Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park

Tuesday: John stopped by the Moose Flats Campground early. Brought us a loaf of good bread & a cinnamon roll. Joined us for breakfast. About min-morning we left for Yellowstone NP, West Entrance. Stopped in West Yellowstone for propane & a few groceries. This was the same place we stopped two years ago. Drove to the Madison Campground. Registered, dumped our tanks then filled with water then took off exploring. Saw lots of buffalo on the way to the campground. We drove to the Norris Geyser Basin. There was a good accessible trail so we were really able to see lots of the thermal features. We have a very nice campsite. There is a large wooded area behind us. Carol’s job is to look for critters out the window. It’s been too cold for her to want to go outside except for our walk around the Basin. At the campground we ran into a Lazy Daze couple from Pennsylvania. Talk about a small world. We had camped right next to them in Burlington, VT four years ago. The weather forecast for tonight & tomorrow is dreary. Rain, maybe snow & windy .

Wednesday: Awoke to rain. We decided to head towards the Bridge Bay Campground. The Madison Campground is near the West Entrance to Yellowstone. Bridge Bay, where we stayed during our visit two years ago, is near the East Entrance. Tomorrow we will be leaving Yellowstone via the East Entrance as we work our way to visit Suzanne in Longmont, CO. We left Madison about 9:30. As the day went on, the weather improved. Some clouds for a while then the sun would break through. A much nicer day than forecast. We stopped at just about every pull-off. At the Fountain Paint Pot area we walked all around the most beautiful fumaroles, geysers, springs, etc. We walked for over an hour. In 1959 there was a major earthquake at Hebgen Lake; about 20 miles from here. This event dramatically changed this area. Some new thermal features were formed; some disappeared. After that we took the Firehole Lake Drive and stopped several times for close up looks at the hydrothermal areas. Stopped at the Biscuit Basin area for lunch. Took pictures of fly fisherman to e-mail to Johnny. Remember the saying “A bad day fishing if better than a good day at work”. Stopped briefly at the Old Faithful area. Since we had explored that area two years ago, we decided to continue on. Crossed the Continental Divide at 8,391’. The ground is still covered with snow and the lakes partially frozen. Stopped at a picnic area. Gopher just loves running through & rolling in the snow. Fun to watch. We continued our drive, stopping several times on the shore of Yellowstone Lake. Arrived at Bridger Bay about 3:00. Last time we were here there was a resident bison. People were leery of walking too close to the bison. They tell you to stay well away from them. No bison this time. Tomorrow we leave Yellowstone and start heading to Colorado.

Montana

Johnny fly fishing
Rafters
Lunch. Trout.
Carol & Gopher by our campsite.

May 29, 2008

Montana:

Thursday: Drove for about 4 hours on I-90; a very pretty drive through mountains. Camped at the Beavertail Hill SP just east of Missoula. Had a site right on the Clarks Fork River. Mostly cloudy today but warmer than it has been.

Friday: Headed for the Moose Creek Flat campground. The ride along this part of I-90 is very pretty. Mountains, cattle & sheep ranches, lots of pines. Stopped in Three Forks to do laundry at Mable’s Laundry and dump our tanks. Mable’s has a dump station; $5 plus you can fill up with water. Found a little bakery. Bought a loaf of rosemary bread that just came out of the oven. We needed to do some grocery shopping for the week so we went to Boseman. Saw a new looking store we had never tried; Rosauers. Wow!! Like a very large Whole Foods, Fresh Fields, etc. Stocked up on good salads, cookies for Carol plus things we needed. I needed toothpaste. All they had was very expensive “organic” toothpaste for $7-$9 a tube. I wanted Crest for $1.89. Will get Crest someplace else. Called Marge to let her know we were in town. They will stop by tomorrow. The campground is very nice. Our site backs up to the Gallatin River. Wonderful view of the river. We have found some of the most wonderful campsites on this trip. This is among the very best.

Saturday: One of the prettiest, sunny days we’ve had in quite some time. Johnny & Marge came by about 10:30. Had lunch together. Johnny fished a lot right behind our campsite. Caught at least 6 fish. Tomorrow we’re having a fish dinner. This Campground is a popular place to put in for kayak & raft rides. In addition, this weekend a group of people are training here for water rescue. It was fun watching the rafts & the training. See the photos. I called today and made reservations for Tuesday & Wednesday in Yellowstone National Park. We’re only an hour from the entrance. We were here two years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. The main area by Old Faithful is fully accessible.

Sunday: Partly sunny with some rain here & there. John & Marge came over about noon time. We cooked John’s trout on the grill plus Marge made a rice dish. A nice treat; I didn’t have to cook.

Monday: Carol & I enjoyed a quiet day reading. John & Marge went to Bozeman to get their car repaired, run errands, go site seeing, etc.

Tuesday: Johnny stopped by early so say goodbye. We're heading up to Yellowstone NP in the morning. Their plans are uncertain. We had a wonderful time visiting with John & Marge. Hopefully again in the future. Once Johnny retires from Hallmark, they hope to spend more time traveling.

Seattle to Montana

Beauty Creek, Idaho
Lake Easton SP, Washington

Seattle to Montana

May 24-28

Saturday: Took the Bainbridge to Seattle Ferry. The ferry ride gave us a nice view of Seattle. Staying at the VASA RV Campground in Bellevue; near Seattle. Chose this campground only because it’s close to Seattle. Very urban setting; noisy & crowded. It has the smallest sites I can recall. Never again. In the afternoon we drove to Marymoor Park. Walked around for a while. It was very crowned being Memorial Day weekend.

Sunday: Drove into Seattle to Pike Street Market. The traffic was light, as expected for a Sunday morning. Found a parking space not far from the market. This place is huge. You name it and it’s fore sale someplace. Lots of weird looking people hanging around. A good place to people watch. We had paid to stay at VASA tonight but disliked the place so much we simply got onto I-90 East and started driving. After an hour of so, we saw a sign for Lake Easton State Park. We went in expecting to see a Campground Full sign. Amazing. They had a cancellation on a site with a partial view of the lake. There is a paved trail leading from the campground to the lake. Let Gopher go swimming. The water was like ice. There is still snow on the surrounding mountain tops.

Monday; Memorial Day: We both like this place so much we decided to stay for two more nights. The best campsite in the campground is #37. As soon as it became clear they people were leaving, we went to the Ranger Station and paid for two nights. This site is huge. Lots of room for Gopher plus an unobstructed view of the lake. Last night while looking at the LD Yahoo! Site, there was a post by a couple from Seattle who wanted to see a new Lazy Daze. We invited them over. Jim & Mary Beth. She’s 5’1” and he’s 6’4”. They wanted to see if he could walk around inside, stand in the shower & fit in the bed. J. They were very pleased with everything. They brought us a bunch of fire wood, some homemade cookies & tuna salad. What a nice surprise. Carol & I enjoyed their company.

Tuesday: Enjoyed a quiet day around this beautiful campground. Took some walks, read our books. The sun came out for most of the day; a pleasant treat.

Wednesday: Heading towards Montana. As you drive east in Washington, you leave the pine forests about in Ellensburg. After that it’s mostly rolling hills and irrigated farms. There was a very interesting sign as we drove through this farming area. It said that for the next 14 miles, signs would tell what crops were growing in that area. What a wonderful idea. Time & again we wished we knew what we were actually looking at. The crops were sweet corn, field corn, peas, potatoes, alfalfa, and wheat. The rest areas all have Wi-Fi; another nice idea. The further east we drove the warmer & sunnier it became. It felt real nice after a month or so in the cool, cloudy coast of CA, OR & WA. About 40 miles west of Spokane the agricultural land uses stop and we get back to the pine trees. In Spokane Valley, just west of Spokane, we made a Wal-Mart run. Ate lunch at the Panda-Panda restaurant. About 3:00 we entered Idaho. Stayed the night at the Beauty Creek FS campground near Coeur D’Alene, ID. Our campsite is right on Beauty Creek. I put my shorts an and Gopher & I went wading in the creek. This is a snow melt fed creek. The water made my feet numb. Even Gopher, who seems immune to the cold, got out after a few minutes. Carol sat in the sun next to the creek enjoying the warmth.

Port Townsend Area

Port Townsend campground.
Point Wilson Lighthouse
Sleeping sea otter

Port Townsend, WA

Tuesday, May 20

In the morning we were still the only people in the campground. While walking the dog, I watched two eagles fishing. By the time I went back for the camera, they were gone. Can’t remember how many times I’ve told myself to always put the camera in my pocket. Left for our next destination; Port Townsend. We’re staying at the Fort Townsend Marina & RV Park. It’s owned by the Port Authority. Our sight is directly on the Admiralty Inlet of the Puget Sound. On the far side of the inlet is Whidbey Island. I chose this park for its location. It’s right downtown near all the historical, shops & restaurants. The Port itself has two restaurants. In spite of the light rain we walked downtown and had a very nice lunch. Carol had a crab/shrimp casserole on an English muffin. I had a fish taco. A very good lunch. After lunch we walked Gopher then stayed inside & read. A cold, gray, misty rain day. For dinner, we had Chinese takeout from the Shanghai Chinese Restaurant which is located about 100’ from our campsite. Another below average meal. It’s hard picking a good restaurant when you’re visiting a town. So far we seem to be batting about 500 on picking restaurants.

I was speaking to a local earlier today. He said they get very little snow or heavy rain around here, but gray & misty is a very typical day. They recently sold their home and live fulltime in a motorhome. Spend the winters in AZ and the summers drifting around here & there. Carol & I agree we would not want to live along the Oregon or Washington coast. It’s beautiful but the weather isn’t very nice much of the time.

Wednesday: Woke up to a gray & drizzly day. Gopher & I walked uptown to an organic bread bakery. We got the worlds best sourdough multi-grain bread. Hot out of the oven. Bought Carol a chocolate croissant as a special treat. We’re both putting on a few pounds from too many “special treats”. Got to stop that. It’s 7pm right now and the bread is over half gone. Once again I left on a walk without the camera. Passed a house with a deer laying down on the grass in the side yard. When we drove into town yesterday we saw two deer walking down the main street. Very strange. Later in the morning, Carol bundled up and we took a nice walk downtown. As the day went on the sun came out on the occasion. Still chilly, but at least it’s sunny & chilly. Now and then Carol ventured outside for a bit. She simply doesn’t like cold weather. Never did but I think her intolerance for cold got worse with the stroke. Earlier in the trip I asked if she would prefer to tour Southern California, Nevada, etc. instead of heading north but she wanted to continue with the original plan.

Thursday Took the dog for an early morning walk downtown. Bought a coffee from a street vendor. Oregon & Washington have lots of drive- up and walk-up espresso & coffee vendors. Later we drove to the good bakery. Carol came with me this time. Bought another loaf of the great bread and Carol got two very large chocolate chip cookies. Our current campground is the Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend. As the crow flies it’s only a few miles from where we have been. This is a nice place for Carol. Lots of streets & paved walks. Walked to the Point Wilson lighthouse, along the beach path and out on the dock. There is a sea otter living around the dock. The camera wasn’t working well so I couldn’t get good pictures. The sun was out for a few hours today; the warmth felt good.

Friday: After the morning dog walk and breakfast, we walked all around the old fort. Fort Worden was first built because of the Civil War. It was expanded with WW-1 and again with WW-2. We visited the Centennial Rhododendron Garden, saw some of the gun batteries, barracks and officers quarters. The sun was out for the few hours we were walking. Later on the gray skies returned. I was talking to our neighbor in the campground. Mentioned the weather. He just shrugged and said that’s the way it is around here. Any day without heavy rain is a good day. The campground is full; Memorial Day weekend. Families & kids everywhere.
Watched the ship traffic heading out the Strait of Juan De Fuca . Saw three cruise ships heading for Alaska. Tomorrow we head over to Seattle then east to Montana to meet John & Marge on June 1^st.

Cape Disappointment to Port Townsend

Cape Disappointment to Port Townsend, WA

Sunday, May 18. Yet another sunny day. Four in a row. We’re headed for the Lake Sylvia SP near Montesano. Drove through the city of Raymond. They had a multi-use trail with metal sculptures all along it. Very pretty. Arrived at the campground shortly after noon time. Lake Sylvia SP is located, as you would imagine, on a lake. Clear, cool water. Our campsite has the best location in the entire campground. Look at the photos. We took a walk around the lake and spend the rest of the afternoon reading and enjoying the view. Talked about what campground had our all time favorite view. A very tough question. We’ve had the good fortune to get some of the best campsites in America. Traveling off season is the key. Here we arrived on a Sunday afternoon. The weekend campers had mostly left and schools not yet out. The best time to snag the prime spots. Memorial Day is this coming weekend. Last week I called about getting reservations at some state parks. Booked as I suspected, so we’re staying in a private campground next weekend.

Monday: Back to our customary weather; cool and overcast. The drive to the Port Townsend area was mostly through pine forests. Stopped at Lake Leland, a county campground. The campground was just OK plus the lake had a warning sign about blue-green algae. Warned that children and pets should stay out of the water because the algae was toxic. We continued to the Lower Oak Bay Campground in Port Ludlum; another Jefferson County park. The campground was very hard to find; there were a few small signs. We got lost for about 30 minutes. I were about to give up when Carol said to turn this way and sure enough, there it was. The campground is very, very basic. It’s on a sand spit going out into Oak Bay. We had the place to ourselves. The view was of the bay on one side and a tidal marsh on the other. We enjoyed it.

Cape Disappointment WA area

May 16, 2008

Washington.

Cape Disappointment State Park

Another clear & sunny day. Entered Washington at Chinook, on the north side of the Columbia River just across from Astoria, OR. Camped at the Cape Disappointment State Park. This campground isn’t as nearly accessible as Fort Stevens. There was a short path that allowed Carol a view of the river. Gopher & I played on the beach where Carol could watch. We tried a long gravel trail to the ocean but the scooter doesn’t do well in gravel so we turned back. Found a nice viewpoint to park and have lunch.

Saturday: Yet another sunny day. Three in row; a record for the Northern CA & OR part of our trip. We started the day with a trip to the Port of Ilwaco. There is an arts & crafts show on Saturday morning. After that we drove to the city of Long Beach. They have a ½ mile boardwalk that is part of the much longer Discovery Trail. Long Beach itself isn’t much. Your typical summer tourist town. The Discovery Trail follows the original path that Capt. Clark, of Lewis & Clark took along this part of the coast. There are statues & monuments telling of his journey as you walk along the trail. It’s a wonderful paved trail running through the dunes. Later we drove to the far north tip of the Island; Leadbetter Point State Park. On the way back to the campground we stopped at Seaview to walk on the Discovery Trail some more. Much quieter than the Long Beach part. Away from all the tacky tourist parts. Then we did the laundry. Went back to the Port of Ilwaco for dinner. The view from the restaurant was great. We overlooked the harbor and the two tall ships that were in port. The dinner itself, was only fair.

Lincoln City to Astoria, OR

Lincoln City to Astoria.

Heading north on 101. Stopped by a beach area in Pacific city for a rest. Took the Three Capes Scenic drive instead of 101. A much prettier way to travel. Stopped at the Cape Meares Lighthouse. There was an accessible trail to the lighthouse. The three of us enjoyed the walk. Read several informative signs about all the sea birds that live around here. Gopher & I took the dirt trail to the Octopus Tree; a giant sitka spruce tree growing several trunks. (See the photo). We then went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory in Tillamook for a factory tour and cheese sampling. This cheese place is quite famous for its high quality cheddar cheese. Never heard of it but cheese connoisseurs regard it highly. Bought two types; sharp for Carol and garlic/hot pepper for me. Had cheese for lunch and cheeseburgers for dinner. Good cheese but I’m not sure I could tell the difference between Tillamook & Publix cheese. The ice cream they sold was very good. Carol had a scoop of Carmel Pecan, I had Pistachio Pecan. As we were leaving the cheese place, we noticed a lot of police and crowds of people gathering. Asked what was going on. Seems the Oregon presidential primary is soon and Bill Clinton was going to give a speech at the cheese place in about an hour. Having better things to do, we continued on. We camped that night at the Barview Jetty Tillamook County Campground. Took a nice walk to the jetty. Let Gopher run on the beach for a while. There is a very large squirrel that keeps coming around our campsite looking for handouts. If the squirrel gets any closer to Gopher, that’s the end of the squirrel. (See the photo)

Tuesday. Got up about 6am. 50* with a light rain. Took Gopher to the beach for a walk. The plan was to stop at Seaside to walk along the boardwalk. Never stopped raining. Went grocery shopping then to the Fort Stevens SP. It’s 6:30pm now. 50* with a light rain. While walking the dog earlier, I was talking to one of the campground hosts. Mentioned the weather. She just shrugged her shoulders and said “Well, you’re in Oregon”. Reading some Lewis & Clark information. This is the area where they first saw the Pacific Ocean. They stayed in this area for 109 days. It rained for all but 12 of those days. This is the first all day rain we’ve had in the 63 days we’ve been on the road. Can’t complain about that. Carol said time & again how she really likes sunshine. J

Our friends Ted & Liz pulled in late in the day.

Wednesday. Awoke to 50* and rain. About mid-morning we took a drive to see the Columbia River. Found a great spot right on the river. Carol could get a good view and be warm & dry inside the camper. Let Gopher run on the beach.

About noon it started to clear up a little. The sky turned a lighter shade of gray. We drove to the historic part of Fort Stevens. The Fort Stevens Military Reservation guarded the mouth of the Columbia River from the Civil War through WW II. Toured the museum, the old fortifications and some of the grounds. Later in the day the three of us took a long walk to the Coffenbury Lake area. Gopher went swimming. The park has a great selection of paved, multi-use trails. There were a lot of downed trees in the woods and one road was closed. Seems they had a very strong storm in December. Because of all the rain this area gets, the water table is high and trees tend to have a shallow root system. Consequently, strong winds can blow the trees over. Same with the sequoias and redwoods.

On the odd occasion, the sun would come out for a few minutes today.

Thursday; Got up to sunshine and blue skies. First time since we’ve been in Northern California & Oregon. We went into Astoria today. There is a 4 mile paved walkway along the waterfront. We started at the Columbia River Maritime Museum. There were exhibits telling the long history of the Columbia River from ancient times, through Lewis & Clark, and up to the current rescues by the local Coast Guard Station. We thoroughly enjoyed our time here. After that we walked to the downtown area. Had a good lunch. Carol had a fried oyster & bacon sandwich with clam chowder. My lunch was OK; should have gotten what Carol ordered. After lunch we got Gopher and took a long walk to the Port of Astoria; East Mooring Basin. There were dozens of Sea Lions laying on the unused docks. Barking, swimming or just laying in the sun. We saw two eagles sitting on rotted pilings. Waiting to do fishing I suppose. At one time in it’s history, Astoria was a major salmon packing place. There are rotted pilings everywhere from the old over-the-water buildings. Took a picture of the remains of the last of the packing houses. We thoroughly enjoyed Astoria.

Came back to the campground about 3:00. Walked to the lake to let Gopher take a swim.

This is a very nice campground and area. I would certainly recommend it.