Washington Part One-June 16 through June 27

Wednesday June 16 we left Klamath Falls and drove west over the mountain range towards I-5 to head north.   We drove through Portland but decided to keep driving until we reached McChord AFB near Tacoma, WA. We left at 12:00 pm and arrived at 9:30 pm. As we drove through the base towards the Holiday Famcamp the runway was to the left of us and we could see a C-17 in the near darkness with no lights on coming towards us to climb towards the sky…that was an awesome sight. The campground was dark but we could see it was pretty full with a few RV’s in the dry camp area so we pulled in there and parked the RV for the night. We had not stopped again for gas and the tank was under ¼ so we could not run the generator, not a problem since we were tired and went to bed after we ate a little something. We got up before the office was open so we decided to drive up the road to another base, Camp Murray to check it out before we had coffee or any breakfast. It was a smaller campground on the lake but we liked McChord better being a bigger base and the campsites were in the trees. We got back there around 9:45 am and went in the office where another camper was getting the one and only unoccupied Water/Electric spot. Ron, the camp manager was really nice and let us park near the office and hookup to the electric until a spot became available. Later in the afternoon we looked outside the RVand there was a Doe and her fawn close by. The fawn couldn’t have been more than a couple days old, really cute.

We went to get in the car a little while later and another doe was close by. I had Ty on the leash and the Doe starting coming closer and staring at Ty. Ty moved and she started hissing at him and doing the march that they do when they feel threatened. It was quite funny but we just got in the car and drove around the base and found an off leash park for the dogs. They loved it, even lucky was running around all over the place like he was young again, having a great time being off the leash.

We then went to the commissary to get something for dinner and I cooked (unusual, I know!) so Bill could get some things done on the computer. We could not get satellite and we did not have cable hookup so we had no TV so I went to bed and Bill continued to do computer stuff. The following morning Ron knocked on the door and said he had a full site available so we moved the rig and set up for the next couple of weeks that we planned on staying in this area.

   

We then drove 12 miles up towards Tacoma to Point Defiance Park on Puget Sound. The sun actually came out and the sky cleared up somewhat for a few hours. It was a really beautiful park, with Japanese Gardens and a Rose Garden that was closed for a special Wine and Rose event.

  The Tacoma zoo and aquarium where also right there. We walked around with the dogs and down to the Beach area then over to the area where the Ferry goes out. There were quite a few cars waiting for the Ferry to come back over the Sound.

We then drove through a five mile forested area along Puget Sound where you could see the Narrows Bridge going to Gig Harbor and lots of fishing boats and sailboats.

We then drove through Old Tacoma where there were some beautiful homes overlooking the Sound and the landscapes were very colorful and picturesque.

Among the things I like about the West Coast is the days are really long! Sunrise is about 5:15 am and Sunset is 9:10 pm which works for us because we never leave to go anywhere early…..It must be this retired life!

The next several days it rained and was overcast so we did some more local exploring including Gig Harbor, a cute town that used to be a fishing village whose only access is the narrows bridge. We walked the dogs along the waterfront and drove around the little Island. It was still overcast but at least it wasn’t raining!

We also went to Wright Park in Tacoma, which had old growth trees from other countries and continents as well as all over the US. They had an arboretum as well but it was closed when we were there. This park was in the middle of the town and there was a beautiful pond and nice paths to walk or run. 

Tuesday June 22 when we saw the weather was going to be good we decided to go the Mt. Rainier National Park, about 45 miles Southeast of Tacoma. This is one state where you can really appreciate the weather channel on a daily basis. It was sunny most of the day and clear enough to see Mt. Rainier in all its glory.

There were a lot of scenic lookouts and rivers you could stop at or hike around the park. 

We stopped and crossed the river at this spot and hiked along the water for about an hour.

 At Narada Falls we had to walk down a path that still had snow in some parts of it that we had to walk through and it was very slippery!

We drove up to the Lodge where there was a really nice interpretive and  hands on museum overlooking Mt.

Rainier.  A lot of people were out walking and playing in the snow. 

                                                                 

We then stopped at a lake still partially frozen. As we were taking pictures I spotted a Northern Grey Wolf off in the distance heading towards the water. He turned back walking away from us but took his time doing so. I did get a picture but it is very hard to see him in it and Bill took a video very excited that we saw one as it is a rare sight.

 We continued going southeast in the Park where there were many waterfalls and lots of snow. It was very scenic with the waterfalls shooting through the snow in many places and everywhere you drove you could see Mt. Rainier and the surrounding glaciers.

It is amazing what the force of water, ice and snow can have on forming the ever changing rivers, lakes, canyons and gorges. In this picture of the gorge the rock is so polished and smooth, it doesn’t look real.

We also saw a very large Male Elk as we were leaving the park, he was resting on the side of the road and we must have scared him because he got up and ran across the road into the woods by the creek and stared at us for a few minutes, then went into the darkness of the Douglas fir trees. We got back to the RV pretty late but it was a fulfilling day.
The next day we stayed at the park to do laundry and catch up on emails, etc. We then walked around the Air force bases many trails. Saw a few hummingbirds and other birds but that was pretty much it until we came across a training area where it says access was restricted.

We had a trouble finding our way back out of the woods because every path we took there was a restricted sign so we re-traced our steps and got back on track to the car. Back at the campsite the squirrels here are small and they sound a lot cuter than the ones back east. Here is one yelling at Ty who was at the bottom of the tree looking up at it.

Since we haven’t had TV we have been renting the $1.00 movies and catching up on the more recent ones like “It’s complicated” which was hilarious, “Valentines day” which we did not really like and “Extraordinary Measures”, which was really good and based on a true story. We also watched the four hour version of “Dances with Wolves”…I love that movie.
Since we love hiking and taking the dogs with us we have been going to all the parks that allow dogs which is most of the county parks. We went to Puyallup, which is about 20 miles north to Clarks Creek Park and walked around the park then up into what looked like a rain forest to me for a couple of hours.

We then got back in the car and drove through downtown Puyallup and took a few pictures of Meeker Mansion and the downtown area. Our friend Patrick Murphy of the Gaelic Storm Irish band text Bill to tell him they were doing a show at the Puyallup county fair this year. Too bad they are not going to be there when we are here!

When we arrived back at the base, we saw a fabulous moon and Mount Rainer in the distance before we headed back to camp.

On Friday June 25th we found a great big off leash dog park in Ft. Steilacoom. It was many acres of fenced in areas for the dogs…there must have been 100 dogs spread out playing with balls and each other. Ty loved it…Lucky, well not so much, didn’t like all the dogs sniffing his butt and did his usual snap attack if anyone came near him. We then walked around the trails of the campground and spotted a western tanager chasing bugs close by us. I got this good picture of him.

Here Ty and Lucky are sharing the bed






Saturday we headed to Point Defiance Park where there was the annual Taste of Tacoma going on there. It was a three day event with 30 restaurants providing food, local musicians playing on four different stages, a comedy stage and carnival rides and you could bring your dogs there. It was quite crowded and hard finding a parking spot at first but we drove to the other side of the park and did a little hike around the Rhododendron Gardens before we headed over to the event. It was nice and quiet on the trail and Bill suddenly spotted this Barred Owl napping on the tree limb. He kept one eye on us but stayed there the whole time we took pictures.

 We then got in the car to find a parking spot a little closer to the event. It wasn’t too long before we found one, parked and got the dogs out to walk down to the park. It was a nice sunny day, perfect for relaxing and listening to music and trying some of the local food.

When we left about 5:30 and headed back along the water on Ruston Way, the traffic was horrendous going the other way towards the Park. We stopped to take more pictures of the awesome view of Mt. Rainer and the waterway.

We got back to the base in time to watch the sunset over the Static display of Retired Aircraft.  Bill likes to carry a mountain on his back.

When we got back to the campsite our neighbor a soldier getting ready to be deployed asked if we saw anyone move the picnic table by her RV. I did see the MWR employee, Ron moving one with a small tractor but didn’t know where he got it from. It seems her bike was leaning on the table and when he picked it up it knocked the bike over and spilled the gas tank she had there. Anyway she wasn’t happy about it but she started talking about her dogs and that she had a dachshund like Ty who one night when she was staying at one of the apartments on the base was attacked by a coyote and was hurt pretty badly and it had to be stitched up. We were pretty surprised to hear there were coyotes here but the next evening when I was walking Ty around the trails I actually heard one howling just before sunset.  Bill was still in doubt asking if maybe it was a dog....the direction it came from and the howl was no dog.  I returned to camp as I did not want Ty to have an encounter with it.