Oak Harbor, WA - Strait of San Juan de Fuca

We've been here since Sunday and after work we've been touring around the area. Mostly we've just been walking the different sections of Deception Pass State Park. We haven't yet seen the Pacific Ocean, but it feels like it when looking at the Strait of San Juan de Fuca.


I haven't uploaded most of my photos, so I'll add more later. But it may be next week before I can do so. Andy's mom and sister, Carol, are flying into Seattle to vacation with us for a week. We're going to be touring the area - Seattle to Port Townsend to Victoria to Anacortes. So I doubt I'll be posting during their visit. I'm sure we'll be too busy having fun! We can't wait for them to get here!

North Cascades Nat'l Park

It is amazing that Highway 20, which cuts through North Cascades National Park, was just built in 1972. But the place still feels wild and a lot of it remains inaccessible. Many of the hikes are longer, backpacking hikes. But you can always do a section out and back. Beautiful views, though. Here's Diablo Lake as seen from an overlook. Our first drive to the overlook was sunny, and then the next morning we passed by again for a completely different scene with these low-lying clouds moving over the water.
We went crazy on our hike here and went "double-digits". Ha! Normally our hikes are around 8-9 miles. This one was about 11 or so (depending on the map you read). We also made it a one-way hike so we could do the whole trail. We left our car at the trailhead, hiked the trail back to the campground, and then picked up our car the next morning by driving the RV to the trailhead. We were leaving the park that morning anyhow, so it wasn't like we had to pack up the house just to get the car. We did toy with the idea of using our road bikes to pick up the car, but here's that word "lazy" again!
The trail was called Panther Creek - which took us through a wonderful old forest. For a long time we followed Panther Creek, crossing over it with some downed-tree-bridges. The area got hit hard last year with a storm and flooding. The park has cleaned up a lot of the trails, but the damage was still evident with blow-downs. I kept trying to come up with a word to describe this hike. And, "dense" was the word that kept coming to mind. The ground was blanketed with a moss carpeting, the canopy overhead blocked out the sky, and periodically we would have to slog through an avalanche zone that was dense with broad-leafed plants that enveloped even my head.
The only "great views" we had were at The Fourth of July Pass...we could see Neve Glacier and Colonial Glacier. But even there, the trees were so thick you had to search for an opening to see.I wanted to share some of my mushroom photos. These were taken on this hike and only represent a very, very small sampling of the variety we saw. Not only was it fun to have a treasure hunt to find as many as possible, but also to see the different stages of "eruption". A mushroom pushes out of the ground like a slow-motion eruption pushing up mulch, dirt and moss and then unfolding like a flower.

Winthrop, WA - Trails

Winthrop is in the Methow Valley which has lots of trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding. If you ever make it to this area, check out the Sport Trails Association's website for trail information or pick a Visitor Map for ideas on what to do here. I wish we had more time to explore some of their bike trails...but that will have to wait for another visit!

WA Fruit

Oh, we've been enjoying the fruit out here in Washington...mostly the peaches and apples lately. While in Stehekin we learned an interesting fact. The apple growers are paid based on the shape and the color. So, the more round and the more red (for Red Delicious) the more money they make. The thought is that the consumer wants a good-looking piece of fruit. So they graft trees and develop these apples that look great...but no longer taste as good. For example, Red Delicious now have a thicker skin. We've found this to be true with tomatoes as well. Recently we found a produce stand selling heirloom tomatoes. They were funny looking, misshapen, and multi-colored, but boy oh boy did they taste delicious. We should start a revolt! We want good-tasting fruit and vegetables again!

Winthrop, WA - Hiking

We hiked the 7.5 mile Maple Pass Loop Trail this afternoon. The trail is managed by the Okanogan National Forest but takes you to the North Cascades NP border. This has to be one of the most beautiful hikes we've been on. Shoot, maybe I shouldn't say that - it'll get too crowded! No, seriously. To-die-for views all along the trail until you hit the switchbacks coming down by Rainy Lake. But even that section of the forested trail was interesting because of the variety of mushrooms we kept seeing - purple, orange, yellow, red with white spots - I forgot how pretty mushrooms are in the wet-side of Washington.

But I digress...the trail had its elevation gain, but we tend to be drawn to these for the views. We passed by four glacial lakes, one waterfall, and had views of many mountains and glaciers.



Hope this entices you to visit our WebAlbums for more pictures from our hike.

Winthrop, WA - The Old West

The town of Winthrop has kept the Old West motif in all of its buildings...even down to the squeaky-board sidewalks. Its really quaint. And the shops are nice, too. Gift shops, art galleries, glassblowing shop...
...microbrewery! Ha! I'm not sure how ethical it is to put a microbrewery in the old schoolhouse, but if Pepsi and Dominoes can advertise inside the schools, why not?!
The only item that is not within the theme is the Marshall's car - its a purple Trans Am with lights on the roof.
Another aspect of Winthrop that we really liked was our campground - Silverline Resort. Our site was on the lake and we we never had neighbors during our stay - one neighboring site was being re-seeded so it was closed temporarily and the other site was a tent site which wasn't filled during our stay. It was quiet, with birds chirping...and so dark at night the stars reflected off of the lake's surface
We needed this!

Stehekin, WA

Stehekin is a remote town of 70-plus residents. It is 55 miles up Lake Chelan and is surrounded by wilderness areas, National Forest, and National Park lands. The only way to reach Stehekin is by boat, sea plane or to hike in. We chose to ride the Lady Express for the two and a half hour ride up the Lake. Lake Chelan is the third deepest lake in the U.S. at 1,486' - Crater Lake (1,949') and Lake Tahoe (1,645') are number one and two. We've seen all three, just in this trip.
To say we went "backpacking" seems like a stretch because from Stehekin Landing we were able to catch a shuttle bus that dropped us off within 100-yards of our campsite. We didn't mean to be so lazy, it just happened that way. We planned on making our camping reservations when we got to the NPS Ranger station upon our arrival. They do have campsites further out in the wilderness, but after talking to the rangers about the hiking trails around the campsites and availability of sites, we chose Harlequin Camp. But eventhough we were close to Thee Road (there aren't many), we had to filter our own water and we had to use a pit toilet - so that's roughing it! Ha! Our campsite was right on the Stehekin River and there were spawning Kokonee Salmon. We felt that we were watching a National Geographic show.

Here's a picture of Rainbow Falls. This is just the lower half.
And here's Mt Agnes from our hike along Agnes Creek Gorge trail. You could see snow on many of the mountain peaks, but we didn't get close enough to those. The North Cascades Nat'l Park has over 300 glaciers within its borders - the most of any park outside of Alaska. We hope to get to see more of the glaciers when we get to the Park from Hwy 20.One thing that is interesting about this unique town is the vehicles that the residents drive...they're so old! Datsuns, Toyotas, it doesn't matter, but these vehicles haven't been seen on the roads of Florida for decades! To get a car to the town requires shipment on the barge, which takes 8 hours each way for the barge to travel the length of the river. So the residents just find a way to keep these old cars running. But one of the residents pointed out that they live in one of the most pristine places in the country - but have the worst polluting cars on the road.If we ever go back to Stehekin, we won't take as much food as we did. There is the Stehekin Pastry Company which has delicious items, and we've heard that the Stehekin Valley Ranch has incredible dinners. But would it be wrong to go "camping" and then not cook your own meals?

Get Away

Calgon! Take me away! That's how we've been feeling lately. The frustrations from unsuccessful trading and satellite problems had been building. When you are sitting on the shores of Lake Chelan watching the sunset and you realize that you are not appreciating its beauty...that's when you realize that you need to do something.

Oddly enough, "things" kept popping up around me relating to the topic on our minds. First, Chris writes a post on her blog regarding making a life, making a living. This is what we are struggling with. In prior years on the road, we were just traveling. Oh, and was that wonderful! But since last year we have been trying to earn an income in order to stay on the road. This changes things. Especially when you're not earning any money and investing a lot of your time. We are basically putting in 'full-time hours' watching the market, looking at stocks, studying, etc. We started stock trading to have the flexibility to travel. But without the income, our traveling may need to come to an end.

This is why our satellite issues have added that much more stress for us. I haven't been able to focus on work as much as I need too because a lot of my time has been spent on the phone with tech support. I do need to say, however, that Motosat has been very responsive. They now understand my frustrations and I think I have every top employee working with us to get it resolved. They even sent a technician to our RV last week to look things over. Now, that's a challenge since we're always moving! They just happened to have someone on their way from Spokane to Seattle and was passing within miles of us. It's all about finding the right satellite with the right frequency, and we're hoping this third satellite is the magic one for us.

The other day this quote from Arthur Ashe came to us:

From what we get we can make a living. What we give, however, makes a life.

We have talked for years about giving back - donating time to the NPS or Habitat for Humanity or some other organization. But it's hard to give your time when you are applying so much of it to trying to earn an income. We still want to be charitable and we hope to find a way to incorporate that back into our lives.

So, the question is...how does someone who is traveling and visiting all of these beautiful places, actually "get away"? Backpacking! Leave behind the computers, phones, the RV with the satellite dish attached to it, noisy neighbors and tight RV spaces, and try to disappear into the woods...and that's what we did! We heard about the remote town of Stehekin on the other end of Lake Chelan and decided to go camping for the weekend.

Leavenworth, WA - Tubing

We couldn't decide what to do on Sunday here in Leavenworth. A quick look at the bumper-to-bumper traffic on the only main road through town, though, told us we had to find something that did not require driving on that road.

So we set up a self-shuttle system to go tubing on the Wenatchee River that bisects town. I love our self-shuttle systems. It's like developing our own multi-adventure course. We drove our car to the put-in on Icicle Road, then floated down the river to the take-out point which was the boat ramp on E. Leavenworth Drive and walked the 3/4 mile home with our rafts. Then we hopped on our bikes and biked the four miles back to our car. I think our neighbors must've thought we were crazy: we drove out, walked in, biked out, and drove in.

Now, it looks like Andy is relaxed, doesn't it? It was a beautiful river to float down, but our indecision throughout the day cost us. We didn't get on the river until 4pm and off the river til 5:30. The river is probably 50 degrees, and without the hot sun from the day to keep us warm, we got chilled quickly. And, for anyone who knows us would know, we don't float well...we had to paddle. And, if we were in Florida, there would have been a lot of splashing eachother and mayhem.
There were several riffles, or small, shallow rapids, which added some excitement to this leisurely experience. And the views of the area are even prettier on the water.
And, we finally got to use the River Tubes that we had bought used from a fellow RVer back in 2005 while staying in Lyons, CO. At least now we know they work!

Leavenworth, WA - Labor Day

We got spoiled during the week having the campground practically to ourselves. We knew that would change over Labor Day Weekend and knew it would be tight considering the small spaces, but we weren't prepared for our neighbor's awning being 3" from our heads and a tent almost under our slide-out.I had to laugh when I read Jim and Chris' blog about how crowded it was for them at Pio Pico...just a reminder that we weren't alone.

Leavenworth, WA - Hiking

Leavenworth is just on the eastern edge of the Cascade foothills, so it was just a short drive to get into the mountains. Most of the hikes in the area are in the Wenatchee National Forest. One day after work we drove to Icicle Gorge and hiked along the Icicle River. We felt the river...I believe we know now why they call it "icicle".
Saturday was our "big" hike. We did the 9-mile r/t hike to Stuart Lake. The USFS trail flyers said this was one of the most beautiful in the area. Then, ironically, we met a USFS ranger out on a hike and when he asked us why we picked Stuart Lake, I told him about the trail description. He disagreed and said next time we should go to Colchuk Lake! Ha! It's all about individual preference. It was a nice hike, but we did expect more views along the way. But reaching Stuart Lake and seeing the glacier on Mt Stuart were well worth the walk. And, I'm sure the couple of meadows we passed must be stunning in wildflower season.
Here's Stuart Lake - our destination and snack spot. We tried putting our feet in here, too. It makes me miss our warm Florida waters that's for sure! It was beckoning us to go for a swim, but two seconds is all it took for me to change my mind.This hike was a little different for us as we didn't start until 1pm. Having to worry about getting home by sunset is not our normal pattern. Especially being in the woods and with the sun sliding behind the mountains, it was noticeably darker by the time we reached the car again at 6pm.