Tag Archive: washington


PREPARING TO CROSS THE BORDER INTO CANADA ON OUR ROAD TRIP TO ALASKA

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May 5, 2012

Issaquah, Washington
Woke this morning to a temp of 44 degrees F. and……wait for it…….rain. There was a Starbuck located directly behind where we were parked and we had excellent wi-fi internet connection from them. Since we rarely go into a Starbuck, we had no idea how busy they are! Of course, it is a Saturday morning, so lots of folks out and about but the line extended the length of the place.
Left Issaquah, Wa. mid-morning and headed toward the Canadian International Border in Sumas, Wa. On the way, stopped at a rest stop north of Everett, Wa. for lunch, to rest, to use the RV dump site, add fresh water and start setting up our Spot Satellite GPS Messenger. We’ve found that most of the rest areas in Washington have a free RV dump site, nice.

Spot Satellite GPS Messenger–
When Derek (a wonderful friend of ours) heard we were going to Alaska, he sent us a Spot Satellite GPS Messenger to us to use while we are in the middle of nowhere. It kind of looks like a big wrist watch. Thanks Derek. Right now, in the rest stop before we cross the border, we’re trying to activate the device so if we need it, it will be available. This “find me spot” sends our location and a pre-selected message to our friend that is routine. One button says we are OK, one button requests help, and one button goes to and alerts emergency responders to our GPS location. Of course, our daughter K said that if a grizzly is after us, no emergency responder will make it to us in time. She strongly advised us not to hike in Alaska. Says the emergency responders will only find a grizzly with a Spot Satellite GPS Messenger in his stomach and no other evidence of us. She’s not trying to make us nervous is she?  Naw, probably just being cautious. So, the bottom line is, we hope we will not need that emergency responder button but would be nice to know it is available.  It’s the weekend now so we’ll finish the signing up for the Spot Me somewhere in British Columbia.

Lazy Daze Motor Home–
Because Lazy Daze Motor homes are manufactured one at a time by a small, family run manufacturer that does not use dealers, there are only a few made each year. So, when someone sees a Lazy Daze, it is distinct looking and a rare sighting the further away from Southern California you are.
Yesterday, while in line to get gas, the man getting gas in front of us was staring at us. He didn’t say anything at the time but left the gas pump, drove around and parked to talk to Jerry about the motor home. Turns out, this was a former “proud owner of a Lazy Daze” and said he loved his Lazy Daze.  He encouraged us to enjoy every minute of our travels, telling us we were lucky. Well, we never take for granted our good fortune to be traveling and we do know this time in our lives will be short so we try to enjoy every minute. It helps that we have a Lazy Daze motor home as it is so well-built we just don’t usually have trouble with it.  This trip will be fairly rugged so it will be a test of the Lazy Daze and maybe us, that’s for sure.

Crossing the Border into Canada–

Will post our experience with the border crossing tomorrow when we find an internet connection somewhere along the way.

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ISSAQUAH, WASHINGTON ON OUR ROAD TRIP TO ALASKA

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May 4, 2012

Lacey, Washington—
Left Aberdeen last night after a day of laundry and started driving. Decided we were tired so stopped in the town of Lacey, Wa. a suburb of Olympia, the state capitol. Spent the night in the Lacey, Washington Walmart parking lot. There are signs in this Walmart parking lot that say “No overnight parking” but the Walmart manager said the signs just mean no overnight parking in that particular section as the trucks park there at night. This morning we woke to 45 degrees F. and rain. When the sun did come out this morning, we decided we needed to spend some time “mucking out” the motor home. A few weeks of coming and going in rain, mud and grasses results in lots of dirt and grasses getting walked into the motor home. After so many hikes, even with a concerted effort to clean our shoes before entering, we managed to make a mess of the place, We do have lots of throw rugs down to catch the majority of the debris but they needed to be taken out and cleaned. The floor got swept and washed and the windows were cleaned (just the inside of the windows on the outside they’re still being cleaned by the rain). Vacuuming and dusting rounded out the morning.
Drove to the Costco in Lacey, Washington.  $450.00+  and many hours later; the refrigerator, freezer and every cabinet is bulging with good eats that should last us awhile. Good thing this motor home started out underweight or we would surely have sprung something.  Gas at this Costco today was $3.92.9/gal.
Tire tip—
Being around and chatting with experienced RVers can prove to be very valuable, even if you don’t use the learned information immediately. Last winter, John a fellow RVer mentioned that sometimes, if you have a little air leak around the threads of the tire valve, a small amount of Vaseline can stop the leak. We have been having an ever so slight air leak at one of our tire valves. Sometimes the air leak was so slight it would take two to three days to register that the air in the tire had decreased enough that we needed to add some air. So, remembering John’s tip, Jerry applied a tiny amount of Vaseline to the valve threads. It’s been three days now and the tire readout shows that air is no longer leaking. So far, so good. Thanks John!
Dinner with M & G
Went out to dinner with Jerry’s niece M and her husband G. M is a Pediatrician (with a speciality of Hematology and Oncology) and her husband is a teacher. We have always had a special place in our hearts for M. What a great couple. They’re smart, fun and busy doing good in the world. What more could you ask for in folks.
Fred Meyer Store—
Ah, happiness is a bunch of wool socks and they were on sale! One pair of wool socks that I bought said they provide protection for temps. between -70 and -20 degrees F. Jerry says we’d be dead with temps that low but my feet will still be warm. So what happens if the socks don’t keep your feet warm in -70 degree weather?  What, they give you you’re money back?  Having gotten permission, we’ll overnight in the Fred Meyer Store parking lot in Issaquah, Wa., wake up to the Starbucks right behind us, leave here in the morning and head toward to Canadian border.

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ABERDEEN, WASHINGTON ON OUR ROAD TRIP TO ALASKA

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May 3, 2012

Leaving the Olympic Peninsula
Today we are in Aberdeen, Washington on the southern edge of the Olympic Peninsula in Grays Harbor County. Aberdeen appears to be a hard working town and has a colorful history. We drove over two drawbridges on the way here. Aberdeen, Wa. is the home port of the tall ship “Lady Washington”, a reproduction featured in the Pirates of the Caribbean film The Curse of the Black Pearl.
It’s a many errands day for us. In Aberdeen in the morning it was 44 degrees F., raining and is supposed to rain for the next few days. Folks around here say usually the weather is better this time of year and that it doesn’t usually rain this much. We’ll take their word for it as rain is all we are seeing right now. Will likely spend the night in a Walmart parking lot tonight and head to Seattle tomorrow to meet up with Jerry’s neice for dinner.
Gas and Propane–
Went to an Arco in Aberdeen for gas, $3.99/gal and they had a propane refill tank for RVs with propane tanks that do not detach from the RV. Got our gasoline and drove over to the propane tank for a refill. Made sure that we had turned off all ignition sites; stove, heater, hot water heater and refrigerator and a young man came out of the gas station mini mart to fill the propane tank. (Just a little history; somewhere in Arizona, one of the times we filled the RV propane tank, someone left off the propane cap to our tank. We’ve been trying to replace it ever since. The cap is only important to keep mud and debris out of our propane spigot. We didn’t worry about it too much since there is a door covering the propane fill spigot and that,we were told, should keep it clean.) So the young man from the Arco station tried to attach his propane hose to our fill spigot. He man-handled the tank and still could not get it to fill. His boss came out and neither were successful.
Uh Oh.  We must have propane to run the refrig. and cook in this motor home so having no propane was not an option. Went to a Valero gas station about a half a mile away, drove up to their propane tank and found a propane cap that had been left off someone else’s tank.  The guy told us we could have it so now we’ll use it for our tank. The Valero attendant had our tank filled in about three minutes, no problem. Propane cost $3.00/gal. Maybe there was no problem because Jerry had cleaned off the spigot, maybe the Arco propane tank was the problem or maybe the Valero attendant was more competent. We will never know the answer but we will always make sure the propane cap to our tank is replaced after each refill! I think today we “dodged a bullet”. I really dreaded spending the day trying to solve this propane problem.
Next… Laundry–
Boy Howdy!  Did we need to do laundry!?!  After all the hiking and muddy walks these past few weeks, we had lots of things in need of hot water. Add to that sheets, towels, etc. and a long day at the laundromat was in store. We brought our large supply of quarters that we save and got to work. The laundromat we went to was recommended by many folks in town and it turned out to be clean and had lots of BIG machines. Plenty of parking for big vehicles and free Wi-Fi made this a good stop for us. So we recommend Valley Cleaners and Laundromat in Aberdeen, Wa.
Walmart–
Got a few basic supplies at Walmart that should tide us over awhile.
Stock Market–
Oops! The stock market is down. Just riding that roller coaster!!!

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QUINAULT RAIN FOREST SIDETRIP# 2 DAY 17 ON OUR ROAD TRIP TO ALASKA

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May 2, 2012

Kalaloch Beach Campground to Quinault Rain Forest, Olympic National Park, Washington.

Woke to a temp. of 44 degrees F. and some sunshine interspersed with rain showers. The Kalaloch Beach looked so beautiful this morning. The tide was out, the waves were pounding the beach and the shore birds were quite busy. A great view to go with a hearty breakfast.

Met some lovely RVers last night. Two couples, friends for many years, now visiting the area together. Also met one of two women traveling together in a small Winnebago View and were headed south through California and then east to Florida. They’re planning six months of travel. Chatted about the “how to’s” of boondocking and solar for RVs. They had done some boondocking in the past but had some questions. Hope we helped. Boondocking is really pretty easy as you get away from big cities and towns but they were looking for places in the cities and towns (like Los Angeles).

Jerry did some option trades this morning and the stock market seemed to be behaving today. We’d like the stock market to cooperate for awhile and pay for some of the gas for this long trip.  One can only hope.  Gas in this area is running $4.49.  I busied myself with stowing all things that might fly around inside the motor home while we travel as we have decided to see the Quinault Rain Forest.

Arrived in the Quinault Rain Forest before lunch and walked the two short trails that start at the Quinault Rain Forest Ranger Station. Walking through the area we suddenly heard huffing and what we quickly realized was a panicked herd of Elk crashing through the undergrowth to get away from us. Yikes!  It’s not the tourist season here, not even the Ranger Station was open, so we must have taken the Elk by surprise though were were certainly making noise. We could only hope that in their panic they did not get hurt and would not charge us. We could see them running back and forth in the undergrowth but happily they managed to find a way to get away from us without charging us and didn’t seem hurt.
One of the trails led to an old homestead that was intact. The rangers must do some demonstrations here in the summer as you could see into some of the old buildings and there were some old tools on display. We poked around the homestead for some time trying to imagine what it must have been like to live here by your wits and hard work.
What can you say about a rain forest except “beautiful”. Some of the trees here are huge and the adjacent lake is specular. Early on in our travels to beautiful places we learned just how inarticulate we can become. Many times all we can say is “Oh, Wow!”, “Beautiful!”, “Oh, look at that!”, etc. We never get jaded by the beauty though no matter how much we see.
Driving along hwy.101 you could see many places where the trees have been clear cut. We know that timber is the crop in this area and we recognize the need for wood. Some places that were clear cut were screened by trees that had been spared and fronted the highway, a much less jarring view. It seems to us that leaving some trees to screen the scarring of the land should be a standard practice. It doesn’t change the situation but esthetically it would be a reasonable choice.

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BEACH CAMPING, OLYMPIC NP, WASHINGTON SIDETRIP#2 DAY16 ON OUR ROAD TRIP TO ALASKA

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May 1, 2012

Kalaloch Beach Campground, Olympic Peninsula, Olympic National Park, Washington–

It rained during the night, a moderate rain but we were glad to be in our motor home and dry. This morning it was 44 degrees F when we woke and the sun was out.  Sunshine is great for our solar energy supply and makes it possible to avoid using the generator.  (No one here is running a noisy genator plus there’re a lot of tenters here who wouldn’t appreciate the noise.)  Off in the distance, way out over the ocean you can just see a black cloud near the horizon so likely the rain will be back later today. The sea is churning up the sand turning some of the waves a tan color as the tide recedes. There’s something wonderful about having breakfast while overlooking this part of the Pacific Ocean beach.  Somehow your coffee tastes better watching the sand pipers and other birds do their morning work, the ocean with it’s ever changing wave formations and the very interesting sky . There’s a dump site and fresh water in this campground so some amenities are available other than the wonderful views and mostly flat campsites. A young couple approached us last night to ask the cost of camping at this campground. He said “What is it $35?” No.  In a national park, even on the beach, we have found the price is usually around $12 to $18. This campground charges $14/night and half that for seniors with a National Park Pass. The young couple were very impressed with the low $14 charge compared to “private” campground fees.
Walks on the beach, relaxing and enjoying the views, chats with fellow travelers, it’s not a bad life.

Internet connection–

When we had lunch yesterday at Ruby Beach (only seven miles from Kalaloch Beach) on the Olympic Peninsula western coast we were able to get a “good” connection. Then, at Kalaloch Beach Campground, we had a difficult time connecting. Went the the Kalaloch Lodge nearby to ask where we could get an Internet connection. The folks working at the Lodge responded as if they knew the answer, they said there was no connection available for about 30 to 40 miles away. Wrong. At the campsite we’re in D 31 there is a good connection to the Internet both high in the front and rear of the motor home which is the only reason we would be able to post this blog. Goes to show you, you really have to do your own investigating.

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THE HOH RAIN FOREST SIDETRIP #2 DAY 14 ON OUR ROADTRIP TO ALASKA

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April 29, 2012

Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park, Washington
Woke this morning to sunshine!  The temp was 47 degrees F this morning.  This place is a Biosphere Reserve and one of only twenty UNESCO World Heritage Sites so what ever weather we get that is what makes this Rain Forest so spectacular.  Still, on a personal preference note, I am happy to see sunshine. The sunshine will be intermittent most of the day and the drizzle is expected to return in the late afternoon and outright rain tonight.  I can deal with that.
Yesterday, the Ranger told us that the Hoh River Trail (18 1/2 miles long) which starts at the visitor center passes a beautiful waterfall at about the 3 mile point so that is where we will hike today. We find we can do a 4 to 6 mile hike fairly well but more than six miles and our joints start telling us, in earnest, that they do not want to go much further so this was plenty enough hiking for us. We do go slow compared to younger hikers but we get there and maybe see more along the way as we have learned “it’s all about the journey” and not the destination.  The temp. today got to about 57 degrees F.
When we walked from the campground to the trail head we cut through the visitor center parking lot. Today, instead of a group of Miatas like we saw yesterday in the parking lot, there was a group of Audis parked in a row. Many were leaving so I snapped a quick picture. It is a Washington Audi car club and there are about a dozen members visiting the Hoh Rain Forest.

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OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK SIDETRIP#2 DAY13 ON OUR ROADTRIP TO ALASKA

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April 28, 2012

Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park, Washington

Today was our first full day in Hoh Rain Forest in the Olympic National park. Our campsite is backed up the the Hoh River that is flowing faster today than yesterday but far from causing us a problem. You can hear the water rushing by and the a few river rocks tumbling by but the loudest in the morning is the bird sounds. Clearly the birds know it is Spring and they sound like they are discussing it. The temp this morning was 45 degrees F, warmer than it has been most mornings.
After a leisurely breakfast, we walked to the Hoh visitor center. As we came to the parking lot there was a fine array or Masda Miatas in many colors and all from Washington State. We asked around at the visitor center and found that the gathering of Miatas was a car club that was touring the Hoh Rain Forest.  They’re all staying at a nearby resort. The Ranger at the visitor center suggested a number of hikes so we were set for today and tomorrow. Today we only hiked about three miles but got a feel for the ecosystem here. Tomorrow we will try a six mile round trip hike that is supposed to take us to a waterfall. The hikes for today were beautiful and easy and we did see some elk along the trails.
Since our campsite backs up to the river and has quite a bit of open sky, we have fairly good solar. There has been a fine drizzle all day but rarely did it actually rain today. Our open campsite must “see” a cell tower or a repeater because we have a good internet connection.

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HOH RAIN FOREST SIDETRIP #2 DAY 12 ON OUR ROADTRIP TO ALASKA

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April 27, 2012

Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic NP, Washington

We’re in the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic NP camped at the Hoh Rain Forest Campground. Chose site #19 because it is large, mostly flat and backs up to the Hoh River. Turns out, site #19 is the most popular one in the campground. We are one of three campers here. The cost for us with our Senior NP pass is $6/night.  The other two campers are young people with tents and are rather far away from us. The fire pit, picnic table and two forks of the Hoh River are just outside our dinette and “living room” windows. What an inspiring view. Oh, and of course, it is drizzling off and on (mostly on).
Driving up through the rain forest to the campgrounds the woods and trees look even greener than other places we have been in the park, if that is possible.
Went into the town of Forks on the way here for bread and eggs but next door the large sports outfitters store was having a huge sale so we ended up with far more than bread and eggs. The prices were good comparatively and we got items we had put off purchasing in the past as they were quite expensive. Asked the checker in the store when Spring usually arrived in Forks. He said Spring usually doesn’t arrive and that frequently Forks completely misses Summer as well.
On the way into the Rain Forest, we saw lots of different birds and five elk. The elk cooperated by holding still for their pictures and we appreciated that. The ranger told us that the elk usually shed their antlers this time of year and start growing new ones.
We will go to the Visitor Center  near here tomorrow for advice and help with planing our hikes.
The temp this morning was 39 degrees F. and got up to the low 50′s F. Gas in the town of Forks was $4.22/gal. regular.

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HOH RAIN FOREST, SIDETRIP #2 DAY 12 ON OUR ROADTRIP TO ALASKA

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April 27, 2012

Boondocking Overnight, Washington

Last night we planned to camp for one more night at Sol Duc campground in the Olympic NP but…we decided to go out of the park to get a good internet connection and to see if we could find a place to boondock. We traveled down the road that serves as an entrance to Olympic NP that takes you to Sol Duc Campground and left the park. Drove a few miles east on hwy. 101 and came to a small, fairly narrow road (apparently rarely used) that leads into a section of the National Forrest.  Drove down that road a few miles to look for boondocking spots. Found a few likely spots and drove passed them to see what was further up the road where we came to the National Park boundary. Since we know we can’t boondock in a National Park, turned around and headed back to the boondocking areas we saw in the National Forrest and stopped for the night (coordinates 48 degrees 3.936′ / 124 degrees 00.666′) We expected that a Ranger might knock on the door but no cars came down that road at all last night. We were in a lovely, quiet area and easily connected to the internet. This morning I woke to Jerry already up and trading stocks.  We left our boondock area to drive to our next destination.

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Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic NP

Now we’re headed to Hoh Rain Forrest in the Olympic National Park, Washington. It’s on the east side of the Olympic Peninsula and appears to go the deepest into the park. Probably won’t have an internet connection there but if we do, will post about it. In the meantime, National Geographic recently posted a beautiful picture of our next destination.

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/hoh-rain-forest-olympic-national-park/

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OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK SIDETRIP#2 DAY11 ON OUR ROADTRIP TO ALASKA

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April 26, 2012

Camping and Hiking in Olympic National Park, Washington

We’re in Sol Duc campground for one more day ($7 dollars with the NP senior pass). Will leave tomorrow some time in the morning. It is beautiful, green and very wet here.
Yesterday we hiked from the Sol Duc campgrounds and headed for Sol Duc Falls. We’d heard the Sol Duc Falls were beautiful. We never made it there. The trail from the camp ground was filled with water in many places but when we were only .3 miles from the falls we encountered water so deep and the pool expansive across the trail. In order to cross we would have had to either wade in ice water about a foot deep or climb on surrounding elevated areas that looked too treacherous. So we turned around and headed back. Even though we had hiked a total of five miles it felt like and unsuccessful hike. So, today we decided to see the Sol Duc Falls and took the easy way. The road passed the campground and further into the park ends at an easy, passable trail to the Falls. While hiking we met a fellow camper on the trail. Jason is a serious hiker and told us to see the Sol Duc Falls but to continue hiking on the “Lovers Trail” and that we would come to another spectacular falls. Oh, he was so right! The second falls were not as huge but it was equally spectacular. So our hike today came to three miles total and really it was an easy “walk in the park”. We met quite a few folks on this hike, both young and older like us. There was a couple from Japan, a family from Virginia, Jason from Michigan and folks from various other places.
When we started the hike. It was pouring rain and there was snow still on the ground so we knew we (mainly me) would be cold if we didn’t dress for the weather on this hike. So I had on my long johns, a couple of sweaters, a down jacket and a rain jacket over everything and I was still cold! The rain stopped as soon as we got a little down the trail and did not start again until we were almost done with our hike so that was helpful. By the time we got inside the Lazy Daze, it was pouring again. It has been raining hard off and on all afternoon. Temp this morning was 41 degrees F. and now the outside temp has jumped right up to 45 degrees F

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