Six months on the Road

We did it. Six months on the road, 15 National Parks, a bunch of State Parks, and countless attractions. We live in one beautiful country. I wish we could have learned more about each place but time kept pressing us forward. There are places we missed that we will visit another time, places that we will re-visit when we can, and there are place that should only be visited once.

If you dream of traveling........make the time, take the vacation, whether it's 5 star traveling or camping in a tent, it is an experience of a life time and remember not all those who wander are lost.

as Nike says........................................................JUST DO IT.

San Fransisco and Muir Wood National Monument

We drove to Muir Woods to see the great red wood trees. Dean & Morgan did the Junior Ranger program. We had lunch at the park and walked around learning about the Red Woods.

We spent our last night in San Fransisco. We drove through the city in the RV I know there are hills but HOLLY COW we had to detach the car the hills were so steep. It's hard to believe some of the most challenging driving happened in a city.

We went to fisherman's wharf, watch some street performers (Joe was part of the show), and had dinner. We stayed by the airport and Joe dropped us off to fly home. Joe drove the RV back home it only took him 4 and a half days.h

Santa Rosa CA

We traveled to wine country to see some friends we knew in Key West 8 years ago. They have an awesome place. They live on a very unique farm. They grow all kinds of veggies and have 2 dogs but the neighbors have a bunch of dogs. The kids were in heaven. The dogs were Morgan size. In the evenings we would sit around a little fire and hang out under the stars, I even saw a shooting star.

The other neighbor has 8 horses, 2 pigs, a few peacocks, a bunch of Dog, a bunch of cats, a parrot, and probably some animals I forgot to mention. Well she was so kind and let Dean and Morgan ride her horse. They rode around for about an hour. It was an experience they nor I will ever forget.

This was one of the last days of the trip. Thank you guys for making it so special.

Old Friends

We went to visit with an old friend from NJ. They live in a beautiful home in Walnut Creek CA. Her kids are the same age as Dean & Morgan. What a perfect match. The kids swam, played, ate sushi, played and played some more. We were able to catch up, there lots to talk about after nine years. Next time won't be so long.

Marysville, CA

We drove past Crater Lake National Park. The northern entrance road was closed :(
On to Marysville. We arrived just before dark. I was glad it was still light getting our RV in the drive way was like putting 12 lbs of potatoes in a 10 lb bag. We held our breath and squeezed in.
My Uncle has the sweetest farm. The kids loved it they could ride bikes, play ball, and run free.

There is a Swan and a Duck that live on the farm. We were warned about the swan, and The duck is called Jose . There was a very sweet black cat and 1 other nasty one. I think the farm is very ying and yang.

Dean was very interested in the Swan, he was down by the pond checking him out. I scolded Dean because I didn't want him to get hurt. Dean said "But I connected with him". So Dean named the Swan, Willy.

Halloween in Bend

We stayed with friends in Bend. They have a almost 3 year old son. The kids had a blast. We didn't plan on staying more than a night or two but they invited us to go trick or treating so we stayed a little longer. It was fun they dressed up as the bat family, "super hero's rock". Dean was an awesome avatar and Morgan was a mini vampire. Joe & I, well we couldn't resist, vampires.

Down the Oregon Coast

We Headed down the Oregon Coast. We had dinner with an old high school friend of Joe's. It's always so nice to catch up with old friends

He hooked us up in a really nice RV park for the evening. And then down the coast some more.

Did I mention we had the breaks done in the motor home? They are not working right. Well they work but squeak and smell something awful. On our way over to Bend to visit ours friends daughter Joe got an appointment with a different Freightliner dealer to look at the brakes. I took the car to Bend and he headed to Freightliner. Long story short they re-did the breaks and they are perfect. Either the brakes were faulty or the labor was faulty no way to tell.

More Olympic Peninsula

After leaving the beach we took a wrong turn and ended up in La Push, yes Twilight fans the reservation La Push. We turned around and headed to Forks for lunch. No vampires out today it was a sunny day.

On to the the rain forest. The visitor center was closed but we decided to do a little hike called Mossy trail. I think this is one of my most favorite places on earth, at least in the top five. The trees are so old and covered in moss. I felt so peaceful, so at home like I'd been there before. Joe Dean & Morgan all thought it was very cool too.

Our next stop in the park was the hot springs. But we were a day late. They closed the day before and wouldn't even let us get a peek. Oh well... We got to see a deer family up close. They weren't intimidated by us at all.

We camped one more night went to the ranger station in the AM and the kids got their ranger bagdes. The last stop in the park was the largest sruce tree. And man it was ...BIG, again at a loss for words.

Olympic National Park

We found our way to the Olympic Peninsula, and the National Park. The first stop was the Visitor Center and found out the places to see and things to do. We made it to Mora Beach campground. We pulled in after dark we tried to get our rig in a site but after pulling the air horn off with a tree branch we decided to park in the regular daily parking area.

In the morning I took a walk around and could see that we were trying to park a RV in a tent site, not a good fit.

We fixed the air horns and headed to the beach. Realto Beach is like nothing we have ever seen before. The Pacific Ocean is ........ (I don't have words to describe its power). There were the huge down trees strewn across the beach, Joe measured one at 190 feet. The question is how did they get there? And there is no sand but these small round stones. All my senses were alive, the smell of the ocean, the beauty I could see, the cool damp air on my skin, the loud crashing waves, well I couldn't taste anything but I didn't want sea water in my mouth either.

This is only the begining of the Park.

Thanks Rich & Gloria

Thanks for the great week in WA.

We had a blast.

Mount Rainer National Park

We had to bring the RV in for work on the breaks and decided to test the new brakes out with a drive through Mt Rainer National Park. The visitor center was closed but we drove up toward the glaciers. The weather was a little cloudy but it was beautiful. Joe & I had been there 12 years ago on our first motor home trip but it was hard to remember where we were and what we saw. We sounded like an old married couple trying to piece together the last trip.

Port Townsend WA

Out tour guides took us to visit a friends sister in Port Townsend WA. As we pulled up in the drive way Joe said "did you guys see that?" we all said what? He said "A whale" No.., no.... unhugh..., are you sure? He was sure. We went in to visit and asked if it was common to see whales in the sound. No she said that is so rare you probably saw a seal or a dolphin. But Joe was sure of what he saw and you know......... about a half hour later we saw it, all of us, an Orca. It was incredible. No pictures but it was spectacular.

Ok now a little information. The question is an Orca a whale or dolphin? Scientifically it is a dolphin. But all dolphins are a sub-category of whales. So all dolphins are whales but not all whales are dolphin. I heard it explained like all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares. Anyway...

Whether or not it was a whale or dolphin our friend confirmed it is rare to see an Orca in the Sound.

Back in Seattle WA

We made it back to the west coast after a 2 month break at home. We are staying at a friends house in Kent. They are great tour guides they took us to the Boeing Factory, where they make 747's, 767's ,777's and the new dream liner 787. Morgan was to short to take the tour. The next day the guys went back for a tour and the girls went to Pike's Place Market. Did I mention the weather was perfect and sunny?