Category Archives: State Park

State Park visited or camped here

Brookings, OR SEPT 14, 2018

After five months along the Oregon and Washington coast, we headed south to Brookings, our final stop in Oregon. Even though we waited until almost noon to leave, there was still a heavy fog/sea mist hovering over the area. The drive from Bandon to Brookings is a very scenic and beautiful drive but because of the fog we were unable to see any of the coastline. We passed over the Isaac Lee Patterson Bridge, over the Rogue River. Oregon sure has some beautiful bridges! The picture doesn’t show the heavy fog which could be seen just by looking to the right toward the water.

We spent a week in Brookings at Harris Beach State Park, one of the most popular Oregon state parks. We were last here in May, 2014. Due to its relatively mild climate and the fact that it gets more sun than any other Oregon coastal town because of its south facing position, Brookings is often referred to as “The Banana Belt of Oregon”. Flowers bloom all year and 90% of the country’s Easter lilies are grown here. It is also home to many myrtle trees and coastal redwoods.

One day we drove back up the coast along the Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor which parallels the Oregon Coast Trail, a 362 mile hiking trail along the entire coast of Oregon. We stopped at several scenic overlooks including Arch Rock.

We wanted a picture of the Thomas Creek Bridge since it is the highest in Oregon but the bridge was having major construction. We did find a path which was described as leading to a bridge vista point. A sign said the trail was severely eroded and caution was needed so I stayed behind while Bill walked down to get a picture . Unfortunately trees have blocked much of the view.

While in Brookings we did a little more weekly shopping to take advantage of Oregon’s no sales tax. We have enjoyed not paying sales tax but their ten cent deposit on all cans and bottles has been a bit of a pain. This view in town shows the sea mist wafting through the area creating a smoky looking haze.

Most evenings the fog prevented us from viewing good sunsets but we did manage to catch one.

Next up: Eureka, CA

Bandon, OR SEPT 9, 2018

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We decided to leave Florence two days early because in our sightseeing travels we stumbled across a really great place to camp right near the beach. The price was certainly right at $12.50 a night with our America the Beautiful senior pass.

Horsfall Beach Campground, a national recreation area campground, was a great place with tall sand dunes. Only problem was they blocked the view of the ocean. We didn’t mind too much since great views of the beach was easily accessible just a short walk from our door. It is also a favorite place for ATV enthusiasts who enjoy racing up and down the dunes.

While we were there we drove thirty miles to the Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area to see beautiful elk grazing in the meadows.

We certainly enjoyed our two days camping near the sand dunes!

On Sunday we moved further south to Bullards Beach State Park in Bandon, Oregon. We crossed over the beautiful Conde McCullough Memorial Bridge, built in 1936 and once the longest bridge along the coast. We can certainly see why Highway 101 is also called “The Pacific Coast Scenic Byway”.

We were last at Bullards Beach in 2014 and we enjoyed exploring the Bandon area once again. Located in the state park is Coquille River Lighthouse built in 1896. Located adjacent to the river and lighthouse, it is only forty feet tall and was last operable in 1939.

We enjoyed visiting Old Town Bandon again where Bill returned to the same Bandon Fish Market from 2014 and had some fish and chips. Back in 2014 there was a wonderful bakery owned by an elderly couple and I was really looking forward to going back there. Sadly, it is now out of business.

Bandon is known as the “Cranberry Capital of Oregon” and its main export is cranberries. There is an Ocean Spray plant in Bandon that receives, cleans and ships from 300,000 to 400,000 pounds of cranberries per day during the peak of the harvest season which is September through November. One interesting tidbit is that when some of the workers work in the bogs they walk on stilts to keep from crushing the berries. The whole process of planting to harvesting is quite fascinating but too detailed to go into on the blog. We remembered seeing the cranberry bogs last time we were here in June, 2014 and they looked like this.

Don’t know whether it is the very dry weather or time of year, but this time they looked like this.

The beaches here are very popular with rock-hounds since they are strewn with agates, jasper and other semiprecious stones. In recent years shifting sands have revealed the remains of sunken ships. More than hundred ships, including a 1918 steamship, have shipwrecked in this area. In fact this area is known as the “Storm Watching Capital of the World”. The beaches with their amazing rock formation sometimes experience winds at hurricane force speed, hurtling sprays of water upon the rocks and shore, sometimes 200 yards straight up. We could see the power of the ocean with the huge amount of driftwood that lay on the beaches. We read an article where a woman described how people go to the beach and build forts and structures out of the driftwood to be enjoyed during the spring, summer and fall, knowing it will all be destroyed by the winter storms.

One day we drove the scenic Beach Loop Drive, stopping at one of our favorite places we remembered from our last visit called Face Rock State Scenic Viewpoint. Here you can see a rock in the shape of a woman’s face. There is a legend to go with Face Rock which was first told by Old Indian Mary, a member of the Coquille Native American tribe. Legend has it that Seatka, an evil spirit of the ocean, caused all the storms that blew up and down the coast. If Seatka could cause a person to gaze into his eyes, he would possess their soul forever. Chief Siskiyou and his tribe came to the ocean to feast on the great quantities of seafood. His daughter, Princess Ewauna, failed to heed her father’s warning to stay away from the sea. Seatka captured her and carried her away. She turned her face away so he would not possess her soul and she turned to rock, with her face forever turned northward toward the moon. If you look closely at the picture you can see her face turned with her hair to the left and her nose and mouth visible to the right.

Speaking of Native American legends, we read that the town had almost been destroyed twice by fire, once in 1914 and 1936. The second fire in 1936 devastated the town, destroying the entire business district and most of the residences. They do not know how the fires started, but the surrounding shrubs, dead leaves and trees quickly fueled the fire. The people headed to the nearby beaches to escape the fire, with some people burying themselves in the sand to escape the flames. Legend has it when the white men took the land from the Native Americans, they put a curse on the town and that is why the town has almost been destroyed twice.

Another day we drove to Cape Blanco Lighthouse which is the most western point in Oregon. This lighthouse built in 1870 is still an operational lighthouse and is the oldest operating lighthouse in Oregon. It is 256 feet high and can be seen for more than twenty miles out to sea.

Next we drove to Port Orford which is geographically the westernmost incorporated city in the contiguous United States. Established in 1851, it is the oldest platted town site on the Oregon coast. By the time we got to Port Orford the sea mist was rapidly moving in and we were unable to get good pictures.

Next up: Brookings, Oregon, our last stop in Oregon before returning to California.

Chimacum, WA July 19, 2018

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When we left Birch Bay, which was our northernmost point in Washington this year, we planned to go to a campground near Port Townsend, Washington. We had a decision to make. We could either drive over four and a half hours down to and around the Seattle /Tacoma area and fight horrendous traffic, or we could drive 90 minutes to Oak Harbor and take a thirty minute ferry over to Port Townsend. Hmmm. Even with the cost of gas, the ferry was the more expensive way to go. So, take the much longer way through terrible traffic and spend less money or shorten the trip by more than half, enjoy a leisurely scenic trip on the ferry but spend more money. What would you do? Yep, we took the ferry!

From the ferry we had a short ten mile drive to our campground in Chimacum, just outside of Port Townsend, where we had a very nice campsite.

On Sunday we drove down to Bremerton. On the way we stopped in the charming little town of Poulsbo and on the advice of our friends Peter and Beth we stopped at Sluys Bakery. We waited in a line stretching out the door and had the best donuts we had ever eaten in this little family owned bakery. The very picturesque town of Poulsbo, overlooking Liberty Bay, has a strong Scandinavian heritage which is evident throughout the town. In the 1880’s ninety per cent of the town’s population was Norwegian.

After finding a couple geocaches we stopped at the nearby U.S. Naval Undersea Museum, an official naval museum which talked about the ocean environment, submarine technology, undersea weapons as well as diving and salvage.

This is one of ten Navy museums operated by the Naval History & Heritage Command whose purpose is to preserve and collect Naval undersea history and science. Exhibits included U.S. torpedoes including the Howell torpedo

and a simulated control room from the USS Greenling.

Other exhibits show the NOMOADS underwater suit.

How the US Navy uses marine life to augment searches.

Next we continued on to Bremerton, home of the Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton and the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard established in 1891, the city’s largest industry.

Bill took a tour of the USS TURNER JOY, a former U.S. Navy destroyer 1959 to 1982.

The vessel was named after Admiral Charles Turner Joy and constructed here a Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

The USS TURNER JOY has been restored to her Vietnam War configuration and most of the rooms and facilities are open and appear to be operational.

Medical Bay

Engine Room

Every fifteen years stationary ships must have their keel cleaned. Last year the USS TURNER JOY was moved to a shipyard to have the barnacles removed.

On Tuesday we did some geocaching in Port Townsend, including at Fort Worden State Park where the movie “An Officer and a Gentleman” was filmed.

On the way home we came across a doe and her two fawns. The fawns were happily prancing along the side of the road.

Next up we continue west to Salt Creek Recreation Area near Port Angeles, WA.

Orcas Island, WA July 17, 2018

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We continued our stay in Birch Bay, WA and on Tuesday we took the car on the ferry to another one of the San Juan Islands: Orcas Island.

The ferry made a brief stop on Shaw Island to pick up a few walk on passengers. It was another great ferry ride with beautiful scenery.

We arrived at the tiny village of Orcas on the southern shore. Orcas Island, at 57 square miles, is the largest and most rugged of the San Juan Islands. Horseshoe-shaped, it has the highest peaks of the underwater mountain chain forming the foundation of the San Juan islands.

Unlike Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, there is no big tourist area here. Eastbound, a small village along the waters of Fishing Bay, is the major town with a few restaurants, shops and art galleries. Around the island are several bed and breakfast and small resorts for those desiring a remote get away. Rumor has it that Oprah Winfrey recently bought a house on Orcas Island.

The gem of the island is Moran State Park, Washington state’s fourth largest. The park is 5,252 acres with five lakes, 38 hiking trails and several campsites. MT Constitution rises 2,409 feet from the Salish Sea and is the highest point in the San Juan Islands. We drove thirteen miles to the park along forests and hilly farmland with cattle grazing in the fields.

Once we entered the park, the road was winding, narrow and steep to the top. Almost at the top was Little Summit with a geocache and great views.

At the top is a stone tower replica of Russian watchtowers from the 12th century.

The view of the San Juan Islands, MT Baker, the Cascade Mountains and Rosario Strait was magnificent.

Can you see my prince in the tower?

This 53 foot stone tower was built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) and completed in 1936. It is one of twenty historical buildings built by the CCC in the park.

While in Moran Park we also hiked to Cascade Falls and another smaller falls.

We had a wonderful day on this beautiful island, including finding some geocaches. While geocaching we saw a deer munching on some apples from an apple tree in a yard.

After we left the park we came to a rock wall with some really weird artwork. Creepy!

Before we knew it, it was time to catch the ferry home.

We really enjoyed our stay in Birch Bay and nearby Blaine. Blaine is such a quaint little town with a Main Street decorated with flowering hanging baskets and America flags.

Across the harbor we could see the Canadian town of White Rock.

Next up: Another ferry ride, this time with the RV, and a new campground

San Juan Island, WA July 13, 2018

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We continued our stay in Birch Harbor, Washington (pop 8,400) which is very close to the Canadian border. In fact the nearby town of Blaine, located on the U.S./Canada border is the busiest border crossing between British Columbia and Washington state.

In Blaine is the Peace Arch Historical State and Province Park with a Peace Arch. It commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in 1814, the peace treaty between the U.S. and the United Kingdom that ended the War of 1812.

The Arch, dedicated in 1921, is 70 feet tall and the first such structure in the world. It was built on the International Boundary between the two countries.

School children from the United States and Canada donated money for the purchase of the land surrounding the Peace Arch.

It is located in a WA state park with beautiful gardens, including one garden representing the flag of the United States and another flower garden representing the Canadian flag.

We could walk freely between the two countries at the Arch with no need to worry about a passport.

It was interesting to see the houses and the street across from the state park are in Canada.

On this Border is a Ditch and Not A WALL

On Friday we took the ferry over to San Juan Island. This island is the westernmost island of the San Juan Islands and lies between the mouth of the Puget Sound and the Vancouver Island. it is also the second largest and most populated of the 172 isles of the archipelago (group of islands). We originally planned to just walk on the ferry and ride a bus around the island but decided at the last minute to take the car along if there was space available. We had to drive from our campground in Birch Bay to the ferry landing in Anacortes and arrived about an hour before departure. To our delight there was room for the car. Quite a surprise on a Friday in the middle of summer. The ride took a little over an hour and we certainly enjoyed the view of Mount Baker in the distance.

Since San Juan is the westernmost island we also passed the major islands of Shaw, Lopez and Orcas.

We arrived at Friday Harbor which is the island’s largest town, ferry landing and a U.S. Port of Entry. It is one of the last remaining 19th century wood-built fishing villages in Puget Sound. One square mile in size, Friday Harbor has about 2,000 year round residents and 15,000 summer residents. Friday Harbor is the touristy section of the island with shops, restaurants, etc. We knew the rest of the island was going to be remote and without restaurants. Because we just decided on the way to the ferry to take the car, we hadn’t packed any food or drinks. No worries. We stopped by a Friday Harbor grocery store and stocked up on snacks and drinks to get us through the day. Off we went!

The island is only 55 square miles of land and it only takes fifteen minutes to travel from east to west. We were surprised at the farmland and woodlands, prairies, as well as small seaside villages with miles of sandy beaches and bluffs. It was typical to see unattended baskets of eggs for sale along the side of the road.

First up was the English Camp part of the San Juan Island National Historical Park, located on the northern part of the island. Near South Beach and the southern end of the island is the American Camp. This English Camp commemorates the British and American struggle for possession of the San Juan Islands.

The dispute resulted in the Pig War of 1859. Ever heard of that war? Neither had we. The war began in 1859 when an Englishman’s pig strayed onto land claimed by an American and started eating his potatoes. The American shot the pig, who was the only casualty of the conflict. Both sides set up camps to lay claim to the land with neither side wanting to go to war, especially Lincoln who had the approaching Civil War to worry over. For 12 years there was a joint U.S./British occupation of the island while the countries argued over who owned the San Juan Islands. Finally in 1872 arbitration gave the San Juan Islands to the United States and set the boundary between the United States and Canada.

We read that this former English camp in a National Historical Park is the only place in the United States today where the British flag is raised each morning. The ranger pointed out that the park has an American flag on higher ground up the hill, therefore the American flag is always higher!

We were surprised to see a totem pole there as well. Dedicated in 2016 it acknowledges the history of the native Coast Salish people at the site of a Coast Salish village.

Later in the day we stopped by the American Camp. Not really all that much to see at either camp, but still a fun piece of history to learn about!

Next up was Lime Kiln State Park, a 41 acre state park named after the former lime kiln operations in the area. It is also called “Whale Watch Park” because it is one of the top places to view orca whales in the world. Unfortunately we did not see any whales even though several had passed by a couple hours earlier. We did enjoy seeing the 1919 picturesque Lime Kiln lighthouse.

In the distance we could see the snow-capped mountains of the Olympic Mountains.

We ended our travels at the far tip of the island called Cattle Point where we saw another lonely lighthouse standing guard.

We cut our visit a little short and got to the ferry early. Since we didn’t have a reservation for the car, we wanted to be sure we could get on the late afternoon ferry back to Anacortes. What a great day!

Mt Baker stands out in this area of Washington, what a sight to see.

Next up: Another ferry trip!

Seaside, Oregon May 20, 2018

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After four days of heavy clouds and cool temperatures, we left Pacific City and headed further north up the coast to Seaside, Oregon (pop 6,500). Seaside first welcomed vacationers in 1850 and is Oregon’s oldest ocean resort community.

We arrived at our campground for a fourteen day stay and finally saw sun in the afternoon! We have found that it is usually cloudy in the mornings and clears up by noon.

Seaside is a charming beach community. Can you find Bill in this picture?

Seaside has a promenade nicknamed “The Prom”, a 1.8 mile concrete walking path that parallels the Pacific Ocean. There is a statue there of Lewis and Clark and Lewis’ dog Seaman. This area of Oregon was the final destination of Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery after their 1804-1806 westward journey. They wintered at nearby Fort Clatsop and during that time several of the men came to Seaside to build a salt cairn to boil water from the ocean and remove salt which they used to flavor and preserve meat.

One day we drove north to nearby Warrenton to get together with an amateur radio group for brunch. It is always nice to meet other amateur radio enthusiasts around the country and learn firsthand about their community. If you want to know the best places to eat, shop or visit, just ask a local. On the way home we stopped by Fort Stevens State Park in Hammond. Fort Stevens was named for Territorial Governor Stevens, constructed during the Civil War and remained active until shortly after World War II. The Fort guarded the mouth of the Columbia River from Confederate gunboats during the Civil War and included eight concrete gun batteries. The post later was Oregon’s only coastal defense fort during the Spanish-American War and both World Wars.

The fort is the only military fort in the United States since the War of 1812 to be fired upon by an enemy during time of war when it was attacked by a Japanese submarine on June 21, 1942.

We enjoyed taking the self guided walking tour of the Fort and found several geocaches as well as nice views of the Columbia River. On the other side of the park was the Pacific Ocean with the Wreck of the Peter Iredale. This shipwreck was a ship which ran ashore in 1906 and is one of the most accessible shipwrecks of the “Graveyard of the Pacific”.

A geocache led us to this historical marker, the site of a Japanese shell explosion that was one of seventeen fired in June, 1942.

On Memorial Day we spent the day exploring Cannon Beach south of Seaside. The picturesque town is named after a cannon that washed up on the beach in 1846. As expected on a holiday the beach was crowded.

We especially enjoyed seeing the famous Haystack Rock and “Terrible Tilly”, the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse.

Built in 1881 because ships needed guidance to get around Tillamook Head, the lighthouse is located a mile offshore. The conditions there were so physically and mentally grueling that light keepers were assigned shorter rotations than other light keepers. After 77 years the lighthouse lights were turned off for good and today it is not open to the public. It looks rather lonely out there by itself.

While in Seaside we had our teeth cleaned. We were very pleased with the dentist and his friendly staff. Our dentist was very thorough in his exam and drove a pickup truck with a surfboard in the back! Fun!

One of our main reasons for visiting Seaside was so Bill could attend the largest amateur radio convention in the northwest. It was conveniently located right in Seaside at the Seaside Convention Center.

Seaside may be small but they have learned how to take full advantage of their beautiful location. In the days before the convention Bill volunteered to help with pre-convention set up. He really enjoyed attending seminars and talking with other radio enthusiasts.

He had already met members of the local Seaside amateur radio club and twice met them for breakfast at a local restaurant. Friday evening we attended their spaghetti dinner fundraiser. Bill won a big box of salt water taffy which was great since we had talked about buying some at one of the beachside shops. Since we had just had our teeth cleaned we each ate a couple pieces and gave the rest away!

We had a great two weeks in Seaside and the days flew by. The weather was for the most part sunny but still very cool with lows in the upper forties and daytime highs in the upper fifties to low sixties. Such is the late spring weather along the Oregon coast.

Next stop will be in Washington state.

Salem, Oregon May 9, 2018

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After leaving Grants Pass our initial plan was to spend four nights in Eugene and three nights in Salem. The day before our departure we decided to skip Eugene and go straight to Salem, the state capital. It made for a longer than usual travel day but the idea of spending nine nights in one spot without having to move really appealed to us. One of the great things about not having reservations is the ability to change plans at the last minute which we have done several times already this year.

We pulled into the Salem Elks Lodge and were directed into a long full hookup site. Really nice. Along with sightseeing, the long stay gave us a chance to get labwork done, order several things we needed through Amazon, make some dental appointments and do some planning, cleaning and maintenance on the RV. Somehow we managed to get a chip in the RV windshield so one day we had Safelite come out and repair the chip.

On Friday we drove three miles to the Oregon state capitol building to continue our goal of visiting all the state capitol buildings in the country. We were given a tour by an excellent tour guide. The building was constructed from 1936-1938 and is the third capitol building after the first two were both destroyed by fire. It is an example of Modernistic architecture and looks very different from most state capitol which are usually modeled after the U. S. capitol. Only four other states have Art Deco state capitols – – Alaska, Louisiana, Nebraska and North Dakota. The base is granite and on top is the 23 foot bronze statue gilded in gold leaf of a pioneer.

The pioneer faces north and looks west.

Inside the capitol building is a dome with 33 stars painted on the ceiling to recognize that Oregon was the 33rd state admitted to the Union in 1859 after first becoming a territory in 1848.

The paintings and sculptures in the capitol focused on Euro-European settlement.

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark with Party at Celilo Falls on their way to the Pacific, 1805

We visited the Senate and House Galleries where around the top of both rooms are the names of 158 people significant to the history of Oregon including Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, Sacajawea, Washington Irving, John Quincy Adams, and James Polk.

In 1843 the people of Oregon territory drew a line in the dirt and the frontiersmen stepped on one side or the other. One side was to remain British and the other to become part of the United States. We know which side won and the concept of a government with open democratic voting began in Oregon.

The Oregon state seal has 33 stars, an eagle with an olive branch and arrows symbolizing peace through strength. Two ships, one American arriving and one British ship leaving symbolize Oregon becoming part of the United States. Oregon’s economy is symbolized with timber, grain, pickax and plow. The covered wagon symbolizes pioneers on the Oregon Trail and the mountains and elk represent Oregon’s natural environment. The state seal is somewhat in the shape of a heart because it became a state on February 14, 1859. One of the trees growing on the capitol grounds came from a seedling which went to the moon and back!

We found time to do some geocaching, including finding some very unusual ones!

The trees, bushes and flowers in Oregon are just beautiful this time of year.

We passed several fields of red clover as well as Christmas tree farms.

Toward the end of our stay in Salem we drove thirty miles east to Silver Falls State Park, the largest state park in Oregon. It became a state park in 1935 and we enjoyed the trails thanks to the work of 200 CCC workers and skilled workers of the Works Projects Administration. We spent the day hiking to several beautiful waterfalls, enjoying the lush environment which included moss covered trees. Two trails even took us behind the waterfalls for a unique view. We hope to return someday for more hiking.

We visited the South Falls first at 177 feet tall.

The Upper North falls is 65 feet.

We had time for only one more of the ten waterfalls – North Falls at 136 feet.

Next up we head west to spend some time along the Oregon coast.

Below is a link to a waterfall video we made, enjoy the sound of the falling water. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5VRzbF8iA4

Lodi & Sacramento, CA APR 12, 2018

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Leaving the Hollister area we drove to the town of Lodi for a stay at the Elks Lodge. Lodi is a major wine producing region with more than 80 wineries located in the area. The town has nicknamed itself the “Zinfandel Capital of the World”. We enjoyed doing some geocaching and found the people to be very friendly.

Beside the road was this exchange library where we found a geocache hide

Next up was the town of Nicolaus about thirty miles from Sacramento, the capital of California. Even though we drove on major highways, the roads were really rough in some places. California really needs to spend some money repairing their roads!

On Saturday we drove into Sacramento to visit the state capitol building. It is our quest to visit every capitol building in the country. I will start with the bad comments first. You may have heard on the news that California has an alarming number of homeless people living on the streets. That fact was very evident in Sacramento. I am not usually frightened by this, but in Sacramento wherever we were there seemed to be several people arguing loudly, cursing, and in one instance approached me for money. It is common to see people wandering the streets with suitcases or carts with all their belongings or sleeping along the roads and in parks. In and around the city, bathrooms in restaurants and stores are locked and you must ask to use the facilities. Their situation is very sad, very disturbing and a little frightening.

California has a lovely state capitol building and we took their tour with an exceptional tour guide.

He clearly loves his job. California became the 31st state in 1850 and construction on the capitol building began in 1860 and concluded in 1874. Sacramento was chosen as the capital during the gold rush era because it was located near the highly populated gold rush areas. The capitol is modeled after the U. S. capitol building and has a beautiful 120 foot high rotunda.

A page boy, Queen Isabella and Christopher Columbus

We loved the statue of Ronald Reagan and seeing the legislative chambers.

George Washington portrait overlooking the State Senators

We heard an interesting story about the portrait of former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He had the portrait commissioned by an artist in Austria, his birth country. The artist chose not to give it an ornate frame or nameplate like the portraits of other past governors and it was hung that way. Not having a nameplate may not be a problem now, but 100 years from now will people recognize the governor without a nameplate?

We went into the gift shop and this bumper sticker caught my eye.

The capitol building is located on a 40 acre park. We always look for the Liberty Bell located at all state capitals.

Next we visited nearby Old Sacramento, a four block area that was the city’s commercial district during the gold rush era and pony express.

The area has cobblestone streets and wooden walkways which give it a feeling of yesteryear. It is very much a tourist area today with restaurants, souvenir shops, carriage rides, paddle boat tours and train rides. We visited the Wells Fargo History Museum.

The Sacramento River is crossed by this yellow bridge

Watch their train here:

We finished the day at Sutter Fort State Historic Park, site of the first European outpost in California.

It was established by Swiss immigrant John Sutter with a land grant from the Mexican government and was known as New Switzerland.

After the discovery of gold the land were taken from Sutter by prospectors. We were surprised to find that the original structures were made by men from Hawaii.

On Monday we made the long drive from Nicolaus to visit Donner Memorial State Park. In order to get there we had to drive over Donner Pass using I-80 and the Lincoln Highway, elevation 7,227.

The snow was beautiful on this bright sunny day.

The state park had a very nice visitors center with displays and a movie about the Donner party, a group of pioneers who set out from Missouri for California in May 1846 in a wagon train.

The trip usually took four to six months, but due to mishaps and bad decisions they found themselves snowbound in the Sierra Nevada Mountains during the winter of 1846-1947, a record breaking snowy winter.

Of the original 87 pioneers, only 48 survived. It is one of the most famous and tragic tales of pioneer journeys, which included cannibalism to survive.

On the state park grounds is a monument to the Donner party.

Next stop: Paradise, CA to see a former co-worker from my teaching days

2017 End of Year Review

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We are still in Yuma, AZ and wanted to do an end of the year blog recap. We have been traveling around for four and half years. This blog helps us stay in touch with family and friends but also serves as a diary of our travels for us to look back on.

We began our summer travels in Florida, moving the first of May north to Georgia where we visited some of Bill’s cousins. Then on to Alabama where I was bit by a tick while hiking. After passing through Mississippi and a corner of Tennessee we reached Little Rock. At that point the tick bite caught up with me and I became very ill, resulting in a visit to Urgent Care and several weeks of medication. In spite of my misery we managed to tour Little Rock, visit the Clinton Presidential Library, the Arkansas state capitol building, and made a day trip to Hot Springs.

Then it was on to Bentonville to spend time with my dear Aunt Shirley and her family.

After Bentonville we continued on to Missouri where we stopped for several days in Branson. We enjoyed the Missouri state parks, including a tour of Onondaga Cave. We really enjoyed our time in St Louis, so much so we extended our stay. We loved visiting the Gateway Arch, the Anheuser Busch Brewery where we saw the Clydesdales and the fabulous St Louis Zoo. We visited Grant’s Farm where we both rode a camel for the first time and toured the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site and Museum.

We enjoyed visiting Hannibal, Missouri and seeing all the Mark Twain stuff before heading to West Branch, Iowa to tour the Herbert Hoover Birthplace and Presidential Library. While in Iowa we stopped in Forest City at the Winnebago factory to have some repair work done and tour their factory. While in Forest City we drove to the site of the Buddy Holly plane crash, “the day the music died”.

Next up was Minnesota, a new state to visit for us. We toured The Spam Museum, an Eagle Center, some Locks and Dams along the Mississippi and enjoyed many of Minnesota’s beautiful state parks including seeing glacial potholes in Interstate State Park.

We found Duluth to be an interesting city on Lake Superior and enjoyed walking along their waterfront.

From Duluth we drove north along Lake Superior, enjoying the amazing scenery of three state parks, two lighthouses and beautiful waterfalls. We also made the short drive into Wisconsin to see Big Manitou Falls, the highest falls in Wisconsin and fourth largest waterfall east of the Rockies.

The beauty of Grand Marais exceeded our expectations and while there we saw High Falls, the tallest waterfall in Minnesota, learned about the Grand Portage and visited the Grand Portage National Monument.

In Ely, MN we toured the Soudan Underground Mine State Park, our first underground mine tour where we descended 2,341 feet below the surface of the Earth. We also visited a Wolf Center and Bill attended the Ham Radio yearly Field Day.

Next up was Voyageurs National Park, the only national park in Minnesota and only accessible by boat. We had a great, but chilly boat tour of the park. We stopped at the Kettle Falls Overlook, one of the few places in the continental U.S. where you look south to Canada.

While in Baudette we made the long drive to Angle Inlet, the northernmost point in the contiguous United States. It was quite a day, passing through Canada to get to this small Minnesota village. We checked into customs remotely by phone entering and leaving!

In late June we visited Itasca State Park where the mighty Mississippi begins its flow to the Gulf of Mexico. Bill walked across the Mississippi!

Hard to believe we have covered what you just read in two months. We amaze ourselves sometimes!

After the Fourth of July we visited the Mall of America, Minneapolis and St Paul. The traffic was terrible and the one way streets difficult and confusing to maneuver. I will remember those two cities as having some of the unfriendliest and impatient drivers we have encountered. We enjoyed seeing the statue of Mary Richards, St Anthony Falls Lock and Dam, Viking Stadium, the state capitol building, Peanuts cartoon statues, and Minnehaha Falls made famous in Longfellow’s “The Song of Hiawatha”.

Then it was back to Forest City, Iowa for their annual Winnebago Rally where we enjoyed attending seminars and spending time with other Winnebago owners.

After the rally we drove to Des Moines where we visited the Iowa state capitol, one of the prettiest we have ever visited. While in the area we made the drive to Winterset to visit the John Wayne Birthplace and Museum. Winterset is also the setting of the novel and movie “The Bridges of Madison County”.

We left Iowa and entered Nebraska, another new state for us. We visited Bill’s cousin in Papillion and toured Omaha. Omaha was great and we visited the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Headquarters, the Pioneer Courage Park and the Gerald Ford birth site. In the nearby town of Ashland, Bill was amazed by the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum, the largest collection of Cold War aircraft. Lincoln was another interesting city and we toured the Nebraska state capitol building, another beautiful capitol. We made the drive to Homestead National Monument of America where we learned about the Homestead Act and early homesteaders.

Upon leaving Nebraska we hopped over to Independence, Missouri to tour the Truman Presidential Library and Museum. While staying in Independence we made the short drive to Kansas City to tour the very impressive National WWI Museum and Memorial. We finished our day in Kansas City with what else but some great Kansas City barbecue!

Another new state to us was Kansas and during our stay in Topeka we visited yet another state capitol building and also toured the Brown v Brown Board of Education National Historic Site, the only national park named for a U.S. Supreme Court case.

While in Kansas we continued exploring presidential libraries by visiting the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home.

One highlight of our summer was making the drive from northern Kansas back into southern Nebraska to see the total eclipse of the sun. We had a very long drive that day as we dodged the clouds and chased the sun to get a good view, but it was well worth a day of driving.

After the eclipse trip we next spent time in Hutchinson, Kansas where we visited the excellent Cosmosphere and Space Center with one of the largest internationally acclaimed space artifact collections in the world. We recommend this space museum for all to see.

After Hutchinson was Dodge City, once nicknamed “The Wickedest Little City in America”. As we continued through Kansas we found a geocache at the tri-state point where Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado meet. Cool! The next day after crossing into Oklahoma we found another tri-state marker where Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico meet. Cool again!

It is now the end of August and we are in Raton, New Mexico where we stayed several days at the NRA Whittington Center, enjoying the New Mexico scenery and Bill used their firing ranges.

After Raton, we drove to Eagles Nest, elevation 8,238 where even in early September we had nightly temperatures in the upper 30’s and low 40’s. We drove the beautiful Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway and visited the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, used in several movies was magnificent. Also while in Eagles Nest we drove to Angel Fire where the TV series “Lonesome Dove” was filmed and had an emotional tour of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Next, in northern New Mexico we marveled at the gorgeous red rocks and geological beauty of this area. Truly breathtaking!

In Los Alamos we visited Valles Caldera National Preserve where we drove around a caldera and visited the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

As we continued heading back south we visited Santa Fe and its capitol building as well as the nearby Pecos National Historical Park with fascinating archaeological excavations. We also visited the amazing Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument where we hiked in a slot canyon.

October brought a bucket list item and the highlight of our year, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. We camped with the Escapees Boomers, worked really hard helping crew a balloon and both enjoyed our first hot air balloon ride. Our good friends Peter and Beth from Florida flew in to join us, adding to the fun.

While in Albuquerque we also visited the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History and toured Old Town Albuquerque.

After Albuquerque we needed a rest so we stopped at Valley of Fires park, possibly the youngest lava flow in the continental United States. We also visited several Pueblo mission ruins as part of the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. We also had a nice visit with Bill’s cousin Julie and her daughter.

We hadn’t originally planned on visiting Carlsbad Caverns but since we were already so close we decided to drive over for several days and toured the massive cave.

After Carlsbad we stayed several days in Alamogordo where we toured the New Mexico Museum of Space History and beautiful White Sands National Monument. What an awesome place!

The end of October found us in Arizona with a short stop in Willcox. While there we made the drive to Chiricahua National Monument where we took some amazing hikes with beautiful views. We really loved this place!

We spent a week in Benson, AZ where we drove to nearby historic Tombstone. We took a stagecoach ride and enjoyed the Old West town.

In November we settled in Tucson for a week where we drove through the east and west sections of Saguaro National Park, enjoying the magnificent saguaros. The Mount Lemmon Scenic drive had amazing scenery.

Bill met up with two amateur radio friends in Tucson, we visited Old Tucson where many movie and TV shows were filmed, and visited the nearby Titan Missile Museum, once an active intercontinental Ballistic Missile complex.

We spent Thanksgiving in Casa Grande and while we were there we drove to Phoenix to tour the Arizona state capitol. Bill celebrated his birthday in Casa Grande.

Late November we spent several days at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. We enjoyed hiking in the desert and earned a neat pin for hiking five miles. We drove along the Mexican border, amazed at the lack of a border wall between our country and Mexico.

December 1st we drove to Yuma where we had our yearly physicals and met up with some members of the Escapees Boomers for several dinners. Bill has been enjoying getting together with the Yuma Amateur Radio Club. Christmas Eve we had a social at the park and I fixed Christmas dinner for us Christmas Day.

We are in Yuma until January 17th when we head to Quartzite AZ.

It has been a great year! We feel very blessed to travel this wonderful, amazing country. We can’t wait to see what 2018 brings!

Happy Happy New Year to all!!

Holstein, NE August 21, 2017

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About a month or so ago we decided to change our travel route slightly so we could view the total eclipse of the sun Monday. We settled in at Milford Lake State Park in Kansas for eight days until the big day arrived. Our plan was to drive an hour and a half into Fairbury, Nebraska to a total eclipse location. We had chosen a location within driving distance of our campground and in an area that wasn’t super crowded so we wouldn’t have to fight huge crowds and traffic jams. We began to watch the weather forecast several days out and grew concerned as Mother Nature was working against us with cloudy weather predicted. How potentially disappointing! We had our solar sunglasses and solar eclipse tee shirts all ready to go. But it looked like Mother Nature was going to have the last laugh.

On Sunday the forecast indicated mostly cloudy skies and I, ever the pessimist, suggested we just watch it from home. Bill, ever the optimist, said, “Let’s just give it a try.”

Let’s Go

Monday morning we awoke to cloudy skies in Milford, but Bill had spent a lot of time looking at weather forecasts in Nebraska and had a plan. We jumped in the car and headed north and west towards Nebraska. The further we traveled northwest, the clearer the skies became. Our hopes would rise with the sun and then be dashed by big clouds obscuring the sun. But we drove on, singing “please don’t take my sunshine away”.

After three hours of driving, we stopped in tiny Holstein, Nebraska, population 242. The skies were fairly clear with some clouds, but they did not block our view. We pulled over on a side street, aptly named “Sundown Rd”, set up our chairs and had a picnic lunch while we watched the progression to total eclipse. It was amazing and beautiful. It was hard to get a picture with a camera phone, but Bill did a fantastic job! And just as the song by Bruce Springsteen suggested, we were “Dancing in the Dark”.

This was taken with smartphone camera and Eclipse Glasses

High Clouds Tried to Get In the Way

More High Clouds

Far, far too soon it was over. We continued watching the sun reappear for awhile, but it was anticlimactic after the total eclipse. So we climbed back into the car for the three hour drive back home. It was totally worth the long drive. What an experience! Thank you Bill for your persistence and optimism!!

We hope you enjoyed Eclipse Day 2017

Through the Eyes of the Selphs

Bill and Diane's travel notes and pictures

Category Archives: State Park

Brookings, OR SEPT 14, 2018

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San Juan Island, WA July 13, 2018

Seaside, Oregon May 20, 2018

Salem, Oregon May 9, 2018

Lodi & Sacramento, CA APR 12, 2018

2017 End of Year Review

Holstein, NE August 21, 2017