2008 – Week 13

Tuesday, July 22, 2008:
Happy 41st Anniversary to us! I was right, the Rest Area wasn’t any worse than some of the places we have stayed and paid for. We left at 7:15am, arrived at 7:30pm and gave Daisy a bath with the outside shower. She wasn’t happy. We pulled in to Winnebago Repair shop, but they were not ready for us yet. Not all of the parts had arrived, but they were convinced that the fiberglass repair could be done not as the missing piece was trim and would be done as one of the last tasks. It is due to arrive on Friday morning. The next hitch was that they didn’t rent cars to out-of-staters, even though the lead service associate had assured us last week that they did. Enterprise to the rescue. After I picked up the car, we went to lunch at the same place we had the week before. As we were close to Wal-Mart, we went there to get more camera batteries (fyi the new silver & blue Energizer Lithium batteries are very good). We headed south to Snohomish to the Snohomish Inn (they take dogs). We had trouble with their internet, but finally straightened that out before going to dinner at Romano’s Macaroni Grill. We came home and went straight to bed, victims of too much good and rich food. We opened the window as much as possible and turned on the AC to make sure we were comfortable.


Wednesday, July 23, 2008:
About 3:30am, Susie awoke with one of her migraine headaches, the first in many, many months. The AC had quit, and the room was hot and stuffy. She took aspirin, and I finally was successful in turning on the fan (only). That helped, but she was to struggle with the headache almost the entire day. I worked on putting photos in some old blogs while she slept. We went to brunch at noon and came back to the hotel around 2:00pm after a quick drive around town. This must be the center of the antique activity in the area, and we plan to look through some of the stores tomorrow. It was a quiet afternoon, working on photos, replanning our trip through WA and OR, etc. We tried to find a park where we could walk Daisy and 2 of the 3 we tried didn’t allow dogs in them. The third did, but our guess is not for long, as the dog owners didn’t pick after them. We went into town for dinner. Susie had a Portobello mushroom sandwich, and I had a bison burger. We looked for a place to have ice cream for desert, but everything was closed. Back to the hotel to do more work and planning. The wildfires in northern CA are creating a problem. Looking at NOAA Weather, there is a respiratory warning just where we’re trying to go. A cousin, Ella Crow, who lives just north of the CA/OR border says it is really bad in her area if the wind is from the south, but OK if from the north. We’ll just play it by nose.

Thursday, July 24, 2008:
A bit foggy this morning when Daisy and I took our walk. When we returned Susie was up and at her computer working on her blog. I suspect that input using WiFi as slower than hard wire, otherwise it wouldn’t be so popular. Daisy is sleeping after her strenuous walk. I called the RV repair shop and all is on schedule. We had breakfast in the same place as yesterday, discussed where we’re going for the next few weeks and then started a tour of the antique shops. We came across an old building that is supported on temporary wood and steel cribbing while they excavated beneath it to add a basement. Don’t know how that will pay for itself, but that’s up to the developer. We bought a few things, had pie ala mode for lunch and returned to the hotel to continue work on the blogs. Hopefully we’ll be up to date by tomorrow morning. I took Daisy for a walk and discovered how to access a soccer complex with about 6 fields. Too bad I don’t have my new airplane, it would be a great place to learn. We went downtown to a real Mexican restaurant and had dinner. While looking out the window we saw 2 large hot air balloons and 1 soft winged aircraft (powered by a small gas engine). There was no wind and the balloons just floated in the air. On the way to the restaurant, we saw a sign directing people to the historic residential area of town. It was on the high ground away from the Snohomish River and had numerous old and restored homes from the early 1900’s. We saw at least one that was undergoing restoration, and it promises to be as grand as the others. We came back to the hotel and noticed the same 2 hot air balloons again plus 3 of the soft winged aircraft. The sun was setting and the 3 landed nearby, but the hot air balloons were still in the air. We wondered how they would be able to find and access an open field. Tomorrow we pack up, get the RV and head back to Olympic NP.

Friday, July 25, 2008:
Susie had another headache this morning so we must get out of this place. It was sunny and calm. When I was taking Daisy on her morning walk, I noticed one of the hot air balloons from last night floating about the town. I wonder (not really) if he was up all night? We had breakfast at 9:00am and left the hotel at 10:30am after Susie had a discussion with hotel management about the cleaning people who were smoking in the rooms while cleaning. No wonder the sheets and pillowcases all smelled of smoke. There were signs posted everywhere about the illegality of smoking with 25 feet of any entrances. They said that we would get a discount next time we stayed. Good luck! We arrived at the RV Repair at 11:00am, and I took the rental car back. When I returned at noon, the RV had been painted and moved to another work bay. We fooled around for a while, then went to the new RV Sales area and determined that we like the layout of our RV and will keep it (not that we were seriously thinking of anything else). For lunch we went to Wendy’s after trying a near-by smoke-filled casino. At 2:30pm the awning was being installed. Here’s hoping that there are no bent parts that were hidden from view. I am confident that we’ll be out of here this afternoon. They buffed up the new work and then gave the RV a wash. The new work looks beautiful, but I should buff it completely when we get home to get some of the old wax off and make it uniform. We filled up with propane, but it was past 5:00pm so we found a campground in Everett WA and stayed there for the night. There is hardly any space between the RV’s but it’s only for a night. I defrosted the refrigerator and now we can go food shopping before we continue back to Olympic NP. We have some Express Mail to pick up in Port Angeles and then we’ll head counter-clockwise around the mountains before saying good-by to the State of Washington and heading to the northeast portion of Oregon. We may drive through Mt Rainier NP again to see if it looks a bit different now that some of the snow is gone. I talked to Jon Guth today about his attempt to summit the mountain last weekend, which he did and so deserves our congratulations. According to Jon there is still lots of snow in Paradise, his starting point.

Saturday, July 26, 2008:
We left the RV Park at 10:15am, a bit delayed by Susie having a spasm in her back. I gave her one of my shoulder pills and that seems to have helped. We’ll know better tomorrow morning. We decided that we would drive south through Seattle on I-5 to Tacoma, turn north on WA 16, west on WA106 and finally north on US101. The purpose of this route was to see the east side of Olympic NP. This route also took us along the south and east sides of Hood Canal. It still amazes us how much water and shoreline there is in this part of the State of Washington. Houses are built on the shore, and some look as if the shoreline has been built out to accommodate them. The roads are right at the front doors. Entering and exiting US101 must be a bit dicey, but I guess that the owners become used to it. We stopped in the USFS office in Hoodsport to determine the camping availability and were not given much encouragement by the volunteers. Everything to the south (where we didn’t want to go anyway) was full and they had no knowledge of the status north. We were able to fill with gas at $4.049/gallon in an Indian Reservation. There are numerous USFS Campgrounds on the east side of Olympic NP and after having lunch overlooking (through the trees) Hood Canal, we decided to try the first one we found. We had by-passed a few commercial campgrounds, but then turned west on USFS Road 25, drove 6 miles and found Hamma Hamma Campground in the Olympic National Forest. It has 15 campsites and vault toilets. There is no trash service and no drinking water. We’ll need to be a bit careful, but it’s only for one night. The campground is pretty typical of the USFS. There are numerous trees and an abundance of ground cover. The Hamma Hamma River is adjacent to the campground but is flowing quickly so whether or not Daisy gets to swim is a question. The fire hazard is HIGH so the only fires allowed are in the fire pits, and vegetation has been removed for at least 10 feet in every direction. There were rumors of rain showers, but the dark clouds have blown over with the southeast wind. When I took Daisy for her evening walk, I noticed that the clouds were coming back and obscuring the mountain tops which are at 5,000 feet.

Sunday, July 27, 2008:
The clouds were low this morning when Daisy and I took our walk. When we came back, she had breakfast and Susie and I had our morning coffee. Susie’s back is better but she still must be careful. Susie colored in her blog, but I don’t think I did anything productive. After breakfast we took a short walk and let Daisy swim in the Hamma Hamma River.

We left the campground just before noon and headed further into the interior to see if there were any great views, but the clouds still obscured the tops of the mountains. When the asphalt pavement ran out and a sign said “Road Closed 25 Miles Ahead” we turned around and left the NF. We turned north on US101 and when we reached a Washington State Park we refilled with drinking water, which I had forgotten to do the day before. The drive on US101 along the Hood Canal was as magnificent as the day before, but the houses were fewer and more of the weekend type. We continued north on US101 and then WA20 to Port Townsend. This was the Port of Entry in the late 1800’s as it was close to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, but protected from its winds and a much easier place for the sailing ships to get to than what is now Seattle. However, when the railroad came to Seattle and the ships turned from sail to power, the town went into a decline. The area along the water is the historic commercial part, and they have done a great job of restoration and redevelopment of the old structures. Away from the water, and up the hill, is the historic residential area. Once again, many of the ld homes have been restored. We had stopped at the Visitor Center to get information on restaurants. Comparing their advice and that of AAA, we selected “Fins”, and as both strongly recommended we had clam chowder. It was the best we have ever had. It consisted on a cream sauce, potatoes and other miscellaneous vegetables topped off with more than a dozen fresh steamed clams in their shells. This could have been a full meal by itself, but we didn’t know how rich it would be and ordered a main course to follow. Time to watch out for gout! We had plans to stop at a recommended shop to have pie as desert, but we were much too full. We wandered through the shops (most of which were pretty pricey), and Susie bought a leather bag (which was not) she had been coveting. We walked back to the RV and headed to the Fort Warden State Park where we will camp tonight. Fort Warden was built in the late 1880’s, along with several other forts, to protect the entrances to Puget Sound. It has been restored and is now used as a conference center plus other state functions.
Many of the old military houses have been restored and are rented as vacation units. We have seen several 1800’s military installations over the past years, but this is certainly the largest and most impressive. In fairness, the others were built much earlier and located along routes that the settlers used coming west. I selected a campsite down on the beach on the Strait of Juan de Fuca near the Wilson Point Lighthouse. I am hoping that the light is not active. Daisy went crazy over the prospect of having a swim, but since it is salt water, she won’t have the chance. In an attempt to walk off the lunch and to exercise Daisy, we walked around all the gun emplacements in the Park. Lots of ups and downs since the gun emplacements were at the highest point in the park, about 265 feet above sea level. The walk took about 1.5 hours, and I’m not sure that Daisy was tired. Susie is almost caught up with her drawings. It has been a long process, and she sure hopes that she’ll not fall so far behind again. NOAA Weather says it is to clear tomorrow, and so we’ll go to Hurricane Ridge to get a view of Olympic NP from the top. The wind changed to the NW, and the skies began to clear. Tomorrow looks like it will be a good one. By the time we went to bed, the wind was blowing hard and the temperature was dropping. By the way, today completes 3 months on the road, and we’re not sure where all the time has gone. We have had all sorts of weather, but it never has been really hot and humid so we’re thankful for that.

Monday, July 28, 2008:
When I awoke, the outside thermometer read 54 degrees so before taking Daisy for her walk I put on a few extra clothes. When we went outside, the sun had warmed the air, and I was overdressed. We walked along the beach and saw a USN destroyer headed into Seattle, the Port Townsend ferry headed to Whidbey Island, three sailing cruising boats headed west down the Strait of San Juan and a multitude of fishermen on the beach and in small boats. I think I had heard seals in the distance, and if so they were also fishing. The fishermen call them “pirates”.

We returned to the RV, had showers and headed into town to get some breakfast treats. Unfortunately, the store we were looking for had gone out of business, but we found another named the “Courtyard Café”. It was run by a young couple who had just taken over the operation a month before. Susie had crepes ‘to die for’, and I had a skillet full of eggs, potatoes, ham and cheese. I sure hope they make a go of it for it was wonderful food and a wonderful atmosphere. We started driving towards Olympic NP, but had to stop at an art supply store so that Susie could replenish her drawing supplies. Continuing on, we went to the Post Office in Port Angeles to get a package from home and then headed into Olympic NP. When we entered the Park, we noticed some trees down, but it wasn’t until we drove around the Heart O’ The Hills Campground to select a site that we realized how severe the damage was. The campground has 5 separate sections, and one of the sections was closed off due to fallen trees. The campground section we are in is open but certainly had some damage. There are numerous trees down and signs that chainsaws were hard at work recently. We reserved a campsite and headed further into the Park to the Hurricane Ridge Visitors Center. The Hurricane Ridge Road is under repair and improvement, and signage indicated that we could have 40 minute delays. We were stopped for 10 minutes, at the most, a pleasant surprise. We hiked a bit, being careful not to stress Susie’s back, but went to Sunrise Point (peak elevation 5,462 feet) from where we could see the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Port Angeles, Vancouver Island, Victoria BC, the San Juan Islands and Mt Olympus (peak elevation 7,969 feet) plus lots of other mountains.
While we are not at the top of the world, we can certainly see a long distance in all directions, and it is wondrous. We are only a few hundred feet before the snow line on the glaciers on Mt Olympus, and there is still snow here on July 28. We decided to stay at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center until sunset to see the view and have dinner. The Ranger said we could stay here all night if we wanted; too bad we paid for a campsite. The clouds appear to be moving in, and we may not have much of a view. We had dinner and at 8:00pm decided that the sunset was not going to be worth staying for and the temperature had dropped to 54 degrees. The trip down was much faster, but the road seemed to be more of a washboard than when we came up. Must have been the speed. We entered the campground at 8:45pm and cleaned up the RV. NOAA says it’s going to rain after midnight and continue through the day tomorrow. If it does, we’ll probably sit tight.