Excellent Adventure – Page 2 – Jake & Eddie’s Excellent Adventure 😎🐶

Tse′ Bii’ Ndzisgaii

I had the occasion to hear two Navajo women talking at the local gift shop. I wanted to listen to them all day; their language is so beautiful.

Tse′ Bii’ Ndzisgaii is the name of this area in the native tongue of the native people. The highway that runs through Monument Valley is called Navajo Code Talker Highway. They take pride in this unique contribution to the country that tried to break their spirit through cultural assimilation. A ‘fuck you,’ but in a dignified way. I like it.

The leading group of monuments sits in the Navajo Tribal Park, but they are everywhere in the broad plain across southeastern Utah. The elevation here is one mile. There are three formations: the Mesa, which looks like a tabletop; the Butte, which is smaller and more eroded; and the Spire which is the last stage as the rock becomes narrow and freestanding. They range in height from 500 to 1,500 feet.

When you get near their base, you can find boulders as big as a bus, rocks seemingly placed by some massive being in random places. Spires that look like they could topple over in a bad windstorm. Can you imagine seeing one fall?

You can stay in lodging on the park run by the Navajo or in a lodge in an area famous for its role in the Westerns of the 1940s through 1960s. John Ford and John Wayne are big names here. The memorabilia is fascinating and runs through relatively modern times.

The RV Park was just on the northern outskirts of the tribal park. The views were fantastic.

The camp host was a native. Although she could not speak Navajo, she knew the tribal names of her people. She is petitioning the tribal government for her own chunk of land, which is her right. She told me they had to stick a large pipe in the Mexican Hat Rock to keep it from falling off!

On this first day, we got up early and watched the sunrise on the monuments. Breathtaking!

We then toured Tribal Park. Eight bucks get you in with your car.

Monument Valley Loopp Drive. It costs $8 to drive the loop yourself. Otherwise, there are dozens of tour guides with converted pickup trucks.

Monument Valley Loop Drive – Mitchell Mesa

The Starship Excellent Adventure navigated the relatively smooth dirt, rock, and gravel rock. They must keep the road up because I saw a fleet of about 25 converted pickup trucks that will take those without the right car or guts to drive it themselves.

All the formations have names. Like cats, though, they have the name someone gives them and their real names.

I like to think only they and a few select groups of dedicated Navajo know them. Families lived here; I saw several homesteads and roads leading off with signs to keep out. No hiking allowed!

I marveled at some of these sheer faces. I imagined seeing pictures in them. What did the native peoples see in them? Images of nature, I would think. Or spirits.

There were several places you could ride horses. I saw a Navajo man riding at a good clip, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. It could have been out of a movie.

Monument Valley Green on Red with a Blue Backdrop. Life was everywhere you looked.

Like nearly all places on the excellent adventure: Greenness. Viriditas. Life from water. Green, red, blue, and every other color on display. Reds that are so bright it doesn’t seem real. Stunning 🤩

That afternoon, I let Jake rest at the trailer and checked out Goulding’s Lodge in town. It was built in the late 1920s and became famous when Hollywood director John Ford began filming there.

Goulding Museum. One room featured photos and other memorabilia from the Western movies shot here over the years.

These images from movies by John Wayne, Henry Fonda, and so many others were a big part of my early, impressionable childhood. I wanted to become a cowboy before I wanted to become anything else at an early age.

The following day we watched the sunrise from the other direction. There were some clouds which made for some sunrise color.

Valley of the Gods

We then packed up again and headed north, the way we came in until we reached the Valley of the Gods entrance. On the trip down the harrowing Moki Dugwash, we came through one side of this valley.

This road was a bit rougher and steeper than the one on the tribal land. However, I did see motor graders parked strategically at both ends to help keep it clear.

The trip through the valley was incredible. Again, the Starship Excellent Adventure did great – 10% grade in some spots.

At one point, we passed right by the foot of a butte. Giant boulders scattered at the base. I could imagine them careening down the side of a butte – what a sight that must be!

We eventually reach the massive plateau to the north. Ancient giants around me tell me their secrets if I am patient enough to listen. Looking at the strata – I can see an age when this land was covered with water.

Hardened over millennia. Worn away again and thrust upwards by the hot, unrelenting pressure of the fluid earth.

Like all our senses, nowhere near sensitive enough to the ever-so-small changes constantly occurring.

Moki Dugway – you can see a pickup truck with a camper coming down the 10% grade!

We got a good look at the Moki Dugway on the way out. We headed back to camp and relaxed for the rest of the hot day!

We woke on the 4th of July to find a beautiful moonset. The air was so clear you could see some detail on the moon’s surface with a zoom lens.

A fitting end to our stay here. Earth and Sky, Sun and Moon. We left this magical place – tall, silent giants watching over the millennia. Waiting to see what happens next!

Next stop in New Mexico for about two weeks before heading back south. The Excellent Adventure continues!

Moki Dugway

We left Arco and headed southeast toward the Salt Lake area. The morning sun was fantastic on the mountain range to the northwest of Arco.

The drive took us the same way as we went yesterday. We passed the turnoff for Atomic City. If it were not a mile off the road, I might have a look. According to what I can find online, there isn’t much, and it’s not precisely clear if and when what’s there is actually open! One thing is for sure – no gas. Maybe they can fill up my nuclear reactor!

This took us eventually to the Interstate and south to Utah. Some of the views are broad valleys with all colors of green against mountains and forests. It reminded me of places I have seen in Switzerland.

Brigham City

I returned to an RV Park I stayed at in 2021. It was just north of a stunning view of the Wassach Mountian range east of Ogden.

We tried to see some of Salt Lake but didn’t want to pay $20 for just the view at the nearby state park. I never did get to see it as we left early the next morning after a quiet evening.

We left only to drive nearly 100 miles in Friday morning traffic through Ogden, Salt Lake City, and Provo on Interstate 15. A good chunk of that 100 miles is a 7-lane raceway with trucks zooming by. Fortunately, there were no slowdowns, and we eventually started to climb the Wassach Mountian range on Highway 6 just south of Provo.

And what a sight it was! Stunning photos at Solider Summit.

After the pass, the scenery quickly becomes more desert-like with the typical eroded buttes. We pass through a broad open basin with a mountain range to the east.

Green River

Green River is a gateway to Arches National Monument. We will travel that way on the next leg of our journey to Monument Valley. It is so named because it sits on the Green River. We visited the Green River further north on our trip to Vernal and Dinosaur National Monument in 2021

Green River itself looked like it had seen better days. A lot of boarded-up buildings. More than likely, all the newer motels on the Interstate. It is the start of the week-long 4th of July celebration; I expect the place to fill up.

We took a walk to the nearby river in the morning. The water was flowing swiftly and was very muddy.

In addition to being an important railroad stop, Green River was home to uranium mining and had a missile launch complex associated with White Sands. The camp host told me they stopped because the people of Moab, a town to the southeast, didn’t want rockets flying over their town!

We left early the next trying to get a jump start on what was supposed to be a 100F day. The first part of the journey on Highway 24 took us by Kathleen Rock.

From there to Highway 95 through Glenn Canyon Recreation Area. This was a fantastic drive through a canyon leading to a spectacular overlook of the Colorado River.

From there, we drove through Fry Canyon to the entrance to Natural Bridges National Monument. From there, we drove the Trail of the Ancients until we (surprise!) came to Moki Dugway.

Moki Dugway

The Trail of the Ancients is byways associated with the Anasazi peoples. This part of the trail starts at Ceder Bluff and winds – precariously – down the bluff to the valley below. The Valley of the Gods, home to Monument Valley.

When we started down the road, I saw a large sign warning me of gravel roads with 10% grades. If I had known, I might have turned back. As it was, we went ever so slowly down the very, very steep grade, finally reaching the bottom some three miles later. I was proud of Starship Excellent Adventure with her new boots. She handled it like it was child’s play!

Starship Excellent Adventure takes us ever so slowly down a 10% gravel road.

Valley of the Gods

After that eye-opening experience, we made our way to Monument Valley. We passed through Mexican Hat with a stop at the famous rock formation after which the town was named (or was it vice versa?)

We finally climbed the grade and dropped down on the famous view.

This spot is famously known as Forrest Gump Hill. Thongs of people taking pictures stood in the middle of the roadway. I have to say; there is hardly a more epic scene than this one with the highway leading to the monuments. It was burned in my brain from my trip here in the early 1990s.

The KOA was set right in the middle of the standing monuments. We looked forward to our next two days of exploring this stunning display of Mother Earth.

Neutron Flux

While studying mechanical engineering at Cal Poly, I enjoyed courses in Thermodynamics. Engineers use many different thermodynamic reactions to power everything from an early steam locomotive to a space shuttle flying in space.

An essential ingredient in thermo is energy, typically in the form of heat. As told elsewhere, I became interested in nuclear fission as an energy source when I discovered a small nuclear reactor on campus.

Nuclear power, it turns out, is all about neutrons. The neutron is big, heavy, and carries no electrical charge (to push other charged particles away). Think of them as bowling balls. An element like Uranium is full of these suckers.

Nuclear fission can happen when an unstable isotope radioactively decays, producing a free neutron. It can, in turn, wack into a Uranium atom and cause a fission event that releases multiple neutrons. You can achieve a chain reaction if enough of these neutrons fly around. This is the Neutron Flux, and I analyzed it for my graduate thesis.

You control the chain reaction by slowing down some neutrons with water or more exotic materials like liquid sodium. All of this nonsense produces energy that can boil water, run an electric generator, and charge your iPhone.

Oh, Noodly One – this was the ticket for me. As complicated as can be. If I could learn all this happy horseshit, I would definitely become a rock star! 🤩

Now for the really cool part. Specific fission reactions allow you to make fuel for the more common nuclear power plant. The Experimental Breeder Reactor – EBR-1 – does just that. It was the first nuclear reactor to produce power and prove you could breed fissile materials.

EBT-1

I first learned of the museum on our trip in 2021. On our way to visit Craters of the Moon, I noticed it, only to subsequently discover it was closed due to COVID. When I saw we were not far away from Arco on our slide south, I contacted them, and they assured me they were open for the summer.

Experimental Breeder Reactor #1 was the first nuclear power plant to produce electricity. It was also built to prove you could use a nuclear reactor to enrich isotopes of Uranium and run other nuclear power plants (or build high-yield atomic weapons). It used an exotic nuclear fuel cycle requiring a primary liquid sodium and potassium mixture coolant. If this stuff gets anywhere near water, it explodes.

Reactor control room. The button on the lower right of the table shuts the reactor down. This is known as SCRAM.

The tour was excellent, taught by a student studying communications at Washington State University. More weird fucking karma, as one of Looney Tunes’ daughters studied the exact same thing there some 15 years ago.

Some very cool stuff here.

The reactor core is on the left. The fuel assembly is on the right. Each component of the blanket contained Uranium 238 and weighed 100 pounds.

You could stand right on top of the reactor with a view into the core.

Bulbs are lit by the generator being turned by the turbine powered by the nuclear reactor.

The first test of the complete power plant lit four light bulbs in 1951. This had never been done before.

Several years later, they were able to power the complete facility.

Lead-lined room with remote manipulator arms. The leaded glass was 39 inches thick. The nuclear materials they were handling would kill in a heartbeat without this shielding.

A hot chamber manipulates the spent fuel to remove the enriched Uranium mechanically. It had a 39-inch thick window comprising 34 layers of leaded glass to protect the user.

I was more than surprised to come across a scale model of the reactor I was involved with during my graduate studies. The LOFT facility was used to simulate the loss of primary coolant. I visited it once during my studies.

Scale model of the LOFT reactor at Idaho Engineering Laboratory. Completely out of place in this museum. More weird karma 😋

This piece of hardware was out of place in the museum, which is probably why it’s located outside the restrooms 🤣. Coincidence? I think not!

Experiments to test the feasibility of a nuclear-powered bomber. Like nuclear-powered submarines, a nuke running it could stay airborne for six months.

Outside the building were two experiments used to study the feasibility of a nuclear-powered aircraft—these two units we used to test that theory. Kennedy ultimately canceled the program. The professor I studied under in graduate school had worked on a nuclear-powered rocket engine in Nevada in the 1960s. In the 1950s, nuclear power was certainly viewed as manna from the gods! There was seemingly nothing it couldn’t do. It also proved to have a stigma that was extremely difficult to shake.

I am glad I could make it back here and tour the museum. When I graduated from Cal Poly, I talked to the Navy about becoming a Navy Nuke. They told me that after basic training, they ship you off to Idaho to learn how to run a nuclear reactor.

Idaho, how odd, I thought. If I only knew…

I returned by lunchtime and spent the afternoon doing long overdue housecleaning on the trailer. The weather was nice, and we enjoyed our respite before starting our final leg of the journey to the Southwest.

Sliding Southeast

Having scaled the summit, so to speak, we start our return trip after seven weeks on the road. Our next layover will be in Idaho, where I will visit a museum that was closed on our first trip in 2021. This will take us through the Columbia River Valley, the Blue Mountains, Oregon’s high desert, and then into Idaho.

We left the Seattle area and drove south on I-5 to Portland.

For the next week, we will slowly head south and east on our way to southern Utah. The first segment will take us through the Columbia River Gorge. This would be a new experience.

I could quickly begin to understand the awe of early explorers as I started my drive through the large valley with sheer mountains on either side—a truly majestic feel.

Cascade Locks

We stopped for the night in Cascade Locks. This area features several sights, including the expansive Bonneville Dam complex.

Bonneville Dam Spillway. The two power-generating dams are on either side of the spillway and generate 1.2 GW of electricity.

The dam was built in the 1930s. A second power-generating facility was built in the 1970s. A lock on the Oregon side provides up to a 90-foot lift with a maximum length of nearly 700 feet. Awe-inspiring structures!

Cascade Locks was a much earlier set of locks located several miles upstream from the dam. They were built in the late 1800s to circumvent the Cascade Rapids. Before the construction of the locks, cargo needed to be portaged 5 miles to avoid the rapids.

Between the two sits the Bridge of the Gods. An impressive structure, it was built in the 1920s.

We did a hike near the campgrounds on the river. The trail leads us out on a peninsula, offering great views of the river and surrounding mountains—a beautiful spot.

Columbia Gorge Waterfalls

There are six waterfalls in the central part of the gorge. We saw two of them, starting with the best-known of the group Multnomah Falls.

The lighting was perfect, with no shadows—an incredibly picturesque location.

Upper Multnomah Falls

It was a moderately easy walk up to the Bridge.

A gorge being formed; Oneonta Gorge was on the old Highway 30. It was a narrow and windy road that rose for a great view of the Columbia Gorge.

Oneonta Gorge along the Columbia River Gorge

There was a tunnel leading from the parking place to the view. Jake saw the light at the end of the tunnel 😳.

Final stop at Horsetooth Falls before heading back to home base.

On the way back, we stopped for a shot of the Bridge to the Gods in the morning sun.

We broke camp late; we didn’t leave until almost 11 AM – a record for us! We enjoyed the stay at the KOA here, a charming, heavily treed campground with a great hot tub!

The drive east took us through Hood River and The Dalles. The landscape changed rapidly from forests and granite mountains before becoming a high desert. The visual change for a short three-hour drive was astonishing.

As we drove east, the landscape changed dramatically.

Pendleton

We arrived in Pendleton, and I traveled to the local dispensary. There must have been eight shops in this little town! Without a doubt, Oregon is the hippest state so far for Bud. I wanted to pick up some more fine Oregon herb before leaving the state tomorrow.

I went by a colossal rodeo arena getting there. The budtender told me that Pendelton had the third-largest rodeo in the country every year. Other than that, not much else appeared to be happening!

We left Pendleton and did a very long, steep uphill in the Blue Mountains headed southeast.

That eventually led into the Snake River valley. From there, along the Payette River to Boise.

Excellent Adventure in Northwestern Oregon

The weather was excellent, and the panorama was beautiful.

Boise

We stopped in an RV Park in Meridian, just south of Boise, for the evening.

I have a history in this area from my looney-tune wife #3. I skied here in late 2013 (her daughter’s wedding), returned home to Atlanta, and decided to divorce her. Her daughters and ex-husband all live here. Bad vibes all the way around.

No sight of anyone, however! We headed outbound for Highway 20. This would lead us along many historic parts of the Oregon Trail.

This part of the trail had two routes. The second, called Goodale’s Cutoff, would follow the road we were on. The cutoff became the predominant route after Tim Goodale led a wagon train with over 1000 people over it in 1862.

The scenery was beautiful. I could only imagine what early settlers thought when they passed this way 150 years ago. It doesn’t really seem that long ago for some reason. The only thing they had to worry about was if they would survive the journey, no matter what their pronouns were 😬,

I loved winding through the mountains, trying to guess what I would see next. Again, thanks to the winter rain, the views were stunning.

Craters of the Moon Redux

We first visited Craters of the Moon on our 2021 Excellent Adventure. Two years later, we entered the park from the west.

The landscape was even more beautiful with all the green!

Arco

That brought us to Arco. Apparently, the town has run out of Bud Light. Good thing I don’t drink, but I’ll make sure I Light up an Oregon Bud and toast another visit!

Tomorrow I visit the EBR-1 Museum. I basically came all this way to do just that.

Floating Bridges

The first winter I lived in Seattle, a bad storm sank the Hood Canal Bridge. The winds were hurricane-force, and despite efforts to stop the action, down she went! It took them until 1982 to reopen it. In the interim, they used Ferrys—essentially very short floating bridges with big motors attached.

After I left in 1990, the I-90 Floating Bridge sank. This time someone fucked up and left the hatches open. I am glad I didn’t have to deal with that. I regularly crossed in when living east of Seattle in the early 1980s and working at Boeing.

That leaves the Evergreen Floating Bridge. It, to the best of my knowledge, has never sunk. Jake and I found comfort as we crossed it, heading for our next stop in Bellevue.

Our first floating bridge today was the rebuilt Hood Canal Bridge. The skies were beautiful, with high clouds. There is no place I have ever lived that has the natural water & land combo beauty of Puget Sound. Sweden’s archipelago is similar, and I can see why so many Scandinavian peoples settled here.

That led us to the Kingston Edmunds Ferry.

Jake had his first ferry boat ride, and I made my first aw-shit with the trailer. I forgot to retract the door handle, and it got whacked when I pulled on board. One of the guys loading told me he heard something. I was dreadfully embarrassed. Surprisingly, it still works fine – just one trim piece missing and a stripped screw!

Kingston-Edmunds Ferry – a very short floating bridge with motors!

That leads us to the area north of Seattle. It came back quickly, as did the drive down I-5 into Seattle. The Seattle area now has many clusters of high-rise buildings poking up out of the trees, like a city of cities. It was obvious with today’s beautiful weather. All surprisingly familiar to me.

After we crossed the Evergreen Floating Bridge (aka 520 – just like Cocoa Beach!), we drove through Bellevue to the RV spot. I spent a lot of time here; other than buildings everywhere, it looks oddly familiar.

The RV Park is a grandfathered gem in an area I frequented. I probably drove by it hundreds of times. They have a great bonus – a European-style pool area with a hot tub and sauna! Bonus points!

Seattle redux

I spent the next two days with my nephew Adam and his lovely wife, Zeynab.

I also had the Starship Excellent Adventure docked at the local BMW dealership for a new set of shoes and some other work.

We hung out and visited the Center For Wooden Boats on Lake Union. We drove around – most of the area was surprisingly familiar to me again. We even drove by all that remained of the famous Pink Elephant Car Wash. It’s now located smack dab in the middle of a bunch of Amazon office buildings!

The Center for Wooden Boats mostly features spaces where boat owners can work on building a restoring the boats. They have a lot of boats on the docks, including some very large ships. It was an enjoyable, low-key visit.

Steam-powered boat at the Center for Wooden Boats

We also made a visit to my old Alma Mater, the University of Washington, to pick up some merch.

Being a passenger (thanks for driving, Adam!) gave me a different perspective. I had not really wanted to revisit some of these places – too much baggage associated with my time here. Instead, the memories were fondly revisited. Go figure!

Dragonfly Garden and Pavilion at Longfellow Creek in West Seattle

I did a good walk with Jake at a nice park near their house. I have noticed in several spots I visited that there is an effort to preserve some of the natural areas deep in the urban areas. Seattle is often called the City in the Trees.

Alki Beach in West Seattle. You can see the Olympic Peninsula in the background.

The weather for both days was glorious 🤩. It was a clear reminder that this was undoubtedly the most beautiful place I had ever lived. Maybe under different circumstances, I would have wanted to remain here. One thing is for sure, though – the place is intolerably crowded now. Humanity has stamped its indelible footprint on Mother Nature here!

Seven Weeks Out

We start the journey south with the Starship back in fully operational mode, and my wallet is significantly lighter! New tires all around, front brakes, and they figured out why the check engine light was coming on. It was worth the rather expensive repair not to have to look at the damn light for the next month or so!

Today marks day 50 on our journey, beating our previous record in 2021 of 49 days out! I am still in no hurry to get home. I am not so sure about Jake, though! I am afraid I am wearing him out sometimes. However, he is ready to go on another car ride every morning we head out!

Drizzle

The first time I ever stayed at a Bed & Breakfast was in Port Townsend. In the early 1980s, it was a getaway for Seattlites. There was an excellent restaurant on the water somewhere that I went to on several occasions. What I remember the most was Fort Worden.

The movie An Officer and a Gentleman came out in 1981 and featured scenes from town and the fort. I had a massive crush on Debra Winger. Port Townsend seemed to increase in popularity over the years, so I thought I would check it out. Plus, I scored a great RV spot at the Marina near downtown.

We set up the Excellent Adventure. We finally got a site with a killer view! We headed into town. Then it started to drizzle.

Fort Worden

We woke early to the sound of drizzle. If I learned anything from the nearly eight years I spent here, it was to ignore the rain. It made for some dramatic skies as we explored the beach and lighthouse.

I spotted an Eagle up high in a tree. Resting from the morning hunt? Trying to get out of the drizzle?

Later we hiked up to an old military installation in the fort. Some big guns were perched here in the late 1800s. Like the fort we saw in Maine last Fall – it never saw any action.

The view from the cliffs where the guns were placed was stunning. You could see across the whole range of the mouth to the Puget Sound.

You could easily understand why this was such a strategic location.

By the end of our morning outing, the drizzle had pretty well stopped. Thanks be, Oh Noodley One!

Port Townsend

Staying in the Marina was a great experience. We had some great walks in the drizzle and otherwise!

Jake stayed in the trailer in the afternoon as I wandered into town. Very, very good vibe here. No Fuck You Biden flags to be seen!

Port Townsend Marina – May Peace Prevail – ‘Ramen Brother!

As advertised, the town was full of art galleries and shops with unique and numerous ways to unload yourself of those cumbersome wads of cash. I knew I was in trouble when I saw a gallery for woodworking.

Carved Humpback Whale out of Buckeye Burl. The wood could pass as a stone; it is incredibly colored and detailed.

I wasn’t disappointed and left with a few unique items, including a carving of a humpback whale in a rare buckeye burl. Stunning 🤩.

I walked up a long flight of stairs to get a shot.

Port Townsend from atop the hillside. This hillside separated the busy port town from the local population. Like many a boomtown in the late 1800s, Port Townsend was a bustling place to be!

As I walked up to take a picture, a momma deer and her two fawns cautiously strolled across my path before disappearing into the bushes on the steep hillside. How cool is that!

A momma deer and one of her two fawns cautiously stroll past

We enjoyed our time here in the mystical Port Townsend. The vibe alone was worth it. I had never seen so many Bernie stickers on Prius anywhere! Not a tRumper in sight!

Next, we head to Seattle to visit the fam and get the X6 serviced before heading southeast again toward home.

The Banana Slug

It’s official: The Banana Slug is a thing. Some clever marketing type decided to capitalize on people’s utter disgust and fascination for what I used to call the state bird of Washington State. It turns out it uncannily parallels my time in the Evergreen State.

When I made that trip to Seattle some 48 years ago, it made an impression. It was so different than anything I had experienced so far. For some reason, I was compelled to move there only to discover how much I disliked living there. Especially these fucking banana slugs that oozed their slime everywhere and ate your lovely plants. Pretty much the story of my life – fire, ready, aim!

When I arrived, my goal was to become a Nuclear Engineer. When I left, I was a marketing type for a big, prestigious high-tech company. WFT? When I was offered the job, I thought to myself:

What the fuck do I know about Marketing other than I’ve spent most of my time thinking this kind of stuff was complete bullshit?
Me in 1984 after being offered a job in marketing for Hewlett-Packard

Here’s what it was – I would get to travel the world to do this. After all, when I finally left Seattle some eight years later, it was to move to Germany. Was it worth it?

Ask the Banana Slug.

The Big Kahuna

We drove to the further reach of the trip today.

Furthest reach of the trip – Forks Washington

We started the drive by crossing the massive Astoria-Megler Bridge outside Astoria. I am glad I didn’t have to do it in a windstorm! The long drive across the causeway dumped us into Washington.

The drive north seemed comfortably familiar. Very green and had lots of water, large production plants for forest products (and the various smells that accompany them!), and small towns that looked somehow stuck a bit in the past.

Olympic National Park and some beaches with a number instead of a name

We eventually reached the Quinault Reservation and into the Olympic National Forest. People and several named rainforests, including the Hoh. A series of beaches along the coast marked 1, 2, 3, and so on. It seemed sort of unimaginative to me!

Our stop for two nights is Forks. Forks is also famous (as I quickly learned) for being the backdrop for the Twilight Vampire books. There are several themed stores in town for the faithful to score merch. The RV Park was not the greatest, and a pack of obnoxious dogs was in a private residence across from me. One did a divebomb on Jake out of the blue before the owner yelled at him enough that he left.

Hoh Rain Forest

I visited here before in the Winter, sometime in the early 1980s. It was a bright sunny day, although it had been raining earlier. I remember the thick moss sparkling with moisture and the green glow everything had.

Hall of Mosses – Hoh Rain Forest in the Olympic National Park

It maybe wasn’t quite what I remembered, but it was stunning!

A tree that grew out of a fallen nurse tree

I walked the Hall of Mosses trail. I saw the nurse tree, whose name came from new trees that would take root in the fallen log. When the nurse tree finally decayed, it exposed the newer tree’s roots.

Although it had been drizzling, it held off until I left the park.

The Hoh River flows out of the park. There was a fair amount of road damage where the river had caused damage from Spring runoff. There were a lot of large trees in places held together by substantial concrete blocks explicitly shaped to keep them more or less in place.

As we left the park, it started to rain harder. It was our first good rain since we left the South over a month ago. It was refreshing! Thank you, Oh Noodly One, for the most excellent weather!

Rialto Beach

In the afternoon, we drove west to the coast. Rialto Beach sits on the north side of the mouth of the Guillayute River. It is littered with driftwood of all shapes and sizes from hundreds of years of flooding.

I learned the islands that sit off the coast like this are called stack islands. There were some very nice ones here!

The weather was spectacular – cool and breezy with a great mix of clouds and sun.

The Big Kahuna – Indeed!

If it could, the Banana Slug would say something like Slime On Dude. I saw a sign at the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center that the Banana Slug is queer because it can change sex at will. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Time to make something else up! Can I get a ‘ramen? 🤣.

Everything is as it is supposed to be. More memories to update. Another checkmark on the endless bucket list. Next stop, another memory to investigate, this time in the mystical Port Townsend.

Bridges & Bozos

After graduating in 1978, I drove to Seattle with my fiance up the coast. She hired on with Weyerhauser – a substantial forest products company, and I was going to graduate school. As part of her relocation package, they paid for us to come up to find a home. As we drove northwards through Oregon, we started seeing these cool bridges.

As a mechanical engineering student, one of the first classes you attend is Statics. The classic problem in statics is how to build a bridge. You spend all quarter learning about all the necessary considerations on how to design something (that does not move) so that it will not break.

So every time we drove through one of these beauties (see above), we would yell: Statics!

We left the Crater Lake area early to get to the coast. The first part was very windy and narrow but otherwise in good shape. It took us through some dense forests in the Southern Cascades. This dropped us into the heart of forest product companies. We passed a considerable mill where the trucks would be hoisted up 50 feet in the air to be unloaded. Amazing.

Eventually, we wound down into Coos Bay. The climate changed radically – the air was sweet with ocean smells and very windy. The town itself seemed very hip – herb dispensaries on every corner.

Oregon Dunes KOA and Dune Buggy Central 😖

This led us to the campground for the night. It was a destination for dune buggy (and tRump) enthusiasts. With the dry gravel, wind whipping, and fucking loud and obnoxious dune buggies fuck all everywhere. Not one of my better picks. Very bad vibe.

Sunset Bay

However, the front desk attendant made a good recommendation for a state park about 15 miles away. The original destination was a botanical garden on the coast just south of the mouth of the bay. Sorry – no dogs allowed 😖! We chose option 2, which offered some excellent photo ops of the coast. This is what I was looking for in California. Fewer trees here!

We first stopped at the beach. Jake had a blast, as usual, checking out the new smells.

We then found a parking place for a path that led out to a stunning view of the beach. I got some shots of the enormous waves crashing into the rocks below.

Sunset Bay waves. It’s hard to tell without a good reference, but the cliffs were about 50 feet above the water.

Bozos

When I was in High School, we sat around, got high, and listened to Firesign Theater. They were sort of the National Lampoon of Radio Theater. With classics such as Porgy Tirebiter and Nick Danger: Third Eye, I still listen to them 50 years later.

For some reason, I have always had a powerful association with driving up the Oregon coast that summer, listening to their 1971 recording We’re All Bozos on This Bus.

With classic lines such as:

Mr. President! Mr. President! It’s the cockroaches! They’ve been sleeping with my wife!
Petitioner Clem to an AI version of Richard Nixon

It’s weird, but I think of the other every time I think of one. Too many drugs, I suppose!

It seemed fitting as this place was crawling with Bozos. Stupid people educated by Facebook and Fox News! We got out of Dodge as soon as possible and headed up the coast!

We had our earliest start – 7 AM – and made a 10-hour journey north. We stopped frequently to enjoy the sights, take a walk or explore the beach.

Several sections of the drive were spectacular, hugging the side of a mountain with shear drops to the Pacific below.

We made the mistake of exploring Connon Beach – not that there is anything wrong with the town except it’s crowded with tourists 🤣 – like me. Except they weren’t pulling an RV! I tried to get out of town only to find the exit inexplicably closed. I had to backtrack through the crowds of cars and people to get back on course!

We made it to the RV park after 4 PM. Dozens of volunteers warmly greeted us at this vast and well-featured park.

⁨Astoria / Warrenton / Seaside KOA Resort⁩

Fort Stevens

Early the following day, we drove as far north as possible to Fort Stevens.

The mouth of the Columbia looking towards the Astoria-Megler Bridge (Highway 101)

The sandy beach provided a panoramic view of the mouth of the Columbia River.

The mouth of the Columbia (the Columbia Bar) has the reputation of being the most dangerous crossing in the world, earning it the title Graveyard of the Pacific 🧐.

We also made a stop to see The Wreck of the Peter Iredale.

Wreck of the Peter Iredale. The ship ran aground in a 1906 storm.

We were surprised to see a young Elk grazing nearby the road on the way out. In the act of sheer serendipity, my camera was out and ready with the zoom lens! What a handsome young lad!

To complete a great morning’s walk, we got another stunning wildlife shot while exploring the wreck.

Eagle is looking for breakfast. I suppose the signs are all up and down the coast to aid in location and search and rescue.

Columbia River Maritime Museum

On the recommendation of my brothers, I paid a visit to the museum in Astoria. As a bonus, a Coast Guard Cutter was making port after being out at sea for an extended period. It was great to see the families waiting for their loved ones.

As part of the tour, I visited an old Lighthouse Boat. Named after the river she protected, she was in service for about 40 years before retiring in the early 1960s. I learned in the museum how the entrance to the river earned the name Graveyard of the Pacific. Nearly 200 ships have been lost, including the one I saw in the morning.

Simulation of a rescue at sea by a specialized Coast Guard boat designed to operate in heavy seas

The displays at the museum were first-rate – incredible boats and recreations of daring Coast Guard rescue in unbelievable situations.

Some Ham Radio operators still operate the radio room on the Columbia!

I also stumbled across a fascinating and oddly moving exhibit on the Japanese soldiers in WWII.

In World War II, Japanese soldiers carried a very personal memento into battle: Yosegaki Hinomaru. These flags, covered with signatures and well-wishes for a safe return, were given by family and friends to the soldiers as they were sent off to war. American soldiers in World War II collected flags from the bodies of Japanese combatants to take home as souvenirs. Now, decades later, many veterans and their families are realizing that these flags might be the only tangible evidence of a beloved family member lost in a war fought long ago. Although these Japanese soldiers never saw their families again, their flags are now returning home with the help of a group dedicated to helping bring closure. (from the museum website)

Peace Out ☮

Tomorrow we leave Oregon and head back to my old home state of Washington. The weather forecast says it is supposed to rain while I visit the Hoa Rain Forest. Seems fitting!

Crater Lake

The Summer I moved to California my girlfriend and I made a trip to Seattle. Her cousin got married and she was part of the wedding party.

I had spent the earlier part of the summer diving with a couple of guys that ran a dive shop in Santa Maria. The group of us decided to meet up at Crater Lake on our drive up and go diving there.

We arrived and checked in with the Park Ranger. He told us that only a handful of people had dived there that he knew about. It was a hot, sunny day and we lugged our tanks, full wetsuits, and 40 pounds of weights a mile or so down a trail to the water. The trip back up was worse 🤣.

The water was a brisk 36F and you could see forever! There were large, volcanic boulders strewed around that you could move relatively easily. The only living things I saw were freshwater snails and sparse plant life.

It was an interesting dive to be sure. I am glad we did it because it is prohibited now! They are concerned, probably rightly, that invasive species could be introduced. Being from Florida I know how that can damage an established ecosystem.

Some 48 years later, Jake and I headed out from Crescent City for a relatively short drive to Crater Lake. We mostly backtracked our route, taking time to see the sights on our way.

⁨Six Rivers National Forest⁩ on the Redwood Highway

I stopped for gas along the way and was surprised to see a guy with a gas station attendant’s uniform standing by my window. I figured I got caught in a time warp back to the 60s before he reminded me that in Oregon you can’t pump your own gas! He even cleaned my windshield! I was flummoxed!

We made it to the RV park early. We got some great tips from the staff there for things to see nearby. After lunch and a nap, we headed back out again.

Natural Bridge

I would have named this site Underground River instead. It features a very cool section of the Rogue River that flows underground in an old lava tube.

It was an easy walk down to see the river. You could see where the water comes out and has carved out a cave downstream. It was an interesting, and different, sight.

Mill Creek Falls

The RV park sits across the highway from the small town of Prospect. One of the hikes at the south end of the town took us to Mill Creek Falls. Here, Mill Creek hooks up with the Rogue.

I wondered about the name of the town. I didn’t think there was any precious metal mining in this area. Turns out the residents changed the name in the late 1800s when a railroad was planned to run up the Rogue River. The residents thought it would improve the town’s prospects! Go figure 🤩.

Crater Lake

We left at a more reasonable hour to get to the park at 8 AM. We kept waiting to turn the corner (after corner) for the money shot. You pretty much had to park and find a place where the trees didn’t obscure the view – but the combination of blue sky & stunning clouds, really blue water, and the mountain & forest scenery were breathtaking.

Crater Lake & Wizard Island. We took a boat out to Wizard Island when we dove here 48 years ago. There were boulders in the water you could easily move they were so light due to the volcanic nature. And you could see forever…

We arrived early in the season so the drive around the crater rim was not open due to all the snow. There were two spots open at this point, the main area with the Lodge and Discovery Point about a mile counterclockwise.

We spent about two hours taking in the view and shopping for some tasty merch at the Visitor Center. On the way out around 10:30 AM a line was forming to get in. It would be pretty crowded with so little open at this point. I wish we could have seen more, but the memory of my previous encounter was intact! Simply stunning – nothing like it I have ever seen 🤩.

PS – Jake got his first taste of snow. He looked at it funny for a few seconds then it was pretty much like what he was already used to – the beach – just colder!

Rogue River Gorge

On the way back we stopped at the final spot suggested by the camp hosts. Right outside the entrance to Crater Lake is an excellent view of a deep gorge the Rogue River goes through.

The access that was given to see the gorge was about the best I have ever experienced.

That plus the strong flow of the river made for both beautiful sights as well as sounds. An amazing place and I would highly recommend it.

Crater Lake RV Park

We really enjoyed this campground – It was a mix of seasonal residents and folks like Jake and me. They have a beautiful setting with some nearby walks to the Rogue River. One leads you to a large reservoir with warning signs about water being released at any time. That would have been a sight to see!

Tomorrow we head back for the coast for a drive up the Oregon coast. Our next stop will be in the Coos Bay area.

Center of the Universe

The indigenous people of this area believed that this is the Center of the Universe and that it was created when the first Redwood tree was planted. The aboriginal peoples of Australia believed rivers were created by giant versions of the Kangaroo dragging their tails across the land. Perhaps when that first pot of spaghetti came to a boil?

Hard to know but what a wondrous area this is! Where huge Redwood groves and mountains meet the sea. We started the first day with a drive to Crescent City. The city gets its name from the crescent-shaped harbor. There are two lighthouses, one near-shore and another further out on a rock.

Battery Point Lighthouse at Crescent City harbor

Bonus round for the Jakester! He found a long-dead seal carcass to roll in! He smelled less like something dead and more like a horse!

We also spotted Bigfoot nearby! I can totally see him living in the giant Redwood forests and coming down to the beach every once and a while!

⁨Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park⁩

Later that morning we took the advice of the campground and wound our way into the rear entrance to the state park. We marveled at the rear door!

I marveled at the size of these beautiful trees. I had come through this area 45 years ago and remember how impressed I was then.

I imagined I was in the Entwood of Middle Earth and they slowly started to move! High in the Redwoods talking to the Trees 😎.

We spent the rest of the morning driving through the park. I put on some Kate Bush at one point – listening to her amazing, expressive voice while gazing at these wonders of nature brought me to tears. It was like I was in a dream.

The trees were alive and talking to all of us. Their speech is so slow and long for creatures such as us with such short life spans.

We crawled inside a hollow tree for an interesting view!

We did a hike at Stout Grove which lead down to the nearby Smith River. We were both exhausted by the end!

On the way out we drove through a beautiful wooden bridge. I wondered why it was here. The design was stunning – some architect’s dream I suppose.

A beautifully designed wooden bridge outside the park

‎⁨Tolowa Dunes State Park⁩

The last excursion for the day was a hike near the ocean close to the campground. We found this state park with a walk in the dune forest.

It was interesting and thick with mosquitos. As long as you kept moving you were ok!

We arrived home late and were both exhausted. The good news is that most of Jake’s stink had worn off from the day’s activities! We slept well!

Day 2 in the Redwoods started out with a synchronization error between the forecasted and actual weather. The former showed a sunny day ahead. The reality turned out differently as the fog never quite lifted closer to the ocean. We tried again to find some access to the cost that didn’t require a strenuous hike. So we looked at more trees. Even bigger ones!

⁨The Big Tree at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park⁩. Jake couldn’t believe how big it was!

Our first stop was along a stretch of 101 that popped out at the coast. Beautiful black sand beach with large driftwood logs.

We then drove part of the Coastal Scenic drive around the Klamath area. The land here is maintained by the local indigenous people the Yurok. Part of the area was designed as Ceremonial Grounds. Off in the distance, a Harem of Seals (seriously, I looked it up!) was resting on the long sand spit. It is a beautiful spot!

Driving further south, we drove the road through ⁨Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park⁩. The road ran roughly parallel to 101 but through some very old-growth redwoods that dwarfed (almost) the trees we saw yesterday. The highlight was the aptly named Big Tree about 3/4 way through the tour. Despite the weather on the coast, the area was clear and bright,

We stopped at the Big Tree for a look and a short hike through the groves. The trees, some of which were over 1500 years old, made a lot of the ones we saw yesterday look like youngsters! Stunning!

We stopped in the local Visitor’s Center there and scored some great merch! We abandoned any hope of seeing a sunny coast and headed north back to Crescent City.

We had a great couple of days where the Giant Trees meet the rugged Pacific Coast. Back at the campgrounds I found a suitable tree to hug and told it that I loved it. They were here long before me and will be after I return to star-stuff. I guess that makes me a tree hugger. I like it!

The next stop is another revisit – this time to Crater Lake – a relatively short drive from here.