Florence, OR

Florence, OR is located in Lane County on the coast of Oregon.  Population 8466 with a median income of $30,500 and a median age of 56.  Florence was originally inhabited by the Siulsaw Native Americans until the settlers moved into the area.  There are two different claims as to how Florence got it's name.  The first one is that Florence was named for A.B. Florence, a state senator. He represented Lane County from 1858 -1860.  The second one is that it was named after a French ship that wrecked at the mouth of the Siuslaw river in 1875.  Logging, commercial fishing and agriculture were the main economy of Florence for a long time.  Today it is tourism.  The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area is one of the big draws along with the Sea Lion Caves and the Heceta Head Lighthouse.  Old Town Florence is also a big attraction located on the Siuslaw river near the marina. It has some unique shops and some really great restaurants.  It has a charm about it with flower boxes on the windows and tables and chairs outside almost every restaurant.  There must of been four different bakeries and each smelled so good.  It was hard to resist but we did.  One other interesting fact about Florence is that over one third of the population are retirees.
Florence is a nice town and Old Town Florence is a nice way to spend an afternoon checking out the shops, enjoying a nice lunch and check out an art gallery or two.  It is a busy place and most people seemed to be enjoying themselves; we did. 

Oregon Dunes National Recreational Area

The Oregon Dunes National Recreational Area is on the coast of Oregon stretching from the Siuslaw river in Florence, OR and runs south for 40 miles to the Coos River in North Bend.  It is part of the Siuslaw National Forest.  The dunes were formed over millions of years from wind, sun and rain erosion on the Oregon coast.  They are the largest expanse of coastal sand dunes in North America.  Some dunes tower up to 492 ft above sea level.  There are several areas in the dunes that can be used for numerous recreation activities.  There are areas designated for Off Road Vehicles including sand roads to get from one area to another.  There are other areas for hiking, fishing, canoeing, horseback riding, camping and beach use.  There are over 30 lakes and ponds in the dunes and several hiking trails.  Author Frank Herbert science fiction novel, "Dune", was based off his research of the Oregon dunes. 
We were in the northern most end of the dunes in Florence in the South Jetty's area.  It had some tall dunes, mostly used for recreation vehicles and then grassy dunes that ran along the Pacific Ocean.  It also runs up to the south side of the Jetty into Florence, OR.  The pass in the jetty looked challenging for boating with huge waves that break into the jetty and big swells inside the jetty.  The beach was huge and strewn with drift wood and pieces of broken shells.  With the surf being as big as it was it made sense that shell hunting is something you don't do in this area.  The dunes were interesting with a lot more life than I expected.  I pictured large sandy dunes and there were some of those but most of the dunes in the area we were at were grass covered.  In the early 1900s a European grass was brought in and planted to stabilize the dunes a bit.  It did and it has allowed a lot of different plant life to exist.  Some of the dunes are turning into wetlands due to the grasses especially around the Jetty area.  It was fun to walk in the dunes and climbing them brought back childhood memories of when I use to play at the Indiana Dunes.  The ocean waves were wild and the surf hitting the jetty rocks were beautiful explosions of water.  We had a lot of fun at the dunes.

Oregon Coast Highway No. 9 Part 2

We continued our journey down the Oregon Coast Highway No. 9 (U.S. Hwy 101) and the next part of the highway was really mountainous.  At times we were at a crawl going up a hill and at times were a little further from the coast but when the road would reach the sea the views were gorgeous from above.  Once we got into Newport, OR the road was less mountainous and closely followed the coast so that there was always a view of the ocean. The terrain became less mountainous to did the coast and when we reached Florence, OR it went completely to sand dunes.  It was that sudden. 
We are staying in Florence in the area where the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area is located.
What a drive we had from farmland to mountains to sand dunes all in a 100 mile stretch.  We had an extra bonus as we watched sea lions playing in the ocean and the rocks.  Tim, once again, did an excellent job of driving through the mountains and was great about pulling  over at the different viewing areas along the coast so I could take pictures.  Not an easy task while pulling a 40 ft. RV.
It was a nice drive with clear skies which made the views of the coastline even better!

Pacific City Thousand Trails

We have been staying at Pacific City Thousand Trails in Pacific City, OR.  It is a 150 acre preserve that sits on the ridge just above the Pacific Ocean.  There are over 300 campsites and 10 rental cabins.  There are spruce trees towering over almost every campsite.  It has all the amenities except this is the first TT with an indoor swimming pool.  The miniature golf course is nice too.  The campsites are on at least three different levels.  We are towards the top and have a great view of the Pacific Ocean from our campsite.  We hear the ocean all the time and it helps us get to sleep at night.  We have really enjoyed our stay even though there are bears to careful of.  I have not seen one yet but one of the other RVers saw a bear going through the garbage cans last night.  I have seen a ton of bunnies around here but they are not the usual grayish brown bunnies.  I have seen a lot black ones, tan ones with white tails and a mixture of both.  The view of the ocean is by far one of the best views we have had on our journey so far.  We head south to Florence, OR today!

Pacific City, OR

Pacific City, OR is an unincorporated town in Tillamook County.  Population 1027 with a median income of $33,250 and a median age of 53.  In 1845, a Mr Johnson, a cook from an English ship traveling the Columbia river, deserted and headed south to the Willamette Valley.  He started clearing the land of brush and started a fire to burn off debris when the fire got out of control and spread eastward.  A shift in winds sent the fire westward towards the coastal mountain range.  It burned for weeks and destroyed 1.5 million acres.  It is still the largest area destroyed by a single fire in the U.S. today.  In 1854 settlers began coming to the area where Pacific City is currently located.  They arrived by steamers from the sea and wagon trains from the mountains.  The Nestucca bay was rich with fish and salmon was the most popular.  Fishing became a prime source for the economy with around 12,000 cans of salmon a year along with logging and dairy farming.  Ocean Park was established in 1893 as a tourist area along with the fishing industry.  In 1909 it's name was changed to Pacific City so it would not get confused with Ocean Park, WA.  By 1926 the area was over fished and gill netting had been stopped.  Surf launched dories became the new way of fishing but tourism continued as the main economy until the depression.  An airport was built during that time to attract barnstormers and aviators.  Today, Pacific City is still a tourism town and it main attraction is Cape Kiwanda State Natural Area. 
Pacific City is a neat coastal town with some nice inns, restaurants and the beach.  It has some beautiful homes and a great place to play in the surf, climb on some rocks or climb up a sand hill.

Cape Kiwanda

Cape Kiwanda is located in Pacific City, OR.  It is on the Three Capes Scenic Route which includes Cape Meares and Cape Lookout.  Hiking to top of Cape Kiwanda gives some views of Nestucca Bay to the south and Cape Lookout to the north.  A sea stack, a geological landform, named Haystack is located about a half mile southwest of Cape Kiwanda.  The geological landform consists of a steep and often vertical columns of rock in the sea near a coast and isolated by erosion.  It is one of three features along the Oregon coast called Haystack.
Cape Kiwanda was beautiful.  We had no idea that is had existed and we came across it accidentally but we are sure glad we did.  The beach alone, with some pretty great waves today, was beautiful enough but when we saw the Haystay, the rock formation that makes the cape and the huge sand dune hill they were all an extra bonus.  It was a cool day, about 58 degrees, with some coastal fog but it was so worth the stop.  I was amazed how beautiful it all was.  It is a popular place to enjoy the beach, bring your dog with you on the beach, climb the dune and just enjoy it.  We sure did!

Oregon Coast Highway No. 9

U.S. Highway 101 in Oregon, known as Oregon Coast Highway No. 9, runs the from the California border just south of Bookings to the Washington border in Astoria.  Much of the highway runs between the Pacific Ocean and the Oregon Coast Range which makes most of Hwy 101 mountainous. The highway is 363 miles long and it goes through several coastal towns.  In most of the towns it is main street.  Being that Hwy 101 is mountainous it is affected by landslides that sometimes shuts the road down which makes for long detours for coastal towns having to go inland to I-5 and then back to the coast. 
We drove a third of the Oregon Coast Highway No. 9 from Astoria, WA to Cloverdale, OR.  It is a beautiful drive along the Pacific coast and through several coastal towns, each unique, yet all having the looks of a coastal town. We began by crossing the Megler/Astoria bridge, that runs from the Washington border to the Oregon border and over the Columbia river and into Astoria, OR.  As we passed the Port of Astoria, a Cruise Ship was docked, A Norwegian Cruise Line Ship the Norwegian Jewel.  We got on Hwy 101 and started south.  It runs along the coast and most of the views are trees with glimpses of the Pacific at first but as we continued south we would come to some amazing views of the ocean and rock formations.  It seems that a lot of the Oregon coast, due to the mountains, is rocking but the rocks are huge and make for some beautiful scenery.  What a way to see the coast.
There are several pull over spots so that you can get out and get a better view of the beaches and the rocks.  At one stop we spotted a white mass off the coast a bit.  We thought it was just a big rock and it was; with a light house on top of it.  I zoomed my camera as much as I could but with the coastal clouds and light fog it was hard to see from where we were.  The mountain roads had some twists and turns but the truck and RV handled the trip fine.  Tim did another great job driving.  He has had some different experiences driving several roads on our journey and yesterday's trip was no exception.  It was fun and we will continue down Hwy 101 when we leave here in a couple of days!

Long Beach, WA

Long Beach, WA is located in Pacific County on Long Beach Peninsula.  It is the biggest town on the peninsula with a population of 1392 and median income of $23,600 and a median age of 47.  Long Beach began when Henry Harrison Tinker bought a claim for the land from Charlie Reed in 1880.  He platted the town and called it "Tinkerville".  Settlers started coming and then a small railroad was built the ran the whole length of the peninsula.  The train really got the town growing and in 1922 it was incorporated.  It stayed a small but prosperous town with different kind of shops.  Currently it is a tourist town with unique shops and restaurants.  It has a pop culture atmosphere and is home to the World Kite Museum.   It is also home to Jake the Alligator man who is a huge pop cultural phenomenon in the Northwest.  Bumper stickers are seen all through Oregon and Washington.  Jake has a human face but the rest of him is an alligator.
Long Beach is a neat town and there is a lot of "different" shops to visit.  There is a board walk down by the beach that allows some nice views of the beach over the dunes.  We walked the board walk and then visited a unique museum, Marsh's Free Museum.  It is a gift shop with lots of odd items on display.  The items are said to represent the Northwest.  It is full of every "real" stuffed animal you could think of along with some old and kind of odd amusement machines ( slot machines, penny movies, etc.).  It was a beautiful sunny day and after three days of cloudy cool weather it was nice to see the sun.  We took advantage of the nice day and checked out the peninsula.   The town area was really busy but the boardwalk was quiet.  It was a fun place to visit!

Lewis & Clark National Historic Park

Lewis & Clark National Historic Park is located on the mouth of the Columbia River and commemorates the Lewis & Clark Expedition.  After reaching the Pacific Ocean the expedition built canoes to cross the Columbia river and built a camp on the Oregon shore as high as they could get from the water.  Fort Clatsop was the expedition's camp during the winter of 1805-1806.  Lewis and Clark National Park was started as a National Memorial in 1958 and in 1966 it was put on the list of the National Register of Historic Places.  On Oct 3, 2004 it was reassigned the Lewis & Clark National Historic Park with expanded jurisdiction of multi sites including Clark's Dismal Nitch, Fort Clatsop, Foot to Sea Trail, Memorial to Thomas Jefferson, Netul Landing, Salt Works, Station Camp and the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center meaning the park is located in both Oregon and Washington. 
We never intended to link our Westward Ho! journey to the Lewis & Clark Expedition but it seems that we have visited or followed some of the same areas they travel.  Starting in St Louis, as we passed through the area they began their expedition to crossing the Missouri river in South Dakota  that they traveled to making our last stop in Washington their last stop in reaching the Pacific Ocean.  It was all just a coincidence and an extra benefit.  Learning more about the Lewis & Clark Expedition was interesting and made our journey more fun. 
Today we woke up to sunshine, something we have not seen since we have arrived in Seaview and so, between football games, we will be headed to the boardwalk in Long Beach and maybe check out a couple of lighthouses too!

Beard's Hollow

Beard's Hollow is located at Cape Disappointment south of Seaview, WA and right at the end of the beach that Long Beach Thousand Trails RV Resort is on.  It is north of the North Head Lighthouse.  On November 15, 1805 Captain Lewis reached the Pacific Ocean near  Beard's Hollow.  It was named after Captain E.N. Beard whose ship, the Vandalia, met disaster off the mouth of the Columbia river in 1853.  The crew was lost and Captain Beard's body was found on the beach near the hollow.
We walked the beach, which the sand is very very soft, even near the water, so we got our exercise!  Beard's Hollow is a beautiful area that we saw as soon as we looked south.  It was cool and misty so the fog around the point made it a little creepy but was the perfect setting.  It also made for a great picture.  We walked down to get a closer look but the tide was coming in and the mist was turning into rain.  Now if it was a warm day we wouldn't of minded the light rain but when it is 55 degrees and windy, it makes for a chilly day.   We headed back to the RV to get warmed up. 

Long Beach Thousand Trails

We are at Long Beach Thousand Trails in Seaview, WA.  It is located along the Pacific Ocean on the Long Beach Peninsula.  It is a 22 acre preserve that is at the southwestern most point of Washington State.  Here you can fish for salmon, go to beach or walk a nature path through the lush green forests.  It is a smaller TT resort but it's location is amazing.  It was really cloudy all day which kept the temperature around 55 degrees with a mist in the air but we had to check out the beach anyway.   The beach is so much different in the Northwest than it is in the southwest.  The sand is almost gray looking and even near the water when the sand is usually easier to walk on it was still soft  and the waves were big.  I have to admit that even though the weather was not at it's best it still made for a nice picture.  We are a little far from any big towns but there are small towns around the area that we will be checking out.  Each are unique in their own way. 

Chehalis, WA

Chehalis, WA is a city in Lewis County.  Population 7259 with a median income of $33,500 and a median age of 32.  Chehalis began as a settlement around a warehouse beside a railroad track in 1873.  The county seat was moved to Chehalis from Cloguato in 1874 and it is still the County Seat today.  A store was added to the warehouse and several houses were constructed nearby and a town began to grow.  The new town was first named Saundersville for S. S. Saunder who donated the land around the warehouse.  In 1879 the name was changed to Chehalis and was named for the Chehalis Indian tribe.  Chehalis was incorporated in 1883.  Logging and agriculture was the economy of Chehalis and still is today along with Portable housing manufacturing and retail.
Chehalis is a nice town with a busy Historic downtown area and a retail area in the newer part of Chehalis.  The downtown area has some really cool looking buildings and unlike a lot of historic downtown areas that are full of antique stores and restaurants Chehalis' downtown area has a lot of small town businesses like a barbershop, Tailor, cleaners, etc along with the antique stores and restaurants  The train station is now the historic museum and on one of the side streets there is a farmer's market with some really great looking vegetables, mushrooms, garlic, etc.  It was a nice downtown area that was very busy and active for a Tuesday afternoon.  The new section of town has all the major retailers, fast food restaurants and a Super Walmart.  Chehalis is a nice town located right off I-5 about 60 miles south of Seattle.  It is about an hour from Mt Rainer National Park so on clear days you can see Mt Rainer.  It is a quite a town!

Mount Rainer

Mount Rainer is a massive stratovolcano in Washington.  It is the highest mountain in Washington and the highest peak in the Cascade Mountains.  It has a summit elevation of 14,411 ft. It is considered as one of the most dangerous volcanos in the world and is on the Decade Volcano list.  That list is a list of 16 volcanos that will do the most destruction if one erupts.  Mount Rainer has a large amount of glacial ice and could potentially produce massive lahers, mud flow or debris flow, that would threaten the whole Puyallup river valley.  In other words, it would take out every town and city from Mt Rainer all the way to Tacoma, WA.  On clear days Mt Rainer is a backdrop in Seattle and most of the Seattle area.  On extremely clear days Mt Rainer can be see from as far away as Portland, OR and Victoria, BC.  Mt Rainer has 26 glaciers and 36 square miles of permanent snowfields and glaciers.  It is the most heavily glaciated peak in the lower 48 States.  The summit is topped by two volcanic craters each more that 1000 ft in diameter.  The larger east crater overlaps the west crater.  Mt Rainer is so massive that is actually produces its own weather.  On the west side of the mountain 90 inches of rain falls annually.
Mount Rainer National Park was established on March 2, 1899.  It was the fifth National Park and the first to be established with a National forest.  It has 236,381 acres that includes Mt. Rainer.  97% of the park is preserved for wilderness.  When the roadways through the park was being designed the route chosen was not for the easiest way to pave a road but it was designed to see Mt Rainer as much as possible during the drive.  The engineers did a great job that way because as you drive through the park you do see Mt Rainer most of the time.  A convertible with the top down would be the ideal way of traveling through the park. The park has several campgrounds and two inns.  The National Park Inn in the Longmire area is a large log cabin inn  and some of the buildings around the inn are the first to be built in the park.  The Paradise Inn is a larger inn and sits right on the foothills of Mt Rainer.  It was called Paradise because one of the family members of the first park ranger took a look at the flowered meadow below Mt Rainer and said, "this is paradise".  This part of the park is the most visited area of the park.
Mt Rainer is beautiful and every view is amazing.  I took several pictures, over 300, and I still would take more.  It is huge and we hiked as far up the mountain as we could go without a climbing permit.  The closer we got the more beautiful it was.  The hike going up the summit was a killer, for me, but I am so glad we did it.  There was smoke from the fires in eastern Washington that created a haze for most of the day but by mid afternoon the smoke and haze cleared and we got some great views.  What an experience of a lifetime!  We will come back to visit Mt Rainer a few more times.  We would like to see it in every season and actually do some of the trails in the park.  As far as climbing the glaciers, I don't think it will ever happen but you never know.  Check another one off my bucket list!

Puget Sound

Puget Sound is a sound in Washington and part of the Salish Sea.  It is a complex coastal body of water with interconnected marine waterways and basins. There is one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan Fuca and the Pacific Ocean.  The miner connection is Deception Pass that connects to the Strait of Juan Fuca  and the major one is Admiralty Inlet that connects to the Pacific Ocean.  Puget Sound extends 100 miles from Deception Pass in the north to Olympia, WA in the south.  It's average depth is 205 ft deep.  At it's maximum depth (off Point Jefferson) it is 930 ft deep and the depth of the main basin, between the southern tip of Whidbey Island and Tacoma, WA is 600 ft deep.  It was named by George Vancouver.  He named it after one of his officers, Lt. Peter Puget, who was part of his expedition.
For me Puget Sound is a beautiful body of water that differs in so many ways.  I have seen quite a few different parts of it and each area of the sound is unique in it's own way.  From the rocky beaches to the salmon hatcheries, quaint houses and  marinas full of different types of boats.  There is  a lot of natural shoreline mixed with industrial shorelines.  It is beautiful and I am so glad I have had the opportunity to see most of it starting at Deception Pass all the way to Tacoma.
Today we are headed to Mt Rainer National Park.  We can see the tip top of the Mt Rainer here at the campsite so I am looking forward to really seeing it!  Check back tomorrow for pictures and to hear about our journey at Mt Rainer.

Chehalis Thousand Trails

We are now staying at Chehalis Thousand Trails RV Resort in Chehalis, WA.  Chehalis TT is the very first Thousand Trails RV Resort.  This is the place where it all began back in 1972.   It is a nice RV resort with all the amenities plus more.  It has two pools, one at the Adult Lodge and one at the Family Lodge.  It has a nice country store and has a really nice miniature golf course.  It also has a tennis court, volleyball court, basketball court, horse shoes, shuffleboard but some of the 'plus' stuff is a slip n slide hill.  In the summer the hill gets watered down and tubes are used to slide down the hill.  In the winter it is used for sledding after the snow has fallen.  It also has handball courts and a horse stable.  When Chehalis TT opened it was way before the era of big rigs because as soon as you enter the gates you have to climb a huge hill to get to the campsites.  It is quite a challenge especially without getting a running start.  There are two places in the resort where you can see Mt. Rainer and Mt St Helens.  I saw them both but barely.  It was a hazy cloudy day so I am hoping it will clear up so I can try an get some pictures!  So, here we are at our sixth Thousand Trails resort in Washington with one more to go!  We have been very happy so far at each one and we will definitely be returning again and again.

Deception Pass

Deception Pass is a strait separating Whidbey Island from Fidalgo Island where it connects Skagit Bay, part of Puget Sound, with the Strait of Juan de Fugca.  The Deception Pass area has been home to several Native American tribes for thousands of years.  The first Europeans to see the area was in 1790 when the Manuel Quimper Expedition came through the area.  Later on June 3, 1792 a group of sailors led by Joseph Whidbey, part of the Vancouver Expedition, found and mapped Deception Pass.  George Vancouver, head of the Vancouver Expedition, gave the name, Deception Pass, because it had misled him into thinking Whidbey Island was a peninsula.  The deception was Deception Pass is a dramatic seascape where tidal flow and whirlpools beneath the twin bridges move quickly.  During the low tides the swift current can lead to standing waves, large whirlpools and rolling eddies.  During high tide standing waves and Cat 2 and 3 rapids exist.  The bridge was built in 1935 but before the bridge was built a ferry service would be used to go from Fidalgo to Whidbey and back.  
Deception Pass is still deceiving.  We were there during low tide so we saw the whirlpools, several of them but did not see the rapids.  The rapids are so good that Kayakers come out to challenge Deception Pass.  Just at the end of the land in Deception Pass there is an island called Deception Island.  That island use to be used by pirates that smuggled Chinese laborers into the U.S.    To me, Deception Pass was intriguing.  I wish I had a boat so I could travel through the pass.  Watching from above on the bridge we watched boat after boat work through the pass.  Entering from the Puget Sound side it looked like the  boat was being pushed to it's starboard side the whole way through the pass.  The land around Deception Pass is beautiful and full of trees.  Lots of different types of trees and there were a lot of trails that could be hiked some leading  to the water and others through the forests to other parts of Deception Pass.  I was proud of Tim for walking the entire bridge with me which was a challenge for him since he is afraid of heights.  Shadow seemed to enjoy it and kept sticking his head through the bridge rails to look down at the water.  It was a beautiful area and the water and landscape on both sides of the bridge was post card material.  Thanks Art for the tip!

Seattle, WA

Seattle, WA is a major coastal seaport in Washington.  Population 608,660 in the city limits (3.4 million for the Seattle metropolitan area) with a median income of $60,800 and a median age of 46.  Seattle is the largest city in Washington, the Pacific Northwest and North of San Francisco, CA.  It sits on a narrow strip of land between the Puget Sound and Lake Washington.  The Container Port in Seattle is the third largest in the U.S. after Long Beach, CA and New York City/New Jersey. 
Seattle has been inhabited by Native Americans for at least 4,000 years before the first permanent white settlers, Arthur A Denny and his group of travelers (the Denny Party) arrived at Aiki Point on November 13, 1851.  The settlement moved to what is currently Seattle in 1853.  Seattle was named after Chief Sealth from the local Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. 
Logging was Seattle's first major industry but by the 19th century had become a commercial and shipbuilding center and gateway to  Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush.  By 1910, Seattle was one of the 25 largest cities in the U.S.  The depression did hurt it's growth and it was not until World War II that the growth began again mostly due to Boeing.  In the 1980s Seattle developed a technology center.  The stream of new software, biotechnology and Internet companies led to an economic revival in the city and had turned the neighborhoods that were once known as the "red light district" into metro urban neighborhoods.  Seattle is currently the hub for "Green" industry and a model of sustainable development.
I enjoyed Seattle so much.  It has some great things to do and see.  It is a beautiful city with it's waterfront, architecture, old and new buildings and sculptures.  We started out at Pike Place Market, a huge farmers market with fresh fish, meats, fruits & veggies, bakery goods and tons of flowers!  It also has some of the best places to eat in Seattle, especially for fresh seafood!  The market was everything I expected plus more.  All the flowers were gorgeous and full of autumn colors.  The bakery goods smelled so good and the fish was plentiful.  We stopped by the Pike Place Fish Company to watch the flying fish.  The employees of the fish company throw the fish around.  Yesterday, it was flying crabs!  Looked like a fun place to work and it sure brings in the business and the crowds. Across the street is the original Starbucks.  We paid homage to it even though Tim and I do not like coffee.  After we left Pike's Market we headed to the waterfront.  All of the piers are nicely decorated and there is a ton of restaurants especially if you like seafood (which we don't).
We ate a Red Robin (a burger place on Pier 55) and sat in a booth overlooking the Puget Sound.  After lunch we boarded the "Red Bus", a double decker tour bus for a tour of Seattle.  What a great way to see the city and at a very reasonable price.  The tour only cost $10.00 each.  It hit all the major tourist areas of the city and we learned a lot about Seattle along the way.  After the tour we went to Pioneer Square which is the original city center of Seattle.  The buildings there were really old but good looking.  At Pioneer Square you can also take an Underground Tour of Seattle.  We were running out of time so we opted not to do that tour.  We then headed to the shopping district where they have every 'Big" store like Nostrum's, Macy's, Tiffany's, etc.  After checking a few stores (strictly window shopping) we headed back to Pike's Market and did some more shopping.  We did see the Space Needle at the Seattle  Center, home of the 1962 World's Fair, but did not go up in it due to time restraints and it was hazy day due to smoke that was moving in from the fires in Eastern Washington.  September is usually the best month to visit Seattle because of its clears skies and sunny weather.  I would highly recommend Seattle as a great place for a vacation or long week end.  You will not be bored!  We will be back to visit soon!

La Conner, WA

La Conner, WA is in Skagit County Population 891 with a median income of $42,300 and a median age of 46.  It was first settled in May 1867 by Alonzo Low and was first called Swimonish because the Post Office had that name.  In 1869 J.S. Conner bought the settlement's trading post and in 1870 he had the name of the town changed to La Conner to honor his wife, Louisa Ann Conner, La Conner
It was a fishing village on the Swimonish channel and a portion of the town is the Swimonish Indian Reservation.  In April La Conner hosts the majority of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival events.  The annual festival brings in 10s of 1000s of people from all over the U.S. and Canada.  La Conner is also famous for it many wild turkeys. In 2005 the town named the wild turkey as it's official town bird.  After a while the cuteness of the bird wore off and in 2010 the town started taking action to have them removed from the town limits.  La Conner's Rainbow bridge connects La Conner to Fidalgo Island where the Swimonish Indian Reservation is  and where La Conner Thousand Trails is.  Fidalgo Island is also the way to get out to Whitbey Island.
La Conner is a really neat fishing village.  The buildings have all been restored to reflect the late 1800s early 1900s time period and there are some really neat shops and tons of restaurants and cafes.
Watching the fishing boats come in and go out is an added bonus.  If you are in this area and the best time would be in the Spring for the tulip festival La Conner is a place you have to visit.
As I am writing this we are headed to Seattle to see the city.  We are both looking forward to seeing as many sights as we can today.  There is so much to do and see in Seattle that we will barely touch any of the things...but we will try!

La Conner Thousand Trails

We drove the whole 20 miles yesterday without stopping to our new RV Resort for a few days.  We are now in La Conner, WA at the La Conner Thousand Trails.  It is a 111 acre preserve but Thousand Trails does not own the land that the resort is on.  Thousand Trails leases the land from the Swinonish Indian Tribe.  Since the land belongs to the Swimonish we cannot take any crabs, fish, shells, rocks etc. with us.  It is all theirs and as long as we respect that we can use their land to stay on.  It is a nice resort with 276 campsites and 21 cabin rentals.  The best part is it's location is it sits on a salt water beach front on Puget Sound.  To the west is San Juan Islands which you can only reach by boat.  The bay is really beautiful and so we took advantage of our location and watched the sunset.  It was a little chilly (about 48 degrees) but it was worth it.  La Conner TT has all the facilities except one; the cell phone coverage is terrible in the campground.  I can get phone service if I go down to the bay but by the campsites it does not exist.  This also means I cannot use my wifi so I have to rely on the wifi at the lodge.  My blog postings while I am here will be posted later than usual since I have to abide by the lodge times too.  That is the only downfall, otherwise this is a beautiful area and we are eager to check it out.  We will be going to Seattle tomorrow! 

North Cascades National Park Part 2

The North Cascades National Park is home to several animals such as  bald eagles, wolves, grizzly bears, mountain lions, lynx, moose, wolverines, and black bears.  It is home to 75 species of mammals and 200 species of birds.  There are 11 species of fish in the northern waters and amphibian species include a western toad and tough-skinned newt.  Due to the extreme variations in rock and soil types, exposure, slope, elevation, and rainfalls North Cascade NP has a diverse plant life.  It has eight distinctive life zones that support thousands of different plant species.  No other National Park has as many different plants than North Cascades NP. 
We had such a great time at North Cascades National Park and could not believe the scenery.  The mountains and glaciers are beautiful and even though it was not on my bucket list it would of been if I had know how amazing it was.  It is a definite must see area!  Today we head to La Conner, WA which is closer to the coast.  This will be our 5th Thousand Trails RV resort in Washington and so far they have all been great!

North Cascades National Park

The Cascade Mountains is a major mountain range of Western North America extending from Southern British Columbia through Washington, Oregon and Northern California.  It includes both non volcanic mountains (North Cascades) and the volcanic mountains in the High Cascades.  The Cascades are part of the Pacific Ring Of Fire, a ring of volcanoes and associated mountains of the Pacific Ocean. In the North Cascades most of the peaks are under 10,000 ft in elevation.  There are also very low valleys, sometimes as low as 6000 ft from the top of the peaks which makes the peaks look even bigger than they are.
North Cascade National Park is the largest of the three National Parks in Washington.  There are very few buildings in the park and there are not any services either.  It is just the mountains and glaciers, a  couple of rivers, some lakes, dams and creeks.  There are also several hiking trails and one major roadway through the park.  In 1971 the park had over 318 glaciers.  It was the most of any other park outside of Alaska.  All the glaciers in the park have retreated significally from 1980 to 2005 and the rate is increasing.  The recent warmer climate has led to summer melting and more winter melting events.  Some of the glaciers have completely melted away.
I have to say that the Northern Cascades are beautiful.  The mountains with the tall jagged peaks combined with the rounded green mountains are all truly beautiful.  The camera cannot capture how beautiful the park really is.  We drove the whole width of the park and we were not disappointed with any views.  Tim and I both agreed that a visit to North Cascades National Park should be on every one's bucket list.  We were a little concerned at first whether we would see any peaks due to the cloudy weather that existed in the morning but by mid afternoon the clouds disappeared for a couple of hours.  It really is an amazing place.

Bow, Edison & Bay View, Washington

Yesterday we took a little drive to Burlington,WA to go to Michael's so I could get some supplies for a project I am working on.  Burlington was the reason we got out but on our return to the RV resort we decided to check out the small town of Bow which led us to Edison and Bay View.  Bow, WA (which is the town the RV Resort is located in) is a very small town.  It was originally called Brownsville after William J Brown who homestead the town site in 1869.  When the railroad came through it brought a population boom and the town was in need of a post office.  When it was built Brown thought that the Post Office and the town should be called Bow after the large railroad station in London.  As we drove by Bow we caught a glimpse of a bay and decided to go check it out.  That brought us to Edison.  Edison, WA population 133 with a median income of $46,600 and a median age of 43 was first settled in 1869 by Ben Samson.  It was later named for inventor Thomas Edison.  Edward R Murrow was from Edison.  Edison was a neat little town which is made up of about 6 cafes or bakeries.  It was really booming on Saturday.  We continued our drive to Bay View.  It's population is 696 with a median income of $27,200 and a median age of 48.  It was named and plotted by William J McKenna in 1884 and it holds up to it's name.  It does have a bay view.  It was an interesting drive and a nice little break between college football games.  The area is mostly farms and many are Tulip bulb farms.  There is a Tulip festival held for two weeks every Spring.  We also saw corn, blueberries, apples, etc.  The bay was not as pretty because it does have a lot of industry on it but it did have some interesting islands. 
Today we are going to Cascades National Park.  We are hoping the weather will cooperate.  A storm front is suppose to move in and we are hoping that the cloud cover will not affect the views.  Check back tomorrow and see!

Mount Vernon Thousand Trails

We are now in Bow, Washington and staying at the Mount Vernon Thousand Trails.  For the next several weeks we will only be staying at Thousand Trails RV Resorts.  To do this and to cover Washington, Oregon and California we will be moving every four days.  The four day stays are long enough to see the area we are  at and is enough time to cover the three states.  Mount Vernon Thousand Trails is our fourth TT RV Resort in Washington for us and so far we have liked every one and they have all been different.  Mount Vernon TT has a spectacular view of the Cascades and each campsite makes it feel like you are all alone in the woods due to the large pine trees that surround the sites.  It makes our 40 ft long RV look small in comparison to the trees. 
Mount Vernon Thousand Trails RV Resort has 227 campsites, rental cabins and yurts.  The large Activity Lodge is beautiful and has two huge fireplaces that are used in cooler weather.  It has all the other amenities including shuffle board, mini golf and a swimming pool.  This week end all Thousand Trail Resorts are celebrating  "Member Appreciation Days" with special events going on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  There are several events planned at this one which is going to make it hard to decide to stay here and attend the events or go check out all the things that we can see and do around here.  I guess time will tell which we do; check back and see!

Blaine, WA

Blaine, WA is in Whatcom county and it's Northern boundary is the Canadian border.  Population is 4684 with a median income of $36,900 and a median age of 39.  Blaine was first settled in the mid 19th century by pioneers who established the town as a seaport for the West coast logging and fishing industries.  It was incorporated in May 1890 and was named after James G Blaine, who was a U.S. Senator from Maine, Secretary of State and was a candidate for President in 1884.  Blaine was a successful town due to the logging and fishing industries.  In the early 20th century the area was logged out but the fishing kept Blaine going until the 1970s,  Today Blaine's economy is now based on cross-border Canadian Trade with warehouses and other industry near the border.  The two large marinas that once played host to the fishing boats are now filled with recreational sailboats and yachts along with a small fleet of fishing boats.  Blaine is the shared home of the Peace Arch International Monument.  The Peace Arch is a monument between the U.S. and Canadian borders.  Surrey, British Columbia and Blaine, WA share a park with the arch sitting right on the border.  It stands 67 ft tall and was dedicated in September 1921.  It commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in 1817.
Blaine is a great little town.  Main Street is no longer home to the saw mills but now has buildings filled with antique  and gift shops and lots of restaurants and cafes.  You can stand on Main Street and look out towards the marina and the point above the marinas you see Surrey, British Columbia with the Canadian mountains in the background.  It you look a little north you see the border check in booths on the U.S/Canadian border.  We ate at a cute little place that serves good food.  We ate at the Red Caboose, which was a red caboose.  It had a deck on the backside of the caboose that overlooked the marina so we enjoyed our lunch watching boats coming and going with Canada as the background.  If you are ever in Blaine, stop by and have lunch or coffee at the Red Caboose.  You will not be disappointed.  The food is good, the staff is friendly and the owners meet and greet you and chat with you.  The owner even came out to say good bye as we were leaving.  It made us feel very welcomed and we had a great lunch.  After lunch we were standing down at the Bay and when we turned around to walk to the car we all of a sudden got a view of Mt. Baker.  What a sight.  We got a chance to see sunset over Birch Bay and it was beautiful!   What a great day!

Birch Bay, WA

Birch Bay is in Whatcom County in Northwest Washingon.  It is a protected bay located  between Semiahmou Bay and Lummi Bay.  The town of Birch Bay sits beside the bay.  The population is 8412 with a median income of $40,000 and a median age of 41.  Birch Bay was named in 1792 by Archibald Menzies, a member of the Vancouver Expedition.  Vancouver's two ships used Birch Bay as an anchorage for several days.  Menzies noted a number of species of birch tress and gave that name to the bay.  Birch Bay is a half moon shaped bay surrounded by two points; Birch Point to the North and Point Whitehorn to the South.  These two points affect the waves into the bay.  As the waves reach the Points they  bend and lose energy as they move into the bay and die out leaving a quiet beach.  It is a very popular place for using the beach and fishing.
Birch Bay is a coastal town that attracts several tourists all year long.  The summer months are the most popular and that is when the town is the busiest.  It attracts vacationers from all over the U.S. and Canada.  It has several motels and cute rental cottages and lots of really neat restaurants and cafes.  When we were there it was low tide (an extreme low tide right now) and so the beach was not as attractive with the low tide smell of the bay but  I can see why so many enjoy it when the tide is not as low.  It will be a great place for a sunset which we will check out tonight!

Birch Bay Thousand Trails

We are staying at the Birch Bay Thousand Trails in Blaine, WA.  It is located about a mile east of Puget Sound and about 5 miles from the Canadian border.  This Thousand Trails has 195 campsites and some trailer rentals.  The facilities include a swimming pool, horse shoe pits, an Activity center, an Adult lounge and a Dockside deck.  It is one mile from Birch Bay which has a unique tide.  The tide at the beach goes out for almost a mile which leaves about two feet of warm water to play in. 
The RV resort has two different areas.  One area is full of tall pines and the other area is a big meadow.  What is great about this TT is that there is lots of grass surrounding the campsites.  Shadow loves to lay in the grass.  This is the second TT we have been in, both in Washington, that does not have a miniature golf course but their wifi is supper fast. It is a nice resort and while  we are here we will be checking out some of the local towns in the area.

Stevens Pass

Stevens Pass is a mountain pass through the Cascade Mountains.  It is located on the border of King and Chelan Counties.  US Hwy 2 runs over the pass that reaches a maximum elevation of 4061 ft.  It was named after John Frank Stevens, an American engineer who built the Great Northern Railroad.  In 1890 he was out surveying for the Railroad and found this pass.  It looked like no one used the  pass because there were no trails or evidence of anyone being there.  He felt is was a good area for the Railroad to come through and it was built. 
There have been avalanches and two of them have been notable.  The first one happened in 1910 when one came down on the tracks that stalled two trains.  One was the Seattle Express, a passenger train and the other train was the Fast Mail train.  While waiting out the snow removal another avalanche hit six days later killing 96 people (35 passengers and 61 railroad workers).  The second avalanche happened just last February (2012) when three of four professional skiers died when an avalanche hit them.  The survivor was wearing the Avalanche Airbag backpack that pushed her head out of the snow.  It was on the news; you might remember it.
As we drove over Stevens Pass we were in awe of the scenery; it was beautiful.  The Cascades are amazing and there was still snow on some of the peaks.  It was hard to image any avalanches even after seeing the area where the February 2012 one happened.  I am glad we had the chance to drive over Stevens Pass and through the Cascades.   We will be seeing more of the Cascades next week end when we visit Cascades National Park.

Wenatchee River & Lake Wenatchee

Wenatchee River is a river in central Washington originating at Lake Wenatchee and flowing southeast for 53 miles emptying into the Columbia River.  It passes through several towns including Leavenworth.  Historically it was the dividing line between Okanogan County and Killailas County until 1891 when the counties were realigned and now it runs down the center of Chelan County.  Water from the river and it tributaries has been divided for irrigation since 1891, mainly for orchards.
Lake Wenatchee is a glacier and snow melt fed lake in the Wenatchee National Forest on the eastern slope of the Cascades Mountain Range.  The lake covers 2480 acres and reaches a depth of 244 ft. deep. 
The Wenatchee river is really beautiful and the rushing water over the rocks was a pretty sight with the mountains in the background.  The water was cold but Shadow went swimming anyway; although he did not stay in very long.  Lake Wenatchee was also beautiful and big.  As we drove along it's shore we could not believe how blue and clear the water was. 
This area of Washington is really beautiful and it a great place to visit.  I would recommend the Leavenworth area as a great place to get away from it all.  In the Spring and Summer it offers fishing, swimming, rafting and in the fall and winter, once the snow has fallen, you can ski, snow mobile and go ice fishing.  Leavenworth, we will be back!

College Football Saturday

College Football season has begun!   We both enjoy football whether it be college or professional and so we took advantage of a cool day and decided to watch some games.  Being in the Pacific time zone means all the games on the east coast start a little earlier; by 9:00 am we were already watching Northwestern playing Syracuse and University of Illinois playing Western Michigan (channel switching).   We actually got to watch the Florida Gator's game also.  So, it was a quiet relaxing day, watching football.  Today we are going to check out a couple of rivers that are flowing around here.  There are some good hiking trails so we are going to take Shadow with us also.  He loves to run and he might even get a chance swim in one of the rivers. 

Leavenworth, WA

Leavenworth, WA is a city in Chelan county.  Population 1965 with a median income of $35,700 and a median age of 41.  The entire town center is modified on a Bavarian village.  The first route across Stephen Pass was built be the Great Northern Railway in 1892.  The town site was across the Wenatchee river from Icicle and was named Leavenworth the same year the construction was completed.   Captain Charles Leavenwoth, president of the Okanogan Investment Company,purchased the land in present downtown Leavenworth.  They laid the streets parallel to the railroad tracks.  The railroad was completed in the Winter of 1893.  Lafayette and Chauncey Lamb came to Leavenworth in 1902 and built the second largest sawmill in Washington State.  Leavenworth became incorporated in September 1906 and the community became the headquarters of the Great North Railroad in the early 1900's.  In 1920 the railroad relocated  and the town met it's demise.  It continued in the same path until 1962 when the Project LIFE (Leavenworth Improvement For Everything) committee decided to transform the city into a mock Bavarian village.  They got the idea from Olsen & Pauline Watson who had visited Sobrangs, CA.  The town there was a Bavarian village so they suggested that idea and the rest is history.  Leavenworth has a Nutcracker museum that has over 5000 nutcrackers.  The town also holds an annual Oktober Fest and a few other festivals. 
Leavenworth made me feel like I was in a Bavarian town with music being played and all the buildings looking like a town in Germany.  It is a lot of fun with the unique shops, great restaurants (many featuring German food and all the festivals that are going on.  This week end is an Art Festival.  We walked the entire town, had lunch at Uncle Ull's Pub and continued to check out the town.  If you are ever in this area you have to stop by and stay a night or two and enjoy being in Germany aka Leavenworth!