In August 2011 Sandy (finally) used her RV and joined Mike's family (in a rented RV) for a trip north through Oregon, Washington, Idaho to Canada. Our initial goal was to spend time at Lake Louise and Banff, but we never got that far and saw southern British Columbia and the Olympic Peninsula in Washington instead. A wonderful trip!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Lithia Park
Wildlife Safari
7 Feathers
We drove south and east for a while toward Lebanon. In Scio we drove through one of the covered bridges that Mike remembered from a previous trip. While Sandy got her headlight fixed Mike had a close encounter with a river otter. Everyone except Mike and Sandy were eager to be home and were not enthusiastic about any detours. We spent the night between Roseburg and Grants Pass, OR in the 7 Feathers Resort. The RV Park is run by the Cow Creek Branch of the Umpqua Indian Tribe to support the casino and theater. It really did live up to its reputation as one of the best in the country - - nice sites, pretty landscaping and location, great indoor pool and hot tubs, free coffee and wifi. What more could we want!?! And, Mike finally got his steak and did a little gambling.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Evergreen Air and Space Park
Dayton, OR
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Portland, OR
Eastern Olympic Peninsula
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Port Angeles, WA
Sol Duc Hot Springs
Friday, August 12, 2011
Campsite in the Olympic Rain Forest
Olympic Peninsula
Forks, WA
After breakfast, we headed southwest to Forks, literary home of the Twilight series. It was interesting to see what huge interest the books and movies has generated in such a sleep little town! The Forks Visitor Center has been averaging 350 visitors from all over the world each day! Pretty amazing considering the fact that: (1) the town has a population of only 3500 people, (2) the book was located in Forks only because the author googled it and found it was most overcast town in America and (3) she only visited the town after the fact and (4) the movie wasn’t actually filmed there. The visitor center was full of Twilight fans, offered all sorts of maps, pictures, and trivia about the series. Everyone but Charlotte had read at least one of the books and/or seen the movies so it was interesting.
WA-Sequim Park
Ferry: Edmonds to Kingston
Sultan Bakery
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Ferndale, WA
Peace Crossing into US
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Chilliwack, BC
Rhododendron Flats
We pulled off Hwy 3 in Manning Park in the heart of the Cascade Mountains at Rhododendron Flats. We took a long walk through tall trees and gorgeous ferns and flowers. After we crossed the bridge, the trail narrowed so it was one a foot or so wide through tall grasses and bushes. We ended our hike up a rocky mountain stream following a “path” that led up to a wonderful waterfall. Across the falls was the remains of an old mine and cabin. It was particularly special because it seemed we were one of the few to have discovered it.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Similkameen River
Monday, August 8, 2011
Osoyoos, BC
We spent the night in a funky little RV park/campground sandwiched between two more permanent RV parks. Campers and RVs packed together cheek by jowl, crammed into every available spot winding up a steep hill. Although it wasn’t particularly appealing, the hookups worked and we had a quiet night and a lazy morning the next day waiting for the attached water slide park to open. There was a waterfall next to Sandy’s site trickling from the campsites above through a retaining wall of tires. The sound was nice, tho’ one didn’t want to think WHAT was trickling down from above. Osoyoos means “where the water narrows” - - the narrow bit of land between the halves of the lakes was where the Okanagan Salish Indians used to trap salmon swimming up the Okanagan River. The climate is so warm and dry that there is a banana plantation is the area. The water in the lake is the warmest in Canada, which is probably why it is such a popular tourist spot.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Christina Lake to Osoyoos, BC
The countryside along the southern border of Canada is beautiful - - sweeping views of green valleys, high mountains, pretty little farms and rushing rivers - - but the road (still hwy 3) is not the best - - very steep hills and curves, punctuated by more runaway truck ramps than I’ve ever seen and endless expansion cracks and grooved surfaces that makes the ride bumpy and uncomfortable.