... Yosemites!!!

On to Yosemites (Sept 23)

From Carson we headed south and west to Yosemites.  One interesting spot we passed was Mono Lake (an inland salty sea).  40 years ago, the watersheds to Mono lake were mostly diverted to feed a thirsty Los Angeles and the lake level dropped dramatically.  Then one day (15 years ago), a few waterconscious people in Los Angeles realized that they we draining an ecological treasure with unique wildlife and a fly-over stop-off for thousands of migratory birds.  In Los Angeles the call went political and Mono Lake was the start of a whole mindshift in the city toward water conservation, that began with giving out free low-water consumption toilets and low-water landscaping and continues to this day.  Mono Lake was given back 85% of its watershed, and now is growing back to its original size and health.

The highway makes a huge climb just before and into Yosemites from an elevation of about 4,000 ft to 9,500 ft at our campsite in Tuolumne Meadows.  This is an enormous campsite with 300 sites, and it only had ½ dozen sites available when we arrived—they filled up almost immediately.

Yosemites is a very beautiful place.  Our campsite is 100 ft from the prettiest creek imaginable.  It has minature waterfalls and wide pools surrounded by smooth and polished granite rock formations for the water to flow around and over.  In the afternoon, we took the lawn chairs to the creek side where there was full sun and just took in our beautiful view-scape for an hour before the sun went down.

At one time, eons back, Yosemites was covered with 2,000 ft of glacier that was 60 miles long.  Because of this the granite mountains near our campsite have been stripped clean of soil by the moving river of ice.  This abrasive action has ground the edges off most of the mountains and turned them into granite domes that are very interesting to look at. 

There are also a couple of very high mountains that must have protruded above the glacier and escaped the extreme erosive powers of the ice.  They have a true prominence with their jagged tops.

Reno and Carson City

Wednesday, Sept. 22 – Carson City

Off to Reno, Lake Tahoe and Carson City

From Quincey we continued to head East.  Eventually we left the tall tree country and were suddenly confronted with semi-arid desert and almost no trees.  This is the land of Reno.  We stopped in Reno for a few hours.  It is actually not a bad looking town.  It is bigger than I thought with a beautiful university campus and the north end of town.  In the heart of  the city are a few big casino’s such as Circus Circus.  The nice thing about Reno is that the casinos are easy to get to, with the “strip” not being that long, whereas in Las Vegas you can walk for several hours along the main boulevard before you pass the last casino.  Reno is much more user friendly, where you can easily get from the casino area to the restaurant area and the shopping area.

From Reno, we drove to Lake Tahoe.  The  lake itself is an enormous crater from an extinct volcanoe.  It is a fairly large lake (seemed about 10 miles or more long/across).  The drive around it is very scenic with large trees, and a winding road that basically follows the perimeter of the lake.  In one place the road follows a “spine” along the edge of the lake. 

 The road is so narrow that they have no room for protective curbing, and the drop on both sides of the narrow strip of pavement is several hundred feet or more.  Ade was definitely a little nervous on this section.

As we made our way to Carson City (state capital) we passed at least 300 Harley Davidsons heading north in groups of between 4 and 8.  It was quite a site.  Also, going north was a large group of beautifully restored Model A Fords.  It was amazing!  There must have been at least 75 of them. 

 We got a couple of great pictures as they chugged by us in the opposite direction.

Since we hit California, the weather has been perfect.  Rarely a cloud in the sky.  At Carson City (which is located at the north end of the Carson valley, a beautiful strip of agriculture land about 50 miles long), we found a nice RV campsite right across the street from a small/medium size casino at the south end of town (and Carson City strikes me as another very nice place to visit for a day or two).  We went to dinner at the casino, and spent a few schekles on the slot and rollet machines—of course the machines teased us by letting us win at first and then stripping us of our winnings shortly afterwards.

Subway Caves

Tuesday, Sept.21 - On to Quincy, CA!

We headed south again on I 5 to Mount Shasta. Every time we see this beautiful volcano we still gasp at its enormous size. At 14,000 ft, it must rank as one of the highest volcanoes on the continent. Its glaciated upper half always makes for the best photos on a clear day.

From Mount Shasta we headed eastward on Highway 89. One of our stops was the “Subway Caves”, located about 70 miles east of Shasta, near Hat Creek.

 This cave was formed out of volcanic activity. Being in the cave was like being inside a hugh winding pipe that was ½ full of cement that some inexperienced cement worker had forgotten to trowel. It was definitely a flat surface to walk on but very rough in places! We came prepared with flashlights because I had been in the cave 7 years ago with Chay. At that time, even with flash lights we found it so black inside that we “chickened out” as the intense blackness of the cave engulfed our movements once we were past the first bend in the cave.

Even this time, I had a moment where I almost went back, but Ade figured we should go a little farther, and then suddenly we saw a small bit of light in front of us marking the end of the cave! This cave is quite an experience and we would recommend it to anyone who has interest in caves and volcanic activity. Also, the lush, but dry vegetation in this region was very interesting to look at while you were walking the trails.

This supposedly dry arid area also had lots of wildlife and birds.

Our next short stop was at Lassen's National Volcanic Park.

This place is truly a hikers mecca. It is the only place in the world with all 4 types of volcanoes in one area. Many eruptions have taken place over tens of thousands of years, with the last eruption taking place between 1914 and 1916. Amazingly an amateur volcanologist captured these eruptions with beautiful pictures over the few minutes that the largest eruption took. It was an eruption on the scale of Mount St Helens, and it was a miracle that the guy lived to develop the pictures! He spent the rest of his life in the area, describing the eruption to tourists of the day. In addition to the volcanoes, there were hotsprings, and boiling mud pots in the park, very much like you see at Yellowstone, but on a smaller scale.  Unlike Yellowstone, the only wildlife we saw were a few mule deer.

Finally we continued on our way and spent the night at a very private and well-kept rest stop just past the town of Quincy, the home of the largest sawmill in California. The whole area around Quincy is blessed with enormous stands of very large fir trees, much larger than I have seen in most parts of British Columbia. A logging truck would usually only carry between 9 and 15 logs.  However, like BC, the logging industry is suffering and the mill is only working part-time now with the town slowly dying as a result.

Too Heck with the Oregon Coast and all it's WET

Monday, Sept. 20 - Heading EAST!

 It is a damp Monday morning. With the forecast not looking in our favour, we decided to make a major shift in our travel plans. Instead of countinuing down a damp and wet Oregon coast, we decided to head a short way down to Lincoln City and then head East to the drier interior. Our destination was still to be Yosemite National Park, but we were going to approach it via Reno, Nevada!

We turned off the highway to drive through Cannon Beach.  Another town we will definitely come back to when the weather is better!  Where Seaside was quaint, Cannon Beach was artistic – lots of shops and restaurants with quite a difference ambience – more expensive!

In Lincoln city, we did lunch at the famous Mo's Chowder House (verrrry goooood) overlooking the ocean. Then Ade had a great time buying clothes at the Factory Outlet Mall in Lincoln City, then it was on the road East. We made it to Interstate #5 and headed south for 100 miles to a rest stop at the southern end of Oregon where we spent the night.  To our surprise, as soon as we headed east, the sun came out at last!

Astoria  - on the Sunday, Sept.19^th (the second day of our Ft Stevens stay)

After our second night at the state campsite, we packed up and were heading south, except for a short stop to see the town of Astoria. This town is perched on a steep hillside at the mouth of the Columbia. Its history dates back into the 1800's. Like Port Townsend, there are many old Victorian homes, with quite a number fully restored. The most famous house was owned by the first “captain” of the port. His name was Joseph Flavel. Today the home has been fully restored and furnished by the local historical society. It is truly beautiful. Designed by an architect in the Queen Anne style with large rooms and 12 ft ceilings, the inside was furnished in the latest fashions from the late 1800's. The house had a turret that must have been 40 ft high, from where the captain could keep an eye on the river mouth.

The grounds of this elegant mansion were also restored to their former beauty with a rose garden and shrubbery and large trees throughout. The back corner of the grounds had a carriage house where Flavel kept his three horses and sleds and buggies. For the $4 tour it was a truly great value, as indicated by the nearly 250,000 people who visited it last year—not bad for a town with less than 10,000 residents!

From the Flavel house we went to the downtown market. They cordon off 3 blocks of 12^th street every Sunday and set up a fabulous “down-town by the sea” market where venders rent out little 12x12 roof tents and market everything from food to clothes to hand crafts of all descriptions.

After an hour or so at the market we headed to a very unique spot on the highest point of land in Astoria. This was a circular column standing 125 ft tall and hollow, with 164 circular steps leading up to the top. I started running up the stairs, but after about 30 steps, I was so dizzy that I had to stop for fear of falling over!

                                                                 What a view!!

but the wind was so strong that when you walked out onto the wrought iron platform at the top, you had to really hang on to the railing (and your hat!). Needless to say, I did not stay outside too long. The outside of this structure was carved and painted in a spiral fashion to depict the history of Astoria as the spiral pictures and lettering wound around the column. We’ve never seen anything quite like this piece of sculptured artwork.

Finally after this little stop, we headed south, on our way to Seaside.

Once we got to Seaside, the first thing that we did was find a Safeway. I was still trying to get that darn Tracphone working. The customer service at Safeways was incredible, but even with her doing all the work on trying to activate the phone, it took over ½ hour! However finally it was working, but we still had to wait an additional 48 hours before the phone could be used to make out-of-country calls.

Seaside is definitely a summer-time playground for a lot of people. Beach shops were everywhere, also restaurants, and bars. It looks like an “in” place to be in the summer months. We went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, however Ade was truly disappointed with the Margarita, but the food was great and very reasonable.

That night we just drove about ½ mile south of the city center and stayed on a dead-end by the beach (

K street

) What a great spot, quiet and clean, but wow did it rain for parts of the night.

Fort Stevens

We arrived at the bridge crossing the Columbia River with rain so thick it seemed quite dark and late at night although I think it was only about 6 pm. Headed from Astoria over a second bridge out to the Fort Stevens State Park and found a great campsite there. By now it was very dark. Settled in, again tarping our leaky skylight, and had a late supper of, you guessed it! Delicious halibut!

Fort Stevens  - Saturday, Sept.18

What a wonderful state park. $27 per day gets you a very large campsite, with washrooms and fine showers. I unloaded the scooter and the bike and headed out to explore a bit while the sun was poking through the endless sky of cloud cover. The ocean-beach adjacent to the park seems endless. The endless sands make it a most beautiful place to walk, bike and run. However, we made the mistake of having a late breakfast. By the time breakfast was over, the rain had started again.

The rain here seems to come in waves. There will be moments when it is coming down in sheets and then it almost stops for a period and then starts pouring all over again. During one of these “dry” interludes, I decided to head out and purchase a few groceries. After taking shelter at a garage sale, I made the 8 mile trip to Fred Meyer. My visit there was somewhat extended by another tropical downpour, but within ½ hour I was on my way back to Rita and Ade.

Ade had taken a small rain respite to take her bike for a ride to the seaside. She was also impressed by the beautiful beach, and the remains of a 100 year old British shipwreck that lay on the beach area.  Although any resemblance to a ship had long since disappeared, the 20 x 30 ft section of metal hull pieces certainly commanded a presence on the pristine beach area.

After a late lunch, we spent the rest of the day cocooned up in Rita, each reading a book and listening to music—although not exciting, it was a relaxing and restful day where we could charge up our batteries for our adventure ahead.

Before we left, we visited the fort which has the distinction of being well over one hundred years old and never having fired a shoot at an enemy vessel.  However, in 1944 it was fired on by a Japanese submarine.  The Japanese fired a numbered of rounds, but since the fort never returned a volley (perhaps due to the fact that this was such a new experience, they really were not prepared for it!), the Japanese decided to leave the area and continue on their way.  It is thought that because the Americans did not return their fire, the Japanese may have thought that the fort was abandoned, so they moved on!

Sol Duc to the outer banks of a WET Washington!

Thursday, Sept.16^th – Sol Duc Hot Springs, WA

Left Port Townsend very late in the morning after much fiddling around trying to get new cell phone working.

I purchased a 10 dollar cell phone (called a Trac-phone).  It is a good deal because it gives you cell service all over the USA for about $.30 per minute.  However the company was having activation problems the day I bought it—what a headache!!  After 40 minutes on the phone I gave up to try another day.

The  6 lb halibut which we bought at Boat Haven is proving to be a big favourite and we are quickly demolishing a second quarter for dinner, and Adrienne is getting quite creative in her preparation of the fish. Sorry Otto and Charlie, I forgot to take any food pictures.  Very cloudy and rainy today. Not pleasant driving. Arrived at Sol Duc and set up camp in the Nat’l Park campsite – tarped our skylight due to a small leak. Hunkered down for a very wet night.

Friday, Sept.17^th – Fort Stevens, OR

Soaked in the Sol Duc hot springs in the misty rain for several hours, chatting with people from all over – Campbell River to Atlanta, Georgia. Dried off and headed back on the road around the Olympic peninsula. Stopped at a couple of spots for short hikes down to the beach, trying to time them between rain showers. At the two stops we found beautiful sandy beaches and craggy rock cliffs under a grey sky laden with misty rain. However, for the most part, the drive south from the Olympic Peninsula to the Columbia river that boarders Oregon was so-so at best. Most of the ride was a significant distance from the ocean, so the vistas were limited and the road was not up to American highway standards in our opinion.

One of the beaches we walked down to was called Fourth beach. It was a spot where a flat rock (seemed like a couple of hundred yards long) is located about ½ mile out from the beach. 100 years ago that rock was connected to the mainland by a spit of land. However the erosion since then has literally turned the tip of the former isthmus into a present-day island.

Port Townsend

Justice building built in the late 1800's

...again we lucked out and were able to stay at the Tourist Information booth, right downtown in a very quiet spot, with a backdrop of west coast shrubbery!

In the morning we got the bike and scooter out and buzzed around viewing many of the old mansions, and scouting out the shops in the historic port area.  The town is almost 150 years old, and many of the building reflect the Victorian architecture of the era.  Much of the old town has been restored to the point where it is a must for anyone who likes to visit a small town in a "time warp".  Check out some of the pictures.

There is a huge military presence here.  The military buildings date back a hundred years!  The film "Officer and a Gentleman" was filmed in many of the military areas and buildings of the town.

Ross Dam was a 1/2 way stop on our way to Port Townsend.  The hike down to the dam site was very "West Coast"  with numerous streams, and big trees and mossy soil cover.



..like the little place so much we stayed another day.

Pretty slack in Omak

Now here is an ice cream cone:

...one of the perks of being in the fire department.  The ice cream booth was staffed by the Omak fire dept.  Once they saw my hat, their large "double" cone suddenly turned into a "triple" of enormous proportions and it was impossible for me to even leave a donation. Even the Ice Cream freak that I am, took a long time to demolish this giant!

Lunch break was the Omak Fair.  Great little place with stampede, crafts, animal and veggy exhibits and midway.

You sure see the disparaty in wealth between BC and Washington when you cross the Osoyoos border and drive south.  The main industry is farming tree fruits, and you can sure see the state of the industry when you notice all the broken down or old equipment in this area.  If the USA is in a "recession", I think this area has now passed into "depression".  Houses may be cheap, but who would want to live hear.  The main theme of the fair was patrotism and religion, and I think you would need a lot of that to keep your spirits up.

WINTHROP (click for details) is our first night stop.  We toured the little western themed village with its boardwalk sidewalks and then lucked out with a great stop for Rita, only 300 yards from the center of the town!

Dull weather start

Heavy cloud and even rain last night make for a cool damp start. ...no worries the sun is southward!!!

Rita is anxious to leave

The poor girl is loaded with everything but the kitchen sink!
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T - 1

It was difficult leaving the "old fishing hole" below the house today. (But not even a bite!)

Rita is almost ready and tomorrow we "sail". 

Jaime is moving in and we are moving out.  She will be having fun on the latest addition to the Crocker Fleet.  She phone today to make sure that I have the gas container easily available!
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