San Diego and points south

This is a little late.... been busy at home but here's a short post.

We hit the road again for San Diego to visit Kevin and do some sight seeing. We visited friends in Ramona and spent a great afternoon with them. We also did the wild animal park.

The wild animal park is affiliated with the world famous San Diego zoo and resides on 1800 acres near Poway outside San Diego. Animals are kept in a environment as close to their native habitat as possible. Here a Giraffe roams with Antelope (can't remember the name so we'll call them Antelope)

The Elephants were the most interesting. In every zoo I have been to the Elephants just stand there and eat. Here they were playing together as a family. The smaller young Elephants were pushing each other as young children will do while mom stood by and made sure nothing got out of hand.

Look who I found at the Flamingo pond! Yup... that's the little guy and Mom. The wild animal park facility is a breeding habitat for endangered species doing leading edge work to preserve the population of the worlds wild animals.

At the Gorilla habitat we found this mural of a Gorilla with size indicated.... just had to have a picture of this.

And..... just had to have Kevin stand in front of it. We're going to give him a Gorilla name since he seems to have the right size.

Back at the trailer..... our own wild animal was resting from a hard day of resting. By the time we roamed most of the 1800 acres we felt like he looks.... kinda pooped! What a great way to spend the day.... and rest was required.

After three days of non-stop fun we headed for Pismo Beach and some quiet time. We drove up to Morro bay and spent some time on the beach and had some great clam chowder at a local spot on the beach. Another great trip in the books.... looking forward to the next one.

Grand Tetons 2

Saturday morning was clear again and we caught this view as we drove toward the park. We are looking across the basin known as Jackson Hole West toward the Tetons.

We headed to the Rockefeller Preserve.... which was purchased by Lawrence Rockefeller and donated to the park. It's the newest acquisition to the park and includes Phelps Lake shown here. We hiked to the lake (about a 1.5 mile hike one way. We were rewarded with this view.

We sat on a bench and ate lunch looking at this view. We took the hike back to the car and headed for Teton Village.

As we returned to the car we looked West and saw the clouds over the mountain.

At Teton Village we took the tram to the top of Rendezvous peak. The peak is 10500 feet and is the top of the Jackson Hole ski area. Just might have to try skiing here someday.

This morning we bid farewell to the gang and headed to Twin Falls, Idaho where we are this evening. Tomorrow it's Winnemucca, Nevada, then Reno and home by Wednesday noon if all goes well.

All in all a great trip. Too soon over. See you all as we head out again.

Grand Tetons 1

We arrived at the grand Tetons on Thursday afternoon and the next morning dawned clear and crisp. This is the view from the back window of the trailer.

We drove to the park and took a boat across Jenny lake to the West shore. From there we hiked a mile and 400 feet up to Inspiration point. The trail was more rock than dirt and the climb steep in places but well worth the effort.

One of the friends on the trip (Ken) sits at Inspiration point and attempts to get inspired. With this view of Jenny Lake it's hard to not feel the wonder of God's creation around you.

As we left the West side of the lake for the short boat trip back we looked West and saw the clouds forming over Teton peak. We headed for the RV tired but awed by the majesty of the mountains

More Yellowstone National Park

Ready for YNP round 2? Here goes.

On Wednesday we took a tour bus for a 10 hour trip to see Yellowstone falls and sights along the way. Yellowstone is a huge place of nearly 2 million acres. The majority of the park is a Caldera (center of a volcano larger than a mile across). The Yellowstone Caldera is roughly a circle which is 30 miles in diameter.

The drive took us past a wide variety of scenery in the park. Here a herd of Buffalo... really called Bison rest in a large meadow. We counted about 150 in all. There are so many in the park that they stop traffic from time to time by walking on the road. Sharleen has wanted to see Buffalo for some time and now she has had her fill.

This is typical Yellowstone. Bison with the geyser springs in the background. Pretty amazing stuff

We traveled to the lower falls on the Yellowstone river. The view was spectacular! The river is only running at about 20 percent of it's maximum. I'll bet it is really something to see at high water time.

On the way home we stopped at West Thumb geyser basin. This is ledge spring with Yellowstone lake in the background.

On Thursday we took the 100 mile drive to the Grand Tetons. More from there.

Yellowstone

Hi there from Yellowstone. Weather is fantastic and the scenery is super.

Monday we drove to Geyser basin (about 30 miles). The day was nice and we stopped several times to view the Elk. Here a Stag is standing in the middle of a meadow calling to females..... no luck with the ladies as far as we could see.

Everyone who visits Yellowstone has to have a picture in front of Old Faithful..... it's mandatory.... you can't leave the park without it.

Old Faithful erupts about every 90 minutes and the eruption lasts about two minutes. It's spectacular as 7000 gallons of hot water shoot skyward. We were closer than I expected and it was larger than I imagined. There are 150 geysers in geyser basin.... some larger than Old Faithful but none more famous.

Sharleen has spent many hours looking for a buffalo in the wild..... so...... she finally saw one. This big fellow was just along the road as we drove home. Yellowstone is truly a magical place. Steam comes from the ground everywhere and the scenery is truly amazing.

Tomorrow we take a all day tour to the grand canyon on Yellowstone. We'll let someone else do the driving and just enjoy the park.

More from down the road.

Idaho

On Thursday we headed East to Heyburn State park East of Plummer, Idaho.










Heyburn is the oldest State park in the pacific northwest so the sites are a little tight but we managed to park the rig between the trees. It's a wonderful park nestled in the woods.






















Behind the trailer was a campfire area with all the amenities. Sharleen relaxes with a book.... that's a shock..... Robin and Jerry brought dinner and we had a fire. What a nice evening!




















Friday we did a little driving and had a picnic on the banks of the St Joe river. St Maries is such a pretty place. We're lucky that Robin and Jerry live there so we have an excuse to visit.



















After a little rock hounding we headed back to town for dinner and farewell. Thanks Robin and Jerry for another great visit. Always great to see you both.







Today (Saturday) we pointed the rig East and are in Deer Lodge, Montana about 200 miles Northwest of Yellowstone. Tomorrow we drive to Yellowstone and meet up with the camping gang. More from there.

On the farm again

We stopped to see the special folks on the farm in central Washington as we did last year. We used Arnie's Acres RV Park again..... the view is great the location is super and the rate was the same as last year.... can't beat it.

This is space#1 at Arnie's Acres..... a great spot and the owners are such nice folks!

On Wednesday the ladies went shopping and Arnie and I did the important stuff..... we found a large potato farmer harvesting spuds. the machine digs them and places them in the truck for the short trip to the processing center. Digging starts in July and finishes in October.

The spuds are washed and the rocks and debris removed. They then head up the belt to a waiting semi trailer. These potatoes are destined for Frito lay and you may just eat them if you get a bag of Frito Lay chips.

Frito Lay can't handle all the potatoes that are harvested so about half are stored in a cellar....(big barn) and will be delivered after the harvest is completed. The picture shows the mound of spuds they have harvested to store. When the cellar is filled it will have about 500,000 tons of spuds! That's a lot of chips.

We needed the obligatory departure photo..... Arnie, Ginny and me..... plus Lacy the really great dog.

Thanks Arnie and Ginny for everything... We love farming up there.

Bellevue Botanical Garden

For a quieter experience we visited the Bellevue Botanical Gardens this morning. It's a really neat garden on 53 acres in Wilburton Hill Park

The view from the visitor center across the lawn is relaxing.

The flowers in the Japanese garden are really pretty.

But the waterfalls are the best.

And at the end of the park some pretty white flowers bid us farewell.

We spend the next several days here just enjoying the visit and then off to George, Washington where we'll stay at Arnie's Acres RV Park. More down the road.

Seattle area

Today is the day for posts.... quiet afternoon. We're visiting Kris and spent the day yesterday touring the Seattle downtown.

We spent some time at the Seattle insane asylum know as Pike Place Market. It's a mix of a crowded fair, block party and farmers market all in one.

The market flows inside and outside on the sidewalk. It's great fun if you like to crowd surf.

After the hustle and bustle of the market it was nice to just watch a ferry depart on Puget Sound.

We stopped for Macaroni and Cheese at Beechers cheese factory. The folks there make the cheese in vats and we sat and watched them while we had the best Mac and Cheese I have ever tasted!

Grayland Beach, Washington

Grayland Beach State Park is one of our favorites for a number of reasons....

First, the campsites are large and separated so you can sit outside and enjoy the camp in relative privacy.

Second, the beach is close and it's level so it offers a great place to walk or run. I ran the beach every morning and we walked for three miles in the afternoon. We collected some 40 sand dollar shells.... treasures to bring home.... now what do we do with them?

Then there's the Westport lighthouse.... a really neat place if you like that sort of thing.... and we do!

And last, the town of Westport.... a great working fishing village.... not a tourist trap. We walked the front street and bought Ahi Tuna from one of the boats on the dock. It's sushi mi grade and is great seared on the grill. We also ate fresh silver Salmon and oysters from the Brady oyster farm close by. Guess we over did the fresh seafood a little.... time for a steak now...... but when there we needed to take advantage of the local food.

On the Second of September we bid farewell to Grayland till next time and headed for Issaquah, Washington about 15 miles East of Seattle to visit Kris. I'll do another post before we head East again on the 8th of September.

Stubb Stewart State Park

Good morning all,

It's Friday the 4th and it's time to update the travel blog. Let's start way back in Stubb Stewart State Park 30 miles West of Portland.

Stubb Stewart is a new park... only three years old so not many trees in the campground. It's set in the rolling hills that make up the area between Portland and the coast.

No trees.... no problem.... just relax and enjoy the day!

The best part of this park is the Mountain bike and hiking trails. Here's the start of the trail leading to the top of the ridge above the campground.

The trail winds through the trees.... great to ride single track again after a few years of American river trail!

The view from the top looking west was worth the effort to get there. It's a great park if you want to hike or bike.... but if not there's not much to do.

Off to the Beach

A 50th wedding anniversary Luau

Hi there everyone,

About time I did a short update on this blog.... we've been without Internet service and television for about two weeks..... who said we go crazzzzzzyyyyyyy?

We're in the Westport, Wa library so I will make this short but will do more in the next couple of days.











On August 22 we went to a Luau at Buxton, Oregon for Bill and Geri's 50th wedding anniversary. What a party! The children put on quite a party and it was great to see old friends again. Thanks to all for the great time!

We did get to drive to Nehalem, Oregon on Monday and spend the afternoon with Bill and Geri. It was a super visit!







Just wanted to get this in.... I'll have more from Issiquah, Washington in the next several days. We head up there tomorrow morning to spend a few days with Kris.... More soon