Goodbye Washington, Hello Oregon

 April 13, 2021

Today we said goodbye to the state of Washington, and what a powerful send off we received. The day was picture perfect; clear sunny skies. As we traveled south we were graced by the beautiful and majesty of Mt Rainier, so visible as if we were right beside her instead of the many miles that separated us. As she kept us in her grandeur, and stayed to the left us, there rising up in front of us was Mt St. Helen. WOW, Clear as could be, talk about experiencing the power of nature, seeing the mighty mountain on a clear day. Both brilliantly white with their glistening blankets of snow. Until you see this for yourself you can not fully appreciated the splendor. And how rare the clarity.

 

We continued on southward, our destination across the border into Oregon, when there before us we spotted yet another breathtaking sight as Mt Hood came into view. Oh the beauty and we where able to enjoy this for many miles as we crossed the Columbia River and turned east towards Ainsworth State Park, our home for the night.

Ainsworth State Park is in Cascade Locks, OR., a great place to stay for a night or a week. 

The campground itself is on the small side but cleverly situated on the side of the mountain. It is tiered into two levels with a dozen or so sites on each. We were on the top tier and had a beautiful view of the valley below. Well kept grounds and facilities. While a ranger went through from time to time, there also Camp Hosts, we had the pleasure of chatting with one of them. Ginger was fun to chat with and told us of a trail right in the campground that lead to one of the many falls in the area. This was great as we were just there for the one night and weren't going to be able to explore much. So, of course, off we went with her words of, yes, it's only about a mile or so walk.

  

What Ginger neglected to mention was that it was rather steep, quite narrow in places with areas of loose rocks. Ah heck, let's face it, our type of hiking, LOL I will say it was rather unnerving though when we came upon several areas with signage warning: Rock slide area, loose rocks may cause avalanche if disturbed. WHAT?? Oh my and this is on the sections where the trail was maybe two feet wide. Rocks going upward to the left of us and all but straight down on the right. 

Yep, we tender footed across quite carefully. There were three of these sections each 20 to 30 feet across and yes, rather exhilarating. I will say it was a rugged mile and half but oh so worth it. 

As we went around a curve in the trail there in front of us we got our first view of HorseTail Falls. Made one catch one's breath and certainly spurred us on. Carefully making our way down the the side of the mountain, oh remember those Rock Slide areas I mentioned, yeah one of those was on the downward! There it was in all it's beauty. Glorious. Waterfalls have such a mesmerizing power and this one was no different. We just sat and watched for a spell.

This area has many falls and there is a narrow scenic road that runs along it, part of the historic Lewis and Clark Trail. Unfortunately it had been a rough winter with lots of snow, ice and high winds that resulted in several serious rock slides causing the closing of the road in many sections. So glad we were able to get to the one we did. We, (wisely), decided to take the road back to the campground and enjoy the peacefulness of it being one of the closed to traffic sections. Got back to camp, had a lovely dinner and enjoy a glass of wine as we marveled on the day. What a perfect start to our travels.

Til tomorrow: Ta

Somedays Can Be A Bit Rockie!!

 

April 20, 2021

Yesterday was hard. Not that earth shattering, bring you to your knees way but in that frustrating often times life way. Yes, even in this perfect life of ours we have rough days. This trip out has been wrought with changes since the beginning. We set out from Washington heading to South Dakota because we have business that we need to take care of there. Of course, that business has to be done by appointment only and those appointments are on their terms and schedule not ours. Should we not be able to make those appointments, they would have to be rescheduled when??? So we made our plans and away we went.

The weather has not been our friend in this planning. We looked at each place we expected to stop, check long range forecast and average temperature just like one is supposed to. We knew it would be cold in most stops even down into the 20's. That was okay we were ready and away we went. Got several stops into our journey and as always I checked the weather ahead, WHAT!! The night time temps changed and were heading down into single digits! NO!! That's too cold for us.

Okay, let's address this. There are only a few Interstates that travel west to east from the Washington area. Well really only one which is 90, but since we had decided to head south into Oregon across through Idaho to Utah so we could check out the Salt Flats and Great Salt Lake, our choice was to pick up 80 then head up and grab 90 in Wyoming. Knowing the weather is what it is we figured staying on the interstates when possible as our best bet. After seeing the weather across Wyoming was hitting single digits we quickly checked out the maps and weather a bit to the south. Ok so we could drop down to I 70 across to Colorado and then head north. Good plan, temps look good, cold but well in the mid to upper 20's. Cancel our reservations, make new ones and continue onward. Oh did I mention a lot of campgrounds aren't even open, makes things more challenging.

Oh well here we go, OOPS nope, now the lower temps across 70 in the Rockies have changed, UGH. Back to the drawing board. Okay, no problem we will drop down further south and cross the Rockies on 50. Perfect. Hahahahahah Mother Nature had other plans. As we start across the Rockies to the campground we found which is about half way across, I as always give the weather another look. WOW glad we didn't take 70 as there are areas there getting 5-10 inches of snow! Oh and the area we are going may get a dusting. Phew! Traveling on I keep and eye on the weather and about an hour out from our stop I see the forecast change. UH OH, heading down into the teens and possible 2-4 inches overnight. Now this might not seem like much to lot of you, but remember, we are in the Rockies, really big mountains, lots of twisty, knuckle whitening turns, steep inclines and declines. You really don't want to do that in snow, well, at least we don't. Had a pity party, teared a bit, pulled it together and Ok choice is stay where planned with the possibility of staying another night and have to have long travel days to make up time, or change plans and get over the mountains adding a couple of hours to our day. Problem with staying is what if there is more than a couple of inches??? Nope, not going to chance it, heading across and we will find some where else to stay. And, of course, just to add to the fun, there's construction in several places so now the tight road is even tighter!! UGH Again. I am trying to cancel and make new reservations in between losing cell service. A little stress, I'd say. But we did it, we got to the east side, found a place to stay, settled in and just stared at each other because now the forecast changed again and we could get 2-4 inches, Really?!?!? Oh well we shall worry about that in the morning. We were done.

Isn't interesting how sometimes things work out in the oddest ways, as if we were being pulled to be where we wound up for a reason one could never have guessed. We figured we would just take our time in the morning allowing things to warm up and if there was snow, giving the roads time to clear. We usually like to get on the road between 8 and 9 but not this time, we only had a three hour drive so we could wait til late morning. Being early risers we were up and about by 7, when there comes a knock on our door. The woman from the RV next to us is standing there all but in tears. She was locked out of her rig since 5:30, sitting in her car without the key to start it and it's 24 degrees out. The poor thing. She was trying to find a lock smith and couldn't, her husband wouldn't be back for a couple hours and she's in her jammies with just a light jacket over top, having meant to just step outside for a moment. Needless to say, we got her inside, with a blankie and cup of hot coffee. So glad we were there for her. Funny how things turn out, isn't it.

I shall be writing up our earlier travels days and posting them soon. Even with the trials and tribulations, we have seen such amazing vistas, and have been so fortunate to do so. This country has incredible beauty. All lives have their moments, even our perfect one!

Ta!

Dosewallip State Park, Dosewallip, WA.

  Dosewallip State Park, Dosewallip WA
April 5-7, 2021

We had the pleasure of spending several days here. Beautiful park, well kept, lots of room between sites, hiking, and they have an Elk Herd that wanders through regularly! Now what could be better.

Dosewallip State Park is located on the west side of the Hood Canal in the area known as the Olympic Peninsula with views that don't end. According to legend the name comes from the Twana Indian myth where a man called Dos-wall-opsh was turned into a mountain. The park has great mountain hiking with intertwining trails allowing one to hike for an hour or all day! The Dosewallip River runs along side the park and with beaches of the Hood Canal bordering the east side you have lots to explore.

The sites are well placed so each has lots of room and can serve a variety of units from tents to units up to 40 feet long. There are also several cabins one can rent. One thing to keep in mind if camping in Washington State Parks, you need to buy tokens for the shower and you get 3 minutes per token. Tokens are a quarter each so not expensive but could keep one from taking overly long.

We hiked and biked and enjoyed the wildlife. So amazing to sit there and watch a 30 – 50 head herd of Elk wander through the campground. What majestic creatures. I will keep that memory forever. 

    Not far up the road from Dosewallip is Falls View, part of the Olympic National Forest. The campground is closed to camping at this time as they had severe tree damage caused by root rot coupled with major storms. Hopefully they will be able to reopen soon as there is a lot of work being done. You can park and walk the area though. The park gets its name from, well, you guessed it, the beautiful view of the Falls one gets. The falls can be seen with a short hike or you can take the long way down to the bottom. Spent a bit of time there just watching the waters flow.

Truly a great area to spend some time.

Enjoy some of the sights and delights of our time there.

Nature is so tenacious 

TREES!!

Eagles Nest 

Paul and Cousin Sheryl enjoy the view

Last Stops In Washington

 

Just realized it's been over a month since I wrote. Time to play catch up as we prepare to soon hit the road for parts unknown. Well they are known but not as yet experienced by us.

 

     As mentioned in our last post we have spent a lot of time at Kitsap Memorial State Park as it was convenient to Sara and the boys. It is definitely one I would go back to should we find ourselves in the area. Great little park. We even got to see Harbor Seals swim by one day! 

Interesting tidbit I learned while there: A group of Herons is called a Siege. There was a Siege of Herons nesting in the trees along the trail. An amazing sight, there had to be 30-50 nests. I actually thought it a colony of squirrels at first until I saw the Herons. Incredible. 

      During March we decided to head to the other side of the Sound, We stayed at one of the Thousand Trails parks in La Conner. Another great place and what a site we had. Our back window looked out of the Sound! Can't beat it. We were so lucky to get that site. The ranger on duty when we checked in mentioned it was available if we wanted a water view. We went right over to it and gave consideration to it not having sewer hookup, Yeah for like two seconds, so we gave up full hookups to have that VIEW!! No contest. 

Spent 10 lovely days there. Nice size park with lots of walking to be done, many a times along the shoreline, got to see some Harbor Seals one day. The campground is well kept with clean if dated bathhouses with lots of hot water for showering.

La Conner Campground is unique in that the land the campground is on is actually leased from the   Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. It is located right on the Puget Sound and beautiful pieces of drift wood have wash ashore over the many years. The large pieces have been pile up and around the shoreline making natural leantos and sitting areas. The beach is very stony which is quite the norm for the area, bits and pieces broken and smooth both the currents, leftover from ice age. Got to see many different shore birds: plovers, skimmers, gulls, etc. So much fun to sit and watch the gulls pick up a clam or oyster, fly to a rocky area and let it drop. This in turn causes the shell to split open and Voila, dinner is served. Got to see several bald eagles, including one young one just starting to get its white feathers. There is also a nature center there but unfortunately closed due to COVID.

As you walk along the shoreline you come to the point known as Lone Tree Point. A sacred tree and area, the only tree on that bit of land. In the language of Lushootseed ( the Coast Salish Swinomish) it is called Dadc'culqui, pronounced DAHD-chool-kee, meaning a point that anchors land, sea, and sky. To stand there is to experience that sacredness.

We have also had the pleasure of doing some driveway camping on several occasions at Paul's cousin  Sheryl's. It is always fun to get together and her place overlooks the Hood Canal with a view and a half! The Stich Resort is certainly one of my favorites.

One other campground we had the pleasure of staying at came at the end of our time here in Washington, Dosewallip State Park. More on that next time!

Was able to squeeze in one more gathering before heading out. Perfect way to end our time in Washington: Cooking hot dogs and marshmallows over the campfire with the Johnsons. (minus the hiding Alec!!)  

So now our time in Washington is over and we will be do a quick trip out to South Dakota to take care of some personal business, then we will be moseying down through Utah as we make our way to Southern California!

Ta for now

Boys just want to have fun!!

Got to love trees

The things you come across

Best Named Road!!