The Summer Adventure Continues...?

Birch Bay RV Park in Blaine in Washington, is an RV park, not a campground, meaning there is no shade, no trees at your site. UGH. Two wonderful hikes in the area helped provide needed relief from the heat. Terrell Marsh Trail in Birch Bay State Park, and Point Whitehorn were perfect walks in the woods for the elderly. On the Point Whitehorn trail we met a man who is in his 90s. Inspiration for us to keep on trucking.

                                                                      Cedar Trees

Our fourth stop was to be Leavenworth, Washington. Monitoring the weather mostly to know which foods to purchase, I noticed that the day we were to arrive the prediction was 102 degrees. Oh dear. Not such a big issue except the air conditioning in the truck went out. Okay. Decision time. Go forward or not.

We feel blessed in that we were able to extend our stay in Blaine, forgo the Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon section of our trip, head back to Paradise for seventeen days and then continue on with the planned trip to Ainsworth State Park in Oregon and then on to Seaside, Oregon.

So far we have learned a couple things about vacation traveling. Since we are now in ours 70's, hiking and kayaking in the same day taxes our physical resources. Seven days in one location is too short. Three of the days are dedicated to travel prep and rest. One day for grocery shopping and laundry; one day for kayaking; one for hiking. We began to feel that we were running from activity to activity. Not the peaceful, relaxing time we had envisioned. Lastly, your kayak trip may be cancelled due to wind. :( Sigh. No kayaking in the Puget Sound in Blaine this year.

September is a much better month to travel in Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon. Hopefully, we can complete that leg of the travel adventure in the next few years.

                 Interesting Tree

 
Surrounded by sun dappled maples and sword fern on the Terrel Marsh Trail

  

A Resting Adventure

After eight years of volunteering Rich and I are taking a vacation, finally. We completed our volunteer assignment at Molalla River State Park and July 1 headed to Paradise RV Park near Chehalis, Washington. The plan: a tour of Washington State, kayaking, hiking, resting and visiting friends.

Rich and Cheryl in Paradise

                                                                     

Paradise, our first stop was a rest stop. A time to pause and gather resources. A hike to Woods Creek was a welcome inhalation of nature. We walked the trail two years ago. Now, there is a story walk. A wonderful new addition.

Paradise RV park offers kayaking on their pond. No typo there. In reality it was more interesting than we imagined. There are some good sized fish in the pond. As we glided along the water disturbing small insects, a fish would jump out of the water off the front tip of the kayak.  Our one hour kayak exploration of the pond was a good rowing warm up for the season.

Second stop, a beautiful tree filled campground in La Conner, Washington in NW Washington right on the Puget Sound. I forgot that the beaches on the sound are rock covered, two inch and larger buggers. Normally, that would be okay but Rich had pulled a leg tendon shortly after our arrival so limited or no walks on rocks. The beach and everything on it is for the use of the local Samish Tribe. Most days we would walk from our campsite to the beach to one of their sacred sites. 

Sacred Tree

                                                                                            

We signed up for a guided sea kayak tour in Bowman Bay. Great fun that tested our rusty kayak skills. Puget Sound has a wide variety of shore birds. The Rhinoceros auklet was a new, for Rich and I, and exciting bird sighting. 

Bowman Bay

                                                                                   

Our stay was short, seven days and then off we headed to a Blaine, Washington RV Park. 

Sun bathing at beach

Salish art on interpretive sign in campground

Winter Apocalypse

After making the decision to winter in the Willamette Valley, we expected some weather incidents compared to wintering on the coast. We did not expect winter apocalypse.

The main entrance to Sarah Helmick

Heavy rain arrived at Sarah Helmick State Park in January. Our hosting site is right on the Luckiamute River. After several days of rain the river was expected to crest at 28 – 29ft. Flood stage is at 27 ft. We knew that the river would begin to flood the park but our site would be okay and we could still exit the park if needed. The river was expected to crest at 3 a.m. So we set the alarm to get up and do an eyeball check of the river. Water level was up. If the level began dropping as predicted, no problem expected. We woke to the river still rising. We are not familiar with the Luckiamute River in the winter and its capricious and unpredictable nature. The river kept rising and rising to about 31.8 ft. Major flooding is considered to be 32 ft. Now, we can't exit the park. The new river crest estimate is in the afternoon.  

View from RV. Yes, water was flowing under the trailer.

The Luckiamute River rises and falls quickly. By the next morning our exit route, pictured above, was free of water.

Snow and loss of electricity in January, too. Fortunately, we are prepared with generator and gas to run the noisy thing.

February brought a major ice storm to the Willamette Valley. One quarter inch of ice is normal. Well, over an inch is not. Tree limbs cannot support the weight of the ice and break. The electricity went out about midnight. Rich slept through the noise. With each loud crack, I'd snap awake ready to run. You could call it the night of dancing tree limbs falling.. We woke to a park filled with fallen limbs.

After about two hours of removing limbs and debris, the exit road is cleared so we could leave if needed. The park is closed for a few more days until a crew of rangers arrives to remove debris. As I write this it is day six with no electricity. Life with a generator and remembering to not run too many items at once now feels normal.  

Fort Yamhill State Pak

Erratic Rock

It was great to volunteer after six months off. Fort Yamill is a day use park. Rich and I spent most of our volunteer time outdoors. Rich focused on the macro activities: mowing, pruning, trail maintenance, weeding, blowing leaves etc. Cheryl focused on  the micro activities: display maintenance, scat removal, decapitating gopher hills, repairing replica army fort uniforms.

With COVID, museums are closed. Sigh. A lovely day trip to visit to nearby Erratic Rock in Sheridan was a much appreciated outing.

November and December when we aren't at one of our many medical appointments, you will find us camping south of Newport.

We had a visitor in the Officer Quarters. Rich had never seen a praying mantis before.

 

 

C-Rations

                               C-Rations. Chicken, carrots, chips, cornbread, chocolate chaser.

We have received a few inquiries if we have trouble finding food on the shelves at the grocery store. During the six months we were at the coast we competed with tourists. Relish was an item that disappeared off the shelf. Organic tomato paste was often a no show. Disposable gloves and rubbing alcohol were hard to find. Olive oil was a mysterious item that appeared briefly and then disappeared for weeks. We shopped in the morning before all the organic meats and produce had been purchased. September 1st we landed at Fort Yamhill and now shop in Salem. Totally different shopping scene. Boxes of disposable gloves, lots of rubbing alcohol, plenty of organic meats and produce and relish. When complaining to my daughter about organic products not being readily available she reminded me that being able to afford to buy organic is a privilege, that all my food and shopping concerns are 1^st world privileges.

Pantry items are now purchased when it is on the shelf. No waiting for sales. And we are frugal and much prefer saving so the not waiting for items to go on sale is a new mindset. Buying when it is available and not just when you need it feels like hoarding. There is a fine line between hoarding and taking care of yourself and loved ones and I am not sure where the boundary is.

Fort Yamhill this morning was a mix of smoke and fog, Mostly smoke. Rich and I are safe and at least 30 miles from any fires.

We Have Moved to the City

Like Sardines

At least it feels like we have moved to the city. Finding an available campground for three weeks that included the Fourth of July was a challenge. We landed in Mossyrock, near Chehalis, Washington at Paradise RV Park. Beggars can't be choosers. On the plus side, we do have one of the few sewer sites. The campground is situated on the side of a terraced hill. Each RV site forms the terrace. And when it rains hard?! Well, I would not choose a site at the bottom. With no privacy and lots of little dogs, Mimi, our cat spends most of her time behind the sofa. I would join her if the space were larger.

Traditionally, Rich and I take July and August off from volunteering. Best case COVID-19 scenario, we will resume volunteering in September at Fort Yamhill.

The Doldrums

Nautical terms cross my mind as Cheryl and I deal with the current CORVID-19 pandemic. Becalmed, adrift, lost moorings are some terms that come to mind. At times the doldrums set in as the wind has been taken out of our sails. Thinking of lifeboats adrift which may open us to other realities as in the book, The Life of Pi. Or we just sit and weather it out coming finally to land on a whole unknown world with eyes and expectations changed. We live our lives in a trance and big events interfere with our plans. 9/11, World War I, World War II, Vietnam, assassinations, The Depression. All come to mind that have changed us and our institutions. 

 Where will we go from here?

(A little slice of sunshine. A few of the beach access points opened up today, May 15)