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.

DAY 16- Twilight, Beaches, & Rainforests...

After an evening of a fun filled construction drive to Forks, I basically stopped at the first motel that said they were AAA Approved.  After checking in, I went into Forks 2 more blocks and stopped at a local hamburger joint called Sully’s.  Their burgers weren’t too bad but the hand dipped onion rings were out of this world. Yum!  They even had a Bella Burger on a special menu.  Yes, one of those Twilight references.

Photo- A Twilight store on main road of Forks.

The next morning, I drove around Forks.  Yes, there was more Twilight stuff going on here.  There were signs about Twilight tours some advertising that the music is playing and Edward is waiting, but Bella and Jacob would be there too.  There were two stores on the main drag area one was Dazed by Twilight and the other, right across the street I might add, was Native Twilight.  But can you blame them for capitalizing on it when the logging industry and the economy have taken a dive in the last few years.

Photos- Of signage out towards La Push.

Next, I drove out to La Push to see the beaches.  On the way out to the beaches, I saw a sign stating No Vampires beyond this point and Twilight Treaty Line.  I was cracking up pretty hard I almost drove off the road.  Then, there was a Jacob Black’s Vacation Rentals outside a house that looked like what they used in the movie, hmmmm.  I continued to drive out as far as I could on the road out to La Push which ends in the Quileute Indian Reservation town called La Push.  There are 3 beaches; the first one is a Tribal beach and you can drive right up to.  I stopped, got out, and walked around for a bit.  It was terribly foggy along the entire beach but I tried to take a couple of photos.  I found some cool shells that were an almost royal blue with black.

Photo- 1st Beach at La Push.  Just a BIT of fog!

I then turned back up the road I had just driven, avoiding the loose dogs in La Push.  It seems like they just let the dogs roam where they want on the reservation.  I drove to the 2^nd beach but the parking lot was swamped and the smallest one of the three.  So I drove to the parking area of the 3^rd beach, I got out and proceeded to do the 1.4 mile trail to the beach.  I walked through a very wet forested land on the way.  It was so quiet and I felt so remote it was a bit surreal.  I got to the beach and again there was a fog.  But this beach was a little larger and had more land area to see that wasn’t covered by the fog.  There were a couple of tents set up where people were camping on the edge of the beach near the forest; an interesting idea. 

Photo- The trail to 3rd Beach at La Push.

Photo- 3rd Beach at La Push. Not quite as foggy.

Photo- Here's what the 3rd beach looks like without tons of fog.

Next, I drove back through Forks on my way south to Hoh Rain Forrest which is in the Olympic National Park.  It was about 22 miles south of Fork that I turned and then there was an additional 13 miles to the gate area.  But it was a rather amazing drive as you went in more because there were tall slim evergreen trees on both sides of the road that were covered in green moss and the forest floor was covered in ferns.  Here and there you could see a wide river off to one side where there were fly fishermen.

Photos- The VERY green Hoh Rainforest at Olympic National Park.

A rain forest needs several different things to have it happen and this area of Washington has all of the ingredients.  I was the most amazed that this average rainfall for this rain forest was about 142 inches per year. WOW!  They listed other cities to compare to like Seattle only averages 42 inches per year and Phoenix averages 9 inches per year.  142 inches of rain-- That’s a lot of rain!

I went for a short hike called the Hall of Mosses.  It was an easy hike of about .8 mile with a short additional spur of 200 ft.  I took it at an easy pace and enjoyed looking at the varieties of moss, ferns, and trees.  They were all SO green too.  Some of the trees were huge and very tall.  I guess that some of the trees can get up to 200 ft. tall and as big as 30 ft. around.  It certainly made my 5ft 6in frame seem small standing among them.

Photos- Ruby Beach in Olympia National Park.

From there I continued south on Hwy 101 till I saw the turn off for the Ruby Beach which is in the Kalaloch part of the Olympic National Park.  It’s a HUGE Park and claims a great deal of the northwestern corner area of Washington State.  This beach area was also very foggy but it had some very interesting rock formations and it was an easy walk down.

From there I decided to head further south.  I had a late lunch in Aberdeen, and while there I started looking at my Washington map.  I decided that I want to see about going over to visit Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helen’s while I’m kind of midway down in the state.  Then I can work my way back over to the coastline.  So I started to head east on Interstate 12 and spent the night in Centralia. 

DAY 15- Hurricane Ridge and Cape Flattery...

I woke up at 2AM to the sound of coyotes howling.  They sounded about ¼ mile off and I wasn’t too concerned because I was close to the bathrooms and other campers.  Besides, all my food supplies were in a plastic bin buried in my car.  Good luck to the coyote that could get to that!  I have enough time myself and I know which bin it is in.  Yes, I so need to figure out how to organize my car and I know I’ve got too much stuff.  Okay, it’s something I need to work on.  But  at least I survived the night and no Twilight vampires or Big foots ate me; so I’m still here and alive and relatively well.

I woke up again at 5:30AM; not because of a noise but due to cold.  I’m in a sleeping bag and I have almost every blanket in there with me.  I can see my breath.  MAN! It’s COLD!  And did I mention damp too.  There’s a layer of dew on everything and condensation inside my tent from my breathing all night.  I go to the KOA restroom and it’s warm in there.  It’s pretty sad when you go to the restroom to warm up.

So I decide I’m going to stay up and break camp early.  Now, to start a fire for breakfast; I have two logs left over from the bundle I bought last night.  BUT I have no kindling because I used it ALL last night to start the fire.  Oooopps!  So I wander around my campsite and am picking up leaves and what not that’s would be burnable.  I set it all up in the fire ring and start lighting matches.  Did I mention that it was damp?  Well, I got a great deal of smoke and more smoke.  It was perfect if I had smoke signals in mind but not one bit of flame. 

I finally remembered I had some paper bags in the car (another reason to ask for paper at your grocery store) and got those and then lite a match.  Go figure it worked!  It only took me a chilly 15 minutes to figure that one out.  Aww… life’s lessons aren’t they grand.  Thanks for the doritas tip mom!  Now, I know I can use those for kindling too.  I now know how to light a spicy fire!

Photo- Big boats at Port Angeles.

After I got packed and what not, I was on the road to Port Angeles, WA.  Some of you may remember that this town was in a few scenes of the Twilight vampire books and movies.  I went down to the coastline and took a couple of photos of big boats and then I went by the restaurant where Bella and Edward had their first date.  But overall, there wasn’t much scenic town area other than the port that I could find.

Photo- At top of Hurricane Ridge, a sea of endless mountains in one direction.

Photo- At top of Hurricane Ridge, the deeper blue areas just above mountain tops
that's Canada.  Yes, that's snow that will never melt in foreground. 

Photo- Me near the visitors center at top of Hurricane ridge.
Yep. there's snow and I'm running around in a skort!

Next, I headed up to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park. OMG!  It was AMAZING!  It was like I was driving up to the nose bleed section of the mountains in the area to get the ridge.  But the 17 mile drive was VERY worth the views.  It was like seeing forever mountains one way and you could literally see all the way to Canada the other way. Wow!  I would highly recommend putting this on your list of things to see.  There is a fee to get into the National Park but it's well worth the price.  I decided to get an annual pass, since I'll be seeing more National Parks this year.

Photo- The "Indy 500" Shelby that I followed on a gravel road.

Then, I headed back to Port Angeles, and headed west on Hwy 101.  I took the turn off of Hwy 112 to go to Neah Bay.  This has got to be the most winding highway ever!  The speed limit was supposed to be 50mph but they kept throwing these 20mph and 15mph curves at you about every 5 miles; if not more.  Then, they of course had road construction going on.  Go figure!  There was this pattern of 10 miles of curve, 15 minutes of waiting and 5 miles of construction.  Then, I turned onto Hwy 113 as I got closer to Neah Bay.  It was the same thing.

I had to laugh because there was this guy from South Carolina in a brand new Shelby all muscled out that was in front of me.  He was racing around the curves like he was at the Indy 500, and I was always catching up with him at the construction zones.  He would be careful of every little bump in the construction zones but would pour on the speed as soon as we cleared the zones.  Then, we had a long part that was nothing but gravel roads.  I imagine that was not making him happy at all.

Photo- The trail at Cape Flattery is made of boardwalks and tree stumps.

I finally made it to Neah Bay after the three hour drive that should have been an hour and a half tops.  It was pretty but it wasn’t what it had been built up to be. I thought that the John Wayne Marina was more scenic.  Next, I went on to Cape Flattery which is the most northwestern point of the 48 US states.  It was about another 25 to 30 minutes to the parking lot to the trail head for it.  The trail is about half a mile long and is put together of boarded walk ways, tree stumps and winds through a forested area.  It’s a fun trail to go on.  I grabbed my camera and headed in. 

Photos- Scenes from Cape Flattery.

Photo- Tatoosh Island off Cape Flattery that has a light house on it.

Later, as I get down to the bottom they have a warning that there had been cougar sightings.  I thought that it was interesting that they put that information at the bottom of the path way.  But the look outs and the views were beautiful.  It was very worth the ½ mile hike.  I will say that it can be a bit of a climb back up for those that are out of shape.  I saw several older people pausing quite often on the way up.  Meanwhile, I was almost running back up to the parking lot.  I needed to use the restroom facilities and didn’t want to go off to the side of the trail.  A picture of me having my pants around my ankles and being stared down by a cougar flashed through my mind.  

Photo- A thick fog coming into near Hobuck Beach Area.
Pretty to look at but I didn't like the idea of camping in it.

Next, I went over to Hobuck Beach area where I was thinking of camping for the night but there was quite a bit of fog and I really just felt like a night in motel with a shower sounded better.  So I drove back through some of the construction on Hwys 113 and over to Forks for the night.  Yes, another Twilight hot spot.

DAY 14- From Ferrying to Camping...

I tried to break myself of the Island lifestyle by trying to get up earlier.  I had reserved a spot on-line for the 10:15am Coupeville to Port Townsend Ferry.  To make sure I caught my first ever ferry (yes, another first), I managed to set my phone alarm for 6:30am.  I figured better early than late for my first ferry ride.  So, I’m putting my bags and what not by the front door getting ready to take them out to the car.  Next thing I know Mariah (the cat) is laying on my stuff and meowing at me.  It’s like she was saying “Take me too!”  It was too funny because the whole week, I’ve been staying with my hosts (Jean & Walt) this affectionate cat vied for my lap anytime I have sat down anywhere in the house.  Jean kept on teasing me about taking the cat with me when I leave.  So here is this cat rolling around in my gear as I’m trying to get ready.

Photo- The cat that wants to come along?

I said my goodbyes and headed from Oak Harbor to the ferry dock in Coupeville which is about a 15 mile drive.  I checked in for the ferry about 45 minutes earlier than the time.  I was the first car in the first line, and ended up being the third actual vehicle on the ferry.  I told the gal when I checked in that this was my first time and if there was anything I needed to know.  She said no; that I just needed to follow the directions of the ferry employees. 

Photo- I took as I was driving onto the ferry.

I pulled the car on; following the waves and hand signals of the ferry employees.  I turned off and locked my car; then, headed up to the upper deck with my camera.  It had been very foggy on Whigby Island earlier this morning but had been lifting pretty well at the dock.  Well, as we got further out on to the water the fog seemed to just sit there.  I never did really get to see much of anything while on the actual ferry ride. 

Photo- The only view from the ferry while crossing.

Photo- My first sighting of Port Townsend.

My first sight of the town of Port Townsend was through a mild low lying fog.  As we get closer, there’s an announcement about preparing to dock and look out!  It’s like a stampede down the stairs to the lower deck.  Oh, did I mention that there was a great deal of non-American tourists?  There were Oriental and German too that was spoken.  I heard quite a few others that I couldn’t figure out what language they were speaking.

Photo- Outside of wood boat building school.

Off the boat we all eventually went following the universal hand signal signs from the ferry employees.  I took a quick right into the center of Port Townsend and found a parking spot within a few blocks.  Then, I just jumped out of the car and explored.  Port Townsend is a port so there were an emphasis on the boats with a few marina areas, boat suppliers, and even wooden boat builder’s school; which unfortunately because it was Monday Memorial Day the shop was closed.  It looked like they had an area where you could watch them at work.

Photos- Of water front area of Port Townsend.

Their waterfront street is filled with cute shops, quite a few galleries and also eateries. The people seemed very friendly.  There was a cross section of bicyclists, variety of sailors, uptown chic, and hippies.  It was like anything goes and I didn’t seem to be out of place at all.  I stopped for lunch at this cute little restaurant that was French inspired that was tucked away about 2 blocks over from Waterfront Street.

Next, I was off in the car heading west on highway 20 trying to find where it hooked up with highway 101 that goes to Port Angeles.  I got a bit confused when I got in a turn lane and had to figure out my way back to where I should have been.  They seem to be fond of turn only lanes where you don’t really know that you are in a turn only lane until the last minute, and if you can’t get over… well, you figure out something else.

On the way to Port Angeles, there were many discoveries.  Among the first discovery was a community called Discovery Bay which was a picture perfect bay lined with picture perfect homes and businesses.  It was like looking at those realistate ads in real life; a little too perfect.  Next, I went through the town of Sequim which is an area that has a great deal of lavender farms; unfortunately I’m about 3 weeks too late to see them in their full glory.  Just outside of Sequim, I turned off to see the River Bridge trail/Dungeness area.  I guess that this a unique area because it has one of the wettest climates but within about 2 mile distance you go from extreme wet bridges to the driest spot in Washington state which is a mini desert.  There were people bird watching and bicycling throughout the area.  Also, the river trail that goes over the wooden bridge continues from Sequim to just outside of Port Angeles; a good 16 miles away.  I also got to see the John Wayne Marina along the way.  I had to stop there!  Because when you grow up in Iowa and find out John Wayne was born in Winterset, IA... well, let's just say, it's one of those claim to fame type local things.

Photo- River Bridge area with plenty of activity.

Photo- The John Wayne Marina.

Before I got to Port Angeles, I took a left to the KOA campsite; yes, another first!  It was my first time at a KOA campsite and also my first time with just me by myself camping.  There was no relying on someone else to set up the tent or start that campfire; it all fell to me.  And I’m happy to say that I managed it pretty darn well.

Photo- My dinner that I boiled water for.

For dinner, I managed to get a roaring fire enough to boil water (Yes, I can boil water!) to add to the pre-packaged camp meal of 3 bean chili and to put in my brand new never been used French coffee press.  I was getting some real strange looks from other campers with the French press or so it seemed but maybe they were just looking at me because I started a roaring fire to boil water?  For dessert, I had a snack pack butterscotch pudding.  I waited till the fire was almost out, douse it, and got in the tent.  Oh, did I mention that I reserved a campsite with electricity?  I then went into my tent and watched a movie on my computer until I was ready for bed.

DAY 13- Music Festival & Birthday BBQ Parties...

I may be adjusting too much to the Island life.  I was still in my pj’s until about noon today.  I finally got my act together and got shower/changed.  Then, I was off to run a couple errands for misc. camping supplies.  I mainly went for water and batteries.  You can never have enough of those items when you are camping.  I have reservations for a KOA just outside Port Angeles, WA for the following night.

Photo: Plenty of things going on at the Oak Harbor Jazz and Music Festival.

Then, after the errands I ran by the Oak Harbor Jazz & Musical Festival.  There were quite a few people done there and amazingly, I wasn’t the only character there!  The Festival had been running all Labor Day weekend and I finally managed to get there.  There were two stages and live music at both of the stages.  They had Pioneer Street closed off which is like the Old Towne area of Oak Harbor. 

Photo- See I wasn't the only character1 Unqiue clothes for the unique person --a booth at the festival.

There seemed to be plenty of areas for parking.  I grabbed a spot nearby and walked into the free festival.  There were tons of food booths with any type of food you could ever want and plenty of booths for shopping too.  Most of the stores along the street were also opened.  When I was there, they had a jazz band playing on one stage at one end of the street and the other end of the street had an old time rock-n-roll band playing.  People were sitting on haystacks that they had for seating.  It was rather fun.

Photo- People listening to live music as they sat on haystacks.

Later on, I had been invited by my hosts to attend a birthday BBQ party.  The husband of the host for the BBQ was turning 60.  It was a very fun group and he took all of the guests on a little tour of the nearby wetlands.  It was amazing and fun to because you kind of felt like you were walking through a wetland maze.

Next, the tour of their cute house that faced on to Admiral’s Cove Lake next to the wetlands on Whigby Island. Then, it was the opening of the presents.  It was a fun night and I got to meet some very fun and welcoming local people.

DAY 12- Motorcycle Ride to Lake Diablo

Originally I had planned to start heading south through Port Townsend and on to do a bit of camping.  But unfortunately with the holiday weekend and no preplanning of places to stay, I would’ve had nowhere to stay.  (That is the problem with living a sit-of-your-pants lifestyle.)  So I ended up extending my stay at my friend’s place on Whigby Island.  Walt, Jean’s husband, had made the offer to take me on a motorcycle ride up to Diablo Lake. Jean has been recovering from knee surgery and has been unable to be on the bike.  She encouraged us to go because she knows how Walt loves to be out on his motorcycle.  I said yes, of course. 

Just prior to the motorcycle ride we took a quick trip to the Naval Commissary at the Whigby Island Base; a first for me.  This trip all seems to be about firsts for me.  I had always thought that these Commissaries would be similar to shopping at a Sam’s Club warehouse store but it was very much like a regular grocery store with brand names and lower prices.  I went in as Walt’s guest while he did the shopping for a BBQ he was planning on doing when we got back later that night.

At about noon, we left out on Walt’s black cherry Red Wing motorcycle. I was a bit nervous because it had been almost 10 years since I’ve been a passenger on a motorcycle but Walt quickly put me at ease when he explained that he has been driving motorcycles since he was 14years old.  So being a bit more relaxed off we went north off of Whigby Island.  He showed me a local’s back way through part of the Island to miss a great deal of the holiday traffic.

After we got off the Island, we made a quick pit stop to top off the Red Wing’s gas tank at the Swinomish Reservation for gas where gas prices were about 20 cents cheaper than the surrounding area.  There were some lines but there were enough pumps that it was a short wait.  Then off we went east on WA-20 for a bit then we took some back road two lane highways through the Skagit Valley Farm area.  There were signs along the road for places where you could pick your own blueberries and raspberries.  There was tall corn with tassels and plenty of signs that hay was for sale.  There were cows and horses in fields.  It was a scenic flat land and then we started to climb into a canyon area.

Shortly, afterwards we went through a town called Concrete. It was the place where the film, A Boy’s Life, was filmed which starred Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio.  I just thought that the name was interesting; Concrete.  A name like that for a small town out near the North Cascades National Park nested in a forested area.

We continued to climb and were heading in a northeastern direction.  Shortly after another small town called Rockport, we started to see a river that ran along the highway.  What amazed me was the blue-green color of the river.  The color was amazing.  Then we continued along the road which wands through forested land.  It made for a wonderful ride on a motorcycle.  Here and there we would pass bicyclists riding along on the side of the road. 

Photos- The Good Food Stop at Mablemount.

 

Soon we came to Marblemount which is the last fuel stop before a 72 mile stretched to Winthrop.  We had traveled a little over 60 miles and I was ready for a butt break.  There was still about 25 miles to Diablo Lake.  We grabbed a quick lunch at the Good Food place in Marblemount; sitting at a picnic table outside just off of a wooded area.  We could see and hear quite a few other motorcycles riding by.  It seemed to be a popular route.

Photo- The overlook of Diablo Lake. Amazing!

Photo- Walt and myself at the Lake Diablo overlook.

We climbed the last 20 miles, with some amazing views at dams and the unique blue-green colored water.  We turned off to an overlook area and WOW!  We could see the whole Lake Diablo.  It was an amazing view.  We spent some time at the overlook taking pictures and reading the informational signs.  I guess that the unique color comes from rock dust that is created by the above glaciers on the mountains crushing rocks.  But soon it was time to head back.  It was a wonderful day on the motorcycle.

Photo: Mount Baker from the overlook area.

DAYs- 10 and 11 on the BIG Adventure...

DAY 10

I took off late about 11AM-ish after yesterday’s La Conner experience I was trying to think more like an “islander”.  I drove north again heading off of Whigby Island and through Fidalgo Island; over the Big Bridge and taking a left to go further north on the “mainland”.  Well, I turned one stop light too early and ended up going by a Bayview State park and a small township also named Bayview.  It all looked over what I guess would a Bay maybe at high tide or when the water was more abundant but looked more like mud flats.  I took a left thinking I would try to keep along the shoreline and that eventually I would see water off to my left as I drove on along.  I ended up on Samish Island.  It was a quaint small place with one memorial chapel, small vacation cottages mixed with large glassed houses, and plenty of deer.   I could see why the speed limit was only 20mph.  Within a half mile I saw 6 deer.  I took a few pictures and enjoyed the views; now that there was water rather than mud flats.

Photo- The view on Samish Island

Photo- A vacation rental cottage on Samish Island.

I drove back out to where I took the left and went straight.  I then discovered the road I should have been on; Farm to Market Road.  An interesting name for the road and I saw why the name as I went through another small town called Edison.  I drove around a corner and almost got taken out by a HUGE red combine. Go figure that a girl who grew up in Iowa might be taken out by a combine.

Photo- The view on Chuckanut Drive.

Photo- Quite a few cyclists along the Chuckanut Drive.

I eventually found my ultimate goal on my drive.  I located the Chuckanut Drive and went further north.  It started to climb out of the flat farm areas and went along the coast.  There were cliffs with rocks on my right and a drop off with trees and beach along the left.  It was just amazing views and rather fun to drive.  There were quite a few cyclists riding in the area.  I could understand with the views, a bit of a climb, and 25mph speed limit.  It was like Bike Nirvana.

Photo- Fairhaven a historic village in Bellingham, WA.

Photo- Of me in front of the Best Fish and Chip place in Fairhaven.  A double decker bus with outdoor sitting.

Chuckanut Drive ended up driving into Bellingham’s historic village of Fairhaven.  I parked the car and walked around taking pictures.  I stopped for lunch in an Italian restaurant called Mambo Italiano Cafe (www.mamboitaliancafe.com ).  It sounded like a fun name and I was in the mood for Italian.  It was good.  I had the special of the day—a penne pasta with garlic infused olive oil, feta cheese, roma tomatoes, and olives.  For dessert, I splurged on a tiramisu and a French coffee; which was a cinnamon coffee with cognac.  It was a wonderful late lunch.  I wandered around some more and did a bit of shopping.  There was a wonderful selection of shops and galleries.  In fact, I was very impressed with the Gallery West that had a wide selection and variety of art.

 

DAY 11

Day 11 was a day off.  I had woke up to a cloud covered and chilly looking day and decided I would take the day off from sightseeing.  I figured I had been going straight 10 days with traveling and sightseeing and needed a bit of down time.  I got out the watercolor paints and did a couple of paintings and then I went to a local brew pub called Flyers.  I did some tastings of beers there.  They had an award winning dark brew that had coffee and chocolate.  But I really like their Heffe’ beer.  What can I say but I’m a Heffe’ kind of girl.  I grabbed a crab cake sandwich with sweet potato fries.  Yummy!  I sat at the bar and ended up having a few brews while I shot the breeze with a local guy that works with a company that cleans up oil spills.  Then I was off to the grocery store for supplies to cook a dinner for my hosts.  I cooked my Saucy New Orleans Chicken.  Overall, it was a wonderful day off from the sightseeing/traveling life.

Photo- "Libbey Beach"; a watercolor on 10" x 15" paper that I painted.