Washington and the Northwest!

 We have reached our high water mark for our western states swing.  Washington with it beaches, forests, mountains and attractions did not disappoint.  The big plus here was the weather was perfect, sunny and warm with light breezes.  The locals told us they had not had weather like this for a long time, usually it is raining, windy and overcast.  Timing is everything!!  Our Washington exploration started in Westport, we heard that there was a military campground with 3 sites and a lighthouse.  Well the lighthouse was awesome, the sites... not so much, barely a wide spot in the woods and mosquitos just begging for you to go outside.  One day was enough for us and we drove up to McCord AFB so we could drive down to Mt. Rainer for a day trip.  Mount Rainer is more impressive in person than any picture we could take.  After a couple days at McCord we drove north of Seattle to Whidbey Naval Air Station.  We were blown away after we arrived at Cliffside RV park, not only were the views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the sunset breathtaking, they have a master gardener on staff and he works from 6 to 6 caring for the beautiful flowers he planted throughout the park, he also planted strawberries for all the campers to pick for free.  The first full day at Cliffside was dedicated to going north to explore Vancouver, Canada.  It is a beautiful city but we think that we are not big city tourists because we drove around taking pictures but finding a parking place was like pulling teeth with pliers. Not disappointed but also not a big fan of the congestion that goes along with city life.  The next day we explored around Whidbey Island and the quaint seaports that dot the island.  Much more to our liking!  We did do the tourist thing by going down to Space Needle and the surrounding attractions.   We also took the ferry to Port Townsend to visit our friends from our camp hosting at Chatfield State Park.  Peggy and Howard Doi are hosting again near Port Townsend.  We did have time while on the air station to get in 3.5 mile walks every morning which runs along the beach and into the woods...not a bad way to start your day. After exploring around northern Washington we decided to drive over to Fairchild AFB outside of Spokane.  We also used this stop to replace the front tire on the Ford...why?  Well we had another blowout on the motorhome and it took out our compartment behind the duals along with our compressor that we stored in the compartment.  After replacing both rear duals on the drivers side and driving to Spokane we discovered that some of the debris cut the front tire on the car and it was not fixable.  BTW that is four blowouts in the last three years but on the positive side the motorhome has all new tires and spare so we shouldn't have any more tire problems.  While at Fairchild, which is a beautiful well kept base, we took a couple day trips to Grand Coulee Dam, Spokane, and Coeur d'Alene.  If you don't know, the Grand Coulee is the largest dam in the US and four times the size of Hoover Dam and produces three times the electric power.  Coeur d'Alene is a charming little city with the huge Lake Coeur d'Alene right downtown. As we leave Washington and start our way back to Colorado we still have Idaho, the Grand Tetons, Salt Lake City to add to our backyard exploration.  An added bonus for our trip, Kris and Amy will join us in Salt Lake City to do some family history research and they will leave our grandsons, Kasey and Karsten with us for the remainder of our adventure. 

 

 

 

Lighthouse at Westport where we stayed overnight and toured the lighthouse!

Majestic Mount Rainer

 

Our site at Whidbey Naval Air Station with the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the our backyard!

The Peace Arch on the Canadian Border

The Space Needle in Seattle

This is the sunset we saw every night from our motorhome

The 100s of logs washed up on the beach behind our motorhome indicates the weather is not always sunny and warm!

It is called Cliffside RV park for a reason

George in the sleepy fishing village of Coupesville, Washington

A little windy on the Ferry!  Now we can say that we have taken ferries on both coasts!

Took the ferry over to Port Townsend to see our camphost friends from Chatfield..

.Peggy and Howard Doi

Every sunset at Whidbey was just awesome!

 

Not all RV campgrounds are designed the same,

 the sites at Fairchild AFB are a little narrow!  But the host and the other RVers were very friendly!

 

How did that picture get in here....

Oh maybe because we miss these three sweethearts,

 Karsten, Holly, and Kasey!

 

 

 

B-52 at the Airpark on Fairchild AFB

OK why does the Air Force have train cars?

 

The Lake at Coeur d'Alene...the lake is in the middle of the city

 

The Grand Coulee Dam - the largest dam in the US

 with almost 12 million cubic yards of concrete

 (4 x the amount as Hoover Dam and 3x the generating capacity)

Amazing what you learn reading this blog!

Lake Roosevelt formed by the Grand Coulee Dam, the lake runs about 40 miles back toward Spokane.

 

As we reached our goal of traveling up the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington we can reflect on how fortunate we are to be able to continue this lifestyle and to visit with friends throughout the United States.  Our trip is only half way complete but we will do the return trip in about two weeks rather than two months.  Day trips to the Tetons, landmarks in Idaho, and a week in Salt Lake are all on the agenda for us.  When Kasey and Karsten join us we will let them choose between a few sites so our final leg might be a few more days than we planned but we think they will want to go Dinosaur National Monument to see the bones of the ancient giants, also by traveling the back roads of Utah, Colorado and Wyoming will give them a chance to stop and enjoy the trip.  Can't wait...it will be a different adventure! 

We hope you are enjoying your summer.  Stay safe and take extra good care of yourselves!