Category Archives: Washington

First Year on the Road

Yesterday marked our first anniversary of hitting the road as full-time RVers. I’ve written 277 blog posts since then and I’ve slept in our motorhome every night for more than a year (we moved into our Gulfstream before we actually hit the road – we sold our bed the week before).

Leaving the sticks and bricks for the last time

The early days on the road have become a blur. We had planned to take a vacation to upstate New York to visit Donna’s family and also visit friends during the Lake Placid Ironman week. When I moved up my early retirement date, we carried on with our vacation plan. The only difference was that we didn’t return to Michigan. We took our home with us.

So we started our journey in the Northeast. From there we headed west. A month or so later, we were in the state of Washington. A month to get from New York to Washington may seem like plenty of time. But we learned that traveling by RV means you should plan for short hops and try to stop for at least a couple of nights at each place. Staying for a week or more in an interesting area is even better.

We utilized an America the Beautiful Pass to enter national parks along the way. We visited so many beautiful places and even had a few wildlife encounters. Posting this journal has kept the memory of these places and the people we’ve met fresh.

It’s also gratifying to know that this blog has inspired others to enter the RV world, just as other blogs inspired us to hit the road. We’ve been told that we inspired at least two couples to make the plunge into the full-time RV lifestyle.

By the time we made it to the Washington coast, the rainy season was looming. After visiting family for a week north of Seattle, we hit the road and headed south. We traveled down the coast through Oregon and northern California much too quickly, but still couldn’t beat the rain. When we finally made it to San Diego in late September and settled in, we found our groove.

Our first two months were exhilarating, but at the same time exhausting. We learned the ropes and could set up or break camp efficiently. We also realized that our choice of coach wasn’t ideal for our full-time lifestyle.

Three months in San Diego allowed us to get re-energized. I enjoyed re-connecting with old friends. Donna and I also have immediate family in the area which made our home feel even more like home. We plan to be there again this fall.

We’ve learned to dry camp – whether it’s an overnight stay at a casino or WalMart or in a state or county park or on privately owned land like Mumbro Park. Taking what we learned and researching coaches on the market, we found a coach that met our needs in Mesa, Arizona. We traded the Gulfstream in for an Alpine Coach.

Mesa was another long-term stay (for us anything over two weeks is long-term) of three months. Again, we were able to re-connect with friends there. That’s the beauty of the nomadic lifestyle. We can travel to great places and spend time with friends and family.

When we left Mesa in the spring, we had a better idea of how to plan our itinerary. We had reservations scheduled in places where we knew we wanted to spend time. We also had open dates between these reservations which allowed us flexibility and spontaneity. So far, it’s worked out great this summer.

We had an opening in our calendar recently that we filled with a stay in Winthrop, Washington that Donna said felt like a vacation. A week after we left there, the town was threatened by wildfire. People were evacuated from the area. There’s no electricity at this time for many of the small towns east of the Cascade Mountains. More than 150 homes have been destroyed by the largest wildfire on record in Washington. The fires have burned more than 250,000 acres of forest and towns.

We’ve had a mix of weather here at the Lake Goodwin RV Resort. During the first week of our stay, we had temperatures well above average. The weather deteriorated last weekend and we had a few showers. Yesterday we awoke to a thunderstorm. It rained all day and the temperature stayed in the low 60s. The rain made it to the east side, helping the fire fighters. With so much groundcover gone, the next threat east of the Cascades is flash flooding.

The park is becoming a pond

We spent the day indoors and played games with our eight-year-old granddaughter, Gabi. Alana stopped by after work. We ate fish tacos and visited for awhile and then she took Gabi home with her.

Gabi couldn’t stay overnight without her little friend, Beary.

This morning, the rain is still falling. I don’t have much of a plan for today. We’ll move out of Lake Goodwin RV Resort next Monday after a two-week stay. We might move over to my daughter, Alana’s driveway for a night or two before we head down to Portland, Oregon.

Friends and Family Time

Monday started off with a heavy overcast sky. While I caught up on the RV blogs I follow, Donna went for a walk. She started out on West Lake Goodwin Road and followed it south all the way to the end of the lake. At the south end of the lake, the road curves back and becomes East Lake Goodwin Road. She made a loop of the entire lake, a distance of just under six miles in about 90 minutes. Donna said the distance wasn’t bad, but the rolling hills made it challenging.

While Donna was out walking, the temperature rose to the upper 60s. The humidity made it feel sticky and much warmer.

Alana and the girls (Gabi, Lainey and Andrea) came over around midday. Alana brought lunch fixings. We sat at the picnic table and made sandwiches with sliced deli turkey meat and cheese on hoagie rolls. After lunch, the sky cleared. It was partly cloudy and the temperature rose to the lower 70s – not such bad weather after all! We spent the afternoon outdoors.

Donna had a pork tenderloin in the slow cooker all day with a barbeque sauce. So for dinner, we had BBQ pulled pork with grilled potatoes, peppers and onions and homemade corn muffins. We all sat together at the picnic table and enjoyed good food, good company and pleasant weather.

Andrea, Lainey and Alana on the left, Gabi and Donna on the right

Pulled pork plate

Yesterday, I was out of bed by 8am. Once again, the skies were overcast. I had a 10am appointment at Adventure Powersports in Monroe, to replace the rear tire on our scooter. After 5,400 miles, the original rear tire was knackered.

The ride to Monroe was a little over 30 miles from Lake Goodwin. The route I took made it a 50-minute ride. I rode through a couple of light rain showers on the way.

While the work was being done, I phoned my friend, Dan Wolanski. Dan lives a few miles away from the Adventure Powersports shop. He invited me to come to his place around noon. Dan and I spent a lot of time together in the ’90s. We were flying partners. We practiced flying aerobatic routines with giant-scale radio-controlled airplanes. Although we were both sponsored by Futaba and were close friends, we competed against each other.

Dan has a mechanical engineering degree from Michigan State University. He and his wife, Jen, moved to the Seattle area and Dan went to work for Boeing. Today, Dan owns a company called Mag-Knight. Back in the day, Mag-Knight produced magnetic motorcycle tank bras through a proprietary, patented process. Dan worked from a shop behind his home. We also built our giant-scale airplanes in his shop. He built up the Mag-Knight business and eventually left Boeing.

It’s been at least 10 years since I last saw Dan. In that time, he built a new house about a mile away from where he used to live. He also built a larger workshop behind his new house.

The Wolanski’s new 4,200-square-foot home

Although the Mag-Knight company still makes magnetic tank bras, the business diversified into die cutting and laser cutting. This is where the bulk of the business is today. Dan has several contracts as a supplier to major corporations. One of the products he manufactures is a ceramic fiber seal used in fuel cells. Ceramic fiber is heat-resistant and replaces asbestos in many applications.

Workshop behind Dan’s house

The die-cutting machines Dan uses were sourced from China. He told me the machines work well mechanically, but the software isn’t the best. It’s an area he’s put a lot of time into. He also bought a laser cutting machine. To learn its capabilities and shortcomings, he made a few hobby projects. One project was a model of the Seattle Space Needle. Another, more complicated model is a Ferris wheel. The Ferris wheel has an electric motor operating a ring-and-pinion gear cut from plywood!

Seven-foot-tall model Ferris wheel laser cut from plywood

Like me, Dan eventually burned out on the radio-controlled aerobatic competition circuit. He hasn’t flown an RC airplane in years. He still has a passion for airplanes and flying though. He earned his pilot’s license and bought a Cessna several years ago – I think it was a 172. Since then, he’s become instrument-rated and replaced the Cessna with a speedy Cirrus SR-22. He flies regularly out of Harvey Field in Snohomish.

After catching up with Dan for an hour and a half, it was time to hit the road. I considered riding to Snohomish, where Alana, Donna and Gabi were poking around in the shops. It started to rain as I donned my helmet, so I decided to high-tail it home.

Alana, Donna and Gabi came home around 4pm. I drove Alana to her mother LuAnn’s house and brought her car back to the park. The plan was for us to come over for dinner at LuAnn’s at 6pm.

LuAnn’s husband, Jerry, is retired from the US Forest Service. During fire season, he’s often called back under contract to work as an administrator at wild fire sites. So far, this has been one of the worst fire seasons on record in the Northwest. Jerry is working at a fire site in Oregon. It was his birthday, so we raised a toast to him in absentia.

We enjoyed cocktails on the back patio as the rain showers had moved on early in the afternoon and the sun came out. LuAnn grilled alder-planked sockeye salmon and roasted a medley of fresh vegetables, many from her garden, as well as the bunch of garlic spears we bought at Pike Place. Donna also brought a couple of bottles of wine and a freshly baked marion berry pie she picked up earlier in the day from a bakery in Snohomish.

Dinner served buffet-style

It was a very enjoyable evening. We had after-dinner drinks and talked well past 9pm before we headed back to the RV park with Gabi in tow. Gabi spent the night with us on the fold-out queen-size hide-a-bed.

This morning we woke to the sound of heavy rain and a couple of thunder claps. The forecast calls for a rainy day. It looks to be an indoors kind of day.

Laid Back Sunday

Last week’s hot weather disappeared over the weekend. Under heavy, overcast skies we dodged showers all day on Saturday. On Sunday morning, we had a few showers early, but the rain stopped by 9am. Still, the clouds hung low all day.

I dropped Donna off at Alana’s house at 10:30am. Her plan was to ride her bike to Snohomish and have lunch with her colleague, Laura Leist. The ride to Snohomish on the Centennial Trail is about 23 miles each way. They met at Todo Mexican restaurant and enjoyed lunch on the deck overlooking the Snohomish River. Laura is an organizing and productivity consultant, speaker and author. She’s one of 25 leading organizing experts interviewed in Donna’s latest book, Secrets of Professional Organizers.

I came home and spent some time writing yesterday’s long-winded post. I put a pot pie in the oven and sat back to watch the Formula One race from Hockenheim, Germany, on the DVR. It was a great race with several battles for position, but I won’t spoil the outcome in case a reader hasn’t seen it yet.

At 3:30pm, I fired up Alana’s 2014 VW GTI. Just as I was exiting the park, Donna sent me a message saying she should be at Alana’s house in 15 minutes. Perfect timing. In fact, as I pulled into Alana’s neighborhood, I saw Donna riding up the street 150 yards ahead of me.

Last night, Donna made a pot of chili. We ate and watched the first episode of the 3-part mini-series, Klondike. I fell asleep before the end, so we’ll have to replay half of it. It was a long episode, but I think it’s worth another look.

We have cloudy skies this morning. The weather guessers are calling for a partly sunny afternoon. The forecast for the coming week isn’t too promising though. We may see more rain by Wednesday.

First Saturday Club Anniversary

My last post was a short blurb on Thursday, July 17th about computer trouble. I think this is my longest stretch without a post. My laptop runs hot. Several months ago, Donna bought me a Targus Laptop Chill Mat with fans to circulate cool air under the laptop. This seemed to help. Last week, my laptop started shutting itself off. When I restarted it, the laptop displayed an error message about a cooling fan not working and an overheat error message.

I bought this laptop about a year and a half ago. On Thursday, I rode down to Best Buy and talked to them about the issue. The warranty is only good for 12 months. They said they would need to send the laptop to their service center and it would take about 10 business days before I would get it back. The estimated cost to replace the fan was $150 minimum, plus any heat damaged components they find. This sounded expensive considering the laptop (HP Pavilion G6) costs around $300 new.

I was afraid to use the laptop. If it overheated and crashed, I might lose all of my files. On Friday, I talked to my friend and former colleague, Khaldoon Tufail. Khaldoon is very computer savvy. He told me fan issues more often than not are caused by dust and debris build-up on the fan itself. The fan is located underneath the keyboard. His advice was to start by trying to blow the area out with a compressed gas duster. If that didn’t work, I would have to open the case and replace the fan. I found instructions for this on YouTube. It requires nearly complete disassembly of the laptop.

I bought a couple of cans of compressed gas and blew gas through all of the vent openings for the fan and through the keyboard. After doing this several times, the laptop seems to function fine. In fact, I think it’s running cooler than ever. Thanks, Khaldoon!

My daughter, Alana, had Wednesday and Thursday off work at the hospital. We spent both days together with her and our granddaughters and their “adopted” friend, Andrea. Andrea is about Lainey’s age and she is currently living with them.

It was hot and sunny both days. They bought some floating mattresses on their way out to the lake. I cut the stem of a Presta valve out of an old bicycle tube and made an adapter to fill the mattresses with air, using our bicycle tire pump. This was better than trying to blow up four mattresses. The girls enjoyed time in the lake and we grilled dinner both nights.

We loaded Donna’s bike in Alana’s car and Alana drove Donna to her house on Thursday so she could ride the Centennial Trail, which passes near Alana’s house. The roads around Lake Goodwin aren’t wide enough for safe bicycling. Donna took a ride on the trail and put in 30 miles or so.

On Friday, Alana picked us up after work. She took us to a brew pub called Skookum Brewery near her home. We sampled a few brews and had nachos. Afterwards, Alana gave us her car for the weekend. We dropped her off at home and drove her car back to the Lake Goodwin RV Resort.

Donna enjoyed a hefe while Alana tried a sample flight

Donna enjoyed a hefe while Alana tried a sampler flight

Yesterday, our friends from Portland, DeWayne and Marlo Nikkila, were passing through the area. They had visited relatives in Bremerton and were taking the Bremerton-Seattle Ferry to continue their travels to Wyoming and South Dakota. The ferry would drop them off in Seattle at 11am.

We arranged to meet at an Indian restaurant called Bombay House. It was right on their route, just off of I-90 in the Eastgate area of Bellevue. DeWayne and Marlo are vegans and they love Indian food (as do we), so this restaurant fit the bill. We met at 11:30am and had lunch. I haven’t seen them since we visited them on a motorcycle tour back in 2010. They were living in North Bay, Ontario at the time. Donna and I rode our BMWs on an extended motorcycle tour that took us through Ontario. Since then, they’ve lived in Hawaii, where DeWayne was stationed, and now Portland. The last time Donna and Marlo were together was at a convention in Las Vegas in 2011.

We sat at our table and talked for over an hour. DeWayne is a retired military man now. We talked about adjusting to The Saturday Club (every day is Saturday).

Marlo and Donna

After we left them, we drove west on I-90 to downtown Seattle. I was a little concerned because there were signs warning of lane closures on I-90 and traffic delays. We took our chances and found the traffic was so light (everyone else must have heeded the warnings), we didn’t have any problems.

Our first stop was at the Esquin Wine Merchant south of the city center. This store is in an old warehouse. They have aisle after aisle of wine – great selection and great prices. Donna picked out a few bottles.

From there, we drove downtown and parked on the corner of 2nd and Pike. We walked down the street to Pike Place Market. Pike Place Market is Seattle’s original farmers’ market. It first opened on August 17, 1907. It’s located on a steep hillside overlooking Elliott Bay. You can find great prices on some of the freshest seafood there. Most of the vendor stalls are in a large building with six levels. The building houses vendors with everything from seafood, fresh fruit and vegetables to tourist trinkets, T-shirts and fine art to restaurants and bars. You name it, you can probably find it there.

Saturday crowd at Pike Place Market

There’s one fish monger in particular with a large selection of fresh fish. They always draw a crowd. While we were standing in front of their display, someone bought some fish. One of the employees hollered, “Four black cod!” He then picked up a large, whole black cod from the crushed ice and threw it to another guy behind the counter about 15 feet away. The second guy made the catch and wrapped the fish. This was repeated until all four of the fish purchased were caught, wrapped and delivered. It was a good show.

Fish monger

More seafood

We stopped at a fruit and vegetable stand and found garlic spears. These are like the garlic scapes we bought in Coeur d’Alene, but they are from elephant garlic plants. Donna bought a bunch.

Fruit and vegetable stand

We wandered among the stalls until I was feeling claustrophobic from the crowd. We walked outside the building and shopped across the street. Donna bought handmade cheese from a small store.

Fresh flower arrangements – from $5 to $20

After we left Pike Place, I drove us up to Ballard, a small fishing community north of downtown. I wanted to show Donna the Chittenden Locks (also known as the Ballard Locks). These locks are part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal. The locks connect the fresh water of Lake Washington and Lake Union to the salt water of Puget Sound. The locks maintain the fresh water levels 20-22 feet above the mean low tide level of the sound. This prevents salt water intrusion into the fresh water of the lakes.

We crossed the locks and went to the fish ladder. This is a unique ladder due to it’s location at the confluence of fresh and salt water. When the Corps of Engineers built the dam and locks, they blocked the natural flow of fresh water to the sound. The fish ladder provides flow from the lake for salmon and steelhead trout to return from the sea to fresh water. These fish hatch in fresh water. Then they migrate to the sea. At the end of their lifespan, they return to the fresh water to spawn.

The fish ladder has 21 weirs (or steps). The weirs are like large, square concrete buckets of water overflowing into the next lower weir. Each weir is about a foot higher than the previous weir. The fish are attracted to the weirs by the smell of the fresh water flowing through them. The fish jump up each weir, climbing to the level of the lake to continue their journey to the rivers, streams and creeks they originally came from. We could see fish in the weirs from the walkway above. We walked down to a special viewing room. Some of the weirs have a plexiglass wall, allowing us to look into the weir like an aquarium. We saw steelhead trout and Coho (silver) salmon working their way up.

Yesterday was a landmark day for me. Friday, July 19, 2013 was my last day of work at the office. I walked out the door, joined the Saturday Club and haven’t looked back. The time seems to have flown by. Paradoxically, it also seems like we’ve been so many places and have seen so many things, it couldn’t possibly have fit into a span of just one year. Wednesday will mark one year since we locked up the house for the last time and hit the road.

We ended the day by watching an old movie, Witness, starring Harrison Ford. All in all, it was a great anniversary of my induction into The Saturday Club.

The Long Way Home

Yesterday was our first full day at the Lake Goodwin RV Resort in Stanwood, Washington. It was another great day weatherwise with blue skies and temperature above average. The thermometer hit 83 degrees here.

Our granddaughter, Gabi, stayed with us overnight. We all slept in and didn’t get out of bed until 9am. I haven’t slept that late in awhile. It felt good.

After breakfast, Donna and Gabi went for hike through the county park next to the RV park. I unloaded the scooter from our trailer. Donna needed a few fresh vegetables, so I rode the scooter to the Fred Meyer store in Marysville. Donna sent me a text saying they had seen deer near the road and to be careful riding in the area.

Deer on the roadside

The ride to the Fred Meyer store was longer than I thought it would be. The long ride included a section of road construction choking traffic on Smokey Point Boulevard down to one lane. On my way back, I decided to skirt the construction by taking a shortcut across 136th Street to 140th Street NW.

Many of the roads around here are dead ends because of the lakes. As I traveled west on 140th Street, I was trying to remember which avenue would take me to Lake Goodwin Road. I should have turned north at 46th Avenue, but I missed the turn. My shortcut took me all the way out to Kayak Point, then up Marine Drive to Lakewood Road, west of Lake Martha. This was a long loop.

That’s how shortcuts can be sometimes. If it was easy, it wouldn’t be a shortcut. It would just be “the way.”

It was 2pm by the time I returned from my quick run to the store. I had a late lunch and then I joined Donna and Gabi at the end of the swimming dock in the lake.

RV resort swimming dock

The dock extends well into the lake, but the water is only about four feet deep at the end of the dock. I lowered myself into the lake to join them, but I was surprised by the lake temperature. The water was cold. I didn’t understand how Donna and Gabi spent hours in the lake. After a few minutes, I had all the fun I could stand and got out.

The lake covers about 535 acres and is popular for swimming, fishing and watercraft. There are several lakes here in the northwest sector of Snohomish County.

Boats near the park dock on Lake Goodwin

Private docks and residences

Yesterday, our neighbors pulled out of the park. We had open sites on both sides. That didn’t last long though. New neighbors moved in. Our new neighbors to the west of us told Donna how they are having trouble finding a place to stay for a few weeks. They are from Tucson and own some kind of shop here. The shop flooded and they need to stay for a few weeks to repair it. They will be here in the RV park for a week and then they need to find another place to stay.

I’m still wondering why the park management won’t allow my cargo trailer to be in my site. I guess they think that cargo trailers will be an eyesore and degrade the park. I took a walk around and snapped a couple of photos yesterday. There are a few sites with rigs that have been here for a long time. If the management is concerned about eyesores, they should be looking at these sites and not worrying about a cargo trailer.

I wonder when this rig set up here

This looks scary – propane and extension cords

Having the trailer in the storage yard is a minor inconvenience. I’ll get over it.

Last night, Alana and her daughter, Lainey, and their “adopted” friend Andrea joined Donna, Gabi and me for dinner. Donna made her famous blackened tilapia fish tacos. For desert, we had black bean brownies. After dinner, the girls played a few rounds of Scattergories at the picnic table.

My daughter, Alana, has today and tomorrow off from work. We’ll get together with her and the girls and enjoy the lake.

Family Time

On Sunday, my daughter, Alana, and granddaughter, Gabi, visited us at the WalMart lot. We locked up the coach and Alana drove us up Lakewood Road to preview our next stop. I wanted to see the entrance and sites at the Lake Goodwin RV Resort. It’s always nice to know what you’re getting into. I’m glad we did. Then we drove to her house in Arlington. We visited for awhile, then drove around to see the area. We stopped and shopped at a great market called Haggen’s.

We shopped there when we visited the area last year and found many gourmet foods as well as a nice beer and wine selection. Haggen’s lost their lease and the store is closing at the end of this week. Everything is heavily discounted. Donna found some great deals – like sherry vinegar for $3.75 (she paid $16 for her last bottle) and black truffle salt for $3.75 (normally about $50 a pound, marked down to half price).

On Monday morning, Alana dropped Gabi off with us on her way to work at Providence Hospital in Everett. Alana is a nurse in the emergency room there. We invited Gabi to take a ride in the coach and spend the day with us at Lake Goodwin.

After some more shopping at WalMart, we pulled out around 11:30am and drove five miles to the Lake Goodwin Resort. The name is misleading. While it is on Lake Goodwin, it’s a stretch to call it a resort. It’s an RV park with tight quarters.

I had reserved a large 50-am pull through site. The site is long – about 70 feet. But it’s narrow and it isn’t 50-amp service – it’s 30-amp. Additionally, they don’t allow cargo trailers in the sites. I don’t understand the reasoning behind this. No mention was made of this when I reserved the site and told them my overall length with the trailer. I had to drop the trailer when we entered the park. A maintenance guy hooked it up to a tractor and pulled it into their storage yard. Getting set up required a few trips to the trailer to retrieve items.

There are several rigs in the park that haven’t moved in a long time. Some people are using the park as a long-term residence. We’ve found this in a few places. I guess it’s cheaper than the local rental market.

Donna and Gabi went for a swim in the lake. Gabi could have spent the whole day in the water. The water was warm and the air temperature was in the mid-80s. Donna was a trouper and allowed three hours in the lake. Then they went to the playground.

Gabi and Donna on the swing set

Earlier in the day, Gabi and Donna made a spinach dip. Gabi sat at Donna’s laptop station and read the recipe out loud to Donna. You’ll find the recipe at the end of this post.

Gabi at the laptop

Donna in the kitchen

While we were at Alana’s house, she gave us garlic scapes. She has locally grown organic vegetables delivered. They deliver a mix of vegetables and her last delivery included scapes. We found garlic scapes for the first time two weeks ago at the farmers’ market in Hayden, Idaho. Now we have them again!

Garlic scapes with black truffle salt

Alana and our other granddaughter, Lainey, joined us after Alana got off work. I grilled boneless, skinless chicken thighs marinated with honey-maple dressing. Donna served it with a green salad and a delicious homemade red potato salad. After dinner, we had a campfire and roasted s’mores.

Lainey, Alana Gabi and Donna having s’mores at the camp fire

We rolled out the hide-a-bed and Gabi stayed the night with us. The forecast is calling for a few more warm days before the temperature drops back into the 70s.

The north side of Lake Goodwin from the RV park

The north end of Lake Goodwin from the RV park

Donna’s Spinach Dip

1 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thoroughly drained and squeezed dry
1/2 package dried vegetable soup mix
1/2 cup jarred roasted peppers, chopped

Mix together and refrigerate 2 hours. Serve with raw vegetables.

Diablo Deja Vu

After our early morning wake-up yesterday, Donna walked to the bakery downtown and picked up breakfast for us. She brought me a sausage, cheese and egg sandwich on a biscuit and bought a cinnamon pull-apart pastry for herself.

We pulled out of the Pine Near RV Park at 11am and headed west on the North Cascades Highway (WA20). We drove over this highway last year in our gasoline-powered Gulfstream coach. I remembered it being a slow struggle up Washington Pass. This year, it’s unusually hot. I took it easy climbing to the summit at Washington Pass, holding 40-45mph up the steep grade and switchbacks. The temperature gauge was indicating just under 200 degrees Fahrenheit – the hottest I’ve seen our Cummins ISL engine reach.

Windshield view as we climb the North Cascade Highway – yep, that’s snow in July

The North Cascade Highway is closed from around mid-November to mid-April due to the amount of snowfall. I crossed it once in the spring after the road had been cleared. The snow banks along the road were over 20 feet high.

Once we crossed the Pacific Crest Trail at Rainy Pass, it was downhill into the wet side of Washington. West of the Cascade Range, the climate is very different from the east side. The steep Cascade Mountains trap moisture from the Pacific Ocean. In the Seattle area, measurable precipitation falls 150 days per year. It’s cloudy more than 200 days per year.

We made a stop at the overlook above Diablo Dam. We stopped at the same place and took a selfie last year. We shot another selfie to compare our look a year later.

Selfie over Diablo

There are a series of three dams – Ross, Diablo and Gorge Dam. These generate electricity for western Washington, utilizing the water cascading down to the Skagit Valley. The water has a unique hue to it. The color comes from the glacial run-off that fills the reservoirs. Glacial action scrubs organic and inorganic matter from the mountains. This matter is suspended in the water, giving it a greenish color.

Reservoir behind Diablo Dam

Once again, the two-stage Jake brake on our Cummins ISL made descending into the Skagit Valley a breeze. It was a white-knuckle affair at times last year with our gasoline-powered Gulfstream coach.

After we passed Marblemount, Donna started to look for a place for us to dry camp. We found a WalMart in Smokey Point, near my daughter’s house in Arlington. Donna called and talked to manager. He said local ordinance limits the stay to 24 hours, but realistically two nights are fine. This was perfect as we need to hang out for two nights before we move to the Lake Goodwin RV Resort where we have reserved a two-week stay.

Donna programmed Nally (our GPS). Nally directed us to take Highway 530 through Darrington. I lived in Darrington, a small logging town in the north Cascades, for 13 years. This is where my three daughters grew up. When I talked to my oldest daughter, Alana, a couple of days ago, I asked about the condition of 530. There was a devastating mudslide recently between Darrington and Arlington that destroyed more than 30 homes, resulting in deaths and many injuries. The mudslide covered a stretch of Highway 530. Alana told me the road was open. She said there was a slow stretch with narrow lanes, but it wasn’t bad.

We took 530 through Darrington. The last time I came through Darrington was for my youngest daughter’s high school graduation in 2005. My youngest daughter, Shauna, attended school from kindergarten through high school here. Today, she’s a law student at Cal Western University in San Diego.

As we made our way to the WalMart, we passed the Arlington Airport. It’s a small general aviation airport. I used to live near the northwest corner of the airport from 2002 to 2005. We saw signs for the EAA Fly-in. This is a gathering of members of the Experimental Aircraft Association that takes place one weekend every summer in Arlington. They have seminars, vendors and planes on display. They also put on an airshow with aerobatic airplanes, warbirds and experimental aircraft.

After we set up in the WalMart lot, we walked back to a steakhouse called the Buzz Inn. It’s located at the south end of the runway. They had tables set up outside. We found seats and enjoyed cold beer and food while we watched the airshow. I had no idea that the EAA Fly-in was this weekend. I also didn’t know the WalMart was by the airport (it didn’t exist when I lived here before). Serendipity strikes again.

Last night, Alana stopped by with her eight-year-old daughter, Gabi (Gabriella). Her other daughter, Lainey, was out camping with friends for the weekend. We enjoyed the visit and will join them again today. We’re looking forward to spending time with Alana and our granddaughters over the next two weeks.

Early Morning Wake-up

We had a visitor for breakfast yesterday. A doe came into our site to graze on the clover. We’ve spotted a few deer around Winthrop. They seem to be fairly tame.

Breakfast visitor

The Pine Near RV park has a strange name. If you say it quickly, it becomes pinear (pioneer). At least that’s what I make of it. The park filled up with weekend campers yesterday. Winthrop is a popular destination. It offers river access for fishing, boating or tubing and there’s great hiking and biking in the area.

We were in site 14, but unfortunately it was reserved for the weekend. It’s a favored site, with good reason. It’s the largest site at Pine Near. It’s right across the street from the Shafer Museum with easy access to town.

We packed quickly and had the slides in and engine fired up by 9am. We moved to site 26 to spend another night here. Site 26 is also large and level. It isn’t a pull-through – it’s a back-in site, but it’s more than 60 feet deep. We had one SNAFU backing into the the site. I didn’t hear any advice from Donna over the CB radio. Through the window, I heard her yell, ‘Stop!” She walked up to the driver’s window and said I was about to hit the picnic table with the trailer.

I had her try her handheld Cobra CB. It worked fine. As I straightened out and started backing in again, I couldn’t hear her instructions on the CB. Later, I tested the handheld unit. It worked fine. We came to the conclusion that the way Donna was holding the unit positioned her finger over the tiny microphone opening. That’s why I wasn’t hearing anything.

Site 26 – Shaded and roomy

Site 26, living room slide out

After we set up, Donna went for a bike ride. She rode out on West Chewuch Road, then followed a paved forest service road through the Okanogan National Forest for 7-8 miles before turning back. She took West Chewuch Road to a river crossing and came back on East Chewuch road. It was about a 30-mile ride.

It was hot out yesterday. The temperature was in the 90s. In the afternoon we walked to town for ice cream. It was great! I had pistachio almond. Donna had the handmade coffee ice cream. We also browsed in a few shops.

I bought some cold beer and wanted to come back to put it in the refrigerator. Donna decided to walk to the west end of town to a winery for wine tasting. She headed that way while I came home and sat outside and read for a while.

Last night, we grilled a pork tenderloin. Donna marinated it with one of my favorites – a blend of sesame-chili oil, olive oil, fresh ginger and soy sauce. I also grilled baby bok choy that Donna bought at the farmers’ market in Hayden. Another nutritious and oh so delicious meal!

Grilled pork tenderloin, baby bok choy with a side of brown rice pilaf

A group of motorcyclists from western Washington set up tents in the area across from our site. They call themselves the Alky Angels. It’s a clean and sober group, so they don’t party into the night. But this morning, eight or ten of them were up at 5:30am, having coffee, milling about and yukking it up. They were unbelievably loud. This wasn’t my idea of a good wake-up.

Today, we’ll pull out of here and cross the north Cascade Mountains. We have two summits to climb. Washington Pass tops out at 5,477 feet above sea level. Then we descend a bit before climbing over Rainy Pass at 4,855 feet. Here in Winthrop, we’re sitting at about 1,700 feet above sea level.

I’m not sure where we’ll end up tonight. Our next reservation begins Monday at the Lake Goodwin Resort in Stanwood, Washington. I checked with them yesterday and they’re booked up for the weekend. I think we’ll head over to a truck stop at Island Crossing. My oldest daughter, Alana, gets off work at the hospital at 7pm. She can pick us up at Island Crossing and we can take a look at her driveway and see if we can fit the coach there for a couple of nights. If not, we’ll come up with something.

Pine Near RV Park

Yesterday’s post left us on the road Wednesday. We crossed Blewett Pass and drove north on US97 past Wenatchee. We stopped there and topped up the fuel tank. We were thinking about heading to the Twisp-Winthrop Rodeo Grounds to boondock for a couple of days. I like to have the tank full when we’re unsure of our destination and may need to run the generator. It won’t run if there’s less than a quarter of a tank of fuel. It’s designed that way so that you won’t run out of fuel and not be able to start the engine.

The quick turnaround at Aubrey’s RV left us with a few open days to fill before we cross the Cascade Mountains. After fueling up, we ran into heavy smoke north of the Rocky Reach Dam. A wildfire covering 28 square miles of the Wenatchee National Forest west of Entiat, Washington was burning. The smoke hung like fog over the Columbia River.

We didn’t know about the fire. There are two routes to the North Cascade Highway from Wenatchee – US97 on the east bank of the Columbia River and US97A on the west side. Since I wanted fuel, I chose US97 on the east side. This turned out to be the better choice. US97A was closer to the fire and road closures were a possibility. By Thursday, 30 miles of 97A were closed.

I began to have doubts about the Twisp-Winthrop Rodeo Grounds. When we stayed there last year, it was Labor Day weekend. The grounds were open for the rodeo. I asked Donna if she remembered a gate at the entrance. I was thinking the grounds might be closed and the gate locked up. I was trying to remember the road. I thought we could be in trouble if the gate was locked. I wasn’t sure if we could turn around if we couldn’t enter the rodeo grounds.

Donna opened the Escapees Day’s End directory on her laptop to look for information. The Day’s End directory has information on campgrounds and boondocking sites. She didn’t find any information on the rodeo grounds, but she found other points of interest. She found an American Legion Park north of us in Okanagan. It was only six bucks per night (no hook-ups).

Then she found an RV park in Winthrop that offered a 50% discount to Escapees members. Donna called the Pine Near RV park and inquired about availability. They had a large pull-through site available. We diverted from US97 to WA153 – a narrow two-lane highway that follows the Methow (MET-how) River. I made a wrong turn as we entered town, but we had no problem getting back on the right road. We found the RV park on a ridge above downtown Winthrop.

The owner, Anna came out to our coach and told us to walk to the site with her. She showed us the site and explained how we should orient the coach. The site is huge with a large grassy area, picnic table and fire ring. Next to road, a line of trees borders the site. There wasn’t anyone within 100 feet of our site.

This was a real score. Full hook-ups with 50-amp service for $21/night including tax. Winthrop is a cool town with lots of activities. It’s a popular destination for people from the Seattle area (Westsiders). The town was first built in 1891 when Guy Waring settled with his family at the confluence of the Methow and Chewuch Rivers. The place burned to the ground in 1893. In 1897, Guy returned and re-established the town. Click on the photo below to read his story.

Winthrop Story

The Pine Near RV Park is located across the street from the Shafer Museum. This museum is manned by volunteer docents and entry is by donation. It has old buildings and various implements used for farming and mining in the area.

Implements at the Shafer Museum

A very old tractor with iron wheels

They displayed a huge old diesel engine. Originally it powered a tug boat. It was re-purposed to run a mining operation.

Huge diesel engine

Donna and I walked through the museum grounds to access stairs leading down to the main street and downtown area. The museum and Pine Near RV Park are on Castle Avenue above the downtown district.

Downtown Winthrop is comprised of old western-style buildings and boardwalks covering about two blocks. The Winthrop area has about 2,000 residents, but fewer than 500 live in the incorporated city.

Winthrop gas station below the Shafer museum

Winthrop Emporium (general store)

Saloon and stores

Donna and I walked through town and found the Old Schoolhouse Brewery. I went inside while Donna window shopped at a few more of the stores.

Brewery in Winthrop

The brewery has a patio deck in the back, right on the Chewuch River. I found a table on the deck shaded by a tree. Donna joined me for a beer.

Donna enjoying a craft brew on the riverside

After sampling a couple of beer styles, we walked back to the Pine Near RV park. Did I mention our deluxe site?

Our site, shaded by trees

Another view of our site

Anna bought the Pine Near RV Park about two years ago. She’s working hard to upgrade the grounds and build her reputation. We heard from locals in town how much she’s improved the place. We absolutely love it. Nice sites, friendly service and a short walk to downtown.

When we set up, I put the living room slide out. Wow! After living with the slide in for the last five weeks, we’d forgotten how much of a difference it makes. Our space feels huge! I got the tape measure out and did some calculations. The slide is 16 feet long and extends about two feet. This adds about 32 square feet of floor space. That’s about 10% of the total floor plan of the coach.

But when you think about the living room, where we spend most of our time, the picture changes. Our living room, from the back of the driver’s seat to the bathroom entry is 16 feet long and about eight feet wide with the slide in. That’s 108 square feet. With the slide out, it’s 140 square feet, a 30% increase in area.

On Wednesday evening, we munched on hors d’oeuvres for dinner and watched TV in our luxurious, 140-square-foot living room.

Prosciutto-wrapped cantaloupe, crackers and labneh

Yesterday, Donna went out on her bicycle and explored the area. She finished off her ride with a stop at Pearrygin State Park and jumped into Pearrygin Lake to cool off. I asked Anna if I could wash our coach. She said she doesn’t always allow washing in her park, but she let me do it. I spent about three hours washing the coach and trailer.

Donna and I I walked back into town later and had a late lunch at the Mexican restaurant. Donna shopped at a consignment shop while I returned to the coach. It was very hot out – in the mid-90s.

We only booked two nights here as that was what Anna had available. Yesterday, Anna told me we could stay another night, but we have to move to a different site. Our current site was reserved for the weekend. It’s the best site in the park. Next time we’re in Winthrop, we’ll try to book site 14 again. This morning we’ll move the coach to site 26, another large, shaded site.

Nuclear Waste

We rolled out of Tamarack RV Park on Thursday morning and headed west out of Coeur d’Alene. We intended to make an early start and be on the road by 9:30am at the latest. I thought this would give us ample time to reach Aubrey’s RV in Union Gap, Washington to have our slide-out repaired. I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start over.

I had organized the trailer and added another strap on the left side to secure cargo on Monday afternoon. It was hot in the trailer. The outside temperature reached the 90s and it was even hotter inside the trailer. While I was working in the trailer, we had visitors – Suzanne Holman and her boyfriend, Doug. This gave me a good excuse to take a break. Donna and Suzanne met through a random connection on Facebook. Donna learned from a recent post that Suzanne was taking Doug on a quick tour of Idaho and Washington and invited them to stop by so they could meet in person. We sat at the picnic table enjoying some of Donna’s homemade artichoke hummus and veggies and talked for about an hour. Then I went back to work.

Doug, Donna and Suzanne

That night, Donna prepared garlic scapes that she picked up at the farmers’ market on Saturday. She was excited to find them after trying them once many years ago. I’d never eaten a scape before. Donna massaged the scapes with olive oil, wound bunches of 4-5 in a loose knot, and sprinkled them with sea salt and fresh pepper. I grilled them in our veggie grilling pan.

Garlic scapes, hot off the grill

I should mention that before cooking, you need to break off the lower, thicker part of the stem and discard it. It’s tough and woody. The white garlic “flower” (it doesn’t really flower) and the upper stem are tender and delicious.

I grilled boneless, skinless chicken thighs marinated with the honey-maple dressing, another find at the farmers’ market. Served with the scapes and garlic smashed red potatoes, it was a meal worth repeating.

Honey-maple marinated chicken with scapes and garlic smashed red potatoes

On Tuesday morning, we were up early and walked next door to the Broken Egg for breakfast at 7:30am. We had a hearty breakfast. I ordered eggs benedict with hash browns and Donna had bacon, eggs and hash browns.

We were a little behind schedule. It was 9:40am when I was finally ready to fire up the beast. On our way out of the park, I stopped at the propane station. I wanted to fill our tank as I didn’t think we would see a better price on propane in the months ahead. That took another 20-minute chunk out of the morning by the time the tank was filled. We should be set on propane for the rest of the year now though.

Our next stop was the Pilot-Flying J truck stop at exit 2, in Post Falls (two miles from the Washington border). I knew fuel would cost more in Washington, so I wanted to fill up our fuel tank. The card reader at the pump wouldn’t authorize my Flying J card. This card gives me a discount on the price and allows me to put up to $500 worth of fuel in the tank. Many pumps will stop at $100 when you use a regular credit card.

I went inside and handed my Flying J card to the cashier and told her I was having a problem at the pump. She swiped the card and asked me for my PIN. I gave her the number and she said my PIN was wrong. I opened my e-mail on my smartphone and showed the e-mail from Pilot-Flying J with my PIN. She tried it again and said, “Sorry, it doesn’t work. You’ll have to call customer service.” Another 20-minute chunk of time gone.

I drove out of the Flying J and went to the Exxon station across the street. This turned out to be a better option anyway. My Chase Visa card is offering 5% cash back on gas station purchases (truck stops are excluded). So, the 5% meant about 20 cents off per gallon. That’s better than the Flying J discount. I filled the tank and found that my fuel mileage from Great Falls to Coeur d”Alene was 9.8 MPG. Not bad!

It was 10:45 by the time we hit the border. We had a 2pm appointment at Aubrey’s RV in Union Gap. We cruised west on I-90 at 62mph, then turned south on US395. I planned to follow US395 to Tri-cities (Pasco-Kennewick-Richland) and pick up I-82 there. I knew we weren’t going to be at Aubrey’s by 2pm.

I asked Donna to program Aubrey’s address into Nally (our GPS). I wanted to see if Nally would come up with a faster route. Nally had me exit US395 and follow a series of county roads. When I planned our route, I though it might be quicker to cross over to WA24, which runs right into Union Gap. This was where Nally was taking us. However, that route has to jog around the Hanford Department of Energy (DOE) site. I didn’t want to drive near Hanford.

Hanford is the biggest, most toxic nuclear waste site in the western hemisphere. The site was part of the Manhattan Project in 1943. It was the first full-scale plutonium reactor in the world. The plutonium for the first nuclear test (Trinity) and for the bomb detonated over Nagasaki was made there.

Today, the 586-square-mile site has more than 56 million gallons of radioactive liquid waste stored in failing containers. In 1973, 115,000 gallons of nuclear sludge leaked there. Today, at least 67 containers of radioactive sludge are known to be leaking.

The site was decommissioned in 1987, but many experts agree the worst is yet to come. Many of the leaking containers date back to the 1940s. There are many more containers that are sure to fail at some point. This waste will eventually find its way to the Columbia Gorge and contaminate the river. It could be potentially worse than Fukushima. If you’re interested in knowing more about Hanford, click on the links below.

Koin Article

Huffington Articles

As we skirted around the desolation of the Hanford area, the day became very hot. The temperature outside was 103 degrees. I fired up the generator to run the roof air conditioner as we drove along. The intense heat was creating thermal air streams which developed into dust devils. These mini-twisters were creating funnels of dust and vegetation swirling into the sky. We were slammed by a couple of the fierce winds.

Donna phoned Aubrey’s and told them we would be an hour late. They told her that 3pm would be okay. We arrived at their shop right at 3pm. I went inside to write up my repair order.

The woman I talked to two weeks earlier when I made my appointment wrote up the ticket. Then she asked me when I needed the coach back! I told her we live in it. When I made the appointment, I clearly told her we were full-timers and I wanted to be sure they could get the work done. We found out later that she was new to the position and misunderstood what I meant when I said we were full-timers.

This wasn’t good. She told me she only booked time to diagnose and make an estimate – they didn’t have time to do the work. Their technician was an experienced guy and he was very helpful. He asked me a few questions and then he pulled the coach into the shop with the hope of finding a simple fix. I told him I thought the seal had come loose and jammed the slide. He looked at the inner seal and told me he had never seen this type of seal jam a slide in over 20 years of RV experience. The inner seal is soft foam. He said the outer wiper seal is bonded to an aluminum strip and it could jam a slide, but our outer seal is intact.

You know how it is when you have a toothache. You make an appointment and go to the dentist. When you get there, the tooth doesn’t hurt anymore and the dentist doesn’t find anything wrong.

Well, that’s how it went. The tech operated the slide and it worked fine. He did find the hydraulic reservoir for the HWH jack and slide rams was low on fluid. His theory was the low fluid allowed air into the ram for the living room slide, as that is the last thing I operate when I set up. He topped up the fluid and operated the slide several times. I’m skeptical, but I didn’t have any other ideas. We’ve been living without opening the living room slide for about five weeks, and it’s working perfectly.

I paid for the shop time and fluid and drove to the WalMart in Terrace Heights. We were told at Aubrey’s that this WalMart is RV-friendly and we could overnight there.

We found a good spot near the end of the WalMart lot. There were a couple of semi tractor-trailer rigs parked there. It was beer thirty and I opened a cold one. About then, a security vehicle drove around our rig. A few minutes later, the security vehicle stopped next to our door. I stepped outside and greeted the security guy. He told me we were welcome to stay the night, but he wanted me to pull forward about thirty feet. He said it was a popular stop for truckers and he wanted to maximize the parking space. No problem. Free overnight parking with a security guard – I’m good with that.

Big rigs at WalMart

They weren’t all big rigs

We were up early Wednesday morning. We had breakfast at the McDonalds in WalMart and hit the road. We headed north on I-82 over the Umptanum Ridge to Ellensburg. From there we took US97 over Blewett Pass and continued on to Wenatchee. We were thinking about boondocking at the Twisp-Winthrop Rodeo Grounds where we stayed last year.

I’ll have to continue this story tomorrow – it’s getting too long-winded already!

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Washington

First Year on the Road

Friends and Family Time

Laid Back Sunday

First Saturday Club Anniversary

The Long Way Home

Family Time

Diablo Deja Vu

Early Morning Wake-up

Pine Near RV Park

Nuclear Waste

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