DAY 60- Car Trouble...

It’s hard to believe it’s been 60 days, 2 months, since I headed out of Salt Lake City in my loaded up car heading for the northwestern US.  It’s interesting because this trip for the most part has been better than what I could’ve ever imagined in my wildest dreams.  I’ve learned to let go a little more and just be.  But I also have learned to be a little more confident as each day passes.  You only live life once and sometimes it’s so easy to hide in the everyday rhythm that you lose track of that. 

I’m lucky enough to be in a situation where there’s no true rhythm which doesn’t allow me to hide.  Sometimes that’s good but other times I get my “moments” where I want to hide and need a little down time.  I must admit that I’m working to find a bit of a balance but all in all it’s given me more freedom to just go and do than I have ever had in my life.  It’s like someone opening a HUGE double wide door and saying just go play.  The HUGE playground is 48 states and I’m plowing along with all of the gusto I can manage.

I started the day with the two egg option for the cook to order breakfast this morning at the Best Western Plus.  I thought I should mix it up a little and didn’t really feel like anything sweet after that HUGE piece of pineapple chiffon cake the night before.  I got packed up.  The plan for the day was to check out Palm Springs and then drive up to Laughlin, NV where I would stay for the next couple of nights.  The general plan is to head north just a bit and then over into Arizona.  I started loading my gear into my car when I noticed a puddle under my car.  Ah-oh!  I put my finger in it to see what it was and I pulled away red liquid; transmission fluid.  This was really not a good thing.

Photo- My poor car on the tow truck! :((

I decided to check out of the hotel and then head over to the nearest Jiffy Lube to have them take a quick look and possibly then refer me to a nearby automotive repair shop.  I turned a left on to Hwy 111 from my hotel and immediately the car started to act sluggish.  I could barely get it to go up to 30mph.  Oh-no!  I pull over and take a right at the next street but there’s no parking on the road just a bike path area.  I take a left turn into a subdivision and park the car. 

I get out my AAA card and call the card on the back.  Please, please… I think to myself let it be that I stopped it soon enough that no true damage was done to the transmission.  I give my info to the man on the phone who then transfers me to a woman that dispatches for the AAA southern California area.  I give her the address to the house across the street which is the only address I can see in the area.  She estimates it’ll be a 20-25 min. wait before the tow truck will be there.  It ended up being only about 15 minutes before I see the tow truck driving down the road. 

I stood outside my car and am waving at the tow truck driver but he’s looking at the address of the houses across the street and almost passes me.  Then, he stops and gets out.  “I’m sorry”, he says and then he slowly shakes his head side to side like Ray Charles.  “I must be blind that I didn’t see you right in front of me.  Sorry about that!”  I’m cracking up and say, “It’s Ray Charles my tow truck driver.”  He laughs, takes a look at my AAA card with driver’s lisc. and then asks what the problem is. 

I tell him and he gets my car key.  He directs me to get in the air-conditioned cab of his truck while he gets my car on the bed of the tow truck. Within a short bit he’s in the truck with me and has me sign a form which he teasingly says I’m signing my life away.  I ask if the AAA automotive repair shop is very far away.  No he says it’s about four miles away, and I say that’s good because I have a 100 miles distance with AAA.  He says he can take me the scenic drive to the shop.  Great, I say I can get the sights in of Palm Desert on the way huh?  I couldn’t help but laugh.

You’ve got an infectious laugh he says as he turns the truck around.  Then he goes onto say you know most people are not laughing in situations like this.  What else am I supposed to do being mad or angry about it won’t change it or make it better so I might as well laugh about it?  Just go with the flow.  Then, I tell him about the last time my transmission had given out on a road trip along the Oregon Coastline.  Another road trip he asks and I end up telling him about my two year plan. 

2 years!?!  He exclaims.  Wow!  He keeps on looking at me with this look of disbelief.  That’s something he’s never heard of anyone doing before and he thinks it’s cool.  That’s really cool he says.  We continue to talk as he drives to the repair shop.  He talks about the one time he drove on a trip to the Oregon coastline with no set plans.  He said it was the best family trip he can remember and it was a pretty scenic coastline.

Photo- The "Ray Charles" of tow truck drivers!  But a nice guy!

We get to the repair shop and he unloads my car after he does a quick pose for my blog picture.  He’s a bit conscious about what he calls a silly haircut.  I just laugh.  Why are we always so self-conscious when others most of the time don’t even notice stuff like that.  Then I remember my thought process at arriving at the restaurant last night.  Hmmmm…

I go in the shop and give them my info and then am about to sit down when the guy suggests that I might want to have lunch and wait over at a nearby restaurant that closes at 2PM.  We should know what’s going on with your car by then he tells me.  I walk across to the parking lot and into a little diner in the strip mall area called C.J.’s. 

C.J.’s is only open for breakfast and lunch.  It’s Friday lunch hour and it’s pretty busy.  The hostess told me to sit where I would like and someone will be right with me.  I find the only table that’s open but needs to be cleaned off.  I slowly sit down.  A guy runs over with a wash rag wipes the table and asks me what I would like to drink.  I said a diet coke but he comes back with ice tea with lemon. 

I’m not in the mood to complain.  My mind is focused on hoping that I don’t need a replaced transmission in the car.  Please, please, I hope I didn’t do any damage to the transmission.  I order the patty melt medium well done with a side a mixed fruit.  I’m still not use to being asked how I want my burger done; not something they do in Utah.  I feel a bit down at this point and I’m really not even interested in the food.  I text John and tell him I didn’t get very far.  He asks if he can do anything later and I text back maybe a strong drink after they tell me what needs to be done.

The patty melt arrives terribly greasy and I eat all of the fruit before even attempting the sandwich.  I’m taking my time and really just drinking the ice tea which really tastes good to me.  It’s kind of a nice for a change.  I tell the gal that I hope I’m okay just hanging out and that my car got towed to the repair shop over the ways there.  Oh you poor thing she says that’s no problem at all as she refills my ice tea. 

My phone rings just before 2pm.  It’s the repair shop.  It’s a broken pan and a cracked gasket that need to be replaced but he states that all of the transmission fluid had drained out of the engine.  He says they can replace those parts and refill the fluid but that might not solve the problem because more damage could’ve been done to the transmission while it was dry.  But it was a place to start and then drive it to see if more needed to be done.  I tell him to go ahead and do that and then we’ll see what is what.

I pay for the restaurant and the hostess wishes me good luck with my car.  I walk over to the repair shop and sit in their front waiting room area.  I get out my nook and just hang out.  I also watch a little TV but I couldn’t really concentrate on the TV or my nook.  I was a bit stressed out.  I text John and ask how far a drive is Laughlin.  It’s four hours but with Friday traffic it would take a bit longer than that.  It’s almost 4PM.

Photo- A street in Palm Desert not far from where I stayed the night.

 I guess I need to see about finding a hotel to stay in Palm desert for the night.  John offers his spare bedroom.  He mentions that he’s just planning on staying in at home watching some TV and that he’s been having a hankering for meatloaf.  I laugh.  I text back and say I make a great meatloaf.  He asks me to text him the shopping list and he pick up what’s needed.  Okay, why not?  I text it back and a short time later a guy from the back of the repair shop comes back and says my car is ready and it seems to be driving fine.  They drove it around the neighborhood for a bit, but he suggests I don’t go anywhere too far for a while before it’s been driven a bit more.  I told him I was planning on Laughlin.  He suggests I drive around locally and make sure there’s nothing wrong before I get out on with my traveling.

So I take my car over to the interstate and zoom along on I-10 going east for a couple of exits; then through Palm Desert in stop and go traffic.  Next it’s up to Hwy 74 and I drive up the mountain side that I came down to get into Palm Desert.  The car’s doing beautifully.  I meet John and follow him to his townhouse in a gated community.

It was fun using someone else’s kitchen to cook in and it had been a while since I had cooked for someone.  I made a dinner of my meatloaf with extra special sauce and some garlic mashed potatoes, while John opened a bottle of wine.  We had a nice meal and then just hung out and watched a movie.  I was almost falling asleep on the couch.   The day had taken its toll on me.  John suggested that I turn in for the night and wished me a good night.  I went to the guest room and got settled in for the night. 

DAY 48- Yosemite National Park...

I had been a bit concerned about visiting Yosemite National Park with all of the recent news concerning the Hantavirus there.  I got handed two extra pieces of literature at the entrance booth about the virus.  But there were still a lot of people going into the park so it couldn’t be that bad, could it?  Later I noticed signs all over warning about the virus too.  But the throngs of people were still coming in.

Photo- Warnings were posted almost everywhere in the Park.

It was busy constant driving traffic driving into the Park on the 17 miles stretch of curvy road that went from Oakhurst north to the south entrance of the park.  Didn’t these people know that it was Sunday morning?  They are supposed to be at church so that we “heathens” can have the roads to ourselves.  If I was in Utah, this would have been clear sailing but nope they must have all been “heathens”.  Yosemite National Park has over 3.7 million people that visit the park each year.  I was really hoping that this would be an off day for some of those people.

I stopped at the Wawona Visitor’s Center which was the first center I came to.  I went into the general store; mainly to get bottled water and maybe a snack in case I went on a hike.  I ended up purchasing a bumper sticker which I now have a growing collection on the back of my car.  Yeah, I’m one of THEM!  I gave into temptation and bought a cute t-shirt.  I also bought some more postcards to mail out.  I’ve got to keep the Popette, my dear older friend, updated about my where abouts.

Photo- About to enter the drive through tunnel just before the Tunnel View on the other side.

Next, I headed towards the tunnel and the Tunnel View which is probably Yosemite’s most famous pictures; thanks to Ansel Adam’s black and white photography.  When I got to driving tunnel I was surprised how long the tunnel was.  My car radio lost reception in it and I had my car lights on.  There were warning signs flashing towards the end of the tunnel to be prepared to slow down and stop. 

Photo- The breath taking Tunnel View at Yosemite.

And then I got the Tunnel View.  WOW!  I turned into a parking spot and got out to take photos.  I took a couple of photos and then just stood back in awe.  I asked a young couple to take my picture for me, and in return I took one of them in front of the view too.  I continued to stand there in awe.  While there a guy turns around and says, “Is this Yellowstone?”  I laughed and answered, “Well, they both start with a “Y”.  So you got that going for ya!”  We talked for a bit and his friend teased him that he couldn’t take him anywhere because he was always talking with anyone and everyone.  I took a picture of them in front of the view.  I wished them a wonderful day and continued on.

I was headed to the parking area near the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center.  That’s where I had seen bike rentals and bike paths in the Park’s brochure.  I found a parking spot and headed towards the visitor’s center.  I walked over to the center and happened upon a bike/foot path.  Now we are talking!  I was getting excited to get a biking route map and get out on my bike.  In fact, as bikes went past me on the path I kept on thinking of going back for my bike in the car.  But I continued walking on to the center.

I walked into the center and immediately asked about cycling at the counter.  The woman noticed my Hurricane Ridge t-shirt and asked if I was from Washington State.  She was from that area originally.  We talked for a bit and then she gave me a bike map.  There’s only about 12 miles worth of bike paths and bike friendly low traffic roads in Yosemite; a majority of that is only in the Yosemite Valley area.  But I was still pumped about riding my bike in Yosemite.  I checked out some of the displays and read about the history of the Park in the visitor’s center.

I went next door to the Ansel Adams Gallery.  They had prints and cards you could purchase of Ansel Adam’s black and white photography; as well as a couple of original photos of Ansel Adams if you had a mere $12,000 laying around for the least expensive one.  The other original photo was $14,000.  It was way beyond my ability.  There was other artist original works and prints to view and purchase also.  They even had videos of people climbing El Capitan’s face.  There was pottery and jewelry made by artisans too.  It was a wonderful shop and yes, you could even take your dog in with you.  I was amazed at how many people had their dog with them at this park.

Photo- The dry Yosemite Falls.

I took the quick hike of Yosemite Falls.  I knew it would be dry this time of year but I still had a bit of hope that there would be a trickle of water at least.  Nope, no such luck of that.  It was very dry except for a patch of moss.  Kids were climbing on the rock areas that during the Spring would be filled with running water.

Photo- Oh dear!  A deer stopping traffic in Yosemite.

I was now excited and started to my car for my bike.  On the way, a deer was just walking down the road.  It wasn’t even phased by all of the people.  In fact, it stood in the middle of the road and stopped a Yosemite Parks Bus.  The bus didn’t honk and just sat there to wait for the deer to move on.  It was funny all of these people were crowded around taking a picture of the deer stopping the bus.  Yes, I was among the masses on this one.

Photo- Of me with my bike in Yosemite.

Off I went on my bike, along a pathway.  Slowly, in some areas where they were people walking but even then; I was all smiles because I was biking in Yosemite.  I just thought it was so cool.  I verged off over to the path to Mirror Lake.  While on the way to the beginning of the trail there was a sign that said all rental bikes must stop here.  I pulled over and asked a gal if that was all bikes or just the rentals.  She said she wasn’t sure.  Then, I saw a tandem bike go by down the hill.  I jumped back on my bike and up the hill I went.  I think it was because the rental bikes didn’t have any real gearing or braking.  I got off locked the bike up and walked the trail in my mountain biking cycling shoes; not the best thing to hike in.  I should have thought this through a little more. 

Photo- Mirror Lake -- more like Mirror Sands.

Well, Mirror Lake is a misnomer if there ever was.  It was a sandy with strips of grassy areas.  I guess it’s like a puddle in the winter time, but that’s as close as it gets.  I talked with a woman who said back in the 1960’s when she visited it there was a shallow lake and that they were predicting that it would eventually be a meadow.

Next, I rode on a road area where it’s closed except for the Park’s shuttles.  It was wonderful.  Then, I also managed to ride the rest of the available pathways.  Next, I rode my bike over to the Yosemite Lodge where I enjoyed a beer along with chips and salsa.  I had a tour guide that struck up a conversation with me.  He was teasing me and asked a friend he had been sitting with him how far Fresno was from where they were.  I think I would have had a date for the night if Fresno where I was staying for the night had been closer to Yosemite.

It was about 4pm when I got back to the car and I had to get on the road for Fresno soon or I would be driving in the dark.  I wasn’t looking forward to that.  So off I went back through Oakhurst and off on Hwy 41 headed south.  I was on a race to get to Fresno before it got dark.  But every other hill, I came to had a California highway patrol car waiting.  So I set my cruise control to the speed limit and I did manage to get to Fresno about ½ hour before the sunset.

 

That also gave me a ½ hour to locate my hotel.  I only had a partial address of what street it was on and the name.  But I wasn’t concerned I figured I would find it and meanwhile I was checking out Fresno.  I’ve done this to a certain extent before and maybe I should be more stress but I’m not.  Quite often, things have a way of working out.  And they did; I managed to find the hotel and got checked in for the night.

DAY 35- Dune Buggies to Eureka!

I woke up to what I thought was an amazing sight.  The sun is rising but it looks like a huge orange globe rising out of foggy clouds.  I threw on a jacket and ran out with my camera and got a picture.  I was the only one that seemed rather excited at the sight.  Is this a common thing to happen here and I just don’t know it?  They just watched me as I excitedly took pictures in my p.j.’s.  (Of course, I’m not sticking out like a sore thumb here. J)

Photo- I was the only one impressed with this scene
but I thought it was wonderful.

I drove north to the Spinreel rental place which was about 14 mile drive.  About ½ mile before the turn off for Spinreel, the traffic came to a complete stop and I waited about 15 min. because of construction.  Thank goodness I had left about 25 min early but I was still getting nervous that I would miss my dune buggy ride.  But there was a whole lot of nervous finger tapping going on in my car.

Photo- Of dunes, where trees get buried in sand and eventually die.
It's a constant battle between the pine trees and dunes.
 

I made it with a few minutes to spare, whew!  Right at 10AM on the dot the wonderful people at Spinreel opened their doors; just after bringing out all of the various vehicles that they rent out.  I tell you there’s a lot to choose from! I filled out a waiver form, paid, and introduced myself to my fellow riders; an older couple from Canada, Sharon and Rafael (Raf, for short).  I was rather glad to have an older couple figuring the dune buggy wouldn’t be such a roller coaster ride because I’m not so good on those.

Photo- In the Dune Buggy, myself, Raf, and Sharon.

We got introduced to George who would be our driver for the ½ hour tour that I signed up for.  A great deal for only $25!  He took us out to the dune buggy and we got in.  I sat up front because Sharon and Raf wanted to sit together.  Yep, I was driving shotgun in the mini-roller coaster ride.  I was a bit nervous but then as we started to drive over and George explained about the environment surrounding the dunes and he seemed so experienced that I became more at ease.

Photo- Of the dunes- just amazing!

The dunes are amazing!  Even with some of the pine trees, which were planted back in the 1930’s because of some movie star that tought trying to claim and stablize the sandy area was good. It’s hard to describe but it was a very different landscape than what I expected.  I guess it’s even more amazing as you get to closer to the beach area; which I will warn you that if you want to go to the beach you’ll need to rent for at least 2 hours.  The dunes area is that wide and they go along the Oregon coastline from Florence to just north of Coos Bay.  In fact, you will see a great deal of trailers with ATV’s on them in the area.  What was even more amazing was that there was a river running along it and the Hwy 101 is on the other side of the river.  It was all kind of surreal and amazing landscape.  I know you are tired of me using the word amazing but I just can’t think of another word to use.

Photo- George with no hands on the wheel!

George started off slow and then started to increase the speed and go into more hilly sections of the dunes.  He kind of freaked me out when he started down a steep incline, probably a 14% incline and just stopped.  He put his hands up and took his feet off of the gas pedal.  We just sat there still. WOW!  He said you would be amazed with how much control you really do have out here in the sand dunes on these vehicles.  You need something to get you going to move in this sand.  We stopped a couple of times and I had to laugh because we were basically out in the middle of nowhere and there was this Century 21 realtor sign.  I guess it was for land just on the edge of the dunes.  George got near the edge and you could look over to see an area that looked like the only access would be the dunes because the other side was marshland.

Photo- Raf and Sharon, who made me look whimpy.

It turned out I was the whimpy one in the group; Sharon had been on a Disneyland roller coaster this last summer and Raf didn’t seem fazed.  Up and down and a bit crazier it went.  Probably not nearly as crazy as George could have been but it was for me.  I was holding on the the OMDG handle which was a “T” bar in the place of like a steering wheel.  George had told me at the beginning to hold on to that if I needed to and he called it –“Oh My Dear God” handle.  I told him I was used to the “Oh Shit” handles and he teased me that this was a step up from that.  George later told me that I wasn’t as bad as some that he has had women burying finger nails into his arm, but I think he was just being nice.  I was rather sad to have it end so soon, but I tell you what I would do it again with the Spinreel rentals.  They were just wonderful!

Photo- One of several wonderful ocean views from near the Cape Blanco Lighthouse.

Next, I headed back through Coos Bay and headed south on Hwy 101.  I swung by the light house at Bandon which I saw 8 years ago while I was on the coast.  I took some pictures of the ocean and a few quick ones of the light houses.  Next, I took a bit of a break at the Cape Blanco State Park where there was another lighthouse. (Kory- it was closed again! Just like the last time we visited.)  This lighthouse has some strange hours for its grounds but I walked around a plateau nearby where I saw some wonderful ocean views and even saw some people riding horses on the beach.

There were sections of construction along the Hwy 101 and there were a couple of times where the wait was about 15 min, but I did mind because you could watch the ocean.  I would roll down the windows and just listen to the ocean and enjoy it.  I looked at the construction employees and wondered how they managed to get anything done with those kinds of views but I would guess you’d get used to it.

Photo- A circle of Redwood Trees.

Next thing I knew I was in California.  The roads got curve and steeper.  The speed limits changed from 65 to 40 in a blink of an eye and sports cars were zooming around me like I was standing still.  Ye Gads!  Then I was at Crescent City.  I stopped at the Redwood Parks information booth.  I decided I would continue south towards Eureka, CA.  There was a section of “old growth” that the parks employee had told me had a paved road that went through.  It was the Pioneer Redwood area and was just south of Klamath, CA and there was an exit it ran parallel to Hwy101 and then joined back up with it.

Photo- Me- doing that I caught a fish this Big in front of the BIG Redwood Tree.

Wow!  Yes, another wow coming from me.  The Redwood forest is really something to see.  I stopped and took a hike into to see the Big Redwood.  I asked a German couple to take my picture.  It was funny because I ran into this German couple later on another hike and then later on in the evening at a brew pub in Eureka; small world!

On my way to Eureka there were a whole lot of cars stopping on the side of the road.  Well, it was a herd of elk that was just off of the Hwy on either side.  I stopped and took a couple of pictures but it was getting to be about 5pm and I still needed to find a hotel for the night.  I drove on and when I got to Eureka, I stopped at one of the first hotels I could find; a Clarion that looked nice.

And as I said earlier, I ran into that German couple at a brew pub.  The brew pub was the Lost Cove Brewing Company in Old Historic Section of Eureka and their wheat beer was wonderful.  I also enjoyed a brown derby sandwich; a pile high roast beef sandwich with melted cheddar on a toasted hard sourdough roll. Yum!

DAY 20- Chocolate, Cars, & Cheese!

I ended up staying the night at the “Hilton” of the KOA campsites.  The facilities for this KOA were deluxe and they even had a free pancake breakfast that they served in the morning at their kitchen building.  The night before, I had gone to a chocolate and wine tasting that they held at the main KOA store.  It was chocolate truffles cut up and then served with a red wine that was infused with chocolate.  It was chocolate heaven!  The wine tasted like a chocolate version of Bailey’s and was very yummy.  So yummy in fact that I bought a bottle of it and took it back to my tent site. 

Photo- My campsite at the "Hilton" KOA.

I almost drank half of the bottle while I sat at the covered picnic bench at my campsite with my plugged in computer surfing the web on my computer till it was bedtime (midnight).  Did I mention that I had a tent site where I had power and water?  It was also fenced in and rather private; too cool!

Next, after breaking camp and grabbing my free pancakes, I headed south along the coast on Hwy 101.  It was misting rather heavily most of the morning since about 7am shortly after I had gotten my camping gear packed up. (Thank goodness!)  I had asked a gal at the pancake breakfast if this was considered rain in the northwest.  “No, not yet there but it’s on its way,” she answered.

So it was some wet driving towards the south for the next 14 miles.  It never full rained but the misting got to a point of a good drizzle.  I drove about 5 miles under the speed limit because I wasn’t sure how the roads were when they were wet here.  In Utah, the roads get awfully slick when they get wet.  I think that I was frustrating some of the other drivers behind me and I took every opportunity to get over into the turn outs so they could whiz on by me.  I just didn’t want to chance it.

Photo- Car show in Seaside.

Seaside was the next town that I came to.  It’s a vibrant little community along the beach area.  They were also having some kind of hot rod car show along their main street area; only all of these cars were taking all of the parking along the street.  They also had the street closed to other cars.  It was rather fun to walk among the cars and the misting seemed to be finally waning a bit. 

But I still ended up purchasing a much needed raincoat at local store.  It’s not that I didn’t have one at all but that the one I did have was for my cycling.  It has bicycle grease on it from riding around with my bike in the back of my car.  I went to several different shops and finally found an inexpensive men’s raincoat that I liked.  I walked down to the end of the street where there was a lovely turnabout and plaza area of the town that overlooks the beach.  There were a lot of people flying kites along the beach.  T was rather fun to watch them.

Photo- The wonderful view of Cannon Beach from the south of town.

Next it was onto Cannon Beach which came highly recommended in the 1001 Places to See Before You Die book that I’ve periodically been using to help me along the way.  I lucked out and found a parking place at the end of a street just off of the beach.  I just walked over to the end of the street but didn’t go out on the beach.  I didn’t want to worry about sand in my sandals or my socks. 

Yep, I’m doing the socks with the sandals thing that is like a Utah thing.  MAN! And I used to hate that when I would see that but after living somewhere for over 20 years I guess you pick up some of the habits of the locals.  What the Heck! (Which is another Utah-ism, because they don’t say hell! They consider that swearing.  But then it doesn’t tend to hail there much either so you can’t choose to say you were using the proper word to describe precipitation either. Oh HECK!)

Photo- Cute little courtyards nested along with shops in Cannon Beach.

I walked around the main street of Cannon Beach; mainly, through some of the galleries.  I was particularly liked the art gallery in the Cannon Beach Mall called Haystack Gallery.  It had a beautiful original watercolor painting from Steve Hanks.  And another artist that I really like was Michael Schlicting who had some amazing ocean scenes done in watercolor.

Photo- A self-supported cyclist on Hwy 101.

Next, I stopped by the first viewing area just south of Cannon Beach which had a better view of the overall beach.  While there two self-supported touring cyclists I had passed earlier stopped at the viewing area too.  I talked to them for a bit.  This was their first tour of any sort and they had started in Vancouver, BC and were on their way to San Francisco where they would fly back to Ontario, Canada.  I wished them luck and when they saw my Utah plates they said that a bike tour of southern Utah was next on their list.

Photo- I took a self-guided tour.

Behold the power of cheese!  I next went to Tillamook where I took a self-guided tour of the cheese factory.  It was interesting reading about the process and then viewing some of the processing from a second floor observation area that overlooks the production floor.  Then I came back down stairs where there was an area that you could sample some of the cheeses.  I would’ve bought some cheese but I really had no way of keeping it much past the afternoon and even the smallest package was a bit much for an afternoon consumption for me.

I turned onto Hwy 6 and started heading towards Portland where I would be staying the night.  I drove through the very dense Tillamook State Forest which seemed to make a very winding road to drive on.  Then, it was on to Hwy 26 which was a double lane in each direction.  I was able to pick up some speed, and before I knew it I was near Portland.  I managed to find my way to the Sellwood area where I was renting a room for the next two nights from a homeowner that I found on the www.airbnb.com website.  A friend had given me the website to check out.

DAY 18- Mt Saint Helen's...

It surprised me but “Paradise” ended up being a very quiet night of sleeping in the tent.  I heard a bit of coyotes when I got back to my tent at 9PM but after that it was quieter than a mouse all the way to morning.  Then at 6:30AM, I felt like I was the noisy one when I took down my tent. 

The rest of the morning, I worked on writing up and addressing some postcards.  After all, the Popette** needs to know where I am since she doesn’t have access to internet.  I also have been trying to send my nephew Luke some postcards too; thinking it might make me a more interesting Aunt.  Oh, one can dream of being interesting to a 13 yr. old boy that is probably more interested in computer games.   

(**NOTE: Ms. Mary, also known as the Popette, is my 80 year old character of friend whose first in line for being the female Pope if the church ever changes their mind.)

Next, I went to the local post office to mail them.  It was a cute two room building just located a block off of Hwy 12.  The postmistress got me the stamps I needed and she hoped I didn’t mind the Disney Cars stamps that she had.  She had some of her customers complained that they were goofy.  I just chuckled and said no I don’t mind at all.  Then, she gave me my receipt and my treat as she handed it to me like she did it every day to every person that came in.  It was a fancy flavored lifesaver in a foil wrap.  It was just too precious; the small town post office.

 

It was about noonish when I finally got on the road to head to Mt. Saint Helen’s.  Jerry, the local contractor I met at the Tavern the night before, had given me a back roads direction to the Park that would save me about 35 miles.  I, also, heard from everyone at the tavern that that was the best way to go and the best place to see into the crater of Mt. Saint Helen’s.  That’s the wonderful thing about talking with the local people while I’m on this adventure; I get the inside track.

 

Photo- First damage that I saw of Mt. St. Helen's-- leftover from mudslide runs.

And the inside track worked wonderfully, I got to where I needed to be.  The first place I stopped where you could start seeing leftover damage from the 1980 blast was at Hoffstadt Bluffs where there was a restaurant and gift shop.  You could see where the mud slides had run down the North Fork of the Toutle River valley.  Most of the valley looked like ash and mud with debris from trees.  There was a small part of the river running but most of that area was dark with no vegetation at all.

 

Photo- Bridge at the edge of where Mt St Helen blast was in 1980.

My next stop was a viewing area over the largest of three bridges that were built when they put in the new highway after the blast.  It was 17 miles away and showed pictures of blow down trees from the horizontal phase of the blast.  Where that sign was standing was the edge of where that blast had occurred.  Wow, I thought.  I’m standing 17 miles away and a blast from that volcanic incident had blown down trees.  But that wasn’t all; there was still another 3 miles out where vegetation had been superheated from the blast that they died from that.  It was just mind boggling.

 

As I went further along Hwy 504, there was a small area below the Forest Learning Center where grass had been laid down in hopes to assist the large Elk population that had existed prior to the 1980 blast.  In fact, there were viewing areas to look out at the Elk who had managed to adapt to the new environment. 

Photo- Taken on the Coldwater Lake trail about how a lake is created.

 

Next, it was on to the Cold Water Recreation Center where I took the best view of the crater of Mt. Saint Helen’s can be seen from the Johnston Ridge Observatory.  That’s what the insiders told me and they were right.  At 4200’ and 6 miles away, there was a wonderful view into the crater. 

 

Photo- of Mt. St. Helens from 6 miles away.

The rangers give talks out on the patio area just outside of the building.  I got there in time to catch the end of one and then managed to do a bit of hiking around. During part of my hike, there was a woman that had a telescope pointed into the crater and you could see the steam rising from the middle section of the crater.  It was rather cool but kind of like watching a sleeping giant that you never knew when it would wake up.  But I guess that this sleeping giant is one of the best monitored in the world. 

A great deal of studying has been done with it and they are now able to monitor it by looking at seismic activity and steam color activity and be able to help predict when it will blast again.  Because I guess that it is just a matter of time.  It’s the youngest of the mountains of its type in the area and therefore the most likely to have activity.  I guess you could compare it to the teenager that is more likely to act up when they are younger than an adult.   

Photo- of me from the Johnston Ridge Observatory patio.

I caught another talk and then went to watch a 17 minute film they have in an auditorium.  All in all it’s a wonderfully informative place to visit.    I just found it all so fascinating.  Before I knew it was four in the afternoon and I needed to drive back to civilization to find a place to stay.

 

I ended up working my way south east through to Castle Rock, WA and jumped onto I-5 going south.  Shortly, after that I got off at Longview where I found an Econolodge to stay the night.  Let’s just say that I’m no longer going to consider Econolodges for places to stay.  I never heard so many arguments, doors slamming, or had so many problems with a room.

DAY 17- Mount Rainier...

I stayed the night at a Motel 6 in Centralia, WA.  The clerk at the motel asked for ID and it felt like 10 minutes of computer stuff she did while looking at my ID.  What do you need a federal background check to stay at a Motel 6 now?  It almost seemed like an afterthought when she asked for my credit card to pay for the room. 

For breakfast the next morning, I went to a place called Country Cousins.  It was a fun rustic family restaurant.  The servers wore black t-shirts that featured a version of Grant Wood’s American Gothic where the man is wearing a cowboy hat and the woman is wearing a pink with white polka dot apron with white gingham edges.  Then under the picture it states: “Let’s get Country Fried.”  The inside of the restaurant is like going into a barn and has old farm tools and “antique” type things hanging and sitting around.  The tables are light wood that have old photos and prints that are decoupage onto the surface.  I had the Hazel’s Omelet and it was a plate full of food for the $10.  What a fun way to start off the day.

I then fueled up real quickly (Thank you Jay & Patty for the Chevron card!) and off I went on I-5 South to Hwy 12.  On Hwy 12 I went through towns named like Ethel, Salkum, Mossyrock, and Morton.  It like those names a mother would give a kid to embarrass them for the rest of their life.  Mossyrock seemed to the most scenic of them as I went by at 55mph.  At Morton, I drove north on Hwy 7 to town of Elbe (another wonderful name) where I took a right to go towards the Mount Rainier National Park.

Photo- My first view of Mt. Rainier while I'm still aways away.

I stopped at a gas/grocery station in Ashford, the last town before the Park, to pick up a cold beverage and a little snack before heading in.  It’s there that I got into a quick conversation with a motorcycle guy while in line.  He asked if I was going into the National Park today and I said yes.  He went on to say that Hell’s Angels would be visiting the Park today too.  WHAT?!!?  Go figure the day I’m going to visit a National Park all of Hell’s Angels would be there too.  Well, I did see a great deal of motorcycles but whether they were Hell’s Angels or not I couldn’t say for sure.  But I will say quite a few of them were kind of rough around the edges.

Photo- Of me with Mt. Rainier in the background. 
The guy that took the picture was kneeling that's why I look so tall! :)

Mount Rainier National Park was amazing!  I drive along on a road edged by tall evergreens and the whole time I get little peeks at Mount Rainier through the tops of the trees.  The road winds around quite a bit and there are tons of areas to pull out and stop or look at sites or take a hike.  I got out at the first area and took a couple of pictures of Mount Rainier but it was still a ways off.  Back in the car, I went and continued driving up.  I felt like I was getting into the “nose bleed” section of the surrounding mountains when a large over look came up.  Wow!  I had a guy nearby that took a photo of me in front of the mountain, and I took several other pictures too.  The overlook where I stood has a sheer cliff drop that goes down to very rocky streambed of a river that runs off the mountain.  It had to be at least a few hundred feet down.  Needless to say, I didn’t want to get too close to that edge.

Photo- Bridge over stream with waterfalls.  So pretty!

Photo- Another name for restroom at the National Parks?
Comfort?  Where's the jacuzzi or how about a pedicure?
Comfort? A Men's and a Women's with three stalls each.  Hmmm?

Next, I continued up the road for as far as I was able.  The Steven’s Canyon Road was closed for road construction.  They started that the day after Labor Day.  I got up to a picnic area and there was a wonderful bridge with stream that waterfall a couple of times down.  Unfortunately, the Nierda Falls trail that I would have loved to have seen these waterfalls from the other side was closed too because of the above construction.  Darn!  I went back to Longmeir and walked around the a bit; saw the gift shop, restaurant, and an old fueling like station that had historical info.  I guess that President Taft’s car was the first car over the Paradise Road Pass in 1912 and for part of it the car was pulled by mules.  Now, that would have been something to see.

After I left the park there was still quite a bit of day time hours.  The night before I had visited the website for a RV/Camping place that looked rather nice; so after a little back tracking I went back past the town of Mossyrock and turned off to Paradise RV Resort.  Let me state for the record--Don’t always believe in a place named Paradise and don’t always believe what you read on the internet. 

Photo- The ONLY view at the Paradise RV Resort before you went in.

The only view that the RV Park had was just prior to you going into the RV Park, and I felt a bit like I was in the movie Deliverance.  Most of the men had wife beater tank tops, wore either farm caps or cowboy hats, and a few of them were toothless too.  There were some old married couples where the guys looked like they have served in the military.  At least that what I saw as I set up my tent in the tents only section.  I was the only tent in that section for the night.

I set up my tent real quick and then decided I would catch a bike ride; after all it was only 5pm.  So off I go, up out of the valley with no view and down to towards the pretty little Mayfield Lake.  Now this was nice.  The road I took was lined with little farms, cottonwood trees and evergreen trees.  Down I went to the lake and crossed over the bridge and then took a quick loop through a cute little state park; which I could’ve camped in.  Live and learn! 

I took a quick shower when I got back to “Paradise” which the facilities were relatively clean and well kept up I have to say.  I then proceeded into town of Mossyrock to grab a bite to eat because “Paradise” didn’t allow any open flame.  I soon discovered that most of the restaurant places close in Mossyrock about 7 or 8pm. In fact, quite a few of the businesses close down by 6pm on a week night.  Not much of a nightlifr type of town here.

I ended up going to Tavern that also served food.  I ended up ordering the DAM Bacon cheeseburger; which is how it is on the menu and toots itself as the best in the entire county.  I will say that it was a good pretty good burger and very large too.  I ended up ordering a Bacardi Silver with it and the gal wasn’t sure what that was but I pointed to it on the menu.  " Oh," she said," mostly everyone orders bottles or cans of beer here."  Well, I said it’s probably obvious I’m not from here; and thus, I ended up talking on and off during my meal and a couple of drinks afterwards. 

I also met some more locals that sat down near me; Jerry, a contractor, and his brother Steve. They seemed like some nice local guys and it was fun talking with them.  I ended up talking with Jerry and explaining what I was doing.  Then talking about what I had seen in the state of Washington. What was funny is that he didn’t know about or where half the things were that I had seen.  He said that I probably knew his state better than what he did. 

I’m not surprised though.  It seems like quite often people get in a rut of doing the same thing or don’t explore their local areas that much because when its vacation time all they want to do is get away.  And away, most often is outside of their state or a hot tourist attraction that you fly to.  It’s sad because I’ve spent a little over a week and a half in Washington State and feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface of seeing all that is here.