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Chelan County Expo *Cashmere, WA* (June 20-June 26)
We moved to the Chelan County Expo in Cashmere, WA. We were not able to fit into Leavenworth’s Thousand Trails as they don’t have long enough sites. The County Expo is a large open field with sites on it and no trees, they do have full electric and sewer, which is really nice. When we pulled in, I found a rock on the picnic table. It has a website miasmovingmountains.com on it, it’s about a sweet little girl who had Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome. She had a challenging life, earning her angel wings at just 8 1/2 months old. I took the rock to plant at another campground along our journey. That way her legacy travels along with us a bit.
We took a drive along the mountain pass and to a little diner. The view along the road was stunning and followed the river.
One morning we had brunch at little diner that we saw on Guy Fieri’s Family Road Trip show. It was an adorable little place and we had awesome wait staff! I ordered got a philly sub and a pineapple/coconut shake. Ed got a chocolate shake and breakfast.
We explored Leavenworth, which is a touristy little Bavarian Village. The streets in town are all blocked off so that it makes it easier for the people to get around. We went to a little gingerbread bakery and got some really yummy treats. I bought a Matryoshka, a Russian Nesting doll. Ed found an interesting candy shop, it had a bunch of vintage candy and a some that was ‘free-dried’. Ed got a few vintage candies. LOL!
We also went to the little town down the road, Cashmere. It is a tiny town and is really very cute. They have these little gnome vignettes all over town. They have a map you can follow to find all of them. We just happened on a few and they were really cute. They even had little gnome footprints on the sidewalks in town that led to some. We went to a pharmacy that has a little soda fountain in the back and had root beer floats.
**The referral came through and Ed finally saw the Dermatologist. He had a biopsy and the Dermatologist is pretty certain it is basal cell carcinoma…we were hoping that it may be something a bit less serious. Unfortunately, Ed’s biopsy came back, it is basal cell carcinoma. He has to have a Mohs surgery in a few weeks. We have to wait for the VA to get a referral in the system. Everything with the VA takes what seems like forever. We are going to change plans and move closer to Seattle again. We are hopeful that the Dermatologist that did his biopsy will be able to do the Mohs surgery. I don’t feel comfortable leaving Washington until this whole situation is over and Ed has a 100% clean bill of health.
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Birch Bay (June 8-June 20)
We moved to Birch Bay, which is right on the border of Canada. The park is nice, we found a spot on the end of a row that is a bit muddy. This apparently has been the wettest Spring that the PNW has seen in many years. The birds found my birdfeeders right away 😊
I found out about these great little “Free Little Art Galleries” which are like Free Little Libraries, for art. Anyone can donate art, take art or just enjoy the art. This concept is such an amazing one! If I still had a house, I would put one in front of it. I went to three in this area. I left some of my handmade cards and collected a few pieces.
We went into Canada and it was a fun day. Funny thing, Ed has this hilarious routine that Mama and I joke about…he tends to always go to Walmart, no matter the area we are. Well, the first stop we made was, you guessed it, Walmart! LOL! We did have fun looking at some of the different products they have…like Ketchup flavored chips (even cheetos, yuck) and Ed’s favorite, Kinder Eggs. We then went to the Port of Vancouver, where there was a Disney cruise ship, we rode a ride called Fly Over Canada (like Soarin’ at Disney), we had lunch at Red Robin and shopped at a touristy souvenir shop.
We spent most of our days at Birch Bay just chillin’, since it was pretty rainy. We enjoyed relaxing and having just some ‘off’ time. We did go to Peace Arch Park. It is a neat little park…it’s kinda funny, as there is literally just a shallow ditch that separates the US and Canada. We had ice cream at a little local shop, they call it ‘hard’ ice cream here.
**Ed has a wound on his lip that has been there for about 6 months. He saw a doctor about in Oregon last month. They gave him some medication, but it didn’t heal like it should. We have been waiting for the VA to get a referral for a Dermatologist. We finally gave up and went to the ER, which didn’t really do anything other than hopefully get the referral for the Dermatologist on a faster track.
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Ocean Shores, WA (May 31-June 8)
Oceana RV Park was a mud pit when we arrived. The park was mostly empty and we quickly figured out why…it never dried up the entire time we were there, actually it rained even more. Our site had some issues with the electric and the ranger was a real jerk about it. We reduced our stay as much as possible and will not likely return to this campground. This is the first campground that we have had such a miserable site and experience with an employee.
We went to Westport and visited the lighthouses, picked up several letterboxes and we went to a cool Mermaid Museum. It was a really cool day and I really like the area. Hopefully we can find a good campground if we come back to this area again someday.
We spent a few full days letterboxing in Ocean Shores, even with the rain. All the area eateries dining areas are closed, I guess due to COVID. It is a bit frustrating, but I understand. The town had a kite festival that seemed to turn out to be a bust due to the rain.
We drove to Sequim on Monday. Along the way, we stopped at several lighthouses. We stayed overnight at a cool little motel of cabooses. We got the ‘Lavender Caboose’ and it was so adorable! Tuesday, we drove back to Oceana. We went to Cape Flattery and took the trail to the lighthouse. We went to the Olympic National Forest Upper Ho area, it is stunningly beautiful. It took all day to get back to Oceana.
Caboose ‘Motel’
Interior of Lavender Caboose
Cape Flattery and Neah Bay
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Seaside, OR (May 15-31)
We got a good spot at Seaside. The spring here has been super rainy…so the ground is swampy, but what can you do. I’m happy, as it is a corner spot and I like only having one neighbor and my craft area faces the more open space. I’ve decided that Ed’s goal is to find a pizza place at every area we stay. Here it is Fultano’s. It is downtown and in the arcade, but it honestly is pretty good! We discovered it is a local chain.
We visited Ft Steven’s State Park and hiked from the fort to the shipwreck of the Peter Iredale. It was a fun hike and we had a good time, saw a paraglider while on the beach, almost caught him! LOL!
We drove inland to Longview, WA because I had to have some bloodwork done to check on my kidney issues. I had to stop and see the Nutty Narrows Bridge for squirrels! Interesting concept…
We visited Ft Clatsop at Lewis and Clark National Park.
Ed found out one of the local beaches was good for finding sand dollars, so off we went at low tide to check it out. There were tons of them! I stopped picking them up at 18, as Ed had to go and be all reasonable and ask me what the heck I was gonna do with all of them. We also saw tons of people digging up razor clams. I asked one lady and she showed me how it is done. She said they were super plentiful right now and she had so many she wasn’t even sure what she was going to do with the ones she was getting…I could relate 😉 She had the most adorable Scottie dog and he was all about telling her where to find the clams! It was cute!
We went to Girabaldi to ride the Coastal Sea Train. It was really cute and fun. The conductor told us that she found her ticket punch at a local estate sale, so it was an authentic punch! She told me that each conductor had their own special punch with a shape that identified which conductor punched your ticket, I never recalled hearing that before, so it was a cool thing to learn about.
We visited the Tillamook Air Museum. It is a HUGE blimp hanger that has now been turned into a museum. They have a Guppy outside that you can tour also. It is a pretty neat place.
Of course, we couldn’t skip the Tillamook Cheese Factory! The last time we were in this area, they were closed while they updated the museum/factory tour area. We got ice cream cones that were huge and delicious!
We visited Cape Mears Lighthouse and the surrounding area. Hiked a bit and found some letterboxes.
We drove up to Long Beach, WA and went to Cape Disappointment. We hiked up to the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, which was a short distance, but a moderate hike with quite a steep hill! We also went to the North Lighthouse and did the little hike around it and back to the lighthouse keepers residences, which are now vacation rentals.
We spent a day letterboxing from Wheeler to Ecola Bay State Park and hiked the Indian Trail. WHEW! That is a STEEP and long trail, it was super muddy and we were exhausted by the time we were done. We had a really fund day that day, even if it made us really feel our ages! LOL!
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Newport, OR (May 1-15)
We got a perfect spot in Newport at the Whaler’s Rest RV Park. The park is nice and just on the other side of HWY 101 from the beach. There is a trail to the beach even. We really like this park.
The Beach Trail and Beach
There’s Bears in these here hills! This adorable camper has been at the last several campgrounds we have been to!
My Sweet Hummingbird
One day, we drove to Salem, Mt Angel and McMinnville. I wanted to visit a craft store that I had heard of on my card-making boards. It was all they say….like a wonderland for me! LOL! I showed Ed around Mt Angel and showed him the glockenspiel, it was working this time…I have been several times when it wasn’t. I don’t think Ed was all that impressed, he prefers Germany in actuality, I guess. *snooty*
Then we headed to McMinnville to the Evergreen Air & Space Museum. It was pretty cool…they have the actual Spruce Goose. It is certainly impressive…I couldn’t even get a full photo of it!
This is a water park on the property that has tubes going through the plane on top of the building!
Afterwards, we went across the highway to Galen McBee Airport Park, with the intent of letterboxing, but unfortunately, we just found lots of mud and bugs! It was a fun hike though!
We visited the lighthouses in Newport, Yaquina Head and Yaquina Bay.
I met a fellow letterboxer. We spend a couple days boxing and visiting. She gave me some tips and tricks to the letterboxing life.
Ed and I visited Depoe Bay, I was heartbroken that my little café that I loved has permanently closed. They had the best clam chowder!
We also visited the Hatfield Marine Science Center, which I had never been to. It was pretty cool! There is a Giant Pacific Octopus there that is super cool. You can see her sometimes on the OctoCam https://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/visitor-center/exhibits/octocam
We did a lot of letterboxing in Newport and the area. Ed is finally coming around to it! LOL If you are interested in learning more about letterboxing, here is a link to check out https://www.atlasquest.com/ It certainly has taken us to some beautiful and interesting places!
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Coos Bay, Oregon (April 24-May 1)
We were supposed to stay at Sunset State Park, but unfortunately, their available spaces were way too tight and not long enough for our rig. We ended up having to make a last minute move to the Mill Casino RV Park. It was actually a really nice park. I mean, it’s a parking lot, but there was very nice landscaping and we had a view of the bay which was nice. After having a bit of a trying day, we decided to eat at the Casino…it was good, I had fried avocado tacos, which was a first for me, but oh man were they tasty!
We decided to drive up to Newport to check out the next campground, as we were not spooked about scrambling for a reservation if we didn’t fit! LOL! It never happened before, so we wanted to be better prepared. We picked out several spots that would work and were feeling more comfortable about it after visiting. We hiked up to Heceta Head Lighthouse.
View from Campsite
Hike to the Lighthouse
Lighthouse
While chilling one day, a HUGE ship sailed by the campground and then turned around and went back to park along the neighboring area, which we discovered was a mill….duh. They were loading that ship all week, even after we left!
We visited the Coquille River Lighthouse, tried to hike to the Cape Argo Lighthouse, but there was no real way to get there. The GPS had sent us down a private road and we had a “Karen” come out to give us the stank eye while I turned around. I guess she must have some kind of video surveillance system that alarms her that there are stupid tourist trying to see HER lighthouse. We literally turned around and left as soon as we figured out the GPS sent us rogue. Sheesh, Karen….sooooorrrry!!
A rainbow at the campsite
Coquille Lighthouse & Beach
The hike to try and get to view the Cape Argo Lighthouse
Take that Karen! If you look above the fence and under the carport top, you can see the Cape Argo Lighthouse! The second photo is the lighthouse from where they say you can view it-I’ll let you find it!
We also visited Umpqua River Lighthouse. This one was open and we were able to tour it and the museum.
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Trinidad, CA (April 10-April 24)
We moved to Trinidad, CA from Petaluma…this was a long drive when pulling a fifth wheel. We stayed at Elk Country RV Park. It is a cool place! The park is very large and right off Hwy 101. We were able to get a pull-thru site, which I love. The elk were out the first night we got there. Its a huge herd and they are pretty chill. Obviously, they aren’t tame or anything…the park has tons of rules about them, which I appreciate.
The first day there, we drove to Klamath and then on to Crescent City to do some grocery shopping and such. When we returned home, there were police cars, park ranger trucks, a fire truck and two ambulances right next to our camper! I almost had a heart attack, as I was sure that something must have happened to our rig or Scooby. Fortunately for us, it wasn’t anything to do with us. Our ‘neighbor’ was a young man in his early 20’s who was in a small SUV with a canoe and a tiny U-haul trailer. We figured he was just there for the night, as he had no real place to sleep. Well, apparently, he was sitting in his SUV, cleaning a gun he had recently purchased and accidently shot himself through the hand!!! He was taken to the hospital after they got him bandaged up. The camp host came over and told us what was going on. She assured us that he would be leaving as soon as he got back from the hospital, as it is against their policies to have a gun on property. I felt kinda bad for the kid…I wan’t sure how he was going to drive after that!
Anyhoo…while in the area, we did alot. We visited Eureka and visited the zoo, which had a skywalk through the redwoods…I did it, but was not super thrilled. I just prefer to keep my feet on stable ground these days. LOL! We got done with the skywalk and it started pouring rain, so we decided to come back another day.
We also went to the Trees of Mystery, did the skywalk there (lol) and did the gondola ride to the top of the trees…we could see the coastline, which was cool. We also went to Battery Lighthouse and Point St George Lighthouse.Trees of Mystery
Battery Lighthouse
We went to Fern Canyon, which is amazing! The drive in is fun…rocky, muddy and sloppy! Took Johnny on his first stream crossing…loved it!
We visited Humbolt Botanical Gardens in Eureka and went back to the zoo to finish it, which wasn’t much…it is a tiny zoo, but cute enough. We saw the Carson Mansion, it is quite a site. On the way home, we stopped in McKinleyville to see the World’s Largest Totem Pole, made from a single tree, 160 foot high. Canada claims one, but apparently they cheated, as theirs is TWO poles, one on top of another.Zoo
Carson Mansion
Pink Lady Mansion
Humbolt Botanical Gardens
World’s Largest Totem Pole
The last day in Trinidad, we went to Klamath to see the Tour Thru Tree (which we walked thru…as Johnny’s hips are a bit too wide for such things. We also ate at a little diner and I fell in love! I have been searching for a place that has a good Eggs Benedict and this tiny diner had the BEST! The owner served us and she was a doll! She treated us like we were regulars and I ate it up. I was half disappointed/half thrilled that we didn’t find this place earlier, as if we had, I would have begged to eat there daily and gained 40 pounds. LOL
We really enjoyed the property at Elk County RV Park and the elk even came to tell us goodbye…we will definitely stay here again someday!
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Petaluma, CA (April 3-April 9)
We were then set to move to the Coast Guard Base RV Park in Petaluma, CA (4-3). When we headed out, we stopped to get a tire pressure monitoring system installed. I just wanted to brag about the fact that I managed to back the RV into this RV shaped hole…no easy task, especially when at this point, I have only backed the fifth wheel up about 3 times prior!
Just took this to remember how painful gas prices are!
The Coast Guard Base was nice! It was set back in a field area with a pond and tons of geese and turkeys! There was a pizza place on base that was quite good. While there, we visited Point Reyes Lighthouse, Point Bonita Lighthouse, Bodega Bay, Goat Rock Beach, Armstrong Redwoods State National Reserve and explored Petaluma. Thomas and Rachelle drove over to visit us.CAMPSITE VIEW
My Hummingbird buddy! Two Rock Pizza (Yum)
Point Reyes Lighthouse
Point Bonita Lighthouse (this is all we got, since it was closed)
Bodega Bay
Goat Rock Beach
Armstrong Redwoods State National Reserve
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Oye, I’m not good at this! Catching up– Rio Vista, CA (March 22-April 3)
Ok, so we are going to go back to late March *eek*.We left Yosemite (3-22), which was a great time, and went to Sandy Beach RV Park in Rio Vista, California. This is near our son, Thomas, and Rachelle. We were looking forward to spending some time with them. I left the next day to DFW to take Mama to some Dr. appointments and visit with family. Ed stayed in Rio Vista with the rig. I got back and while there, we visited Jelly Belly, the Western Railroad Museum and the Military Museum….oh….and Thomas and Rachelle 😉
JELLY BELLY
WESTERN RAILROAD
MILITARY MUSEUM
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I know, I know….
I promise I will update. We have discovered that we tend to stay in places that don’t have the best internet connections or we are so busy enjoying the area, that I don’t post like I should! I’m trying to get better at it…kinda like I am starting my diet…tomorrow…
I promise I will post soon. Ed did move all my photos to the computer, so that helps TONS!
