Layover day....

Yesterday we had no where to be, or to go. Our plan is/was to stay in Jewell for 2 nights, so Elaine went into her friend's home to do her conference call, while I cleaned 10 days of road gunk off the Cannondale bikes so we could take a ride later that day. I had bought some mineral spirits the day before at the Home Depot in Warrenton, OR to clean the gunk and rust off the chains, plus some throw away rags to wipe the bikes down....they were filthy, and it took me close to 2 hours to clean them up and ready them for the ride (clean and lube chains, air up the tires, adjust brakes, mirrors, and re-install the bike bags (handlebar and trunk bags).

By this time it was close to Noon, and the temperatures were up to the high 40's. Our riding planwas to head north on HWY 103 toward the actual center of Jewell, about 7 miles north.
The clouds were allowing sunshine to break through, and there was no wind! We both had on thermal, long sleeved riding shirts, vests, and windshells as well a full finger gloves, and we needed all that!

Elaine, all bundled up against the cold!

I love old barns......

We ended up doing about 15 miles, and throughly enjoyed the countryside. By the end of our ride the clouds had almost disappeared. I got up to just over 50 degrees by the end of the ride. We arrived back at the Newell and Elaine made some great tomato soup, and I poured a tall Youngs Chocolate Stout (beer) to chase the soup.

Later that evening we went out to dinner in Cannon Beach (about 30 miles west, right on the coast....home to the famous "Haystack Rock") at a place called the Lumber Yard (http://www.thelumberyardgrill.com/). There was a local band called the Floating Glass Balls (http://www.floatingglassballs.com/) entertained us with what they call "Beach Grass"....not Blue Grass. The ensemble consisted of a violin, acoustic guitar, mandolin, large acoustic base, and what sounded like a steel guitar, but looked like a guitar with a large chromed metal disc just below the neck. Anyway, it was very entertaining. We stayed through the first set, and then headed back to Jewell.

The steel guitar like instrument is the one in the lower left of this picture

In a couple of hous we'll fire up the 6V92 Detroit Diesel and head south to at least Newport, OR.

Life is good........

Jewell of Oregon....

Over night temps dipped to 29 in Raymond, WA.....no cloud cover results in really cold temps! I checked the oil before starting up the 6V92, and need to add a couple of quarts....wow, oil that has been sitting at 29 all night (the resevoir) does not flow very fast....had to borrow Elaine's hair dryer to heat up the oil in the resevoir so it would drain into the engine faster. Left around 8:30am and pointed the coach southbound on HWY 101.

Our goal today was about 97 miles down the road to Jewell, OR.....about 25 miles directly east from Canon Beach on HWY 26. Elaine has a work friend who lives in Jewell, and has offered courtesy parking with 15 amps of juice. Below are some pictures of the space I shoehorned the Newell into today. Sometimes I even amaze myself....LOL!

Eventually we came to the Astoria-Megler Bridge, which is 21,474' long, and is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America.....no I didn't know that, but I do have a computer and looked it up...lol! There is one lane of traffic each direction....when the wind is blowing, and it was today, it is a struggle to keep your vehicle from hitting the wall. The coach was leaning heavily to the passenger side.

The Columbia River on the right and left...

Picture courtesy of the Internet....

View from the highest point of the bridge

We are snug and dry in Jewell, OR and looking forward to a couple more sunny days!

Finally going south......

It was C-O-L-D last night (Port Angeles).....frost on the ground, and on everything not covered. We had all 3 electric heaters going full blast all night (3rd one is in the water bay) plus the block heater, thus using a significant portion of our 50 amp allowance, and we were very comfortable, as we have been the entire trip. We were the only ones in the Port Angeles KOA last night. They were closed for the winter, but provide three sites with power that you can self register for, and pay for. We were grateful for every single amp we had access to last night. We got out of camp around 8am.....we had about 170 miles to drive today....our original destination was Aberdeen, WA....down in the southwest corner of the the fair state of Washington. The scenery was amazing as we drifted first west on US 101, then south on the same. We took a small detour into the Hoh Rain Forest, which was so cool.

Downtown Port Angeles

We hit Aberdeen around 1:30pm, and I was hungry.....we spied a rare Mexican restaurant on our left, and swung around the block (101 southbound is one way in this part of town), and pulled into the parking lot......just to the right of the parking lot Elaine spied a small taco place, which looked empty....she said "we always have great luck with these little 'hole in the wall' places....what do you think?"....she is right, and we went in and had some of the best carne asada tacos I have ever had. If you are ever in Aberdeen stop in at Taqueria Y Mariscos El Mar!
After vanishing the tacos I felt revived, and asked Elaine how far the next town was....she says "Raymond"....about 27 miles. I pulled up the internet on my Netbook, opened RVParkReviews.com and found the one park there...right on the Walipa River....what a view! We called ahead, and the owner said to take the first spot on the left...the only pull through...$20 for 30 amps. We arrived, set up, and then took a mile walk along the river on the bike path....now I'm waiting for the great chili and cornbread dinner Elaine's loving hands are preparing as I type. Life is great.....

Crescent Lake

Hoh Rain Forest

Taqueria Y Mariscos El Mar!!

Saw this coach south of Raymond, WA...is this a Barth?

Our site on the Willapa River

Hey, it's 42, but "feels like" 32...LOL!

Looking back from the bike path...

Sun setting.....

In the Hoh Rain Forest

Olympic Peninsula

Our first view of the Olympic Peninsula mountain range as we disebmarked the ferry at Kingston, WA. This has been a rare clear day on our trip, but we are not going to look a gift horse in the mouth....even with the sun out the temp only got to 45 today. We left Coupeville around 9:40am this morning and headed south on HWY 20 to Clinton where we would "hop" on the ferry to Mukilteo, and then south to Edmonds where we would catch a second ferry to Kingston. All together we only covered about 110 miles. Amazingly we arrived at Clinton just 10 minutes before the ferry was to depart. We made it down to Edmonds around 11:30am, but needed to get some diesel before we hit the Peninsula as it would cost way more there...we found a small Union 76 station where we took on 126 gallons of diesel at $2.85 per gallon....on the Peninsula it is over $3.10. We then headed down to the Edmonds ferry, and were astounded to arrive there just as they were loading the last vehicles for the 12:05pm ferry....we were the last large vehicle on....that was the way our day went.....everything just fell into place today with NO planning.

This was the view that greated us on arrival in Port Angeles at the local KOA....just as the sun was setting in the west behind the Olympics. I pulled out the BBQ for the first time on this trip and cooked up a couple of filet mignons....what a great end to a great day.

Crossing Hood Canal bridge........

Waiting in line at the Clinton Ferry......



Onboard the Clinton Ferry.......

Port Gamble...established around 1859.....

Coupeville, Whidbey Island, WA

We awoke at 6am as Elaine had some "work" stuff to get done while she had a fast WiFi signal at Mt. Vernon RV Park. By the time we got underway the rain had started, and it rained steadily all the way to Coupeville, but hey, we have a Newell, so no worries. We stopped in Oak Harbor at the local Safeway supermarket to stock up on wine, and some shrimp for dinner tonight at our friend's home. Right now we are courtesy parked behind our friend's home. Had to drive down a 200 foot dirt/gravel road to the concrete slab where we are courtesy parked now.

On our way south on Whidbey Island we crossed over the famous Deception Pass bridge....which is really two bridges, and are they ever narrow!

The rain has stopped, and we are getting ready to put steaks on the BBQ.......life is good, even if it is 45 degrees outside.

Heading west....

Sunday, November 29th, dawned clear again....the weather reports for the next few days show partly cloudy skies, with no significant rainfall, or snow predicted! Great! A perfect day to escape the amazing food vortex we found ourselves trapped in the past 5+ days. Originally, we had planned to take I-90 west to I-5 and then take the Bremerton Ferry over to Bainbridge Island and then across the Olympic Peninsula. However, we found out our good friends from our College days would be home afterall. They live near Coupeville, WA on

Whidbey Island. We normally visit them once a year, but hadn't been able to carve out the time the last 18 months, so we were thrilled they would be home. So, we decided to take US Highway 2 west to Everett, WA and north on I-5 to Anacortes, and then south on 20 to Coupeville.

What a great choice! This is a wonderfully maintained highway, although mostly 2 way traffic, it is very driveable, and uncrowded. The terrain was quite varied as we journied westward. We would go from vast farmland, to volcanic range land, then back to farm land, then into mountains, then river valleys, etc. This is a great secondary east/west road to explore such little towns as Coulee City (just south of Grand Coulee Dam), Chelan Lake, and many other quaint towns with large antique stores, and great restaurants.

We stopped in the little town of Cashmere, WA where we ate lunch at a great 50's diner called "Studebaker Diner". The portions were enormous.....we should have split the Bleu Cheese/Bacon Burger, but I ate the whole thing myself. The Diner is attached to this enormous antique mall that must encompass 10,000 square feet. We spent the better part of an hour after our late lunch sifting through the 1,000's of items. I have no purchases to report, but would love to revisit this little town that seems to have several of these large antique malls where locals consign their treasures for sale.

Our original plan was to get over Steven's Pass (4,100' elevation) and then find a suitable RV park to overnight in before finishing our jaunt to Coupeville....unfortunately not much presented itself for consideration, and we ended up driving all the way to Mt. Vernon where we found this charming little RV park called.....what else....Mt. Vernon RV Park.

To the left is a view of the highway just to the west of Steven's Pass....there was a lot of snow piled up in the pass. Glad we came through on a day with no snow, or rain!

Elaine is busy finalizing payroll on E-Labor. Once she is finished we will saunter on down to Coupeville where we will spend a couple days with our friends before heading out to the Olympic Peninsual to explore.

The Newell has performed flawlessly. Her heating systems work hard to keep us more than comfortable. The windshield wipers and washer keeps our view clear. Her waste tanks are massive......we just dumped our tanks for the first time in 9 days, and still had room to spare. We are getting a little rain.....I hope it stops before I have to disconnet our sewer and power. The adventure continues....stayed tuned!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving day dawned clear of clouds, rain, fog, etc. As I peared out the salon window I could see my brother-in-law busily preparing the large turkey for insertion into the oven. My sister was preparing various dishes (creamed broccili, sweat potatos, salad, and on it goes.

About mid-morning we took a hike....my sister's home backs up to National Forest.....in the 48 degree weather. Later we got all the adult males outside, plus several of the kids for a game of "H-O-R-S-E" at the basketball hoop across the street. I haven't played basketball in about 20 years, but managed to hang tough for 10 minutes before beling unceremoniously eliminated....my 10 year old niece did better than I....LOL!!

This table is around 90 years old, and can seat even more people if needed by inserting a few more "leaves".

Hmmmmm......how about a "do over".....I can still smell the ubiquitous aromas wafting throughout the home. As we ate each of us took a turn and talked about things we are thankful for.....I am/was thankful for relatives who still want me to visit them....LOL! Most of all, though, I am thankful for a wonderful family that knows how to laugh.

After dessert, we retired to the media room to watch "What's Up Doc?"....a hilarious 1970's era movie produced and directed by Peter Bogdonovich, and starring Barbara Streisand, Ryon O'Neill, Madelene Kahn. If you want non stop funny, rent this DVD! My mouth hurt after laughing continuously for an hour and a half. Great ending to a wonderful day.