HIgh School Reunion means a trip to Florida

It has been six months since Sally took a flight. It has been two years since Tom took a flight. Since getting the motor home, we haven’t needed to fly very often. Airports are a challenge. Unfamiliar airports (such as Sea-Tac) was, for us, a nut house. But we had a really good breakfast.

We chose to stay at a hotel near the airport, leave our truck, and use their shuttle instead of leaving the vehicle in an airport parking lot. The flight was scheduled early in the morning and the RV was parked about 100 miles away. We were lucky and went through security quickly. It left us a little while before the boarding process.

Most flights on Southwest Airlines are on time. We were late boarding because of a they siad the gate wouldn't work correctly and then something else mechanical must have been wrong. The pilot said it would take the ground crew just a few minutes to repair. This turned out to be an optimistic. We had to deplane and board on a different aircraft. We took off about one and a half hours late. Lucky for us, we were scheduled a three hour layover in Albuquerque. We left there on time and arrived in Tampa early, only to stay on the plane because the gate wasn’t clear. We were proud to be on the ground in Florida.

One of the nice parts of an airplane ride is the view. As we were late leaving Sea-Tac late, the skies were clearing. From our vantage we could see several mountains. Mt. Baker, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens were in view as we turned in air after leaving the tarmac. Mt. St. Helens, like the others, is a volcano. It last erupted in 1980. We are planning a visit on our way to Oregon, so keep your eyes open for the next post.

We drove up to Crystal River to see Sally’s dad, brother and sister in law. It was a very quick trip. We arrived about 10:30 in the evening and left right after lunch on the next day. But it is always good to see family.

The big reason for the trip was the high school reunion. Friday’s big event was a get together in one of the classmate’s nightclub. It was a well furnished sports bar (recliners and a big screen). The food was very good. If you find yourself in St. Petersburg Florida, try a Cuban sandwich are Donk’s Sports Bar. It was a good place to meet with a group of people that had much in common. There was talk of kids, grandkids, parents, houses, traffic and speed traps. (Just a note, if you don’t want a ticket, just drive the speed limit, it works.)

Sharing pictures and talk at Donk's

Dancing the night away - Class of '68!

(Most of us went home at midnight, so technically we did dance the NIGHT away!)
Saturday was spent around the pool. We both got a little more sun than anticipated. We were only slightly red. Saturday night was a dinner cruise. It was quite a treat. The boat was a paddle wheel with a route inside the bay with a stop to watch the sunset on the Gulf of Mexico.

Reunion Group Picture

Tom and Sally on the cruise

The flight home was uneventful. We arrived late, but it was our anniversary. So we went out for a fancy dinner. Check out the picture.

Anniversary dinner #12

In case you don't recognize the icon - that's a Jack-in-the-Box hamburger!
We hope all your travels go well. Till next time.

Clallam County and the Ferry from Whidbey

The 4th of July was an exciting weekend. With the train trip and the fire works, the thought of moving to a quiet place was welcome. But first we had to have some work done on the RV. We headed to Camping World in Burlington to have them check the A/C, change the oil (now most houses don’t have to have the oil changed) and check on our satellite.

The oil change went well, the A/C could not be repaired and the satellite required parts that take 7 to 10 days to be delivered. So we set an appointment for the Camping World near Portland and headed toward Whidbey Island.

We had taken a truck trip from Penrose Point to a Clallam County park called Salt Creek. We thought it was a very nice park with great views, so we loaded up the motor home and headed down the highway. We chose to take the shorter route to the park, which included a ferry trip with the RV.

Ferry ride from Keystone to Port Angeles

The ferry started in Keystone, on Whidbey Island, and finished in Port Angeles. It was a bumpy ride. The tide was changing as we rode the ferry (in separate vehicles, it was cheaper that way.) Sally was in lane two and Tom in lane 4. Sally in the truck and Tom in the motor home. Tom played guitar and Sally read. It was too rough for us to get out of the vehicles. Sally took pictures, Tom was lazy.

Tom cooking lunch - notice the water just across the road from our campsite!

Arriving in Port Angeles, we hooked up the truck and headed to Salt Creek. It was on a whim, because we did not set up a reservation just before a weekend. We arrived about 1 pm and we are glad we did, because by 3, the park was almost full. We managed to park in one of the sites we wanted. The front windows made a picture of Vancouver Island. Looking out over the Strait of Juan de Fuca was beautiful, especially at sunset. We could see Mt. Baker (on a clear day) and the lights of Victoria. It was a difficult weekend.

Views of Mt Baker

Sunset over Vancouver Island

Waves on the rocks at low tide

While we stayed at Salt Creek, we took a day trip over to the rain forest in Olympic National Park. It's fascinating - so many different kinds of moss and the trees and plants grow to greater sizes than elsewhere because the climate is so mild and the rainfall so plentiful - average over 140 inches a year! We even saw a new mammal - the ranger said we were lucky (she hadn't seen one yet). It looked like a large gray mouse with a very short tail and bright, beady eyes - it's a mountain beaver. Sally saw it by the side of the trail and reacted just like she had seen a mouse. It didn't seem to bother the beaver. He just kept going right across the trail... We took a picture, but he was moving so fast that the picture is just a gray blur.

Extra large clovers - no 4 leaf ones though

Trees growing on a nurse log

We also drove out to the northwestern end of the continental US - Cape Flattery. It's on an Indian reservation - you have to drive about 30 miles past everything and then walk another 3/4 of a mile. But the view is worth it.

We also went swimming at the beach on Salt Creek. The water is shallow enough at low tide that you can wade out 100 feet. The water even gets warm enough that Sally went wading and even got her shorts wet!

Tom and Sally at Cape Flattery

We are at Evergreen Coho SKP Park at this posting. It is a coop park with a club we are members of called Escapes. We will be headed to Tampa for Sally’s high school reunion this week. Airline travel, what a concept.

Until next time.

Birch Bay and Vancouver

Birch Bay

Sally and Tom are on the move again. With our time up at Deception Pass State Park, we are now traveling for the month of July. Our trip is planned around some personal activities. The first of those activities is to go north to Vancouver British Columbia. This is an old haunt, as Sally worked there for a year once. We moved the RV to a small town called Birch Bay (which is on Birch Bay.) It is quaint. The residences remind us of Florida in the sixties and seventies, before the big condo boom. As we toured closer to the border with Canada, we did notice that development has begun to replace the quaintness.

Not replaced yet - bakery and ice cream at the heart of Birch Bay

Speaking of the border, just north of Birch Bay is a town called Blaine Washington. T is a major highway crossing for Canada and the U. S. It is also the home of the Peace Arch, a monument celebrating the joint friendship of the two countries. It was dedicated just after World War Two. The park there is beautiful, with flowers, statues and the Arch itself.

Peace Arch Park - in both both Washington and BC

The Arch - right on the border

We took the train up to Vancouver on the 3rd of July. The first day of the month is Canada Day, so we were trying to avoid the crowds moving on that day, and came back on the 4th. We thought by the time we got back things would be settled. The train moves along the ocean front. Luckily we made our reservations in time to get the ocean side on the trip, both ways. The arms of the Pacific are filled with glorious views.

All aboard!

Vancouver is a beautiful city. It is in the midst of an upgrade for the 2010 Winter Olympics. It serves as Canada’s West Coast hub for financial centers, utilities, shipping and tourism. It is a major cruise ship embarkation center. Whale watching, glaciers and other interesting nature scenes can be observed on an “inside passage” cruise. The inside passage refers to deep waterways protected from the wave action of the Pacific Ocean. Islands and reefs block the turbulence caused by weather on the ocean. We did not anticipate so many people taking the train up to Vancouver for their cruises, but it created an interesting mix of people with which to travel. The hotel where we stayed the night was also full of cruise line folks. (You can tell them by the amount of baggage they carry.) Friday is a transition day for the cruises, so we had people coming and going.

House boats in the harbor in Vancouver

Under construction

Two of our planned stops were for eating (of course). Rodney’s Oyster House was (and is) a favorite of ours. They have fresh seafood and a wait staff that has a lot of personality. Sally had scallops prepared in a potato crust and Tom had raw oysters from different areas. Some of his oysters were from Prince Edward Island, Vancouver Island and Washington State. We made an event of afternoon/evening, staying there for over and hour and half chatting with locals (one said Tom has a great American accent) and the wait staff.

At the bar in Rodney's

We came back to the hotel and used the amenities there, the whirlpool, steam room, sauna and pool. We relaxed right on into a comfortable evening. The next morning we walked around the waterfront and enjoyed looking at the boats. We have entertained the thought of a house boat (notice the pictures) as a place to move into if we hit the lottery. It is ok to dream.

The other restaurant we planned to stop at is a Japanese spot close to the hotel. It is here that Sally discovered she could order her own sushi. It is a lunch favorite in town. After the meal, we still had a few hours to wait on the train, so we decided to take in a movie. We haven’t been to a cinema theater since Maine, two years ago. We saw Get Smart. Having seen the TV show and read the reviews, our expectations we pretty low, but it was the only movie that fit into our time table. We were pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the movie, but we recommend waiting for the DVD. It should translate well to the TV screen.

The trip home on the train was enjoyable. It takes about two hours to travel from Vancouver to Bellingham, our destination. We like the train over air flight because you can spread out. The seats are wider and the leg room is tremendous. We had some small children on the ride home. There was ample room for them to play without interfering with anyone else. There is a dining/snack car with food and drink and tables. You can walk the aisles to loosen up. We are for high speed trains.

We returned to the motor home about eight thirty. We saw along our route many people preparing for fire works displays. The area here is dry, so the only fire works allowed are on the water or on the beach. Birch Bay does not have a community fire works show, but they allow individuals to produce their own. And produce they do. We think that several individuals are contesting with each other for the better display. The fire works started about nine and ran until mid-night. Some people spent huge amounts of money. We are about a half a mile from the beach, yet we could see the “rockets” glare over the tree tops. It was quite a spectacle.

A very low tide in Birch Bay

This post was long, but we seemed to have really filled our few days here. Tomorrow we move, maybe we can rest, who knows. Let us hear from you. Remember to look up and behind you occasionally, you never know what you’ll see.

Mt Baker and Friends

Our RV at Deception Pass

Greetings from North Washington State. Deception Pass State Park is about 75 north of Seattle. As we have said before, it is on two islands. It is part of the San Juan Island system. Most of the islands are small mountains that happen to be in the water. Part of the ruggedness of the coast line here is the pressure of tectonic plates (large floating land masses) running into each other. This area is a part of the “ring of fire” surrounding the Pacific Ocean from Australia through southeast and eastern Asia into Alaska, Canada, the U. S. all the way to Chile. The ring of fire describes the volcanic activity with the collision of these plates.

A lighthouse near Ft Casey on

Whidbey Island south of Deception Pass

We traveled slightly north and east of the park to try to get a view of Mt. Baker. This mountain is an active volcano (like Mt St Helens) in the ring of fire. Our hopes were to sneak into a sunny window predicted by local weatherpersons. The drive was not long, but our luck on seeing the mountain was not to be good. We did see some beautiful country. We took a short hike along a river with a tremendous flow from the snow runoff. We also saw some exotic birds (at least to us). We had a terrific meal at a little out of the way place. We are pretty sure the big clientele is cross country skiers.

Mt Baker has to be up here somewhere

Snow melt in the Cascades

Delicious Italian lunch in Glacier, WA

We found the mountain later -

a sunset view from Mt Erie near Anacortes

We also had a visit from Tom’s cousin Darlene and her husband Tony. They too have a motor home and they came up to the park for three days of fun and frolic. We ate very well (why do we keep doing that). We toured on the jet boat through Deception Pass, relaxed by fires every evening and just had a wonderful time. We ate at the best little seafood restaurant (Seaboldt’s) and a funky little place (Frank’s Place). Seafood to Spam, life just doesn’t get better than that.

Darlene & Tony with Elvis

See if you can spot the 2 fledging

peregrine falcons we saw from the jet boat

Speaking of food, the host’s from the different aspects of Deception Pass got together for a first rate meal at a Greek restaurant. Our time at Deception is almost up. We have had the pleasure of meeting fine folks; Tim and Jeanine, Tom and Ginny, Lou and Alyss and Paul and Ruth. We even discovered that Tom and Ginny’s nephew was in the Tulane Law School graduation class with Stephen. Small world is it not.

Fireside chat with fellow camp hosts

Ready to kayak - one of the "perks" at Deception Pass

We thank Ryan and all the other rangers of Deception Pass. It is beautiful place. If you’re in the area, take a day or two to see it.

Peace and love go out to you all.

Mt Baker - one last view

Whale Watching

In our previous post, we mentioned we are on Fildago Island. It is the eastern most island in the San Juan Island chain. The second week we were here, we took a ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor on the Island of San Juan. It is the western most island in the chain. This small island almost started the third war between the U. S. and Great Britain.

The U. S. and the English had established the border between the Oregon Territory and British Columbia. Somehow, in the negotiations the San Juan Islands were not accounted for. Both countries laid claim. The Hudson Bay Company established a sheep farm on the island. Many American pioneers had also settled on the Island. One American squatted on a piece of land said to be owned by Hudson Bay. He complained about pigs getting into his garden to the Hudson Bay manager, but since the manager considered that part of his domain, he did not make any effort to stop the animals. The farmer shot one of the pigs, and then approached the manager to make a financial arrangement. The manager made a ridiculous price for the dead animal. The farmer refused to pay, thus started a series of events that brought the governments to send soldiers to the island. After a lot of arguing, the sides each made an encampment on opposite sides of the island. To learn more, look up the “Pig War”.

The Pig War

Alpaca Farm

Red Fox

SJI has a state park, Lime Kiln that is a good view point of the Olympic Peninsula and mountains. The island is surrounded by two oceanic straits. With this natural water flow, the island is in a very good position to view water wild life. Lime Kiln is a prime area to watch sea life. It is also a good spot for watching whales travel up and down the strait in the west side of the island. We ventured over the island on Wednesday, stopping at the English Camp. The hosts there told us the route to Lime Kiln and said the host there would know if and when the whales would be there that day. We had missed them on Wednesday. They had come by about 6 am. So we decided we would get up early on Thursday. So, troopers that we are, we hit the road before 6 am, parked on a high overlook and watched. We had been there about an hour when we spotted dark animals swimming. They had dorsal fins and were spouting. We quickly headed down to Lime Kiln, only to learn we had seen harbor dolphins. We waited and watched patiently until the host came down to the lighthouse at the park. It was now about 8 am. He said others would be in a while who would await word about any whale pod sightings. About 9:30 the first Orca was spotted. After that, there was a steady stream of sightings lasting until about 10:30. The whales got closer to the low cliffs as the pod moved. We were probably within 40 or 50 feet Killer Whales. It was incredible. If you get a chance to go whale watching, our advice is to take it.

Orca Tail Slap

Family of 3

Mom & Calf

Close-up view

We know this is a lot of detail, but we had a great time on our short visit to San Juan Island. (What? You can’t tell by our blubbering.) We even saw the top of Mt. Baker from the ferry on our return trip. It was a wonderful “weekend”.