June 7 Glacier Nat’l Park

We spent the day driving around the park, after roughing it for breakfast. It was spectacular, to say the least! Unfortunately, it had snowed in the mountains the prior couple of nights, so we weren’t able to drive straight through the park on Going to The Sun Road. Something for the “bucket list” then.

June 6 Taking the Scenic Route Cont'd

I drove by Grand Coulee Dam this morning but somehow didn’t manage to take any good pictures of it on the way by. Oh well, I guess you can google it, eh? Then I drove through wheat fields in Eastern WA. I got to Spokane about 2 and went to John’s house. He grabbed a bag and we were out the door for Glacier National Park in Montana, about 4 hours away. And he drove!!!! I got to be a passenger!!!! I can’t tell you how nice that was! We spent the night in a park just outside the park entrance.

June 5 On the Road Again

Lots of pictures today – it was a gorgeous scenic drive! I drove east on 20 from Whidbey Island to Okanogan, WA and went from the rainforest of the NW Pacific, over the mountains, back into the desert. Starting from the bottom, I snapped a couple of pictures of Deception Pass on my way out this morning. There are a couple of lunch photos. The next few pictures are of the Skagit River Valley and the Gorge Dam, which was the first dam to be built along this river back in the 60’s (I think the sign said). Isn’t that the most informative trail sign you’ve ever seen? Me too! Then pictures of the snowy mountain pass, then the Northern Cascades, and then, finally, agriculture in the desert. I’ve paid $5.50 to park in the American Legion Park for the evening. There are bathrooms with showers for 50 cents, and no electric for the camper, but all in all, still a pretty good deal! The river is right by the park and provides creates a very peaceful ambiance.

June 4 Hangin’ and Chillin’ Day 2

I went to see Dee Wichers this morning and we had a real nice visit. She and her family lived across the street from us when we were here in the mid-60’s. I went to kindergarten with her son David. She recently lost her husband John of 57 years, about 6 months ago. Dee told me some stories about my Mom that I hadn’t heard before! Here is a picture from her family room, looking towards Oak Harbor in the distance and another picture of a beautiful Christmas cactus she has. I asked for a picture of her, but she begged off temporarily. We made plans to hook up in AK as she will accompany David and his family to Kenai this summer, and she said we could take pictures then. David fishes for salmon commercially there in July and August. Bryan and Deet and their kids will also be there – so a bit of a reunion. In the afternoon, I drove by our old house (the blue one) and the Wichers’ old house across the street (the brick one), which, for what’s it worth, are on NE 5th Ave. Dad said the house was on 850 East Street, or Avenue, but they changed all the names a while back. Dee said she thought in might be on 8th, and David told his Mom that he thought it was 6th. Dee gave the correct directions to the house, regardless of street name, though. There is a used car lot at the end of the street now, not an A&W or whatever it was that was built when we were here. There is one shot looking up the street, which is about as much of a hill as I remember, Bryan! Then I stopped by the local farm market and bought 2 doz eggs from pasture raised chickens ($4 / doz and not nearly as big as Annalee’s), 1 doz pastured ducks eggs ($5 – and HUGE), raw goats milk cheese, dark chocolate truffles and a loaf of herb bread. Yum yum! (P.S. One of these pictures is a video! So examine closely!)

June 3 Hangin' and Chillin'

Not a lot to report for today! I’ve been in the Oak Harbor library all afternoon uploading pictures! (Imagine that!) It is SO great to have good internet. I’m camping at Deception Pass State Park, and it is absolutely stunning. I went by my bank this morning, Navy Federal Credit Union – sure is nice to have it handy for once! I drove by my elementary school and by Skagit Valley College. My Mom took classes from the latter while we lived here. I thought she had to drive to Skagit Valley, though!

June 2 Decisions, decisions

To Port Angeles, Fork and the beach at La Push? Very tempting…. Especially since these are REAL places! But, I chose the road less traveled – to Oak Harbor, via the ferry at Port Townsend. Here are some pictures of the trip up the eastern side of the Olympic Peninsula. Gorgeous, eh? Yeah, I wish you were here too! :) Oh yeah, I finally got pictures posted on previous days. So go back to May 30th, the bottom of the post, there is a video.

June 1 Bee-Bopping Around Oregon

I probably shouldn’t write blog entries when I’m tired, like yesterday. Well, anyway, I went to bed early last night after figuring out that I was not going to connect to the campground WiFi and got up early and then locked my keys in the truck. It’s been a while since I’ve pulled that one! :) So then I had to hang around for an hour, waiting for the office to open, (phone was in the truck too) and then for another 45 minutes or so before the Pop-A-Lock guy came and pretty much instantaneously got me back into my truck. I had a chance to flip through Eugene’s phone book while I was waiting. Mountain Rose Herbs is located in Pleasant Hill, OR, just 10 minutes south. I got to David and Abigail’s house about 1 and they fed me! I got The David-and-Abigail Lunch!!!! And you probably could too, if you went all the way to Corvallis. :) A slice of cheese on top of beans and veggies on top of a couple of eggs. Yum yum. Then we went to David’s office, still in the process of build-out. He thinks that he’ll be open next month. Afterwards, I drove north towards Portland, and stopped to let rush hour die down a bit, in one of the best rest areas I have ever been in. It’s huge, curves all around. Baldock, I think the name is. Something strange happened while I was there. There were a few vehicles spaced out in the rear section that I was in. I was there for about an hour, parked parallel to the sidewalk. One guy in a white Toyota 4Runner in the center section, who had been parked there when I arrived, backed his truck up right in front of me, so that his rear bumper was at the sidewalk. I mean, the passenger side of his truck was within a couple of feet from the front bumper of my truck. It was really weird! I wondered if he meant something by it, like he was trying to get a rise out of me so he could get ballistic, and/or if he was drinking. Anyway, I just calmly waited until I was ready to go (about 20 minutes later) and then backed up a few feet and drove around him. Then on through Portland. I got off the freeway and went to my old college, University of Portland. Wow has it changed in 32 years! :) No more open lawn areas! Then back on the freeway to Shelton, WA (just a wee bit northwest of Olympia) to boondock at the Wal-Mart there. The picture of the drawbridge is on the I-5 bridge across the Columbia River, Portland, OR on the south and Vancouver, WA on the north.