Mt Rainier Fall Getaway Oct 2018

Quick Trip to Mt Rainier
Mt Rainier Video

Oregon Coast Bike & Hike Aug 2018

07.29.18  Fall City to Fort Stevens

Traveling day. Got to Astoria around 2pm. Lots of traffic and very busy so decided to go directly to campground instead of eating in town. In Warrington, spotted Vince (aka Boomerang) riding the streets. It has been two years since we last saw Vince on the Northern Tier ride. Vince just finished riding from Chicago to Oregon. Great to catch up again and hear about all his bike adventures. Jim and Katie arrived and the party begin with margaritas. Jo cooked an awesome pasta and meatballs dinner including fried Schats bakery cheese bread, salad, and caprese salad. All this followed by my moms brownies topped off with whipped cream. After dinner we all walked to Peter Iredale wreak on the beach. 
Day 1 Video Fall City to Fort Stevens

07.30.18 Fort Stevens to Nehalem Bay

It was a foggy-wet morning so the group was slow to get moving and into the biking-hiking groove. Once the bikers (Kevin, John, Katie, & Vince) had ridden away, the vans rolled out for Cape Falcon with a short stop at Fred Meyers for fuel and Rainier beer for Vince (IPAs aren’t his choice). We passed the bikers stopping to fix a flat as they waved us on. We arrived at the trailhead with plenty of parking for the vans. The Hikers (Jim, Janet, Jo and Bobdog) started off through a forest of huge spruce trees. A steep cliff on one side of the trail made us sure to watch our step. The trail was covered in roots so good balancing, hopping and foot placement were important. As we rounded a corner, the beach appeared below with sun/cloud bathers and surfers. A little further on a short side trail led to an overlook of Blumenthal Falls. Not much water this time of year going over the falls. Back on the main trail, we continued onto Cape Falcon. The trail at this point had been cut through a jungle of salal. It created a wall of salal on either side of us. We finally made it to the Cape with great views of the ocean and Neahkahnie Mountain to the south. There must have been a school of fish out there as hundreds of birds were sitting on the surface of the water and we spotted a whale feeding in the same area. The whale would surface for a few seconds and then disappear. We enjoyed the views and whale for awhile and then decided it was time to head back. On the way back to the vans, I noticed Jo had picked up the pace and when asked why she said the potato chips were calling her. Back at the van, Jo broke into the chips while Jim and I compared the mileage and elevation gain that the various apps reported to us. They all had about the same mileage around 5 miles but the elevation gains were all over the place from 700 ft to 1300 ft. Jim was also impressed by our WiFi booster seems like a future purchase might be happening. The bikers by now had reached Manzanita and were enjoying a few cold brews at the Sand Dune. The town was packed with tourists so the vans headed to the campground. As we made our way to our site, we dodged the dozens of kids riding their bikes all over the campground roads. Jo cooked another great dinner. After dinner we took a short hike over the dunes to the beach. The sand felt great on bare feet. 
Day 2 Video  Fort Stevens to Nehalem 

07.31.18 Nehalem Bay to Cape Kiwanda

Drove to Tillamook creamery as our first stop of the day. The building has been newly renovated and now seems to be an even bigger tourist trap. We took the self guided tour and waited in a long line for our free cheese samples. Jo tried to milk a life size plastic cow. Let’s just say that diary farming is not in her future. We then drove to Cape Meares State Park for its attractions. We visited the Octopus tree which is a Sitka Spruce that is probably over 250 years old. The tree instead of having an upright central base grows like tentacles of an octopus upward. We discovered a trail beyond the tree and set off on it to an unknown destination. The trail wandered along the hillside with occasional glimpses of the coast and eventually connected up to the road. We walked back up the road to the entrance of Park. At the entrance was another trail leading to biggest Spruce in Oregon that is over 750 years old. Standing 144 ft tall, 48 ft in circumference and 15 1/2 ft in diameter. Heading back down hill to the lighthouse as our final destination in the park. The Cape Meares lighthouse is the shortest lighthouse, but is inactive now. Back in the vans, we set off for Cape Lookout for a walk along the beach. There was only one problem when we got there the tide was in and there really wasn’t any beach to walk on. We enjoyed the waves for a bit then headed toward camp at Cape Kiwanda rv resort. There we met up with everyone and walked across the street for dinner at Pelican Brewery.
Day 3 Nehalem to Cape Kiwanda 

08.01.18 Cape Kiwanda to Beverly Beach

Woke this morning to the sound of sprinklers. Popped my head outside of the van to see John’s tent being sprayed by one and apparently he had set his tent on top of one as well so it was a bit of a wet morning for John. Packed up camp and everyone headed out. We drove to Neskowin and ended up meeting the bikers having their second breakfast. We hungrily ate the scrapes from their plates. Then it was off for a walk on the beach at Proposal Rock. It was mostly cloudy but the sun popped out once and we spotted our shadows so much for enjoying sunny beach weather. Along the walk, we found a dead seal on the beach, a live seal playing in the surf and lots of dead little crabs. Jim walked the whole 6 miles barefoot that’s quite a sand pedicure. Bobdog got a little freedom but still ran along side of Jo. Back at the car, we headed towards camp. We drove the Otter Crest Loop and enjoyed the views. At camp Jo fixed another great meal and we enjoyed the Tillamook ice cream we had bought a couple of days ago. 
Day 4 Video Cape Kiwanda to Beverly Beach

08.02.18 Beverly Beach to Port Suislaw RV Marine

Started the day with a walk along the river trail to Beverly Beach. Jim had fun using a new app called “Seek” which identifies plants and more with snap of a picture. On the beach, we made our way hopping and jumping over the pools of water. It was about 4 miles and mostly cloudy. We then headed to Yaquina Head Lighthouse. They have a nice visitor center here. We walked from the visitor center to the lighthouse. Beautiful coastal views along the way and lots of seabirds. We spotted a couple of whale spouts which someone said were gray whales. Jim and I took the stairs down to the tidal pools while Jo and Bobdog stayed up top. As the tide was in, there were no pools to explore but we did see a bunch of seals bobbing up and down just off shore. The seals were watching swimmers who appeared to be on the seal’s beach. As we headed towards the lighthouse, we could hear the calls of hundreds of seabirds. Just off shore was a giant rock formation that was covered with birds (cormorants, murres). Must have been a great nesting spot for them. Next stop was Smelt Sands State Park bear Yachats to check out the the waves crashing into rock crevices and spraying everywhere. By this time the bikers were already at camp so we needed to get moving. We made a quick stop to see Devils Churn near Cape Perpetua but not much wave action today. Our last stop was Darlingtonia Wayside to see the plants that trap and digest insects. We made our way to camp to find the bikers waiting for their gear. We never really said we were their support van just a gear hauling van. LOL
DAy 5 Video Beverly Beach to Port Suislaw 

08.03.18 Port Suislaw RV Marine to North Bend (Mark & Yulans)

Today, we hiked the Oregon dunes trail. A 4.5 mile loop which goes through dunes, forest, wetlands and the beach. We started off on the trail and made our way down to the dunes. Somehow, we missed the start of the trail and ended up climbing up and over several large dunes in search of the trail markers. Thanks to Google’s satellite view, we were able to locate the direction of the trail and navigated to rejoin the trail. Once on the trail, we continued over more dunes and thorough forest until finally reaching the beach. The beach was like being on a deserted island, there was no one in sight. Along the way we saw the Plovers (birds) bathing in a pool of water. The shores had lots of broken shells most likely from birds feeding. Luckily, I had brought water as our walk ended up being over 2 hours long. Jo and Bobdog also walked for about the same time but they couldn’t go with us because dogs were not allowed near the Plovers. Back at the van we headed south making a stop at Winchester Bay to watch the birds play in the Umpqua river. We wandered past the Umpqua lighthouse and arrived at Jo’s brothers house. Mark and Yulan served a wonderful dinner (steak, rice, and dumplings made fresh by Yulan).
Day 6 Video Port Suislaw to North Bend 

08.04.18 North Bend to Humbug Mountain

Mark prepared a huge breakfast including eggs, ham, bacon, steak, sourdough toast and homemade jam. It was delicious! We followed the bike route thru Charleston and over the Seven devils rejoining Hwy 101 before Bandon. We then took Beach Loop Drive and checked out the Views from Bandon State Park. Toured the New River BLM interpretive center. Then checked out camping at Boice Lake county campground and Floras lake. Last stop was Cape Blanco Lighthouse. Got a short walk in to the lighthouse and spotted a couple of whales offshore. We picked up a couple of ladybug hitchhikers on our windshield at the lighthouse and they hung on all the way to Humbug Mountain State Park, surviving a constant 60 mph! We parked our 23 ft van in the 93 ft campsite. Sure glad I’m not driving something that big around. Jo started her special combination of fixings for burrito nite cooked in the rice/slow cooker. We enjoyed our final evening of this bike ride trip. 
Day 7 Video North Bend to Humbug SP 

08.05.18 Humbug Mountain to California Border

Final day of the bike ride. Jim, Jo and Janet did a short hike at Sisters Rock State Park so that we would be at the border when the bike riders arrived. It was a nice trail that joined up with a rutted road towards a cave and beaches on either side. We explored the entrance of the cave but didn’t go in as waves were rolling through it. We made our way down to the beach to check out a metal structure which someone had drawn a cool design on. The beach also had huge logs with metal and bolts maybe a pier sometime in the past. Jo and the beagle walked over a rock outcropping to check out puffins and other shore birds. As they made their way back, Bobdog wanted to go in a different direction and proceeded to pull Jo over onto the rocks causing her to twist her ankle and cut up the back of her hand. We offered assistance but she said no. So she slowly hobbled her way back up the hill only to encounter park rangers who were working on the trail. The rangers had gotten their machinery stuck in the middle of the trail so Jo had to shimmy by with her lame ankle. The Rangers offered to help but Jo kindly refused and said she could make it on her own. Once at the van, we doctored her up with Benadryl spray for her hand and ice and ibuprofen for her ankle. We stopped for lunch of Yulan’s homemade Chinese dumplings at Meyers Beach. The bikers riders flew by as they descended from Cape Sebastian. Since Jo was unable to hike anymore, we left Jim to explore on his own. Jo wanted donuts from Bakery by the Sea so we headed for Brookings. Sadly, they were out of donuts so I bought a pie, sweet bread bun and ciabatta bread. We hung out at county park and watched the people playing on the beach and in the surf and then headed over to the harbor to wait for the bike riders. The bike riders regrouped and rode the last 5 miles to the California border. After congratulations and victory photos, we loaded the bikes and gear up and said our goodbyes to Jim and Katie. We stopped for dinner at Superfly in Brookings and headed north towards home. 
Day 8 Video Humbug Mtn to Calif Border 

Montana & Canada Bound Jun 2018

Explored Glacier Park and Canada

June 19-24
Glacier Park Video

June 25-29
Montana & Canada Video

2018 Surf Weekend w NWOC May 2018

Enjoyed time with friends at the the annual NWOC Surf Reunion at Neah Bay.
Surf Weekend Video

Utah Bound April-May2018

5/3/18-5/6/18
On our final days away, we explored the cathedral caves and passage ways. The walls towered over us allowing glimpses of the blue sky. We climbed to the top and viewed the valley. Back on the road, Kevin was excited to find Las Vegas beer at a small gas station. Of course, it was 3.2 beer as it was Utah. We continued to the Extraterrestrial Highway and Area 51. We were lucky that the Alien Research Center was open! We were greeted by a giant silver alien! Inside the building contained all the alien tourist gadgets and other memorabilia. Of course, we bought an Action Bend-Deez Alien and a couple of tourist magnets. The Extraterrestrial Hwy is a long lonely road with one town
“Rachel” and lots of wandering cows and a few dead ones. Not a road to be driven at night. We made our way to the Bob Scott Forest Campground which was closed as most of these don’t open until late May. But we had planned to sleep near the entrance which was the same idea a few other people had. We found a spot across the road and settled in for the night. Next day, Kevin noticed one of the sprinter tires was slowly losing air. We made our way to Les Schwab in Winnemucca. Kevin already suspected that it wasn’t a puncture but a cracked wheel and Les Schwab confirmed it. So we got the spare mounted and we were on our way. (This is the 2nd steel wheel we’ve had crack so
we will be buying better wheels.) From there we traveled through Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, back through Oregon and finally Washington and home. The beagle greeted us with lots of tail wags and barks.
Utah Bound 05.03-06.18 Video

5/1/18-5/2/18
Last week in Escalante, we had some rainy/snowy days so we hiked around the local area. Found a trail up the backside of the park and hiked until we saw a beer can in a tree and figured that was a good turnaround. The weather was starting to turn at that point and it began to hail. The going became difficult when the clay dirt turned to mud that clung to our shoes. With each step our shoes became heavier until we scraped the mud off on various rocks as we descended. It was hilarious.
The next day we went on the hunt for the circle of friends pictograph. After wandering around in the desert for hour and spotting a dead rattlesnake, we finally found the pictographs. We then said goodbye to our friends as we headed west. We drove to Cedar City and then over Hwy 56 to Cathedral Gorge State Park for the evening.
Utah Bound 05.01-02.18 Video

4/30-5/1/18
A couple of great days around Escalante hiking through slot canyons and hills. Jim & Katie’s 4 wheel drive Sprinter was great in getting us to the trailhead. It made us wish 4 wheel drive was available when we bought our Sprinter. Short hike to the entrance of Peekaboo. Tricky 15 vertical foot entry to Peekaboo which required you to trust your feet
and a mantle or inelegant beached-whale move to get over the lip. We then continued through the canyon ducking over and under the rocks. Stemming, chimney, mantle and counter pressure techniques were all used. Once through Peekaboo, we hiked through the desert to the entrance of Spooky. After a short break enjoying laying on the rocks in the sun, we headed down Spooky. Spooky had a tight down climb and then the canyon narrowed. Several places required turning sideways and squeezing through and walking that way for several yards. Meeting people going the opposite direction meant you had to find a wider place to pass which may require going backwards. It was a load of fun! We hiked back to the Sprinter through washes and over rocks following the cairns “ducks”. Some were so poorly constructed, I dubbed them “lame ducks.” Back in the van for the hour 4 wheel drive back to camp with a stop in town for ice cream at Nemo’s. Jim and the van handled the rough dirt road in excellent fashion. Dinner at the BBQ trailer in
town. Next day started with cooler temperatures-rain and snow mix. I’m sure everyone is wondering if it was the Northwesterner who brought the bad weather. We decided to hike the petrified forest next to the campground. The rain really enhanced the colors of the petrified wood. Dinner at Hell’s Backbone Grill in Boulder, UT. Another great day!
Utah Bound 04.30-05.01.18 Video

4/29/18
Burr Trail Road
It was really windy throughout the night at Larb Hollow rest area but we awoke to a nice view. Headed back towards Escalante and saw a sign for Burr Trail Road. 31 miles one way connecting Boulder, UT via Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to Capitol Reef National Park. The trail was originally built by John Burr to move cattle from the plateau on Boulder Mountain to Bullfrog Basin near the Colorado River. The trail is now mostly a paved road. So we decided that looked like a fun side trip to explore. Along the way was the Navajo Sandstone outcrop known locally as Sugar Loaf. Formerly, sand dunes that were repeatedly buried and exposed over millions of years. Changes in pressure have resulted in cracking of the sandstone forming biscuit like sections. As we continued the drive, we descended into a canyon. In several places, you could see the start of arches in the canyon walls. We drove all the way to the border of Capitol Reef National Park. Here the road changed to dirt and recommended high clearance 4 wheel drive vehicles only, so we decided it was time to turn around and head back. This was a fantastic road, substantially less traffic than Capitol Reef National Park and I thought better scenery. On the way back, I spotted a little slot canyon. It did not go back very far but it was pretty cool seeing the giant rock soaring overhead. We walked in the wash for a bit exploring and gazing upward. Once back on highway 12, we headed for Escalante where we met up with our friends Jim & Katie and enjoyed dinner at one of the local restaurants. Then off to our campsite in Escalante Petrified Forest Campground.
Utah Bound 04.29.18 Video

4/28/18
Kodachrome, Hwy 12 to Capital Reef
Today, we explored Hwy 12 and Capital Reef National Park. Throngs of tourist but I guess that is to be expected as it is the season and a Saturday. Temperature was 83 degrees. I heard one tourist ask the ranger where they could hike in shade. The ranger just laughed and said there are no trees and no shade in this park. We drove the scenic trail in Capitol Reef and then headed back towards Escalante. Overnighting at Larb Hollow Viewpoint and looks like three other travelers will be sleeping here as well so I guess we won’t have it to ourselves. But that’s ok because it does have an awesome view.
Utah Bound 04.28.18 Video

4/27/18
Bryce National Park
Side trip to Bryce. It was very busy at the first viewpoints so we drove to the end of the road were it was a little quieter. Hiked around there checking out the expansive views and bristlecone pine trees that have lived over 1000 years. Spent a couple hours talking with another couple (Norman & Isabel) from Montreal who are traveling around in a van. Dinner at an overlook in Bryce. Then drove back to Arch group campsite at Kodachrome SP and met up with our new friends Tom & Meg. We will see them again as they live in the northwest and have invited us to go sailing off of Orcas sometime in the future. Meg is a beagle lover as well so she was excited to hear about Beagle Nationals this October in Portland.
Utah Bound 04.27.18 Video

4/26/18
Kodachrome and area. Beautiful scenery but hot for us Northwest sissies! But I guess hiking at 2pm not such a great idea. The campground was full but we were able to park in the group campsite with some other folks and we made some new friends.
Utah Bound 04.26.18 Video

4/25/18
Birch Creek to Yuba lake sp
Left our BLM campsite and headed south just past Provo, UT. Found a great campsite at Yuba State Park with a lake view and showers.
Utah Bound 04.25.18 Video

4/24/18
Another 350 miles closer to our Utah destination. Beautiful views through the Bitterroot valley and along the Salmon River. Oh so close to the put-in for the Main Salmon River! We saw several pronghorn grazing along the highway. And we found a great free BLM campsite along Birch Creek with a snowy mountain view out one window and craggy, rocky mountain view out the other window. We are at 6000 feet so might get a little chilly tonight.
Utah Bound 04.24.18 Video

4/23/18
We’ve hit the road again! Beautiful sunny day in the northwest also makes me smile. The plan is to meet up with friends in Escalante next week but until then we headed east towards Montana. Usual sites along the way the Columbia River and the horses on the hill. Along the way we saw a road sign indicating free RV Park with electricity at Lincoln’s 50,000 Silver Dollar Bar so we thought let’s check it out. The bar has silver dollars covering the walls and the
store has quite a collection of items for sale. Couple of the bar patrons were a bit stiff and not very talkative. Lol. Jo and Bobdog were not able to join us on this trip.
Utah Bound 04.23.18 Video

 

Frampton is still Alive! Apr 2018

Frampton is still Alive! Great concert last night!

Reno with Family Mar 2018

A couple weeks ago we met up with my cousins and aunt for some fun and sun in Reno. We had a great time hanging out, eating, gambling, and sightseeing. Looking forward to next year.

Reno Video

Birthday Get Away Mar 2018

Had a great few days celebrating my birthday!
Birthday Get Away Video

Brush Prairie & Seaview Feb 2018

Enjoyed a few days with our good friends Lesley & David and then off the coast for some sea and sand.
Brush Prairie & Seaview Video

Leavenworth Skiing and Fun Feb 2018

Off to Leavenworth for xskiing and Wenatchee sightseeing.
Leavenworth Skiing Video