OH NO! Friday the 13th

Thursday, our first full day in Coupleville, was uneventful.....I watched another stage of The Tour d' France, and then we continued to settle in for a few weeks by putting out the main awning, putting my mountain bike back together, etc.


Then the main task of the day was to install the 30amp electrical I had left with my friend Bob Fenstermacher, a year and a half ago.  After installing the one at my brothe-in-law's home I felt much more comfortable doing this one, and his electrical service box in the barn was much more user friendly.  After discussing with Bob how to be sure all the electrical power was turned completely off, and where he preferred the box to be mounted I got started.  I barely got the box open when I discovered one of the lugs that holds the main "hot" wire in place was missing.  As a result I had to drive into Oak Harbor, about a 1/2 hour away to the Home Depot to get the missing part which, thankfully, they had.


As it turned out I finally finished installing the box around 4pm.....thank goodness I had nothing else planned for the day!  After cleaning up I took a nap, and about an hour later I heard the lovely Elaine calling out that the BBQ'd chicken that Bob was working on was about done, so I got up, poured a couple of fingers of Scotch and walked down the hill.  As we did Wednesday night, we ate outside on Bob's patio by the outdoor fireplace, talking, and enjoying the view of Puget Sound as the horizon turned pink from the setting sun.


12:40pm - Today, Friday, it is raining cats and dogs with lightning and thunder that is striking quite close to home....the last one sounded like it broke right above our heads!  WOW, that was LOUD!!!  Bob says this is very unsual weather for them this time of year, but has been the "norm" for a couple of months now.  Normally they don't get this much rain here in Coupeville....their rainfall is about 1/3 of Seattle, normally, because they are in a "rain shadow" created by the Olympic Mountain Range on the Olympic Peninsula.


I've been spending the morning doing some insurance work, writing this blog entry, and shaving off my goatee, which I have had for more than a decade. I thinkI'll pull out a good book, make some tea and read for a while....it's the perfect day for that.  This storm looks like it is here for the day.  Bob's wife, Karen, will be home from Seattle today, so it will be fun spending time with the two of them this weekend.

Sans goatee....

I am really glad we have 30amps of power right now as we are running both electric heaters, which we could not do with 20amps.  

Stop by later for an update on today's happenings!


05:18pm - Just got back from a 2 mile walk during a brief lull in the rain.  As soon as we got back it started pouring again, and close, loud thunder again!  What a cool day!

My newest piece of electrical magic....I am the man!

This is a picture of the 30amp box I installed yesterday.  This is a classic "the Hockwald Way" project....it should have taken an hour, but took 5.....lol!!  Nevertheless, no small animals, or full grown human beings were harmed during the installation process, and it works!  We now have four of these boxes installed at the homes of friends (Florida, Oregon, and 2 in Washington State) where we have spent time.  Two other friends (Texas and Louisiana) already had 50amp boxes at their homes that we were able to use.  

Karen (Bob's wife) just returned from a week in Seattle bearing a bouquet of flowers for Elaine, and we are looking forward to a nice dinner and conversation this evening.  Bob and Karen are two of our favorite people, and our history goes back decades.  I have known Bob since summer camp in 1963, and we have known Karen since 1973.  I believe Elaine has known Bob a few years longer than I.

All I can say is "Life is good!"  Thanks for stopping by!

Coupeville, Puget Sound and other cool places....

Got up this morning around 6:15am to watch the Tour d' France and one of the first mountain stages......my legs got rubbery just watching those guys climb 10% grades like I walk across the street.....mile after mile.  And then the mad descent to the finish line pushing themselves and their bikes to the ragged edge of disaster at speeds upwards of 50mph.  Okay, that was more than enough excitement for one day!


We quickly dumped our gray and black tanks and then pulled out on to State Highway 20 westbound for Coupeville, about 92 miles from our starting point.  The highway continued on as a two way road with excellent road surface, and a gradual descent to sea level.  The sky was cloudless, and temperatures were in the 50's....at one point I had to close the window as it was just too cold....haha!


We stopped in Oak Harbor at a Shell Oil gas station to fill up our propane tank, and took on 29 gallons at $2.59 per gallon....I think that was what we paid in Michigan 3 months ago.  I was expecting to take on closer to 35 gallons, so that means we had 19 gallons left.  We will probably not need to fill up again until we get to Campbellsville, KY in October.


We arrived at our friend's home overlooking Puget Sound about 3 miles south of Coupeville on Whidbey Island around 1:30pm.

 Our view for at least 2 weeks...

There is the trailer

The forecast for the next 10 days is clear with temps in the 60's, so there will be lot's of bicycling, good food, and maybe a little less beer....lol!

Our parking spot

Out our windows

Well, that's another day in the books...can't believe it's already July 11th!  The summer is almost half over!

Thanks for stopping by!

68

IT'S THE TEMPERATURE STUPID!

(Borrowed from a political campaign from the 90's which featured the slogan "It's the economy stupid!!")

We drove 278 miles yesterday to get to cooler climates......here I am enjoying the cooler climate we found in Marblemount, WA....today's high.....68*!!!  Now that's more like it!

The Skagit River

I spent part of the morning moving a few things around in the trailer to places where they wouldn't MOVE like they did yesterday!  Tomorrow afternoon I will find out if my new storage ideas work.

Around 1pm we decided to ride our bikes into "downtown" Marblemount.....downtown consists of two gas stations, and a couple of restaurants.  Neither of these restaurants were our lunch destination.....we were headed 2 miles west of town to Clark's Resort Cafe, which was recommend to us by the camp host here at Alpine RV Park.   Elaine said it was 4 miles to the cafe, and it was like 2 10ths over 4 miles......she is good, and so was the lunch.  We both perused the menu and both, a rarity, chose the same item.....the Skagit bacon/bleu cheese burger.  The service was prompt, and the food was as advertised, and we both ate for under $20.......one reason was no beer was ordered, although they do have a craft beer menu.  I need to cut a few daily calories out of my diet....lol....a lot of GOOD beer was consumed in Spokane, and my waistline bears mute testimony to that fact.

My view much of the day...

Tomorrow we will saunter 75 miles over to Coupeville on Whidbey Island where we will spend a couple of weeks visiting with friends and exploring Whidbey by bicycle.


Thanks for stopping by!

278

Our route today

I think our coach sat in one place in Spokane for 40 days and never so much as moved an inch.  We both loved spending time with my sister and her family,  and my mother, but.....but the whole point of our life style is changing our view on a regular basis.  Now, don't get me wrong.....the view we had at my sister's home is one I never get tired of, and we will return again and again to that view, but it's high time we saw some scenery we had never seen before.  

Close to 5,000'

Our original plan was to head over to the coast via State Highway 2, but after visiting with friends in Spokane, we decided to deviate from Highway 2 around Wilbur and head north into the Methow Valley, and then into the Cascades on Highway 20, ending in Coupeville, WA on Whidbey island.  We were going to take 3 days to do the 368 miles, but everywhere west of the Cascades it was going to be close to 100 today, and in the high 90's Tuesday, so we decided to push 278 miles today to Marblemount, WA where the temperature forecast was in the 80's.  

Chief Joseph Dam

Ross Lake high in the Cascades

We were told by our friends that the views were spectacular, and, indeed they were.  It's hard to take pictures and have them really capture the beauty, and the  scope of what our eyes are seeing.  This part of Washington is know as the "American Alps", and it is breath taking.

Our lowest point on the trip today was at Grand Coulee Dam where we hit around 900' elevation....down from 2500' in Spokane.  From Grand Coulee Dam we climbed steadily up to 5,477' elevation at Washington Pass....the last 6 miles at about 8-9% grade.  For the first time  on this trip we had to pull over twice to cool the Detroit Diesel down.  We were crawling along at about 30mph much of the time.  This climb reminded me of the climb over Wolf Creek Pass in Colorado when we went to the Newell mini-ralley in Creede, CO.  There were water falls everywhere.....many coming right down to the highway, and flowing under it......like I said.....SPECTACULAR!  We stopped for a while at an overlook at Ross Lake (a reservoir).  The plaque at the turnout was devoted to Jack  Kerouac who apparently spent a lot of time in this area, and specifically living in the 50's on Desolation Peak (visible in the picture above) working as a fire watcher for the National Parks Service, where he wrote some of his prose.  On the plaque was a quote from one of Jack's books, Desolation Angels which touched me:

"I had to wait and get to see the face of reality – and it finally comes… it comes in these words: “The void is not disturbed by any kind of ups or downs, my God look at Hozomeen, is he worried or tearful?... Why should I choose to be bitter or sweet, he does neither? – Why cant I be like Hozomeen and O Platitude O hoary old platitude of the bourgeois mind ‘take life as it comes’… All I have to do is wait 30 long days to get down from the rock and see sweet life again – knowing it’s neither sweet nor bitter but just what it is, and so it is."

Mt. Hozomeen

After we crossed Rainy Pass it was mostly downhill for 30 miles as we passed reservoirs and lakes, and drove along many large rivers....the Columbia, Methow, Okanogan, etc.

The lovely Elaine

Around 4pm we arrived in Marblemount at Alpine RV Park, a Passport America park, where we paid $10 for full hookups, including 50amp electric!  The coach handled well all day, and even though it got hot, it did not overheat.

We are only 75 miles from Coupeville, so we could arrive there tomorrow, or just hang out here one more day and enjoy the alpine scenery.  That's what I love about what we are doing....we are just plain making it up as we go....day by day.  We, again, made no reservations....here it is the middle of July and we just drive into an RV park unannounced and snag a great spot.


It has been a great day of travel........

Celebrate!

Fireworks on the shores of Lake Coeur d'Alene

Every year on the 4th of July my brother-in-law's relatives host a party at their Lake Coeur d'Alene home, which includes a private fireworks show.  I've commented before how late the sky stays lit up even when the sun is "down"..... as a result any fireworks displays must, of necessity, start very, very late to be effective.  On this night "late" was 10:30pm.

We arrived at the lake home around 4:30pm and enjoyed sitting on the private beach watching speed boats race up and down the lake.

The lake house

My daugther Meredith (left) and niece Stephanie (right)

Since we were on the western shore the shade quickly overtook the small beach, and it got chilly, so we migrated back up to the house deck for appetizers and gin & tonics combined with great conversation.  Eventually dinner was served on the upper deck of the home where we watched the shadows crawl across the lake from west to east as the sun settled behind us.  The skies this day were completely CLOUDLESS the entire day!  This is the first time since we came to this area that we have had a cloudless day for the entirety of the day.  

A benefit of the cloudless skies was the moonrise this evening.....this picture was taken around 9pm I believe, and although it looks dark, it was far from it in reality.

Before we knew it the fireworks show had begun.   My pictures do not do it justice.....it was a great show!  A little after 11pm the show was over and we headed back home to Spokane.  A very nice, relaxing day!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday U.S. of America!!!

I think Lee Greenwood's song "God Bless the USA" is the quintessential modern patriotic American song, and every time I hear it my chest swells with pride, and my heart fills with thankfulness that I have been so blessed to have been born in this country.

Elaine and I know how blessed we are to live in the USA, and know that the life style we have chosen is made possible by the liberty we enjoy as citizens of this great country.....the liberty to travel where we wish, when we wish, and how we wish.    On this day we cannot help but reflect on the sacrifices of life and fortune so many have made over the past 236 years, so that we could live the life we live today.

We give thanks to all those who serve, or have served in any branch of our armed forces.  Sometimes I do not know if we are individually, or collectively worthy to live under the umbrella of liberty and safety you provide us at great personal sacrifice, but it is our pledge to continue striving daily to live lives worthy of that sacrifice.

Thank you for stopping by, and God Bless the USA!

"Back in the saddle again...."

Okay, I know I'm kind of stretching that metaphor......we are back in the saddle, but we haven't put the spurs to the horse's flanks yet.  Yesterday we officially moved back into the coach after spending portions of two days moving our "stuff" from my sister's house back into our coach.  After that we spent more time sorting through clothing.....mainly me, and discarding things I haven't once worn since leaving on our journey 5 short months ago. It is truly amazing how much extra space I have in my drawers and two closets, and I cannot believe that large 50 gallon plastic bag is full of clothes I not only hadn't worn, wasn't wearing, but saw no possibility of wearing in the next 12 months!


Our local weather has warmed up into the high 70's and low 80's, and will hover there for the next 10 days, however, we will only be here through Thursday, July 5th when we leave for the coast of Washington where the temperatures will remain in the low to mid 60's for the next 10 days!  No fires burning there, and no electrical outages, so we've got that going for us.


My heart goes out to those living in the affected east coast states that not only suffered through hurricane like winds, but now have lost power for days on end while the temperatures remain at triple digits.  That is brutal!  I am thankful every day that we are here in the Pacific Northwest!


We both enjoyed our first night back in the coach after 4+ weeks.....I didn't realize how much I missed my bed in the coach....now I'm not saying I didn't like the double pillowed California king mattress we slept on during that time....I did, but I really like our firm mattress better, and I definitely like the smaller living space.....when you have to walk from one end of an 8,000 square foot house to the other numerous times a day you begin to miss walking just a few feet in any direction to use the bathroom, to work on the computer, watch TV, or go to bed.....lol......much more efficient!!!


Elaine and I are heading over to the grocery store in a few minutes to stock up on food supplies for the next 10 days.....our cupboards are bare, although I do have a good supply of craft beer in my Norcold basement refer!


That's it for now.....thanks for stopping by!