Chehalis, WA

Chehalis was our next stop.  Here we are going to catch up with my sister, Michele, and brother-in-law, Gary.  They are on their way home from Alaska.  If you have missed their blog go to www.on-de-go.com.  The blog is exciting, and lots of great pictures.

We spend the next couple of weeks traveling around the Northwest, sitting in the rain talking, playing cards, eating, looking at the pictures, hearing about Alaska, and eating deserts.  We had a great time, sharing our trips and thoughts.  The weather is what I call "typical Northwest weather".  Sunshine, rain, cloudy, rain, wind, and sunshine.

There are two places to see that everyone has heard of, and it was great to learn more about them.  the first place we went was all of the antique stores in the area.  We didn't want to miss shopping.  It was a great place to look at the things in the store.  During our first trip into town we stopped for dinner at the local Mexican Food Restruant.  We all made our choices and Michele kept changing her mind.  She finally chose her meal, and was disappointed.  She wanted what she originally chose.  So we had to go back our last day there so she could have a better meal.

We spend a day at Mount St. Helen's. This is the mountain that blew out the side about 30 years ago, and has erupted a time or two since.  They have a great welcome center with lots of information.  We walked through it, watched a movie on how it happened and how it comes back alive. We walked up to look at the mountain today, and pictures of what it looked like before. So much different.  It was a great trip, I'm glad we got to see it.

My Sister the Governess of Washington

Another great trip was in to Olympia, WA, the state Capitol.  We had a tour through the building, walked the grounds, and had a great time.  Seeing different state capitols is a highlight of any trip.  To see our government at work.  If you can go to any of the state capitals don't miss them.  This Capitol was the first one built with electricity included in the building.  Most of the ones before this had gas lights, or candles.  No power outlets, and all of them were added over the years.

We spent another day on the Mount Rainier Railroad.  It is a great train ride going to a railroad museum, with a location that is great for seeing Mount Rainier and taking pictures of Mount Rainier.  The museum had many railroad engines and cars, and a lot of volunteers that explained what a lot of the equipment was used for.  We had a great day on the railroad.

Our other trip was to Mount Rainier.  This is another active volcano, but has not blown its top yet.  It is a beautiful site the closer you get.  We stopped at the places overlooking the valleys, places we could see the mountain, and water falls.  Michele and Gary walked down to one of the water falls, while Vonna and I looked at it from the top.

We drove up to the welcome center, and could not get a parking place. The road is one way, starting down from the welcome center, and the nearest parking spot was about 1 & 1/2 miles away.  I have never been in a National Park with no parking.  This is worse than Yosemite in the summer.  It is a great place to go, but go early in the morning so that you can get to the welcome center.  We missed it.

On the way back we stopped at a little place that someone had told Vonna & Michele about.  We had one of the best meals there and enjoyed sitting outside even though it was on the main road.  Over all we had a great day.

We had a great time with Michele and Gary, but as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.  They are on their final leg home, stopping to see their  grandkids in San Jose, and then to Gary's family and then home.  We are headed to the beach.  

See you on the road!!!

We will See You on the Road!!!

Birch Bay, WA

We spend our Anniversary Week in Birch Bay, near Blaine, that is right on the border of Canada, just 35 miles or so from Vancouver BC.  It was a great place.  The campsite was right on the end, we had sunshine and rain, great place, and will be going back to visit.

We made a trip to the bay to look around.  It was a lot different from other bays that we have been to.  It was low tide and all of the boats were sitting on land.  We came back a few days later during high tide and all the boats are floating and ready to go.  It was really strange!  

We drove on down the street, found an ice cream place, and looking to see what was going on.  To Vonna's disappointment, not a lot of shops in this area.  We did walk to the place next to the ice cream shop, and sure enough it was Vonna's Purple Fin Cafe.  The owner's name was really Vonna, and Vonna introduced herself.  My Vonna had never met another Vonna so it was a highlight of her week.  We did go back and have breakfast there, a nice place to eat.

We drove around the bay to downtown Blaine, a nice drive.  We stopped at the information center and she gave us information about going to Canada.  She also told Vonna where the 3 stores were in town.  We looked in all three of them, and off to Ace Hardware and the Dollar Store.  Highlight of our day!

We made two trips into Vancouver BC.  The first day we walked through the Gaslight District.  They had a lot of shops and we really enjoyed shopping, walking, and lunch at The Spiagetii Warehouse.  We had a great day.  We were both tired by the time we got back.

We then went back for our anniversary.  We had decided to take a tour bus around the city.  We chose the trolley car that had two different routes around the city with a guide/driver.  We spend about 4 hours on the bus, getting off at the Grandville Island that had some shopping and a market place that had a lot of food in it.

After the tour, which we learned a lot about the city, and traveled thru Stanley Park, a great, beautiful place that we would love to spend more time in, we found a great place for dinner, right on the bay.  We sat outside and loved our time together, eating, and laughing.  A great day at a great place with my best friend.  I couldn't ask for more.

Time at Birch Bay was very good.  We washed the. Truck and trailer, inside and out, we had lots of fun and it was time to leave.  

It is all about the trip, not the destination!  See you all on the road!

La Conner - August 2013

We spend a couple of weeks in La Conner, WA.  The campsite was a little small, but nice.  We had room in the site for our rug, a kitchen so that we could cook outside – this helps keep the trailer clean with no grease on the stove -, and room for the dogs.  There were trees close around, but we had a spot for the bird feeder and we had birds coming for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  We had a few squirrels that got into the dog pen and had trouble getting back out.

This campsite is on an Indian reservation.  It is on an island that is a part of the San Juan Islands, and is right on the bay.  On our morning walks we would see the water, sometimes a boat out there with fishermen, or maybe a kayak or two.  The weather here in Washington is much cooler than home, we’ve had a day or two of rain, not a lot of wind, and we both love it.  And the trailer is not leaking!!

The manager at this location is very nice, as are the rest of the staff.  We went to a meeting on Saturday and found out about things to do.  After that there was a BBQ and we bought lunch, hamburgers all around.  And then an ice cream social and karaoke to close out the afternoon.  We met some new people.  One was a lady that was about 45 or so, had lost her dad a few years ago, took up sing, and was waiting for the karaoke.  She was ok, but not as good as one of the staff members. 

This staff member sang a couple of songs, and was walking near us.  I said how good he was, and he said thanks.  He said he had a CD coming out soon.  Another guy next to us (Charlie – remember his name, I will get back to his) said great and how can he get one.  The staff member said “kidding”, and we were all disappointed.  We had heard about this staff member during the meeting, and the manager told us that he was out of uniform this morning, dress in a die-tie (all it needed was a peace sign) for the week-end, but she didn’t remember that it was the day for it.  He apologized to her and changed to his normal uniform.  Then someone told her that she had the wrong shirt on, (because it was 70’s weekend) and she said she was embarrassed.  Anyway, I asked him if he was going to put his uniform on and he said NO!  But was nice about it.

We had a great time, listen to a couple of good singer, and a lot of bad singers, a good lunch, and the ice cream was great as always.

And then there was Charlie.  This guy came up to the table where we were and asked if he could sit there.  Sure we said, and him and Vonna talked a little.  He said how great 1000 Trails is, and that he is traveling full time, it is a lot more fun that having to pay for an apartment, and he loves being outside.  Over the years he has traveled the world, working most of the time for 6 months a year.  His home is in Oregon.  He likes to hike, taking his cat with him on the walks.  Vonna and he talked about healthy foods and I told him about the protein shakes we have during the weeks.  We asked what kind of a rig he had and he said that he has a six man tent and a cover over the table for his kitchen.  He said that maybe later he would like to get a teardrop trailer, but not right away.  He love the idea of being free.

When he told us about where he was, I showed it to Vonna.  The dogs and I have been walking by it every morning.  So, Vonna being Vonna, decided to put a package with all the information of where Chris (our grandson) works, a sample of the shakes, and protein bar package.  She had me go by there a few times until we caught him home.  He was surprised, but thankful.  That is a Charlie story, and he was a very nice man.  Oh did I tell you, he is about 45 years old.

One day we were driving around the campsite with our windows open, and Vonna asked what the screeching was.  I said the brakes have dust on them.  To make a long story short, we took our truck to have checked in Anacortes.  The brakes would last a little longer, maybe another 1-2,000 miles.  Only the front though.  The tires have been showing a lot of wear, and a lot of cracks, so new brakes on front and tires all around.  There goes this months spending money.  Fixed income is the pits, but the truck runs great and was cheaper than a new truck.

This was one of my favorite things, watch the man on the boat with is three dogs.  Maybe we should trade the 5th wheel?  Not really, just kidding, but it was nice.

La Conner is a small town.  They have a nice historical downtown area with lots of small shops even a dog shop.  Each one is individual, and had different things in them.  And we looked in them all, or Vonna did, I missed some of them.  We ate lunch in a couple of different restaurants during our visit here, both were ok, but Oregon Fish is better so far.  But ice cream was good.

We decided to take the ferry over to Friday Harbor for the day.  It was a beautiful day in the San Juan Islands, one of the best we had for a few days.  A little cloudy in the morning, sun in the afternoon, water was calm.  We looked in the shops, watched the people, boat watched, had a nice lunch in a little café overlooking the bay.  We had a wonderful day.

Our time in La Conner came to an end, but it is all about the journey, not about destination.  We are seeing a lot of new places, meeting new people, and having a great time.