GA Gypsies – Fulltiming

We said good-bye to Ocean Shores and our new friends, Marion & Siggy, yesterday and headed west to the Cascades. A beautiful ride through the small, rural, agricultural towns. As we were riding along Hwy 12, for the first time we saw a glimpse of Mount Rainier to the northwest and Mt. St. Helen to the southwest. There was definitely no mistaking St. Helen for Rainier. Absolutely beautiful.

We had our GPS set to find the campground in Randle, but I am always the backup with a paper map in hand. “Betty” messed with us again. She said we had 2 more miles as we passed a campground. I remarked,  “That’s a pretty little campground”, then read the sign that said Cascade Peaks and I looked at Tony and said, “Isn’t that the name of the campground we are staying at?” So he finds a place to pull over (not easy pulling a 40 foot 5th wheel) and checks his phone and yes, that was us. So we had to drive a short distance to find a place we could turn around that same monster. But we did see an elk cross the road. Got settled into the campground and then drove around, to the town of Randle and ate supper. Then we drove to Packwood and there were elk in people’s yards, just grazing away.

Today we (me) slept in and then we headed to the Sunrise area of Mt. Rainier. It was clear and we were able to see the mountain. It was absolutely breathtaking.

There were many other people going into the park, even though this was supposed to be the least busy area in the park. There was about a 30 minute wait to check in at the gate, and we had to ride around the parking area at the Lodge and Visitor’s Center several times to get a parking place. There was mentioned in the brochure an easy, 1 mile, flat hike in an alpine meadow that we planned to do. But all I saw was a path going up, up, up the side of a mountain (with flowers) and people climbing the path like mountain goats. So I asked a park ranger if that was the “easy” 1 mile loop. Yes, they said. So I asked if there were a “flatter”, more level one and she told us there was and how to get to it. So, off we go, “wrongway Pucketts”. We started down (down being the key word here) a gravel road and we had beautiful views of Rainier. Tony eventually said, “You know, we do have to come back up as far as we go down”, so we only went about 1/2 mile before turning around. When we got back to the beginning of the “trail”, we cut across the parking lot to get to the truck and guess what we saw? The real trail that she was talking about. No, we didn’t take it then. We headed back down the mountain and stopped to eat in Packwood. There were even more elk in this one yard – about 15, right in the middle of town. And there were elk on the side of the road as we headed back to the campground. We are back and settling in for the night, planning an earlier start to Mt. St. Helen tomorrow.

Just a few more pics on the way back down.

Tonight is our last night in Ocean Shores. We spent the day getting our stuff back in the camper and cleaning up in the house. Marion got back late this afternoon while we were walking Siggy. I am going to miss this cool air – always in the 60’s with a breeze, and the great ocean view. We are headed out tomorrow for Randle, WA, to a campground that is between Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helen’s. We plan to see both places while we are there.

Watching the ships.

Our view.

Looking out the window is the white rail of the deck, the top of our camper, then the road, the dunes, the rocks and the ocean.

Took a late morning walk on the beach with Siggy, the dog. Strangest thing – the sun was shining and it was 70, but the water was much cooler, so walking along the beach was like walking through a fog machine. Up close to the dunes – no fog. Lots and lots of dead Dungeness crabs and seaweed washed up. Came back to the house and fixed pancakes for breakfast. The rest of the day has been spent just lazily hanging and chilling. Got to take the truck in tomorrow to get new tires. Here until Friday, then headed east to the North Cascades for a few nights. After that, we will housesit in Olalla for about 20 nights. It is on a peninsula close to Seattle, so we will have many opportunities to explore the area. Then we go to several different locations around Olympic National Park. It is so different here from home. I look outside and think it is 100 degrees and then walk out the door and it is in the 60’s. Love this cool weather.

This afternoon we drove north from Ocean Shores, into the Quinalt Indian Reservation and back. There was rain forest on one side of us and the beach on the other. At one beach that allowed car access, the fog had rolled in from the sea and you could not see the beach at all. It was very eerie – looking to the other side of the road we could see blue sky. Stopped at a couple of shops in Ocean Shores, then headed back in for the evening. Took Siggy for a long walk. This morning, Tony walked Siggy and they were attacked by a seagull. It seems that each seagull or pair has staked out their own house as their territory and this one did not like them walking down there street. We saw a coyote last night. One of the ladies in the visitor center told us their were black bears and cougars on the island. Watching the day slip away from this beautiful view. Thank you Lord, for all Your blessings.

This is the house “owned” by the attack gull – don’t know which one it is.

Yesterday we were lazy. We picked up a few groceries and a pizza. Tony walked Siggy in the morning and we both walked him (or he walked us – no leash – we just followed him on his route – he’s a dachshund) around the neighborhood. Tony wore a hooded sweatshirt and asked if I were going to get a jacket. No. I will for the next walk. Temp in the mid-60’s and a beach wind blowing. There are tame deer all over this island. When we got almost back to the house, there were 5 bucks, all with velvet on their horns, playing and pawing at each other on the dunes.

Today, we watched the Coast Guard doing practice rescues right in front of the house. There is a Coast Guard Air Station here on the island. We watched them drop people into the water and then hoist them up in baskets. It was really interesting to watch. We then drove down to the harbor and walked along the beach. It is strange to see smooth rocks and no shells all washed up. There were signs to stay away from seal pups, but we didn’t see any. Then we rode to one of the beach access roads closer in to town – they allow driving on the beach in certain areas.

Marion’s “pet” seagull. He waits for Siggy (short for Sigmund – Marion is a retired psychology professor) to finish his food, then he gets the leftovers. He walks up and down the railing until we take the food out to him.

Left Oregon late morning, following the Oregon Beaches Scenic Hwy, crossed a BIG bridge back into Washington at Astoria. Made it to our new house/pet sit in Ocean Shores. It is 9 PM, sun is still barely shining, house on beach, and we are “watching the ships roll in, and then watching them roll away again”. (Thanks, Otis!) Was in low 70’s here, just a bit warmer than in Oregon. This evening it has cooled off quite a bit. Sliding doors open and it is getting chilly. I am saying this in the middle of July! This is my kind of weather. Met Marion and our doggie companion for the next 10 days, Siggy. It is so pretty sitting in the living room/dining room looking out into the bay and ocean, I might not leave the house during our stay. Pretty, pretty, pretty. God is an Amazing Artist.

We chilled yesterday for most of the day and took a long walk along the beach by the campground. Today, we explored north again and stopped in Cannon Beach. There is a landmark rock outcropping there called Haystack Rock. We walked down to it and looked around the tidal pools. On Saturday, we took a tour of the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Tomorrow, we will head back into Washington, to Ocean Shores to house/pet sit. Some pictures from the past few days.

Rain, oh, sweet rain, I have missed you. It started raining around 9 PM and rained on and off all night. We had water standing this morning. Yesterday afternoon, we headed north along the coast, exploring and today we headed south. It is so strange to have mountains covered in rain forest on one side and the ocean on the other. It has been difficult finding places with easy access to the beach. Most places, you just have to climb down the rocks or the steep slopes, and my knees can’t handle that. Just a few pictures from our excursions – internet is real slow in campground. We keep seeing the tsunami signs – entering & leaving tsunami zones. Should we be worried?

 

Pictures of the petroglyphs.

Some pictures from the town of Hood River on the evening of July 4th.

Left Columbia Hills yesterday and drove on the Interstate, through Portland. We then left the Interstate and turned southwest, heading to the Pacific Ocean. Made it to Rockaway Beach and our campground, Barview Jetty City Campground. This has to have the most people I have ever seen in a campground – about 1/2 tent camping. The temp. was in the high 80’s when we left – it was in the low 60’s mid-afternoon when we arrived. We aren’t right on the beach, but within walking distance. There is a long jetty with an electronic foghorn that blows about every 30 seconds. People were building bonfires on the beach and collecting driftwood for their campsites. We had to drive to Garibaldi to get diesel, then drove on to Tillamook, looking for a place to eat. There is the big Tillamook cheese factory there and there were lots of people going in and out. It is strange to see the ocean on one side of the road and mountains on the other. We picked up a local newspaper with the headline of a cougar spotted in one of the State Parks near us. We have many beach towns and beaches to explore over the next few days. This is my kind of weather for beach walking – cool!

Our first views of the Pacific Ocean!

 

We’ve been on the road again. Monica & David returned from Norway on Monday afternoon. Tony picked them up at the airport in Yakima and then we fixed dinner and enjoyed hearing the details of their travels. David showed us all the pictures they had taken and we were up until after 11:00. We left new friends yesterday, driving from Yakima, southwest to the Columbia River Gorge. We are staying at Columbia Hills Historical State Park. There are petroglyphs on the rocks here in the campground. You can just drive up to them. Much easier to get to than the ones in Thermopolis! It is a really small campground on Horsethief Lake, which is a lake off of the Columbia River. We rode around the area yesterday. The biggest town is The Dalles, on the Oregon side of the river. The interstate runs parallel to the Columbia River on the Oregon side and a state highway runs parallel on the Washington side. We have to take the interstate in Oregon because we can’t fit through the tunnels just up the road. Coming from Yakima, the land was still high desert. We were driving along, and then, POP, a huge snow-capped mountain appeared in the distance.

We thought it might be Mt. St. Helen. We kept getting glimpses of  “a” mountain, thinking it was a view from different sides. When we ate dinner in The Dalles, our waiter told us that there were two mountains/volcanoes within viewing distance – Mt. Baker and Mt. Hood. While riding around after dinner, we came to a pullout with information panels that said “East high desert meets West maritime forest”. We had a panoramic view, with the river down in the gorge, of the desert land giving way to lush, green forest – finally trees again. Good-bye sagebrush. In this small campground, the couple parked next to us are from South Carolina and the wife was a Durden and had lived in Portal, GA. Small world. The family on the other side of us has a daughter with MS with almost identical symptoms to me. They told us she had been taking a new, yearly injection that helped control the symptoms and that it had worked really well for her. David, who we housesat for, is a general physician. He told us that Washington state has the highest percentage of people with MS living in it. Don’t know if it is because of the climate and they have moved here. But Washington is supposed to be one of the top states in cutting edge medicine for MS. And we had our diesel pumped for us last night – it is a law in Oregon (1 of 2 states in the US) that they have an attendant pump gas/diesel for you. You cannot pump your own. I felt like I was back in Statesboro in the 70’s, pulling up to Harold Deloach’s Chevron station and telling them to “fill it up”. I have never liked pumping gas. We will (hopefully) see the Pacific Ocean for the first time tomorrow – heading to Rockaway Beach, Oregon before going to our next housesit in Ocean Shores, Washington. Our adventure continues. Thank you, Lord, for keeping us safe and fulfilling my dream of traveling the US. You have brought so many new friends into our lives. Monica and I sat and talked “God talk” yesterday before we left. I could have stayed and talked for several more hours. His creation is so beautiful. Everywhere we go, there is so much diversity and He just keeps surprising us. So, so thankful for a loving, protecting Father. More pictures of the mountains – not sure which one is which, the gorge, and the dam with the locks on it for moving the ships up the river.

We are going walking later this evening around the park and back to petroglyphs. We may go to fireworks tonight in the next biggest town on the river, so will maybe post some more pictures later.