Alternative Rosh Hashanah

Cinder Cones on the Horizon

2019-09-30 Monday

Today was Rosh Hashanah. The only time I remember not being home on Rosh Hashanah for the past 35 years or so, was in 2007. That year was our first cross-country RV trip, and we spent Rosh Hashanah in Yosemite National Park. It was a wonderful experience, and we've never forgotten it. Today was memorable also, and a worthy addition to our "alternative Rosh Hashanah experiences".

The day started with us waking extra early and immediately checking our campground for snow--we'd heard it might snow an inch or so overnight. No such happening, however-- we'd had rain, but there was not a trace of snow. In fact, when I took Cassie out to walk, I thought it felt almost balmy, and the sky had signs of blue in it! But I did see when I looked at the mountains surrounding us that in fact, they did have a covering of white. It didn't seem to be threatening us, however, and we ignored it.

One thing we had discussed last night with Adam was whether there was any recycling center in Klamath Falls. We've been shlepping a lot of aluminum cans and plastic water bottles with us for weeks, unable to find anywhere to recycle them. Turned out there was something called the BottleDrop where we could bring our stuff. So that was our first stop--it was only 5 minutes away (all of Klamath Falls is less than 10 minutes from any other part of it-- it's not a large city.) We parked in the large parking lot of a Fred Meyer store right behind the BottleDrop, and dragged in two large bags of flattened plastic bottles, and a bag of squashed cans. Turned out the cans had deposits on them in Oregon, and we got $3.70 back for turning them in! What a deal--we'd have PAID to be able to drop this stuff off! We investigated and discovered they also took cardboard and glass, so back we went to the RV and brought in a lot of cardboard and a few glass containers. Voila! Suddenly our shower is not full of trash!

From there, we headed south to Lava Bed National Monument. It was only about an hour drive away, and to get there, we crossed the state line into California. It turns out that when you cross a state line on a back road, there's no colorful "Welcome to California" sign waiting for you :(  I thought that was very unfair. But soon I was distracted by unusual black mounds in the distance. They sure looked like volcano cones to me!

The landscape changed, and we found ourselves driving along a gorgeous lake, Lake Tule, which signs told us was a wildlife preserve. There were a lot of birds on the lake--I even saw some pelicans! On the other side of the road, the rocks were rising up around us. Soon the lake side turned to cultivated land, but the rocks became even more jagged and unusual. And then suddenly, as we arrived at Lava Beds National Monument, all we saw were black rocks of lava all around us.

The landscape reminded us very much of Craters of the Moon, which we visited in 2011. But it's very different in some ways. Craters of the Moon had much less vegetation growing on the surface--we saw a lot of sage, and especially beautiful Juniper trees (which are all loaded with berries right now.) And the volcanoes are visible on the surface--we climbed up one of the cinder cones. The volcano which created this area was a different kind than the other. The area was formed by the Medicine Lake Volcano. Rather than erupting in explosions, it was "gentler", and erupted through vents in the surface, causing the lava to flow and form what they say is a "shield-like profile.)

I had a hard time understanding the surface convolutions, but what I did understand was that the lava created tunnels as it came out, and those acted like "arteries" to guide the lava as it left the interior. The walls of the tunnels cooled first, creating a sort of "tube" where the lava continued to flow. When it stopped flowing, the walls were still there and they are now caves which open up on the surface. There are more than 700 lava tube caves in the Monument, and a couple of dozen have been opened up to access by the public.

Joey reading an information panel in Mushpot Cave

 We stopped at the visitor's center, where I got a pin for my new collection, and talked to the ranger. He gave me a map, a list of which caves were the easy ones (they are divided based on level of difficulty to explore), and a cave permit. The small interpretive area was very interesting, to say the least, also (more about that in a minute.) It was already about 3:00, so we were anxious to go into one of the caves. We chose the Mushpot Cave, which is the easiest-- it is lit, and has a concrete floor, and interpretive panels to show you features of the cave as you walk through it. Nevertheless, it was exciting and fascinating, not least because Joe and I were literally the only ones in the entire cave! We read about the different types of lava flow, the different markings on the walls and ceilings, and the animals which live in the cave (pack rats, bats, and icky things like centipedes and scorpions.) We brought extra flashlights (recommended), but we still both managed to hit our heads in one particularly low area. We loved it, and I would have liked to try another cave, but Joe was ready to call it a day. It was pretty late, so that made sense.

Looking Down through Mushpot Cave

Another thing which made the area in general so interesting was its settlement history. Originally the area was the territory of the Modoc Indians. When we were driving in, we stopped at an overlook which also marked the spot of the final battle between the Indians the the US Army, which was trying to move them out of the area. The war lasted a number of months, because the Indians knew the land so well that they could avoid the army. The end came when the Indians themselves became divided, and one group guided the army to the stronghold where the Indians were encamped. There were fewer than 200 left in the end, and they were relocated to Oklahoma and their culture was mostly lost. ("Another proud moment in American history," was my husband's wry comment.)

Juniper Tree with Berries

 In the interpretive center, we learned that much of the parks infrastructure had been built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, which lived at Gillem's Camp (which was near the National Monument entrance.) Sadly, during World War II, the camp was used as an interment camp for Japanese civilians. We also learned about that cultivated land we'd seen next to Lake Tule as we drove in. After WWI and WWII, the government had offered parcels of land to army veterans for farmland. The parcels were given out via lottery--which was held by drawing names of winners out of a large pickle jar! There was a replica of that in the interpretive center, along with other information about the settlement of the area around the National Monument. Much of that land had been wetlands, which were drained to create the farmland.

We decided to spend the night here, because it was too late to leave to drive toward Lassen National Volcanic Park, our next destination. Yes, we really are seeing a lot of volcanoes on this trip! The most interesting thing we learned-- until Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, the Medicine Lake Volcano erupted most recently of any in the lower 48 states-- it last erupted only 900 years ago! That's modern history! Scientists study the regrowth and changes at Lava Beds National Monument to learn what may happen in the future around Mount St. Helens. So each of these volcanoes is an ongoing learning experience.

Cassie contemplating the volcanic horizon

 Our Alternative Rosh Hashanah proved to be very interesting--we did not expect so much from this site. But we wished, in the end, that we'd gotten an early start to our day and gotten here earlier. There is a lot to see, and we plan to see a couple of more things on our way out tomorrow. Meanwhile, the campground is beautiful, with views of the surrounding area, and cost us a grand amount of $5.00. So you can't beat that for a lovely end to a lovely day.

Dodging the Weather

Snow on the Road

2019-09-29 Sunday

The big news out here in the west (and in the east) is that there has been a record snowfall in Montana and parts of other states where we have recently visited. In fact, the town of Browning, the center of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, where we spent a day several weeks ago, perspiring while our Jeep's brakes were getting repaired, received 40 inches of snow this weekend.

Our plans for last night, as I wrote already, were to go toward Klamath Falls via Mount Hood. But fear of snow at high elevations (and anxiety about the late hour) caused us to stop for the night down low, and consider our options. So this morning, we continued to discuss whether we should follow our original route or change it. We had heavy rain all night, and the idea that it might be snowing on the mountain tops sent us, reluctantly, to travel via the interstate, in order to have a wider, safer, and less snowy road.

Traveling the interstate means there's really nothing to talk about, but fortunately just south of Eugene, we turned off the I-5 and headed toward Klamath Falls to the southeast. The road was really pretty, running along a river most of the time, but soon we realized we seemed to be climbing again. As the signs on the road informed us that our altitude was going up 1,000 feet at a time, it suddenly occurred to me that maybe there was no mountain-free way to get to Klamath Falls. And indeed, we started seeing snow on trees in the distance.... and soon a bit closer.... and soon it was clear that we were going to be seeing snow up close and personal.

I looked again, more closely, at my maps, and sure enough. We were going over the Willamette Pass, a bit above 5,000 feet. And there had been snow! And it was in the trees next to us, in the woods, and a little bit along the roadside. In the distance we could see beautiful, snow-covered mountains, and we were passing ski resorts. Luckily, we encountered no weather on the ascent, the roads were dry, and we even stopped at several scenic pullouts so I could take photos of Diamond Peak and the Cascade Range in the distance. I also made a snowball, and threw it at the RV's windshield, just for fun.

Diamond Peak and the Cascades in the distance

 We switched drivers at the summit, and Joe drove down the mountain, encountering a very brief squall of frozen rain or something of the sort. But it didn't last long, and we had a safe and scenic ride down the other side. We continued south, passing the turn-off to Crater Lake (we did consider making the detour to visit it again, but I re-read my blog on the subject, and we decided we did NOT relish driving and pulling the Jeep along the curvy narrow roads at the rim of the crater. Been there, done that.)

We thought these clouds were spectacular

 So it was that we cruised into Klamath Falls, chose a KOA from the very sparse choices of overnight parking available to us, and met our godson Adam for an erev Rosh Hashanah dinner at the local Black Bear Diner. The visit was lovely, and certainly a high point of the week for us. And then we came back to our RV, and that was that for our day!

Laundry and Football

2019-09-28 (Saturday)

Today was our combo laundry and football day. We woke up at our nice green state park campsite, and drove down into town, i.e. Castle Rock, WA. It is really a sweet little town-- a lovely riverwalk path, all the necessary small stores and civic buildings, etc. But what we were interested in, as I wrote in yesterday's blog, was a laundromat and good wifi reception, and that's what we got.

We set ourselves up in front of the laundromat at about 11:15 or so, and I loaded 3 loads of laundry into the machines. The washes were finished before 12:30 kickoff, but we had to juggle the dryers a little bit. For one thing, I had trouble using one of the machines and thought it wouldn't start. I also didn't get change out of the change machine after it ate my dollar bill, and Joey had to go next door to get more quarters. Then he was a good sport and stayed with the dryers after the game started. But it was all finished before halftime, and he did some of the folding, and I did the rest while I watched the game.

The game was MSU vs. Indiana, and I seem to be the only one who remembers that Indiana always gives the Spartans fits. This game was no different, and it was remarkably close right up until the very end. I was braced for the worst, but the Spartans pulled it out with the last drive, going ahead in a tied game with a field goal, leaving only 5 seconds left on the scoreboard. Indiana tried a razzle-dazzle, pass the football around like a hot potato trick play, trying to score in those 5 seconds. But on the second pass, the MSU defense knocked it loose, and it bounced into the end zone, where one of the Spartan defenders fell on it. So the final score was a 9-point win, but it wasn't anything like that. It was a great game if you were impartial (like the announcers--they were really enjoying it!) but a nail biter if you were me. But we won--YAY.

After the game, I started trying to figure out where we should drive tonight (about time, right?) Joey went and did the grocery shopping while I calculated our next moves. He even hooked up the Jeep alone. But I finally decided where we should head for (Mt. Hood), and then we left. There was a little sprinkle as we left town, and we saw another nice rainbow.

Before we got to Portland, we saw the Columbia River on our right, which was like seeing an old friend again (we drove next to the Columbia back when we visited Grand Coulee Dam.) We also caught glimpses of Mt. Hood in the far distance--a gleaming white upside-down cone. We were feeling a bit dumb that we hadn't seen Mt. Ranier-- we were pretty close to it for much of our time in Washington. But just after we crossed into Oregon and had maybe 10 miles along the Columbia River, I looked to my left (north, back into Washington) and said, "Holy Crap!  THERE'S Mt. Ranier." I mean, OMG, you can not MISS it, it is so dominating on the horizon!! It is simply humungous. Sadly, I couldn't get any photos of it.

Unfortunately, as we drove down the highway, there was a heavier rainstorm, and clouds, and I started to worry about driving in the dark. So as we passed Portland, we pulled over into a parking lot and used several different apps, until we found a county park about 15 minutes or so south of Portland. We got here just as it became truly dark, but the camp host came out to meet us, and now we are tucked in for the night. There's even a shower--an unexpected luxury. So we're feeling okay. Tomorrow we'll head for Klamath Falls, to see our godson Adam. And then into Northern California to Lassen Volcanic National Park (yes, more volcanoes). And we'll try to avoid the winter storm that is threatening the entire northwest. I didn't pack any winter jackets!

Weather Erupting

Mount St. Helens under cloud

2019-09-27 (Friday)

We had a very good day today, with a variety of weather to go with it. When we woke up this morning, it was warm, with a bright blue sky and very few clouds. I said to Joey, “We should get some great views of Mount St. Helens with this clear sky!” I guess I jinxed it. By the time we arrived at the Mount St Helens Visitors Center at 10:30ish, there were already some clouds massing in the sky. By the time I looked out the window at the center for a “view through the trees” of the mountain in the distance, the sky was covered with gray clouds. But at least the skyline with the mountains was visible.

Due to the fact that I read a lot of the newspaper reports of the volcano’s eruption (on May 18, 1980, for those of you who don’t quite remember about it), we were at the center for 90 minutes or so-- Joey finished way ahead of me and went out to wait in the RV. I found the articles in the paper fascinating, especially the extent of the immediate fallout of the eruption-- skies as black as night in cities 50 miles away, inches of volcanic ash covering everything to the east of the mountain, etc. The extent to which the ash fell heavily made it clear exactly what happened in the Ashfall Fossil Beds in Nebraska which we went to last month-- that volcano was in Idaho, but the ash really travels far! In the case of Mount St. Helens, it traveled around the world--and that was a “small” eruption.

Anyway, it was about lunchtime when I finished, so we ate our lunch in the parking lot while we discussed some plans for the rest of the day. We wanted to go up to the Johnston Ridge Observatory for a close-up look at the volcano crater. We also needed to make some plans for the next 24 hours, including where/when to do laundry, where to spend the night, and where we could find good wifi for the football game at 12:30. Regarding the night, we wanted to look at Seaquest State Park, which was literally right across the street from the visitor center. I thought that would be a nice place to stay tonight, but was pretty sure it would not have any wifi for tomorrow. And certainly no laundry.

So after lunch, we did a reconnaissance mission. We left the RV in the parking lot of the visitor center (the Jeep was still unhooked from the night before; we’d driven them separately for the less than 5 miles from the KOA) and drove the Jeep across the street. We really liked the looks of the State Park-- it was very green and pretty. But of course, there was no internet or wifi or phone service.

Mount St. Helens, still under a cloud

From there, we drove down to the town of Castle Rock, 5 miles away (by the I-5) and discovered that not only could we get excellent AT&T coverage, but the town had very good free wifi as well. There was also a reasonable looking laundramat with good reception in its parking lot.

So we drove back to the visitors center, drove the RV across the street with the Jeep leading the way, and found ourselves a nice spot. Then we hooked up the RV and while I paid the fee, Joey made himself some tea. Finally, we were ready to go up to the ridge and see the mountain close up, but unsurprisingly, it was about 2:45 already!! Luckily, the Johnston Ridge Observatory closes at 6pm, so I figured, an hour up, and we’d get there by 4pm, giving us two hours there.

Mount St. Helens, under a different cloud

We drove up in the Jeep, and the whole time, we were noticing the clouds being more ominous even than before. We also made several stops on the way up, which took extra time. One was because I wanted to see the North Fork Toutle River, which is where the largest part of the overwhelming mudslide came down from MSH, carrying everything with it. I pulled out at the beginning of the long bridge, and as I started across, it started to rain! Meanwhile I could also see sun, so I looked for a rainbow--and sure enough, I got an entire rainbow arced right across the bridge!  So pretty, but I was too close to get more than part of it in my photo. Once I got back in the car, we left that little rain shower behind.

Rainbow crossing the Toutle River Bridge

We also stopped at the Sediment Collector Dam (I think that’s what it’s called), and looked at that for 10-15 minutes. The dam is an Army Corps project to help keep the mud, which continues to come down off the mountain to this day, from flooding down the Toutle River and clog it all up, as it did after the eruption. Although there is a hiking trail of not quite 2 miles which goes right to the dam itself, it was wet and late and obviously we were contented with the overlook, and (in my case) to read an extensive newspaper article about it. 

Finally, we stopped at a couple of overlooks--one of a trestle bridge over the valley (where I read about the work Weyerhaeuser has done in timber reclamation in the area--they lost millions of dollars from the eruption, because they had a tree farm on the side of MSH), and one of the mountain. I’d been grumbling nonstop during the drive up about the clouds, but because they seemed so variable, but was maintaining some hope. But when we stopped at the Loowit Viewpoint, only a mile from the Observatory, a dark cloud had settled right on top of MSH. We could see the foot of the mountain, with the area which was deepest in pumice (I think it’s called the pumice plain) and bright green new plant growth there; also deep ravines of dark grayish-brown, and the Toutle River coming down the mountain. But we couldn’t see the crater, or of course the lava dome inside, or any details at all that would distinguish it from any other mountain.

Mount St. Helens under a cloud, with a display panel to help identify it

 As we stood there reading the display panels, which explained what we SHOULD be seeing, we were very aware of a black cloud approaching us yet again, and suddenly without warning, there was a whoosh of a cold front and the rain suddenly came down in needles. We had to make a run for the Jeep, and we were both distinctly damp. (I was damper... since I’d gotten wet earlier.) We’d gone through 4-5 light rain showers, but nothing like this. Joey was ready to just go home, but I said no, we were only a mile away and I wanted my national park pin for my collection!

By the time we’d gone the extra mile, the rain was already almost stopped, but as we went into the center, the cloud was even lower on the mountain. However, we had an hour and twenty minutes, and were determined to use it! We saw two films--on on the actual eruption (there were a lot of cameras at the ready to record it, because the scientists knew from earthquake activity and a few “practice” eruptions by MSH that it was going to be soon), and one on how the area almost immediately started to rejuvenate, with plants and then animals. The latter ended with a statement about how the mountain is coming back to life in so many ways, and will continue to shape the earth-- and then the screen rolled up into the ceiling, and the curtain behind it rose, to dramatically display floor to ceiling windows with a panoramic view of: TA-DAAA!!!  White fog!!. Obviously on clear days, you get a fabulous view of the mountain at that point through those windows. What we got was, as I said, white fog, COMPLETELY covering the mountain by now. We laughed but it was disappointing. I was hoping to see MSH herself.

I was particularly interested in the panels describing experiences from some of the survivors who had been closest to the mountain when it erupted. They were absolutely harrowing! One was about a family with a 4 year old and an infant--they were able to escape somehow, and were picked up by a helicopter the day after the eruption. One was about 4 loggers working in the forest--only one of them survived to give the details of their escape, and he was badly burned from the explosion of hot air which preceded the ash cloud. Another was a couple, who were tent camping and suddenly saw the river of mud and fallen trees rushing down upon them. The man was able to leap onto a log and “ride it like a horse”, but the woman fell into the mud. Luckily he was able to find her in the chaos and grabbed her wrist (which was broken) and held on to her. They were carried miles by the mud and debris, finally “escaping” by climbing over logs toward the shoreline as they were being carried downstream.

Dramatic clouds which are not covering Mount St. Helens

We were shaking our heads in awe at the entire experience when the announcement came that the observatory was closing. Throughout our stay, we saw through the large observatory windows nothing but white-- once the entire view was a white curtain, but most of the time we could see down into the valley just outside the ridge, and also see the foot of Mount St. Helens, as before. I tried hard to get a little more into my photos, but there was just no visibility. It was very disappointing from that point of view, but we learned so much and the information was all so interesting, that I don’t feel too terrible. From all the movies and photos, I feel as if I’ve seen it, somehow.

So at 6pm, we had to come down the mountain in the Jeep, in the gathering gloom from rain, which came in earnest for a lot of our ride. Then it would stop and we’d have clear views of the mountains, and a couple of gorgeous views with clouds and sky. Maybe it could have been worse-- I looked at the weather report for the mountain, and it may snow tomorrow. We are NOT prepared for that! But anyway, we got home at 7:30, turned on the furnace to fight the chill, and had an easy dinner of kasha and scrambled eggs.

I can’t upload this blog until tomorrow, when we go into town around noon for lunch, laundry, wifi, and football. And after that, I’m not sure what we’ll do next.

Photo of Mount St. Helens that I borrowed from the Internet

Short and Cranky

2019-09-26 (Thursday)

Today was a strange day from beginning until the end. And it won't make for a long blog, either. We first got ready to leave our gorgeous campsite on time--only to get hung up at the dump site. It seemed a guy two RVs ahead of us was filling some kind of enormous water tank that would last him 8 days in the desert. He and the people between us got into a shmooze fest and in the end it was almost 30 minutes until they moved on and we could dump and fill our own tanks. It was about 11:30 when we left.

We drove down US 101, stopping only once, in a small "town" with a one-stop spot which included a post office, where I bought a few more stamps and dropped off some postcards. I also chatted with the postmistress (isn't that an old-fashioned word?) who seemed kind of "eh" on the subject of Mt. Ranier, but loved Mount St Helens. This became more info for me to cogitate... I had thought we'd head next to Mt. Ranier, but for several reasons, I was having second thoughts. I was thinking of skipping Mt. Ranier NP and go straight to Mount St. Helens instead.

Meanwhile, we arrived in Aberdeen, the largest town we'd been in for several weeks. I saw a Safeway was coming up on our route, and I wanted time to think. We also needed a grocery stop. So we stopped there, and I went inside to shop. I was delayed a couple of times in the store (couldn't reach the Half & Half, and then trying to get a store rewards card, because it would save me 10% of my somewhat hefty bill.) The end was that it was after 2:00 when I got finished.

Considering the time etc., and other factors, I decided we should go to Mount St. Helens today, find a campground, and tomorrow we'd explore the mountain. Then we'd have to figure out where to go for some decent wifi or TV reception for the MSU game at 12:30 local time on Saturday.

And that's how we ended up at yet another KOA. I am feeling kind of disappointed about it-- after such gorgeous national park campgrounds for the past 3 nights, this is crowded, unappealing, and there seems to be a crowd trying to use the laundry room, which was one reason I wanted to be here. I think we will leave tomorrow, laundry or not, and look for a nicer spot. There is a state park campground only a few miles from here, and I would have gone there first if I'd known the laundry was not going to happen. The good news is, Joe had a great shower, and I'm going to take one next.

I hope tomorrow seems more fun. I'm disappointed by today. It was just one of those days when nothing went smoothly.

The Garden of Eden/From Sea to Shining Sea

2019-09-25 (Wednesday)

Today we spent a magical, enchanted few hours in the most beautiful place I have EVER been-- the Hoh Rain Forest "hike" into the Hall of Mosses.

Due to being in the campground right at our destination today, you might think we'd have gotten there maybe an hour earlier than usual, but not really. We did enjoy walking through the campground first-- it was simply so beautiful. We were only a few hundred yards away from the Hoh River, and it rushes very fast past the campground. I took some photos of it, as well as another one of our campsite (same as last night, but it was irresistible.) Finally, at 10 a.m., we pulled out of the campsite and drove for 3 minutes to the parking lot at the Visitor Center.

I had been looking forward to this walk/hike for several days, since I'd read on the internet how beautiful it was. It is only .8 of a mile long, so I thought it ought to be easily managable, and take about an hour. Well, it was easily manageable, but it took us over 2 hours. It was absolutely too gorgeous, and even before we got to the beginning of the hike, we were stopping in awe of the beautiful plants we were passing. The small stream we crossed on our way was incredible--filled with emerald-green water plants which streamed out in the water, beneath hanging mossy beards dipping almost to the water level, and even a few maple leaves on the water surface to remind us that autumn is coming. We lingered for 5-10 minutes just at that one point.

Emerald water plants with moss hanging above them

From there, we walked up an incline with about a 50-foot increase in altitude. The rest of the walk was pretty flat, although unsurprisingly, there was the usual mud, and lots of tree roots. But the sun was actually out, so we got sunshine filtering down through the 200-foot tall spruces and pine trees, which added to the mystical, mysterious quality of the forest.

I can't really keep saying "beautiful," "gorgeous," "incredible" over and over, so I'll just string a lot of my photos here. There's more blog further on, but here is what we saw. Like I said, we did not hurry--we simply could NOT. So our walk took us until almost 1pm.

I decided that the best description for me of this place was the "Jerusalem of Forests." It had the same sacred, mystical sense that I get in Jerusalem. It was a primeval magical place.... just perfect and beyond the words to describe it.

By the time we got back to the RV we were full of awe but also hungry. And it was also time to think about our next move. So after lunch, we reluctantly left the Hoh Rain Forest (there were other short hikes, and frankly, I could have spent days there.) The road out was beautiful, as it was yesterday--a little nicer because it was a trifly brighter. The river looked lovely, and the trees formed a canopy over us (there are a LOT of thick trees on the peninsula!) But we headed back toward US 101, our route around the peninsula. Before we reached the end of that winding road through the woods, though, we stopped at a store we'd noticed yesterday. Neither of us, especially Joe, has enough warm-weather clothes with us. It was so darn HOT when we left home, obviously I wasn't planning to ever see the cold again! But I'd noticed this store had long-sleeved flannel shirts hanging outside on display. So, the perfect thing--we stopped and bought two pairs of shirts, another zip-up hoodie sweatshirt, and a cool hat for Joe. I got a shirt too-- 25% off made them as inexpensive as anything I would buy at home. So I felt like I got a deal.

Hoh River

 Meanwhile outside the store, there was a friendly herd of cows grazing next to the parking lot. Joey and Cassie went to see them, and in the back of the field, Joe realized there was another herd grazing there--elk! We'd read a lot about the Roosevelt Elk herd in the Rain Forest, but hadn't seen any of them. But there some of them were! So besides the shy-looking deer I'd seen last night (while we searched for the perfect campsite, I saw him in the bushes), we saw elk today in the park. Not as close-up as at Yellowstone, but fun anyway.

From there, it was only about 40 or so minutes before we arrived at Ruby Beach, the northernmost beach along US 101 (yes, back in the park again, this time along the coast!)  We parked there and went down the path to the rocky, log-covered beach. Not much like beaches at home--but beautiful in an entirely different way. There was sand (it seemed to be pretty low tide) but we stayed on the rocky part, sitting on a whitened wooden log and just enjoying the beach experience. We left home from Oak Island, and here we were, beside the Pacific Ocean. From sea to shining sea!

Tonight we are camped at Kalaloch Campground just a few miles south of Ruby Beach, also on US 101, also in the park, also on the beach. We unfortunately arrived too late today to get a plummy beach-view campsite (those went at about noon); but we can hear the ocean from our site, and we are still in the beautiful woods. More interesting trees and roots, more ferns, more moss.... no one is complaining!

So today was so beautiful, it more than made up for yesterday. Sadly, tomorrow we will be leaving the Olympic Peninsula. We've been here almost a full week, and I'd gladly come back and stay anotheI week! I think this park has become my favorite, equally with Yosemite. There is really something special about the entire peninsula, and I really love it here. Too bad it's so far from home!

Not a Lot Happened Today

Makah Indian Nation Flag on the left

2019-09-24 (Tuesday)

Today was, quite frankly, a very frustrating day when not a lot happened. I guess that happens sometimes, even on the best vacations. And with a vacation like this, which covers 9(!) weeks, there are bound to be one or two days when Life Happens rather than Vacation Happens. Today was one of those days.

We left our RV "park" in Neah Bay at around 10:00, I think, and headed east along WA 212, which is a designated Scenic Highway because it is along the coast of the Puget Sound. And by "along," I mean RIGHT along. And God did not make that coastline a straight line. So we weaved and wove our way along the road (we were happy to see that a downed tree we'd passed yesterday, which had blocked the east-bound lane, had been sawn in half and cleared so we could go past.) I could see that if the day had been warm and sunny, it would have been very tempting to stop and go down to the shore and maybe stay awhile looking for more whales. But it was still overcast, although noticably better than yesterday, and not raining anymore. Yay!

It took about 90 minutes or so to arrive at the town of Forks, which was "large" as these things go on the OP. By that I mean, it had amenities such as a grocery store, a bunch of places to get food, gas stations, and other useful businesses. We saw a Ranger Station, and according to our new policy of stopping for Forest Service Maps, we turned into the small road which became the driveway of the building. Joe stopped along the curb, because we couldn't see the end, and were afraid we would not be able to turn around. The road, of course, was only semi-paved, and there were puddles.

I walked over to the public entrance for the Ranger Station, and discovered that it was closed! It wasn't lunch time, or a weekend, or a national holiday.... it was just plain closed. It would be open on Friday. I was pissed off. My tax dollars are supposed to support this, right? So I walked back to Joe, and he informed me we had a problem. He'd been checking all the Jeep connections (he does this daily, and it's a good habit) and discovered that we had lost a nut to a bolt that holds the tow bar onto the RV. Considering all the incredibly bumpy, semi-paved, and mud-puddley roads we'd been over lately, it was a miracle the entire tow bar hadn't fallen off!

Hoh River Valley

 In brief: to replace a simple nut (which we had a spare of), it involved a) unhooking the Jeep; b) pulling the heavy connecting piece out of the tow bar; c) lifting the RV with the compressor and power jack; d) replacing the nut; e) tightening it with the compression wrench or whatever it was; f) reversing everything we'd done and putting all the tools away.  Did I mention there were puddles in the road? All of this took place in close proximity (and occasionally IN) puddles.  In the middle of this process, Joe couldn't find the right size adapter that fit the nut we were replacing. We were not entirely luckless, however--we were parked RIGHT behind the NAPA store! So he wandered in there, with the seat of his pants all muddy, bought a new adapter for $10, and came back to finish the job.

At this point, it was 1:30 or so in the afternoon. We needed lunch, Joe needed clean (and dry) clothes, the RV needed gas, and I needed an attitude adjustment. It was almost 3pm before we got ourselves out of the town of Forks, Washington, and headed further south to the Hoh Rain Forest in the Olympic NP. The road was another one of those S-shaped roads, with curves back and forth on what seemed like a pretty narrow road. The first 2/3 of it are regular local roads, and the last 6 miles are in the national park. Before we got to the park, we were unexpectedly stopped by an ambulance, police car, and sheriff's car, attending to an accident on the opposite side of the road. A car had run off the road into a tree. We saw as we finally passed (after a 30 minute or so delay) that all the airbags, front and sides, had deployed-- I just hope the people were okay (the ambulance didn't leave for a while, so there didn't seem to be the urgency you'd expect with serious injuries.)

View of our Campsite taken out our RV door

By the time we arrived to the visitors area, it was 4pm. The road had gotten prettier, and we were driving along the wide, shallow, stone-scattered flats of the Hoh River valley. It was really lovely, but we didn't stop to look more closely because we were feeling the pressure of time. But once we arrived, Joe admitted that he was done for the day--wrestling with the RV and all those tools had done him in. There was nothing left to do but the obvious-- to find a campsite in the exceptionally beautiful campground there, and set up for the evening. So that was what we did, and that was our day: driving about 70 miles, replacing a nut on a bolt on our tow bar, and arriving at the campground. Not very exciting...right?

We Reach the Corner of the USA

Corner of the USA--the blue dot is us!

2019-09-23  Monday

Wow, it’s been another wonderful adventure for us today. But when we woke up, we were dismayed to find it was raining again. Not only that, we needed to connect our Jeep. For whatever reason, it took us longer than usual, so it was about 11:20 when we finally hit the road--kind of late for the day I’d planned. I was hoping that the rain would dwindle, because that was why we didn’t do much yesterday--hoping to avoid the rain. But we couldn’t wait another day, so we soldiered on.

We drove about 1.5 hours northwest, heading for Neah Bay (both a bay, and a town of the same name) and Cape Flattery, the northwest-most point geographically in the lower 48 states. It was only about 60 miles from us, but so many of the roads are twisty, 25 mph roads, that it took a long time. We got there at about 2pm, stopping first at the Makah Museum/Cultural and Research Center. Neah Bay is on the Makah Indian Reservation, and I thought we’d learn about them before going to Cape Flattery.

The museum was very interesting (they strictly forbid taking photos, and even have signs not to do any sketching!) The Makah have lived in this part of the world for thousands of years. About 500 years ago, there was a landslide of mud which covered a village called Ozette, about 25 miles or so south, on the coast of the Pacific. The mud totally preserved the village buildings and artifacts for hundreds of years. Then in the mid-60s, the water and wind started exposing the buried village. Archaeologists were called in, and they, along with help from the Makah, carefully excavated the site.

Eventually they uncovered 55,000 artifacts, everything from buildings to every kind of utensil, clothing, weapon, etc. that comprised life in the village before the arrival of Europeans. The Indians realized that they needed somewhere to keep and preserve these items, which represent the life of their ancestors, and they built the museum. It is used as a research resource as well as a display and explanation of the life of the Macah hundreds of years ago. The displays include a comprehensive explanation of the archaeological dig, and then many of the finds are presented in beautiful but simple displays with explanations of Macah life in the village.

Easy part of path. It got harder.

 We spent an hour there, and realized at the end we were both super tired. So we went back to the RV and decided we needed to take a nap before we tackled the 1.5 mile round-trip hike to Cape Flattery. At 3:30, Joe woke me up, and said we’d better go. He was right-- it was another 20 minute drive (for 10 miles) to the parking lot for the hike. We also spent at least 15 minutes trying to decide if we could negotiate the lot with the RV--we weren’t sure we could turn around, despite the fact that there was almost no one parked there. We finally managed, however, and donned rain ponchos and grabbed our walking sticks, and walked into the forest.

I’d read up on the hike, so I knew it was 3/4 mile each way, and downhill all the way there. This did not bode well for coming back, of course, leaving all the uphill portion for after we were already tired. But we were not the ones who designed this continent, and that’s the way it is! The first part was semi-paved. Then we began to encounter more mud (it was raining the entire time) and lots of tree roots. The roots helped somewhat, providing a semblance of stairs. But when it got too muddy, then we had tree stumps buried in the mud to use as stepping stones. Then we reached the wooden pathway built over the worst of the uneven and muddy places occasionally with steps and handrails as well. The wooden walks helped a lot, but often they just alternatived with more tree roots. Occasionally we had to navigate around large puddles--our walking sticks came in VERY handy for this hike. But overall it wasn’t too arduous, just very wet, and then we arrived at the first overlook.

Joe and Deb at the Corner of the United States

Wow! It was beautiful! It reminded me quite a bit of the Oregon coastline-- small islands right off the coast which was steep, and had caves which the waves had carved into it. But it was beautiful, despite the rain and mistiness. In fact, it also resembled Japanese paintings of coastlines, sort of misty and soft. And, it’s the Pacific Ocean! So we had officially gone across the entire country from Atlantic to Pacific. We took a selfie to celebrate.

We continued on the path, and came to a second overlook, this time looking north. This was a beautiful cove, with 3 or 4 caves carved into it. There was another guy there, with a complicated camera and a border collie. The three of us were looking down and suddenly I saw a gray back disappearing into the water. I shouted, “Oh, a whale!!” This was not terribly surprising in one way, because we’d already seen signs along the road saying “Welcome to the Whale Highway” (or something like that, anyway.) The Juan de Fuca straits are known for whales, orcas, and other sea animals and birds, and they are frequently seen. But I certainly wasn’t expecting to see anything in the foggy, rainy air--the visibility was very poor. I almost doubted myself, but we waited about 5 minutes and then both Joe and the other guy said, “There he is!!” This time they saw it, but I missed it... but that confirmed that I did indeed see a whale, which is very exciting.

Pacific Ocean looking north along coast--here is where we saw a whale!

After waiting a little longer with no more whales appearing, we continued on the last little bit of the trail, to the very tip of the peninsula. This last bit included climbing up three steps on a ladder to reach the overlook. There was Tatoosh Island, just off the coast, and the wild ocean all around us. It was fantastic. I’m sure on nicer days, the view is amazing, but just standing there in the rain, feeling the wet air, was wonderful. I took a screen shot of our “blue dot” locating us on Google Maps, there on the very tip of the American continent. We were pretty thrilled.

View from our first lookout, Pacific Coast looking south

Of course, we still had to climb down the steep ladder, and start slogging back up a 3/4 mile uphill trail. The rain began to come down even heavier at that point, and we were just slogging along trying to ignore it all. We did stop to rest a couple of times (they have a few benches along the way, but not many) and I was worried about Joe’s legs, but he pushed to the limit, and after 20 or so minutes of climbing, we were finally back to the parking lot and the RV.

Unfortunately, we were also both soaked and exhausted. We got inside, stripped off our wet clothes, and threw ourselves on the bed for about twenty minutes. Then it suddenly occurred to me that it must be getting pretty late--we hadn’t even started our hike before 4:00. Sure enough, it was after 6:30pm, and it was STILL raining, and as a result, it was pretty dark too. According to my original plan, there was an hour and a half of driving ahead of us to a state park along the western side of the peninsula. But the roads we’d come in on were very winding and slow, and we were now really tired.

Luckily, on my way through the town of Neah Bay, I’d kept an eye out, and we did pass one RV “park”. It looked like an empty lot off the main drag, but I did notice electric posts at the site and the sign saying RV Park. So we decided to see if we could pull in there for the night, rather than drive in the dark when we were tired, with the almost certain prospect of having to unhook the Jeep once we arrived at the state park, in the pitch dark, and possibly still in the rain.

So we drove back to town, and kept a very careful eye out for the RV park, and pulled in. And just like that, we were able to pull through a double space so we didn’t have to unhook. Of course, we are now 90 minutes from where I want to be tomorrow. But it was not a good idea to drive on those roads when we needed to eat and were so tired as well. Joe made us a quick dinner when we got here, we have electricity for our great electric heater (which might help our wet clothes to dry faster), and we are both ready to crash. It was a long day. But an awesome adventure!

Moving Right Along to the Movies

Cassie sniffing ferns at our campground

2019-09-22  Sunday

Today was pretty quiet. We knew it was going to rain all day, and were hoping to have a better day weather-wise today. So instead of sight-seeing, we did as planned-- left our KOA, stopped at Walmart for a few items we needed, and then drove to the movie theater to see the new Downton Abbey movie. We really loved the tv series, and I was determined that although we missed a couple of movies released while we were away, that we’d make a special effort to see this one. It worked out perfectly, although we literally got the last two tickets in the theater and couldn’t sit together. We were surprised by how many people (many of them tourists like us) had the same idea!

When the movie (which we thoroughly enjoyed) was over, we drove about 45 minutes west to Fairholme Campground, right on Lake Crescent, which we had seen the day before. We were literally the only ones in the entire campground, I think (certainly in our loop of it) other than the camp host. We thought we’d seen a lot of larger sites which could hold us, and we had. Our mistake was thinking that ANY of them were level! No matter what we tried, we were always on a significant slant.

We finally decided that the entire campground was a “Mystery Spot.” When I was about 15, my family went to California for a vacation, and we stopped at the Mystery Spot. It was this very mysterious place where balls rolled uphill, and people who were taller looked shorter than short people, depending on what end of a level wooden plank they stood on. We were very mystified by the entire place, but as the years went on, I started seeing other places with names like “Wonder Spot” or “The Cosmos”. And now Joey and I laugh when we see them, and I say, “That’s another Mystery Spot, right?”  And it is. They are always on fairly steep hills, and the entire thing is an optical illusion brought on by the trees all being completely vertical. There was actually one near Glacier NP when we camped, and the guy in the RV next to us told us he’d gone there. And we kind of laughed about it.

Tree roots

Well, this campground was the same problem-- all the sites LOOKED level in relation to the trees, but they were completely unlevel in relation to us!  We finally gave up, taking a spot that was easy to get into, and using all 30 of our leveling blocks to make the RV at least acceptable for one night. It was really crazy to see how each spot we went to (“This one looks better, let’s try this one”) turned out to be as sloped as the last one. By that time, it was dark, and I was tired, and ended up going to bed without writing a blog (we had absolutely no way to upload anyway; we had no bars at all.)

I must say, though, the campground was gorgeous. It was the same atmosphere as the hike we took on Saturday, though the forest-- it had old trees decaying, moss growing on branches and hanging down, and endless enormous ferns! Some campsites were just surrounded by ferns. They were twice the height of Cassie when I walked her, really amazing. The entire place was one of the most beautiful campgrounds we’ve been in. Just... not level.

Spartans and Salmon

Deb & Joe at Marymere Falls

2019-09-21 Saturday

Wow, today was one of those really GREAT days!! Just a fantastic day from start to finish.

The first thing of the morning was dealing with the Michigan State football game. We are in a media hole, apparently. As soon as we arrived, Joe was looking at our connections for television and realized we had a problem. There is no local television reception here (we checked with the campground owner.) There is also no cable at the campground which we could have hooked into. We've never owned a satellite dish, and finally, our usual approach, it seems that ABC TV does not live-stream to this part of Washington. That meant that all our options for receiving a television picture of the Spartans game were out.

Yesterday afternoon, I suggested an idea to Joe: What if we Skyped to someone, and they put their computer so that the camera was facing their television. Would I be able to see the television screen and watch the game that way? Crazy as it sounds, he said that WOULD work. So I asked Beth if she would skype with me. But by this morning, she had totally forgotten--I called her at 8:30 a.m. my time (11:30 EDT-- the game was scheduled for noon) and I could tell that I'd be disrupting their happy family morning together. So I called Jimmy, figuring he'd "get it" about football.

Aimee's Sunroom with computer set up for football

Jim, being the great guy that he is, didn't even COMMENT on the situation. He just went downstairs, got Aimee's laptop (she wasn't home), and clicked on Skype on her machine. I, meanwhile, was struggling to get skype on MY machine-- it just was not working. Then I noticed that the Skype icon was on the desktop, and when I clicked it, I was instantly logged in as Joe. So I called Jim on Skype (we were on the phone at the same time as we did this), he answered, he aimed the computer's camera at his ginormous TV, pushed it closer, and voila! We were just in time for the kickoff!!!  I was absolutely beside myself with feeling smug! Even more fun for me, I turned off the sound from the computer, and listened to the game broadcast over Spartan Sports radio network--my fallback position if I could not get the game on tv (but football loses an awful lot when it's just over the radio.)

Tree roots

So I watched the entire game on Skype (Jim went back to whatever he was doing--he didn't need to stick around), feeling, as I said, pleased as punch. And, MSU won, so it was even more gratifying, especially considering last week's debacle. (AND, not to engage in too much shadenfreude, but Michigan was PUMMELED by Wisconsin, so that completed the football portion of my day very nicely.)

All of this activity took place beginning at 9:00a.m. Pacific Time, meaning that when the game ended, it was only 12:30 here. Joey and I had a hasty lunch, through our "traveling gear" into the Jeep, and with Cassie, we headed off for adventure in Olympic National Park. Nice to get football out of the way early so there's still time to do other stuff .

Our activity of choice turned out to be a hike to the Marymere waterfall. A ranger told me it was mostly easy, and the plus was it goes through old-growth forest to get there. The sign said it was 1.5 miles roundtrip, mostly gently going uphill, but with about 1/8th of a mile with a "steep" ascent. We were not sure what "steep" meant, but figured we would go as far as we could and see. We haven't done much hiking because Joe's legs are still pretty weak since his surgery, but he was determined to do it.

Long way down

The forest we walked through was just awesome! We went VERY slowly, taking our time not just to spare our energy, but because so much of the foliage and trees were so beautiful and interesting. I took a bunch of photos, many of which are here. The intense greens of the forest included the thick drooping moss which covered many of the tree branches like a carpet. There were redwoods, and the ones which were down and decomposing were amazing shades of reddish brown, just gorgeous. There were fascinating tangled roots, and moss and lichen growing on the tree bark. Other than a chipmunk, a squirrel (it was much smaller and cuter than our gray squirrels, being two shades of brown), and a banana slug, we saw no "animals" other than, of course, the lichen (i think they are classified as animal?) But we just loved going slowly and looking at everything so carefully.

We finally got to the rushing stream which came from the waterfall, and then the "steep" part. Yes, it was VERY steep-- going up there were lots of stairs, and they were high, uneven, often slippery, and not easy at all. Joe was a trooper, and climbed the ENTIRE thing. At the top, the waterfall was very pretty, but better than that was just the accomplishment of GETTING there. We felt quite proud of ourselves. The way down was much easier, I thought, and so was the rest of the hike faster (probably because both of our cameras had lost all their batteries so we couldn't take photos anymore.) All in all, I think the hike took us two hours, longer than for younger, faster people, but we were satisfied with our afternoon's adventure.

We were also both exhausted and not quite ready to go home. So we continued on along US 101 toward Sol Duc Hot Springs, which were supposedly 16 miles but an hour's drive. As we passed another turnout for a campground, I impetuously turned in to see what it was like. It was one of the ONP campgrounds (first come, first served) and it was really pretty! It was also pretty uneven almost everywhere, but there were a number of level-ish sites that we thought we could manage. As we continued on the road, we were brainstorming about the next couple of days, something I started yesterday and had still not 100% decided about. The encouraging thing is that there were a number of empty campsites, even tonight, a Saturday. And many of the ones which were occupied, we could see the people were leaving tomorrow. So we feel a lot more encouraged about finding a spot there.

About 15 minutes later, we reached the Sol Duc turnoff. As we went through the gate, I asked the ranger, "Is there anything we can do here besides hiking? We are exhausted." He smiled and said, "Sure! Go to the Salmon Cascades, you can see the salmon!" We were surprised to hear it was a definite thing (the ranger yesterday had said that "maybe we'd be lucky" to see some salmon, although it was "a little early." So we turned off to see the salmon.

Wow, it was FANTASTIC. I could have stayed there for hours--Joey had to drag me away. The Sol Duc river at that point was rushing over the rocks, forming a small but very fast and rough (at least to my eyes) cascade, and there were salmon leaping up trying to get back to their spawning area!  It was fascinating, and exciting, and just a "wow moment" to watch  the wild salmon leaping out of the water and hurling themselves toward the rushing waterfalls. We'd seen them do this on a fish ladder by a dam, but never in the wild this way.

Very old tree (also very big)

There were some "stepped" rocks which offered sort of a natural fish ladder, and several times we saw a fish end up on the bottom "step" and swim UP the steps to the top. There, there was a small pool (we thought of it as a "holding area", where they would try to enter yet another rushing area over the adjacent rocks to continue moving up. We could see several fish in that small area all the time, sometimes they'd get into a big flapping mess--and then one would leave the area, moving into the tumbling rushing water going right by it.

 Lots of times, we'd see a fish hurl itself up, only to hit against one of the slick rocks and slide back down. I wasn't the only one yelling encouragement (at least, I don't THINK I was!) One time, there was a fish just lying in the lowest "step" for at least 10 or so minutes. I was afraid he'd given himself a concussion or something jumping that far, but after a bit, suddenly he started swimming up the natural ladder area to the next level. I guess he was just resting! Other times, we'd see a fish just jump into the air, almost straight up, and splash down again, nowhere near reaching the next level of the cascade.

As I said, I could have stayed there for hours. (Unfortunately, it was near dusk, and my camera's zoom wasn't good enough to get any good photos.) After about 5-10 minutes, Joey went back to get Cassie, and took her for a walk. I hardly noticed he was gone, I just couldn't stop watching the water (I was kind of mesmerized) and the fish. It was just fascinating. By the time he dragged me away, we'd easily been there 30 minutes or so, and he pointed out that a) we were concerned about driving back home in the dark (the road through the park to this point, from even before the hiking area, was another serpentine road with no shoulders) and b) he would need to eat some real food soon, not just the snacks we'd brought. So we turned around and headed back to Port Angeles. We stopped at a Mexican restaurant for dinner, and it really hit the spot! And then we drove home  to the RV.

On the way, we decided that rather than stay at this KOA any more nights, we would leave tomorrow morning as scheduled. Unfortunately, it's supposed to be raining all morning and into the afternoon, which puts a kibosh on many park activities. So the current plan is to leave and go get some things we need at the store, then drive to the local theater (in two vehicles--we won't hook up the Jeep.) We want to catch the 1:15 show of Downton Abbey, which is playing there now. Then after the movie, we will go to the Fairholme Campground we'd seen earlier, which will put us about 40 miles (at least an hour) closer to the western parts of the park, which we want to see on Monday and Tuesday. Plus the campground will be a LOT prettier! Only problem is, it will have absolutely NO phone reception. We will have to work around that, like we did in the Cascades. It's only for two days, and we won't be in the campground most of the time. So it should work out, and be a lot more enjoyable than two more nights here at the KOA, although the KOA is actually the prettiest one we've ever seen. Nevertheless, we don't love it, and it's expensive, so we are ready to move on.

Looking up to the sky

Variety of plants in hollow tree

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