On Monday June 28th we decided to drive out to the coast even though the weather was not great, you just have to do whatever you want and hope for the best! It took a few hours to get there as we drove through Aberdeen which I understand is where Kurt Cobain grew up, a very dreary looking area with lumber yards and mills.
I liked this sign for Sasquash Pizza.
We arrived at the Ocean Shores beaches, where you drive your car up and down the beach and park wherever you want. It was windy and chilly and there weren’t too many people but there were a lot of seagulls.
We drove down south more towards the point and took the dogs out on the beach and up on the jetty there. The sun actually came out while we were there for several minutes anyway.
We continued to drive through the area where there were many beach houses. On the lawn by one of the houses sat two deer, which Bill called Beach Deer….just sitting there relaxing. It appears that we were only 109 miles south of Forks, WA famed by the twilight series; oh well, we did not go there! We drove back to McChord and snapped pictures of a C17 landing then immediately taking off again and flying over the base. Bill finds it amusing that I no longer wake up to the sound of these noisy planes flying over us in the middle of the night nor do the guns at the firing range wake me. Like they say, you get used to it!
Wednesday June 30th we drove up to Snoqualmie Falls, 51 miles Northeast of McChord. The Falls were beautiful with a lodge and nice park around it. We walked a trail near the parking area and came across some bear scat…..I don’t mind seeing a bear but from a distance would be just fine with me!
We drove around the town where there was an old railway across the Snoqualmie River and saw these waxwings, very pretty but noisy birds.
The view over the bridge was nice and the trail led to the town so we got in the car and drove to the other side where there were some old rail cars and a giant redwood on display there.
We headed back towards the base and hit some rush hour traffic so it took us a little longer and we ended up stopping at RAMS brewery and getting a few beers and their butt face beer cheese dip which was pretty good.
Thursday was a pretty dreary day, raining on and off all day with the typical drizzly rain of this area. We did spot this Pileated Woodpecker close by the campsite and watched him for a while until someone scared him off trying to get too close too fast to get a picture. He came back later on though and pecked away at this one tree for quite a while. I was able to get pretty close by hiding behind a tree and taking a picture.
Friday July 2nd we went to Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle and walked through the gardens. It was really pretty even though it was still overcast and drizzly.
We then went to the World Famous Japanese Gardens right across the street. What a beautiful place that was all nicely manicured and lots of flowers were blooming. I took over 300 pictures of both gardens and had a hard time deleting any of them.
There was a turtle laying her eggs on the shore of the pond and some pretty big Koi Fish in there. We were the only ones there at the time as it was towards the end of the day and aside from the road noise it was a great place to visit.
Saturday July 3rd we went to Seattle, parked in a garage at Pioneer Square, the oldest neighborhood of Seattle, home of the Totem Poles and the Underground Tours.
We walked the dogs a little then had to put them in the car to go inside Pikes Market. We walked about eight blocks and went inside from the south end to three floors of stores and restaurants. We came to the very crowded section where Pikes Fish Market was located and saw the world famous “fish throwing”. There were so many people there watching you could barely get close enough to get a picture.
We then walked through the crowded market through the many flowers, fruits and vegetables and seafood stands.
Outside there were hundreds more vendors selling everything imaginable who set up tents with their goods every morning and pack up every night. Seems like a lot of work but there were so many people there I guess it is worth it. There was outside dining all over the place, up where you could see the view of Elliott Bay. We then walked down to water and the Piers. In the morning when we left McChord it was overcast but now it had turned into a beautiful sunny afternoon, perfect weather for a stroll through Seattle.
We watched the sailboats in the bay and saw the Norwegian Star cruise ship docked at the pier. We then walked along the waterway past the Seaquarium and heard music playing over on the dock outside the Fisherman’s restaurant. We listened for a few minutes then walked through a mall with quaint stores, an inside carousel and several restaurants.
We then walked up the steps back to the city and over to Pikes Brewery for a much needed beer or two.
I heard the bartender calling the patron next to me “Suzuki” so I asked him if that was his nickname and it turns out it was his last name, no relation. He said he lives in Vancouver, BC but had July 1st, one of Canada’s holidays off so he decided to take a bus down here, only three hours away for a few days. He was from Tokyo but now works in Canada as a sign designer and has been there for one year. He also lived in Australia for a year which he loved especially since he loves surfing. His English was pretty good and he said he learned it from his former girlfriend, a Canadian. We had our second beer, said our goodbyes then headed to the car. We drove back through Pikes Market and past the original Starbucks which of course
was crowded.
We then drove around the city a bit and stopped at Denny Park for a better view of the Space Needle and came upon this community right across from the park. It was not too far from everything but the traffic was not too bad. We went to the Whole Foods Market nearby to use the restroom, which as all the restaurants and grocery stores have key codes locks on the doors.
This was a cute neighborhood with high rise apartments and families walking the streets with dogs or children in strollers. We then got back in the car and drove back down towards the water to Olympic Sculpture Park where there were some odd sculptures like the washer and dryer display….not sure why that was art but it was a nice walk along the water where we got a better view of the space needle and the city.
I especially liked all the wildflowers through this park.
We left the city and drove south towards SeaTac Airport to the Elliot Bay Brewhouse where we had one more beer and a bite to eat. We then headed back to McChord and got a movie, Pirate Radio to watch..it was an entertaining quirky English made movie.
Fourth of July was another overcast day. We only went out to get some groceries and walked outside the campground to see what fireworks we could see. Ty hated it when they started the fireworks in the nearby neighborhood sometime around 8:30 pm, they were pretty loud and lasted until about 1:00 am. He probably lost a lot of hair from all the stress. Lucky could care less as usual, loud noises don’t bother him. I don’t ever remember there being so many private fireworks anywhere I have ever watched them.
We could look in every direction and see them going off including the Tacoma, Ft. Lewis and Lakewood City fireworks who did theirs around 10:00 pm. Even the Coyotes were howling in the nearby forested area, there must have been ten or more of them. It was a very eerie sound and Bill finally got to hear them. We stayed up and watched Blind Side since there was no way we would get to sleep with the fireworks still going on.
Monday July 5th we did laundry and cleaned the RV. I also worked on the blog which took several hours to post the pictures and edit it. Our plan was to get up early on Tuesday and go to Whidbey Island for the entire day instead of leaving and heading east to Spokane like we originally planned since it was going to be a good weather day. It was not a bad drive to the Ferry at the Town of Mukilteo where we only waited about 15 minutes to get on the Ferry.
Once on we got out of the car and walked to the top deck where there was a snack bar and very large enclosed seating area for walk on passengers. You could also go outside on the front deck as we traveled the 20 minutes across Puget Sound where we arrived at the town of Clinton. Bill says that was one town away from the village of Monica…funny but true! We drove off the ferry and headed north on our way to NAS Whidbey. There were several miles of cars waiting to get off the island so we decided right then we would be going north and driving off the island at Deception Pass instead of taking the ferry back. We continued our drive and stopped at Coupeville, a cute little harbor village with a nice museum and garden trail to a park that lead down to the beach.
We walked on the beach where there were mussels everywhere and back up to the Wharf and went inside the stores for a little bit then decided we better continue driving or we would not get to see everything we wanted.
We arrived at Oak Harbor and entered the Naval Air Station and stopped at a park right by the water. It was a beautiful hot day with the Navy Planes flying overhead and not a cloud in the sky. We ate our picnic lunch then walked down the path along the water where we could see the RV Park in the distance.
What a great place that would have been to stay except the toll would have been very expensive and the gas to get there in the RV. We hiked the trail along the water which was nice and shady coming upon "The Rock" which Bill had to climb up on so I could get a picture then I climbed up on it.
We then got our chairs and set them up on the beach. We walked along the beach for a while collecting rocks and driftwood. It was a really nice day even though the water was cold, Ty didn’t mind the sand or the water but Lucky hated it.
After we walked a bit we came back to the chairs and I was talking on the phone to Lindsey and wasn’t paying much attention, but Bill had left Lucky on his leash but did not realize he was following him. Bill went back up to the car and when he came back, Lucky was half way across the sand with his leash dragging behind him. We had a laugh for a few minutes as we saw in the sand where the leash had been dragged as you can see in this photo to the right of the people.
We then packed up the car and went north to go back by way of Deception Pass. We stopped before the bridge and parked the car and walked down under the bridge which took you down to the beach. It was pretty far down so we decided not to go down there as it was getting near sunset and we had a long drive ahead of us.
We did however go back up on the bridge where they had a walking path along both sides of the bridge but they warn you not to cross on the road to go under the bridge to get to the other side. It was kind of scary walking along the path while cars are speeding by on the bridge. Ty as usual would stick his head over the side of the bridge and scared me half to death a dozen times. The view was absolutely beautiful and a lot of people where there waiting for the sun to set. We decided not to wait and headed back to the car.
When we got home I went in the RV and left Lucky and Ty outside for a few minutes. I went out to get Lucky and some people said they saw a little dog up the road. I couldn’t believe it, Lucky had wondered off and I had to chase him down the road even after I called him he was running away from me. I think his Alzheimer’s kicked in and he not only couldn’t see me he didn’t recognize my voice! It was funny and sad at the same time; thank goodness someone had seen him because it was really dark and who knows how far he would have gone.
Wednesday July 7th we met up with Mag, one of Bill's coastie buddies from Elizabeth City and his girlfriend, Laura. We met at Katie Downs on Ruston Way in Tacoma. We had a few beers and appetizers and had a really good time. We sat outside on the deck over the water and the weather was perfect. We then walked down to the Ram Tavern and sat inside and had another beer. The only thing is we forgot to take pictures! It was really nice meeting them both and we said we would come back, maybe next year for their annual summer party. We said our goodbyes and headed back to the RV to get ready to leave for Spokane the next day.
Thursday July 8th we left Tacoma and headed East towards Spokane. It was a pretty drive through Snoqualmie Pass and over the Columbia River where we stopped at an awesome overlook of the River and Valley.
Above the overlook was the Wild Horses Monument, a cool display of horses made of metal.
It was quite hot out so we got back in the RV and kept driving and arrived in Cheney outside Spokane around 8:45 pm. We found the park we wanted to stay at but their gates and office closed at 8:00 so we stayed in town at a Walmart with several other motor homes. The next morning we called and found they did have a few spots at Clear Lake Resort, a military campground. We were close to Fairchild AFB that also had RV camping so we decided to check that out first. It was crowded and the only sites left were out in the full sun with no trees around so we drove over to the Clear Lake and got a spot near the end of the RV camping. It was across from the picnic area that had trees and a clear view of the lake.
It was hot that day and got up to over 90 degrees so we actually had to turn on the A/C in the RV. We decided not to go in the lake and just walked around the grounds. They had boat rental of all kinds and a swimming beach area. We read that this was a very active recreation area on the weekends and that was very true. The campground was almost full the whole weekend and so was the picnic area until the sun set at 9:00 pm. Alot of people were also fishing and the birds are a plenty.
Saturday we went to Spokane to see the Falls and the Riverfront Park. The Falls go right down through the city and there was a nice walking trail over and around it.
There was the antique Looff Carousel made by Charles Looff in 1909 famed for making the first Carousel in Coney Island in New York. There were this artwork of runners that we also saw in Seattle.
There was also the Skyride over the Falls and a cute children's park with a huge RADIO FLYER red wagon that was a slide. I know my granddaughter would love to slide on this!
We spent a few hours walking around then drove part of the City Tour up to Pioneer Park which overlooked the City.
There were some gorgeous homes up there and driving through some of the other neighborhoods reminded Bill of his childhood neighborhood even the name of the school was the same.
This was an interesting display regarding some sort of protest.
We started our drive back going around Medical Lake and past a Washington State Hospital that looked very old and kind of creepy. We came across this Doe and her two fawns driving around the grounds and Bill was trying to give me the creeps by his comments as we passed some old abandoned houses and buildings and the "Therapy Pool".
Then there was this graveyard site that didn't help matters either, just another way for Bill to tease me.
Sunday July 11th was another hot day in the 90's so we stayed put with the A/C on and wandered out occasionally for a walk. The sunset was beautiful.
On Monday we decided to go to the nearby Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge. It was so windy that the air was thick with dirt and the car got filthy in and out. The Refuge was nice but hot that day as we did the auto tour and wandered out for a few short hikes on the trails. As we were leaving a dead tree had fallen across the road from the strong winds and a person before us moved part of it and as he was pulling away Bill got out and moved the rest of it. It looked like there was a nest in it but hopefully they got out before it fell.
The next few days were lazy days at Clear Lake. I took a bike ride but fell off when I stopped on the side of the road in the soft shoulder scraping up my leg a little. We walked with the dogs at Medical Lake and boy was it hot on the way back from this three mile loop around the Lake.
Thursday we checked with the office about staying another week but they had the whole campsite booked for a reunion after Wednesday so we packed up Friday and headed up closer to Spokane to Fairchild AFB Famcamp, a nice campground with washers and dryers and spots near trees and green grass!
Here is someone with all the toys
The base was very large with everything you could ask for, even outdoor and indoor swimming pools. It was nice to get under some shade but also still be able to get satellite TV. They also had free Internet so we could both be online at the same time and not use our air card minutes. We got here just before a Born Free RV was leaving and we spoke to these nice folks for a few minutes and when they left we took their spot. Now that we have been to many of the military campgrounds we are starting to recognize some of the Rver's. Right next door to us was one that we saw and talked to a bit in Klamath Falls, over a month ago. They were headed to Glacier National Park just like us except they were leaving Sunday July 18th and we were not leaving until Monday July 26th due to the Skyfest Air Show with the Thunderbirds here at the Air Force Base that weekend. We also met another Born Free RVer which was unusual to see two like ours since we had not seen any others since we were in New Mexico.
Sunday we went to Manito Park in Spokane, a beautiful area with a Rose Garden, Japanese Gardens, Perennial Gardens, a large pond and a Greenhouse with hundreds of beautiful plants.
I told Bill that is what I want but a smaller version. The plants were all nicely manicured and as nice if not nicer than the one at the Biltmore in NC.
The neighborhood that this park was surrounded by had some really nice homes, everyone had them nicely landscaped. Bill said he had been to Spokane about four times and never new they had such a nice area as this. Families were everywhere as the weather was perfect and they were picnicking on the grass, couples were laying on blankets just chilling or walking around visiting all the gardens. Even with the temperature at 85 degrees it was nice in the shade and the breeze.
The rest of the week did some bike riding around the base. Lucky was hot so he got in the shower.
Friday the air show participants were practicing so we got to see some of the pre show activity. It was pretty neat being so close to the whole thing.
Saturday we rode our bikes a few blocks away to the show line where there were a lot of static displays but there were so many people in line waiting to get on the planes we only went on one. It was incredibly hot that day and inside the planes was even worse. People were sitting in their chairs under any shade they could find which consisted of the shade under the winds and body of the the large stationary planes.
We watched most of the show then rode our bikes back to the RV and ate some lunch and had a beer and watched the Thunderbirds from there in the shade.
Sunday was even hotter so we just hung out in the RV in the A/C until the afternoon then went to Spokane to run some errands and stop by the Northern Lights Brewery for a late lunch and of course a cold draft. Even Ty who always wants to be outside when we are couldn't wait to get back in the A/C. We were looking forward to leaving for our next adventure, a 15 mile bike ride on the Route of the Hiawatha in Idaho.
