hi mike and everyone,
here are the details you requested.
these are a few journal entries. some are karen's, some are mine. i have blended them together to give a feel for the trip...needless to say we are having an awesome adventure.
we began this trip around 21 march in south florida. our simple goal was to visit every national park we had not yet been to and anywhere else in America that either of us had a hankering to see. we both enjoy wilderness camping, hiking and fishing. this rv is smaller than our last and we agreed to spend some nights in quaint B and B's, lodges and nice hotels.
visited some friends in marco island and punta gorda...then more or less made a bee-line for louisiana. there we spent a few days driving back roads in the middle of the state. ate some catfish, redfish and crawdads.
next we drove to stephen austin st park west of houston. great park stayed and hiked a few trails. then on to san antonio, karen had never been there. did the alamo and riverwalk. the second night we got caught in a huge hailstorm, several inches fell in a few moments. incredible storm. in texas we ate steak.
we continued through texas and new mexico. we had done this before so we had already been to carlsbad cavern, gaudalupe national park and the other national parks in those states.
in arizona, we toured cochise's stronghold and most of tucson. great hikes in the parks there. visited the De Grazia gallery and hiked the saguaro national park trail and sabina(sp?) canyon. also toured the frank lloyd wright house.
a few more stops including phoenix, a drive through part of joshua tree national park and we arrived in indian wells, ca for a visit with wife's folks...went well. then tours of temecula, san diego, a few days in dana point/newport/balboa/huntington beach area and on to LA for arrival of grandchild #5. helped out for two weeks then hit the road again. last night in LA, we had a nice party in calabassas at the sage brush cantina with some old malibu friends. what fun!
we had a great behind the scenes tour of the scripps facilities in san diego by fish lips. also in san diego met with an occasional si poster ribman. in LA we had a fun breakfast with si lurkers doug and jack. tried to connect with lindy bill...next time bill.
We just left southern California. We'll miss our families there! Tonight we are camping
on Pismo Beach. Our camping adventure begins again! Love the simplicity of living in our RV.
Very few belongings. Mail to read every three weeks or so. Telephone rarely ringing.
Beautiful drive once north of Santa Barbara. Green hills dotted with mustard. Clean air!
Boy! Southern California was smoggy! Closing now to go walk on the beach.
had lunch with uncle frank and dave b in palo alto.
next met with an old incline village buddy east of sacramento.
in california we ate salads, fish and mexican. drank a little wine too.
the drive to oregon was remarkable for the area around mt shasta and shasta lake. beautiful drive. saw several eagles in flight. will consider renting and living on a lake shasta houseboat for a week or two sometime.
visited more family in beaverton area...then headed west to tillamook. bought some cheese, ate some tillamook mint chocolate chip ice cream and of course smoked salmon.
Just returned from a walk on Cannon Beach in Oregon. What I love most
about the Oregon coast is the energy the ocean waves exude! Walking on the beach here
is so invigorating. Huge sea stacks gallantly protect the seashore and provide homes for
many birds. And I love how the sea gulls call out and cry. Our Florida gulls are too quiet!
we spent six weeks in oregon 4-5 years ago visiting all the national parks and fishing and hiking...it is still awesome.
drove up the coast and crossed the bridge to washington at the mouth of the columbia river. bald eagle was resting on a sandbar.
We had dinner tonight with hummingbirds! At least twenty or more were feeding outside
the restaurant windows. Could not ask for finer entertainment! We are camped on Lake
Quinault on the southwest corner of Olympic National Park. we are camped a few steps from the base of the world's
largest spruce tree--191 feet tall, 38 feet around, 1000 years old!
Three Roosevelt elk graced us today appearing along the road to and from the Hoh Rain
Forest in the park! River otter keep popping up in the Puget Sound where we are parked
for the evening! Enjoying the wildlife immensely.
Stops in Olympic National Park: Lake Quinault overnight, lumberjack breakfast at Kalaloch Lodge
on the coast, walk to Ruby Beach, drive to Hoh Rain Forest, hike the trail, lunch at Lake Crescent
Lodge.
ferry ride to whidbey island...driving tour. then another ferry to Seattle and a salmon dinner with Pompsander. The SI folks are the greatest.
What I love much about small towns is walking into a post office to mail letters and there
is no wait! At home it is such a hassle to go to the post office. There is always a
wait--ten to twenty minutes!
Victoria, British Columbia for 2 1/2 days: Royal Scot Suite Hotel, Royal British
Columbia Museum, IMAX movies--Amazon and Wolves, Fort Street Antique Row, Il
Terrazzo, Butchart Gardens, shopping downtown on the Inner Harbour, High Tea at the
Empress Hotel, tour of the Parliament Buildings, Herald Street Cafe, Nautical Nellie's,
Pedicab rides, lots of walking.
Victoria Clipper ferry rides to and from Seattle. saw whales and sea lions while on the ferry ride.
lousy food on the ferry...next time bring a picnic.
in victoria i bought two very old but perfect mahogany wood fishing reels for my collection. one has all brass fittings, a reel find.
second night there, i had an appetizer of warm goat cheese rolled in hazelnuts and almonds served on thin tomato slices resting in olive oil and balsamic vinegar with sprinkles of fresh basil...i thought that was good until i got my caribou steak with sour cherry sauce and garlic mashed potatoes and a pint of alaskan lager. yummm. go to victoria to eat...800 fine restaurants in a small town.
The people we have met and encountered along the way have impressed us as much as the
awesome scenery we are seeing each day! Everyone has been kind and helpful, cheerful
and friendly. People have enriched our travels immensely...an unexpected pleasure.
we have reports of new snow in the canadian rockies so we are skipping banff and taking the north cascades highway through cascades national park. we had planned a sidetrip to mount rainier national park but we have reports that all roads are closed due to snow.
I saw a ?first? today. We were driving in the North Cascades National Park near Diablo
Dam and some ravens were riding the wind currents above us. Twice, one of the birds
flipped over 180 degrees and glided on its back for a few moments, gliding and dipping,
then flipped back over! I do not believe I have ever seen a bird flying upside down.
Incredible!
North Cascades National Park: Visitor Center (slide show, bird walk/hike), Gorge Creek Falls
Viewpoint, Diablo Dam, Diablo Lake Overlook, Ross Lake, Washington Pass Overlook.
Rivers alongside the road entire drive (Skagit River, Granite Creek), snow up at the pass, over 300 glaciers in this park,
many waterfalls, few cars. This time of year is a good time of the year for a driving trip.
We are ahead of the season. Traffic is minimal. No crowds anywhere so far! Reservations
are not necessary and rates are low! Lucky for us!
About yesterday. We drove all day across the state of Washington; initially below
majestic mountain peaks, alongside rivers, lakes, and waterfalls. At the highest altitudes
snow was abundant and surrounded the roads many areas over 6' deep. Then, we drove out of the mountains
down to rolling hills and a radical change in geography and vegetation--semi-arid. Apple
trees lined both sides of the road for miles. Once through this terrain we drove down into
a landscape covered with wheat fields as far as the eye could see in all directions! What a contrast to the morning scenery. Quite a memorable
day!
Birds: We have seen many birds we are not familiar with and cannot name! In Idaho I
saw a number of jet black crow-like birds with bright yellow heads and necks. Really
neat! Yesterday we watched a sweet blue bird with a white/grey belly at our
campsite--not a jay and larger than the bluebirds in NC. Have seen others as well. Just
remembered a yellow bird we saw for a day or so.
We happened upon an incredibly scenic drive yesterday. We left Coeur d?Alene on
Interstate 90 E. We exited early on Highway 135, then drove Highway 200 to St.
Ignatius, MT. A feast for eyes! Lush mountain valley and river!
saw a herd of what we think were antelope in the distance. drove by the national bison range. we get off the interstate as often as practical. we both like visiting the small towns.
We were in Huckleberry and cherry country in Montana, near Glacier. shared a huckleberry ice cream.
we ate the apples in Washington, the cheese in Oregon, potatoes in Idaho. We have sampled them all. We even had Chinook salmon for dinner a few nights ago in coeur d'alene.
Our Glacier National Park visit was a short one due to rain and more rain in the forecast for next 2 days. We did drive the Going to the Sun Road for 14 miles from the West Glacier
entrance along Lake McDonald in a drizzling rain. Stopped at all the lookouts and took a
few waterfall photos. The Road closed at that point due to 80 foot snow drifts still being
cleared. We also drove the scenic drive to East Glacier along route 2. a highlight of the day was
lunch at the lodge! Magnificent mountain views from the dining
room. The lodge just opened for season two days ago.
Oops! I almost forgot. Perhaps
the highlight of the day was the adult grizzly bear we saw on the railroad tracks next to the road. When we got close, it turned around and ran away from us. We think it wanted
to cross the road. We also saw hundreds of cattle, horses, and a bald eagle driving
through Flathead Indian Reservation on our way to Great Falls. tonight it was pan fried montana trout.
from here we plan to visit a few more small towns in montana on the way to yellowstone, and grand tetons national parks.
we plan to continue on until early september...will continue to provide updates occasionally.
the rv we chose is the perfect combination of maneuverability and livability. small enough to drive and park in city traffic but large enough to live in...a tow car is not necessary and we did not bring one. it is making this adventure very easy. we have driven nearly 8,000 miles so far without a single vehicle problem. it is a 26' Dodgen Born Free. every sub-system on this vehicle is the best available. it handles exceptionally well in all weather and terrain. this is our 5th rv so we do have some experience. this is by far the best made small coach.
we made three modifications to the vehicle before the trip.
first, traded the factory tires for michelin ribbed 10 ply tires. they are the only company i know that makes a 16" tire with 4 steel plys and steel sidewalls.
we had the dealer install a self seeking satellite dish.
we had a welding shop fabricate an exterior mount for a spare tire.
we are traveling with a new motorola sprint pcs phone and a pair of dell 7500 laptops. cell phone modem speed has improved a lot. service is lousy except in cities and large towns.
i have tried to get a globalstar phone...but have not found a dealer with one ready to go yet. may work on that again this week.
did manage to buy some GSTRF in the low 9 and some QCOM at 91.
unclewest |
