Out OF Alaska

 These pictures were taken while we were in Port Townsend WA, one of our favorite spots in Washington.




 Heading south the main industry is logging, and the roads have a little less construction. We stopped at Gitanyow BC to check out the totem poles then continued south at one time driving through an area that reminded us of Arizona. The Frasier River valley was beautiful and we were soon at the border. The electronic sign told us there would be a 40 minute delay however we waited at least 2 hours. When we finally got there the crossing took only about 1 minute, they had 5 lines, and I can’t imagine what took so long, almost all the traffic was people from BC going to the states to shop.


We arrived at the Airstream park in Lacey Washington, and spent the week cleaning the car and motorhome, and having the glass repaired, it is so nice to have a rear window again! We attended the Kite Festival in Long Beach. People come from all over the world to compete in the events. We got there in time to see just one event, The Ballet; competitors choreograph routines to the music of their choice. There was indoor kite flying in the evening but since we were 2 ½ hours from Lacey we decided not to stay. The drive to the Pacific was beautiful. Saturday we attended the farmers market an Olympia and there was also a sand sculpture contest going on just 2 blocks away, some talented people turning sand into dragons, Buddha’s and most anything else imaginable. From the market we went south on I-5 to Chehalis and the Garlic Festival. We were a bit disappointed, the did have all things garlic but it appeared as if the venders made white GARLIC signs and placed them in front of their regular fare. (Garlic fries, garlic cheesesteaks, garlic onion rings etc.). I did see some garlic iced brownies that we thought better of trying, they were the only stand that didn’t have a line a mile long, and we ended up leaving without eating anything. Some of our Airstream friends came in after their caravan for a few days before heading east. We went to dinner with the Kunkels and Frank and Joan Anderson. It was nice to visit with friends after this long on the road! We also met with the couple who bought our 1999 blue airstream motorhome. They have bought a place in Land Yacht Harbor and are living here full time. We were introduced at Saturday morning coffee and they came over to us afterwards. Also living here is a couple we met several years ago at TR, Ed and Esther Kassner. They are also members of the Delmarva unit but have their home here. They had us over for Ice cream, their home is beautiful. There are 33 homes for sale here, because people are getting old. They are for sale for ridiculously low prices but you must own an airstream and belong to the Washington Unit of WBCCI to buy one. Their yearly fee of under $700.00 is a real bargain.

From Lacy we went to Olympic National Park where Norm had read about a natural hot springs you hiked back to. Unfortunately when we got there it was closed because of a dam removal on the Elwha River. We visited `the beautiful town of Port Townsend. Its port was filled with wooden boats mostly sail boats, they were beautiful look at, and we spent an hour or so at the boat yard watching repairs being done. Next day we drove to Hurricane Ridge, to enjoy the subalpine wildflowers, and views of glaciers and beautiful scenery. On the way we stopped in Sequim, with its Lavender farms. A lot of the homes in the area have masses of lavender in their landscapes. It is quite beautiful. We stopped at a farm with a gift shop and tried some Lavender Ice cream. They had 3 flavors with Lavender infused in them, and we tried the vanilla because I thought maybe you could notice the lavender more in that one. We really couldn’t tell much difference except for an after taste we weren’t fond of. I must add that we thought this area was quite charming and should we ever move to Washington State Port Townsend would be the area of choice.

Back to Land Yacht Harbor in Lacy for another 5 days, we didn’t want to start out with Labor Day weekend coming up. This time we drove to Mount Rainer which is about a 2 hour drive from Lacy It was a beautiful day so we had high hopes the mountain would be “out”! We went to Paradise and walked among the wildflowers but no mountain to be seen. The cloud cover was wrapped around it but everywhere else was clear. You can see Mount Rainer from the park we are staying at as well as many views when you are driving the highways. It is so impressive but it could be worrisome if it erupts and you live in its path. There are so many glaciers that would melt and turn to mud, flooding as far as Tacoma.

We said our goodbyes and headed toward Oregon.

Our first stop was at the Washougal WA Pendleton factory, where I was told you could get excellent buys on Pendleton Blankets. They are quite beautiful but the more I thought about it I realized they would not fit my décor or my daughters, and they are quite pricey even at the factory. We then went to Breitenbush nfcg close to Breitenbush Hot springs where Norm spent the next day soaking and I stayed at the campground reading. Our campsite was right on the river and I really enjoyed the day. The next day we drove through the Willamette National forest with its tall, tall trees and beautiful scenery searching out two more hot springs ,one at McKenzie Bridge and one called Twilagar which he liked a lot.

The next day we moved on to another National Forest Camp Ground south of Bend. This one was just as beautiful on a lake in the middle of lava fields. There were a lot of fisherman there with boats and as a bonus a hot spring just a short hike around the lake. We took an amazing ride to the top of a mountain that overlooked the Newberry Cauldron and both East Lake and Paulina Lake and the Large Obsidian flow. Another ride went to the Lava Forest where we walked a mile around a lava lake that had encased trees in the lava and you can still see the molds of the trees in the lava. All this volcanic action was quite fascinating to us. The High Desert Museum was a gem in the AAA book , and it was quite nice. It had a section on Indians , settlers, Buffalo, and an outdoor display with various animals.

The next day we went to Sisters OR, a small town with amazing shops and home of the huge quilt show every spring. On the way there we noticed a fire about as big as a bon fire in the hills south west of Sisters. As we were walking around the shops we noticed the fire trucks leaving with their sirens blaring and the fire had grown large with clouds of black smoke billowing up .We left Sisters to continue on a scenic byway and observed Helicopters with buckets flying toward it and by now it was huge. We drove through more lava fields and forests with 150’ trees until we reached still two more hot springs near Oakridge. We were both impressed with Central OR. There is a Snow capped mountain almost in every view and lush forests on one side of the mountains and entirely different landscape on the other. (High Desert).

We are attending the Pendleton Rally and drove 276 miles today to get to Pendleton.