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| From 2010-05-19 |
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
STOWAWAY
Katie has been overseeing our job of packing for our trip. She is now curled up and asleep in the suitcase. Maybe she wants to go to Alaska. We will miss her.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
GETTING OUR DUCKS IN A ROW
The last few days have been cloudy with some rain. We are using this time to get things ready for our trip to Alaska. We not only have to pack for us: we have to pack for Katie, too. When we move Thursday to our new campground where the RV will be stored, we will drop Katie off for boarding. This will be a little tricky as Allan will pull over and let me out with Katie and her things. I will have to walk up the driveway to the kennel (driveway is not a short one). The trees are too low hanging and the driveway is too narrow with curves for our truck and RV to get in and turn around. We did a dry run last week to look for a place for Allan to turn around somewhere down the road so he can pick me up. I do hope he remembers to stop back by for me.
I have been washing clothes and cleaning the RV. Tomorrow is packing day. It has been a challenge to use up everything in the refrigerator and freezer since we will not have electricity while the RV is in storage. Allan has the RV washed and has been caulking.
Our trip to Alaska will consist of flying out of Seattle to Anchorage, spending 2 days in Denali National Park and catching the ship at Whittier for a 7 day cruise. We will be gone for 10 days. We will not be making any posts on the blog during that time. When we get back we should have loads of pictures to post.
The project in Hood River, Oregon has been canceled and we are applying for another location. As soon as we know we will post the info.
I have been washing clothes and cleaning the RV. Tomorrow is packing day. It has been a challenge to use up everything in the refrigerator and freezer since we will not have electricity while the RV is in storage. Allan has the RV washed and has been caulking.
Our trip to Alaska will consist of flying out of Seattle to Anchorage, spending 2 days in Denali National Park and catching the ship at Whittier for a 7 day cruise. We will be gone for 10 days. We will not be making any posts on the blog during that time. When we get back we should have loads of pictures to post.
The project in Hood River, Oregon has been canceled and we are applying for another location. As soon as we know we will post the info.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE
Allan had breakfast, biscuits and gravy, at the club house this morning. Then we drove to Bainbridge Island to catch the ferry to Seattle. It was rather chilly this morning and there was fog/haze which made our distant pictures poor quality. As we neared the Seattle port we were able to get better pictures.
Our first stop was to get lunch at Ivers, a famous fish restaurant. Then we walked along the harbor and then up the STAIRS to Pike Street Market. The market has several levels of shops and many outdoor vendors. You could find about anything there (clothing, miniature cars, fresh fish, vegetables, baked goods and flowers)
There was a cheese festival going on this weekend so we were able to watch them make cheese.
We were impressed with the fish market as the vendors tossed the fish to each other.
There were many street people, both beggars and entertainers.
There was a wide variety of people of different nationalities and languages. It was like a sea of people going and coming, some even brought their dogs. Even though there was a multitude of products for sale, we did not see many bargains. Allan and I did indulge in some pastries though.
We also saw cruise ships anchored at the port and we noticed many container ships entering, leaving and being loaded.
The harbor was also filled with people sailing.
Our day in Seattle and the ferry ride was quite enjoyable. I think this is my first ferry ride. It was neat to watch the cars and other vehicles load and unload on the lower level.
Daryl and Nancy happy anniversary.
Our hearts go out to Mike and Pat McFall who recently lost a son, Mikel. We will keep you in our prayers.
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| From 2010-05-15 |
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| From 2010-05-15 |
Our first stop was to get lunch at Ivers, a famous fish restaurant. Then we walked along the harbor and then up the STAIRS to Pike Street Market. The market has several levels of shops and many outdoor vendors. You could find about anything there (clothing, miniature cars, fresh fish, vegetables, baked goods and flowers)
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| From 2010-05-15 |
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| From 2010-05-15 |
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| From 2010-05-15 |
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| From 2010-05-15 |
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| From 2010-05-15 |
We also saw cruise ships anchored at the port and we noticed many container ships entering, leaving and being loaded.
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| From 2010-05-15 |
Our day in Seattle and the ferry ride was quite enjoyable. I think this is my first ferry ride. It was neat to watch the cars and other vehicles load and unload on the lower level.
Daryl and Nancy happy anniversary.
Our hearts go out to Mike and Pat McFall who recently lost a son, Mikel. We will keep you in our prayers.
EVERGREEN COHO AND MUSEUM
I finally remembered to take my camera on our daily walk in the campground. This is Evergreen Coho which is a SKP of Escapees. The landscaping is done primarily by residents on a volunteer basis. They have done some great work throughout the park. There are many trees on the perimeter and many flowers and bushes along the streets and yards. So beautiful at this time of year. I also took pictures of some of the park models here.
This is the club house.
When we first arrived here we were the only short term RV here. As the weather is warming more RV's are coming in. The campground is in a good location with many things to see in the area.
We visited the Naval Underwater Museum on Friday. This was so interesting. Not only did it give you history lessons on submarines and torpedoes, it gave you information on weather, the ocean and the ocean creatures. There were many woman that participated in diving and naval activities. It was amazing to learn what the men's routine consisted of on the subs and how much food they had to bring on board for 2 1/2 months at sea.
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| From 2010-05-15 |
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| From 2010-05-15 |
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| From 2010-05-15 |
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| From 2010-05-15 |
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| From 2010-05-15 |
This is the club house.
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| From 2010-05-15 |
When we first arrived here we were the only short term RV here. As the weather is warming more RV's are coming in. The campground is in a good location with many things to see in the area.
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| From 2010-05-15 |
We visited the Naval Underwater Museum on Friday. This was so interesting. Not only did it give you history lessons on submarines and torpedoes, it gave you information on weather, the ocean and the ocean creatures. There were many woman that participated in diving and naval activities. It was amazing to learn what the men's routine consisted of on the subs and how much food they had to bring on board for 2 1/2 months at sea.
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| From 2010-05-15 |
PORT TOWNSEND, WASHINGTON
Tuesday we spent the afternoon in Port Townsend, an old port city with many Victorian-styled homes from the 1800's. It is a rather small town with 8000 + population. The port is rather protected which made it an up and coming port city. Many houses and stores were built in anticipation of being the largest harbor on the West coast, although this did not happen. Seattle became the great port city with railroad transportation also. They have a driving tour of the city which we did and took pictures along the way. Much architecture has been preserved and brings many tourists to the city. I enjoyed talking to some shop owners.
This is a tugboat pushing logs to a plant.
This is looking down on the old part of town.
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| From 2010-05-11 |
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| From 2010-05-11 |
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| From 2010-05-11 |
This is a tugboat pushing logs to a plant.
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| From 2010-05-11 |
This is looking down on the old part of town.
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| From 2010-05-11 |
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK
The weather has been cool and rainy with a few days of little or no rain but still cool. We have been rather busy making arrangements for the RV, Katie and us. Allan has washed the truck and 5th wheel. We have made a trial run on packing and weighing and measuring luggage. Katie will be staying at McDonald's Farm where she will have her own two story kitty condo. She will require another vaccination so we have made an appointment with a local vet for that. Our truck and RV will be stored while we are gone and we have made arrangement for transportation to the Seattle airport.
Saturday we traveled to Port Angeles, the town where you can catch a ferry to Victoria BC which you could see in the distance.
We took pictures of the port and then stopped at the visitor's center for Olympic National Park. The drive up the mountain was beautiful with lots of pull offs for picture taking. We saw three deer walking up the road and we saw them again on our way back down.
At the top we could see Mount Olympus from a distance with a height at 7,969 feet. We were on Mount Angeles at 6,454 feet. There was lots of snow, but not like at Crater Lake, mainly at 5,000 feet or above. Clouds were coming in by the time we arrived at the top. It was either rain or snow in the distance. It was pretty chilly where we were so likely that was snow we were seeing.
These are two pictures of things you will not see in Alabama. Heavy duty mean machines.
We drove to Port Townsend for a quick drive through as it was getting late. We will return there for a day trip.
Saturday we traveled to Port Angeles, the town where you can catch a ferry to Victoria BC which you could see in the distance.
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| From 2010-05-08 |
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| From 2010-05-08 |
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| From 2010-05-08 |
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| From 2010-05-08 |
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| From 2010-05-08 |
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| From 2010-05-08 |
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| From 2010-05-08 |
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| From 2010-05-08 |
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| From 2010-05-08 |
We drove to Port Townsend for a quick drive through as it was getting late. We will return there for a day trip.
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| From 2010-05-08 |
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| From 2010-05-08 |
Thursday, May 6, 2010
CHORES AND SUCH
We drove to Corbett, Oregon and took the directions that the manager of the campground told us about. The road followed a river and was twisting and some sharp curves with narrow roads but not lots of up and down like we would have experienced if we took the regular directions. We did some shopping. Stopped in at Camping World for a few things and renewed our President's Club for another year as Allan seems to think we will have a number of purchases ahead of us this year. We decided to take a few minutes to check out some of their RVs. Most were not to our liking. We are satisfied with our 5th wheel and truck so down the road we went to Wal-Mart.
On Sunday we attended church at Columbia Life Center which is an A/G church. They showed us their addition that other MAPS workers help complete. They seemed very please with the quality of work done. We rarely get to see the finished product so this was a treat for us. The manager at the campground was very nice to let us have a late departure. We drove to the Mt. St. Helen's visitor center but the rainy weather caused poor visibility so we hope to stop back by on our way back from Alaska and get some pictures.
Our stay in Olympia was a little stressful as far as driving. We found the road signs to be lacking or posted too late. We had a very hard time finding a place to eat the first night. Everything seemed to be hidden??? I did some shopping. We drove into Tumwater which has numerous city, county, federal buildings. I wanted to get a picture of one of the buildings unusual architecture, but we did not have the camera with us. For our departure day we decided to go to a shopping center and then on to the Olympic peninsula. We missed our exit and thought we could take the next exit and get back on the interstate. Wrong. It was a nightmare. We ended up on a street that we exceeded the load limit of a bridge so we had to back out into traffic to get turned around. Everything worked out. God was looking out for us. On our drive to our next campground we could see the huge snow covered mountains in the Olympia National Park. They reminded me of the Canadian Rockies.
We are staying in Evergreen Coho SKP campground for about two weeks until we leave for Alaska. Cleaning duties and catch up along with some sightseeing should fill that time. I know Katie will be happy here for a while but Allan and Jeanne are looking forward to some non-travel time also.
On Sunday we attended church at Columbia Life Center which is an A/G church. They showed us their addition that other MAPS workers help complete. They seemed very please with the quality of work done. We rarely get to see the finished product so this was a treat for us. The manager at the campground was very nice to let us have a late departure. We drove to the Mt. St. Helen's visitor center but the rainy weather caused poor visibility so we hope to stop back by on our way back from Alaska and get some pictures.
Our stay in Olympia was a little stressful as far as driving. We found the road signs to be lacking or posted too late. We had a very hard time finding a place to eat the first night. Everything seemed to be hidden??? I did some shopping. We drove into Tumwater which has numerous city, county, federal buildings. I wanted to get a picture of one of the buildings unusual architecture, but we did not have the camera with us. For our departure day we decided to go to a shopping center and then on to the Olympic peninsula. We missed our exit and thought we could take the next exit and get back on the interstate. Wrong. It was a nightmare. We ended up on a street that we exceeded the load limit of a bridge so we had to back out into traffic to get turned around. Everything worked out. God was looking out for us. On our drive to our next campground we could see the huge snow covered mountains in the Olympia National Park. They reminded me of the Canadian Rockies.
We are staying in Evergreen Coho SKP campground for about two weeks until we leave for Alaska. Cleaning duties and catch up along with some sightseeing should fill that time. I know Katie will be happy here for a while but Allan and Jeanne are looking forward to some non-travel time also.