Portland x2

DH and I took another great trip down to Portland Oregon and while this was our second trip down there this year, it won't be our last. Last time we went, we went to the Japanese Garden and the Rose Garden. This time we explored the downtown area and had a great time, even in the rain. Our first stop was the Chinese Garden and we joined a tour already in progess. I really, really recommend going with a tour as the docent pointed out things that I would never have seen and even if I had seen them, I wouldn't have understood what they meant. For instance, (and I hope I can convey the beauty of this) the roof tiles came down to little V points and they were spaced about 4 inches a part so it looked as if you were looking thru a curtain of tiny jewels as the rain dripped off of them.
After the tour, we went into the tea house and each chose a tea. Since my new favorite is white tea, I tried one called jing (something). It was delicious.
Next stop was the Portland Outdoor Market. Reminded me of the 60ies a bit as there were stores that sold "hemp" items, and lots of crafts and food. Musicians were on every corner and there was just a party like atmosphere.
Can't go to Chinatown without having a Chinese meal, so back we went to House of Louie and enjoyed some pretty good food. They have a dim sum menu and it looked great and smelled better.
We were between storms and really lucked out when it came to the weather as we only had a few sprinkles. We stayed overnight and Sunday morning we had a huge breakfast with George and then went to the Asian Market to shop. The prices are reasonable but we found out they have a bigger store in the Seattle area so we don't need to travel down that far just to shop.
All and all it was a great weekend and as always we enjoyed Portand.

Last Day - KOA

Friday we were back in civilization again and stopped at the Ellensburg KOA. It was a nice park and Roy made friends with the owners, but I was a little unhappy with the place. We were there early enough, like noon, but they said they had no sites with either cable or sewer. The site they gave us was so far from WiFi that we barely could use it either. Yet when we woke up the next morning, the place was still about half full and lots of room. I think the reason was because I gave the lady a check. She made a comment that she didn't like bounced checks. If she had asked, I would have given her the debit card or even cash, but she just made snide remarks instead and gave us the worst site in the park.Don't think we'll be back soon, although the Owner did offer Roy a job next summer.

Thursday, what a nightmare

Another beautiful day in Washington and we left Kennewick before noon and drove to Walla Walla, WA and then on to Lewis and Clark State Park. The park was closed, probably because there was a fire in the area so we continued on to Palouse Falls State Park.
The road from Hwy 12 to the park is not a keeper. First it was very narrow and about 10 miles in we came to a bridge that was NOT my cup of tea. It was over the Snake River, about 1000 foot over and it was as narrow as the road with tiny 3 foot guard rails. I would have closed my eyes if I haven't been driving and about a 3rd of the way over this monster, what do I meet but a huge truck. He stops and I had inches on my side and maybe a foot on the other side. I was actually sick to my stomach by the time I go off that bridge and No, I am not ever going that way again.
Palouse Falls State Park was mostly tent sites, but we parked in the lot and for the first time we "dry camped". I was still a little ill thinking about that bridge, so I stayed in the RV while Roy went and took pictures. You see, there is a height issue here also. We were alone in the park, and felt like we were alone in the world. There was nothing in the area and no other campers. At just about dark two other Campers came in but they decided they didn't like it and took off. (I hope they aren't afraid of heights and heading south) When we woke in the morning there was another van camped next to us, but at dawn they left and we followed shortly. We got off that narrow road as soon as possible and on to one that was straight and wider. 

Wednesday in Kennewick

Last of Hwy 14 and I am just as glad to be off of it. While I loved the camping, I am afraid of heights and this road seemed to be teetoring on the top of the world. This is a picture that Roy took from a pull-out, which I absolutely refused to look at. Thats a town way down there.
Our next stop was Kennewick and the Tri-Cities RV Park. We needed a day in town to restock and do some shopping and we even found a decent Mexican Restaurant near the park and treated ourselves to dinner. Roy ordered Tortilla Soup and the bowl was hugh. I had carne asada and it was very good.
The park is very nice with all the amenities, cable TV, WiFi, hot showers, and super friendly staff. We already have reservations to return in June and this time, we are going to spend a whole week there. Within walking distance is a Mall, Home Depot and of course, the Mexican Restaurant. 

Crow Butte Campground

My new favorite campground is Crow Butte. Crow Butte was a state park but has been transfered to private hands and its a great, uncrowded place to camp. The spaces are wide and trees are plentiful and the wildlife is abundant due to its proximaty to the Umatilla Wildlife Refuge. There are over 50 spaces and there were only 4 campers so we had lots of room.

Once we parked we decided to spend two nights and we'er glad that we did. On Tuesday the wind picked up and nearly gale force for most of the day. Driving in it would have been scary.

There are a couple of trails, and we took one labelled Sand Beach. About 2/3s of the way down to the beach we saw a huge deer which I called an Elk, but Roy said was a mule deer. What ever it was, Roy took off over the ridge to see if he could get a picture and I continued down to the dunes and eventually back to the camp. Roy didn't see the deer again, but he did see the other side of the mountain.

That evening we went out to see if we could see any deer and Roy got a couple good pictures of some White Tail, like the one above. They like to come into the park at dusk.

Like Columbia Hills, we did hear trains and road traffic, but geese were also plentiful and their honks were much easier on the ears.

I give Crow Butte a 10 plus and will go back. It is just off Hwy 14 west of Paterson and east of The Dalles bridge. Its a keeper.

Columbia Hills/Horsethief Lake State Park

Thats our campground in the background and a fake owl in the tree. I would rate this park about a 6 as the utility sites (only 8 of them) were pretty much one on top of the other. Would I come back, sure. Its a nice park and open til the end of October.

23 Oct 06

Spent a chilly night, mostly because of Roys frugal attitude toward the propane!!! Woke to a beautiful morning with plans to hike to the petroglyphs.

Later: Well while the petroglyphs were awesome we were unable to hike to "She Who Watches", the most famous one, as they closed the hike due to vandalism. Isn't that a shame. We did get to see some that they had saved from the when they built the dam and would have been underwater. They lined the trail with them and the "First People" as they are called, now use the area as a religious meeting area. 

22 October Columbia Hills State Park/Horsethief Lake

Slow to get started and a long drive to the Columbia Gorge and our plans to camp at Beacon Rock fell thru because the campground is closed for the winter, so we continued the drive to Columbia Hills State Park.
On a scale of 1-10, I think we would give this park a 5 or 6. The utility sites, all 8 of them and in a tight little bunch at the entrance to the park, the rest is day use only, but the hikes are interesting and we took lots of pictures.
Once parked and settled in, we walked down to the waters edge and laughted at the "no swimming" sign. Didn't have to tell us more than once, the water looked cold and murky. 

Nisqually NWR

The Delta has many ecosystems and this is one of my favorite places to sit and catch my breath. I am sitting in a bird blind peeking at a duck who, of course you can't see. This date was one of the best for siting birds, besides the duck, I saw herons and some little shore bird pecking in the mud. 

Its been awhile

This tree is actually called "Old Grandpa" by the locals. You go for a hike and no telling what you find to take a picture of. This is September at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge near Olympia, WA 

Destination Brewster, WA

My hubby is a Mason and he was invited to a function in Brewster, Wa and the first thing I did was to run to a map and try to find "Brewster".
Brewster is mid-northern section of the state, above Wenatchee, along the Columbia River. In fact, it started as a ferry landing and was named Virginia City, although the name and purpose were both short-lived. (They actually had to move the whole town, lock-stock and hotel to a better deep-water dock a few years after the first one was developed)
Not a big town by any standards, it didn't take me long to drive through it, and the only great thing I found was a delicious Mexican Bakery that had more selection of pan dulce than I have ever seen. The smells coming out of the building made my mouth squirt and I was sorry my diet doesn't allow breads.
After Brewster the road continued north, now following the Okanagan River and I saw a sigh for the Fort Okanagan Interpretive Center and lucked out to find they were having a talk about the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It was presented by a Army Corp of Engineer lady who really new her stuff. I had to laugh, there was another gentleman sitting next to me and when I arrived he asked if I were a Clarky. He was certainly one and Ill bet he knew more about the Expetion than she did. (I have a book on Lewis and Clark at home and I'm going to read it again as the talk was very interesting)
(The photo above is from the site of the Interpretive Center. It is in the high-desert and as you see very deserty in the foreground and very green along the river. On the right side, the green are apple trees and if I were a betting person, I would thing there are at least a billion apple trees in this area. One man told me that lots of farmers are now switching to grapes as wine is better cash crop)
I did stop at one of the many fruit stands. The prices were excellent and I bought some beautiful blueberries that were the size of nickles and sweet as sugar.
The next town up the road was Malott, a scenic little town that was flooded by the Okanogan in 1938 when a dam broke, so most of the buildings are from that time or later.
Last stop was to the city of Okanogan. I wish I had taken some pictures because the Methodist Church faced with river cobbles and the courthouse, built in semi-Spanish style architecture were awesome. Guess we just need to go back some day.
It was a long ride home because we just didn't want to deal with the traffic or retrace our steps. so we headed to Ellensburg and Yakima and then took White Pass over the mountains. The last time I was on this section was with Dea and family when the boys were young. I didn't remember how beautiful the drive was. 

Portland

We don't seem to have time to lake long trips, but we had time to head south and visit Portland, Oregon and friends in the area. What a hoot.
While I really enjoy rural America, city living does have its merits - like access to some amazing restaurants, art and parks and during our short stay in Portland, we managed to get in a bit of all of it, plus shopping.
We met our friends in a suburb of Portland called Beaverton and parked the car, opting instead to use the amazing Portland transit system where we bought a $4.oo all day ticket and with that took trains, trolleys and buses.
Our first stop was to Goose Hollow where we found the most amazing restaurant for lunch. I had a ruben, drenched in melted cheese, corned beef, sauerkraut and since I am doing Atkins, I didn't even miss the bread.
We walked through downtown, window shopping, art galleries, brousing and sightseeing. Found these little bears playing in a troth, which was one of many artforms in the city.
Our next stop was to Washington Park. The docent told us it was the biggest park in the US, but unfortunately there was a news article in the Portland paper a week later that ranked Portlands green space and only #14 th in the nation. It is large and you could spend days there, checking out the zoo, the museum, the hiking trails, etc. but we opted for the two very famous gardens, the Japanese garden and the Rose Garden. The Japanese garden made us homesick for Japan as it was 'right on' correct. The Rose Garden was a mixture of beautiful sights and smells.

There is much to see and do in Portland and we just scratched the surface. We will be back. 

Beyond the Dunes

The dunes quickly transitioned into a few blades of grass and some weather-worn logs. 

Marshland

This little creek bubbled right thru the park.

DH and I decided that we would love to become Campground hosts so we talked to the couple who were hosting the park at that time. They were doing their first hosting job and had only been doing it for a week so they didn't know if they could recommend it or not. Its only a month assignment so we decided to send for an application. 

Ocean City Park Pine.

The pines were in bloom at the park and gave the air a sweet smell 

9 June Ocean City State Park

The walk happened because I had some ground beef that needed to be cooked and while hamburgers sounded okay, I really wanted to do something else. My meager pantry didn’t hold a lot of promise but knew town was only just down the road and walking along the beach would be fun.
Ocean City State Park is nestled in the tree-line above the beach, but to get there you walk through three different ecosystems, the trees, the marsh, the dunes and then the beach. (I guess that’s 4!) The park is very nice, the spaces are wide apart and off set so you are not looking into your neighbors windows, or smelling his/her dinner. You wake to the sounds of birds and notice that any crumbs left from the night before no longer exist and wonder who dined after you.
From the park, the marsh is really a surprise. While I didn’t see them, I could hear ducks and marsh-birds and the sound of running water. Lilies bloom along a little creek, and spring blooms, clover, lupine, and sweet pea lined the sandy trail.
And then just as suddenly, your in the sand dunes, and your feet are slipping in the soft sand, and the wind blown erosion makes beautiful ripples, and the wild flowers have disappeared and in their place are dune grasses that also bend with the wind. While it was beautiful, it was also hard to walk in, so I headed for the waters edge where the sand here can support cars which are allowed on the beach, one of the few in the US.

While town didn’t look that far away, it was and the longer I walked it kept staying in the distance like a mirage, never getting any closer but not looking far away. I found three in- tack sand dollars which I placed on an old log to retrieve when I returned and kept trekking forward hoping that my feet wouldn’t give out before I got there. Signs of “town” did get closer. A herd of rental horses came into view. Tourists from the hotels began to come out and play in the surf, the blank sand now was full of last nights footprints and finally town emerged with its little tourist trap businesses, moped rentals and fast food joints that hawked fish and chips and oyster stew.

IGA was the closest market in town and I was amazed at the assortment of cheese and salads, sausage and well, lots of beach toys. I ended up with a bag full of some fresh veggies, nuts and no cheese. I also bought a book that listed the wild flower of the Pacific Northwest sea coast. Now I could name my new friends.

Walking back was beginning to get painful, but I had no choice and kept trying to focus on which log I left the sand dollars LOL, it took awhile as I checked about 2 dozen before I found the one and retrieved my booty and sat for awhile. Some gulls joined me, hoping I would feed them. They were mostly young ones, with brown coats, the adults seemed to hang back which is probably why they lived to be adults. One old crow (raven) was the bravest of the lot and got right up to the edge of my foot. By the time I returned to the motor home cooking was the last thing on my mind, I just wanted to sit and read. (I did end up cooking dinner and Roy came home and joined me and then returned to his doings stuff.

8 June 06 Ocean Shores, WA

This is going to be a short trip, as the drive to Ocean Shores is less than 100 miles, even taking the long way around to avoid the Interstates.

Roy is spending the weekend at some sort of Masonic function so that means Ill have most of the time alone to enjoy the beach flora and fauna. His meeting is at the Ocean Shores Convention Center and what do you know, the hotels have WIFI and I am hooked up to the internet. (Battery won’t last long though, so I won’t have time to surf the net.

The weather seems do’able. Cloudy but promising sun for later today.

Sunday, headed home.

One last look at LaPush and more whales greeted us this morning. This is a totum outside the LaPush Restaurant. Our local friend told us that a group from California bought the restuarant last winter. I wish them well.

Our trip home was beautiful, and we really took the long way home. We kept south on Hwy 101 until we got to the town of Raymond and then turned east on Hwy 6. Raymond was deserted and then suddenly we came to the town park and it looked like the whole community was there in mass. Isn't that cool.
We drove thru one farming community after another and I would have pulled over to take pictures but the road was narrow and no place for poor Casita to park. She did get a lot of bugs in her teeth, we we got home we were amazed at how many bugs had ended their short lives on our grill.

We are really ancious to get on the road again. Gas is nearly $3.00 a gallon and I am boycotting Exxon, who is taking a lot of flax right now for giving their retired CEO 400 million dollars, but I learned on the news today that Exxon is the one comp
any that is really looking and exploring for more gas/oil reserves so maybe I will boycott Chevron instead. Had to laugh, there is a local Mom and Pop gas station that sells Chevron flying a jolly roger flag over their business. What does that tell you.
I don't think we will be going anywhere in May as I am going to help out at the Red Cross at Madigan, Sumo is on and have a few medical appointments. In June we are going back to the coast, but this time, we are going to Ocean Shores area. Maybe after that, we can take off again

Aka'lat Island, La Push, WA

Today it is know as James Island, but since ancient times it was known as Aka'Lat, (Top of the Rock) in the language of the Quileute people. It was a burial gound for chiefs, a fortress in times of defence and considered a resting place for the ancestors.
The waters just to the left of the Island are were the whales feed and the town of La Push is just to the right.
We stayed at Lonesome Creek RV park and its rated right at the top of our list of best spots to RV. 

Derelict Boat, La Push Harbor, WA

We woke up on Saturday morning to a glorious day, the wind had died out, the clouds had all disappeared and we were left with only sparkling sun and surf. Quickly we made a pot of coffee and took our cups out to the beach.
OMG, the first thing we noticed was that it was full of surfers, and they were all camped at the other end of the beach, so that is what the folks meant by quiet. But what really excited us, was there were whales about a 100 yards out, feeding, playing, blowing.. and when I looked at my guide book it said that this was an area where folks came to whale watch. Here we thought we would see nothing worth writing about, and we find whales. We counted about 3 of them, but water spouts were everywhere so there may have been more.
After breakfast, we walked along the beach to the town of La Push, and came first to the harbor where we found this delelict boat. There was just something beautiful and sad about her and Roy dreamed of restoration. The town itself was pretty small, maybe 100 or so homes, but it does have a Coast Guard Station and restaurant and a small school.
As we walked around I just happened to notice an eagle sitting in the top of an old pine tree. We stopped to take some pictures and met a local gentleman who told us the eagle had a nest in the tree but the winter storms had knocked it out.
He also told us about the Fisherman's Memorial, a Coast Guard boat went out to rescue a sailboat and a huge wave picked it up and tossed it on the rocks of James Island, killing all on board. The sailboat was also lost. He told us about 80 MPH winds and how the surf has killer logs that folks have to be so careful of. We weren't surprized, there are tons of logs littering the beach.

Another cool thing is we have now visited our second Indian Nation. This area is mostly Quileute country.
We continued to walk around, enjoying the sun, the surf and more whales. As it turned out Saturday was the warmest day of the year, Sunday would be even more beautiful.

La Push, Washington

Fate sometimes lends a little twist to our adventures. We departed Neah Bay on a bright sunny morning, sunny but windy. The drive out was more spectacular than the one in with glimpes of great beaches and views of Canada and the Straits of Juan De Fuca. Our plan was to drive to Forks and spend the night, but fortunately, as it turned out, the park was closed for the winter. Flipping a coin, we decided to try La Push, Washington as we knew it had two RV parks and one was on the ocean.
The RV park was nice, a little pricey, but it had electricity and water and thats all we needed. They suggest that we take Space 1 since it would be quiet? I wasn't sure what noise was going to bother us, but we took Space 1 and set up.
We were a little disappointed. The beach was mostly black rocks, and since the wind was really rippin' by this time, we didn't spend a lot of time out doors.The only birds we saw were crows and gulls and while I have nothing against either crows or gulls, I didn't think I was going to have a lot to write about. Rocky beach, no wildlife!!
Played a couple games of backgammon with Roy, who decided that I was making up the rules as I went along since I was winning, but then he gammoned me, and changed his mind. Went to bed listening to the wind rock the RV.

Neah Bay

Neah Bay http://www.northolympic.com/makah/##b
Woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of rain on the rig and in the morning, we were sitting in puddles. We hoped it would clears, but neither the weatherman nor the sky look very promising. Undaunted, we unhooked the rig and followed the signs out of town to ShiShi. I had wanted to go to Cape Flattery but I read that the trail was steep and RVs were not recommended. So we headed to ShiShi, another beach and another trail. It started out easy enough, we walked on a boardwalk and bridges over the little creeks, but the further we went, the more muddy the route became, and we had to start climbing over trees that blew down in recent winter storms. Roy would stop often to cut little trenches to drain off some of the water, but I walked on. By this time, the mud was getting ankle deep and I decided, I just didn’t think that I needed to see the beach that much. I turned around knowing Roy was behind me.

Well, he wasn’t. He had climbed up above to miss the mud and we passed each other. Suddenly, I know something is very wrong, he was not behind me. I called. Nothing, I yelled. Nothing. I knew that I should turn around, but I just couldn’t do any more mud. Roy would have to fend for himself. I figured he either fell off a cliff, and if that was the case, I couldn’t help him anyway, cause I never saw a cliff, or we had passed and he would figure out I wasn’t there. Another hiker passed me and I told him I was returning to the car and if he saw my husband to please tell him. I went back to the rig and decided that if he didn’t come back in an hour I would call 911. He retuned just about an hour later, mad and wet.

I don’t think we will be doing much more hiking at least not in the rain.

19 Apr Heading to Neah Bay

While the forecast was for rain, when we woke, the skies were gray but the tops of the Olympics were clear, a good sign. It really wouldn’t have mattered, if you let the rain stop you in Washington, you would never get anywhere. After a leisurely breakfast, we pulled out from our now, new favorite RV park, Rainbows End RV in Sequim. If you want a place that has a tad bit more room than a normal parking lot RV park, and some mighty friendly staff, this is the place. I highly recommend it. The only one complaint that I might have is that they did ask the age of our rig and a gentleman who lives there on a monthly basis said they didn’t allow older rigs….but the neighboring rig was a beautiful retro (probably mid 70ies) Silver Streak 5th Wheel that was very cool looking. Wish we had taken a picture of it as it had so much character.

The trip to Neah Bay was more exciting for DH who was sitting on the passenger side looking over the high cliffs, praying that I would stay off the edge. Hwy 112 is narrow and there were places that looked and felt torn up and signs warning of slides and washouts, (didn’t help Roy’s attitude at all). We averaged about 30 MPH as we switch-backed around one hairpin curve after another. Lucky the traffic was light and there were places to pull over for folks to pass. I will be darned if I know how those big rigs negotiate those curves…Wow

We arrived about noon and found our destination; The Cove Motel and RV Park. There were a number of places listed on the internet and the Cove was the third place I called and the first to answered the phone. Turned out to be the best of the bunch, the park looked just like a park and it was nearly empty, another RV and some tenter;s who were packing up to go were our only neighbors.

Neah Bay is on the Makah Reservation and we paid a $10 annual fee to be there. That was fine, we didn’t mind as long as the money went to help this sad little town. The Makah’s land takes up most of the corner of the Olympic Peninsula, but it is about a 1/10 of what once was. Smallpox nearly wiped the tribe out and they got the short end of the treaty ‘stick’ also, both thanks to the white man’s westward march.

The rain was just beginning, so we downed our raincoats and walk the half mile to the Makah Museum. What a great museum, it had artifacts from two archeological sites, a 3000 year old village they found near Clallam Bay, (east of Neah Bay) and Ozette, another village found in 1977. It had been built against a cliff on the beach and a wall of mud triggered by an ancient earthquake, destroying it. A great storm uncovered it and archeologists have been there ever since. Those artifacts are now at the Makah Museum and also a replica of the longhouses they built and lived in. It’s a great museum and one which I would highly recommend if you brave the road that is.


Tomorrow, we explore more of Neah Bay.

Dungeness Spit

Had a great trip to the Dungeness Spit, a 5 mile long 'spit' of land that protrudes into the Straits of Juan De Fuca. At the end of the 5 miles is a lighthouse, but we didn't venture that far out, actually we didn't venture out at all since we only had a hour to explore.
Dungeness is off Kitchen-Dick road which is off Hwy 101. Roy kept calling it Chicken Dick road, but its not, its Kitchen Dick and don't you forget that.
Remember the woodpecker at our last stop, rat-ta-tat-tating, well this time far in the distance we heard some geese honking and the sound got closer and closer until finally we saw them coming in right over our heads. It was a pair, and they honked until they finally landed about 100 yards from us.
My birding friends probably expect some name for these geese, but all I can tell them is they were dark in color. I wouldn't call them Canadian, but then what do I know. They honked, they were geese and thats all I know. There are tons of birds in the area, and we saw a sign about Black Brants which are numerous in the area. Brants belong to the goose family I think, so maybe that is what I saw. On the drive in, I noticed there were ducks in the pond, again, what kinda duck, Im clueless.
Walking thru the woods was nice also. The berrys are all in flower, and the new ferns are starting to curl up into new leaves and there are lots of windfalls from our long winter. A little chipmuck came and said hello and a deer stood about 10 yards from us, looked at us and chose to ignore us. They can take horses down to the spit so we met a couple of riders coming up. They stopped to chat a minute. I wish they had offered me a lift up the steep hill. LOL

FINALLY got to stop at the Museum in Sequim and it was worth the wait. In 1977 a farmer was digging a pond and found a bone, which was so large, he knew that it had to be something bigger than todays animals. It turned out to be a Mastadon and that is the prime exhibit at the museum. They found the tusks, a piece of jawbone with tooth which identified it and they also found a rib bone that had a rock point in it from some ancient mans spear. Very cool.

Tomorrow we head west.

Had a King Dome put on Casita

So we could get satellite TV and of course, we are having trouble connecting with the Internet. We drive the 150 miles to Eric's RV because the guys there are the best. John is honest and helpful, Buster is the best, even if he acts a tad grumpy and Spud has become a blessing. If you ever need RV help, try Erics. You won't be sorry.
And while your having your rig worked on, go next door to the Mexican Restaurant for lunch. Bests salas that I have tasted in a long time. Yum
Tonight we are staying at a nice RV Park called Rainbow's End RV Park. It is very special, well landscaped, with helpful and friendly staff. Its not like the normal parking lot that I so object to.
Day 3, back to Erics to see if we can get this thing fixed.....

Back to Sequim

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1841989

We paid $138.00 for a tank of gas yesterday and now I know why. You can believe that! We won't be buying Exxon gas. What in the heck is Mr Raymond going to do with $400. million dollars, the man is old as snot and couldn't spend it all even if he hired me to help him. Lets boycott Exxon cause its such a slap in the face to hear where our money is going. Besides getting 400 million, he is also going to get a million or so a year for consulting fees. Poor guy. I'll be he's one of George's buddies.
So back to our little trip. We decided that we would bypass the interstates and it was fun to go through a bunch of little towns, Raymond, Elma, McCleary and ended up staying at Sequim Bay State Park. What a pretty park, tall trees, surrounded by forest. We heard, but didn't see, a woodpecker rat-ta-tat-tating high in one of the trees, but there were really few birds to enjoy on the bay.
We found Trillium growing in the woods below us. Trillium is one of the first flowers of spring and they are so beautiful. I understand that they are nearly extint in Michigan because they are preferred food for the white tail deer. Here in Washington, they are also on the verge of extinction but mostly because our forests are disappearing. They come in reds and pinks and even a deep wine color, but all I have seen are the white ones.
Dinner was delicious. If you like Mexican and spicy, try this soup. It is so easy and soooo good. Take two cans of black beans, one can of beef broth, and about a cup (or a small jar) of chunky salsa into a pot with a couple teaspoons of cumin. Heat and serve with sour cream and chopped green onions. (I put some of the beans in my food processor so I would have more broth and less bean.
Buy the way, neither Roy nor I were visited by my son's ghost friend. I even woke up a few times and waited to see if anything would make itself known, but nothing. Maybe we lost them on the road someplace.

Haunted !!!

I can't believe that its been almost two months since I have posted!! Sorry about that, I have been very busy. I volunteer for the Red Cross again doing casework and have been taking care of some worrisome medical problems that have developed and three times a week I have been going to water arobics. I nearly had a heart attack two weeks ago when the IRS sent us a bill for $17,000, but so far our CPA said that while we do owe, we don't owe that much. Thank goodness, I don't want to pay for this horrible war or give one cent to G. Bush....

Yes, alas, according to my son, our poor little Casita is haunted, and not by a playful ghost, but by mean poltergeist who held him down and poked the pillow behind him. For those of you who know my son, he is normally a pretty level headed person, but this isn't the first time that he has been "haunted" by spirits. Some day, remind me to tell you the Mr Herzhog ghost story that both my daughter and son experienced.

Haunted or no, we are off again tomorrow for a small adventure back to the Olympic National Park. I am really excited for as I have been there before, this time we are going to spend some time there and just enjoy the ocean, etc. Watch this spot. Gas prices what they are, my plans to check out Nevada are currenly on hold and instead we are going to check out Washington State...

So, what have I been doing? We got a dish, actually we got three dishes, one for the Motorhome, and one for normal TV and the last one to get Japanese channel so we can watch Sumo. LOL, you know I love my sumo and I am really looking forward to that. The next basho starts in May, so we will be home for then, for sure.

Sequim, Wa

20 Feb 06,
I am certainly glad that we brought the feather bed cause under the covers it was roasty toasty, but let an extremedy escape and it froze. Needless to say, new bed, new surroundings, new noise, we were awake for most of the night.
About 0630 Roy braved the cold, and dressed. He was the one who told me to turn off the heat so I was perfetly willing to let him get up and turn it back on. Fifteen minutes later it was still cold as a witches tit, but I needed coffee and so I forced myself out of bed and into some clothes.
Our very first breakfast in Casita was hot oatmeal with raisins and cinnamon. The milk was frozen solid so that tells me the refrigerator works, I just need to find the settings to turn it down.
But Casita has some short-comings. We have no cable outlet so I guess well have to get the domb for the TV. The sink leaks, Roy is going to get a new fauset for it, but now I have heat and thats mostly what I am concerned about. The bed was comfy and the toilet seat when sat upon, even in the cold, wasn't bad at all.
We left Casita in the good hands of Buster at Erics and set on foot to explore Sequim. The first stop was coffee at Burger Kinds. I bought a copy of the Sequim Gasette and the front page had a story about where Sequim got its name. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find it online, but here is the link to the paper. http://www.sequimgazette.com/index.php?menu=1
The article said that there are a few possible places that Sequim got its name. On authority said that it came from Suxtcikwi'in' a tribal word for "quiet or calm waters". The first letters mailed out from Sequim were post marked Seguin and the first book written about the are called it Squim. Another theory is that there was an onion type bulb that grew in the area and gathering these bulbs were called 'going skwimming"
We killed about an hour at Burger King and then headed for the drug store as I am getting that scratching throat/chills/stuffy nose feeling, a sure indicator of a cold coming on. Betty was over on Saturday and she had a horrible cold so I guess its my turn. Roy also needed a hat and of course there is always a list of things that we forgot to bring, hair brush for one.
Lunch was a a great Mexican Restaurant. We had a carne verde burrito that was very good. Also their home made salsa was perfect.
The rest of the day was spent at Eric's. When she was all done, and strutting her stuff we drove about a mile to an RV park and the nice folks there helped Roy set up. I turned the heat on and spent a very comfortable night.

Sunday 19 Feb 06
Milage 122
Destination Sequim, Washington
Gas $2.08 a gallon, $72.
We did it, I actually drove Casita on her first shake down cruise and we both did very well.
We drove to Sequim, to Erics Auto and RV Repair as Casita needs headers and has an exhause leak. It will be expensive but well worth the money with gas prices the way they are.
Most of Hwy 101 is designated as a senic highway and that is not a lie. We went from forest, to water views (Puget Sound) to small farms. The Sound was like glass and except for being a tad bit cold, it was a perfect day from traveling.
We arrived at Erics about 4pm. They have some electric outlets there so we plugged in and made ourselves at home. The TV didn't work but thats because they have no local stations in the area, so we ate left over split pea soup and watched videos on the lap top. 

Finally

Well poor old Casita has been thru the mill with all this rain. She sprange a few leaks, the step went out but not back in, the lights didn't work, but finally we are taking her on our first shake down cruise on the 20th. Destination Sequim, Wa where she is going to get new headers and a back up camera.
I am not sure why we have to drive all the way to Sequim, but that's okay, I haven't been to Port Angeles in ages and I have never been to Neah Bay, where I am sure we will get some wild pictures. While we plan to just follow our whims, I would also like to do the Dungeous again and check out Port Townsend. We might do the loop and might not. Sequim is kinda a great place to visit in the winter because it happens to be in what they call a rain shadow. It gets only about 10 inches of rain a year there while just around the corner in the Hoh area, they get over a 1oo inches. But its a small town that unfortunately lost all its personality when WalMart and Safeway moved it. There is a couple blocks of quaint little stores, but most of it is now strip malls.
I can give you a better picture when I return.

Household Goods Arrived

Well, the furniture made it over the ocean and all in one piece, but his, mine and ours doesn't fit in this little home. Retirement is a time for downsizing and I seem to be accumlating instead. We are talking seriously about selling the house and building something out on the property, but something has to fit all this stuff.

But most of the boxes are unpacked, some are still sitting on the back porch, but if I opened them I wouldn't have any place to put the stuff anyway so let them sit. I am still missing a few important items, but nothing that I need to go digging for. Opening boxes is a little like Christmas, little gifts to unwrap. BUT, the Japanese really wrap stuff. First there is a thick layer of paper around what ever and then a layer of that white wrapping paper and finally a layer of bubble wrap. The problem is it takes forever to unwrap stuff and there is so much stuff that needs tossed. I'm filling up a landfill.

The more it rains here in Washington, the more heading south sounds like a plan, so it is now time to get Casita on the road. First, we need to fix the electric step that has stopped working and while it could have been something as simple as a broken wire, Roy bought the whole works and again as soon as it stops raining, we will start work on it. Also, we need a new front window I noticed, we have a major crack and the skylight in the bathroom is leaking. Its never ending I guess.
Once I get on the road, all will be right with the world

Rain Rain Go Away

According to the news, today is the 24th straight day of rain in the Pacific Northwest and I believe it. The rivers are overflowing their banks. The roads are littered with Water Over Road Signs and to make matters worse, my whole yard is like a sopping sponge.
We thought about getting into the Motorhome and heading to the frist dry spot we can find but we have doctors appointments, and committments to deal with, so here we sit and wait for the sun to shine