Point Reyes National Seashore

Greetings to family and friends,

We're on the road again... not far from home this time. We're at Point Reyes national seashore just north of San Fransisco. We're camped with friends Bob and Suzanne at Olema RV park and have been hiking and sightseeing.

Point Reyes light house sits three hundred feet below the top of this rock on the pacific shore. There are 308 steps to get down the the lighthouse and of course 308 steps to get back to the top (it just seems like more).

This is Point Reyes lighthouse. It was commissioned in the late 1800's and ran on pig fat which was burned to light the lamp until 1930 when electricity was installed. Today the light house is still in use but is automated and runs unattended.

The lighthouse sits some 360 feet above the ocean and as you can see is built on the rock that juts toward the water.

It was 20 miles from our camp to the lighthouse... the drive took the better part of a hour and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees.

Today (Wednesday) we went Geo caching. Our quests took us to this old bridge, then off on a 4 mile hike to a large tree on top of a hill. Then, to a cemetery near Olema and finally to a trail in the national seashore. All in all a great day with lots of scenery, good weather and good friends to share it.

Home tomorrow.... wish we had another week to spend here. We just have to come back

Bandon, Charleston and heading home

Well gang, We're on the way home from Bandon by the sea. Sorta sad to be heading home but back to the real world as they say.

We spent the last week in Bandon, Oregon at Bullards Beach State Park. It's a wonderful park with lots of things to do in the area.

The Coquille River Lighthouse sits at the entrance to the Bandon harbor and the mouth of the Coquille River. It's part of the state park now and has been restored to perfect condition. It's three miles from the campground and I ran to the lighthouse and back every morning. It's kinda of a "head thing" to run on the beach and arrive at this lighthouse. There are three geocaches (for those of you who know about that stuff) within a half mile of the lighthouse and we found them all.

We visited a wild animal park on Friday and got up close and personal with the cats. Here Kitty Kitty Kitty! What about that, Ella

But...... the best part was getting to play with a

9 week old lioness cub. Look closely and you will see her sitting between us. She was really a sweet cub and at 20 pounds she was only 4 pounds heavier than our kitty, Patches.

Did I fail to mention we have a new "grandbaby"? Here's Sharleen holding the "little darlin". I'm sure you can tell she takes after her grandmother.

On Saturday we drove up to Charleston which is near Coos Bay to attend the seafood festival and visit some of the other state parks in the area.We found a botanical garden with lots of flowers. I'm told we will visit again in the spring for the rhodendon bloom. Oh well, just another trip I guess.

One last look at the magnificent Oregon coast and back to camp to spend Sunday getting ready to head home. The trip has been a great one filled with a variety of fun things from great scenery to visits with loved ones and a number of special experiences. This is the last post for this trip. I don't know if I'll do one for the next trip or not... depends if you all like the blog. Home tomorrow.

Woodburn, Oregon

Greetings from Woodburn, Oregon. It's Sunday morning and I have a little time so thought I'd update you on our happenings.

We drove down to Woodburn on Friday.... a 200 hundred mile trip. Woodburn is about 30 miles south of Portland on I-5. Sharleen's sisters and families live here so we get to spend the weekend with some really great folks.

Yesterday, while the girls went shopping(surprise!) the guys headed to the beach with the quads for a little "playing in the big sandbox" time. We drove about two hours from Woodburn to Sand lake. There is a recreation area at Sand Lake that is about 1500 acres of sand dunes, wooded trails and beach that is open to off road vehicles of all shapes and sizes. All you need is a permit, a flag for the vehicle and the nerve to "hit the sand".

We pulled out on the beach, got stuck, offloaded the quads, parked the trailer and we were off.

We rode the beach for a while just so I could get the feel of the quad and then we "headed for the dunes". The guys took it easy on me and we had fun going up and down the sand.

Tony showed me how to climb a dune in reverse..... show off!! I think he just wanted to spray some sand.

We rode for about 4 hours resting when the view was great and watching the riders do crazy things with their bikes. It was a special day for me since I got to do something I never would have done on my own and doing it with some great guys made it all the better. Many thanks to Jerry, Tony and Ray for letting me "tag along" on the trip to the dunes.

Tomorrow we head for Bandon, Oregon and Bullards Beach state park. It's the final week of our month roaming the Pacific Northwest. There's no WiFi at the state park so this will be my last post till we get home on August 20.

Grayland Beach

Greetings again... we're back to civilization.... Parked near the outlet mall in Woodburn, Oregon.

I have to admit I'm thrilled to be this close to the mall. Can't wait to go over and start the shopping!

We spent the last three days in Grayland, Washington at one of the many the state parks there.

The little fishing village of Westport is about 5 miles from Greyland and as a working harbor where you can buy fresh(as in caught that day)fish,crabs and shellfish. We walked the marina area and had lunch at a small cafe.

We visited the maritime museum on the waterfront. It's housed in a former Coast Guard facility and contains history some of the area focusing on the fishing and whaling that went on in the last

century.

The highlight of our visit to Westport was the Gray's Harbor light house. It's the tallest lighthouse in Washington and is still in use today. The light and rotating lens have been replaced with modern technology but it still is a active part of ship navigation. We had a personalized tour with a docent that cares for the lighthouse. The three of us went to the top (only 135 stairs) and looked at the lens and rotating mechanism that was used over the last 100 years.

We found a Oyster farm and bought a dozen medium sized oysters for dinner on Wednesday. We have never had better oysters so.... back to the oyster farm for another dozen for dinner on Thursday. What a treat! Fresh Oysters on the BBQ is a gourmet delight. The weather was cloudy which is typical for the beach in summer. Overcast but pleasant.

We will return to Grayland to spend more time there. I even saw a bald eagle sitting on a tree stump that had washed ashore. I was out running on the beach early Friday morning and got within about 15 feet of the eagle. It just sat there and looked at me as I ran by. What a treat! Running on the beach in the morning is one of my "things" and it's simply great in the morning. There's no one around and I can get lost in my thoughts.

Well, so much for Grayland. We're here in Woodburn for the weekend and then off to Bullards Beach in Bandon, Oregon for the last week of our trip. I assume we will not have WiFi there so this may be the last post for about ten days.

Point Defiance

We spent the last two days touring the Gig Harbor/ Tacoma area and yesterday we went to Pt Defiance park. It's a large park on the North side of Tacoma with a Zoo, Aquarium and lovely gardens. Kris joined us for the weekend with her camera and she took lots of photos. The flowers were beautiful and the park was great.

The flowers brought beautiful colors to the park

A five mile drive within the park provided spectacular views of lower Puget Sound and Vashon Island

One last stop at Gig Harbor before we went back to the RV Park and put our feet up.

This morning Mt. Rainier showed its majestic form east of Gig Harbor. If you look closely you can see it's snow covered peak rising above the hills in the middle of the picture.

Tomorrow it's off to Grayland state beach on the Washington coast.

Gig Harbor

We drove from George, Washington to Gig Harbor just 10 miles north of Tacoma on Thursday afternoon. The 180 mile trip was uneventful and we arrived to find a quaint little fishing village with lots of boats and shops for the visiting folks. The town is a eclectic collection of local home grown folks and transplants from across the country. Kristie joined us with two friends for dinner Friday evening and she is camping with us for the weekend. It's only a hour from her house to here so it's sort of "backyard" camping for her.

The view from the hill just west of the harbor is truly spectacular. We walked the town and had lunch at a casual restaurant.

While walking in a residential area I came across a doe and two fawns helping themselves to apples from someones tree. It's great to see nature live in close proximity to people. I suspect that the apple tree owners don't share my view.

Farming in central Washington

Wednesday morning found us on my cousins' farm near George, Washington..... yup that's right George. It's flat farm country and farming is done on a scale much larger than I'm used to in Minnesota.We parked the trailer behind the house at "Arnie's Acres" RV park.

I rode with Cousin Steve as he baled straw. The current technology is just amazing. The baler and tractor both have computers and the tractor also has a GPS. The baler knows ans displays a variety of data to the operator and alerts him to any anomaly.

We drove over to a winery/ inn on the cliff overlooking the Columbia River Gorge. You can taste local wine, eat in the grill or stay the night in the cottages. What a pretty sight just standing on the deck and looking across the river.

There was the mandatory photo as we departed this morning. We said goodbye and promised to see the cousins soon. Thanks to Arnie and Ginny for all they did for us. Off to Gig Harbor just north of Tacoma

Monday in Spokane

It's Monday and that finds us in Spokane.
We started the day by visiting the Cemetery where Sharleen's grand parents are buried. It turned out to be a disappointment since, as can be seen in the picture, the cemetery is in a sad state of disrepair and we couldn't find the grave markers for either of them. It would be a pretty place if not for the weeds and lack of lawn and flowers.

After leaving the Cemetery we drove to downtown Spokane and had a delightful time walking the river front. The Spokane river runs through downtown Spokane and includes a falls with a power generating plant. The picture at the left was taken a short walk from Nordstroms' department store!

The River front park meanders along the Spokane river and provides a beautiful and tranquil area for those folks working, living or just visiting downtown. It was truly quiet there on a Monday morning in July.

While walking in the park we came across the biggest Radio Flyer wagon I have ever seen. Look closely and you can see the children standing beside the wheel. The Tongue is a slide and the stairs are at the back. I really wanted to go up and give it a try but my better half told me to act my age and not embarrass her for once.

What do you think Ella? Pretty cool, huh?

Off to George, Washington tomorrow morning to visit a cousin and her family. More of this later in the week.

St Maries, Idaho

We traveled to Heyburn State Park about 40 miles south of Coeur d' Alene Idaho on Thursday. The park is one of the oldest parks in the Pacific Northwest at 100 years old. It's a awesome place with pine covered mountians and lakes. The trailer just fit in the camp space and we could watch the deer birds and squirrels from the back window of the trailer.

The park consists of about 6000 acres on the shores of Lake Chatcolet. Fishing was good and we caught a "mess" of Crappie from the shore.

The View from the mountian looking back at Lake Chatcolet is truly awesome !

The view of the lake just seemed to get better around each turn.

The best part of visiting the area was seeing Sharleen's Niece Robin, Great Niece Ananda and Robins' boyfriend Jerry.

Robin and Jerry took us to the cabin they are building on the top of a mountian. It's truly a "labor of love" and working in such a pretty place has got to be fun. I wouldn't get much work done because I would be constantly stopping to admire the view.

I's now Sunday afternoon and we are in Spokane at the KOA. Too bad we had to leave Heyburn but we will be back to see the loved ones and the awesome scenery.

Heading north on Wednesday

We departed Cresent Oregon today and headed for Washington. Driving up the central Oregon high desert we found spectacular views of the volcanic mountians that make up part of the Pacific ring of fire. Mounts Bachelor, the three sisters, Hood and Adams showed their snow covered peaks for most of 4 hours.

We stopped to look at the Crooked River Gourge and found a spectacular vista. The gourge is 300 feet deep with the Crooked River at the bottom. Not the Grand Canyon but a close second.

In the distance we saw the snow covered peaks of Mt Bachelor and the Three Sisters.

Tomorrow we head for the Idaho backcountry and will spend three nights at Heyburn State Park near Plummer, Idaho

Back on the web Sunday night at Spokane.

Tuesday at Crater Lake

It's Tuesday and today we got reacquainted with a old friend....Crater Lake

We first visited Crater Lake in 1971 shortly after we were married. We didn't spend much time that trip but vowed to return, So.... today we kept that promise.

Crater Lake was formed nearly 7000 years ago when Mt Mazama erupted and collapsed forming a bowl. Crater Lake is 6 miles across, nearly 2000 feet deep at it's deepest point and covers 27 square miles. It's the 7th deepest fresh water lake in the world. The rim of the crater is about 1000 feet above the lake and provides spectacular views of the lake. The lake has no inlet or outlet so the lake is replenished from the melting snow each spring. The rim drive is breathtaking with every turn better than the last. 33 miles of spectacular scenery along the rim drive provide the visitor with ever changing views of the lake.

The phantom Ship is a rock formation that sits in the lake and was formed when a smaller volcano erupted after the crater was formed. I climbed down a rocky trail to get this picture under some tree branches. Best not to look down from this point.

Crater Lake has about 500 inches of snow a year...... that's right.... over 40 feet. So here it is late July and snow is still around. Lots to slide in, throw snowballs with and just keep cool. Remember... don't eat yellow snow!

This last picture is for my girl Ella. Chipmunks are all around and come to beg for food. Pretty cool huh, Ella?

That's the day .... on the road to Pasco Washington tomorrow morning,

On the road again.

Since this is my first attempt at this (after being beaten by my lovely cousin) I really don't expect much.
We're on the road again ...this time to Oregon, Washington and Idaho. I'm going to try to post a picture or two along the way just for fun.
We traveled to Redding, Ca yesterday and this afternoon we're in Cresent, Oregon. We stopped for a little lunch at a roadside rest and took a picture of our "home on wheels".
Tomorrow we're off to Crater Lake national park ....haven't been there in 30 years.
More tomorrow if I'm not too tired.