Beverly Beach State Park, OR

Today's Photo - haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, OR















Just getting up early enough doesn't always give you the magic light. Although I watched the sun come up on the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, it was not a very exciting image. I did find another direction to shoot the North Head Light. Not a majestic location as the Cape Disappointment light, but still a nice place to put a lighthouse!

I used the campground showers this morning - saves filling up the grey water tank in the Escape, and cleaning up a wet bath. For those that don't know what a wet bath is, because the Escape is rather small, the toilet, bathroom sink & shower are all combined in one space, and a small one at that. At least it has one of each & they are usable when necessary. So, the good thing is the campground has a nice roomy, warm shower. The bad thing - I usually don't wear my watch to the shower, and hung it on a hook in the shower stall. You guessed it - I left it behind. Only an inexpensive Timex, but it had an expansion band that is hard to find & one that I have worn for years. Oh well, time to shop for a new one.

My first stop today was at Cannon Beach to take a photo of Haystack rock. It is an impressive pile of dirt! I also stopped at a pull out a bit further south of Cannon Beach for another photo. After that it was on to Tillamook & the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I didn't take the official tour, but did check out the observation deck to watch them packaging their cheese. Of course I did pick up a couple of blocks of my favorites.

On the way out I met a family that was checking out the Escape. It attracts quite a bit of attention since there aren't all that many small fiberglass trailer manufacturers, and Escape is one of the smaller ones. I don't mind showing it off to anyone interesting, although Tammy did mention that I may get sick of all the questions. So far, no problem!

The road into Tillamook was very rough, and one of the overhead doors popped open. All that fell out was some fruit, but with some of the sections it could have been a disaster. I suspect the orange got banging back & forth hard enough to push it open...

The original plan was to stop at South Beach State Park for the night, but as I was passing the sign for Beverly Beach State Park a few miles north of Newport it indicated that there were still open sites, so rather than take the chance that South Beach would be full, I stopped at Beverly. I'm in H5, a nice pull through site that is a long way from the beach, but I don't plan of going swimming! $22.00 for the night with water & electric. Miles for today - 194.7, trip total 3809.8.

I'm planning to head further south tomorrow & stop to see the Sea Lion Caves near Heceta Beach.  I don't have any serious plans for stops after that, but I'll look for interesting places.

Till then -

Cape Disappointment State Park

Today's Photo - Morning Light at the Hoh Rain Forest














No photos tonight (I added it on Saturday) - I only have a cell connection, and it is super slow - 43K (worse than dial up!)  I'll add at least one when I get a better connection.  It figures that photos would be out - I mentioned last post about morning light & it was there at the Hoh campground this morning.  Oh well, you are going to just have to wait.

Today's mileage was 194.7, all on US 101 for a trip total of 3615.1.  The MPG are up a bit to 13.8.  Nothing to write home about, but better than a Class A making 8MPG...

I have reached the southern most part of Washington State & stopped for the night at Cape Disappointment State Park.  $23.00 for full hookups. There are some great locations for photographing the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse.  I hope to get back to a couple of them either around sunset tonight or early in the morning.  Check out is at 1:00, so there is plenty of time.

I bought a 2 1/2" memory foam topper for the bed - I think I mentioned that the cushions are designed to sit on & are too hard for comfortable sleeping.  The topper had to be cut to fit - I bought a cheap electric carving knife to trim it (one of the best ways other than a hot wire to cut soft foam).  We will see if there is an improvement tonight.  

I also cooked my first full meal in the trailer - I've been eating either sandwiches of soup, etc but decided to make spaghetti & sausage complete with sauce (well, jar sauce, not my infamous homemade).  Not bad, although cleaning up in a 12" sink is a little tough.

Tomorrow it is off to Oregon.  Till then!

Hoh Rain Forest

Today's Photo - A Stop Along US 101 On Lake Crescent.














Actually, it might be called a snow forest - they had a couple of inches last night.  According to the only other person in the campground, the sunrise was beautiful.  At this point the snow is off the roads, the trees, and most of the ground that isn't shaded.  Of course, there is a lot of shade!
I'm in site 25 at the Hoh Campground.  It's self paying since there are no rangers or campground hosts around.  With my Senior Pass it is only $6.00 for the night; one of the advantages of being over 62.  Of course I don't have any water or electricity so I'll get to see how things work without it.  My lighting doesn't draw all that much since it's all LED, but the cell amp & furnace are power hogs.  I'll shut down the amp after posting.

It was an interesting drive on US 101.  About 25 miles north of the Hoh turnoff I hit a wall of hail.  The road went from wet to 1" of ice (at 60mph) Very exciting! Although the RAV4 did some sliding, the Equilizer Hitch, a straight section of road & very careful slowing down to 20mph did the trick.  I sure don't want to do that too often.  Since it is pouring & my mileage information is in the car, I'm going to wait until it stops (probably in the morning) to post todays mileage. The sun came out for a bit & recharged my batteries as well as letting me out of the trailer without drowning, so I'm adding the mileage tonight.  96.4 for the day & a trip total of 3420.4.

I did get out to shoot a couple of images before it started to rain again - I hope it will be nicer in the morning since this is a very pretty location.

You know, even with the rain it doesn't get much better than this.  A quiet location, a gently running river 20' from the trailer, and a wonderful view. More photos at my LakeshoreImages Blog.

Till then -

Port Angeles, WA

Today's Photo - A Stump at Washington Park, WA























Another early morning - I don't quite know how over this trip I have shifted back to pre retirement waking hours, but I guess it will be useful when I start taking sunrise photos.  Couldn't do one if I wanted to since, although not raining at 6:30AM, it was cloudy enough that there wasn't any sunrise.

Washington Park provides an audio extra - jets going overhead throughout the evening. Sounded like military - they were flying too low for commercial. There is a Naval Air Station on nearby Whidbey Island; I suspect that is where they are from. At least they stopped by bedtime.

Washington Park Loop Road

I went for a walk (I promised myself I would keep up my 2 miles a day walk as often as possible on the trip) around 7:00 on the park's loop road.  Met quite a few other walkers - they close the road to vehicles until 10:00AM so it is a popular place.


 Took a couple of photos of an interesting tree hanging over the bay.  Couldn't quite get what I wanted, but here it is

Tree Along Loop Road

After getting back from my walk I decided to tackle the cabinets.  I loaded them rather quickly while waiting to get checked out on the trailer, and have since spent far too much time trying to find things.  In fact, my Melita coffee funnel seemed to have disappeared!  So, I emptied them two at a time onto the bed & put everything back in logical order.  We'// see if it works - I had to do it soon or I'd get used to the disorder!  I did find the coffee funnel.

After that it was off to Olympia National Park, Actually, with a couple of stops, I decided there wasn't enough time to get to the Hoh campground, the one I wanted to stop at, so I stopped in Port Angeles at the KOA campground. I'm in Site 19.  111.1 miles today for a trip total of 3324.

Till tomorrow!

The Second Night

Today's Photo - The RAV4 & The Escape 17 at Washington Park, Anacortes, WA













Last night I already started off skipping something I swore I was going to do - take a photo of every campsite.  One of the problems trying to figure out where I've been would be much easier if I recorded where I stayed, but I forgot to either record it or photograph the site.  Tammy of Escape Industries made a reservation for me at the nearest campground -  Cottonwoods Meadows just across CA1 from the plant.  I was in site 36, not the greatest campground or site, however it was pull through which makes it easier for a new trailer puller!

Tonight I am in Site C18 in Washington Park, Anacortes, WA.  The park is next to the ferry to the San Juan Islands, an area we visited during our 2004 trip.  We stopped here at Washington Park, but just to each lunch, not camp.  The campground is very shady - my solar is only putting out .1 amps.  Beautiful large trees, moss & ferns on the forest floor, and the sunlight (yes, it isn't raining!) streaming through the trees makes for a pretty scene.

Washington Park, Anacortes, WA

Washington Park, Anacortes, WA

Only fault I can find is the sites are a bit muddy.  Although it isn't raining now, it looks like it did earlier in the day.  I need to get a mat for the trailer entrance, and probably a set of shoes that come on & off easier than sneakers.

As to driving, the trailer pulls great.  Just as if it was glued to the car.  As to mileage, I hope to do better on better roads than I took to get here - I dropped from 23.5mpg without the tow to 14mpg.  Oh well, only about 10,000 miles to go! Speaking (well, typing) of miles, today was 76.9 miles & a trip total of 3212.9.

Time to make dinner & relax for the rest of the day.  I got email from my friends that were going to come to Seattle next week, but they won't be able to make the trip from Colorado.  I think I'll head for Olympic National Park tomorrow.

Till then -