Photos for the next entry

A Half a Mountain and Two Days On the Road Home

Frank: Mt. St. Helens is a lot more interesting than I thought it would be, and a lot more popular than I thought it would be. To get to the observation point you drive east from Castle Rock 47 miles. That’s 47 miles out and 47 miles back because it’s not a loop. To me that’s a very daunting trip to go out and look at half a mountain. So I figured that the road would be a narrow two lane rural highway at the end of which would be a parking lot that would hold perhaps 25 cars. Instead what we found was a 4-lane superhighway all the way from Castle Rock out to the observatory. (In this case observatory means a place to observe Mt. St. Helens.) And the parking lot at the observatory was roughly the size of four football fields and was probably about half full when we were there. Now I understand the need for such a nice road going out.

On the road are three opportunities for being impressed. The first was at 19 miles and was Patty’s Place at 19-Mile House Restaurant. It had been a private residence up to the 1980 big blow and afterwards was turned into a restaurant and the food is really good. We had chicken and dumplings and peach cobbler.

The second opportunity was the Learning Center about half way up. Truthfully, I think it’s sponsored by Weyerhaeuser Lumber because it was a thinly disguised explanation of all the good the big W does by planting and cutting down trees. Personally, I have no problem with planting and cutting down trees. Thou shalt not find me out hugging trees. As a matter of fact, on our travels through Washington, Idaho, and Oregon, I saw a lot of trees that I think could be harvested and not make even a small dent in the tree population up here.

The final opportunity is the observatory itself. It’s magnificent! The movie they show of Mt. St. Helens blowing up is mind boggling. In a tribute to David Johnston, a scientist six miles from the mountain when it blew, at the beginning of the movie they play his last words to his home base, “Vancouver, Vancouver, this is it!” (Personally I think he probably said something after that.)

We all remember the blow up of Mt. St. Helens. We watched it on the national news. But, until you visit Mt. St. Helens and see all the displays and see the movie they show there, you can’t even begin to get the feeling of the massive amount of rock and ash and energy that was propelled out of the side of that mountain. So, bottom line, if you ever have the opportunity to visit Mt. St. Helens, do it.

As we left Burns, Oregon this morning, I noted that we had a about a third of a tank of gas, which should be good for about 100 miles. Since there were several small towns in our planned route I figured I’d fill up a ways down the road. Thirty-five miles down the road, we passed by the little non-town of Crane, Oregon. We were booking along pretty good when I saw a small tavern on the side of the road and asked Cheryl if she wanted a cup of coffee, she said, “Yes,” I hit the brakes, decided there was no way I was gonna make the turn into the driveway, took my foot off the brake, and said to her, “Sorry about that, maybe in the next town.”

But, wouldn't you know it about 100 yards down the road was a sign, (dear Lord give me a sign!) and that sign said, “Next gas 120 miles.” Now for any of you who have read our blogs before, this may sound like déjà vu all over again because we did the same thing before in Denio, Nevada, a couple years ago.

At the moment we were on Rt 78, a two-lane rural highway, and I decided it was better to turn around and go back 35 miles to Burns than to run out of gas in 65 miles if we kept going. I made a u-turn in a rancher’s driveway, and we started back. As we approached the Crane Café for the second time, I asked Cheryl once again, “You want a cup of coffee?” She said, “Yes.” This time I slowed down and had no trouble making the turn-in and there, way off the road, shining in the morning light, was one single, lonely, unleaded only, gas pump. 

I couldn't believe my eyes!  So, I got us two cups of coffee, a slice of coconut cream pie which we ate and got gas.  $104 later (did you ever believe you’d see a tank of gas costing $100?) we were once again heading south on 78 to our eventual destination in Winnemucca, Nevada, at which we now sit.

Cheryl: Sending huge apologies for lack of a picture of the seven handsome cowboys we saw riding horses along the road yesterday. I got so flustered I missed the shot!  However, it’s emblazoned on my memory, and I’ll not soon forget the sight.

Your intrepid trailer spam-masters,

Brian Williams, Diane Sawyer, and backseat drivers, Lady and The Tramp

Tired.

Chicken & Dumplings and Peach Cobbler.  Yum!

Mt. St, H.

Little Begger.

Truck dug out of the muck.

Drove up to Mt. Saint Helens.
Fifty miles up, fifty miles back.
WELL WORTH IT!  Fantastic!  Do it!
We are tired.
Here are some photos.
More prose later.
Maybe.
F.

Howdy! Long time no blog.

(Note:  Clicking, or double clicking on the photos makes them larger.)

We are on the downward side of the big loop and heading back toward Phoenix.  We should show up about the 16^th or so, but right now we are in Castle Rock, Washington at a KOA cleverly positioned at the entrance to the road that goes right out to Mt. Saint Helen National Monument.  Clever these KOA folks!

We will leave the trailer here and drive out to the park tomorrow.  We’ve been told the visitor’s center and the road views are spectacular.  Besides I understand that there is a penny press at the visitor center.  One more for the grandkids collections!

As Cheryl has written in her blog today we just spent four days in Port Townsend, Washington.  We had passed through it a couple of years ago and I wasn’t impressed.  I thought it was a one, two-block long, street town.  Now having spent some time there I’m very impressed.  It a very nice little town of about 10,000 very nice folks with a whole bunch of beautifully preserved Victorian buildings.

We camped at Fort Worden State Park which used to be a huge Army base.  It was founded back in about 1902, named for the captain of the ironclad Monitor, and deactivated in 1953, I think.  It is beautifully preserved.  The movie “An Officer and a Gentleman” was filmed there so we bought the DVD and enjoyed watching and seeing all the areas we are now familiar with.

While Cheryl spent time with her daughter and granddaughter I took our grandson Rowan and his friend Jesse out to Whidbey Island to visit another fort, Fort Casey.  It’s gun emplacements are even bigger than Worden’s and the Washington State Parks Department actually found two of the 1800’s vintage 10’ “Disappearing Guns” in the Philippines and brought them back and mounted them in the fort.  So the guns you see in the photos are the real deal.

The next day we went down to Bremerton to see the Naval Undersea Museum.  It is huge and has all kinds of neat Navy displays all centered on the submarine branch of the Naval Service.  Question:  What do surface sailors call submariners?  Answer:  Bubble Heads.  Question:  What do submariners call surface sailors?  Answer:  Targets.

Vignette 1:   The photos I’ve posted that show the same people at both ends are not photo-shopped.  They are iPhone panorama photos and I have the people stand on the left side of the photo and then as I slowly pan right they run behind me and stand on the right side of the photo and appear twice.

Vignette 2:  Interesting town names:  We found our thrill on “Newberry Hill,” and in “Notus” we wrote several neat cheers for the high school football team.   “Two, four, six, eight, who do we appreciate?  Notus!  Notus!  Notus! 

That’s all.  Ride Safe.

Frank

Ref:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Worden

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Casey

Dateline: Castle Rock, Washington: Breaking Radio Silence

Friday, August 09, 2013

Cheryl: When we last communicated we were on our way to Port Townsend to visit our daughter, Kimberly; her husband, John; and our grandchildren, Rowan (14) and Hailey (9). We stayed in Fort Worden State Park on the sandy beaches of Puget Sound where we watched large ships ply the shipping lanes across Puget Sound far out on the horizon. I’ll let Frank tell you about the history of the Fort and his adventures with Rowan and his friend, Jesse.

Kimberly and Hailey

Really Cold Water!!

Makeshift Teeter-Totter

We had a secluded spot for the trailer and a very private picnic table surround by trees and bushes on three sides. Three of the four days we spent there dawned foggy with a chill, but Thursday morning brought bright sunshine by 7:00 a.m. It didn't rain any of the days we visited, and it turns out that Port Townsend traditionally doesn't get as much rainfall as the immediate Seattle area.

Frank says, "Just shoot me if I start adding yard decor!"

The 110-year-old Victorian home Kimberly just moved into about a month ago couldn't be sweeter. It’s a soft yellow outside and inside the wall colors are muted and comforting apart from the kitchen which fairly dances with bright colors opening onto green leafy vistas out huge windows over the sink. Look up through the skylight and birds can be seen flying to unknown destinations under wispy puffs of white clouds. I’m thinking this room will prove to be the heart of the house where everyone who enters gravitates.

I fell in love with the view off the sun-room and enclosed porch where those big crank out windows with wavy glass panes hint at the longevity of this historic house. Just think, 110 years of kids sliding down the wide banister in the front hallway and tripping upstairs to play in the spacious bedrooms. The home feels welcoming and full of the joys of past lives lived gracefully in a setting that includes tiers of rock-walled gardens, ancient trees large enough to support rope swings and a playhouse with its own mailbox now dubbed, The Horse Hoof Girls’ house.

Kimberly and John commissioned extensive remodeling inside including a bedroom for Rowan, a spectacular TV room, and storage in what was once an unfinished, downstairs garage area. Now, instead of garage doors, there are French doors opening onto the former short driveway that serve as entry into Rowan’s kingdom while, the drive provides parking space for his bicycle. Some teenage hangout, huh!

Needless to say I loved Kimberly’s new digs, and I’m even more in love with Port Townsend’s downtown full of historic Victorian buildings and all kinds of funky shops and places to eat overlooking the waterfront. What an enchanting place my daughter has chosen to live! I’m so glad for her guest house and an open invitation to visit.

That’s it for my accounting of our time spent in “radio silence.” I’ll let Frank fill you in on the details, and I didn't even mention Elevated Ice Cream, a shop where homemade ice cream on sugar cones make you keep coming back for more, and I did that twice!

We're now settled at KOA in Castle Rock, WA ready to tour Mt. St. Helens tomorrow morning.

In case you missed it in an earlier blog

Manly Blog – Phase 3. Jake Brakes, Serious Snow, and Cars, Cars, Cars

Vignette 1:  So, about the Jake Brake RV Resort.  We wanted to arrive in the Seattle area on Friday, August 2^nd so we pushed on past our normal limits and found ourselves with limited RV Park availability near Ellensburg, Washington the evening of August 1^st.  We did a “Good Sam” search and found the E&J RV Park.  By the way, did I mention in the original Manly Blog that I LOVE Good Sam RV Parks?  Well, not so much anymore.

It seems that Good Sam assigns rating points on some arcane system that is in no way related to reality.  Hence the 8.0 (out of 10) rating for said E&J RV Park.  The “Park” is actually the rear parking lot of a Day’s Inn Motel and it backs up against I-90 as in 500 feet or so between us and all the big trucks.  Add to that the Railroad that runs just south of the “Park” and you can imagine the amount of sleep we got that night.  I wish Good Sam allowed user reviews on their Park Listing page.  I would write a scathing review of the E&J.

Vignette 2:  Montana and Idaho must really get some serious snow.  There are signs warning of:  Road Closures (with gates!), chain installation/removal areas, requirements for trucks to put “drag chains” on the trailer wheels, and “Snow Area, no parking for the next 42 miles.”  (a real, actual sign.)

Vignette 3:  Today we met our daughter Stacie and her son Kyle at the LeMay Auto Museum.  Wow!  Six floors of cars dating from the early 1900’s up to today.  There were American cars, European cars, original cars, modified and custom cars, new cars, old cars, race cars, and prototype cars.  It was quickly another case of subject overload.  You could spend days in there!  After the museum we went and had a nice dinner at a local semi-posh gathering place called Harmon Brewery & Eatery.  I had what I think is the best chicken sandwich I’ve ever eaten.

That’s all.  I’m tired and am going to bed.

Ride On!

Frank

Manly Blog Update: “Jake Brake RV Resort” and “Musical Spots.”

Tale 1:  Musical Spots.

When in Seattle we usually stay at the KOA in Kent.  It’s huge and there are always spots available.  Well, almost always.  It seems there was (is) a HUGE NASCAR event in Seattle this weekend and the KOA is booked, solid.  We asked the Google to find us other RV Parks and he was of very little help.  All he suggested were nasty sounding when we looked at the reviews.  Finally we found the Gig Harbor RV Resort and they said that although they were booked up they would see what they could do and call us back.  An hour later they said we could come on in but they didn’t have a three-day spot available and we would have to move to a different spot each morning.  Having little choice we agreed.

On day one we backed about 50 feet into a large spot under some trees.  It was a nice spot bigger than we needed and the next morning (yesterday) we moved into a smaller, just vacated spot and a HUGE A unit took the large spot.  So far so good.  It makes sense because the A could not have fit into the smaller spot.  This morning however was an experience that could not have been scripted, even for a Hollywood comedy.

Think spots, 83, 85, and 86.  Remember those numbers.  We were in 86.  A small C rig was in 83.  Spot 85 was vacant.  We were supposed to move from 86 to 83.  Check out time is 11 AM.  Check in time is 12 Noon.

At 10:30 we were waiting in 86 for 83 to vacate when a rig very much like ours pulled in to 85 and asked when we were leaving as he was supposed to go into our 86 spot.  He was early and the rig in 83 showed no indication of starting to unhook.  About 15 minutes later a rig pulled up behind us in the road and said he was assigned spot 85.  So now we had 83 filled and not leaving, spot 85 being used for temporarily parking while waiting for 86 which was occupied by me, and 85’s hopeful occupant sitting in the roadway.  At exactly 11 AM 83 unhooked and pulled out.   I had already hooked up so I drove around the circle and pulled into 83.  The guy in 85 followed me around the circle heading for 86 as the guy in the road pulled into 85.  It looked like a merry-go-round without music.

You may ask, “Why didn’t you stay in 86, the next guy stay in 85, and the third guy just go into 83?”  Believe me, we all asked those questions, but the answer was, “The lady in the office speaks English as her second language and reasoning was not in her vocabulary yet.”  So we all gave up and did as we were told.  Sometimes surrender is the best option.

To be continued later, with the tale of “Jake Brake RV Park.”

Exotic Ports of Call: Gig Harbor, Vashon Island, Bonney Lake and Beyond

Sunday, August 04, 2013

Cheryl: Many, many moons ago a “gig” sailed into a previously unknown and calm harbor seeking shelter from a storm; hence the town established became known as Gig Harbor. We’ve also found safe harbor here in a wooded campground where we must move our RV to another spot in the place each day. Well, they did “work us in,” and we agreed to this arrangement, but we’ve found other people who have moved as many as five times! It’s the weirdest reservation system we’ve ever encountered. So, today we need to wait until 11 a.m. (check-out time) so we can move into another spot that will be vacated by some other RV’ers. After that we’ll go visit our youngest daughter, Stacie in Bonney Lake. We visited with Mike and family yesterday, taking the ferry out to Vashon Island ($25 for one truck, 2 old geezers, and a couple Chihuahuas!) We leave Gig Harbor for Kim's place in Port Townsend tomorrow morning and head out for Long Beach, WA on Friday morning.

While on Vashon, we enjoyed a delightful dinner of salad with chicken and homemade grilled flat breads out on Mike’s deck overlooking Puget Sound, courtesy of our multi-talented daughter-in-law, Shannon who “cooks up a storm,” gardens relentlessly, “puts up” produce for the winter, and manages to play softball on a local team in her “spare time.”

Mike, who just finished putting two coats of “peach” paint on the house also built a wonderful grape arbor this winter complete with comfortable benches below and backed by one of Shannon’s many gardens, this one full of showy, sweet-breathed white lilies. The vines on the harbor are already loaded with sweet seedless grapes (whose name escapes me: Frank adds, “I think she said they were round grapes”). I’m amazed at the home and grounds (with an orchard, no less) Shannon and Mike have made for their family on Vashon. They’ve invested hours of back-breaking, do-it-yourself work since they moved in and transformed what was just a house into a comfortable and “Home-and-Garden-Magazine-worthy” home. Can you tell I’m a proud Mom, and not the least bit bashful about bragging about my “kids?”

Michael, the builder

Arbor in progress

Peanut under the Arbor

Arbor Grapes Abound!

Friday night we went out to dinner at Olive Garden (the guys really love those bread sticks!) with our youngest daughter, Stacie; our grandson, 16-year-old Kyle who owns a snazzy, red Saturn; our gorgeous 20-year-old granddaughter, Madison who works and attends the U-Dub (University of Washington); and her boyfriend, Nick who works, attends college, and will obviously be pining for his lovely, Madison when she leaves for a month in Rome very soon (to study Italian cinema for her Communications curriculum at the U).

Monday morning we’ll “pull up stakes” from the amazing Gig Harbor RV Resort and drive an hour north to Port Townsend to spend four days camping at Fort Worden State Park on the beach and within walking distance of our eldest daughter, Kimberly and family. Port Townsend is a picturesque harbor town with a decommissioned “old timey” military fort nearby. It draws artists of all kinds to its creative center and promises to be a fun place for us to park for a few days of being tourists. Kimberly, grandson, Rowan; granddaughter, Hailey; and son-in-law, John have recently moved into a 110-year-old restored and remodeled Victorian home I’m very anxious to see. It has an enclosed second-story porch and sits on a lot populated with trees, a guest house and office out back surround by terraced gardens. Kimberly has yet to discover what various kinds of plants these many plots might offer up during the various seasons. Rowan starts high school in a progressive community school where he and classmates can walk easily to downtown for a sandwich at lunchtime if they choose. Nine-year-old Hailey has already made several friends and although missing her close girlfriends back in Carnation, still loves her new room and playhouse out back. Kimberly has already been sailing and looks forward to more of the same as she settles into her new home.

Well, I’m sure that’s more than you ever wanted to know about our family, but it will make a nice record for us since we tend to forget much about our trips as they all blend together in a pleasant mixture of happy memories we have trouble sorting out sometimes. And, lest you have this thought, it has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with our age . . . nope, nothing, and nothing at all. Frank adds, “That’s our story and we’re stickin’ to it.”

Love from the grapevine: Frank-grape, Cheryl-grape, Peanut-grape and Cleo Chica-grape