Sunset Float on Lake Mary, mid July.
Sunsets in AZ do not disappoint.
We do NOT see these friends nearly enough.
The view behind us.
Monsoons
Monsoons this year also did not disappoint. LOTS of moisture! May it translate to a big snow year all around the West. Ellen captured the cloudburst above on I-40 outside of Seligman on our way to NorCal on July 29th.
Northern California
We left on our 27-day roadtrip on July 29th, returning August 24th. Our first stop was Tehachapi on our way to San Geronimo to see the family. Our first afternoon was spent at Dickson Ranch in Woodacre with our niece Ellie, meeting all of the horses from her riding lessons stable.
Stinson Beach
The day began with games in the camper.
Matt and his beach toys. We used every one of them.
Maise chased her ball relentlessly. I tried to catch her cooling off by lying down on the sand but wasn't quick enough.
Around six paragliders came off of Mt. Tam and landed on the beach, one after another. They were fun to watch come over the coastal hills.
The last day of July found us at the beach with brother Matt, wife Lily, Ellie, Ellen and I. Brother Josh and his family were already in Brasil visiting Rubia's family so we missed them. These guys would leave two days later for a week in San Diego so it was a quiet week in San Geronimo.
Relaxing walks on the beach, IN SHORTS! Often times we're bundled up in fog and wind at these beaches.
We made her into a mermaid. You have to look closely for the tail.
Matt and his famous beach hot tub.
San Geronimo
Family gathered on August 1 to attend a Zoom memorial service. It was good to be together but very sad for the reason.
We had a lovely lunch and afternoon with Aunt Nancy. Such a beautiful soul.
Making good use of the quiet time.
Oregon
August 6-9 found us in Ashland, OR visiting our dear friends Sue and Sue.
Our first full day began with a walk through Lithia Park downtown.
This is a small sample of onging tile work being done on a hiker hostel in Ashland, which is a Pacific Crest Trail town. The artist/owner has been working on it for 20 some years.
My first jam session with the Sues in over a year. How I miss those. Steve, Sue W's brother, joined us. Such fun.
We took a quick trip up to Jacksonville, a small artist community in the hills above Ashland, to deliver a couple of Sue W's paintings to replace two that sold, for an Urban Sketchers exhibition.
The next day we did a short hike along a small canal in the neighborhood of Sue W's niece. We sustained ourselves by eating blackberries along the way.
The famous mascot at Black Bird Hardware.
When we last saw Perry and Chloe we were at Lake Powell in October of 2020, dealing with Covid and canoe camping safely. They now have two children and live with their familes in Ahland. It was great seeing them again.
Beau Buddy ws SO annoyed that his fire truck battery died.
We then attended Sue W's nephew's birthday party. He turned four. He also got an old saddle from Grandpa which allows him to ride the tree trunk horse at his house.
Washington
From Oregon we drove to Kent, WA where we spent the night camping in the driveway with dear friends JD and Deanna, Betty and Millie. The time wasn't long enough before we headed to Bellingham and a stop in Mt Vernon for the day to see more dear friends and a tour of Skagit Valley.
More driveway camping at the Cheatwoods in Kent, WA.
I love the native art of this area.
Look at the driftwood on the beach! Lots of big logs all up and down the coast.
We drove out to Point Deception State Park and did some beach hikes with John and Raymond. John is Sue B's brother and was our wedding officient all those years ago.
Raymond, his sister Joyce, and John in Mt. Vernon, WA.
As you walked around this statue there were plaques telling the Native American story of her.
Bellingham
Driveway camping at Greer's in Sudden Valley near Lake Whatcom.
Our next and final stop before the bike tour was Bellingham, where Ellen's sister Greer and her daughters live. We met them for lunch in the Fairhaven Historic District of Bellingham.
Our first morning, while Greer slept, we went for a walk at Lake Louise near the house.
We watched a fishing boat load its netting.
Sister Martie arrived from Phoenix Friday afternoon. This is all of us, except Dave because he took the picture, at Katie and Dave's house Saturday afternoon.
Saturday morning Ellen and I went for a walk around the neighborhood and found this lovely trail in the heavily forested area in which Greer lives.
We found this tunnel that connects the lake under the road to the nearest gas station and stores.
That afternoon we went to Squalicum Harbor and Zuanich Point Park for a walk. Above is the kids yacht club were they learn to sail.
The next morning we wandered through Bayview Cemetery. The oldest plot we found was 1831. The modern city of Bellingham, Washington, was officially incorporated in 1903, through the consolidation of four settlements: Whatcom, Sehome, Fairhaven, and Bellingham.
TREK Bicycle Tour
The Trek Tour was nothing short of amazing. The people we met and got to ride with, the guides and all of the folks we came into contact with on the ferries, restaurants and hotels made the trip so special. Each day was so different. We rode three different islands: Fidalgo, San Juan and Orcas. We took three different ferry rides and a whale watching tour on top of nearly 30 miles a day of bike riding. The food was amazing, accomadations exquisite and again with the people, they made it perfect.
Day One: Ride Fidalgo Island Loop: 14 miles, Ferry from Fidalgo Island to San Juan Island
Today was a big day. It began at 5:00 am in Bellingham with a 6:00 am departure from Greer's house to drop off our bags at the Ship Harbor Inn, park the camper at the Anacortes Ferry Terminal, walk back to the hotel, meet our Tour at 8:00, load into the van, drive to a nearby park, ride the 14-mile Fidalgo Island Loop, meet back at the park, eat, change clothes, load back up into the van and head to the Ferry Terminal. All the while our amazing guides are feeding us and loading bikes and herding cats to get us all there and the van in line an hour ahead of time so as not to lose our spot. That can happen. Vehicles can lose their spots. Ferry days are stressful for the guides to say the least.
The ferry ride was cool.
On the ferry and getting ready to head to Friday Harbor.
Lots of cormorants.
Watching another ferry arrive in Anacortes.
Preparing to disembark. The ferry workers definitely have this down to a science.
The van has to be in the ferry line an hour ahead of departure. That gave us time to wander around the terminal.
Homes along the ferry route.
Our first look at Friday Harbor from the ferry.
A beautiful sailboat in Friday Harbor.
Friday Harbor by land.
The empty lanes for the Friday Harbor ferry.
Door knobs on a building.
The community message board.
We had a couple of hours to kick around Friday Harbor while the van and bike trailer went to our hotel to set up. Tony and Sammy picked us up at the San Juan Brewery in Friday Harbor in the van and took us to the hotel. These pics are of wandering around the Harbor while we waited.
Each lane will put you on a different ferry to a different location, so choose wisely.
Possibly the owner, letting you know they are not open.
Funk and Junk Antiques was a very fun store to kill some time in.
Our resort was on a lake and you could take out little row boats, paddle boards or bicycle boats. For dinner that night we walked around the lake to a picnic table spot and were treated to a catered dinner fro Coho in Friday Harbor. We had appetizers, dinner and a dessert, all prepared outside on the grill. It was delicious.
A view of the lobby, looking down from the balcony, a view of the outside deck from our room, shrimp on the barbie and the rowboats one could...row.
Day Two: Ride San Juan Island Loop: 30 miles
Walking up to the Bates Motel, or lighthouse.
This red fox made an appearance on one of our rides. He and a black fox were playing in the grasses near the lighthouse.
I packed my long lens into an ammo can and it rode in the van. I had access to it at all the rest stops should we se Orcas, which we did not. The scenery was pretty though.
Love this guy.
This guy was literally just going to work, in his little boat.
This was a property gate we passed on our ride back home.
Day Three: Wildlife Cruise, Ride from Roche Harbor to Lime Kiln: 24 miles
Day three began with our wildlife cruise and it did NOT disappoint.
We warmed up with a couple of California Sea Lions and lots of Harbor Seals before getting word from other boat captains of a pod of Orcas near Waldron Island. We headed that way and found pod T49A, a transient pod consisting of Nan (the mom), sons Noah, Jude, Nat and Neptune, daughter Nebula and the baby, Charlie II. Jude is part of the family but has gone off on his own so was not with them this day. He does come back to visit on occasion though.
That she blows!
Experts can identify the whales via their dorsal fins noting size, shape, scratches and nicks.
This may be my only pic of all five of them at once.
Hearing them breathe was a cool as seeing them swim. Such beautiful, smart creatures.
Nat has the big dorsal fin reaching nearly six feet.
See the baby??
Sea planes were seen quite often. To the right is the view of the sea kayak fleet from our lunch spot at Roche Harbor.
Following our whale tour we ate lunch at Roche Harbor, changed into biking clothes and met our guides at a nearby green space for the "ride talk" of what we could expect on our ride back to the hotel.
Imagine paddling, knowing there are Orcas in the water...
We had dinner that night with Bong and Dave at Coho Restaurant in Friday Harbor. The Trek team shuttled a group of us into town and later picked us up. Some folks ate closer to the hotel.
No one said anything about giant hands.
Day Four: Ferry Day! San Juan to Orcas Island, Ride from Orcas to Olga and back to hotel: 28 miles
Day four is moving day so that means getting to the ferry terminal early so the van with all the bikes can be in position. That allowed us time to wander around a foggy Friday Harbor, get some coffee and tea and watch the ferries come and go.
Seriously...
A beautiful foggy morning at the harbor.
Our guys getting onto the ferry.
We were across the street and still late getting onto the ferry. We had to wait until all of the cars were loaded. We then sailed to Shaw Island where there was a brief exchange of people and vehicles. That was our cue to find the van and load. Twice we walked on but rode off. So think about it. These vehicle loaders have to put them in just the right spots so that vehicles can exit at the correct ports. Some cars load backwards...whoa.
Unbelievable workout loading and unloading those bikes most days. AND riding with us!
Dave riding through the Moran State Park sign.
We stopped at a pottery studio on our ride. A very cool location.
This one's for YOU, Olga!
Metal work on a fence.
Our hotel. One of those lower rooms is ours!
We rode from one end of Orcas Island to the other then back to the middle for lunch and our Hotel in the town of Eastsound. After checking in and a shower we had some time to wander. Unfortunately, it was after 5:00 and most places were closed. We took mental notes of where to go back to when we had more time.
I'm not sure what kind of bird this is but it was cool and outside the Orcas Historical Museum, which we went to the next day.
A map of the San Juan Islands.
Art, through windows, of stores we couldn't get into.
Random tiny beach access in Eastsound with sailboats in the bay.
Day Five: Ride Mt. Constitution: 22 miles
Mt. Baker in the distance.
Driftwood art along the way.
The amazing views from the top of Mt. Constitution, the highest point in the San Juans.
A boathouse rental place in the State Park.
This is the wall at a local pizza place in Eastsound.
Day Six: Ride Crow Valley Loop: 10 miles, Ferry To Anacortes, Drive to Kent, WA
Today was a relatively short ride around Orcas. We had plenty of time to shower, check out, load the van and get to the ferry line on time. We had an hour to wander around the town of Orcas and that is where these images came from.
Cool t-shirts we didn't buy.
On our last day the Orca pod showed up just beyond this dock and made it's way around the island to the left. We saw them again from the ferry. The tell tale sign wasn't their blowholes but the amount of whale tour boats following them.
they load the people first which allowed me to photograph our van one last time getting onto the ferry. This was another walk on, ride offf.
The Orcas ferry building is behind this crab.
The Drive Home
We got off of the ferry, bid our farewells, found Coyote Hawk and headed back to Kent, WA to stay the night before embarking on our deadhead drive home. Sorry Cheatwoods, no pics.
We drove for three eight-hour days from Kent to Flagstaff. Three days driving, two nights in between. Night number one was extra special. We rolled in on our old neighbors who literally moved to La Grande, OR at the beginning of August. They are still moving in so we camped at the end of the driveway and had a delicious dinner together at a local Thai restaurant. It was SO good to see them and their new home. Sorry for the quality of the group photo. It was still GREAT to see your faces!
The next night we grabbed a hotel room south of Provo, UT...eight hours to HOME!
On the way home we swung into Lake Powell to see just how bad it is. It's bad. Lone Rock is hundreds of yards from water, the Antelope boat ramps no longer launch boats, including the private one, and the river is getting less and less water released from the dam.
This was a very informative graphic the ranger shared with me at the Carl Hayden visitor center.
Kayak companies still bring clients to the public Antelope boat ramp. However it is no where near the lake. The image to the right is a pic of the end of the ramp.
Below that is the Colorado River below the dam. River trips begin their 200+ mile journey fro Lee's Ferry, 15 miles downstream. I've never seen the channel so narrow.
It's crazy to think that in 1983 they were worried water would run over the dam and the whole thing would fail. Read The Emerald Mile.
Well, that's IT! I hope you enjoyed our big Pacific Northwest Road Trip. If you have any questions, please ask by email, and I will be happy to respond!
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