Rogue River

We arrived at the Valley of the Rogue State Park yesterday and have been having a great time. Our friend Bill Bifford (Biff) came over for dinner yesterday. He and I went fishing at Lost Creek Lake today and caught a limit of trout. The weather was just beautifly and the fishing good...How can you beat that. Mary treated herself to a massage and a day of leisure. Tonight we are going out to dinner with Biff.

My Nice Trout

Biff

Oregon Coast

On Sunday we pointed out Winnebago south and drove the coast of Oregon. The views were great and we were having a great time until a friendly Oregon person in a Ford pickup pulling an ATV trailer decided he needed to be ahead of us as we approached a two lane bridge in Florence, Oregon. We had already pulled most of the way over when two lanes became one when he decided to pass us on the left. Problem was we were entering the bridge with oncoming traffic when he made his move. We were forced to try and move to the right to avoid a multi-car collision and ended up meeting a concrete curb with the right side of the motorhome. We ended up with some fiberglass damage, a destroyed wheel cover and a bent exhaust pipe. No chance to get license numbers and, of course, he keep going. The incident sort of spoiled our day.

Oregon Coast in the Morning Fog

We did continue to our destination at Sunset Bay State Park for the night. The scenery here is magnificent. Plus I managed to get a couple of good shots of the Cape Arago Lighthouse.

Coastline at Cape Arago

Cape Arago Lighthouse

At Stimpson Reef we watched and listened to hundreds of Sea Lions on the rocks below.

Sea Lions at Stimpson Reef

The dessert for the day was watching the sun go down over Sunset Bay (wonder how it got its name).

Sunset at Sunset Bay

Fort Stevens

This evening we had a nice time renewing our acquaintance with Mike Stein (son of our friends Jim & Karen Stein) and meeting his lovely family. Mike is the manager of Fort Stevens State Park in Hammond, OR and he gave us a tour of the park. What a great place. 3800 acres right on the ocean with 520 campsites.

We feel that we already knew Mike's wife Charlene and their three children from our visits with Jim and Karen so it was great to meet them.

Charlene, Sarah, Mike, Jenna
and Austin in front.

Lewis and Clark Time

We are now in Oregon and it is Lewis and Clark discovery time. We first visited Fort Clatsop where the Corps of Discovery wintered in 1805-06. I was impressed with how nicely the reproduction of the fort has been done. They even used the construction and wood working methods that they would have used back then. The 33 members of the Corps of Discovery spent the winter in this facility.

Fort Clatsop

Example of Woodwork at the Fort

Our next adventure was to visit Cape Dissapointment State Park on the Washington side to learn more about the Lewis and Clark expedition and to view the two lighthouses there. The first lighthouse we visited was the North Head Lighthouse on the western side of the cape. It was built in the late 1800s and is still in use today.

North Head Lighthouse

Then we went to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center to see the exhibits and watch a film on the expedition. From the center we could see the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse but the light was not good there for photography so I made the .75 mile hike to the lighthouse to get a better photo.

Cape Disappointment

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse

We finished it all off with a great lunch at the Port Bistro in Ilwaco and a trip to an antique shop.

Olympic Shore

Well we've seen the Olympic mountains and it was time to explore the ocean shores of the Olympic National Park. The most amazing feature of the shore for us was the number of very large logs accumulated on the the shore. Apparently they find their way down river during floods and end up in the oceanl. There are warning sighs everywhere cautioning people to use extreme caution when walking the shore, especially during high tide, to watch out for logs thrown ashore by the surf. Killer logs, they are.

Logs & Dead Trees on Beach

The beaches are really rugged and beautiful. A lot of rocks sticking out of the water making for some interesting photographs.

View at Beach near La Push

On Thursday we shifted the motorhome south to Kalalach Campground. On our way to Ruby beach we stopped to check out the really, really huge cedar trees. These cedar trees are larger than any I have ever seen.

Mary with Really Huge Cedar Tree

We continued our tour to Ruby Beach. This beach also has a ton of logs on shore and some beautiful scenes. This shore was rocky like the ones further north in one direction and sandy in the other. Go figure.

Ruby Beach from Above

Ruby Beach from the Shore

We could stick around this area for a couple more weeks, we must begin moving south. Astoria, Oregon is our next destination.

Olympic Mountains

Today our mission is to explore the Olympic Mountains in Olympic National Park. Once again we blessed the day we got our Golden Age Passport. It has returned the $10 it cost many times over. We began by driving to Hurricane Ridge at an elevation of 5200 ft. The views of the Olympic Mountains was great. but clouds blocked our view of the Straights of Juan De Fuca.

Olympic Mountains

After descending from the mountains we drove to Crescent Lake to have lunch at the Crescent Lake Lodge. Our window table had a great view of the lake and the food was very good.

Then we continued our exploration by driving the road to Sol Duc Hot Springs. Our first stop was at the Salmon Cascades to watch the Coho Salmon working their way up stream to spawn. We saw salmon jumping in the air in their effort to get upstream but my shutter finger wasn't quick enough to capture an image.

Our next adventure was a hike to view Sol Duc Falls. We enjoyed hiking in the falling rain which presented a different but appropriate view of the rain forest.

Sol Duc Falls

On Wednesday we moved our motorhome to an RV park in Forks for a look at the western side of Olympic National Park. With the motorhome settled in the park we headed for a hike in the Hoh Rain Forest. The drive in presented some terrific views of the Hoh River.

Hoh River

After a picnic lunch we donned our hiking boots and began our exploration of the Hoh Rain Forest. The blue sky and bright sun were a bit disappointing as I would have preferred a light drizzle which would have made the colors of the forest more interesting.

Moss on Trees

Rain Forest

Our next adventure is to explore the seashore part of Olympic National Park.

Victoria

On Sunday morning we went to church with Shari Anderson at the First Presbyterian Church in Bellevue. What a great service and what a great message.

Then we packed up the motorhome and headed for the Olympic Peninsula in the rain. After settling the motorhome at the RV park we did a little wine tasting. Good wines made from grapes brought in from Eastern Washington.

On Monday morning we got up real early and caught the walk on ferry to the city of Victoria on Vancouver Island, Canada. Our package included transportation to and tours of the Butterfly Gardens and Butchart Gardens.

The first stop was the Butterfly Gardens. A bonus was the variety of vegetation they had.

Blue Orchid

Blue Morpho Butterfly

Nice Butterfly (name?)

Atlas Moth

White Tree Nymph

Then we caught the bus to Butchart Gardens. I visited these gardens back in 1960 but they have changed a bit since then. I do remember the beautiful sunken gardens.

Sunken Gardens

The number of beautiful flowers is just amazing. How they keep them all blooming is a mystery to me.

Fuschia

Bee on a Flower

We got back to Port Angeles at about 7:30 PM and ready for supper after a great day.

Bellevue

On Friday morning we uprooted at Yakima and motored our way to Bellevue, Washington east of Seattle. Once we got settled we drove to the home of our good friend Shari Anderson for dinner. We had a wonderful time eating a well prepared dinner and catching up on the happenings in our lives.

Shari and Mary

On Saturday morning we drove to Bothell, WA to visit my Aunt Liz and cousin Rose Shatos. The last time I saw either of them was in 1962. We had a great visit and caught up on a lot of old family history. Looking at the quilts Rose made has encouraged Mary to get on with her quilting projects. Rose and her sister Lillian have an amazing ability to create wonderful quilts.

Cousin Rose and Aunt Liz

On Saturday evening we had dinner with Shari again at a great seafood restaurant on Lake Washington.

Once again we have not allocated enough time for proper visit. We will definitely have to schedule another visit to the Pacific Northwest.

Yakima Valley

Wine tasting was at the top of our agenda in the Yakima Valley. On Tuesday afternoon we tasted at a couple of wineries right in Yakima. On Wednesday morning we drove to Prosser and tasted our way back toward Yakima. Our first stop was at Hogue Cellars where we tasted some fine wines. We did two more wineries before a lunch picnic and short nap at a riverside picnic table in Prosser. We hit a couple more wineries on our way back to Yakima and again were pleased with the quality of the wines. On our way back to the motorhome we stopped at Albertson's for some Manila Clams for dinner. What a great ending to a great day.

Mary at Hogue Cellars

On Thursday morning we started nearer to Yakima at Sagelands Winery and worked our way to Zillah. Again we were surprised at the good quality of the wines. Lunch today was at a park in Toppenishl. This town has 70 murals painted on the walls of buildings in town.

Mural in Toppenish

After lunch it was back to wine tasting. This time at Horizon's Edge Winery and Portteus Winery. The harvest here is just moving into high gear and wineries are busy with the crush.

Ripe Grapes at Portteus

Grapes Ready For Crush at Sagelands

Coeur d'Alene

On Saturday morning we left Mammoth Hot Springs and headed for Missoula, Montana for a few hours of getting caught up on chores....shopping, car washing, blog updates, etc.

On Sunday morning we continued to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho for a visit with relatives in the area. We settled in to the Blackwell Island RV Park and got ready to have lunch with my cousin Richard Jurvelin and his wife Jill. After lunch we boarded their houseboat on Coeur d'Alene Lake for and evening cruise dinner and jacuzzi. Auntie Lenore Jurvelin joined us on the cruise as did Richard and Jill's daughter Jillann, husband Dave and children. After a nice dinner we bid farewall to Jillann and family and headed back to the marina. Richard captained the boat while Mary, Jill, Auntie and I enjoyed looking at the stars from the jacuzzi.

The Boar Moored at the Rock

Richard and Jill

Auntie

On Monday my cousin Ed Kantola and his wife Virginia who live in St Maries, Idaho joined us for lunch at the motorhome. We had so much fun visiting with them I forgot to take a photograph of them. Ed has been wood carving for about three years and brought a few of his carvings for us see. He does beautiful work.

Clearly we need to return to the Coeur d'Alene area for a longer visit. Thank you all for a wonderful time.

Ed Kantola's Carvings

On Tuesday morning after a final breakfast with Richard and Jill we pointed the motorhome toward Yakima, Washington for a little wine tasting. The drive was through the dry part of Eastern Washington and across the Columbia River. We are now settled in at the Trailer Inns RV Park in Yakima.

Columbia River

Mammoth Hot Springs

On Thursday morning we decided to move to Mammoth Hot Springs so we could get a better look at the northern part of Yellowstone. After we got the motorhome settled in the campgroung we toured the Terraces a series of thermal seeps offering a surreal landscape.

Upper Terrace View

On Friday morning we made some breakfast sandwiches and got ready for a tour of Lamar Valley. When I went to load the car I found myself amid a herd of Elk and got some great close up shots of a big bull elk.

Campground Elk

On the way to Lamar Valley we took a detour up the Blacktail Plateau Drive, a gravel side road, were we decided to have our breakfast sandwiches while overlooking the beautiful countryside.

View from Blacktail Plateau

As we entered the Lamar Valley I got a shot of a Pronghorn at the crest of a hill.

Pronghorn

The Lamar Valley is often called the Serengeti of the USA with its large population of animals. The Bison count in the valley is about 800 along with significant herds of elk, pronghorn and mule deer.

Lamar Valley

We took a detour to drive the road to Slough Creek. At the trailhead we hiked in about two miles along the creek and got some beautiful views including watching four mule deer cross the creek.

Slough Creek View

Mule Deer Crossing Slough Creek

On the way out we got a few good shots of a chipmunk.

Chipmunk

Driving out of Slough Creek I got a few good shots of a lone Bison. He was kind enough to pose for us with the beautiful Lamar Valley in the background.

Bison

All in all it was a wonderful day in a beautiful area of the world.