Final Blog for Roadtrip 2010

Blog 7 Roadtrip 2010

From Seattle we drove north to Anacortes, Washington. Found an Indian Casino with an RV park. Swinomish Northern Lights Casino. Small but great RV park. And of course, the buffets!! Tuesday nights, $3.99!!! That’s right up our alley.

Anacortes is one of the islands in the Puget Sound. You can drive on over a short bridge, so you hardly know it’s an island. But it is also a gateway to taking the ferry to all of the other islands that cannot be reached quite so easily. Normie and I decided to play Bingo at the Casino one evening and she won $100!!! Which was donated back to the tribe over the next week. (sad face).

We took the ferry one day over to San Juan Island. Took our truck and our bikes. The day was beautiful both for traveling and sightseeing. We drove all over the island, had bread, cheese, artichoke dip and, of course, wine, for lunch on the cliffs whilst looking for the local pod of killer whales. We saw a couple in the distance, but not too close to shore as hoped for. Much to see on San Juan Island. English Camp, Limekiln State Park, Roche Harbor and Friday Harbor. Highly recommend to anyone with a full day in the Anacortes area. Take your car, it’s a large island. We also stopped at an outdoor sculpture garden outside of Roche Harbor that was incredible!! I saw one of the best pieces of art I have had the pleasure to view. (see pics)

It’s great to be able to cross paths with old friends who are also on the road in various stages of travel. We had the good fortune of meeting up with two friends from the Dunes, Robert and Carolyn Young. We met up for dinner one night and had a great evening of catching up and discussing our trips so far.

From the Casino park we moved on to another park at the south end of Anacortes Island at Deception Pass. It is actually a narrow opening between Anacortes Island and Whidbey Island. The tides flow through the funnel-like opening with awesome force! There is a campground, Bowman Bay, on one side of the pass with only 22 spots. Only two had hookups and we were fortunate enough to get one of them, right in front of the bay!! When I asked the camp host how much for the full hookup site, he said, “same as the others, 10 bucks.” Heaven, I’m in Heaven. . , needless to say, we stayed until they closed the park for the season! Fourteen days of crabbing, bocce, lying around, crabbing, wine, crabbing, wine, crabbing…. Did I mention crabbing? While in Anacortes we purchased the necessary equipment to catch Dungeness crab. And boy, did we! We took our boat out, dropped our pot, came back a few hours later and pulled it up, voila, crab. Sometimes 2, sometimes 4. It was a great way to be introduced to the joys of the Puget Sound!

After Labor Day, the park closed and they kicked us out, crying and begging them to let us stay. Alas, we had to move on or face the consequences of being labeled as “squatters”. They clearly did not realize that we are “professional” squatters!!

We headed south from Anacortes to Tillamook, Oregon. On the coast west of Tillamook is a little harbor named Netarts. We had been told by the campground hosts in Bowman Bay about the crabbing in this harbor. They were right! Made our efforts in Bowman Bay look like work! Here in Netarts, the crab are drawing straws to see who gets to go home with you! We would put our pot in the water and within ½ hour have at least 5 “keepers” out of 10 crabs!! (see pics). Apparently, there is a limit to how much crab one can eat in a fortnight. Didn’t know that until we tried to eat crab every day! And we found out that an RV freezer cannot accommodate all of the requests from home and family, for crab! We would have been glad to oblige, but found out the cost of shipping it would be greater than buying it at Albertsons at home.

Toured the Tillamook Cheese factory, highlight. Lowlight. Light. Touristy.

After 5 nights in Netarts, we heard that the weather was going to be turning sour overnight. So, we packed up and raced the rain to California. Needless to say, the rain caught up to us in Arcata. So we packed up again and continued trying to outrun it. We made it all the way to Port San Luis, outside of San Luis Obispo. The rain never showed up. Happily, we sat in the sun on the cliff overlooking the beach. This is one of the best camping spots ever! Don’t ask me for directions, I won’t give them to you.

There is a web cam overlooking Port San Luis. Family and friends would go to the website and we would do our antics for all the world to see. Dancing, prancing, and underpantsing! Well, only for some. While there, we celebrated our 35^th year of wedded bliss. We have been married 39. Kidding, only 35. If you have to have something to celebrate, succeeding at being with the same person for that long is a worthwhile celebration!! There is a pizza place in Pismo Beach, Paisano Pizza. To die for!!! We never go through this part of the world without stopping in. Friends we found it with, also make the regular pilgrimage.

After 5 days basking in the sun on the beach, we figured it was time to get home. . . . to the beach. But not without a couple of nights en route at . . . wait for it. . . . the beach! Carpinteria State Park. Our daughter, Lyss and her husband, Seth, met us there as it has been a regular part of our family’s history for the last 40 years. It was Seth’s first time there. New tradition for them? Hope so. They were only able to stay one night, due to work obligations. This left us with one day alone to sit on the beach and reminisce about the last 40 years of coming to “Carp”, raising our kids, camping with so many friends who joined us over the years. It was a time of laughter and tears of joy over how great life has been to us. Thank you, Lord for the blessings. Perfect ending to a wonderful roadtrip!

Leaving Carpinteria was hard, but we had a deadline. We made it safely back to the Dunes. So good to reconnect with friends and neighbors. There’s no place like home, no matter where you park it!

See our pics: Roadtrip 2010 Final Blog Pics

Seattle

Blog 6 Roadtrip 2010

From Coeur d’Alene we traveled to Seattle. Staying outside of the city in Bellevue was a stroke of genius. Why? Because the traffic and narrow streets are not really conducive to 50 feet of RV!!!! While in Seattle, we experienced the sights that many tourists do. Pike Place Market, the waterfront, the Underground Tour, the Navy ship tour. . .what? not the Space Needle?!! Well, no. But not because we didn’t want to. Ok, because we didn’t want to. But not for the reasons you may be thinking. About 15 years ago, Normie and I were in Seattle, again, while I was on business doing my “chores”. We ventured up to the top of the Space Needle quite late on a chilly, crisp evening. It was almost deserted up there and we could see forever. Whilst taking in the serenity and beauty of the city and the Puget Sound, I stood behind my bride and wrapped my arms around her, thoroughly enjoying this romantic moment that we were sharing in silence and tranquility. Then, as if it were planned in a movie script, it began to snow! Flakes were quietly falling onto our heads and sticking to our eyelashes. It is a moment we consider to be one of our most memorable and romantic in the 40 years we have shared on this planet. So tell me, would you have gone up again on a future trip? I thought not.

A highlight of our visit was experiencing our first Duck Tour. We have seen them in many places we have visited, but have never gone. I think we missed out on something. Thanks to Dave and Jody Wilson for their encouragement! The tour is just like a bus tour of the city, only it takes place on an amphibious vehicle and always includes turning your vehicle from a “bus” into a “boat”. It is also jam-packed with information and, more importantly, humor. The drivers have an array of hats that they change into, and out of, all the while talking and playing humorous sound bites of music that coincide with each location to keep your interest. Suffice it to say that we will be taking future Duck Tours in upcoming cities we visit. We suggest that if you do find one, make it the first attraction you visit, as it will give you a great “lay of the land” on what to visit next during your stay.

While in Seattle, we heard about a little known attraction. Well, maybe not attraction, but a place worth visiting. We found out that we were just a few miles from Jimi Hendrix’s final resting place. We ventured out to the Greenwood Cemetery and found the memorial. See Photos of our “experience”.

The Seattle Art Museum was cool too. Lots of paintings, native art and two special installations. One of Andy Warhol’s works, and the other based around local rock legend, Kurt Cobain of the band Nirvana. Displayed, were both Kurt’s art and the art of others having to do with him or about him. “Unique” would be a good word to insert here.

Here we go with Serendipity yet again. One of the biggest weekends in Seattle is “Seafair”. Actually it is a month long, culminating in an air show by the Blue Angels, Hydoplane Boat races on Lake Washington and visits from Navy ships who open their doors during the last weekend for public tours. We were there for all of them! Great weekend!

The Seattle Underground Tour is another very unique historical aspect of this city. It is unlike other cities merely because of the way it came about. Suffice it to say, “also worth the price of admission”. Seattle Underground Tour History

One day we drove to Bainbridge Island across the Sound from the city. We found a little public park, and when I say “little”, I mean LITTLE! It was a small piece of property bequeathed to the City of Bainbridge in a land trust. It sat between beautiful waterfront multi-million dollar homes right on the water looking directly back at Seattle. We sat enjoying our own little piece of heaven uninterrupted for an entire bottle of champagne! Awesome! Another great romantic memory made.

One of my favorite glass artists is Dale Chihuly. You might have seen some of his work if you have ever been to the Bellagio in Vegas. Overhead and underfoot. Well he was commissioned to decorate a bridge in downtown Tacoma a few years back. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing his works displayed in various arrays. Tacoma is a sleepy port city that is making great strides in establishing an art resurgence. So far, so good. I, for one, hope they succeed.

All in all, Seattle, and all it has to offer, is a great place to visit. . .we look forward to coming back to explore the surrounds on our way back through from the north.