Just a day in Newport, Washington

What a beautiful day!  Sunny, not too warm (70s), with a nice breeze.  It makes you happy to be alive.

I have observed, and confirmed with many locals .... they have weird weather here.  The hottest part of the day is actually late afternoon/early evening.  And it may reach 90 degrees, but then turn 40 degrees that same night.  I got up one morning and turned on the heat; it was 38 degrees.

I was hoping to start the day with a visit to the post office, but alas, most of them are only open 5 days a week in these smaller towns, so I'll have to wait until Monday.

The next stop was to the farmers market.  I love farmers markets.  I actually purchased produce at this one :), along with a carrot cake and some hand cream.  You can always find good stuff at a farmers market.

And then a visit to the Pend Oreille County Historical Society Museum.  The museum exhibits in several outbuildings, showcasing the area's history. 

Newport is the county seat of Pend Oreille (pon-duh-ray) County.

Caboose - inside and out

Historic Washington Avenue, Newport's main street, is a nice walk; some shops display a plaque showing the name of the original business and its date; many buildings are constructed of locally made bricks.

After my walk and lunch at Owen's, I headed back to the campground for some Bingo and an ice cream social.  I didn't win, but it was a fun couple of hours.  I took a walk down to the lake and then headed back to my rig.

I can't believe I've been retired 2 years next month.  It doesn't seem possible ... it seems a much shorter time, and yet I've seen so much .... I'm truly blessed to have this life.

North to the Canadian Border

Newport, Washington is less than 100 miles from the Canadian border, yet it took me 10 hours to get there and back, and here's why .....

State Highways 20 and 31 - the North Cascades Highway is a scenic route through Pend Oreille County, also known as the North Pend Oreille Scenic Byway and the International Selkirk Loop.

My first stop was at the Kalispell Tribal Grounds to view the buffalo and the Manressa Grotto..

The Tribe maintains and fosters the buffalo herd, which consists of about 100 head of buffalo that roam over 600 acres

A glacially formed, above-ground cave system used for religious ceremonies by early Amercian Indians and missionaries.

With a view of Pend Oreille Lake and then north to the Tiger Museum (Built at its present location in 1913, the renovated Tiger Store serves as the south gateway for the North Pend Orielle Scenic Byway; it is all that remains of the once-thriving pioneer town) ...

The historic (1912) Tiger Store serves as a museum, gift shop, a blacksmith reproduction, visitor center and rest stop.

over to Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge for the auto tour .... I managed to get off the road at a fork ("listened" to my GPS over the sign because I'd encountered a couple of ones today that had been turned) and went ATVing in my Jeep for several miles before I could make a 6-point turn to go back ...

The only mountainous, mixed-conifer forest refuge in the National Wildlife Refuge system

with a stop at Crystal Falls ...

the red bridge near Ione ...

Continuing north, the next stop was Eagles Nest Viewpoint and Sweet Creek Falls (it smelled like Christmas) ...

Eagles Nest Viewpoint

Sweet Creek Falls and a pine "Christmas" tree

up to the Boundary Dam

The dam provides more than 1/3 of Seattle's electricity.

Views from both sides of the Boundary Dam

heading back past Sullivan Lake ...

Sullivan Lake

ending with the best Mexican dinner before heading to the rig for the night.

It was a good day ... beautiful scenery, nice walks, good food ....

Northeastern Washington and parts of Idaho

The last 170 miles or so into Spokane is high desert looking ...  shrubs and dead grass instead of trees, and no mountains.  Occassionally there was a crop gowing; since a sign announced they were the highest potato producing county in the county, I'll take a guess and say the crop was potatoes.  Quite a change of scenery since before I entered Oregon several weeks back.

 I'm currently camped in Newport, Washington ... less than 10 miles from the Idaho border.

This is on the road into the campground.  I thought it was fun ...

Fishing for mail??

On one of my drives I stopped at the Litehouse Blue Cheese Factory - Litehouse, a producer of dressings, dips, marmalades, and glazes, is best known for its Idaho Bleu Cheese, handmade with a recipe hundreds of years old. The company is one of the largest bleu cheese suppliers in America and actively supports the Sandpoint community. Unfortunately, the only "tour" they provide is a film and a window into the processing area.

 

Lake Coeur d' Alene

This is really a beautiful area.
I really didn't expect there to be a lake and beach area in downtown Coeur d' Alene.

In the park they were setting up for the Ironman.

The Museum of North Idaho displays the history of the Coeur d'Alene area.

Albeni Falls Dam

Located above the Spokane River in Riverfront Park, this enormous (12 feet high and 27 feet long) red Radio Flyer wagon can hold an small army of children -- the maximum capacity is 300  Named The Childhood Express, the 26-ton plaything is an interactive monument to childhood.  Visitors can climb up a ladder on the back and slide down the handle.

I took a walk around the block in Spokane .... which turned into 4 miles as the street was along a hill and it never turned "left."  I had to go back the way I came, but was able to take this snap of  Spokane over the rooftops.

Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist

Crosby's Academy Award Oscar, gold records, certificates, and trophies

These are pictures of Bing Crosby's home and the high school (now a college) he attended across the street from his home.

Gonzaga University

And this is where I ate lunch .... it was a good hamburger and way too many flavors of shakes.

Paul Bunyan Pak-Out is a local fast food joint with a wooden cut out of Paul Bunyan right in front of the building.

I also got to drive through Athol (population 676) on my way back ....go ahead, say the name out loud.  ha.

Mt. Rainier

One of the world's most massive volcanoes, Mt. Rainier is nearly 3 miles in height.  Mount Rainier may be the centerpiece of the national park, but is hardly the only attraction. You can stroll through seemingly endless fields of wildflowers, listen for cracking glacier debris and wander among trees nearly a thousand years old.

I entered at the Nisqually Entrance, drove to the flowered fields of Paradise, then on to Sunrise, the highest point accessible by car.

Northwest Washington

Driving north on US 101 from Olympia ...

Port Townsend is a nice place to spend the day.  I stopped for lunch and took advantage of some of the street shopping; lots of gourmet type stores.  A worthy detour from US 101.

The shoreline between Port Townsend and Mt. Olympic is a beautiful drive.

Mt.Olympic Mountains ... a beautiful place to be.  Even if you don't take any of the hikes, the drive up to Hurricane Ridge is outstanding.

More shoreline

Cape Flattery, the most northwestern point in the lower 48 states .... the Cape is noted for its rugged headlands and crashing surf.  (the drive out there is full of switchbacks and rough road)

Unfortunately, I arrived here just before sunset so the second half of the trip down US 101 was in the dark.  I got back to my home at 2am! Also, there is NOTHING open for gas or restroom after 8pm along US 101, so beware.  I only saw about a half-dozen cars in 100 miles.

The map says to allow 3-7 days for this drive; I would agree with at least 3 days, more if you want to explore some of the towns a bit more.

Should have moved into the area for more sightseeing ..... next time.

Southwest Washington

I stayed in Chehalis, about midpoint between Portland and Seattle.  It was warmer weather than I was having at the beach; about 20 degrees warmer. 

My campsite at Chahalis

One of the disadvantages of camping "in the trees" or mountains, is the lack of internet.  It makes this blog, among other things, a challenge sometimes.  And sometimes I have internet, but it is so slow ... for instance, so far it has taken me 7 hours to upload these pictures for you.

Route in pink

I did a lot of driving around Washington this trip - too much really.  I should have moved my rig up into northern Washington and spent some time there.  As it turned out, one of the solo groups to which I belong was camping up there over the long weekend; had I known early enough to change my plans, that would have worked out great.

One of the first things I did after I arrived was to meet up with a friend and head to Mt. St. Helens.  We stayed for the Ranger talk and a very informative movie.  It was really interesting to be able to actually see how far from the volcano the damage went.









Yard Bird Statues (according to Roadside America) -
Residents of western Washington state are familiar with "Yard Birds" -- a home improvement chain popular in the region since the 1950s, until it went out of business in the 1990s.
The mascot of Yard Birds was a misshapen, gawky cartoon bird with hunched shoulders, gloved yellow claw hands, and a large beak. He seemed to be somewhat variable in his various incarnations -- as long as he was black, beaked and ugly, he was a Yard Bird.
At the height of Yard Birds expansion, many mascot sculptures stood at the entrances to store parking lots. Most have been destroyed or disappeared over the years. The vacant Yard Birds in Olympia, the state capitol, burned down around 1999, and apparently took its Yard Bird statue with it.

Two Yard Bird statues still stand at the former corporate flagship location in Chehalis. And I was there!


Old St Peter's Church -

The 17-room Victorian house of Ezra Meeker, pioneer, farmer, first town mayor, author and preserver of the Oregon Trail. Six fireplaces, period furnishings, stained-glass windows and hand-carved woodwork.  One of the things I find so cool about these old houses is the care they went to to "coordinate" everything!  In this house, the ceilings matched the tile work around the fireplace in the room, among other things.

When I drove to Whitlock to see the "world's largest egg" I noticed they had a theme going around town with these roosters ....

Other things I saw in the area ....

Mossyrock Dam

Capitol building in Olympia

Gospodor Monuments

On one of my drives north on I-5 there were a number of small fires burning along the road, one caught in the trees and leaping over the road.  As there were no official vehicles in the area, they were not controlled burns, but the cars on the highway never slowed down.  Later I passed emergency vehicles headed to the fires.

I was headed to Tacoma ... there were signs along the roadway warning about low-flying aircraft.  So, I'm thinking gliders or something ... whoa .... there was a huge army cargo plane right in front of me, landing.  Apparently there is a military base off to the side of the freeway!  ha.

Tacoma has several old, cool buildings .... it would be nice to spend a day exploring.  Beautiful views of the water and bridges as well.

US 12 to Aberdeen on coast highway US 101 is a lovely scenic drive.  Aberdeen has a sign saying they are the lumber capital of the world, which I believe based on the number of trucks carrying logs I see on the road.  I had to cross a draw bridge in Aberdeen and I had a second's worth of unease as I started over .. ha.

The Washington coast .... 

Although pretty in their own right, Washington does not seem to have the beautiful beaches I saw in Oregon.  These are more of a "slough" quality.

Westport Maritime Museum

Raymond seems like a nice town to spend a day - lots of museums and folk art.

Raymond, Washington

Lewis and Clark State Park has a beautiful tract of lowland old growth forest.... nice.  Lewis and Clark State Park, which is actually separate from the Lewis and Clark Trail, began as a "public camp" for automobile tourists in 1922. Two years later, more than 10,000 people visited the park annually. The old north spur of the Oregon Trail, which extended from the Cowlitz River landing to the city of Tumwater, passed directly through the present park site. When pioneers used this road, ramps had to be built over some of the downed logs (six to nine feet in diameter), since they had no saws capable of cutting the giants.

I passed two accidents on US 101 in a relatively short distance, both vehicle vs motorcycle.  There was almost nothing left of the motorcycle either time.  A nice thing the Washington Troopers do is post a sign well in advance that there is an accident ahead so you have time to stop.

Saw this in the bay ....

Ah, I think there is a problem, Captain.

Another difference I noticed between Oregon and Washington are the trees .... Oregon has more of a forest/shoreline vibe, whereas Washington has more of a mountain feel; more scrubby with undergrowth and vegetation. I don't know if the trees are actually different, but the effect is.