Mount Rainer

Burien, WA - Enumclaw, Wa
11/Jun/24 - 13/Jun/24

Miles Traveled     34
Trip Total          5306
Travel Time       1:29

States visited: FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, NV, CA, OR, Washington

Another very short drive, while it was only 34 miles it still took 90 minutes.  There were two goals in coming to Enumclaw.  The first it was time to get out of the city, Burien Elks location was great for exploring but that is all it had to offer.  The second reason was to get closer to Mount Rainer.  We are going to spend a day exploring the mountain, and this saves us three hours of driving.

We arrived at Enumclaw Expo Center RV Park (County Fairgrounds) well before the check-in time, but since our sites were empty we were able to check-in.  We have found that may  county fairgrounds have fairly inexpensive camping available. Some are no more than a dirt parking lot with electric and maybe water, some like Enumclaw are much nicer.  Enumclaw Expo Center has a very nice campground.  The sites are large with paved pads and with water and electric. It was definitely a great find.  It is also one of the few campgrounds where we are allowed to wash our RV's!  In addition to washing the RV, I took advantage of some free time to change the oil in it.  Mark changed the oil for me while we were back in New Jersey, and we have driven over 5000 miles since then.  When Mark changed the oil, he also replaced the drain plug with a "FUMOTO" valve.  This valve made changing the oil very easy.  Attach a hose to the valve, place the hose in a container and ten minutes later the oil was drained without spilling a drop.

Wednesday we spent the day exploring Mount Rainer, once again we used the Shaka Guide audio tour.  The Shaka guide has four starting points for the Mount Rainer tour, one of which is Enumclaw.  The Enumclaw starting point was less than a mile from our campground which is one of the reason we chose to stay at the Expo Center.  The first stop of the tour was still closed for the season, Rising Sun Road is one of two roads in the park that is not open because of  snow. We still find it hard to comprehend that in the middle of June roads are still closed because of snow.  It is not just the snow on the roads, they do not open the roads until there is not any chance of an avalanche. Leaving the Rising Sun Road area we continued on the tour stopping at around 6 of the 19 stops on the tours.  Many of the stops are hikes, with most of them being "Difficult", we skipped all of the hikes this time.

  Shaka Guides suggest taking 1 to 3 days to do all of the stops, we only have one day so we had to pick and choose where we stopped.  At our next stop Shaka Guide promised a great view of the mountain top, and told us the views were only going to get better.  Wow they were right!!!!   

Over all we took eight hours and drove over 150 spectacular miles around the base of the mountain. We stopped at places like Skookum falls, where the Skookum Creek drops 250 feet down the side of the mountain, Box Canyon a 180 deep slot canyon cut by the Cowlitz River and surround by a lichen covered hillside, Reflection Lake to see the peak of Mount Rainer mirrored in the thawed portion of the lake, The Nisqually River and the boulder strewn valley cut by the glacier,  and several overlooks just to see the different sides of the snow covered peak.

On the ride back to Enumclaw we saw another unusual roadside warning sign to add to the many we have already seen.  This one was a Volcano Evacuation Route, the scary part was this was what we thought was several miles from the base of the mountain.  Hopefully we are long gone before the next eruption.  We arrived back at the Expo Center just as Enumclaw High School graduation was starting.  We timed it just right, we were warned that the graduation traffic would make getting into the campground very difficult from 5pm to 7pm, we returned at 6:55pm!  We also got to listen to the ceremony and cheers from out campsites.

Thursday we had an easy going day of running a couple of errands.  Friday we are heading to Ellensburg WA,   Katie, a friend of mine offered her sister Ellen's 40 acre farm for us boondock for the night.    

Seattle WA

Bremerton, WA - Burien, WA  (Seattle)
5/Jun/24 - 10/Jun/24

Miles Traveled     60
Trip Total          5272
Travel Time       1:22

States visited: FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, NV, CA, OR, Washington

Another quick and easy drive,  for the first time in several weeks we were back on an interstate.  When we first got on the interstate it felt good, that lasted for about 2 miles, then we hit traffic.  I think I prefer two lane highways over heavy traffic.

With the interstate and heavy traffic comes city life.  Burien Elks is located in downtown Burien and the rv parking is along their parking lot.  They have eight sites with full hookups, we arrived early in the day because the sites are first come first serve.  Fortunately when we arrived there was only one site taken, but most of the time we were there all eight sites were taken.  There are only a couple of campgrounds near Seattle, most of them are much further away, and average $100 per night, the Elks is only $30, what a bargain.  

We started our tour of Seattle by heading to the iconic Pike Place Market specifically we wanted to go the Fish Market .  Pike Place Market opened as a farmers market in 1907, currently it is home to a variety of shops and vendors, this includes antique dealers, comic book stores, art dealers, and small restaurants. The upper street level contains fishmongers, fresh produce stands and craft stalls operating in the covered arcades. There are also over 500 homes located within the market place. Originally they started as low income housing bu tnow they are much sought after housing and far from low income.  Finding the Fish Market on the map was much easier then finding it in person. 

Because the Market Place is built in the side of a hill, a vary steep hill, and it makes navigating very interesting.  Google maps would tell us we arrived,but our destination was no where to be found.  We were on the street and asked for directions to the Fish Market, and the person told us to follow them, we got in an elevator took it several floors up, and we were back on the street level.  How confusing!  Pikes Place Fish Market is where, when a customer orders fish they throw it from the display table to the counter to be wrapped, also all of the employees repeat what ever order is called out.  It is really quite a show, if no customers are ordering fish they will toss the fish around for tips. The other Iconic stop in Pikes Place Market is the Gum Wall.  The Gum Wall is a 50 foot stretch of wall adjacent to the Market Place Theatre, where theatre goers would stick their gum on the wall.  After several attempts to clean the wall, the Market Place Development Authority embraced the "Gum Wall" and now in some places the gum is over fifteen inches deep, in other places names are spelled out in gum.  While gross it is also very interesting.  

After exploring Pikes Market we heading to the Space Needle.  While the walk is only about one mile, it is the mile from hell.  I swear the entire walk was up VERY STEEP hills. Had we known how steep the walk was we would have found a better way to get there.  HOLY COW what an engineering marvel and an spectacular view of Seattle. The Space Needle was is a 605 tall observation tower built in for the 1962 Worlds Fair.  Construction took less than one year, much less time than it would take to get the building permits today.  

We arrived at the Space Needle to find out that we would had to wait ninety minutes before we could go up. (We should have bought the tickets online before we started walking over) It was absolutely worth the wait.  The view of the bay and the city was stunning to say the least.  We were very fortunate that we had a perfect day for going up in the Space Needle, there was not a cloud in the sky and there was not a bit of haze.  Mount Rainer is 58 miles from the Space Needle and we could see it like it was right next to us.  We could also watch the sea planes take off and land from the sea plane base on Union Lake. 

Friday we headed back to Seattle to take a boat tour from downtown Seattle to Union Lake.  Seattle and Elliot Bay are located on the central part of Puget Bay, Union Lake feeds into the bay and is separated from the bay by the Ballard Lock.  While cruising along the Seattle shore line and past the cruise ships was cool, Locking through Ballard lock into the lake was the highlight of the cruise.  The Ballard lock raises the incoming boat traffic 26 feet to the lake.  In addition to raising the boats, the lock also keeps the saltwater from entering the lake.  

While traveling the Great Loop, both Angel & I and Mark & Karen traveled through over 90 locks.  This was a very different perspective we had nothing to do but sit back and watch.  Another big difference was the clearance.  Several of the locks we were side by side with three or four other boats,  and as many as six boats deep in the lock.  The tour we were on filled the entire lock, there was less than six inches of clearance between the boat and the lock walls.   There is a second chamber at the Ballard Lock, but it is much larger and design for much larger vessels.

Leaving the lock and entering the lake, the shores were lined with fishing vessels, houses and every type of vessel you could imagine.  The two most notable vessels we saw were the 150 foot crab  boat  from the TV show The Deadliest Catch, next was the topside of the another crab boat, the 91 foot Northern American.  Just six weeks on ago May 14th the Northern American sank at the dock.  We could see the very topside of the boat and the containment booms surrounding it.  

After passing the comercial docks we came upon the floating homes. Seattle is home to 507 floating homes in four distinct "neighborhoods".  At one time the floating homes were the slums of Seattle, now the floating homes sell for as much as six million dollars.  

Saturday Angel & I headed back to Union Lake to check out the Center for Wooden Boats.  It is a non profit organization dedicated to restoring and persevering the wooden boats of the area.  While it was not the most interesting stop we did spend the day exploring the shores of Union Lake.  We could not get onto the docks to see the floating homes up close but it was still interesting to see them.  One of the problems we saw was the very limited parking.   Between the docks there were several access points that were loaded with people launching kayaks, paddle boards, canoes and anything else they could get out on the water with.  For us the 54 degree water was way to cold to play in!  In Lake Union everyone thought it was perfectly normal  to be playing in the water.  After checking out the floating homes we headed back to the Ballard Lock.  Our goal was to check out the Harbor Seals that like to play at the bottom of the lock's spillway.  Along side the spill way is a fish ladder that the salmon use to return to their spawning grounds, and the seals love a free meal.

Sunday at the recommendation of the guide on the tour boat, we took the ferry to Bainbridge Island.  The tour guide made it seem like the only way to the island was via the ferry, we latter found out you can get there by bridge but from Seattle it is a 3+ hour drive, the ferry is only 30 minutes.  It was worth the ride, but not we expected.  Bainbridge island is know for two things, up until the early 80's  they were one of the largest producers of creosote wood, and in 1965 Pickleball was invented on the island.

After almost a week exploring Seattle, Monday was spent running errands and getting ready to hit the road again. Our next stop is Enumclaw, WA it is only a little over an hour away but it is the gateway to Mt Rainer.

Bremerton, WA

Sequim, WA - Bremerton, WA
3/Jun/24 -4/Jun/24

Miles Traveled     57
Trip Total          5212
Travel Time       1:24

States visited: FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, NV, CA, OR, Washington

The trip from Sequim to Bremerton was very interesting.  To start our day there was an American Bald Eagle soaring over our heads as we prepared to leave. What made it even more interesting was it had some prey in it's talons.  The picture was the best I could do with a cell phone.  Another milestone of this trip is we are finally done with Highway 101.  Yes it was beautiful but we are all glad to move on to new roads.  Our route took us over the Hood Canal and the Hood Canal Bridge.  This 1.5 mile long bridge is the world's third longest floating bridge, and the longest floating bridge in tidal saltwater.  The floating portion of the portion of the bridge is almost 1.25 miles long.  To open the bridge three sections on each side are raised above the pontoon, and the center sections slide under the lifted sections. 

In 1979 during a storm with 100MPH winds and 15 foot seas half of the bridge sank.  The quick actions of two of the bridge tenders kept the entire bridge from sinking.  When they realized the bridge was buckling from the pressure they opened the center span which saved the eastern half of the bridge, they were also able to get off the bridge before it sank.   Washington DOT has a webcam on the bridge, but the camera is shut off during openings.  A large portion of the marine traffic through the bridge come from the Kitsap Naval Base  and the cameras are turned off for security purposes.  Kitsap is the third largest US Naval fleeting area home to vessels ranging from submarines to aircraft carriers.

After arriving at the Elks, and setting up the RV's we headed to the U.S. Naval Undersea Museum.  The museum has exhibits on undersea mines, torpedos, naval research, and most importantly underwater rescue from submarines.  The museum was about 15 minutes from the Elks. It would have been cool if we could have seen the base and some submarines but the museum is outside of the main gate and we could not access the base.

Tuesday afternoon we went to the Elks club for lunch and an afternoon of playing Mexican Train.  Mexican Train is a dominos game, that friends of ours (Nick & Ginger from Ginger Gale) from our Great Loop Trip taught us.  The Bremerton Elks has a group of members that plays every Tuesday afternoon and they were very welcoming.  Rather than playing with the same people each week, everyone puts their name in a bowl. and the players for each table are selected randomly.   It was a great way for us to meet people.  Their rules are slightly different then we are use to, put we were able to catch on very quickly.

Bremerton Elks sits on a hill overlooking Dyes Inlet and Olympic Mountains the view is incredible.  Several of the members recommended that we come back to the lodge at sunset to watch the sunset. We did but unfortunately the clouds hide the sun.  Even though we did not catch the sunset, we did see deer hanging at the edge of the woods.

Our next stop is Burien Washington where we will be staying at another Elks Lodge.  Burien is located about 20 minutes south of Seattle and is a perfect place  for us to stay while we explore Seattle.

Sequim, WA

Copalis, WA - Sequim WA
5/31/24 - 6/2/24

Miles Traveled    183
Trip Total           5155
Travel Time        4:29

States visited: FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, NV, CA, OR, Washington

We started our trip to Sequim by heading out to get fuel.  Normally we try to get fuel along our route but logistically it made more sense get fuel before we left. We left the car at the campground for a quick fuel run.  Fuel on the west coast has been much higher than we are use to.  Chevron has been our best option but they are not RV friendly at all.  Chevron has a special going on, if you join their "Loyalty" program you get $1.00 off per gallon for your first three fill's.  It has been worth the hassle!

After fueling up we went back to hook-up the car before getting back on Highway 101 and heading to the Sequim Elks Lodge.  Other than rain it was a easy ride, and I think all four of us are more than ready to be done with Highway 101!!!   Sequim Elks has 18 RV sites with water and electric. They also  allowed us to sign Mark & Karen in as our guest.  Not all Elks allow guest RV's but so far we have been very lucky!  While we were signing in they told us that they were having a pork chop dinner at 5:00pm.    Dinner was delicious!  During dinner one of the local members suggested that we head to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park, but to go right after dinner.   Sequim lies in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountain Range, they recieve less than 16" of rain a year, but guess what the forecast calls for rain the rest of the time we are there!

The drive up the Olympic Mountains to Hurricane Ridge was awesome, each ridge we passed was more spectacular.  In addition to the many curves and twist, most with no guard rails, we also had to keep our eyes out for the deer.  Dusk was quickly approaching and the deer were constantly running across the road. Once we reached Hurricane Ridge we quickly agreed it was worth the drive.  Once again the view was incredible and the photos do not do it justice.  Both the parking lot and fields around the ridge were teaming with deer. Beside seeing people feed the deer, it was obvious they are use to being fed.  Anytime someone opened the back of their car, deer would walk up to the car looking for food.

Saturday rather then go back to the park in the rain, we took a "underground" historical tour of Port Angeles.   Port Angeles was built of the water front and major development started around 1850.  Many buildings were built on piers over the beaches and mudflats, and dropped their waste through holes in the floor. The town was plagued with two major problems, raw sewage dropped from buildings onto the beaches, and buildings flooding during heavy storms.  In 1914 the town built concrete walls and filled the area behind them raising the level of the town.  What at the time had been the store fronts instantly became "basements" behind the concrete wall.  The visitor center runs tours through the towns where we able to tour the few remaining "basements" and see the wall that was built in 1914.  They also told us much of the towns history. The are also has several murals throughout the town depicting the towns history. The largest mural has a ship in it, that no matter where you stand and look at it, the bow of the ship always appears to point directly at you.  Also if you stand next to the kids in the mural and have your picture taking it looks like the kids are not in the mural but standing next to you.

Sunday Angel Karen and I took a quick trip to a local Lavender farm.  Greg the owner of the farm gave us a very in depth tour of the 3 acre farm.  Him and his wife own and work the farm.  They retired and purchased the farm three years ago.  (Buying and running a farm, does not sound like retirement!)  It is still early in the season, and none of the lavender plants were blooming, they will start blooming the end of June and July is the highlight of their season.  You could tell Greg is very proud of the farm and it is a labor of love.  

After touring the farm we headed up to the Elks Lodge were Angel and Karen kicked Mark and my but in shuffleboard.

Monday morning we are heading to another Elks Lodge this one is in Bremerton Washington.

Olympic National Park

Chinook, WA - Copalis Beach, WA

5/29/24 - 5/30/24

Miles Traveled   101
Trip Total          4972
Travel Time       2:35

States visited: FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, NV, CA, OR, Washington

Another rainy but uneventful drive. Leaving Chinook we continued to travel Highway 101 but we have left the coast of Washington and have been traveling along some of the bays.  With such a short drive we attempted to stop for breakfast along the route with no luck.  There were very few restaurants, and the ones we did pass barely hand room for cars, stopping with two RV's towing cars was out of the question.    We ended up arriving at the RV Park long before check-in time.  Sometimes when this happens we end up waiting before we can get into our sites.  This time our sites were empty and we were able to get in early.  Copalis Beach is the farthest NorthWest campground we will be staying on during our trip. We have traveled 5000 miles and as the crow flies we are over 2500 miles from where we started in Inverness FL.

Friday we started a new Shaka Guide audio tour around the western side of Olympic National Park.  The park covers almost one million acres, over seventy miles of coastline, and several distinctly different ecosystems.  From Copalis Beach we stuck with the western side of the park.  We explored two separate rain forest, and the beaches. To fully explore the entire park would take several days and several miles of hiking.  

We started the tour visiting the Quinault Lake Lodge and Visitor Center.  Normally we get very good information stopping at the Visitor Center, this time not so much.  The person at the counter barely wanted to give us a map of the area, never mind any information.  Walking along the lake front, we spoke with a young lady running the canoe rental, and she was more than willing to give us information.  The lady at the information desk could take some customer service lesson from her!     Lake Quinault is a glacier carved lake with over thirty miles of shoreline.  Between our limited time, and several miles of the shoreline road being a dirt road, we passed on driving the entire perimeter route.  We did drive as far as the paved road went, which took us to a short hike to the world's largest Sitka Spruce Tree with a circumference of 58'11".   While it is not as large as the Redwoods we have seen it was still very impressive.

After leaving the Sitka Spruce we hiked the Wrights Canyon Trailhead through the rainforest to a water fall.  The hike we took was listed as an "easy hike", we are all sure the person that did the listing was much younger and in much better shape LOL.  In reality the hikes are getting easier as we do them, but part of is we are back at sea level instead of 6000' above sea level.  As we climbed the hills we were surrounded by ferns and trees covered with moss, and as much as we wanted to see wildlife, there was none. 

Leaving the rainforest we headed to Kalaloch and the Tree Of Life.  The Tree Of Life is a tree that is suspended between two cliffs at the edge of the ocean.  The soil from under most of its roots has been washed away by a stream, yet the tree hangs on gripping onto each side of the cliff.  We arrived at low tide and beach stretched on for a couple of hundred yards, at high tide most of the beach will disappear.  

Our last stop for the day was Ruby Beach.  Ruby Beach is famous for it's abundance of driftwood and sea stacks.  Sea Stacks are large stacks of rocks in the ocean that look like tall stone towers.  There are signs on the walk to the beach warning you to be careful walking of the driftwood.  The driftwood can shift at anytime, especially if the tide comes in.  Most of the driftwood comes from trees that fall into the streams and rivers that flow down the mountains.  Leaving Ruby Beach I stopped to talk to two gentleman that were biking and stopped at the beach for a break.  Both bikes had front & rear saddle bags, and tablets mounted on the handle bars. They left from San Diego and were heading to Canada, then Maine and then down to Key West.  Over all the trip is going to be 15,000 miles, what an adventure.

Leaving Copalis Beach we are going to make our way to the other side of Olympic National Park.

Chinook, WA - State # 13

Lincoln, OR - Chinook, WA
5/28/24

Miles Traveled   107
Trip Total          4871
Travel Time       3:20

States visited: FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, NV, CA, OR, Washington

For such a short drive it took forever.  It was a rainy dreary drive.  With the wet slick roads, I slowed down a little bit more than normal.  If the weather was not enough to slow us down, there was an accident that added 30 minutes to our drive.  The end of our drive was the Astoria-Megler Bridge between  over the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington.  The approach to the bridge is a 1/2 mile long 360 degree turn rising 200 feet, and is the craziest bridge approach I have ever been on.  It was really fun driving the motorhome over it!

When we arrived at our campground, RV Park At The Bridge, we all had our doubts that we would fit in any of the sites.  When we book our sites they sent us directions and the most important one was "Pull off onto the shoulder of the road (Highway 101) and disconnect your car."  They were not kidding, there was absolutely no room in the park to unhook. Until we actually backed into our site I was not really sure we would fit but we did.  It was another RV Park that was mostly permanent residents with a few transient sites.  The other very big downside was our site was 8 feet from the highway.  Road noise the entire time we were there. Fortunately this is just a one night stop.  While the RV Park lacked a lot of things, one thing it did not lack was a view.  Yes we were 8 feet from the highway, but we were also only 100 feet from the Columbia River with our windshield facing it.

After getting the RV's setup we headed out to see the Columbia River Maritime Museum.  The museum explores the history and travel of the Columbia River from the days of dugout canoes, through the days of sailing vessels and upto modern travel.  It tells of the perils of crossing the Columbia River Bar, one of the most dangerous passages of the world.  The Columbia River Bar is formed and ever changing by the sand and silt carried by the river, and dumped at the mouth of the river.  The museum has an exhibit dedicated to the Coast Guard and the rescues the do on the river.  The Columbia River Bar is where the Coast Guard holds their National Motor Lifeboat School, training on the 47' lifeboats.  Swells average 18-20 feet and waves over 40 feet are not uncommon.  

As we were leaving the museum, I glanced at a capstan in the lobby and noticed it said Delaware River.  Looking closely at it was made in Chester PA in 1870, and was recovered from a wreck in the Columbia River.  Another interesting artifact on display was a piece of the Exxon Valdez hull.   (At the time the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill was the largest oil spill in the USA)

Our next stop will be Copalis RV Park in the Olympic National Park.

LIncoln. OR

Coos Bay, Or - Lincoln, OR 
5/27/24

Miles Traveled    123
Trip Total           4764
Travel Time        3:15

States visited: FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, NV, CA, Oregon

Another beautiful drive up Highway 101.  I do feel bad for the people behind us, the speed limit is 55MPH, but we average about 40MPH and there are very few areas when cars can pass us.  Between our slower speeds and frequent stops it takes us longer than the GPS plans for each trip.  The GPS told us today's trip would be about 2:30, in reality it took us over 4 hours.  Just stopping for fuel can add 30 minutes to a trip.  One advantage we have is when we stop for bathroom breaks or to stretch our legs, we can stop anywhere. 

Most of the time the 101 follows the coast line but occasionally it heads off into the mountains.  When it veers off into the mountains that's when the we start hitting the switch backs.  As we go along the coast, the steep drop offs are on the south bound side of the road, when we go through the switch backs, the drop offs can be on either side of the road.  There is a down side of the drop offs being on the opposite side of the road, instead of shear dop offs there are rock walls right up to the edge of the road.  As tough as the drive sounds, it really is not bad.  It did take some time to get use to it but now it is just another day. 

This trip never ceases to amaze us, as we were driving up 101we were buzzed by a pair of F16 fighter jets.  The town of Newport was having their Memorial Day celebration and the F16 must have been part of it and we timed it just right. 

Lincoln offered little more than a stop for the night.  We stayed at Devil's Lake RV Park.  Most of the campers are full time residence, or permanent sites.  They do have a several "transient sites as well.  Unlike most parks that are mostly full time, this park and all of the sites were very well maintained with very little outward appearance of full time living.  The sites were easy to get into and very long, but also very narrow.  There was enough room for the RV's with the slides out, but not much more than that.  We had to setup the grill and table in front of the RV.  Since it was Memorial Day, we had to grill burgers & hotdogs for dinner.  

After dinner it was time for Cornhole.  Angel & Karen were the proud winners of every game.  Obviously Mark & I need to practice a lot.  Devil's Lake RV Park also has several resident deer, that love to eat the flowers that are planted throughout the park.  The deer are very accustomed to people, and ignore us as they wander around.   

Lincoln is our last stop in Oregon, tomorrow we are heading for Washington.