LAST DAY AT ICICLE RIVER

It was a slow morning for me and my Kathe. The Taylors and Jim left us home and went on a long bike ride. So, with nothing else to do, I got dunked into the kitchen sink for a bath. I was pretty shabby after two weeks in the dirt and now I’m beautiful again. The bike ride was sort of a bust as KathyT got a flat tire and the electric motor on Warren’s bike pooped out. Jim had to ride his bike back to the campsite and drove Warrens car back to the rescue. 

This is our last night here on the river. There is some wildlife here, mostly dogs chasing sticks in the river. We did see a deer one night crossing the river very slowly. And last night someone left trash out and a black bear helped himself to a meal. 

After a trip to the fruit stand and the Safeway today, I think we’re ready to move on. Tomorrow it’s a short 61 miles to Chelan as we continue the Cascade Loop. I’m looking forward to new territory!

WENATCHEE AND CASHMERE

First tonight, my Kathe wants to say thank you to everyone who sent birthday wishes to her today. I know she was trying to forget about getting older, but look at all the fun we are having, Jim and I made her favorite blueberry pancakes this morning and the day just kept getting better.

While I was sleeping, they slipped out to explore a couple of nearby towns. In Wenatchee they visited the Pybar Public Market. A really interesting market with lots of food and crafts for sale. The market was in a quiet area along the river and the city park.

Cashmere is the home of the Aplets and Cotlets factory. They visited this place several years ago and wanted to go back for more of the delicious candies. They didn’t take a factory tour this time. They just ate samples and bought boxes of candy. The last time they were here the town was deserted and now there are new buildings and businesses down every street. Sadly, the “Cowboys Barbecue”was replaced by another not so great restaurant where they had lunch.

They discovered a giant antique shop on the other end of town and spent over an hour looking in all the displays. For a while my Kathe got lost because were so many tiny rooms to explore.

Tonight the cocktail was a key lime martini with a graham cracker twist. And for the birthday girl a crab fettuccine dinner.

LEAVENWORTH

Retail therapy today. While I was sleeping my humans sneaked out to go shopping in Leavenworth. This town is a German Disneyland. All the buildings are styled to make the town look like a little Bavaria. There are lots of interesting shops, restaurants, and bakeries all with a German theme.  They spent the whole morning shopping and decided to have pizza for lunch after the heavy German food they ate last night.

Years ago the town of Leavenworth was on the verge of becoming a ghost town. After the loss of the logging industry and the railroad, the townspeople proposed a Bavarian theme village to boost tourism. It sure worked. There were hundreds of families out last night and again this afternoon enjoying the town.

We are going to cook hamburgers tonight and just maybe something for us doggies

STEVENS PASS

Most scenic drive yet! Today we drove from Sultan to Leavenworth on Route 2 and climbed over Steven’s Pass. The elevation is over 4000 feet and the views are spectacular. These pictures were taken through the windshield this morning as we followed the Taylors down the mountain. We were glad we were here in the summer as they have 62 snowfall days and the snow can be as high as 337 feet in the pass.

We arrived at the Icicle River Resort in the early afternoon. There was a lot of confusion about our sites with the Taylor’s being on one side of the park with a view of the river and we were not next to them. They tried to put us in a spot that was for a 25/foot rig and we almost fit. We were way across the park from the Taylor’s and that site was so tippy that we couldn’t get level. Kathe wasn’t very happy about the mix up at all. No river view either! 

About 30 minutes later they moved us to another site and we were moved closer to the Taylor’s and had our river view, seem they gave our site to someone else and we were given a site for a couple named Rebus not Riha. Everything sort of worked out but what a mess!

All the humans went to a German Restaurant this evening. They all ate too much and drank beer. They were singing along to the accordion player and really enjoyed themselves. 

Bella and I walked together after dinner with the Kathies. We explored the park and had a great time meeting and greeting others of our kind. We like it here!

IRON GOAT TRAIN TRAIL

It was a perfect day for a hike. About 40 minutes away from where we are staying they found the Iron Goat Train Trail. This trail follows the abandoned route of the Great Northern Railway’s original line over the Cascades. It was a beautiful, easy four mile hike, a walk through railroad history. There were several small waterfalls along the way and the trail went up to the opening of several tunnels cut through the mountain.They explored the tunnels and walked the path that the train followed. There were collapsed timers along the route that once protected the tracks from the snow.

The railroad was built in 1893 by 800 worker, many of them Japanese immigrants who laid the tracks across the Cascades through Steven’s Pass. In 1910 the tracks were abandoned due a catastrophic avalanche which killed 96 people. In 1929 a new tunnel  bypassed the area and provided a safer route over Steven’s Pass. 

This is our last night here at Cascades RV Resort, tomorrow we move on to Leavenworth for some schnitzel and pretzels.

SULTAN WASHINGTON

It rained all night here in Sultan. I don’t mind the rain too much, but I don’t think Kathe likes getting out of bed 2 or 3 times a night so that I can go outside and do my thing. There’s no doggie door, so if I go outside, she’s got to go with me. At 5:00 AM the rain had stopped and just as we walked to the grassy area, the sprinklers came on full blast. Kathe’s PJ’s are still drying out!

Sultan is a very small town with a population of under 5,000 people. There’s not much to do here but the surrounding scenery is beautiful. The town lies at the confluence of the Skykomish River and the Sultan River and was founded in 1889.  Today the sky is still threatening more rain. The humans went into town this morning to the small farmers market in park.  I guess they bought enough fruit yesterday that they came home empty handed. Warren is still wondering about picking some more blackberries, there are lots here right in front of our coach.

This afternoon Warren and Jim are worked together to fix our passenger chair. The part arrived here in the park and was waiting for us yesterday. Both coaches suffered last night in the strong rain and wind. Our passenger window has been leaking for a long time and last night the Taylor’s developed the same issue. Both men spent the night stuffing paper towels in the window sill to keep water out of the electronic panels. Maybe they will fix that issue too. Right now they are trying to fix a window shade spring. That shade that just won’t stay down. It takes 4 hands to fix it! 

Tonight the cocktail is a Lunar Lagoon Martini.

WORST DRIVE EVER

Today we had a short drive made much longer with TRAFFIC almost the entire way. I know it’s Friday, but where’s everybody going? In addition to 103 miles of bumper to bumper traffic, it was raining all day. We turned a two hour drive into a four hour drive. 

First thing this morning, we got up early so the humans could go to the great farmers market in Olympia where they stocked up on vegetables, fruit and pastries. Then they drove back to hook up the cars and start on the way to Sultan, Washington. Only Kathe and Jim were locked out of our coach.  Something not so funny with the locking mechanism. Jim finally figured it out and we off like a herd of turtles.

Stopping in Tacoma for fuel was the next in our series of mishaps today. Wrong turns are no fun with a 40 foot coach towing a Jeep. It took a while to get in the right spot, get the fuel and find our way back to the Interstate. GPS was not friendly today! 

We finally arrived at the RV Resort at about 4:00 and we were able to get set up before it started raining cats and dogs. About the only thing good I can say about today is that with this rain, I won’t be getting a bath any time soon.

BACK IN THE WOODS

Easy drive today. Only123 miles straight up the Interstate to Olympia, Washington. This place is beautiful. It’s called American Heritage Campground with over 20 acres of open land away from any busy streets. Big sites in the tall pine trees, full hookups with the feeling of being in the forest. We love it. Each site backs into the trees and it feels like we are the only people here. Oh, and it’s cool.  We were surprised to see the leaves were starting to turn the farther north we drove, it’s an early fall here.

When we arrived we found that there was a food truck waiting for us here in the campground. My humans all had homemade pulled pork sandwiches for lunch. Too bad we’re not staying till the weekend when they have biscuits and gravy and waffles.

This afternoon I went for a walk in the woods with Kathe and managed to get pine sap in my fur. With all the pine cones and pine needles here it’s easy to do. Not so easy to undo. It takes a lot of pulling and some bad words before Kathe can get the gook out of my fur. Scissors were necessary. 

While I was getting unto trouble this afternoon, Bella was sitting in a camp chair watching Kathy T coloring outside in the shade. It was a lazy afternoon for all of us. Planning on a campfire tonight if it doesn’t rain.

OREGON CITY

Early this morning Kathe and Jim drove to Portland to have coffee and pastries with our former next door neighbors, the Grants. Their beautiful home feels like they are living in the middle of a forest. They spent several hours catching up and reminiscing about the time when they lived in Los Angeles. Soon it was time for them to come back home and feed me my second (or third) breakfast.

Then, this afternoon our four humans took a drive to Oregon City. They took the scenic route, through the country, to avoid the freeway.  Oregon City was the first incorporated city west of the Rocky Mountains and the end of Oregon Trail. The city is also known for the Willamette Falls, the second largest waterfall by volume in North America. 

Willamette Falls was the destination today. Kathe took pictures from both sides of the falls. The east side was easy to get to, right in the middle of town, but the west side involved getting onto the freeway and pulling into the view point. Both sides were spectacular. Many years ago there was a power plant, a paper mill, saw mill, and a woolen mill all operating in the huge concrete buildings on the riverside.Those buildings were abandoned. Plans have been begun to turn the whole area into a housing and commercial development. 

Tomorrow we head to Washington!

NOT QUITE PORTLAND

Another 187 miles of driving today and here we are in Wilsonville, Oregon. It was supposed to be cooler here and it’s not. The only good thing I can say about this place is that there is a lot of shade from the pine trees. But, there are about one million pine cones to walk on when you think you’re going to be walking grass. Those things do not tickle and with my poor eyesight I’m tripping over them and stumbling. Eventually, Kathe took me to a nice smooth spot around the corner. 

We are here for two nights and I hope things will be better for me tomorrow.  It’s supposed to rain which will cool us off a little bit.

I’m a little tired of all this driving and I wish we would get to the vacation part of the trip. In a few more days we will be in Washington and the drives will be shorter and the staying in one place will be longer than one or two days.

Tonight all the humans are going out for dinner and Bella and I are once again hopeful that a doggie bag is in our future. 

STILL HERE, STILL HOT

Another day here at Seven Feathers Casino Resort. It’s so hot that doggies like me are becoming vampires. It’s too hot to go outside in the daylight, so the only time I see my kind is after sunset. Weird! Even my humans are spending more time inside keeping cool. 

Last night at the casino was a bust for my humans. They managed to turn $70 dollars into $1.69 in a matter of minutes. The Taylor’s had better luck and came home with our $70 dollars. At least the dinner was delicious at the STIX restaurant. I think the gambling may be over for this place.

Today the big plan  was a trip to Roseburg which is about 25 minutes north of Canyonville.  They have a Costco and a Walmart in that town.  We really don’t have room to add anything else in the coach. They just bought more wine and vegetables, so I know that means that Warren will be cooking dinner tonight.

Some of my friends are wondering why my humans aren’t drinking cocktails on this trip. They are but I keep forgetting to keep a record of who’s drinking what. The female humans seem to be cutting back and have only made three cocktails in seven days. I think it has something to do with weight loss. I have seen Mojitos, Lemon Drop Martinis, and the Black Swan served this week. Tonight it’s Margaritas. It’s just plain water for me and Lady Bella and tequila for Jim.

ITS SO HOT

We’re here in Canyonville, Oregon for the next two nights. It was 105 degrees when we arrived this afternoon and it’s supposed to be even hotter tomorrow.  

The drive was uneventful, lots of cattle ranches and dry grass with oak trees along the 158 miles we traveled. This part of our vacation is not as much fun as we are traveling quickly to the places where we really want to spend more time in Washington and Oregon. 

Seven Feathers Casino has a beautiful RV Resort that’s known as one of the top rated places to stay in all the camping magazines. There almost 200 sites that are beautifully landscaped with native trees and plants. These petunias are planted at every corner for a splash of color.

Tonight the humans are off to the casino for drinks and dinner, and maybe a little gambling. Wish them luck!

HEDGE CREEK FALLS

It’s a beautiful day here at the Mount Shasta KOA. That’s how they answer the phone and it’s true today. It’s 95 degrees, warm enough to need the air conditioning, but the giant pine trees all around keep us in the shade. 

I’ve been walking around sniffing the pine cones and checking for squirrels at least three times a day. I may not walk as far or as fast as I used to but show me that red leash and I’m out the door.

While I was home enjoying the cool tile on the kitchen floor the humans went out exploring.  Not too far from our camp there is a trail to Hedge Creek Falls. There were lots of families out today hiking through the woods to enjoy the pine forest and the water fall. My humans hiked down to the falls where the temperature of the air was at least

10 degrees cooler. Of course the water was extremely cold coming from the mountain snow pack and only the young kids were brave enough to get wet.

After the hike they drove to Lake Shasta for a picnic at a lake side table under the pine trees. 

This last picture is the view from the top of the hill above the Hedge Creek Trail. 

MT SHASTA

I did try out the new lounge chair last night, because I had to share it with my humans.

I don’t have much to say tonight. Our drive today was longer than yesterday. We drove 217 miles mostly on I-5 and without much traffic it was actually a much better drive. Except for the heat. Most of the day it was 105 degrees, but now that we are camped under the giant pine trees it’s starting to cool down. We drove past a lot of agricultural areas, nuts of course, but some vineyards, sunflowers and even rice. 

Sorry, but there is not much to report when you drive all day, but we did pass Lake Shasta on the way. Our campsite is very close to Mount Shasta. I took a short walk around the campground with Kathe and we’re going to explore more tomorrow!

NUT TREE TOWN

It’s so hot very today. There is not even a hint of a breeze. I could stay outside and roast, or I could just stay inside in the air conditioning. So that’s what I did all day today.

The humans used the morning to catch up on errands. First, a trip to Camping World for some essentials and a beautiful new lounge chair. And after that, a shopping trip to Safeway.  When you are on a long voyage like we are, you never know when you will see a good grocery store again.  We wouldn’t want to starve to death!

They decided to investigate Vacaville after lunch this afternoon. There are two interesting areas to explore. Everything is either on Nut Tree Road or Nut Tree Expressway. Guess there are some nuts somewhere, but we haven’t seen any yet. The historic downtown Vacaville is very quiet with beautiful trees, narrow streets, and a beautiful park. Not too many shops, mostly all restaurants and bars there. They were setting up for a concert in the square tonight, live blues music.

The other area they explored was NutTree Plaza. That’s where all the shops like Ultra Beauty, BevMo, and Nordstrom’s Rack are located with about fifty other stores. There were a lot of shoppers out this afternoon. The Kathies did some damage at Home Goods before coming back to camp.

We would all like to sit outside in the shade tonight when it cools down. I claim the new lounge chair!

WHERE’S THE VINEYARD RV PARK

Another long drive today, made even longer by a 25 minute delay in bumper to bumper traffic on the 680. The first part of the drive today along highway 101 was really great with fields of onion, cauliflower, and broccoli for miles and miles.  

I wasn’t very happy about the drive this afternoon at all.  I drove Jim and Kathe crazy screeching for the last hour of the drive. They finally stopped on the side of a freeway ramp for me to do some business and I rode the rest of the way happily under the table. Kathe took some aspirin and turned on all three air conditioners at 3:00 when we finally reached the RV park. I’m still staying under the table.

This place is called the Vineyard RV park, but there’s not a grapevine in sight.  Just a lot of dirt, gravel and a little grass at our spot. There are some nice shade trees, but it’s still way too hot here. Especially when you have to wear a fur coat. 

WINDY DAY

Most of today was spent driving from Buellton to our next stop in Greenfield, CA.  An uneventful drive except for the fact that we needed to stop for fuel at the only Truck Stop between the two areas. Jim was a little worried that we’d run out of fuel before we could find real diesel fuel. Lots of biodiesel around but that’s not what we need. When we approached our fuel stop there was so much construction that we couldn’t cross the 101 at Wellsona Road and had to travel north to the next U- turn. Unfortunately, the Taylor’s missed the turn and had to travel north for a while before they could turn around and make it back to us.

Once together, we drove to our lunch stop near Camp Robert’s and listened to the machine gun practice across the street from the rest stop. We arrived at our destination, Yanks RV Resort at about 3:00. It’s especially windy here all the time and today was no exception. 

It’s so windy that I almost got blown over when I went for a little walk across the street. So windy, in face, that one of our compartment doors came unglued and was bowed out when we arrived. We just got the passenger seat sorted out this morning, and the new part is on its way from Tiffin. Now, Jim and Warren have another project to work on. Get out the wrenches and take the door off, and with a little epoxy to glue it back together it will be fixed. We hope!

AROUND THE TOWN

I’ve done a little exploring around here looking for something exciting to do.  There are no wild animals anywhere near the safari tents. I even looked in the tiki tents, but the wildest thing I’ve seen yet was a pigeon. In my younger days squirrels and bunnies ran from me in fear. Now I can’t even bark loud enough to scare a chihuahua. Guess I better start enjoying my retirement like everyone else around here. 

While I was resting up this afternoon, the humans decided to visit a winery and do some tasting.  Warren selected the Zaca Mesa winery in Los Olivos.  They were just about the only visitors today so they had a very special experience. Sitting outside among the oak trees they tasted several great wines. They were treated to some special wines not listed on the tasting menu and ended up going home with several bottles. After that, they drove to Santa Inez for a quick lunch before heading to El Rancho Market. It’s a very special market and Warren was able to stock up with some gourmet specialties.  

For those who may be wondering, the passenger chair is still not fixed. Warren and Jim are now trying to fabricate something out of metal, wire and gorilla tape.  You will have to wait to see how that turns out.

Right now they have to stop everything and get ready to go out for dinner at the Sideways restaurant. Hopefully there’s a doggie bag in my near future.

SOLVANG TOURISTS

After a lazy start this morning, my humans left me and headed out to join the hundreds of tourists in the Danish village of Solvang. They’ve been there before so they knew what to look for. Aebleskivers! It’s a Danish dessert, puffy pancakes with raspberry jam and sugar. They stopped at the first place they were serving them, and they were delicious. They gobbled them up so fast that Kathe forgot to take a picture. They had to find them again after lunch for this picture. Needless to say they really liked them! Lots of shopping followed including a trip to the Solvang Ace Hardware store. You may be wondering why the hardware so soon on the trip.  Of course, there’s always something that needs fixing on a RV trip, only usually not the first day of a vacation.

First thing that happened on our coach was a latch that was supposed to turn the passenger chair around had a piece snap off. The chair was stuck facing forward. It took Warren and Jim working together to figure out that problem. They got things working again, but we will need to order a part from Tiffin to fix it permanently. Also the Taylor’s needed a special screw to fix their shower door which was flapping open after the bumpy ride yesterday. That was an easy fix. But wait, it’s only the first day, we have six weeks so I’m sure there will be more things to fix. If you ask me I think Jim and Warren really like to fixing things.

WONDERLAND

Here we are at our first stop in Buellton, at Flying Flags Resort.  They have everything you could want in an outdoor playground.  They have over 700 sites if you count the river sites, the wine cottages, the tiki tents, the safari tents and the vintage trailer sites. Only issue for me is the one million kids and half a million doggies running, biking or scooting around every corner. It’s really wild!

Ok, I guess it’s the end of summer and everyone wants to have fun, but in just the last half hour there’s been a scavenger hunt, a bicycle parade, and a baseball game. We can’t wait for quiet time, which is supposed to be 10 o’clock.  

As soon as we arrived we set up camp and walked over to the Taylor’s rig for cocktails and dinner for the humans. After our dinner Bella and I walked around to get the smells of the land, and to see what the other doggies were doing tonight. 

After the drive today, I’m not the only one who’s ready to call it a night. Tomorrow is another day and after another bowl of chicken, I’m ready to curl up and head to doggie dreamland.

BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Would you believe that I’ve never missed a summer motor home trip in my whole life! In nineteen years I’ve seen more of the USA than most humans. Oh, the sights and sounds and especially the smells I’ve experienced on the road. I may be a little older this year, but so is everyone else around here. 

While my humans are running around packing up for the trip, I’m doing what I do best. Resting, napping and sleeping. Tomorrow, after breakfast we will be on the road, our first stop will be Solvang and the Flying Flags Resort  

This year might not be as exciting as Alaska was last year but you can count on one thing, there’s always an adventure awaiting us. We will be driving up the coast to Oregon and Washington, and we plan to spend two whole months with our friends Kathy and Warren and little Bella. Hope you will follow along with us.