area. It opens by pulling a floating section out of the way. I am not sure if any private traffic is allowed in the Hood Canal, as it is the base of several nuclear subs. Since 9/11, there has been security at this bridge whenever it opens for the submarines to pass through. When we passed over the bridge, there was as US Coast Guard cutter, maybe about 80 feet long, on the north side just sitting there. We stopped at the Sequim Bay State Park. I took Daisy down to the cold salt water. She hesitant at first, but decided retrieving sticks was still a good game. We played for about 20 minutes, and then I insulted her by giving her a cold fresh water bath. It will be a few days before she forgives me, but she sure smells better. Sequim Bay is probably 3/4 miles across and 2 miles long with 2 spits at right angles to each other at the entrance that gives good protection. The hills around the edge are about 100 feet high, giving it a wonderful feel. No matter where we seem to go, the scenery is terrific. We took a walk around the campground, and a large dog on a too long lease came into the road in a very aggressive manner. The Owner’s comment, while still talking on her cell phone was that her dog likes to chase people. People with attitudes like that make it hard on responsible pet owners. Sunset was beautiful. I made reservations on the ferry to Victoria and 3 nights in a nearby campground. We’ll go there Friday late afternoon and return late Monday.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008:
Awoke this morning to 57-degree temperature and low hanging clouds. We took showers and are feeling very clean; that 2 showers in 3 days, not bad. Susie is trying to catch up with her drawings before we leave to travel west along the south shore of the Strait of Juan de Luca. We left the campground at 11:00am and headed west, only to be diverted by a trip to the Dungeness NWR. The NWR consists of a bit of land and 5 mile long sand spit in the Strait of Juan de Fuca that grows 15 feet in length every year. When it was built in 1857, the New Dungeness Lighthouse was on the end of the spit, but no longer. Now it is almost a half mile from the end.
From there we went to the Olympic NP Visitor Center in Port Angeles, talked to several rangers who gave us lots of consistent advice and so we headed west and then south to the Hoh Rain Forest section of the NP. Before we left Port Angeles, we stopped at Safeway, bought groceries and filled up with gas. On the way we passed Crescent Lake, a lake formed by glacial action thousands of years ago.
The lake is 624 feet deep, and the water is as blue as any we have seen, except perhaps Lake Superior. Daisy went for a quick dip but it was too cold for her. Hoh Rain Forest is a temperate rain forest with more than 12 feet of precipitation, mostly from October through March. As we drove east into the west side of the NP the effects of this moisture became apparent: more moss on the trees and more lush undergrowth. The road into the Hoh Rain Forest follows the Hoh River upstream. The river was full of downed trees, some of them recent, from the raging river. The riverbed is full of small diameter river rock worn smooth by the river action. Once we were in the NP, we saw the “Monarch of the Rain Forest” a 500 year old Sitka Spruce.
It was 250 feet tall and had a diameter of 12.5 feet at 6 feet above the ground. We continued into the park and found a campsite and settled in. We had dinner, after an application of bug spray, and then listened to a Ranger talk about the need and actions of fungus in the growth of plant life. It was an early to bed night, with the Hoh River rushing in the background.

Thursday, July 17, 2008:
Low hanging clouds and mist drifting through the very large moss covered trees was the view as I looked through the RV windows. Before I got up, I thought it had rained but then remembered about the fast running Hoh River. There was not much activity in the campground until after 8:00am. I walked Daisy, fed her and then restocked her food container. Susie worked on her pictures from the trip yesterday. At 11:00am we went on a Ranger led walk along the Spruce Nature Trail Walk along the Hoh River, followed by another Ranger led walk along the Hall of Mosses Trail Walk in the afternoon. The first was a great introduction to a temperate rain forest in its natural state.
The NP does not clear trees that have fallen nor do they permit logging or salvage. The only time a chainsaw is started is if a tree has fallen across a road or trail. We walked back to the RV after the first tour to check on Daisy and to shed some of our warm clothes. The second walk built on the information we learned during the morning. During the second tour we were introduced to the 7 main trees in the western portion of the park: Douglas Fir, Sitka Spruce, Hemlock, Red Alder, Big Leaf Maple, Vine Leaf Maple and Western Red Cedar. They were all first growth trees. The Douglas Fir, Sitka Spruce, Hemlock ranging from 250 feet tall, 6 feet in diameter and 300 years. The Douglas Fir are resistant to forest firs because of its thick bark. We saw signs of elk, but no elk. We saw Coho Salmon, about 3 inches long, were born this year. We learned that if a 100-year-old tree fell in the forest it would take about 100 years to completely return to the earth. As we walked through the forest, we noted as many as 5 trees in a straight line and were told that a fallen tree had become a “nurse log”, and seedlings had used it as a source of nutrients and moisture. Often we could see through the base of the new tree where the nurse log had been. We were also told that one of the very large trees had fallen near the Visitor Center with such violence that all of the alarms in the cars in the parking lot were activated. Now, one of those things is annoying, but just imagine 75. The Hall of Mosses is a clump of living maple trees that are completely covered with hanging moss. From another source, we learned about the Park’s program to reintroduce the fisher species into the park and the State of Washington. These are very shy animals, a part of the weasel family, and we first saw one in Adirondack State Park in 2003. Susie saw another while running a few years later. We took Daisy to the river and found a spot where there was back eddy so she was able to swim safely. We threw some sticks, but they all sank!

She will sleep well tonight. While Daisy was swimming, we talked to a newly married couple on their honeymoon. He has recently graduated from the Colorado School of Mines and will be starting work when they return. We think they have been traveling for about a month and have decided to head back home in Golden CO. They were excited about what they have seen so I’m sure they’ll do some more later. We were going to another Ranger talk, but there wasn’t one, leaving us to work on our blogs and pictures. It has cooled down a bit, and the sky is absolutely clear.

Friday, July 18, 2008:
When we awoke, the clouds were so low that they obscured the top half of the mountains, and it wasn’t until 11:00am that the sun broke through. We had a leisurely breakfast of eggs, sausage and coffee and then started to pack the RV for the trip to Port Angeles and Victoria BC. Susie had started to take Daisy for a walk but returned saying that there was a bull elk (Daisy discovered it) in the adjacent campsite. I found the camera, took a few pictures and realized that the elk was moving towards our campsite.
He saw me, gave a good look as if the say “What are you doing in my eating area?” he was gone in about 10 minutes, but during that time I was unable to retrieve the Coleman stove and other miscellaneous breakfast dishes. Susie had left with Daisy for her late morning walk, and I met them in the Hoh Visitor Station parking lot. Susie and I only had time for an hour walk, so we took the Hoh River Trail that extends to the base of the glacier. We only went a mile or so and then had to turn around. We some examples of the trees we had seen the previous day. We also saw downed trees along the trail, some of which must have been 200 feet in length.
They had not yet turned into nurse logs, but soon they will. We left the Hoh Forest and drove to Port Angeles replenishing cash and gas along the way. We saw a very unusual sight on the way back to Port Angeles. A large RV, one of those that looks like as bus, was driving down the road with its slideout (a slideout allows the operator of the vehicle to increase the living space when the vehicle is parked) on the left side projecting about 2 feet. So instead of an 8 foot wide vehicle, it was 10 feet wide. In comparison to our misadventure, if the slideout hit anything at 50 mph, it would probably rip apart the entire left side of the vehicle. We could not imagine that the driver didn’t know, unless he never uses left outside mirror. In the gas station, we saw Chris and his wife. They had an enjoyable hike along Crescent Lake. The ferry departed at 5:15pm, and we arrived at 3:30. While Susie was making lunch, I checked in and in the process spied a Dairy Queen. We had desert before the main course. The ferry departed on time, and we headed across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Leaving the harbor, which is behind a sand spit (Ediz Hook), I noticed a US Coast Guard station with numerous buildings and an airstrip. The waves were crashing against the seawall so I was a bit concerned for Daisy who was in the RV. After a bit the seas calmed, and we had a nice ride. As Victoria came into view we began to think it was not just a quaint little city because of the height of the building and the 2 large cruise ships moored to a pier. We departed the ferry and wandered through the city to the campground where we’ll stay for the next three nights. We received the most valuable information on transportation opportunities etc from the campground we have ever received n all our travels. There is a bus nearby so we’ll use public transportation and leave the RV in place. We took Daisy to a leashless dog park, and she had a great time playing ball. It is not often we get to let her run loose. We also spent some time talking to a model airplane enthusiast who was flying his battery powered plan around the park. It looks like fun. We returned to the campsite and flushed the water systems to make sure all was well. It is still light here at 9:30pm, and I think we are near a car racetrack, and a single line rail track splits the campground. Let’s see what those bring.

Saturday, July 19, 2008:
Today was a bit different, we move campsites so as to get better WiFi service and found that the occupant of the adjacent was a Canadian who was also an artist. He told us that there was a festival sponsored by the Art Museum named the “Moss Street Paint-In”. We took a double-decker bus (sitting in the front right corner in the trees) into town and started walking. There were more than 150 artists, mostly painters but some potters, one glassblower and one rope mat maker (he used manila rope something I haven’t seen in a long time but remember how tough it could be on a small boy’s hands). If anyone is interested in an unusual outside entrance mat, his web site is http://www.theropedoctor.com. We started walking about 11:00am and finished a t 3:30pm without any nourishment except for one small cookie split between us. We knew we were in trouble when we stopped to get a sausage in a roll and were told “no more rolls”. I bought Susie a hand blown perfume bottle that was made by one of the exhibitors as a wedding anniversary present. We finally found food at the museum and had cheeseburgers, fries and sodas. There was an exhibit of Andy Warhol in the museum, and today it was free. I declined, but Susie went in, and I think I cap-napped while digesting my lunch. When she was done, we started walking into the heart of town to visit the toyshop we were told about yesterday. After much hemming and hawing on my part Susie bought me a radio controlled model airplane powered by an electric motor. Knowing that I was a beginner, we bought a spare wing, spare rudder and spare battery. As I am writing this, I think it might have been almost as cheap to by another whole plane, but too late for that, I think. We took the bus back to the campground and checked our e-mail.


Sunday, July 20, 2008:
Today we went downtown to Victoria to tour the Royal British Columbia Museum. They had a permanent exhibit that explained how Vancouver Island came to be, and the animals that came and went during that period. It was an extensive exhibit, and we both think the best of its kind that we have ever seen. The information was the same, but the presentation was great. A temporary exhibit honored the Centennial of British Columbia. It also was well done. We think this museum gets top honors. We grew weak in the knees and had a bit to eat in the Museum Café before walking along the harbor to kill a bit of time before we went to a tour of the British Columbia Legislative Building. Like all the government buildings we have seen, this was magnificent and perhaps a bit overdone given the number of people it served in British Columbia when it was completed in 1898, but expanded a bit later. After all, there are only a little more than 4,200,000 people now. Each member of the legislature serves 50,000 people. I wonder how that compares to our states. We learned that the first judge in the territory was known as the hanging judge, not because he hung all the defendants, but because he threatened to hang the jury if they didn’t bring back the verdict he thought was proper. It was a great building, and in the 1950’s someone had the bright idea to renovate it. They were going to replace the mosaic stone floors and wood floors with sheet linoleum. They actually put a hung ceiling (2 ft by 4 ft grid and acoustic tile) in the main reception area, complete with fluorescent lighting. This obscured all the wonderful woodwork and the interior view of the dome. That bit of work was quickly removed and the space returned to the original design after a successful hue and cry from the public. It rang a bell with us because in the 1950’s the owners of our present house did a bit of the same, covering the original molding and destroying base pieces to put up a fiberboard wall covering more commonly used for basement finishing. We reversed that in 2005. We saw Toyota Prius hybrids used as taxicabs. We then walked north and went through Chinatown, but didn’t buy anything. We walked to the bus and returned to the campground where we had a nice time with our neighbors. They are full time RV’ers. He is an artist, and she works as a consultant for the RCMP. He managed to put together a painting in 2 days. If we hadn’t seen the partially started sheet on Saturday morning and the completed painting this afternoon, we wouldn’t have believed it. He doesn’t do any work with a pencil, just ink and then paint. No room for error there. They left to make a movie on cable, and Susie and I dove into our evening tasks. It was a beautiful and fruitful day. The only downer is that our feet and legs hurt from pounding the pavement. Tomorrow we head north to Sydney to catch the 5:30pm ferry to the US and RV repair. By the way, we are getting tired of hearing that the US Dollar is not worth as much as the Canadian Dollar. Some places really take advantage and others accept US the same as Canadian.


Monday, July 21, 2008:
We spent the morning walking Daisy, doing another 4 loads of laundry, cleaning the RV (and ourselves) before leaving the campground at 11:30am. We stopped at Canadian Tire to purchase 12V light bulbs with a higher intensity than we can find in the US and then went north on the peninsula to look at the Blum????? Gardens. It was a bit pricy and full of common plants so we decided to continue up the west side. There were wonderful views along the way.
We never cease to be amazed by the amount and quality of the plants in this part of the world. We arrived in Sidney way too early, but walked Daisy and then the town where we discovered numerous galleries and, best of all for both of us, an old time bakery. We bought 2 sugar donuts for immediate consumption, 2 chicken pot pies for diner and finally 2 apple strudels for breakfast tomorrow. We loaded on the ferry back to the US at 5:45pm. The ferry stopped at Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands and then continued on to Anacordes WA at 8:30pm. We drove east and then south on I-5, planning to spend the night at the RV repair place, but found a Rest Area that allowed overnight parking and stayed there. We heated up the pot pies and had a good, but late dinner. Sleeping in the Rest Area was really no noisier than some of the campgrounds we have paid good money to in the past. Up tomorrow to head a bit more south to get the repairs done.

2008 – Week 11

Tuesday, July 8, 2008:

When I took Daisy for her walk at 8:00am this morning, there was a fog bank hugging the Vancouver Island shore, and the wind was mostly calm. Two hours later, it was blowing hard from the southwest with whitecaps, and the edge of the fog bank was 300 yards offshore. We thought that it was good we were not going on the kayak trip today. All morning we heard foghorns from the freighters traveling north and south in the Haro Strait. The tide was going out, and we saw a few sailboats beating to windward. There was lots of pitching motion as the boats slogged to windward. One of them on port tack disappeared into the fog bank, and we both wondered aloud whether she wouldn’t be safer closer to our shore and out of the shipping lanes than vice versa. About 20 minutes later she popped out of the fog bank. It must have been cold on board with the cold water and air temperatures in the low 60’s, but I guess that this is what they are used to. Every so often we would see wakes from powerboats, including a bright yellow one that we believed was the PILOT boat, traveling north very quickly. We had a very late breakfast and then traveled north to see Roche Harbor at the northwest corner of the island. We stopped at the British Encampment during the Pig War and toured for about a half hour. The best view was a nesting osprey family that was visible with the naked eye, but there was a telescope and we saw more detail, including the young being fed by the parents. Continuing north we stopped at the Westcott Bay Reserve for Art and Nature. This Park was established in 2001 and features sculpture displayed in a 19 acre field.
There are narrow mowed paths between all the pieces and most of them were quite fun. There was a small pond and floating in the pond were 3 model freighters, each about 6’ long. Resting on the deck of one of the freighters was a mother duck and 3 ducklings. There was a metal horse constructed with all sorts of miscellaneous parts such as locks, gears, stable door latches, strap metal strips, etc. We finally made it to Roche Harbor. This is a nice harbor with a big marina full of large yachts. Not many sailboats, but lots of powerboats, many larger than large. In the late 1800’s Roche Harbor was a company town with the sole purpose of manufacturing lime from limestone. McMillan, a lawyer rom Tacoma WA, bought the land in 1884 and was producing lime in 1886. The 800 workers were paid in script and that script was worthless except in the company store. There were more than 20 kilns, each one burning 10 cords of wood every 6 hours. All the trees in the area were cut down to feed the kilns. McMillin also developed a way to manufacture barrels that were used to ship the lime by sailing ship to places as far away as Japan and China. Rather than using individual staves and metal hoops, he used a large knife blade to cut a continuous sheet of wood from a spinning log that had been cut to the proper length. His company was able to make 4,000 barrels per day with this method. McMillin also built a hotel to house business acquaintances and family friends. The hotel was an expansion of one of the Hudson Bay Company buildings. The company and land holdings were sold in 1956 and redevelopment began as a tourist destination. A portion of the original pier where sailing ships docked to load and unload materials still remains, as do several of the kilns, the power plant and the hotel. We had ice cream as a final treat. We were returning to the campground when the phone rang, and it was Diana returning an earlier call. We had to turn around and find a good cell spot, which turned out to be a driveway. Susie was just about finished with the call when a man stopped and asked what we were doing. Turns out he was keeping his eye on the property and was just checking us out. We drove on to the campground, had dinner and then went down to the shore again to see what we could see. Just as we arrived, so did the Orcas. We must have seen 30 of them over the space of an hour and a half. It was amazing. However, there were 2 people in a kayak who had the best view. They were much closer, but most exciting was when a large male Orca left his pod and came over to investigate. The Orca must have thought they were not a hazard because he went up close, rolled over, slapped his tail and waved his flukes. From our vantage point, the distance between the kayak and the whale was less than 50 feet. He played around the kayak for 20 minutes before going south to herd the rest of his pod north. A bald eagle flew overhead, and the sun went down. Not a bad end to the day.



Wednesday, July 9, 2008:

Today was our day for a kayak trip. The morning wind was from the south at 10 knots, the seas were generally flat, except for the wake of numerous ships traveling to and from the Port of Vancouver, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The water temperature was 48 degrees. We left the beach at 11:30am and headed south along the coast, consisting mostly of volcanic rock on our port (left to the non-sailors) side. We had a gentle paddle just a bit short of 2 miles before pulling up on a small pebble beach just north of the Lime Kiln Lighthouse. As we were the only 2 paying customers, we had great interaction with the guide, a very laid back fellow who farms organically and reads some pretty advanced books. In the middle of the meal, he stopped talking and pointed to the north where we saw 2 fast moving orcas. It wasn’t but a minute more that another set appeared and it didn’t stop until at least 30 had passed by our location. Unlike the orcas we saw last night, these were in a hurry and acting much differently. Jesse, the guide, indicated they had probably found a school of fish and were on the hunt. Two or three orcas breeched, sending up large splashes when they crashed back into the water. The show went on for about 45 minutes, and we all sat silently marveling at what we were seeing. It is impossible to describe the wildlife we have seen since Sunday night. We launched the kayaks and headed further south to a point a bit south of the Lime Kiln Lighthouse where we turned around and headed north. At the Lime Kiln Lighthouse, a scientist was placing a microphone system in the water to record the orcas as they passed by. We paddled slowly north tight against the coast. We passed by a log stuck on the racks until Jesse asked us if we had seen the seal. Looking back at the log, it was a log with head, eyes and flippers, so it must have been a seal. Further on we saw a seal that turned out to be a log. We saw the nests of bald eagles and osprey. We paddled close to shore, running aground on unseen rocks twice (just like the Exxon Valdez). We returned to the Park at 4:00pm and felt that we had had a marvelous day. We have seen wildlife ever day, but the most exciting has been the orcas. I have been on the water for a long time, but never seen anything approaching these last days. We just don’t have it on the East Coast. Several people staying in the campground had been on other kayak tours today, and everyone was overwhelmed by the sites of the last 24 hours. It is impossible for me to put into words the thrills we have experienced. We returned to the campground and did some cleanup, ran the generator for the 2nd time today and had a snack. The weather report is for the wind to turn to the northwest at 20-30 knots this afternoon, but the only sign of a change is fog on the Vancouver Island (west) side of Haro Strait. We went to a talk about the wildlife on San Juan Island that ended with 2 bald eagles, one with a fish in its talons, the other circling around, flew overhead. Everyone wondered how the lecturer did that. We learned that there are 3 resident orca pods in the Puget Sound area, and the pod we saw last night and today was Pod L with some 40 members.



Thursday, July 10, 2008:

Another beautiful morning, absolutely clear skies with an 8:00am temperature of 58 degrees and very little wind at 9:30. A tug with several tugs in tow was headed south and a small coastal freighter headed north. It is very quiet, with the exception of an occasional car behind and small piston-engine aircraft above. We hung out at the campground and talked with several families before heading out to visit the American Camp during the Pig War. It is on the south end of the island on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It is a beautiful view, but it must have been miserable during the winter months. The officer in charge was the same Captain George Pickett who gained some notoriety as a General in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. The officer in charge of constructing the fortifications was Lt Roberts, fresh out of West Point. He later became head of the Army Corp of Engineers and then wrote Roberts Rules of Order, the “bible” of parliamentary procedure. The beach area, known as South Beach, below the fortifications is covered with logs that must have been driftwood. It is said that at high tide it is a log walk, not a beach walk.
We had lunch, at 3:30pm at a DNR Interpretative Center that was formerly one of the first radio direction finder (RDF) systems in the US. It was used to assist ships coming through the straits. The RDF I remember had an aid to navigation send out a radio signal that the ship would home in on and take a bearing. By using 2 or more different aids, it was possible to determine our location. It turns out in the earlier systems the ship sent out a Morse Code message requesting a location. Three different shore locations homed in on the ship’s signal, determined the location and transmitted it to the ship. A bit more cumbersome, but still a great improvement from dead reckoning. We also saw Etchells #42 sailing out from Friday Harbor into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We found a doggie-daycare place for Daisy tomorrow so we can take a ferry to Lopez Island and ride our bikes. We drove into Friday Harbor to check out parking areas. We think we have found the right one, so we’ll drop Daisy off at 8:00am, drive into Friday Harbor and bike down to the ferry that leaves at 8:45am and gets us to Lopez at 10:20am. Back to the campground. As of 8:00pm, there are no whales in site. Oops, at 8:15pm we saw 3.




Friday, July 11, 2008:

Up at 6:30am for a walk with Daisy and then a scramble to leave the campground before 7:45am to get to the doggie daycare facility at 8:00am. We made it and at 8:10am left for our selected parking spot. We stored all the necessary stuff on the bikes, rode them down to the interisland ferry and waited for the ferry to leave. It was a beautiful day with a light wind, but with a 15-knot ferry, it was a bit cold. We stopped at Orca Island, Shawn Island and then Lopez Island at 10:20am. The only wildlife we saw was a harbor seal and a pair of nesting seagulls with babies. The babies were primarily brown with some black and were nesting in the steel structure for the ferry bumpers. Neither Susie nor I have ever seen a baby gull before. We landed at the north end of Lopez Island and rode our bikes from the dock to the top of the island. It was a bit steep, but we knew about it and so were not discouraged. At the top of the hill, we shed the long pants and lightweight jacket we had needed on the ferry trip. We rode to Lopez Village through woods, open fields, woods, farms, etc until we reached this very small, but only real village on the island. We had coffee and a bagel, and hen went searching for a place to buy a lunch to go. We ended up at Vita’s Wildly Delicious and bought a turkey panini to go. On the counter, I saw rhubarb and custard pie with a whole wheat crust, top and bottom. I bought a piece for Susie, and she didn’t get out the door before she took the first bite. I was a hero. We continued south on the west side of the island, passing by Fisherman Bay. Fisherman Bay is a protected anchorage and about 30 boats were moored there. It had a different feel from other anchorages because there were no large marinas. We continued south for a bit and then turned east on Dill Road north on Center Road, west on Lopez Sound Rd and finally north on Port Stanley Rd. We visited the Spencer Spit State Park on the east shore, hoping that we could follow the shore while approaching Swifts Bay. No such luck. We backtracked to Port Stanley Rd and continued north to Swifts Bay. One of the houses had a great wind mobile with sailboats.
We stopped to look and noticed the owner looking out the window. He came out, and I asked how he found it. He thought he had a card but could not find it. It came from Whidbey Island so I’ll go on the web when we have an internet source. Continuing north we went into Odlin County Park, sat on a driftwood log and ate lunch while looking over the water. Our ride was 18 miles and pure joy. When a car passes, you can tell the locals because they all give the bicyclists a wide berth and wave. The visitors drive on by, looking grim. This place has the feel of the Maine Coast, but it is much better. The weather is clearer, although some people have told us it is unusual to have so many clear days in a row. There are many more islands and water seems to be used more even though the temperature is in the high 40’s. We returned to the ferry for the 19 mile return trip to Fridays Harbor. Just as we left Lopez Island on the return ferry trip, we had some fantastic views of Mt Baker (top elevation 10,778 feet)
and the Cascades and then as we approached Fridays Harbor, two more mountains appeared.
Talking with 2 locals, we think one of them was Glacier Peak (top elevation 10,513 feet) and neither of them knew the other. So much for local knowledge! We were a bit late so we had to scramble to get to the doggie daycare before it closed at 6:00pm. We made it with 5 minutes to spare. Back to the campground where we had dinner. Susie brushed Daisy and we had sponge baths. We didn’t see any orcas tonight. There has been a bigger volume of shipping headed into Vancouver BC during the last few days. Tomorrow we head to the Farmer’s Market to select some local vegetables and bread. Organic farming is big here, and we had many opportunities to buy today, but no method to bring them home on the bicycles.



Saturday, July 12, 2008:

Usual morning drill today except that while walking Daisy a bald eagle flew over our heads. It couldn’t have been more than 50 feet above. We left the campground at 9:45am and found a place to park that wasn’t far from the Farmers’ Market. We bought frozen salmon, fresh carrots and a beautiful apple pie to give to the de Garves, friends from NJ who we haven’t seen is some 23 years. We then decided that better than a cup of coffee was a full breakfast at a restaurant that the locals seemed to favor. We then headed back towards the campground but took a small detour to visit the Lavender Garden. The story behind this wonderful garden is that a wealthy gentleman first bought the land to live on and then decided to move. Rather than sell the land and let it be developed, he sought to find an agricultural use. First, the land could not compete with the of agricultural uses on the island, second given the relatively low 20 inches of rainfall a year, the use could not be water intensive and last it must be a use that was financially successful. The result was growing lavender. The garden and growing areas covers about 40 acres and is in color from July through September.
Due to the late spring this year, it was not in full bloom but was pretty good. Across the road, and we’re not sure if it is part of the same complex, there is a pond of about 30 acres with 8 El Toro dinghies that were being used to teach kids to sail. I suspect the water is much warmer and thus a safe place to learn. On the way back to the campground, we stopped by the Lime Kiln Lighthouse again to confirm details of the activity of the whales. At 3:30pm we left the campground for the De Garves house. There are on the southeast shore of San Juan Island, with a piece of land that is bounded on one side by the American Camp and on the other by a large tract owned by a dot-commer whom they have never seen or talked to. They are wonderful gardeners and when you look to the east from their back porch, you see Mt Baker and the Cascades. They were quick to point out that the sky is not always as clear as it was today and Mt Baker isn’t always visible. With the limited rainfall of 20 inches, Rob had developed a water capture system with a capacity of 80,000 gallons that provides irrigation for the entire summer. We learned that all the employees on the interisland ferries live in the San Juan Islands and took great pride in those ships. The ferry gates at Shaw Island were manned, or womanned in this case, by the nuns from a nearby convent. Unfortunately, this little quirk was terminated a few years ago as the nuns aged and could no longer perform the function. We also learned that a few years ago, when the ferries were being repaired, a workman with a chipping hammer put a hole through the hull. Oops! It turned out that these interisland ferries had no bulkheads so it the hull was punctured, they would sink quickly. The US Coast Guard became involved, and there was a scramble to get replacements. Lots of great things you learn from locals but not from the tour books. We stayed for 3 hours, probably much too long since Rob had a bad back, but the time flew and Daisy and their young German Shepherd Dog Tiki had a great time running all over the place, stealing each others toys, etc. Tiki even went into the RV and was ready to settle in. We returned to the campground and ate some of the goodies we bought at the Farmers Market. There were no whales tonight, but a bit of fog was visible of the Vancouver Island side of the Strait.



Sunday, July 13, 2008:

It was a bit warmer last night up where we camp, but down nearer the water it was at least 10 degrees cooler. Spotty winds again and the visibility is terrific (again). I had an idea this morning while walking Daisy, We feel that we have not seen as much as the islands as we would like and maybe we can stop at Orcas Island on the way back to Anacortes and to the Winn ebago shop in Marysville tomorrow. We are planning to go to the Strawberry Festival today and we’ll check in with the Ferry Office to confirm we can do what I want to. We saw 2 orcas this morning, and one of them spy-hopped for us. Spy-hopping is when they stand in the vertical position with about 6-10 feet of its body out of the water and swivel around on the vertical axis. There were so many whale watching boats in the area (most too close) that this may have been a defensive maneuver. We left the campground around noon and headed in to Friday Harbor to have strawberry shortcake at a church fundraiser. It was fun, and we talked to a few people who were either year-around or summer residents. I talked with a man who had owned a wooden Hinkley but now owns a trawler they use to cruise the area. It turns out that the summer season has the least wind and sailing can be very intermittent during July-August (sort of like Long Island Sound and Chesapeake Bay), but the weather never gets very hot during that period. Susie talked with a lady who was securing easements from landowners to prevent too much development. We left after an hour and went to the ferry office to check out my plan. It works so we went to the grocery store and the Shell station to put in gas at $4.829/gallon. What fun! We went back to the campground and started to get ready for tomorrow. The wind is from the southwest at 20-25 knots, and this has lowered the temperature in the campground. At 6:15pm it is still blowing and the waves are big enough that if there were orcas out there, we couldn’t see them. When taking Daisy for a walk, I looked up and saw 2 mature and 1 immature bald eagles flying above the campground. They were all in close proximity so I think it is safe to assume they are from the same family. Bald eagles do not get their characteristic white heads and tails until they are 3-4 years old. Susie saw an amazing thing tonight when she took Daisy for her last walk of the day. She was walking long the road and a black fox kit popped out of the grass in front of Daisy and her. The kit looked at Daisy and Daisy looked back! The kit had a grey tip on its tail plus a grey spot on its stomach. Susie talked to the naturalist who said that all the fox kits on San Juan Island are colored this way at birth and then turn red or gray as they mature. We have seen several red fox during the week so the only question is “Why black?”.



Monday, July 14, 2008:

We left the San Juan County Park for the last time this morning at 7:30am after having taken a last look for orcas without any success. We went to the ferry and loaded without incident (Susie was driving). We left the ferry at the Orcas Island stop and planned to spend a few hours driving around the island, planning to be back at the ferry landing in time for the 2:10pm trip to Anacordes.
We were on time, but there were so many vehicles ahead that we didn’t get to load. Orcas Island is 56.9 square miles, almost double the size of San Juan, the one we just left, and it has a population of 4,894 people about 65% that of San Juan. The terrain is much more rolling, and the top of Mt Moran is the high point of all the islands at 2,407 feet. Not much compared with where we’ve been. The farms are much larger and the main village, Eastsound, is small and touristy. The coastline consists of some long beaches but there are numerous coves that provide protected anchorages. There are several oyster farms in the bays that have sandy beaches. The island is loaded with artists, authors, potters and maybe a few curmudgeons. I don’t believe that I have mentioned this before, but all the houses have 8’ high fences around the property to protect the gardens, flower and food, from the black-tailed deer and other animals. Susie said it reminder her of Lesotho Africa where everyone fenced their houses to keep out the cattle. It is colder today than yesterday, the result of more wind blowing across the cold water. We are now waiting for the next ferry at 4:20pm to go to Anacordes. A bit of ice cream to help the time along, and suddenly it was 4:20pm and the ferry wasn’t there. It was late and then it took a long time loading because of the number of cars. We made the passage and headed south to a RV Park on a lake. We had the first real showers in more than a week, but the sponge baths had done a pretty good job. Tomorrow we’re off to the Winnebago dealer to get started on the repairs.

2008 - Week 10

Tuesday, July 1, 2008:
It was a great sleeping night, and we awoke at 7:00am. I took Daisy for a walk and on the way back waved to the people in the adjacent parking spot. They were from Wyoming. Susie noticed that her dogs were wet and found that there was a place beneath the bridge where there was no current and was safe for swimming. Daisy came back wet and happy. We put away the rest of our clothes and cleaned the RV while waiting or a call from Brian and Kimberly about the status of Sophie who was undergoing an operation to remove the tumor. When we got the call, it was bad news. Sophie had passed away during the operation. This was crushing news to Susie and I, but now-where as crushing to Brian and Kimberly. Sophie was 11 years old, and Brian and she had become best friends during the last few years always greeting him when he came home from work. We are all sad at the loss. On the positive side, it was Meredith’s birthday today. She and Michael Ray were taking mini-vacation before she leaves for Taiwan for a week, the result of her award in an international ceramics exhibition. We saw an Etchells in a gas station in Ellensburg, probably going back home after the Etchells Worlds in Chicago. For a moment I thought it might be my cousin where has a boat delivery business. No such luck. We went shopping for food and filled the RV with gas before heading north and east on US97 to Wenachee and then north on Alt US97 to the town on Entiat, passed Earthquake Point (never saw it) and into the town of Chelan. All the time we were driving along this body of water than was named Lake Entiat. We turned northwest on WA971 and drove for about 4 miles before coming to Lake Chelan State Park where we stayed for the night. Lake Chelan is 50 miles long and narrow and was created by a dam on the Stehekin River near the town of Chelan. More hydroelectric power. The only access to the camps on the river is by boat. There are no roads. If we had the time, we would consider taking the boat tour up and down the lake. We had a very late lunch or an early dinner before working on the blogs. While taking Daisy for an exploratory walk, we saw the couple from Wyoming with the 2 Golden Retrievers. We had almost pulled into the spot next to theirs when looking for a site. Already they had found a spot to let the dogs swim so we went there later in the day for Daisy to take a swim and get tired. This water was beautifully clear and a bit cold, but Daisy didn’t mind that. There were some kids swimming, but the cries of surprise as they entered the water were long and loud. We talked to some of the campers near us and generally had a good time. Susie was interested in Lake Entiat, which was also formed by a dam, and what the water source was. It turned out to be our old friend the Columbia River. The temperature has dropped and a thunderstorm threatened, but only lighting. It should be a good night for sleeping. As a matter of fact, Daisy was probably asleep even before the sun went down.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008:
This was another beautiful morning, and Daisy started the day with a swim. We are going to drive to the North Cascades NP today, a distance of approximately 130 miles. We wandered around the campground and said good by to our neighbors and the couple who owned the Golden Retrievers. They were headed west and then south to their home in Jackson WY. By telling them some of the spots we had seen in the area convinced them that we had really been there. We left the SP at 10:00am and while driving to town Susie found some interesting facts about Lake Chelan. Its maximum depth is 1,500 feet, and the bottom is 400 feet below sea level. It was created by glacier action. We drove into the town of Chelan looking for the Post Office and discovered a great downtown. The buildings are generally old, and the storefronts are mostly original, with a few repairs and coats of paint. We continued north on US97 until we reached the town of Pateos where we turned NW and followed WA153 until we reached the town of Twisp (what a great name!) where we headed west on WA20. This road runs through the middle of the North Cascades NP and then to Anacortes WA. The next town was Winthrop WA, and it is a small tourist town with the buildings modeled after those in the early years. The buildings are all wood planks covered without any paint. It is easy to tell the new from the old, but the effect is great. In another decade, they’ll all be weathered black. We went into an art gallery with animal sculpture, drawings, paintings and all. The Owner was bemoaning the fact that pedestrian traffic was down. He said that at this time of the year, the streets should be jammed. They were not! From there we wandered down the street and came to a glass shop where there produce original art on premises. We talked to the Owner’s wife, and she said they had moved there from Estes Park CO about a year ago. They lived in a truck side-in camper last winter. We think they may be back to the earth types. Anyway they asked if we had heard about the power failure last night. It shit down the furnace in which they were making glass, and it had not yet reached proper temperature so they were pretty much sitting on their hands. They did tell us that last winter there was an avalanche that closed the road for several days. Winter temperatures were in the minus 20’s and 30’s. We continued down the street to get some lunch. We wanted to eat outside but there was only one place that had outside seating and it was full. We wandered some more, and when we returned there was an empty table so we sat down. The service was awful, but the food was good. The waitress’s vocabulary focused on the word “fabulous”. After lunch we purchased ice cream cones: Susie’s was lemon custard and mine was coffee. We managed to get back to the RV before the cones melted and continued west on US20. The hills became mountains and brown became green. We climbed through the Washington Peak Pass at 5,477 feet and the Rainy Pass at 4,855 feet before heading downhill for 30 miles before reaching Ross Dam at the east edge of the NCNP. The 65-mile drive from Winthrop was magnificent! I suspect it was not as good as Glacier NP, but we haven’t seen that park in the sun, so we’ll rank this drive as one of the top 5 we have taken. Rugged mountains, fast flowing rivers, numerous waterfalls and signs of avalanches were everywhere.
There were bicyclists, but not as many. One sign that caught our fancy was “Report Slides Call 911”. We assumed that they sign referred to both rock and snow slides, both of which we have seen. The other is that there is no cell phone service in many of these areas. Oh, well! We saw a wonderful set of peaks named “Crater Mountain” It was 2 peaks of about equal height with a saddle between with an unseen glacier behind. We checked into the Colonial Creek Campground in the NP and are paying $6/night. We selected a campsite on the lake, but it turns out the bottom is very muddy. Daisy went swimming anyway! My idyllic setting has just been disturbed by an outboard fishing boat that is trying to get to the shore, but it turns out the area in front of us is very shallow, and the boat turned back, but it sounds as if it is coming back or a second try. I think he put 5 years of wear and tear on the engine in a 15-minute period. There are numerous deer in the campground, and Daisy wants to chase them all. We had a baby crow nearby screaming for its mother, as only a crow can do. A mother duck and 6 babies just swam across the front of our campsite. The babies are really funny when they swim, lots of paddling and a big wake (for that size animal). Later a family of Canadian Geese swam by, looking a bit disgruntled that we were in their territory. We noticed that as the evening came, we would get a shot of cold air lasting about 30 seconds every 5-10 minutes. I thought it was refreshing, Susie thought it was too cold. We’ll be here for 3 nights before heading to the San Juan Islands.

Thursday, July 3, 2008:
It started to rain last night, very unexpected, and we had left our chairs, tablecloth, mats and a few other things unprotected. Lots of low hanging clouds so we’re not sure when or if it will clear. We noticed that the lake is about 2 feet lower than it was last night. We decided to catch up on administrative things, and so stayed in the RV until just before noon. We then drove west on WA20 to the North Cascades NP Visitor Center. It is small but the exhibits are excellent. There are numerous videos showing life in the park over a 12-month period. We learned that WA20 was not opened until 1968 (a year after we were married) so it is a young road. It is the only through road in the park. The Skagit River has its start in Canada, flows south then west through the Park finally discharging into Puget Sound which discharges into the Pacific Ocean. The City of Seattle, which seems to own the electric company, built dams at 3 locations on this river within what is now the North Cascades NP (established in 1968). Two of the dams (Ross and Diablo) are originals and historic structures, but the Gorge Dam, which was the first one built, has had 3 structures in the same general area. The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was also passed in 1968. We left the Visitors Center thinking we would take a few walks to finish up the dam but thunder made us rethink our plans. We decided to drive back to our Campground, stopping at all the scenic views. Probably the best was the Gorge Creek Falls.
While this is not a free-fall waterfall, from the top to the bottom is about 400 feet. This is just one of the numerous waterfalls in the Cascade Mountains, and all are impressive. We noticed at the Gorge Dam, there were at least 2 capture devices to prevent downed trees floating in the river from going through the electric turbines. Susie and I wondered how and how often they removed the trees from the river. The views driving along WA20 are wonderful, as I’ve probably said before. The vertical cliffs with moss and lighten growing all over them is colorful. It should be noted that the further west we drove, the more growth there was. The color of the river water is that wonderful blue-green that comes from having “glacial flour”, a very fine rock dust caused by the glaciers grinding through the valleys. We first noticed this color in Canada when we were traveling through the Canadian Rockies in 2006. As we drove east, we noticed fog on the river. The campground showed signs of heavy rain. Around 6:00pm the temperature dropped and the fog came in. By 6:10pm it was gone, and the pavement was steaming. The saying “if you don’t like the weather, wait a few minutes” is really true here. We change clothes as the weather changes. Hard to keep track of what is clean, partially clean or just plain dirty (well not to hard for the last). It has been a good day and we hope that the weather will cooperate tomorrow so we can go on a few hikes. We need to get some


Friday, July 4, 2008:
Happy Fourth of July to all! We spent the morning trying to figure out how we’ll travel through Oregon. There are many wonderful areas from the “high desert” to the seacoast. At 11:30am we started our hike for the day. The great news was that we could take Daisy, and she was beside herself with joy. Completely out of control! She swam twice on the way out, and the same on the way back, not that she didn’t try many more times. There is a mountain pass nearby known as “The Fourth of July” and many people were on their way to visit it. It is a bit more difficult of a climb than we wanted to do so we followed “Thunder Brook Trail” making a round trip of 4 hours, including Daisy swimming and sniffing and marking everything she could. We think it was about 7 miles total. It seemed to be impossible to dress properly; too hot when the sun came out and too cold when it went in. Some of the biggest mosquitoes I’ve ever seen. The vegetation was lush, as we expected with downed trees, moos, ferns, small flowers, and wonderful old cedar trees. Thunder Creek was not blue-green as was the Skagit, but a light brown with granular sediment. We saw evidence of snow slides and rockslides that must have been fearful to see or hear. There took down trees 3-4 feet in diameter. There were numerous trees down and signs that the walking bridge across the Creek was relatively new and in a different location than shown on the map. There were several new wilderness camping sites. As we were walking, I happened to hear some small noise and turned around to check. Not 10 feet behind me were 3 girls, with fully loaded backpacks and they were headed into the wilderness for a few days. They apologized for surprising us, but as long as they were not brown, wooly and 600 pounds it was OK. We came back to the RV where I took a sponge bath and then washed my hair under an outside faucet. Ah, to be clean again. Susie and Daisy went down to the shore and relaxed. I started the generator to recharge the battery so we can see tonight. The lake is up this afternoon, and the tree stumps are completely covered.


Saturday, July 5, 2008:
It was a bit colder this morning, and we have decided that it is always overcast in the morning, often clears during the day and then the clouds come back in the evening. On our walk this morning, the water management team for the power plants lowered the water and now the stumps are fully exposed. Almost everything that was wet from the overnight rain a few days ago has dried out. We rolled up the awning, loaded the RV and headed west for one more walk before heading to Anacortes. This walk was through old growth trees and underbrush. We learned about Oregon Grapes, Big Leaf and Vine Maple Trees plus Western Red Cedar Trees. The walk was along the Skagit River but it was flowing too fast to let Daisy swim even though she wanted to. At the halfway point on the walk we came across a small hydroelectric generating plant used to provide power for the construction of the dams, including the worker housing, along Yakima River. It is still operating and is used to power the operating center for the dams. The name of the company town is Newhalen. We drove west and came out of the mountains to large plain that was full of farms, but looked as if suburbia was slowly advancing. The land is absolutely flat, a change from the last week. We drove a bit out of our way to visit Deception Pass, a very fast flowing cut between Whidbey and Fildalgo Islands. The Deception Pass was discovered by the English Sea Captain Vancouver and Whidbey Island is named after the officer who first made the passed through in a small boat. Captain Vancouver also discovered the outfall of the Columbia River but the conditions were too rough to enter. It was the American Captain Gray of Boston who passed over the Columbia Bar a few years later.
The Deception Pass Bridge is a structural steel truss bridge. It has sidewalks on both sides and stairs beneath that allow people to view from both sides of the bridge. The information plaques say the water flows between 5-8 knots and the depth maximum depth of about 250 feet. The current was flowing in, and it was interesting to watch powerboats coming and going. Numerous eddies and current rips that made the boat handling a bit challenging. We went to the KOA Campground, refilled with propane, took showers, washed our laundry and dumped wastewater so that tomorrow we’ll be ready to go. This campground is awfully small and is packed with vehicles. Hope it quiets down before it gets too late. The rain has started and the fireworks scheduled for 9:00pm seems to have been cancelled (it’s now 9:30pm) and the campground is quiet. The most noise we’ve heard was when we were hanging out at the laundry room. Oops, the fireworks just started, and Daisy is cowering under the table.

Sunday, July 6, 2008:
Up at 6:45am to take Daisy for a walk and prepare the RV. We left the KOA at 7:30am for the 11:00am ferry to Friday Harbor. There are no reservations for the ferry so you just get in line and hope for the best. We topped off the gas tank, stopped at Safeway to restock and drove on to Anacortes to wait for the ferry. We noticed a large Shell Refinery on Puget Sound as we were driving to Anacortes. That must explain the large number of Shell gasoline stations in the area.
We had plenty of time when we reached the terminal, but if we had missed the 11:05am ferry the next was at 3:10pm. Well, stuff happens! When we were loading the RV on the ferry, the loadmaster kept telling us to keep right, further right. There was a horrendous crash as we hit the guardrail on the edge of the 2-lane ramp leading into the 3-lane ferry. As we passed by the loadmaster hew said “You should watch where you drive.” The result was the bottom brackets that support the awning were ripped off the RV and the aluminum supports severely bent. The top brackets rotated and crushed the fiberglass. An attendant appeared right away assuring us that the safety officer would be there in about 5 minutes to take a report. He took the report and pictures, and my comments about the direction of the loadmaster, but said that Washington Ferries regulations prevented him from giving me a copy. He gave me the contact info in case we wanted to make a claim, but, in his experience, we wouldn’t hear anything back for at least 5-6 weeks. The report taking took almost an hour, and so we couldn’t enjoy the view as we traveled through the San Juans. As we left the ferry, we saw the loadmaster, and I stopped and asked him for his name. He said “NO, move on”. Luckily we had bungee cords and line, and we can drive the RV at slower speeds than we’d like. We drove across San Juan Island to the County Park and claimed our campsite. The Park is on the west coast of the island and overlooks Haro Strait. Next bit of land is Vancouver Island in Canada. I call our insurance company and work is in progress. We spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how to travel around the island. We are trying not to drive the RV everywhere, but there may be no choice. There is a shuttle, but the schedule is difficult to understand. There are kayak tours that leave from the park, and we’ll take advantage of that. We saw 2 whales in mid-afternoon and maybe we’ll see more as the tide floods. One interesting story about the San Juan Islands is the “PIG WAR”. When the boundary between Canada was established in 1846, the ownership of the islands was never confirmed so both the British and the Americans. An American named Lyman Cutlar arrived on San Juan Island in April 1859 and stated farming. A boar owned by the British kept wandering into Cutlar’s potato patch and on June 15, 1859 he shot the pig. The next thing was a budding military conflict with the British sending troops and 3 warships and the Americans countering they would fight to the last man. The British decided not to land and a few days later a British Admiral arrived and told the British Governor, who had ordered the invasion, that he would not “involve two great nations in a war over a squabble about a pig”. Eventually the issue went to arbitration and Kaiser Wilhem I of Germany awarded the island to the US. We are sitting at the picnic table looking out to the west and watching the sun go down. We spotted 2 then another orca swimming north with the tide and noticed than a good portion of the campground residents were sitting on the small bluff overlooking the water. We went down to join them and were rewarded with a view of another half dozen or more, some mothers with babies, swimming north. Everyone started talking about what a wonderful sight. We mentioned that we were from the Maryland and didn’t have the opportunity to see such sights and thus these were very special to us. The locals said that they never tired of the sightings of the wild animals. Susie took Daisy for a walk, and I went back to the RV to clean up. When she didn’t return, I went back to the water and there she was talking with a family. That time we saw 3 orcas swimming south, but much closer to shore than earlier. One was very large and then a mother and baby (we think). There were just swimming slowing, not making much headway against the tide which by then was almost high. We were then rewarded by a bald eagle diving from the sky and snatching a fish from the water. There were 3 kayaks with 30 feet, and we surmised that they kayaks stirred up the fish, and the eagle got him. Just as the sun went down, we saw a harbor seal in the water among the kelp near shore. He was fishing and then would come over to view the humans and make sure we had seen what he was doing. The sun went down, but we stayed some more.
Finally at 9:45pm the lights on Vancouver Island started to come on, and we left for the night.

Monday, July 7, 2008:
Woke up at 7:00am and looked out the window. There wasn’t a breath of air on the water so I rolled over for a bit and then slide out of bed at 7:30am to take Daisy for a walk. By the time we returned, the breeze had started to fill. There are people sitting on the bluff overlooking the water eating breakfast or just looking. The tide is coming in and maybe we’ll see more sea life. Nothing appeared so we decided to go to Friday Harbor to get cell phone service and start calling about getting the RV repaired. However, on our way to town we stopped at Lime Kiln SP to learn more about whales and to visit the lighthouse where they track whales and listen for their sounds. We also saw a Pacific Madrone tree that is only found in a narrow strip along the Pacific Coast between Mexico and Canada. There was an exhibit about lighthouses, the Fresnel lens used and the size of the light bulb. The light bulb was 12 volt, 3 watt and could be seen 13 miles away on a clear night. In town, we found a parking spot in town (eventually) and started calling about the RV. After several dead ends, I called Winnebago and they gave me the name of several dealers in the area. We have connected with one so the process has started. I wish I could say the same for the Nationwide Claim Rep. I called 3 times and was unable to get a return call. More work on that tomorrow. We picked up an Express Mail package at the Post Office and then wandered around town, stopping in a sandwich shop that Diana recommended after she and Paul spent a week here for their wedding anniversary. It was really good, thanks Diana. We visited the kayak touring companies, went to the used bookstore. Later, we made a commitment for Wednesday and are keeping our fingers crossed for a good day. We also stopped by Susie’s Mopeds to check out the funny looking vehicles that have been buzzing around the island, some single seaters and some two seaters. Some of them had training wheels, or so it seemed. Susie found a haircutting salon, and now she is beautiful and ready to go. We came back to the campground, had dinner and walked down to the bluff to watch for wildlife. We saw the bald eagles again, but nothing else. Lots of kids, dogs and parents were there playing games. Susie brushed Daisy, and Susie has all of Daisy extra hair. We watched as a ship came down the channel, probably from Vancouver BC, and make the turn at Discovery Island towards the Pacific Ocean. The aids to navigation started coming on, and all of a sudden a large steady red light appeared in the middle of Discovery Island. It was impossible to discern if this light was on Discovery Island or the American shore beyond. We did find out that when the sun went down, the red light went off. It must have been a very large reflective surface with the proper orientation for us to see the bright light. It was 9:30pm before we came back to the RV. Tomorrow to Roche Harbor at the north end of San Juan Island to look at the stuff up there including the quarters used by the British during The Pig War. We’ll also go after the insurance adjuster since we’ll have cell phone service.

2008 – Week 9


Tuesday, June 24, 2008:
When I was taking Daisy for her morning walk, I happened across 2 Park Rangers and asked them for a good breakfast spot and what the weather was going to be. The answer to the first was perfect and the answer to the second was “Dark gray in the morning followed by light gray in the afternoon”. That answer was completely wrong for when we left for breakfast the skies had begun to clear and by the time we started our bike ride, it was absolutely beautiful. It had to have been one of the best 5 days of the trip. We started our bike trip by going to the beach to put our fingers in the Pacific Ocean and to see the wreckage of the English sailing ship the “Peter Iredale” that went ashore in 1906 about 2 miles south of the mouth of the Columbia River. We then rode north about 200 yards inland

from the Pacific Ocean to see the South Jetty of the Columbia River that was built during the period 1885-1895 and renovated within the last decade. I did not find any information about how much land has been added as a result of the jetty, but from the maps it appears that the South Jetty starts at Point Adams near the site of Fort Stevens, an active military installation from the Civil War through the end of WWII to protect the country from an invasion up Columbia River. Sand deposits from the ocean and sediment from the Columbia River have combined to extend the land approximately 2.5 miles north and reducing the width of the entrance to the Columbia River. This concept fits with the information we received at Fort Clatsop that the river was more open to storms in the early 1800’s when Lewis and Clark spent the winter of 1805-1806 at the mouth of the river. We then rode back to Fort Stevens to visit this historical site, but were disappointed because all the old buildings were gone and the only remnants were the outlines of the WWII facilities. There was even a tour around the site (which we declined) in a “deuce and a half” truck used in WWII and later. For the sailors, Olin Stevens, who turns 100 this year, and is the father of the Lightning Class, took the “deuce and a half” truck and turned it into the amphibious DUKW that was used in the invasions of Europe and Pacific theatres. We return to the SP and had a good rest. Susie gave a Daisy a good brushing, and I am hoping that the people downwind didn’t get too much hair. We leave Oregon tomorrow and start our trek north along the WA coast.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008:
Once again we started out with very cloudy skies and 55 degrees temperature but by 11:45am, the skies had cleared, and the temperature started to climb. We stopped at the RV repair place, but I must have done something, because all seemed well. We took off across the Columbia River to visit the last of the Lewis and Clark exhibits. On the way across the bridge, there is a large sandbank that is visible only at low tide. We saw 3 bald eagles sitting on pilings waiting for the tide to change and the fish to come in. We stopped at “Dismal Nitch” where Lewis and Clark were stuck for 6 days before the storm passed and then at “Station Camp” where Captain Clark took detailed latitude and longitude measurements plus bearings to the geographic features in the area. A reproduction of his map confirmed what I had believed about the jetties modifying the coastline. We continued on to Cape Disappointment and toured the last Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.

We then started driving north on US101 intending to go to the World Kite Flying Museum in the town of Long Beach WA. The town is typical seashore one, and the entrance fee was too steep for what we could see through the windows. We continued our drive north through wildlife preserves, forestry operations, processing facilities for oysters and Dungeness crabs. It was an informative look into the industries and way of life of the residents of this area. Along the route, we saw an ever-increasing numbers of silhouettes made from sheet steel depicting the earlier times in the region. If we had more room in the RV, we might have brought some of them home. We had seafood dinners in the Beehive Restaurant in Montesano WA; in truth, probably too much. We checked in to the Lake Sylvia SP north of the town of Montesano WA, about 35 miles west of Olympia WA, the state capital. We plan to visit there tomorrow and then go on to Tacoma WA for 2 nights. We are in a bit of a quandary about where to go next to make sure we get to the San Juan Islands on July 6. The current thinking is to try to get reservations at a campground in Mt Rainier NP and then swing east and then north through the Cascade Mountains before going to the San Juan Islands. The mountain passes through the Cascades should be finally clear of snow, but we need to get on the internet to confirm.

Thursday, June 26, 2008:
We walked the trails around Lake Sylvia SP this morning and witnessed more destruction from the December 2007 storm. Susie talked to some of the crew doing the cleanup who told here that there had been another big storm in the early 1960’s but there was not nearly as much damage then as now. I talked to the folks at Mt Rainier NP, and we should be able to campsites for Saturday and Sunday nights. We left the campground and headed east to Olympia WA to visit the Capital Campus and tour the Supreme Court and Legislative buildings. The House of Representatives and Senate were not in session so we could pretty much go where the guides wanted to go. Interestingly, the legislature is in session for 60 days, in recess for 122 days, in session for 60 days and then in recess for another 123 days. A few interesting facts about the legislative building: the building foundations were in place for a number of years, but an agreement on the requirements of the building could not be reached for several years. The area within the foundations was used as a swimming pool before 1922, when the building superstructure was started the building was completed in 1928, the 287 foot masonry dome is one of the largest in the world, most of the marble came from Alaska with some from Italy and Germany, there is a very large chandelier in the rotunda that was constructed by Tiffany Lighting and weights 10,000 pounds plus another 3,000 pounds of chain, this chandelier is large enough to fit a VW Bug or king size bed inside it
, there are 2 smaller chandeliers in a large reception room with at least 10,000 glass beads in each as ornaments
, the building has survived 2 earthquakes without any major damage. The Supreme Court was about to hear a case and so we couldn’t stay long. We took the free shuttle known as the DASH and headed downtown to the Farmers Market where we had lunch of oysters and crabcakes. We were also able to buy cherries, strawberries, bread and breakfast rolls. Onto the DASH to return to the RV. We took Daisy for a walk and I took pictures of the legislative building. We then headed northeast towards Tacoma to get ready for tomorrow. We are in a RV park a bit out of town with no public transportation nearby. I don’t want to drive the RV downtown so we’ll look for another way into town. A small beagle lives in the adjacent trailer and started howling when we came in. He seems to have settled down and maybe we’ll have peace and quiet.

Friday, June 27, 2008:
We were facing the sun when it rose at 5:00am this morning. It was an absolutely clear sky and would remain that way all day. We napped until 7:00am, and then got up to prepare for the 9:00am taxi that would take us into Tacoma to visit the Museum District. Daisy was walked, and we were almost ready at 8:15am when the taxi arrived. He waited for another 15 minutes while we finished up and drove us downtown. The first stop was the refurbished Union Station that is part of the US District Court facility. We wanted to see the building, but especially the glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly, a native of Tacoma. Especially striking were the glass flowers displayed in the east facing windows on the 2nd Floor because of the sunlight. There was also a glass sculpture hanging from the center of the dome where a chandelier would have been in the past. A wall of glass panels was mounted on the north wall and a series of glass tubes in 2 tree trunks. Security was tight because of Homeland Security, but we had the picture ID’s. From Union Station were went to the Visitors Center, that opened at 9:00am, and were overwhelmed by the amount of information and brochures that were pushed at us. We must have been the only clients in the last 2 weeks! We left there at 9:30am, returned to ask for a good coffee shop (they knew) to review the info before heading to the Chihuly Glass Bridge. There is a 50 foot covered section. The ceiling is a display of Chihuly glass pieces and the wall is an exhibit of larger glass pieces. Both the ceiling and the wall displays are protected by a flat glass surface to deter vandalism. The purpose of the bridge was to lead us across I-705 to the Museum of Glass where the featured exhibition was the life (still living) of Lino Tagliapietra, and the effect he has had on glass blowing in the US. Lino is a native of Murano Italy (near Venice) and came to the US in the 1960’s to teach but didn’t speak English. He was flabbergasted by the poor equipment here in the US, but also overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the students. He kept returning and eventually moved to Seattle WA. His fellow glass artisans in Murano were annoyed at him for giving away their secrets, but eventually came to believe that having glass blowing done well in the US would benefit them also. Included in the exhibit were pieces by students of his from his time in the US, and all say that he is the best and without his help, they would be nothing. After walking through the exhibit, we went into the Hot Room, actually a room with numerous furnaces and annealing ovens, and watched Fritz Dreisbach; working with 6 students of the Museum of Glass, make a glass sculpture that is part of his latest series. Evidently it took 3 days for the prep work to be done and then 2 hours for Fritz (everyone seems to call him that) and the 6 students to make the piece while listening to Ray Charles sing. People kept coming in to watch, but I don’t think anyone left. It turns out that Fritz taught glass blowing at Penland School in NC where our daughter was a core student for 2 years. As I sit here writing this, I think there must be a better name for this art than glass blowing as that is just a small part of the process. There is design, color selection, shaping and much more. We went to lunch at a small spot named the Renaissance at 2:30pm (just before it closed) and realized that we had 2 more museums to visit: the Tacoma Art Museum and the Washington State History Museum. We decided to do the Art Museum because it had more Chihuly glass and was smaller.
We checked out the History Museum and found that if we arrived before 9:00am there would be parking for the RV. We also bought a ceramic Native American horse for Susie. We took the free light rail and then found a taxi to bring us back to the RV Park. Daisy was happy to see us, and we have done our usual paperwork. Susie is issuing her updated blog as I am typing this.

Saturday, June 28, 2008:
Up again early this morning to get into the parking lot at the Washington State History Museum parking lot as recommended by the people yesterday afternoon. We arrived around 8:45am, and there were less than a dozen cars in the lot. We positioned the RV, placed the reflective window shields and turned on the 12V box fan that sits on the window ledge. Then we went to breakfast at the Renaissance. We had plenty of time so we walked to a shop that has 2 sections: the first focuses on emerging glass artisans, the second on established artisans in various mediums (however, there seemed to be a focus on glass). Susie found a book on Lino Tagliapietra she liked. All of a sudden it was 10:30am, a half-hour after the History Museum opened so off we went. The entry floor to the Museum had a permanent exhibit of the history of Washington State, including a geological display of how the land was formed including volcanoes, shifting plates and floods. The exhibit explained how the state grew and what industries were critical to its growth: timber, farming, railroads and shipbuilding. It was a very interesting display, and we came away very impressed. We then had lunch in a small deli and walked through an outdoor exhibit of Native American crafts. We returned to the RV, drove out of Tacoma and headed to Mt Rainier NP. We came across the north side on WA410 and then south on the same road until we reached WA123 that continued south. We had one really spectacular view of the east (generally) face of Mt Rainier,
and Susie spotted a trail through the snow. A bit later there was road construction underway, and at the end the sign said “End of Construction” and 50 yards later another sign “Rock Slides Ahead”. We tried to camp in the Ohanapecosh Campground in the NP but they were full. I admit to having a sinking feeling in my stomach that we should have spent one more night in Tacoma to avoid trying to find a site on a Saturday night. We continued south on WA123 until we reached US12 and after trying to find a spot north, we turned around and headed south. We found the US Forest Service La Wis Wis Campground and there were places available. There are lots of families, and the kids are having a great time. I learned that one of the four loops in this Campground was washed away during the winter storms this year. Other campgrounds are still not open, as the damage from the winter has not been repaired. We also learned that the road that winds its way up the east side of Mount St Helens has yet to be cleared so we’ll not be tempted to make that trip. We signed up for 2 nights and will spend tomorrow driving the south side of Mt Rainier and scoping out the area from where Jon Guth and friends will start their climb to the top of Mt Rainier in a few weeks.

Sunday, June 29, 2008:
Today was the day to visit the south side of Mt Rainier NP. We left our USFS Campground that is outside the park on the southeast corner on US12 around 9:30am and headed north on WA123 into the park before turning west on WA706 at the Stevens Canyon Entrance. The plan was to follow Stevens Canyon Road (WA706) to Paradise, visit the Visitor Center and then continue west on WA706 to the Nisqually Entrance at the southwest corner of the park. We wanted to view the park from west to east but so much for plans. The elevation at the southeast corner of the park was 2,100 feet, at Stevens Canyon Road 2,800 feet, at the head of Stevens Canyon 4,000 feet, at the Visitors Center 5,400 feet and at the Nisqually Entrance 2,000 feet. With these changes in elevation, great scenery should be expected and we were not disappointed. There was still significant amounts of snow from 3,500 feet and higher. If I read the information board in the Visitors Center correctly, the amount of snowfall on the top of Mt Rainier this winter was 87.9 feet and about 29 feet remain. As we traveled WA706 both east and west, we were able to see many climbers on the way to Camp Muir (10,188 feet) on training trips in preparation for a trip to the top which is more than 14,100 feet. Even with binoculars, they looked like ants.
Later in the day we saw people returning down the slope, maybe they had been to the top and on the way back. We saw numerous areas of recent destruction where small avalanches had swept down the slopes, across the road and continued to the bottom. The largest area of destruction that we were able to approach was the bed of the Nisquilly River where, in 1947, the Nisquilly Glacier had an unusual melt and the water roared down the river, carrying boulders, ripping trees from the banks and generally raising havoc. While 39 years may seem a lot to us, it is a mere tick in the time it takes for nature to recover. There are numerous active small waterfalls along the road, and we saw one being used as a car wash and another as a human shower. We declined both, much to Daisy’s disgust. Susie had a great conversation with a lady from England who was here with her 81-year-old mother to cheer on her 52 year-old brother who was training for a fund raising climb for clean air in mid-July. She told us that he had climbed Mount St Helens yesterday with a geology team. He almost made the Mt Rainier summit last year, but the weather turned bad, and the team turned around near 13,000 feet. We also talked to 2 older couples who live in Seattle. One man was the Honorary Consul for Iceland, and he promised to send Susie information in case I get to visit.We were told that this was a terrific day for viewing the mountain, and we believe we took good advantage of the opportunity. We took more pictures than any humans should, but that is the advantage of digital pictures. Numerous roads and trails are still closed with snow and downed trees so we have not been able to hike due to a lack of the correct equipment. The Tatoosh Range is to the south of Mt Rainier NP. These mountains are 25-30 million years older than Mt Rainier and, while lower, are stark and rugged. They remind us of the Tetons in Wyoming, south of Yellowstone NP. We crossed the Nisqually River on our way back and looking at the picture you might think this is all water, but it is actually boulders left over when the glacier retreated.
The clouds came in later in the day and finally the thunderstorms arrived with lots of lightning. That must be a problem to the people on the mountain. We filled up the RV with gas at a price of $4.559/gallon, a new record I believe. On the way back to the campground we saw an elk with velvet covering his growing antlers. He was standing beside the road eating grass and gave us a brief look as we passed.

Monday, June 30, 2008:
Today turned out to be a travel day. We had a phone call from Kimberly and Brian with a garbled message so we went to a place with cell phone reception and called them back. Kimberly’s Dalmatian was sick with a large tumor and was at the vets. We left the campground late and headed to the city of Yakima WA. The drive through the Snoqualmie National Forest and more specifically the Norse Peak Wilderness and the William O/ Douglas Wilderness was green, rugged and beautiful. We traveled along WA12, across White Pass and along Rimrock Lake before joining WA410. We stopped at the USFS District Office in Natches WA to find our more about campgrounds in the Okanogan and Enatchee National Forests (located to the east of the Cascade Mountains at the north side of the state. As soon as we left the National Forest, the land turned brown, a shock from the luscious green of Mt Rainier National Park. Unfortunately, as we have experienced before, if the office you stop in isn’t the one that monitors what you want information on, you can get nothing. With this lack of information, it is impossible to plan ahead. We stopped in Yakima, the land of fruit and wine. There are 40+ vineyards around Yakima, but the temperature was expected to be above 100 degrees so we move on north to the city of Ellensburg WA. We followed WA 821, the road before the Interstate was built. It follows the Yakima River valley and is between 200-300 foot high cliffs. We had hoped to see some mountain goats, etc, but it was much too hot and they must have been hunkered down to stay cool. South of Ellensburg, the cliffs disappear and irrigated fruit orchards and vineyards reappear. We slipped in to a KOA in Ellensburg, washed our clothes and were about to settle in when a couple pulled in nearby with a new Winnebago diesel RV. It is the same length as ours, but we don’t like the layout. However, they get 18-20 mpg depending on whether they are in the mountains or on the flat. They had a German Shepard so we talk for a bit. Sometime after we went to do the laundry a pickup truck with a slide in camper unit pulled in next to us. They were a young couple and had 2 Golden Retrievers. We put away as much stuff as possible and went to bed. The temperature had started to drop, and the wind picked up. With the wind blowing across the cold Yakima River water, the temperatures kept dropping and we expected a great night’s sleep.