Category Archives: Washington

by Carolyn | November 8, 2021 · 12:26 pm

A Summer to Remember

Sometimes you just have to be flexible, and the last few months have brought busy times, family times and some problems with our RV. Consequently, we let our blog go unattended. This is an attempt to catch up with a relatively brief summary of June through October 2021.

When I was last writing this blog, we were about to leave Jim and Mary’s RV Park near Missoula, MT. From there we spent 2 nights at Liberty Lake RV Park near Spokane, WA. We stopped there to spend some time with Jodi and Ken, our son in law’s parents. A great dinner and conversation were enjoyed, and we spoke about the grandchildren we share and love.

It is primarily because of those grandchildren that we went on to our next stop: Hells Gate State Park, ID. We met with Jeff, the volunteer coordinator, to discuss us spending a few months there next summer. It’s the closest park to Jake and Julie and the kids. Jeff showed us around and talked about the interpretive work done at Hells Gate. We loved the Visitor Center, the view of the Snake River and decided this would be a good new opportunity for us. After a few emails, we agreed to be there in May 2022 and to stay until that August. Looking forward to learning some new insights into Lewis and Clark and doing some evening programming.

We did a quick trip to Plymouth Park, WA and then Cascade Locks, OR and finally on to McMinnville’s Olde Stone Village where we have often stayed. The Plan had been to spend lots of time with our kids. But things changed and we had to be flexible – Jake took a great job about 6 hours away. He is the Principal of Colfax Elementary School. Colfax is a small Eastern Washington town snuggled into the Palouse Hills. It is a great position, and they bought a house there. So instead of playing with our darlings, we spent most of our 6 days together, packing and then we saw them off to their new home.

July 1^st came, and it was time to start at our volunteer position at Champoeg State Park. Our site there was large and beautiful. We looked out at a lovely view and had great neighbors there. We met with our Supervisor Dan who oriented us to the Visitor Center where we would be working. Our schedule was great – two days on and 4 days off – giving us plenty of time to see Doug’s dad, Creighton. We loved hanging out with him, bringing him lunches and sitting around talking to him. We also took advantage of using his laundry.

My job was mostly inside the Visitor Center which had great displays of the history of the area from the Kalapuya Indians, the fur trade, the development of the first provisional government, and finally the epic flood that destroyed the city of Champoeg. I loved the history and sharing it with our visitors. We showed videos and sold items from the gift shop. The only annoying and stressful part of the job was the stupid register which had connectivity problems, often leaving our customers stuck at that register way too long. But other than that, I loved my job.

Doug’s job was much harder – the Visitor Center is famous for its historic 1860’s Kitchen Garden. Doug (or Farmer Doug, as we called him) spend many hours watering, mowing, hoeing, weeding, and harvesting this beautiful garden. Typical of that era’s gardens, we grew plants to eat, plants for medicinal purposes and plants for beauty. I am not a gardener, but even I loved to walk past the bright pink 4 O’clocks, through the hops arbor and down the neatly trimmed pathways to see the vegetables and flowers.

Doug and I also took on another job – we did a weekly Bat Talk in the campground amphitheater. We enjoyed meeting the campers, talking to the kids who knew so much about bats already and answering their questions. Most nights, a few Little Brown Bats swooped down on us to be the featured stars of the program.

We had a small family birthday party for Creighton who turned 99. With Doug’s brother Nelson and wife Lydia, Bev and Barry we celebrated by eating Dad’s favorite hoagies. We kept it small because of the virus but we had a great time and now are planning the big bash for his 100^th!

During this time, we got to see friends from Kartchner – Jim and Randa joined us for a long, wonderful dinner at a local restaurant. Then Rocky and Chris visited us in Champoeg and brought a delicious quiche for dinner. One of the best parts of our travels is spending time with our wonderful friends. We also took a day trip to nearby Silver Falls State Park.

Our July and August went well until one morning we heard chewing that sounded like it was coming from our bedroom closet. Doug discovered that a squirrel had chewed through the wires to our back-up camera! We had been worried about all those squirrels and this repair was costly and took Doug 3 days to fix.

We decided to leave our pretty (and free) campsite and escape any further damage from squirrels. We went nearby to a campground in Woodburn. From there it was a short commute to Champoeg.

On August 27^th we took our motorhome to McCoy’s Freightliner for routine repair. During the day-long wait, we hung out at Riverfront Park on the Willamette River in Salem. After a quiet nap in our car, we walked into town, had a really nice lunch and then toured the capital building. We spent the afternoon in our chairs gazing at the pretty river.

We went to pick up the motorhome and were totally shocked when the transmission light went on as Doug tested it in the parking lot. It obviously wasn’t driving well. The techs took it back into the bay, and then without any warning, we were homeless! It seemed right from that beginning that this wasn’t going to be an easy fix.

We had to leave Meriwether at the repair shop.

So, we went to Bev and Barry’s house that night. We had grabbed a few things from the motorhome – just our medicine and a few clothes. We expected to be leaving with a repaired home the next day. Well, that didn’t happen. Here’s where we had to be flexible again!

It was a transmission failure even though it is a fairly new transmission with low-mileage and regular maintenance. Nothing happens quickly in these situations – you have to get answers, and no one works on the same schedule. You have to wait until the right “experts” are on duty. Then you have to wait while the ordering is done. We needed a rebuilt transmission. Parts are scarce now. Technicians are even scarcer. One of our delays occurred while our newly rebuilt transmission sat in St. Louis. Then the transmission is on site and COVID swept through the Freightliner facility – 8 technicians were out of commission.

Our total time without our motorhome was 45 days. We spent about half of them at Bev and Barry’s beautiful new home where we had a private bedroom with a full wonderful bathroom. But best of all we had them to keep us sane and be great company for us. Our time there was peaceful, and we are totally grateful to them and their warm hospitality.

Most of this time it was impossible to know how much longer our homelessness would go on. But during one period we knew there was nothing for us to do so drove our car to see the kids in Washington. We’ve done this 6 hour drive a few times now and although the Columbia River Gorge is breathtaking, I mostly just wanted to get there and see the kids. Julie and Jake welcomed us and offered to let us live there forever. It was a special time with the kids, and we loved every minute of it. Sharing their lives, their meals, their playtime is precious to us.

Visiting Jake and the kids in Washington

But our health took a hit. The long drive caused a blood clot in Doug’s left leg which meant a trip to first Urgent Care and then the ER and medication and compression socks. Also, our darlings had a bad cold which, of course, we caught. By the end of our week there, we knew we were getting sick. But we were okay for a wonderful First Birthday party for Beckham and got to see Jake’s family.

We sadly left them, drove back to be near the motorhome. We had made arrangements to stay at an Airbnb in Sherwood. By the time we carried in our many bags, we were coughing badly and felt awful. We were happy to be isolated in a beautiful place, but we were really sick while we were there.

After that place we had reserved another place in Newberg – not quite as pretty but again all we did was binge watch TV and cough. It turned out that I had pneumonia and Doug’s cough lasted another month.

We recuperated and didn’t feel like we had any germs left, so we went back to Bev and Barry’s still “patiently” waiting to hear we could get back into our home. We got some good news with an actual date of repair. We took a few days off and went to Cape Disappointment, Lewis and Clark National Historic Park and Astoria. Our little cottage on Long Beach was just a short walk to the beach. The weather was cool and rainy, but I got to walk on the huge empty beach. We wandered around the little town of Long Beach, did some sightseeing; I ate a Dungeness crab cake, and learned more about Lewis and Clark. It was a good break for us.

Fort Clatsop replica at Lewis and Clark National Historical Park

Crossing the Columbia on the Astoria-Megler Bridge

View of Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and Cape Disappointment Lighthouse

Great views of the surrounding area from the Astoria Column parking lot

We still had to kill a few days and we didn’t want to impose on Bev and Barry who were getting ready for their camping trip, so we went to a Travelodge for a few days. It was a peaceful quiet stay there, with decent breakfasts and some simple stuff we brought to eat. Doug had another medical issue – because of the pain in his leg, he seemed to have thrown out his knee so now he has a knee brace but that seems to be something that is getting better.

One of the worst parts of all this was being unable to meet our commitment to Valley of the Rogue State Park, where we were supposed to spend the month of September working with Junior Rangers and doing interpretive and maintenance work. Although we could have driven there, we had no place to live so had to renege on that. We are very disappointed – we hate to not meet our promises and we were looking forward to exploring that beautiful part of Oregon.

Then the day came to pick our home up. Our rig, Meriwether, drove fine and we only drove him a short distance to the Emerald RV Park on October 14^th. While there we got a bonus day with Dad and then went to get brand new tires put on this wonderful motorhome.

The rest of our trip was mostly one-night stays to get south to Kartchner Caverns. We stopped in Canyonville, Redding, Lodi, Coalinga, Boron, Needles, and Gila Bend. So very glad to pull into our winter home!

Now we are firmly ensconced in our site in the Lower Volunteer Village. We pulled in on Tuesday, October 26^th and happily went to our first gathering – a Flamingo – with old and new friends. We will be working three full days with a nice long four-day weekend. After our long homeless escapade, it was a relief and a pleasure to just be in our motorhome, enjoying all that we love about it, but also now camping in the familiar, beautiful state park.

Looking forward to working hard, meeting up with family and friends, getting to see more of the wonders of this area and enjoying the beautiful weather. Our gratitude to everyone who got us through this debacle is immense. We are very lucky in so many ways.

I would like to mention right here our gratitude and appreciation to Bob Tiffin, the CEO of Tiffin Motorhomes. Doug called him to tell him what happened. Bob immediately agreed to pay a third of our cost for the transmission replacement. And he did. We sent him a copy of the bill and a check was in the mail to us a few days later. Now this is amazing customer service! It was one of the reasons we chose Tiffin because we heard about this kind of remarkable service and now, we are happy to be recipients of it.

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Filed under Idaho, Oregon, Washington

by Carolyn | September 5, 2019 · 7:46 pm

Back in Big Sky Montana, with a few stops in Washington and Oregon

This time we entered Montana at the Gateway City of Wibaux. This is Eastern Montana where the motto is “Good People Surrounded by Badlands.” On the way, we saw the oddest sight – a giant 16 foot 2-dimensional metal baby sculpture chasing a rhino, bison, and velociraptor. These are obviously public art but like the other large objects we see along the highways, this just appears along the highway, sitting in an enormous field, with no explanation or warning. This one was strange. According to Roadside America, it is titled ‘Creepy Crawler Giant Baby’ by John Cerney.

We spent just two nights in Miles City KOA Campground. We weren’t outside much in this campground even though the weather has been perfect. It is one of those campgrounds that has mostly cottonwood trees – and they were shedding. The white cotton was swirling everywhere and lay in clumps on the ground. It looked like a light snowstorm out our RV windows. We braved the white stuff to take a walk into the town of Miles City – just about a half mile walk. We went to the Post Office and then meandered down Main Street. This is not much of a town. It has lots of great history but the downtown area is pretty run down. No public art, but there are some benches. The houses are modest – some are well cared for with lots of flowers but others need paint and their weeds and trash are taking over their lots. But it was still a nice walk.

When we returned home we had an interview for a volunteer position that we have been excited about. The interview went well and we were offered the opportunity to volunteer at D.C. Booth Historic Fish Hatchery in Spearfish, SD. We visited the hatchery on our first trip through the Black Hills 2 ½ years ago and since then we have been thinking about what a great place this would be for a volunteer gig – and now we got it! We will be doing interpretive tours through the grounds and buildings. So we are learning as much as we can about trout – rainbow, brown, lake and cutthroat – and all about the history of fish hatcheries. We will be there from May through September 2020 which will give us time to feel like a part of the pretty town of Spearfish, to explore more thoroughly the canyon, and to visit the many attractions that are in that part of the country. Good news for us!

We stayed at the really nice but pretty expensive Billings KOA. Our site had a concrete pad, a nice concrete picnic table, a fire pit/grill and a two-seater swing. With our awning out, the swing was in the shade and was a great place to relax outside. We were still getting lots of cotton floating around but it didn’t seem as heavy there.

Wednesday was a hot (and a little humid) day but we drove the short distance to Pictograph Cave State Park. We saw the two caves – Pictograph Cave and Ghost Cave and were able to see the cave art painted on the walls as much as 9,000 years ago. Over 30,000 artifacts were recovered here starting in 1937 by the WPA workers. The paint applicator that was used on some of the red rock art was radio carbon dated as used between 1480 to 1650 BC – at about the same time Cleopatra was in Egypt and the Roman Legions sacked Carthage. The art and artifacts found in the Pictograph Cave set the sandstone cliffs apart and are a national treasure. During periods of heavy rainfall, three waterfalls flow down the walls continuing the erosion process. Quite a sight to see!

The next day we went to Chief Plenty Coups State Park. Chief Plenty Coups was a man of “many achievements”. He was chief of the Apsaalooke Tribe, also known as Crow. His Crow name is Aleek-chea-ahoosh. In 1884, he set up the homestead we saw as an example to his people of a good life of farming. We took the easy walk through the property along the edges of the hay field and over the sacred spring. Again, we had perfect weather so eating our lunch on a park bench was relaxing and pretty. Nice day.

On Friday, July 26^th, we left the Billings area and arrived at Bear Canyon Campground in Bozeman. We had been here before and this time we had a tree-shaded site for four nights. We just hung out on Saturday – the day started out rainy so we stayed home and relaxed. Then we went for a beautiful Sunday afternoon drive along the Gallatin River through the canyon all the way to the entrance to Yellowstone National Park. The sky was bright blue; there was a pleasant breeze; the river sparkled; and there was hardly any traffic. The scenery is amazing. Charles Kuralt said that the Bear Tooth Parkway is the most beautiful scenic road in America. We haven’t driven that yet, but this scenic drive gives it a lot of competition.

We made it to the northern entrance to Yellowstone

Monday we were scheduled for routine maintenance at Freightliner near us. So we planned our day to accommodate this appointment. We went to the nearby Headwaters of the Missouri River State Park. This site was near where Sacagawea, a Shoshone, was kidnapped. She later returned and met up with Lewis and Clark in 1805 and served as their guide. The Corps of Discovery set up camp in this area where the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin Rivers merge into the Missouri. In fact, they broke up camp on July 29^th, 214 years to the day that we were there. The three rivers are the source of the town’s name – Three Forks. Not only did we have a wonderful hike through the hills and prairies of the state park, but we also stopped in the town of Three Forks. It is another charming western town with all the pleasantries we like – murals, benches, no parking fees with plenty of parking on Main Street, and lots of interesting shops. In addition, Three Forks had some special amenities – we had a yummy lunch at Stageline Pizza and then we sampled the excellent pie and ice cream at Iron Horse Café and Pie Shop. We stopped in the extensive free Headwaters Heritage Museum to learn more about the history of the town and surrounding area. Everywhere we went we met friendly people, especially the woman who staffs the Three Forks Visitor Center – her office is a cozy, inviting old train caboose filled with many helpful brochures and she herself was a native with a wealth of knowledge and suggestions. The town also seems to really be into painted rocks. I like to paint rocks too so it was fun to see so many all along Main Street poking through the well-tended landscaping. This town rates really high on our list. We had to kill some time waiting for our rig to be done so went to a nearby recreation area on the river, set up our chairs and relaxed with the perfect weather and perfect view. Our rig was done early – no real problems just regular maintenance – so it was a great day all around.

On Tuesday, August 30^th, we left Bozeman for Fairmont RV Park in Butte. The next day we had a really wonderful visit to Virginia City and Nevada City. Virginia City is a genuine western town – the original buildings are still in their original locations and the renovations on them have been minimal. There are over 100 buildings – a whole city museum free to visitors – which you can walk into the entrance and see them the way they used to look. The wallpaper was faded and torn, the floorboards were worn and scuffed but the furniture and artifacts were authentic. We loved wandering down the boardwalk sidewalk and experiencing this western adventure.

Some of the original buildings in Virginia City

We watched ice cream being made and then had some!

Just down the road was Nevada City. This was a reconstructed town and the main area was sectioned off with admission fees. It was still interesting to walk around.

On August 1^st, we went to the Washoe Fish Hatchery – continuing to research and observe the fish industry in preparation for our upcoming volunteer position at the D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery. Washoe had some pretty trout in a pool for us to watch as well as an indoor viewing area.

The fish viewing window at the Washoe Hatchery

After seeing fish, we went to Copper Village and Art Center. We don’t have any need to buy “things” but we like to look around, especially at the local items.

We left Butte and pulled into Jim and Mary’s RV Park in Missoula. This is the fourth time we stopped there – always a beautiful park to be in. We got there in time for the First Friday Downtown in nearby Missoula, followed by the Saturday Farmer’s Market. We love Missoula and enjoy our repeated visits there.

We did do something different – on Sunday we visited the Garden of 1,000 Buddhas. A lovely place, filled with the peaceful, happy faces of Buddhas within a circular wall crowned with small white casts of Buddhas. The top of the hill housed a large circle of prayer flags. The pond was lovely, adding water sounds to the peacefulness. We are glad to have spent some of our life in this truly special place.

As much as we love Montana, our Travel Spirit had other plans for us and we got to Riverside State Park in Spokane. There we were met by Doug’s sister Bev and her husband Barry. They had been on the road for about a month, enjoying Glacier National Park and Montana. It’s always fun for us to camp together, catch up, share a few meals and just enjoy each other’s company.

We also had the pleasure of meeting up with Jodi and Ken, our daughter’s in-laws, and seeing how happy they are in their new home in Spokane Valley. The four of us enjoyed a nice dinner together.

Camping in the beautiful state park along the Spokane River gave us time for some short hikes and beautiful views of the river. It was really hot so we did spend extra time inside our rigs being thankful for air-conditioning.

We parted company with Bev and Barry – they went home to Tigard, OR and we spent a few more nights on the road. We stayed one night at Plymouth Park KOA and two nights in the Cascade Locks KOA. We walked around the park in Cascade Locks and saw a little of the small main street.

As much fun as we were having, travelling and sightseeing, we couldn’t wait to get to our next stop: Olde Stone Village, McMinnville, OR – near our Portland area family!

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Filed under Montana, Oregon, Washington

by Carolyn | October 7, 2018 · 6:22 pm

On the Road Again

Our good-bye to Charbonneau Park on Friday, September 14^th, took a little bit longer than expected. Doug noticed what he thought was a leak by the oil filter as we were about to pull out of our site. So we took a quick detour to Jim’s where the oil filter had recently been replaced. While our rig was being checked out, we ate lunch at Pizza Hut where Doug can get a good Udi’s gluten free pizza. When all was well again, we headed to Spokane – a relatively short distance for our first trip in four months.

We stopped at the Sprague Lake Rest Stop on I-90 E for a walk, a beautiful view and a snack. We knew we were getting close to the Spokane KOA when we recognized the Sikh Temple on Baker Road. It’s a beautiful white building with bright yellow trim and the message “God is One”.

View from the Sprague Lake rest stop

On Saturday, we had a great lunch at Central Food in Spokane with Megan, Jodi and Evan. It gave us time to catch up, meet Evan for the first time and enjoy good food and good company. As we said good-bye to the three of them we realized that for our next few months it will be just the two of us.

So now it’s Sunday morning and Johnny and Willie are singing in my head:

Here we go, on the road again

Like a band of Gypsies

We go down the highway.

We’re the best of friends

Insisting that the world

Keeps turning our way…

Going places that I’ve never been

Seeing things that I may never

See again

And I can’t wait to get on the road again!

As we pass into the panhandle of Idaho, with lovely Lake Coeur d’Alene on my right, large purple mountains ahead of me and months of long roads to travel, I mused a bit on those words.

First, I am not sure I want to use the word Gypsies any more – what might have felt okay to say in 1980 doesn’t feel right any more. But the other words fit us so well. Due to the size of our motor home, we mostly travel on highways – it’s safer for us. We leave exploring the bucolic back roads for our day trips in our car. And that’s not saying that our highways aren’t beautiful. I have a ring-side seat to the unending magnificence of our country. I-90 is a treasure, especially the stretch in Montana where we followed the Clark Fork River as it curved and meandered through the mountains and passes.

Doug and I are best friends. Living like this you have to be. With only rare moments apart, we live our lives synced together. It’s a loving, intimate, ultimate friendship kind of arrangement. It’s a lifestyle that we’ve grown into – melded together – that brings us joy and peace every day.

We often reflect on the fact that the people we meet on the road are genuinely happy – and why not? They are doing what they want to do too and if they’ve been on the road together for a while they most likely started out as best friends too.

And the world does seem to be turning our way whether we insist on it or not. We are grateful every day for the opportunity to turn this dream of ours into reality. The only hard part is missing our family. But given that they are located all across the country from each other, we would always be missing someone. At least this way, when we do meet we usually have long, quality times together.

So going places that we’ve never been and realizing that we may not come back again makes our journey a mindful experience of focusing on the present and celebrating our moments with genuine fullness.

That’s why my heart is smiling as we get on the road again!

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Filed under Idaho, Washington

by Carolyn | September 18, 2018 · 12:13 pm

Last Blog Post from Ice Harbor Lock and Dam

It’s September 7^th and we have exactly one week left at Ice Harbor Lock and Dam in the Tri-Cities area of Washington.

Ice Harbor Lock and Dam

Our tours at the Dam have been a great experience for us. We have met people from all over the world and learned so much from them – the fish they see at home, the dams they’ve visited, the travel adventures they have had. Doug and I have perfected our presentations, added new information as we learned it and found new ways to share it. We definitely enjoy the interpretive side of volunteering.

The temperature here stayed at Tucson, AZ levels for June, July and August – 100+ degrees many days and dry. No rain since the little sprinkle in May. But we like that kind of summer. It was the weeks of smoke and haze that hung over the Columbia River Basin through most of August that kept us indoors as much as possible. The smoke brought air quality to dangerous and very dangerous for days.

You can’t blame the Tri-Cities area and Charbonneau Park for rampant wildfires – some of the smoke drifted our way from over 500 fires burning in British Columbia, some from California, Oregon and some were local.

Our campsite at Charbonneau Park

But nothing was as bad as the spiders! We were annoyed the first month or two by the small spiders and their webs which were all over our RV and car and picnic table. Annoyed, but still able to sit outside in our lovely campsite with a view of the beautiful Snake River.

Then by August, those tiny spiders grew to a size that made outdoor life intolerable for me. And, to keep me sane, Doug has spent many hours brushing off webs so I can exit and enter the RV, walking in front of me as we go into the Visitor Center through Gauntlet of Spiders, and keeping a vigilant eye on the sanctity of our motor home.

We haven’t enjoyed the outdoors in six weeks. I got 2 wasp stings at a movie night three weeks ago and somehow, 2 nights ago, one large black spider appeared on my leg while I was sitting at our table. I really freaked out!

Today, after Doug destroyed 2 wasp nests in our RV side mirrors and brushed a path through spiders and their webs, I could sit outside writing this. Still not really relaxed, but I needed some Vitamin D!

This spider infestation apparently happens every year. So in spite of the other good things about our summer, we will not be returning here during any summer months in our future.

We had a good time when Bev and Barry came to visit us. We loved their brand new trailer and truck. Wishing them many happy and safe travels and looking forward to more camping with them soon.

Our son-in-law’s grandparents, JoAnn and Larry from Wanatchee, came to visit us for a day. And after we leave here, we visit his sister, Megan (who is a daughter-in-heart to us) in Spokane.

We had a wonderful five day trip to Portland to visit our children and grandchildren and other family, especially Doug’s dad, Creighton, whose 96^th birthday all 21 of us celebrated at the Old Spaghetti Factory. It was a treat to spend time with Doug’s brother Nelson and his wife Lydia from W. Bloomfield, Michigan. We lived vicariously through them by seeing the CDs of their amazing National Geographic trip to Antarctica and Easter Island. Penguins! Icebergs! Huge iconic stone statues! Wow!

96 years young!

My dad with some of his great-grandkids

This part of our journey has included 4 friends and 9 family members visiting with us and the 19 family members we visited in Portland. Such good times!

We will work three more days in the Visitor Center – our Saturday Movie Nights at Hood Park are over. We have a dinner planned with our co-volunteers at Sterling’s in Kennewick and a lunch get-together with the Rangers and Volunteers next Wednesday. We have some cleaning and packing up to do for getting back on the road.

We have already started planning our excursion across the country – to Florida by way of Chicago. Doug has made reservations through the rest of September, most of October, November and December. We have left some days/weeks open for whatever might happen. I have added to my ever-growing data base of places to see. Sharing adventure stories with the folks we meet usually means adding new ideas to this data base.

There is a whole country out there and we are determined to see it!

“The journey is the reward.” An old Chinese proverb.

Posted from Burbank, Washington, United States.

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Filed under Washington

by Carolyn | August 11, 2018 · 12:03 pm

Life on the Snake River Gets Busy

Our life on the Snake River is turning out to be busy. One day, we got a phone call from Dennis and Jo Lynne, our friends from Kartchner Caverns, who were travelling through the area. We spent some time with them catching up and finding out about their new adventures. It’s fun to find out about the volunteer possibilities out there. And we’ll keep in touch with them to see how they work out.

Then our son Jon from Philadelphia spent a few days with us. He has never been to the Pacific North West, so we attempted to show him as much as we could. Of course, we gave him a tour of Ice Harbor Lock and Dam, showing off our new skills at presentation and interpretation.

One night, we had a barbeque and a campfire for Jon. It was beastly hot that night, but we persevered and ate outside anyway. Our friends from the park came over to meet Jon and hang out with us. Lamar and Ron, our co-volunteers, stopped by, Vern and Kayla, the gatehouse attendants were busy but stopped by on their golf cart for a few words and some snacks. Our new friends, Cathy and Gary, came over to continue their discussion about becoming full time RVers. It was a pleasant night of conversation and snacks – and eventually slightly cooler air.

Jon, Doug and I took off for an overnight trip to the Grand Coulee Dam. The drive on Route 97 was breathtaking. Jon’s contribution of music by Woody Guthrie kept us humming along the way. And Woody’s songs about the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam brought history and music together.

On the way, we stopped at Dry Falls to see the incredible changes the Ice Age Floods made in the topography of this land. Dry Falls was the best place to stop for lunch as we gazed at the gouged-out landscape and tried to imagine seeing what had been the largest waterfall in the world – 3 ½ miles wide and over 400 feet high – dwarfing Niagara Falls.

Dry Falls

The whole trip up to Grand Coulee was one beautiful view after another and seeing erratics (giant boulders deposited after rafting down from Canada on an ice flow), and the debris fields (scattered rocks dropped during the massive flooding) – all leftovers from ancient ice flows and prehistoric floods – was pretty exciting for us.

We got to Grand Coulee in time for a Dam Tour. Security there was like at an airport, but we got to see the pumphouse and take photos on top of the Dam – 550 feet above bedrock. It is a huge concrete structure that makes the Great Pyramids of Egypt look small (Jon would know because he actually saw the Great Pyramids). The power coming out of the dam was pretty impressive too – more power than a million locomotives.

Grand Coulee Dam

We stayed at Coulee House, a small motel directly across the street from the Dam. After a good Mexican dinner and a little rest on our cozy beds, we walked across the street to a little park to watch the Laser and Light Show – projected on the giant spillway of the Dam.

As we waited for the show to begin, we sang the catchy words and melody of “Roll On, Columbia, Roll On” and the lyrics to “Grand Coulee Dam” – “Well, the world has seven wonders, the travelers always tell; Some gardens and some towers, I guess you know them well; But the greatest wonder is in Uncle Sam’s fair land; It’s that King Columbia River and the big Grand Coulee Dam”.

I have begun using Woody’s simple words to explain the uncomplicated nature of hydroelectric power: “Roll along, Columbia. You can ramble to the sea. But, River, while you’re ramblin’, you can do some work for me.”

So, singing to Woody, looking at Jupiter and Saturn and a perfect crescent moon was a pleasant prelude to the Light and Laser Show. We listened to these songs sung by Woody, Bob Dylan, and others as we rolled along the highway through the lovely Palouse Hills and the incredibly carved out coulees. Thanks, Jon, for the perfect soundtrack.

The next morning after a great breakfast, we visited a really wonderful museum of the Colville Tribes. Great displays, amazing beaded art work, a small gift shop and lots of information about the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Nations exceeded our expectations.

With some extra time before we had to head back, we drove another hour to see Chief Joseph Dam. That Dam tour was the best by far. Ranger Kyle took us through the depths of the powerhouse, let us stand on an operating generator, peer through the long spillway and entertained us with all kinds of interesting facts. Then just to top off a truly great experience, we watched as some Native Americans pulled a beautiful salmon out of the river. All in all, a great road trip with Jon

In front of the Chief Joseph Dam Spillway

On Thursday, we packed a picnic lunch and headed to Palouse Falls. Unlike Dry Falls, which has ancient pools of water but nothing flowing over the cliffs, Palouse Falls has a roar of water streaming down between the gouged basalt rocks. Continuing our learning about the Ice Age Floods, seeing the Falls and the surrounding area brought it all to life for us.

Palouse Falls

To end our visit, we went to Ice Harbor Brewery on Clover Island in Kennewick for a good dinner and followed it with a stroll around the marina.

We had such a good time with Jon, we didn’t want it to end. Even with his broken arm in a sling, he was just a pleasure the hang out with.

Then a few days later, Julie, Jake, Paisley and Griffin (and Rosie, their dog) came to stay with us a few days. The weather turned very hot, with temperatures over 100 degrees, so most of our time was spent in splash parks or in our air-conditioned RV. Our babies were wonderful! Paisley, 2½ , walked up to our RV and said, “We’re going on Nana and Papa’s bus” and started singing “Wheels on the Bus.” She seemed to love living on the “bus” and happily played with her toys. She slept well in our special spot on the side of the sofa bed and was adorable when she demanded “coffee” every morning. Her sense of humor, expressed in her baby voice, was just endearing.

Our little 1-year old Griffin greeted us with his big sweet smile and quickly adjusted to crawling and playing in a very limited space. One night, Griffin entertained us for an hour playing with his ball and “dancing” to Moana songs on his tushie. After the first night of screechy screams, he settled in and slept most of the rest of the nights.

Rosie, the dog, behaved nicely and I’m sure she enjoyed her quiet time alone in the cool comfort of our RV.

We got out a little every day – taking them to the Dam, a special rock painting party at the Library, and a few rides on the famous Gesa Carousel of Dreams. We enjoyed the splash park and gave the babies a bath at night in a little plastic pool. We got used to cheerios on the floor and blockading the danger zones and cleaning up the spilled dog’s water.

For six of us (and a dog) living in a relatively small space, we managed to have a good time, eat well, and even sleep. We miss the cuddles, the sweet smiles, the silly talk and elephant sounds, and even the cheerios on the rug. We can’t wait to see them again in August.

Now we are looking forward to Bev and Barry coming to camp with us in their brand-new camper for a few days.

In between our visitors, we are still working about 30 hours a week -thanks to our co-volunteers, Lamar and Ron, who graciously switch days with us, so we can spend time with our company.

The time here at Ice Harbor Lock and Dam is flying by and soon we will start planning our trip across the country to Florida for next winter. In the meantime, we continue to enjoy our dam tours and especially the interesting people we meet in the visitor center.

Posted from Burbank, Washington, United States.

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by Carolyn | June 30, 2018 · 10:28 am

Ice Harbor Lock and Dam – Our New Adventure

Leaving our family in the Portland area was hard but we were expected at our new assignment so we drove along Route 84, then Route 82 – mostly along the Columbia River. We’ve been as far as the Bonneville Dam before, stayed in a campground around there and have been to the waterfalls along Old Columbia Highway more than once. But on this trip, we had to stay off the Old Columbia Highway due to the damage from the fires that raged through there. We saw Multnomah Falls from the highway and there still is access to that falls but not much else.

After a long day of driving, we were here – our rig is parked in Charbonneau Park – a beautiful Army Corps of Engineers Park along the Snake River. We met up with our supervisor, Heather, and picked out the site we will be living on for the next few months. We have a view of the river and we’re shaded by huge trees. It’s a very large grassy site – just perfect for us.

Our site at Charbonneau Park

Heather spent the next day with us orienting us to our volunteer position and the Corps Rules and Regulations. Primarily, we are assigned to staff the Visitor Center at Ice Harbor Lock and Dam. We show visitors around the building – take them up to the Fish Ladder window to view the Chinook and Steelheads that are going up and over the dam; explain some of the artifacts in the history section; discuss the workings of the navigation lock, the powerhouse where the electricity is generated and the wildlife display. Visitors have a choice of 6 short films in the auditorium. We also can bring visitors up to the top of the dam to show them the spillways, see the fish ladders from above, show them how we divert and help the juvenile fish, and if they want to walk the full half mile across the dam we show them the navigation lock. Not all visitors want the complete tour and they can only go up if they wear one of our hard hats and have closed-toe shoes. The top of the dam is an amazing place to be – not something you see every day.

Ice Harbor Lock and Dam

Click here to download and view shad passing by the fish ladder window!

We love this part of the job and both of us after a week or so felt comfortable explaining and answering questions. We also took on the task of helping the Rangers get forms and materials from the storage area to the three different campgrounds. We are still finalizing our schedule but one day of the week we gather the forms and brochures and drive to the parks to distribute them. While at the parks, we inspect the bulletin boards and make sure the PFD boards are filled. What, you may say, is a PFD? Well, it’s a Personal Flotation Device. The Corps provides loaner boards of life jackets along the fishing, boating and swimming areas.

We are learning so much here – the geological history of the Ice Age Floods, Lewis and Clark’s journey in this area, lock and dam technology, and the life cycle of anadromous fish. I had the unnerving experience of seeing my first lamprey through the viewing glass. It’s an eel-like creature unlike anything I have ever seen. It was disturbingly ugly – a part of the natural world with its own place in the river’s and ocean’s ecosystem. Something new to get used to.

Pacific Lamprey

To round out our duties we also run the Movie Nights on Saturdays in the outdoor amphitheater at Hood Park. We helped Heather decide on the movies, she printed the list that we posted at the parks and the local library, and now we are the Movie Volunteers. It’s been fun – we get to the park early and walk around to each campsite reminding them to come to see the movie. The first night we showed Bobber, The Water Safety Dog (which is a short Corps of Engineers cartoon) and followed it with another kid-friendly drama about water safety called Safe Passages. We had a huge turn out! Over a hundred guests! But that was because the Boy Scouts were camping in the park and they were doing a presentation in the amphitheater – giving us a captive audience. This week we showed The Greatest Showman on Saturday and then an extra movie night on Sunday for the Memorial Day Holiday crowd – Madagascar. The Bobber Cartoon is always the first feature and the kids love it! We had good crowds (80 and 60 folks) each night. A perk for us is that we get to see the movies too.

Getting ready to show the Bobber movie at Movie Night

There are two other volunteers doing these tasks with us. For all this fun, we get our lovely site with full hook ups. Doug and I, because we are a couple, work 24 hours each week. We also have the use of a laundry facility in the Power House. So I wear a hard hat when I do the laundry! The other volunteers, who are singles, work 32 hours each week. We work out the week’s scheduled with them and basically provide these services which otherwise would be done by the Rangers. So we are again working closely with Rangers – interacting with visitors and helping to make the parks and visitor center a great place for education and fun. Love this job!

We have even had our first visitors – Rocky and Chris Baker, whom we met at Kartchner Caverns, camped right near us for 2 nights and we spent the time together sharing meals and checking out this area. We took them along the Snake River to a quiet spot where they did a little bird watching. We saw some birds, some ducks, geese and a river otter. Then we gave them a tour through the Visitor Center and up to the top of the dam. We went out for dinner at Sterling’s and followed our meal with a walk along the very high Columbia River.

The four of us spent the next day at the Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Hanford. We took the four hour tour, including bus transportation, to see the nuclear reactor that produced the material for the atomic bomb. Wow! A part of this nation’s history – a complex and impressive era in our history that brought out many different emotions. This free tour is provided by a joint effort of the Department of Energy and the National Parks Service – in an effort to educate the public.

The reactor core at the Hanford B Reactor Site

It was wonderful to see Rocky and Chris. They are off to their next volunteer stint in an Oregon State Park on the beach. As we talk to all our new friends and read more about the opportunities out there – we realize how diverse and interesting these positions are. By the start of 2020, we will have lived and worked at a cave, a dam, a beach, and a park and back to a cave. In between we will have crossed the United States twice and seen the miracles of nature, the amazing museums and cuddled our grandchildren!

Posted from Burbank, Washington, United States.

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by Doug | July 2, 2016 · 4:08 pm

Coeur d’Alene and Big Sky Country

Lake Coeur d’Alene

After visiting the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, ID area for a few days, we closed up our home and moved onto “Big Sky Country” – Montana. We stopped for an overnight stay in St Regis, MT and now we are in a great RV Park (Jim & Mary’s RV Park) in Missoula for the Independence Day weekend. We’d previously found out the hard way that it’s important to reserve space on holiday weekends well in advance!

If you look at our states visited page, you’ll see that we added Montana but not Idaho. Our rule for coloring in a state is that we must have first stayed overnight in that state. Since we drove straight through Idaho (and just the narrow panhandle at that), it doesn’t get colored! And there is so much more to see of Idaho that we just can’t wait to return.

We have experienced quite a change in geography over the last two months. We started with the beautiful and rugged rocky coast of Oregon, crossed the Pacific Coast Range, followed the Columbia River Gorge, crossed into Washington and seeing Mt Ranier in the distance, experienced the absolute beauty of Lake Coeur d’Alene (seen in the above phot0), and then into Montana crossing the Bitterroot Mountains. Soon we will crossing the Rockies and the Continental Divide!

While staying in Spokane, we drove a short hop to Coeur d”Alene to see the gorgeous lake and to have a picnic lunch at a city park bordering the lake. There is a huge resort right on the lake with a marina that has a 3300′ floating boardwalk (the world’s longest) surrounding it. We walked the entire thing including the raised bridge you can see in the picture for the boast to enter and exit the marina.

Lake Coeur d’Alene

World’s longest floating boardwalk – Lake Coeur d’Alene

McEuen Park – Lake Coeur d’Alene

The last day in Spokane we went to Manito Park which consists of several gardens, a conservatory, a lake, lots of open space and trails, and undeveloped areas. We first visited the Japanese garden which was very peaceful and cool (appreciated since it was a warm day!). We then walked to the Rose Garden which had too many varieties of beautiful roses to even mention, and then onto Duncan Garden which was a huge plaza with many colorful plantings of annuals.

Spokane Nishinomiya Garden

Rose Garden at Manito Park

Duncan Garden at Manito Park

After arriving in Missoula, we checked out the downtown First Friday Gallery Walk. The streets were alive with people and the galleries had free food and drink. We crossed the bridge across the Clark Fork River where we saw people cooling off by wading and tubing.

Downtown Missoula

Calrk Fork RIver running through Missoula

Clark Fork River running through Missoula

Last night we heard fireworks from the local farm team ballpark. Early this morning we went to two of the farmers’ markets downtown. We were impressed by the amount of local produce and how artfully and neatly it was displayed!

Missoula Farmers’ Market

We have two more days in Missoula before we head north to Glacier National Park on Tuesday.

Posted from Missoula, Montana, United States.

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by Carolyn | June 27, 2016 · 10:03 am

On the Road (Again)

We left Portland again and again it was very hard to leave our loved ones. This time it was made harder because Paisley was such a cutie and we know that we will not be back for a long time. We got to see almost everyone and that was wonderful. Charlotte and her son Creighton came over one night for dinner. Sophia wasn’t feeling well and stayed home so she is the only family we didn’t get to see. We know we will be going back there but not knowing when makes this leave taking difficult.

One of the highlights of this visit was a short but fun camping trip with Jake, Julie and Paisley (and of course Rosie, their dog). We camped for two nights at Ainsworth State Park. We were right in the beautiful Columbia River Gorge area. The campground was rustic with big tree-filled sites. Jake did a great job of hitching, driving and setting up the pop-up tent trailer. Julie helped but had her hands full with Rosie on the leash and Paisley in her arms. All went well and they are ready to go off on their own in their pop-up. It was great for Doug and I because we love spending time with them, especially Paisley, who loved the whole camping experience and we just love being in the pop-up. Can’t say the same for Rosie who is far from happy living in the great outdoors. One of our days was dedicated to visiting the fabulous waterfalls nearby. Doug and I had been there about 6 years ago and will no doubt go again – driving down the historic road and stopping along the way to hike around spectacular falls is a perfect day of celebrating nature.

So it was hard to turn away from Olde Stone Village. We had beautiful weather in Portland but our first night after that was spent in a drenching rain. We spent just one night in Cascade Locks. After we got set up we never left the RV – why go outside and get wet when we could be dry and cozy inside. So we have no idea what this campground was like. It’s weather like this that makes us really enjoy our fireplace! When originally looking at RVs we laughed at the idea of a fireplace, but we use it all the time. It gives us a gentle heat source and it makes our living area look even more homey.

Then we hit the best weather yet – warm temperatures and bright clear blue skies. We spent the next two nights at Wine Country RV Park in Prosser, Washington. This is a really nice park with wine tastings every evening from local winery’s. There was lots to do in this area so we spent our one day doing a lot. I went to a Fiber Arts Festival and saw beautiful quilts and learned much from the displays of unique yarn spun from diverse animals like yaks and camels and other sources like bamboo. Doug spent that time at a farmers market and then we went to Bill’s Berry Farm where we picked raspberries, blueberries, and Bing cherries. We also stopped for groceries to stock up our pantry and fridge. A fun day!

Our drives have been uneventful and safe thanks to Doug’s planning efforts. We are driving longer these days and if you look at our map you can see that we are traveling relatively fast (for us). I’m trying to do better as a navigator and I’m getting a big kick out of following the map and noting the distance we have traveled. It’s exciting to look ahead to our next big destination. You can see our full travel history here.

Now we are staying at the Spokane KOA. We’ll be here for 4 nights which gives us time to get out and explore. Today we went to Downtown Spokane to walk around the Riverfront Park and see the falls. The park had this cool Radio Flyer wagon sliding board!