WASHINGTON

Mount Baker     (courtesy of Jim)

As I sit and look at the snow outside my window, I realize that I am almost past the point of writing about the rest of my summer...but I do want to post the pictures that I took and talk about the visit with my friend, Bill, from grade school, and his lovely wife, Patee.

We arrived in Washington state July 18th, after an enjoyable month spent visiting my brother and his family in Oregon. We settled in a small town called Marblemount, inland about 50 miles from the coast, at the south end of North Cascades National Park. Our original intention was to stay there 2 weeks, then move over to the coast. Our habit of not making reservations caused us to change those plans....everything was booked, plus, since it was "the season" (summer), the prices were ridiculous. So, we settled into Marblemount for the duration.

Our spot in Alpine RV Park

We really loved our little RV park, Alpine RV Park on Highway 20. The folks there were very friendly and hospitable. There were 3 sets of "camp hosts" that alternated duties so that they could see the area themselves. Pam and Dick, Gloria and Dave and Alan and Sarah made sure our stay was comfortable. We liked the park so much, we ended up staying 2 months, plus a little longer when Highway 20 was closed due to mud slides at the end of our stay!

Hiking in North Cascades National Park

North Cascades National Park  is over 650,000 acres of beautiful mountains, cascading waterfalls and awesome views. We spent a lot of time driving around the area, visiting the Ross Lake area and the Lake Chelan recreation area. 

On the road to Lake Chelan out of Marblemount

View of a glacier on Lake Chelan Road

 Like our visit to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan last year, this place is covered with water attractions: lakes, streams, creeks, waterfalls. We enjoyed quite a few of them in our explorations. Many times we would pack a lunch and just find someplace beautiful to eat it...that would be the highlight of our day.

One of our lunch sites

Another beautiful place to eat lunch!

No shortage of beautiful scenery

 










For "big city" excitement, we would travel to Mount Vernon and Burlington on the coast. Thank God, there was a Costco in Mount Vernon! Nearby, the town of Concrete had its' attractions. The first weekend after we arrived, the airport had a "Fly In" event, hosting small airplanes from all over. Jim and I really enjoyed watching them land and take off from this small airport....kind of a "carnival" atmosphere, with food, etc. Fun. 

 Another event we were privileged to witness was Concrete's "Cascade Days" Parade....I love home town parades! Every group around was represented, including the candidates for the upcoming elections and the local ladies' exercise school/class. 

Not exactly sure what he represented, but...fun!

Cascade Days Parade

Visits to several local wineries were mandated as well....the Challenger Ridge Winery, located in Concrete, was a really fun place to visit. The staff couldn't have been more welcoming and informative about the area and their wines. The woman doing our wine tasting hooked Jim with an offer to taste their brandy. She took us into a separate tasting room (some Washington liquor law) and let us taste their apple brandy....pretty wonderful. Jim bought 2 bottles!

Challenger Ridge Winery

That same day, we stopped by the winery near Marblemount, the Glacier Peak Winery. What a disappointment. The woman in there was actually surly, pouring our first taste and walking away to do other things...no chatting, no information about the wine....and crappy wine! We left after the first glass. We were glad we'd gone to the Challenger Ridge Winery first! They couldn't have been nicer...and we spent $150 at their winery. Glacier Peak should take a page out of Challenger's book.


Mount Baker was another of our "must see" destinations. We saw Mount Baker from every conceivable angle over the course of our visit. Beautiful! All of the mountains surrounding us still had snow on them in July and August. That amazed me. 

Mount Baker in the background

Nooksack Falls on Nooksack River (Jim's photo)

 















Highway 20 was our major roadway when we traveled both north and south. Highway 20 pretty much follows the Skagit River, which is the most astounding color. We were told the color of the water had to do with the mineral content of the surrounding environment. It is the most surreal aquamarine color. Pictures don't do it justice. Amazing river.

On the road to Mount Baker

Traveling toward Mount Vernon, there is a wildlife viewing meadow right on Hwy 20. We had several opportunities to see large elk herds. We would sit for an hour or two and watch them. I took a hundred photos, but none were very good. I'm hoping Jim did better. If so, I will include one. Herd animals are interesting to watch. It was weird to be driving down the road and see these animals, not bothered by humans at all.

Jim's elk

My friend, Bill, lives in Concrete, about 16 miles from Marblemount. We went to grade school together in Fullerton, California, way back in the 60's. We have been in touch via FaceBook for several years so when I knew we were going to be in Washington, we made plans to get together. I am so glad we did! We met up with he and his wife, Patee, at the Saturday market, had dinner with them at the Birdsview Brewery, dinner at the Marblemount Cafe and dinner at Mi Mexico Mexican Restaurant. One night they came over to our RV park for a campfire.....we had such a good time! Thank you, Bill and Patee, for spending time with us while we were in your neighborhood. In our travels, it is rare that we get to see actual friends, making our stay in Washington special.

Bill and Patee

　

CRESCENT CITY, CA and OREGON

CRESCENT CITY, CALIFORNIA


After spending a month living among the redwoods in Redcrest, California, we decided to spend a week at the coast in Northern California. We ended up in Crescent City, not very far from the Oregon border.





Untamed coastline

The coastline up here is beautiful and pretty much untamed and there are redwoods here as well. Neither Jim nor I were familiar with this part of California so it was a real adventure for us.


We stayed in an RV Park I chose, sight unseen...It was a pretty run down park, with quite a few permanent residents in older, well worn rigs. But, the price was right, so we stayed. After all, it was only for a week, right? Situated on Highway 101 right across from the beach, Sunset Harbor RV Park was our home for the week. It was really ideally located for us to explore the area.

So much beauty                          (Jim's photo)

Coast near the redwoods

Jim and Babe

   

















One afternoon we hit the requisite tourist trap, "Trees of Mystery". Our paid admission included a rambling walk through the woods, guarded by a HUGE statue of Paul Bunyon and another of his sidekick, Babe, the Blue Ox, with various works of carved wood art throughout.

"Wedding Chapel" among the trees (Jim's)

The Gondolas  (Thanks, Jim!)

Around the middle of the walk, we got on a gondola tram and rode up the hillside through the redwoods. The perspective was a great way to see the trees. At the top there was a viewing platform to check out the surrounding area and we could see all the way out to sea. All in all, an interesting (touristy) stop on our journey.

The Locals

Commercial Fishing Supplies

We spent one afternoon down on the commercial fishing docks after hours, wandering around and taking some photos.







Another late afternoon was spent north of the town, riding up the residential coast road, stopping often to admire the coast in the rising tide, taking lots of pictures. The Battery Point Lighthouse is located in Crescent City and is accessible only at low tide on foot. It was beautiful in the late afternoon sun.

Battery Point Lighthouse at Sunset  (Jim's beautiful photo)

Where the Klamath River meets the Pacific Ocean

The weather played a part in keeping us from doing much more....we only had 2 days without some kind of windy conditions and we had a few mornings of foggy conditions. Both of us are glad we stopped there though. Staying right on the ocean is a different experience.






OREGON

One of the many water wonders we encountered

We took two days getting up to our park in Oregon, Foster Lake RV Resort, located directly across Highway 20 from Foster Lake, a manmade lake just northeast of Eugene. The lake was gorgeous and we could see a sliver of it from our site. We stayed here in Linn County, the "Grass Seed Capital of the World", for a month, visiting my brother, Marty, his wife, Trecia, and their kids and grandkids.

One of our first exploratory trips was to a mill on the Calapooia River. Thompson's Mills State Heritage Site is a mill with quite a history dating back to 1858. Jim and I got our own private tour by one of the docents which took about an hour and a half.

Millkeepers House built in 1904

The Mill

Loved the Graphics

Jim and the Docent working the Elevator

The grain shafts

The turbines

 

Grist Mill Displays

This mill is the oldest water-powered grain mill in the state. Over the course of the years they have milled many different types of grains and flour. We got to see it operate...the turbines still start up and the wheels and elevators still work! It was an amazing tour.



 
My sister-in-law took me to a couple of my favorite wineries for wine tasting, the Ankeny Vineyard Winery and the Willamette Valley Winery. Of course I bought some wine! They make great Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris in Oregon. I also found a tasty Sauvignon Blanc at Willamette Valley. Another day, Trecia also took me to downtown Lebanon and we went "Thrift-shopping". There is a whole street with almost nothing on it but 2nd hand and consignment shops. We had a ball wandering around all the "pre-owned" items. I even found a couple of perfect glasses for our tequila shots!

Brother Marty

Nephews Marty, Jr. and Glenn

Nephew Michael

Great-niece Davina

While most of our time was spent visiting family and taking drives, we did manage to visit some of the covered bridges in the area.

"Oregon has the largest collection of covered bridges in the West and one of the largest in the nation. The covered-bridge-building tradition in Oregon dates from the 1850s. Out of necessity, pioneers built with the materials at hand. Douglas fir was abundant in western Oregon and well-suited to bridge construction. To increase their useful life, houses were constructed over the timber trusses to protect them from the damp western Oregon climate.

Weddle Covered Bridge

Hoffman Covered Bridge

Crawfordsville Covered Bridge

The heyday of covered bridge building in Oregon occurred between 1905 and 1925 when there were an estimated 450 covered bridges in the state. By 1977, this number had dwindled to 56."

(Borrowed that section from Oregon.com's section on covered bridges)

We took a drive to Sisters, Oregon one day.  It's a quaint little town located south of Foster Lake.  When we do our sightseeing drives, we try to do loops so we are seeing new sights both ways.  On the return "loop" we ended up driving through the lava fields which surround the Sisters Mountains.  Really breathtaking, austere scenery.

Sisters Mountains and Lava Field

Not much hiking at all during our time here. I've been taking it easy, trying to cure some issues I've been having with my hips....lots of improvement so I'm hoping our next stop has us being more active outdoors. Played poker a few times, Jim and I left some money in Oregon!

A BIG THANK YOU TO MY BROTHER AND HIS WIFE FOR THEIR WONDERFUL HOSPITALITY!!

Barn on Upper Calapooia Road

Tiger Lilies on Upper Calapooia Rd    (Jim's Photo)

　

California, Part 3

May 2013

SAN FRANCISCO AND THE REDWOODS


CLEARLAKE

So, did you know that lots of wine comes from Northern California? Yes, it really does. Much to my surprise and pleasure we made some amazing wine discoveries here. I did actually discover a wine appellation that I was unfamiliar with, known as Lake County wine, which is grown around the Clearlake area.  Clearlake is a few hours north of Bishop and we checked into our RV park, Clearlake Resort, for a week. This park has direct access to the lake and is comprised of mostly permanent residents who live in their RV's. When we checked in there were a few other visiting rigs, fishermen there for the big tournament taking place that weekend. When the tournament was over, the rigs were gone and we were left with the regulars. Can I just say that this park was not in the best neighborhood? A few days into our stay, there was an altercation in the mobile home park next door (separated by a chain link fence) when 2 people started trading verbal threats. The police showed up in force, with 2 ambulances, and a police chase ensued when the culprit ran away. One of the ambulances took someone away, lights flashing. Jim and I looked at each other and agreed that we were glad we only signed up for a week!

In front of the Brassfields Estate Winery



This way to the Tasting Room

While we stayed here, we were delighted to find several local wineries that made this Lake County wine. We visited 2 of them, Brassfield Estates Winery and the Ceago Winery. Bought wine at both, but Brassfield was clearly the better of the two. I ended up joining their wine club, so their wonderful wine will follow us in our travels.






Also while we stayed here we made a trip into San Francisco. I have always wanted to see Alcatraz, so I talked Jim into going there on our anniversary, May 7th. We drove to Oakland and took the ferry over to the San Francisco Pier, where we walked to catch our cruise ship to Alcatraz. Traffic was horrible through Napa due to road construction and we missed our intended ferry, taking the next one, fully expecting to miss our prepaid Alcatraz trip. Fortunately, we made the boarding time and the rest of the trip was stress-free.

Ferry from Oakland to San Francisco



A hitchhiker on the ferry

I loved wandering around Alcatraz, seeing where the prisoners were housed, fed and punished. What a depressing life that would have been! We learned quite a bit about Alcatraz that I never knew.

I guess he doesn't know that this is the island of the Pelicans!
(Photo courtesy of Jim)

For instance, it started life as a fort and maintained a military history from 1850-1934. It became the penitentiary in 1934 until it closed in 1963. It was occupied by Indians in 1964 and again in 1969. (See Alcatraz Wikipedia link)

During the Indian occupation

 This place has a colorful and varied history. I really enjoyed the audio tour of the prisoner cell block, narrated by former prison guards and prisoners. I met a woman in the book store who wrote a book about living on the island. When she was a child, her father was a prison guard and they lived on the "Rock".

Welcome to Alcatraz

Cell Block          (courtesy of Jim)

Looking down toward the dock



The gardens have been revived and tidied up. Many of the flowers and shrubs planted during the prison occupation survived the years of neglect and are once again flourishing.

The Gardens at Alcatraz

We left our Alcatraz cruise and walked up to Fisherman's Wharf and decided to have an early dinner before we boarded our ferry back to Oakland.

Entrance to the Grotto

We ended up eating at the Fisherman's Grotto restaurant, long a popular San Francisco landmark. Jim had fish and I had veal. A delicious way to end the day.









A few days later we went to Calistoga to visit a winery I have wanted to see since watching the movie, "Bottle Shock", the Chateau Montelena Winery, the one featured in the film. Their claim to fame is winning an international competition with their Chardonnay, beating out some fabulous French wines in the process. We bought a bottle of their famous Chardonnay plus two others.

The "Chateau Montelena"

No valet available, unfortunately

 We visited another winery in the area, Envy Winery, and bought a bottle there as well. The entire area is planted with so many vines, it's incredible to see. The plants stretch way up the hillsides, as far as the eye can see. Beautiful, symmetrical designs, lacing through the countryside.



THE REDWOODS

We left Clearlake and headed up Highway 101, traveling yet further north. We ended up in Redcrest, California, 30 miles south of Eureka. The Ancient Redwoods RV Park is located on the Avenue of the Giants, surrounded by towering redwood trees. Great place to stay while exploring the redwoods!
The people here are great and the park is very well maintained. 

One of our favorite places to sit and relax
(Jim's photo)

  We are in total awe of these giants. We go into the forest almost every day to sit amidst the trees and marvel. Words can not describe the beauty and mystery surrounding these trees. Jim and I sit there and talk about how these forests survived, why they grow so closely together, why is there clover everywhere....you get the idea. I know it sounds crazy.....we have just never seen forests like these.

Clover is everywhere under the redood trees
(Another of Jim's photos)



Poisin Ivy captured by Jim

Banana Slugs love the redwood trees. ICK!
(Thanks, Jim!)

Staying here for a month has a lot of advantages. We are exploring the surrounding area, living like the locals. The nearest grocery store is 15 miles away in Fortuna. I have to be careful with my shopping list! This part of California is sprinkled with small towns up and down the coast. There is one town a few miles north of us called Ferndale. It advertises itself as a Victorian town.

An example of the architecture in Ferndale

Ferndale cemetary is one of the most beautiful and unusual I've seen

 By golly, it is. Most of the houses have the curlique gingerbread designs along the facades, as well as the multi-color paint jobs that seem to define the Victorian motifs. We've eaten several times at the Victorian Inn restaurant. The food is superb and they seem to have a "big city" chef. Great selections, expensive prices. (It seems that everything in California is more expensive.)
























We have gone up to Eureka several times. We have walked along the waterfront, gone to the movies (saw Star Trek Into Darkness....ho hum), visited Costco (of course) and driven up the coast past Arcata to Trinidad Harbor, where we had the best seafood dinner at the Seascape Restaurant on the pier.



Trinidad Harbor

Strolling through Eureka

Eureka waterfront

 On one of our visits, we took a tour at the Blue Ox Millworks, a museum and school based on the art of woodworking and carving, mostly done by hand and with non-electric tools. An interesting experience.



The Blue Ox was actually missing. Poor Paul Bunyan!

A collection of foot-powered scroll saws at the Blue Ox

The buildings are really old and falling down. The grounds contain a "skid camp" used by loggers, with the bunkhouse, cooking shed and gathering hall/theater. All of the buildings in the entire camp were built on "skids" or wooden rails, and would be moved from place to place by teams of mules, then later by a locomotive called a "steam monkey". Quite the major endeavor, I would think!


Another day trip found us on California Hwy 1, going south to Fort Bragg. Getting to Hwy 1 was an adventure, on this twisty, turning road out of Leggett, CA. We stopped in Leggett to see the "Chandelier Drive Through Tree".

Drive-through tree in Leggett

Sitting on a fallen redwood

What a tourist trap! They charged us $5.00 to see the tree. Of course, our truck is much too big to drive through so I took pictures of other people driving through.



 We left 85 degree weather in Redcrest and when we hit the coast the outside temperature was 55 and overcast! The difference in climate within such a short distance boggles the mind. I imagine it has something to do with the proximity to the ocean.....LOL.

I believe these are seals, lazing on the rocks off the coast along California Highway 1

The other day we found ourselves driving to the College of the Redwoods campus to see the Humboldt Botanical Gardens. I had only ever seen the Albuquerque Botanical Gardens so I was curious to see how others do gardens. We were not disappointed.

A "riot" of flowers!



I loved these bell-shaped flowers

The flowers here are different than the ones grown in New Mexico and since we are here at the right time (AKA Spring), everything is in full bloom. The colors and layout of the gardens were beautiful. It was an overcast morning, a good day for photography. I think I got a few really nice shots.

My favorite of the day - currently being used as my computer wallpaper!

On Sunday, June 9th, we are leaving for Crescent City, CA to stay on the coast for a week, then on to Lebanon, OR, where we will stay for a month, visit some family and drink some great Oregon wine!

　

The Lost Coast of California

　

Boy, are we lost!
(Jim found us though and took a photo!)

Click on the photos to enlarge

LINK TO ADDITIONAL PHOTOS FROM THIS TRIP