Thursday, first day in Whitehorse, we drove in from Carcross then we spent time getting caught up on internet time and other work around the coach like a complete pressure wash.  Then into town to the Visitor Center then on to get Free Parking Permit (closed at 4:30 we arrived at 4:31).  Stopped by the box office for “Frantic Follies” and bought our tickets.  Back to G2 for dinner and then into town for the 8 PM door opening and the 8:30 curtain.  Fantastic show! Definitely worth the price of admission, many belly laughs and endless chuckles. Got out at 10:15 and the sun was still up.

Friday, second day.  We drove into town to see the Beringia Museum (pronounce that with a soft g) which focuses on the prehistory of The Yukon and the many wooly mammoths and similar animals whose remains have been found here (many look much like what has been unearthed at La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles).  We arrived there at 9:55 Am in time to see the first of two movies and there was one other couple in the place.  By the time we had played with the atlatl out in the grounds another couple had arrived to join for the second movie.  Then we finally got around to buying our tickets and had a guided talk by the staff person.  At noon we left with the first couple and walked over to the Yukon Transportation Museum which was included in our ticket price.  That museum has photos from the early days of flight in The Yukon, a history of the White Pass and Yukon River (WP&YR) rail construction from Skagway to White Horse and an entire section devoted to equipment used to construct the Alaska Highway.  It was now 1:45 and we went back to the coach for lunch and then roared on.  Next stop the McBride Museum which has collections of material from the growth of Whitehorse with a particular emphasis on the characters.  For our newspaper friends I spotted this, hope you can read it: 

They have the original cabin of Sam McGee (read Robert Service “The Cremation of Sam McGee).  None of the poem is based on fact and Sam McGee actually lived well beyond the time of the poem and in warmer climes, but he was a friend of Robert Service.  From there we went on to the 4 PM guided tour of Klondike the last stern wheeler from the era preceding the highway from Whitehorse to Dawson City. 

There are more pictures on the picasa website, just click on any of these to get there.  Or Click Here

Not done yet!  We drove out Miles Canyon Road to see the Miles Canyon suspension bridge, a foot bridge over this rugged canyon which carries the Yukon River over rapids into Whitehorse.  From there we continued a bit south to Copper Moon Gallery.  Watch for signs otherwise you would have a hard time finding it.  It is an extensive gallery of local artists work.  Although it is uneven, it does seem to feature some of the finest local art we have seen.  This is well worth a stop, about 15 miles south of Whitehorse just north of the Petrogas station (within sight).

Following this we went back to Whitehorse and after a bit of car touring settled on the Bar and Grill at Edgewater Hotel for dinner.  The meals were excellent and we met an engaging couple who collect countries like we collect states and provinces.  They were on the return leg of a car trip from Los Angeles to Alaska. 

End Day 2.  I’m tired!  Not sure what we will do for an encore tomorrow.  I had intended this to be just a list of activities, but I hesitate to fill it out with any more detail.  You will have to make this trip for yourselves!  We know there were 8 tour buses in town, but we managed to miss the crowds where ever we went.

After leaving Fort Nelson we made a planned stop at Liard Hot Springs.  This is a well reported “must” stop along the AH (reference to Alaska Highway hereafter).  Unlike the Radium Hot Springs these have not been “bottled” into swimming pools to serve the masses.  The spring descends through a series of pools created by modest damming with logs.  The board walk to the pools and around them is a substantial, but plain boardwalk and the changing rooms are Spartan to say the least. We entered the water at turned out to be the midpoint of its temperature range.  Moving up stream a few feet raised the surface water temperature a few degrees and a like move downstream lowered the temperature a bit.  The surface water is hotter than the bottom water so if it felt too hot I could just reach down and circulate the deeper water up to mix with the surface to moderate the temperature.  Although I had no thermometer with me the temperature was reported variously as 108 to 110 F.  To other travelers along the way:  This is indeed a must stop and if we pass this way headed south we will stop again.

Although we made several more stops to ooh and ah over the vistas and to acknowledge bison, bear and other critters along the road we eased in to Watson Lake, YT late afternoon and set up camp at Downtown RV.  This was as described a large gravel parking lot with hookups and right in the center of town. During the day’s drive we had noticed a clanging, banging noise which turned out to be a loose part on a rear wheel cover.  Three of four rivets had come loose and the center section was wobbling and clattering.  I spoke to the campground owner who directed me to the Home Hardware which was through the Signpost Forest and across the highway.  There Homer guided me to the correct bin of nuts and bolts and advised me to add some Loktite to make sure they would hold.  Returning to the campground I set up my repair shop – tool kit next to chair in the sun in front of the coach to make my repair.  This attracted a neighbor who we joined later to see the Northern Lights Show.  Yeah, I know we are in the Land of The Northern Lights, but they are hard to see when the sun has not set at 10 PM and rises before we awake at 4 AM.  So we had to see the video of the Northern Lights in a very nice planetarium facility across the street form the campground.

The next day, as we were rolling toward White Horse, we decided to take a side trip recommended by several people.  At Jake’s Corner we turned down route 8, The Tagish Highway toward Carcross.  Yes, there is a crossing there, but it is not cars.  It is a Caribou Crossing.  After much fiddling around and struggling to find the visitor center we were guided to the Carcross Campground.  The signs we had passed seemed to lead us to driving down the local airstrip, not generally a good idea.  It turns out the road to the campground is maybe 100 yards off the centerline of the strip and then disappears into the woods.  Here we set up camp for two nights with no electric, water or sewer.  There is phone service.  There were only two others in the campground for the night.

Our visit to Carcross included a walk in the Carcross Desert.  A one square mile of dunes left over from prehistoric times. It really isn’t technically desert as it is too humid. It is quite strange to see lush conifer stands in what appears on the surface to be desert and no cactus to be seen, they would never survive the sub zero (Fahrenheit) temperatures of winter.   The town itself is torn up, as the roads are being realigned to make it easier for tour buses to drive through and stop.  Also many of the important structures from times long gone are being restored.  This is not a preserve area so major restoration is more a matter of money than permits.  Walking around in some respects was like walking though a Disney back set before the place is ready for guests.

Day 5, Wednesday, we set off early in the morning (for us) in the car to drive 65 miles to Skagway, one of the premier cruise ship stops on the inland passage.    Before we got very far out of Carcross we spotted two bears on the side of the road sparring.  They were distracted enough that I was able to back the car up a 100 yards or so after going passed them and stop on the side of the road across from them and spend several minutes photographing for me and for Carol.  We signaled to another car what we were seeing and as they stopped we drove on.   The rest of the trip was engaged in much oohing and aahing over the incredible scenery and mountains still enrobed in snow and ice.  We climbed past the Canadian customs, 7 miles from the border and ascended to the border with the US and then descended 7 miles or more to the US Customs Post.  Those 14 miles are so inhospitable that no one wants to maintain a permanent post there.  Oh yes, this is where the Gold Rush Stampedes of 1898 had to climb to to get to the Klondike Gold Fields in Dawson City.  They had to travel 600, that’s six hundred miles from the ports of Skagway or Dyea. 

Before turning into Skagway we took an eight mile side trip to Dyea town site.  This was one of the two primary launching sights for the gold seekers to reach for Dawson City and the Klondike Gold Fields.  The town grew from a native village of a few hundred on a tidal flat to a substantial town that hosted tens of thousands in a year!  Today almost nothing remains but clues for archeologists.  A wharf they constructed that reached a mile out over the mud flats is now a few remaining posts out in the flats and some indents in the ground at the shore end. The largest warehouse is crumbling remains that need to be defended from the bears which like to tear the wood apart for the grubs that it hosts.  The rows of trees planted to define the roads and a line of stumps. 

We turned from there to Skagway which survived only because a rail link to Whitehorse was constructed there at the peak of the of the boom and together with the deep water harbor these made Skagway a coastal link to the interior.  Today it is filled with cruise ships and tourists and the streets are indeed lined with gold in the hands of the passengers from the cruise ships waiting to be exchanged for all kinds of goods and services the merchants are prepared to sell.

The day ended with an uneventful drive back to G2, tucked away in the woods.  We never did see dark at the campsite even though we stayed up until 11 and got up at 4 ish for nature calls.

We left Mile 0 RV Park by 9:30 and were directly on the Alaska Highway.  Using the sources we had been reading we decided to take Mike and Terri Church’s advice and stop short of Nelson at a roadside campground for our first night out.  We bypassed a couple because they didn’t offer much for the money and looked rather too scruffy.  We finally decided on Sikanni River Campground & RV Park because the next and last possible stop was a “User Maintained” site.  That is, an abandoned provincial campground.  The ones we had looked at along the way were all muddy and unkempt.

Sikanni River is at the bottom of a northbound grade with pitches to 9%.  Carol was at the wheel and eased us down the grade at an average speed of 30 mph in first gear, we barely warmed the brakes.  She caught the first driveway into the store/gas station/rv park and we were greeted by Jackie the owner.  Gas prices were sky high ($1.459/liter) so we elected to skip the top off in hopes of slightly lower prices in Nelson.  The campsite we took with power but no water or sewer was $25 and is directly on the Sikanni River.  As I was checking in – handing over the cash – I noticed a sign “Free Night of Camping Awarded each night to a Lucky Door Prize Winner (When we have more than 5 campers).” 

We had not seen much wild life along the way.  It is too early for berries to attract the bears and the moose and elk seem to be pretty much at rest while we are driving.  Much to my surprise, as I was sitting outside the coach with my book looking at the river, I heard what sounded like a large horse approaching.  It was a female moose and she trotted across the campground in front of the coach and passed within 50 feet of where I was sitting.  I barely had time to realize in was a moose before it was gone from sight.

After dinner we wandered around the campground greeting the other Alaska bound travelers and chatting about our experiences.  Jackie and her husband approached and handed me $25.  I had won the drawing for the day.  Putting aside the lucky draw, Carol and I would strongly recommend to our RVing friends who might take this trip to plan a stop at Sikanni River, if you still have brakes for stopping when you get to the bottom of the grade.

To be posted the next time we have internet  service.

We stopped at Fort Nelson Heritage Museum and could not photograph .1% of the material they exhibit, so here is the largest item on display:

It is a 16 cylinder engine used to drive one of the generators to provide electricity to the region.  It ran for over 111,000 hours.

We have internet of sorts tonight at Toad River Lodge.  Camping is reasonable the gasoline is outrageous, $C1.559 per liter.  That works out to north of $6 a gallon.  Of course Fort Nelson is 115 miles back and the next place with “reasonable” pricing we are told is Contact Creek Lodge, 165 miles up the road. 

On the road we passed a truck camper stopped on the shoulder.  When we saw them fueling at Fort Nelson we said they were stopped to look at a sow bear and cubs, not that we could have stopped had we known, but . . .  Later on, as we passed through Summit Lake and began a long descent through an incredible gorge with the road carved into its side, we saw several Stone Sheep (smaller than Rocky Mountain Sheep) on the side of the road and up the cliff.  Couldn’t stop but went real slow to avoid hitting them and to take a look.  No pictures.

More coming!

This is being posted after a delay because as I write I am sitting in the Canadian National Parks forest outside of Jasper and there is no internet available and I dare not use my phone as data roaming charges are $2.00 per megabyte! 

The last full posting had us flying to Rochester to celebrate my mother’s birthday, get in some doctor appointments and see some friends before resuming our trip.  Mom was non responsive on her birthday, the 10th and began to slip away shortly thereafter, well she had been declining rapidly since the previous Saturday, but she had rallied so many times in the past that I figured she would again.  Not to belabor the point, she died two days after her birthday and we buried her on Friday and sat Shiva (check out the Jewish way of death) through Tuesday and flew back to Calgary on Friday the 20th. 

The Hoggs pulled Gee 2 out of storage for us and set it up on the site next to them before coming to the airport to pick us up at 9:40 PM.  Don’t talk to me about small planes, they are great for an hour flight, but 4 hours in a CRJ is cruel and unusual punishment.  The Hoggs Malibu felt more spacious than the plane for the long drive back to Okotoks.  After spending delightful time with them they saw us off Tuesday morning, we drove through some traffic to TransCanada Highway 1 which leads to Banff and onward to lake Louise where we picked up The Ice Field Parkway to Jasper.  Although we made several stops along the way none of them were in Banff or Lake Louise.  We did not need another tourist shopping experience (Banff) and we had spent a lot of time In Lake Louise some years ago.  We did stop at the Ice Field Center and ooh and ah at the Toe of Athabasca Glacier and we certainly made any number of brief stops to ooh and ah and OMG over the Canadian Rockies as they were exposed and hidden by the ever changing clouds.

We finally made it in to Whistlers Campground just outside of Jasper where we had stopped all those years ago in the rented Class C motorhome that was our gateway drug to our present addiction.  It was late and we figured we could find decent food in Jasper so we set up and drove the mile and a half (~3 kilometers) into town where the Brew Pub turned out to be noisy with a mediocre menu.  Next stop Kimchi Korean where we had a wonderful meal.  Carol had a vegetarian version of my dish and we are both happy.  Back to Gee 2 for tea and sleep.

Two days later: We drove up to Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway and celebrated by paying for camping at Mile 0 Campground after the previous night at Wal-Mart in Grande Prairie.  We are ready to jump off and don’t know when I will have the next opportunity to post.

Over the Canadian Rockies, past Banff and down the east side into Cochrane AB, just west of Calgary, where we met Dean and Jane at Springhill Campground as planned. They were off at a family gathering and stopped by the coach on their return to the park.  The next day we drove over to Cochrane Ranch for a wee bit of a hike and plenty more talking. 

Jane prepared dinner on their coach that night and we concluded our wonderful reunion.  We hope to see them in the southwest again next winter.  Early in the morning we saw them dive off.

We left for Okotoks ninety minutes south and east.   As we pulled up to the gate of the Country Lane RV Resort, the Hoggs were waiting in their car to escort us the last kilometer and open the gate to the private park they live in when not on the road.  We set up on their friend’s lot and began five days of seeing yet another new city and spending time with good friends.

We started by calling friends of Carol’s brother and sister-in-law and arranging to meet for lunch.  We had a wonderful lunch with plenty of talking and sharing of experiences followed by a driving tour of Calgary and a visit to their home. After returning to the coach we were joined by the Hoggs for Happy Hour and and time to plan the rest of the stay. 

Wednesday we drove into Calgary again after a lovely Vietnamese lunch,walked around the Olympic Plaza the center of the city. We got into the Glenbow Museum where there was a fantastic exhibit of Yousef Karch portraits.  We finally tore ourselves away as they were closing and walked through the +15 back to the car.  In Rochester we call the +15 Skyways – have not yet found out what +15 comes from other than the conjecture that the walkways are 15 feet above the pavement.  The other non metric anachronism is that houses are sized in square feet. 

Another happy hour and dinner and an early departure on Thursday for Rosebud, a very small town east of Calgary on the prairie.  Their website, click here, will provide the details and some history.  We had lunch and then went to the Opera House where we saw a production of A Bright Particular Star (see the web site for plot summary and playwright).  There were only forty in the audience as the weather had been particularly nasty dumping an inch or more of snow on the roads as we drove and it was midweek as the season is just beginning. Five minutes before curtain the lights went out with a crash.  Then stage manager and other backstage people were seen moving around with great haste.  The power had gone out and they resorted to back up power to provide lights.  Eventually they got power from the Fire House generator – fortuitously just next door – and the curtain rose no more than 15 minutes late.  I am not generally tolerant of performances by those who are not professional.  The cast were faculty and students at the Rosebud School of the Arts and they were marvelous.  We thoroughly enjoyed the play, the production and the performances of the cast.  I would return to this theatre for another play if I were in the area.

Our return drive included a stop in Calgary to meet Pat and Bob’s daughter Jenny and son-in-law Art at their home.  We arrived just as they were concluding the sale of a car that had served as Pat and Bob’s tow’d before we knew them and had served the family through two engines.  We were welcomed warmly and had a lovely conversation that included an appearance by Reed, their son, Pat and Bob’s grandson. 

As I write the weather is ugly.  The temperature is in the mid 30’s and it is precipitating on and off.  I would say raining, but there seems to be some harder stuff mixed in with it.  Tomorrow, Saturday the 30th, we will store the coach in a lot next to Country Lane for the two weeks we will be in Rochester.  We will arrive in Rochester late on the first and depart again late afternoon on the 15th.

For those of you who worry about our various maintenance headaches here is a report.  Tony the RV Medic is resident at Country Lane and a friend of the Hoggs.  He spent a couple of hours and resolved our major headache with the leaking sink and installed a new faucet in the kitchen.  Everything inside the coach that is supposed to be dry is dry!  Just as there are things in all of our houses that could be made to work better or differently there are  those things in the coach, but none of them are of any consequence and I will address them as they annoy me.

The road from Spokane to Calgary portended great scenery some wonderful mountain roads and nothing to totally surprise us.  Our first stop near Bonners Ferry at Blue Lake RV Park had a really scary entrance.   We had been warned that the turn was nearly 180 degrees with a steep descent.  We were not told that a major BNSF rail line crossed the road at the bottom of the descent.  Yup after I pulled off the road to let tailgating traffic through I execute the turn only to find a long freight train across the road.  I was able to get far enough down the grade to let a track work truck join me on the little piece of road.  The campground was just the other side of the tracks, very close, felt I could reach out the window and touch the passing trains.  Neither of us heard a single train all night long.  It is like sleeping at Dockwieler RV park. What 747s?

With an unhurried start in the morning we took a route up the west side of the Canadian Rockies  planning to cross them near Banf.  Since we did not want to go all the way to Calgary (actually Cochrane) in one day and open campgrounds are rare at this time of year we made an early stop in Radium Hot Springs, BC.  The Canyon RV Park is wonderful.  It sits in the bottom of a canyon (surprise!) isolated, yet within walking distance of the town.  Again the descent was very steep but there was no railroad track, only rocky Mountain Sheep grazing on the cliffs beside the road. The park was nearly full and mostly families for the Easter Holiday.  They all quieted down before we needed them to.  As we were checking in the owner suggested we might want to go the the hot springs.  Surprise, a town with the name Radium Hot Springs has them.  Not more than 4 kilometers from our site was and incredible complex with cool springs (30 C) and hot springs (39C – for reference 98.6 F = 37 C). We soaked away what was left of the afternoon in the hot, the cold and the hot tub 40C.  Put that together with my newly butchered haircut (electric razor and some help from Carol) I felt like a new man. 

Saturday with Carol at the helm we climbed over the Rockies on Highway 93 through Banf and on to Springhill Campground in Cochrane just north of Calgary.  To say that we oohed and aahed and oh wowed as we took the drive is an understatement.  I limited myself to very few pictures and here is one:

Hmm, almost looks like a postcard.

One last item.  We have updated the map on the inside of the door with three new states, OR, WA (both planned) and ID somewhat of a surprise.

I know that  is a funny place for Alaska.  Will fix it when we get there.  Oh yes will get to add the Yukon too, as we go.

Looks like I will need to get an RV plumbing type person in one of these days.  There is a miniscule leak at the connections I made.  I suspect the inlet connector is stressed since the new faucet’s pipes were longer than those on the one I removed.  I am not prepared to rebuild the piping although I am told online that it is easy to do.  I will let $$ do this fix and install a new kitchen faucet as well.  I hate to give in, it looked so simple.  In the mean time we are topping off the freshwater tank and using the onboard pump to provide water.  This way we can take the pressure off the system when it is not in use.  It seems to be leaking about 4 ounces every 12 hours and I have a container catching the drips.  There is another advantage to using the pump and freshwater tank supply, it forces us to refresh that 100 gallon tank and turn the water over so it does not get stale.

My last post, just yesterday, elicited a reminder that our friends the Goldman’s in Rochester have a son Andrew who is on faculty at Gonzaga University.  We have known Andrew since . . . oh I won’t go there, he is the same age as our son Yechiel.  When John and Roz reminded us, we sent email and then established phone contact.  More importantly, in the middle of a very busy end of semester, end of academic year time we were able to get together for a couple of hours on the Gonzaga campus.  We even had a few minutes with Andy’s wife Amy.  We had a marvelous tour of the campus and spent time in the art department gallery and then had a tour of the Bing Crosby Memorabilia Room.  He grew up in Spokane and attended high school and college at Gonzaga. 

Andy got out a map and showed us some interesting points that we had missed for one reason or another.  Life and schedules being what they are we will not be able to get to everything this time.  We will save the list should we get back to Spokane in the future.  Nevertheless we made an immediate trip to Manito Park on South Hill. We stopped and took a walk through the Lilac Garden and the Rose Garden, neither anywhere near in bloom yet and around the duck pond, which looks like a miniature of the lake in Central Park.  It is quite lovely although we did not take time to see all five of the gardens.  Then we zoomed downhill (a local would clearly understand the zoom downhill thing – that road is steep) to the Davenport Hotel which we had driven around and passed without ever stopping.  The restaurants looked scrumptious the meeting and event rooms that were open to public viewing are really grand and the Peacock Bar could give its name sake at the Waldorf Astoria a run for the money, although it appeared far more affordable. 

After that we went back to the coach, put the bikes up on the roof. One of these days I will put the front wheels on and we will ride – haven’t done that in a couple of months.  The weather has been lousy for the most part.  We are planning on rolling down the road into Idaho tomorrow.  It will be a short day because we can be into Canada in about 2 or 3 hours and we don’t plan on that until Friday.

Not sure where the next post will be from.  Probably the Calgary area.  Carol has been busy making plans to see as many of our friends as possible in the 14 days we will have in Rochester. 

Not sure why the route changed from right up US 97 to the Canadian border to a run to the east to Spokane WA, but it did.  It may have had something to do with fewer miles and less time in fuel pricier Canada.  It may have been the availability of an Elks Lodge (#228) with an RV park run by The Wheelin’ Elks.  Add to both of the above the opportunity to continue through Idaho and add yet another state to our rapidly filling map and I guess there are enough reasons. 

On the way we stopped at Steamboat Rock State Park just south of Grand Coulee Dam for a couple of nights so we could tour the dam and see the area. 

Got to Spokane on Friday and could not agree on how long we would stay so we paid for three nights.  It is now Tuesday and Carol is doing laundry so we will not be moving before Wednesday.  I have a faucet to replace in the rear sink which if all goes well should take less than an hour.  Well it took almost an hour and I am not sure that it is totally tight, but it will hold.  The pump is not cycling which means any leak is minimal if not just my imagination.

Last night we had a complete Seder for two.  Carol prepared a wonderful meal to which I added chicken to satisfy my craving for meat to make it a feast for me.  We dug out the Haggadot, which we have carried for several years now, and took our time over the entire order.  It was very interesting, but certainly the children and grandchildren were missed. 

As we relaxed after clearing up the remains Carol noticed that the furnace was running and running and blowing cool air.  At 10:30 pm it did not seem likely I would find a service person.  We turned off the furnace, which kept on blowing.  I disconnected the electric and turned off the master power to the coach which did shut the furnace down until I turned the power back on and it resumed blowing, not good.  As I undid the screws to open the furnace compartment, it shut down, at last!  After a brief hesitation, the usual count to 10, I had Carol turn the furnace back on while I held my breath.  The fan resumed blowing and after the usual pause the gas valve opened and the flame ignited.  We did not have a chilly night after all.  There is no good explanation for this heart stopper, but I will have it looked at when we get into an RV service place.

In Spokane we have been to the Post office, to  mail tax stuff to various government entities, toured the river front and attended a play.  Oh yes we also drove to Coeur D’Alene, ID just because we could.  The post office turned into a mess.  They only have General Delivery at the main post office in downtown Spokane.  I had had our mail directed to a branch in Spokane Valley, about 2 miles from the Elks Lodge.  The mail was delivered to the branch and was there on Friday when we went to pick it up, but they would not acknowledge that they had it as they don’t do general delivery there.  We went downtown, but the package had not been transferred there and would not be there until Monday.  Little did I know that the package had a checkbook that would have saved a lot of grief in finalizing my tax payments.  I found that out on Monday after I mailed all the checks and returned to the coach with the still unopened package.  Lesson learned, but I am not sure what the lesson is.

While we wandered downtown Spokane after the post office we found the Loof Carrousel – sorry about the lighting –

and the Spokane Falls Skyride. Had to go on the skyride. More walking around brought us to

which has a companion store “Atticus” which sells goods for a more mature clientele.

Retracing to Portland for just brief paragraph.  We had not been to the northwestern most corner of Oregon by the time we got to Portland and we had wanted to see where Lewis and Clark had wintered so we drove to Astoria OR and then out to Fort Clatsop.  Since it is all reconstructed we did not bother with many pictures, but we did stop to see a demonstration of firing a muzzle loader.

This is a fairly typical shot, nice frame and balance not much interest.  Sometimes you just get lucky with the timing:

I have this desire to see if I can share with you what a day on the road with us is like.  Our plan for the day, Sunday, April 10, was to see as much of the Columbia River Gorge as we could traveling from our campsite in Beaverton, OR to someplace near Yakima Washington.  We chose Yakima because it appeared to be under 200 miles and it is on US 97 which we had decided to take north because of advice from the Hoggs who make this run every year.  Actual total miles came in at 176.4 and total hours on the move were metered at precisely 4 hours by our GPS, all in all an ideal day.

Having determined the beginning and the end we had to fill in the sandwich.  I had noted during my mapping time that the Historic Columbia Gorge Highway branches away from I 84 which parallels the river several times to interesting sights.  Carol and I agreed that if things were going well we would take as many of these side trips as seemed reasonable/comfortable.  The next key questions was where to cross the Columbia River.  This is a non trivial question as there are four bridges, each offering advantages and disadvantages.  We settled on The Dalles Bridge as it is toll free and had no width warnings nor is it subject to high winds as at least one other bridge is.  The Maryhill bridge had been recommended, but it would have meant not driving any of the Washington side of the river.  The final decision of where to spend the night was left open.

With Carol at the wheel for the first two hour shift, we pulled out of the Beaverton Elks Lodge at 9:15 AM and negotiated our way through Sunday traffic in Portland to I 84.  Once clear of the city we decided that the first Historic drive seemed to add too many miles and the prospect of significant mountain driving, we decided to pass and stay on the freeway as the views were quite beautiful from that road.  Further along at Bridal Veil Falls we exited onto the Historic Road and made our way to Wahkeenah Falls for a brief stop along the road and then 1/4 mile further to Multnomah Falls where Carol was able to pull into a turnout that was large enough for the coach and car to be off the road.  I am not posting pictures because there are many on the web taken by people with better equipment and time to wait for the rain to stop and people to get out of their way.  If you come this way, don’t miss these stops.  Ignore the rain and the cold, that is the way most people will see these sights.

We returned to the freeway eventually, some of those bridges were so narrow that Carol had to take the middle of the road, the lanes are not as wide as our coach – a legal 103”.  At Cascade Locks we decided to leave the freeway and get a view of the locks and stop for lunch on board.  The view was not to be.  The only apparent access road has a 12’ height limit sign and we were not about to see if maybe they meant 12’3” which is our “official” height.  We parked in front of the library and had lunch before changing drivers.  My turn!

We decided to take another nine mile side trip on the Historic Road from Mosier to Rowena.  The names are not important unless you want to track us on Google Maps or Google Earth.  Although there was a general warning about vehicles over 50 feet long not being appropriate, we pressed on.  In those nine miles the road climbed high above the river, maybe 2,000 feet and then descended a series of switchbacks and corkscrews that were really breathtaking.  This was all done at speeds less than 20 mph.  There was a bicycle group on the road, fortunately going the other way or I might have had to pull over to let them pass.   After our return to I 84 we were content to continue on to The Dalles (yes that is an intentional T in “The” It is not Dalles it is The Dalles) where we left I 84 for good and Oregon as well as we crossed over to Washington.  We also left the rain and chill behind as we drove on to the Yakima Valley where they claim 300 sunny days a year. 

Our last decision of the day was where to stay the night.  We are low on propane so we wanted a place that could fill our tank, we are cheapskates with many discount arrangements so it had to belong to one of those and after the friendly Elks parking lot we really wanted someplace with a view.  The Yakama Reservation (in the Yakima Valley – go figure) has a large RV park that met all of our requirements.  We pulled in and were greeted by a groundskeeper who said the office was closed, but we could take a space and settled up in the morning.  So here we sit with no idea what we plan on doing in the morning, but we know it will either be interesting and fun or it will be chores and such on the coach that have been ignored for the past month.

I hope you enjoyed riding along.  The four hours of driving encompassed a day of seven hours from departure to arrival.  Not really tiring and our favorite way to cover ground.

The short version is while staying at Coyote Rock RV Park south of Lincoln City we drove north and toured the Tillamook Air Museum which is housed in a blimp hangar that is a remnant from WW II – it is LARGE!  It held nine blimps for servicing at once.  There were two of these hangars.

While driving from Lincoln City to Portland we stopped in McMinnville at the Evergreen Air and Space Museum.  The major attraction is The Spruce Goose, the largest wooden airboat ever built.  It is as large as a 747 (of which there is one forming the roof of water park!) It wingspan is 20 feet longer than a football field.  A DC 3 is on the floor tucked in under a wing between the sponson and the body with room to spare. There is also a P 38 WW II twin boom fighter.  I have read extensively about this plane and this is the first I remember ever seeing. 

When we arrived at the Beaverton OR Elks Lodge #1989 We started looking for tickets to the Altenberg Trio which was playing at Lincoln Performance Hall at Portland State University.  Although we could not reach the box office we went on in to town, in heavy traffic 15 minutes, and located the hall and found a place for Thai dinner nearby.  When we returned to the hall it was filling with people and we were able to get seats together, way up near the back, but the hall is so good we were not bothered by the distance.  It was a wonderful concert, Beethoven Trio in D Major, “The Ghost”; Martin Trio of Popular Irish Melodies (it is in French actually); and after the intermission Brahms Trio in B Major Op 8.  Take a deep breath.  From large and small airplanes to large music in a day with a stop off at an Elks Lodge bar for small talk and to register for the RV park. 

The longer version: It has hardly stopped raining, yet.  We had a delightful dry day, mostly, on our run up to Tillamook.  In addition to  the Air Museum we took in the Tillamook Cheese Factory self guided tour.  I remember why I do not usually eat cheese made in vast quantities.  It is all very consistent and has no surprise and no great flavor.  They do not even age it beyond 4 years, and very little of that.

As we circled the scenic loop we parked the car and took a 2 1/2 mile hike on a trail that eventually brought us out onto the beach for the return to the car.  We stopped along the road to watch hang gliders doing their thing including landing almost on top of me.  A bit further along we came to one of the shortest lighthouses ever at 25 feet high.  We returned to the coach tired and ready to have dinner and read.

On a previous day we came out of our campground and instead of turning left to get back to 101 to explore the coast, we turned right and circled inland on a 25 mile search for excitement or least something interesting to see that was not in the guide books.  We founded a hidden Elks Lodge when I pulled off the road to let traffic through and found I had turned into Toledo Lodge facility.  Who knew!  We also found another railroad museum tucked away on Siletz.  It is a leftover from the logging era and the docents may be too.  On yet another day we took a walk on the beach from North Jetty Road in Lincoln City.  Carol wanted me to get a photo of her with a wave washing over the toe of her boots.  I was using her camera.  I will leave the rest to your imagination, the photo I took does not show the aftermath as I was running up to help her regain her footing.

More about our explorations in Portland in my next post.