Tag: Washington

O Canada! Crossing the border into Vancouver.

We wanted to camp close to the border to do some last minute shopping, get the tires rotated and organize the inside of the RV better.  It was an all day drive for us coming from Riffe Lake to Ferndale, Wa.  We didn’t get much cooperation. The roads were mountainous, there was hundreds of traffic lights, and then when we made it to the highway it was bumper to bumper even though we took 405 around Seattle. Anyways we did finally make it to Silver Reef Casino. There were a number of other people camping out there and they also had a free dump and freshwater fill, so it was a good place to prepare to cross. We had dinner at the buffet one night. Zygi made a mess with the oyster crackers so we left the waiter a big tip.  We felt like we were in the movie, “The Hangover”, walking through the smoky casino with him in the front facing baby carrier.

We got up and left early for the border, we crossed at Lynden because we read it’s not used a whole lot. There was only one other person there and they were seriously checking his car out. I was thinking “Oh boy were going to be here for a while”. Luckily it only took 30 minutes or so. They checked to make sure I gave them the correct serial number on our shotgun and went through our passports and that was it. They didn’t ask for Marilyn’s paperwork or search the RV. Easy peasy, like every border crossing for us so far(crossing my fingers).

Downtown Vancouver

We then went and camped at another casino, Starlight Casino, just outside of Vancouver so we can drive in and see what some people say is the most beautiful city in the world. I agree with them. The mountains and the city planning are both just stunning, one natural and one man made.

We parked the truck a couple streets away from the 22nd street stop and caught the train in to town.  First we went to Chinatown and bought the best falafel I ever had, weird I know. Then I went to a congee restaurant, it’s basically rice porridge with meat or other things in it that is usually a breakfast food. They also use it for baby food in Asia. Anyways, it was fantastic. I’ve loved it since eating it every morning in the streets of Thailand with the locals for breakfast. It’s not something you can find a lot of places. We then got some fantastic Dim Sum and that was as much as we could eat.

We then walked to Gastown, an upscale and historic area. It was beautiful to walk around. Unfortunately we went down one wrong street (Hastings) and saw the homeless problem that I’ve heard so much about in Vancouver. Luckily it was only a small area and it seems lately the west coast has been cleaning up their cities somehow. I for one am glad as it chases off a lot of tourists. We then walked to Canada place which is basically their cruise ship terminal. There are some neat educational displays about the port and train yard.

All in in it turned out to be a fantastic visit to a fantastic city.  Vancouver reminded us of San Francisco but we both agreed that we liked Vancouver better.  Vancouver seems more affordable and cleaner, especially when comparing the two Chinatowns.  The homeless are confined to one area instead of spread about the city.  Even the suburbs feels urban because they don’t allow building single family homes. Instead there are several high rise apartment buildings and town homes.   It really is a cool city.

Riding back home on the train

Up next, driving through some of the most beautiful mountains in the world.

Written by Tim and Victoria

Riffe Lake and Mt Rainier

After Portland we found an awesome spot on Riffe Lake that was beautiful and surrounded on all sides by mountains. It was a pretty popular spot as it seemed a lot of locals came out for the day and to camp.  It is also a landing zone for hang gliders. It was entertaining to watch them glide back and forth so quietly in the air.  They made it look easy!  The boondocking spots are just a mile or two from Taidnapam Park where we also were able to dump and get more fresh water for $5….Well actually it was only dumping but we sneakily got some fresh water too, leave a comment if you want to know how.

We went hiking around our campsite. Apparently the water level on Riffe Lake is low at this time and we were hiking around what appeared to be old building foundations.  Was there a town buried under the lake?  There were big trees that had fallen and made for some cool photos.  We were trying to hike to an old cabin but every time we tried to find the path to it, it disappeared! We called it the Blair Witch cabin and said forget it.  It was too creepy how it kept disappearing.

The drive to the Nisqually enterance of Mt. Rainier National Park only took about 40 minutes from Riffe Lake.  At first we felt like we were driving through West Virginia as we passed by some of the locals homes.  Once we reached the park we had some gorgeous views.  When we got to Paradise visitor center it started snowing and we couldn’t see the mountain at all. We ended up going for a hike on one of the only trails open (which was covered in snow) and let Zygi play in it. Unfortunately all the footage we took for Zygi’s first snow experience got deleted because of my Chinese fleece lined pants. The skin on my thigh touches on my phone in my pocket and ended up resetting my phone because it tried to unlock it to many times.

We also went on a hike to The Grove of the Patriarchs which had some absolutely massive trees. They were Douglas firs, western hemlocks and western red cedars. Some of them were 1000 years old! We haven’t seen trees this big since we saw the Sequoias in California. It was a beautiful hike and we probably would have had it to ourselves but they were training seasonal rangers that day and they were sitting along the trail interviewing each other. It was still amazing, there is just something about trees like that which really impresses you. Victoria says she can feel the energy coming from the old trees.

We never got to see Mount Rainier.  She hid behind the clouds the whole time we were there.  Even on the day we left we saw a tiny glimpse of the behemoth but not the whole mountain. We were a little disappointed, but we had a good time anyways.  We got to play in the snow with Zygi and saw some giant trees.

Can I get a ride?

Next up, crossing the border into CANADA!

  • Writers: Tim and Victoria
  • Photographs, mostly Victoria’s but I took some too, with her directions, lol

 

Celilo Park – Train Horns and Wind Storms on The Columbia River Gorge

Since Memorial Day was coming up and we don’t make reservations we had to be a little creative in where we could stay. First I tried all the national forest campgrounds in Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington. There were 500 campgrounds including primitive. Amazingly every single spot in all 500 parks was reserved for the weekend. So then we started looking for first come first serve sites. We’d be arriving on a Wednesday so we’d beat out most people for those spots. Unfortunately there were very few spots, maybe 6 total, some of those a ways out of the way for us. Then I came across a COE park called Celilio right on the Columbia River Gorge, it looked beautiful, nice trees and grass in an area that is pretty desert like, they said they had spots for 30 or 40 campers and they were all first come first serve. It sounded perfect but there was one warning, there were two train tracks about a 100 ft from the parking area and since the entrance crossed the tracks they had to lay on the horn as they passed.

When we got there on Wednesday there were only only three other campers that were there and we got a pretty sweet spot where the back half of the trailer would be shaded by trees but the solar panels at the front would still get light basically all day. It was a pretty nice sunny day with maybe only 10 mph winds when we got there and and we walked around and checked out the park.  It has a set of bathrooms but unfortunately the water spigot is chained shut. One nice thing that they offered were free life jackets to borrow they even had one Zygi’s size, so we planned to go kayaking.

Unfortunately the weather changed for the worse the rest of the time we were there, it was generally pretty sunny but unfortunately the winds were a steady 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 40 mph for the next few days. The Columbia River Gorge is famous for it’s wind and therefore famous for it’s wind surfing. In fact someone had set the sailing speed record on one of them in the Gorge, clocking in at over 70 mph. However a few years ago that was beat by a 75 mph run done by a specially designed carbon fiber racing sailboat. Anyways we did get to see some of the wind surfers but it seemed like it was even a bit much for them some of the times. Therefore with our solar panels cranking out more energy than our batteries could take we figured we’d take some time and enjoy a bit of tv (I’ve got all of The Amazing Races on my hard drive 😉

After a day or two of that we were bored and were able to find a spot where there were enough trees and bushes that if you were sitting down you could get out of the wind. I setup a tarp on the ground over there and let Zygi zoom around and play with the grass, sticks, pine cones, and rocks. It was a great way for him to let out some energy.  Zygi didn’t seem to mind the trains too much. Sometimes one would scare him but then we would say, “Chooooo Choo!” with a smile and he would be ok.

 

We attempted to visit The Dalles Dam. Victoria had read on tripadvisor that you could take a tour of the dam and ride on a train from the visitor center. Unfortunately when we arrived the dam visitor center was closed and we didn’t get any dam tour.  After a quick google search, we then discovered that they didn’t offer the train ride anymore since it derailed with a few tourists on it. Sooo we just decided to walk around the dam visitor center and take the dam trail as far as it let us go.

We did have one successful day while visiting the area. We decided we needed to get away from the wind and trains and check out Tamanawas Falls. It was about an hour drive but well worth it, even on Memorial Day weekend with hundreds of other people. On the way, we saw magnificent views of Mt Hood since it was a clear day. We hiked 3 miles out and back to see Tamanawas Falls. It was pretty cool because you could actually hike and sit completely behind the falls. That part was too rocky, slick and steep to climb with the baby so Victoria stayed behind while and I climbed back there and got a few photos for her.

The classic northwest forest was amazing to be in after days in the desert looking part of Eastern Oregon. Even with all the people, we were able to find our own area of the river to have lunch by climbing down off the trail a little bit. It even had a little pool area where you could get in the water. Unfortunately it was the coldest water I’ve ever been in, straight snow melt from Mt Hood. My feet and calves were numb before I had the chance to go any further so I just rinsed off there and got out carefully so as to not hurt my feet. We both loved the trail and I can’t imagine how much nicer it would be on a calm weekday.

After staying five days so we could avoid any problems with finding a spot we were ready to leave and I had a friend I wanted to visit from the old college dorm days, Ron from 2N! Therefore we decided to stay at an RV park we had stayed at before in Portland. It’s a very nice park just off the river and only a mile from a light rail station to take you into downtown. Next up, our return to Portland!

He get’s his feet from his dad…

Washington Wine Country

Our first trip on our way to Yellowstone was wine country in Washington. We stayed in Prosser at the Wine Country RV resort. We hoped to boondock but was having electrical issues with the batteries that had to be fixed. I got the idea to come here from talking with some co-workers in Seattle about wine country. The latitude here along the Yakima River makes the land super fertile for grapes as well as other produce. The RV park is right off I-82 but is walking distance to nine wineries annnddd here is a swimming pool! Perhaps our electrical issues were a blessing in disguise since it ended up being 100 degrees here!…The pool came in quite handy. The management was spectacular. Each morning there was coffee and fresh homemade pastries. The only thing I didn’t like was how you had to pay to utilize the showers.

The RV park hosts wine tastings on the weekends. However, I definitely recommend going to the wineries because they tend to pour more for you to taste ;). We really enjoyed Bill’s and Bacchus for the tastings. We went to Hinzerling’s but his wines are all really sweet. We also went to McKiney’s Springs which has spectacular wines (except for the Malbec and Syrah…they were like slap in the face heavy red). If you venture to McKiney’s Springs, make sure you hold your nose high. Indeed.

I really enjoyed wine country. There isn’t really anything else to do but drink wine and maybe go pick some berries or grapes. It would make for a really fun girl’s trip since there are soooo many wineries to choose from. Tim doesn’t care too much for wine but he was a good sport and suffered through each tasting for me. 🙂 In no time we will be in the woods and mountains so it was nice to enjoy some of the finer things in life for a while. Check out the pics below and our itinerary to Yellowstone!

Took that midnight flight to Georgia!

After finishing my 9 week assignment in Seattle, Tim and I embarked in the ol’ fifth wheel to the Olympic National Forest. We found a nice, big open space to boondock off Forest Road 2270. We explored a couple trails and found a few waterfalls. It was nice to get out into nature again after being cramped in the RV park in Lynnwood. We had to cut the trip short unfortunately since we were having electrical issues with the batteries not charging. We moved to the KOA in Seattle for the night so Tim could work on the batteries. (If interested please ask, I won’t bore with the details.)

The very next day we all flew to Atlanta (Marilyn too) on the red eye 0050 am flight. I didn’t get more than 10 min of sleep when we arrived in Atlanta at 8 am eastern time. We rented a car and stayed with my good friend, Shadee, for one night. She is 8 months pregnant, and we were also tired, so we ordered a bunch of pizzas and watched the movie Alive. Good thing we watched this movie AFTER flying lol.

After a much needed good night’s sleep at Shadee’s, we drove our rental to Tim’s old stomping grounds, Athens Georgia. Tim’s good buddy Justin was getting married in a little Baptist church outside of Athens. Tim and I will use any excuse to visit Athens. We started our relationship here. In my last semester in college I would drive up to visit him and ended up living with him for a couple months after I graduated nursing school. Athens nightlife is very fun and alive. The campus is always open and makes for a romantic stroll at night…despite having to dodge huge roaches every other step (this is the only thing I DO NOT miss about home lol).

After the weekend in Athens we drove to see Tim’s family and my brother for a little vacation on Lake Murrary in South Carolina. It has been a family tradition for Tim’s family to visit Lake Murrary every year. Tim’s dad rented a pontoon boat and we had a great time swimming every day in the lake. My Seattle white body finally got some much needed vitamin D.

Three nights came and went by at the cabin before it was time to leave for our ultimate destination…home. Savannah, Georgia is where we call home. It was so good to see my mom and dad again. My nieces and nephew are growing so fast. Full time traveling sounds fun, and it is, but you sacrifice one big thing- family. I hope they know how much I love them but that I am happy. Maybe I will soil my roots again one day but for now I am a free bird.

When we fly back to Seattle we are going to embark in the RV to Yellowstone, WY. I will post the itinerary soon.  Enjoy the pics, I hope you all continue to follow us!