Bend Makes The Short List

We spent 4 great days in Bend, Oregon.  Our old neighbors just moved there and have always talked about how beautiful it is.  We camped at Tumalo State Park which was within minutes of downtown but didn't feel like it.  We did a couple of hikes that were beautiful.  We happened upon a food truck/bar/outdoor entertainment area that was great.  We met some really nice people, especially Julie who we ended up meeting there regularly along with her father.  She also took us to her barn to meet her horse.  People were super friendly and it was beautiful.  This area definetely is on our short list for potential new landing spots.  Our only concern is the cost of housing, which seems to be at the top of the bubble right now.  Seriously considering moving there to rent for a year and then see how things look.  Many decisions to be discussed.  I'm not even going to post anything about Wyoming...not living there.  We did stay for two nights in Nebraska at Lake McConaughy State Recreation Area.  It was a great surprise.  Who would think a big lake with beautiful sandy shores was in Nebraska...certainly not me.  We are excited to be heading back to the Chicago area and are thinking just one more day to Des Moines and then on to the "love shack" aka The Candlewood Suites in Warrenville.  Can't wait to see my family and friends.

Tumalo Falls

 Nebraska, really!

Rain Rain Go Away

We stayed 4 days outside of Astoria, OR at Fort Stevens State Park.  It has rained every night and one of the days.  The biggest problem with that is the dog.  She is constantly dirty and wet.  She also likes to nap on our bed...ugh.  Fort Stevens was build during the Civil War to protect the mouth of the Columbia River.  It was also used during WWII to prevent the Japanese from entering the area.  They were actually shelled by a Japanese Submarine.  Interesting history.  We also went to the Maritime Museum in Astoria.  I have the attention span of a gnat so museums are not usually my cup of tea, but it was very interesting.  Where the Pacific Ocean meets the mouth of the Columbia River is considered the most dangerous waters in the country.  The Coast Guard use this area for training.  The park is located along the Oregon coast and has all public beaches.  Every day we go for a long walk on the nice flat beach where Lilly can run off leash.  She runs crazy on the dunes which always makes me smile.  We stayed two nights outside of Portland where we got to meet up with Tyler and Rachel Borchardt.  We toured the Tillamook Cheese Factory on our way to Portland which was fun.  We left Portland a day early because of rain.  Headed to Bend, Oregon where the weather is expected to be much better.

Oops, I Can't Back Up

Chris is the driver and I am the navigator.  Sounds simple, right?  Well sometimes the navigator hasn't had internet services and gets a little engrossed in her phone and misses a turn.  No big deal, usually.  I quickly found a road that we should have been able to circle back to the main road on.  Navigator was a little slow informing the driver so we missed the first turn as driver was going to fast to stop.  No big deal, we would just turn on the other end of the road.  Well, that road did not run perpendicular, as most roads do.  Driver felt confident he could make the turn... he couldn't.  I jumped out as we were blocking traffic with our tow car.  We are 55 feet long and cannot back-up with the tow car on.  I went into the ditch to see if we could make the turn without ending up in the ditch, which we could not.  Chris then jumped out and began unhooking the tow car while I directed traffic around us.  Crisis averted.  We were cracking up when we finally got going again.  If this had happened 5 months ago we probably would have been screaming at each other.  We stayed at an RV Park outside of Seattle.  We have never been there so it was fun getting to see the city.

Snoqualmie Falls

 Chihuly glass exhibit

 Space Needle...leaning back on the angled glass was a very odd feeling.

Chris laid on the ground to get this view.

Sequim

We camped in Sequim, Washington outside of Olympic National Park.   Sequim is know as the blue hole because planes flying over see a blue hole in the clouds.  They get significantly more sun than other areas along the west coast.  We looked at housing but it is just too remote for us.  Our campground was part of the Dungeness Wildlife Preserve.  We backed up to the ocean.  Our friends Lisa and Jeff surprised us there.  We were able to spend a day hiking with them at Crescent Lake.  From here we will head to the Seattle area.  We have driven 13,000 miles and we are still married!  Still missing family, friends and work family but feeling very fortunate to have this opportunity. 

These pictures are from right behind the RV

 This is Chris and Jeff's "man cave" at Crescent Lake.

Vancouver and Vancouver Island

I haven't been able to do a post for a little while due to being in Canada.  Data usage is awful there.  We are now in Washington so I can get caught up.  We left Prince Rupert, Canada after getting off the ferry and power drove to Vancouver.  Lots of smoke due to the wild fires.  We enjoyed getting to look around Vancouver, especially the West End.  I could live there if someone would drop 1 million dollars in my account!  Whenever we go to a big city or a different country I always like to experience the local transportation.  We took the Sky Train downtown which was very clean and nicely maintained.  We unfortunately did not pay close enough attention as to where we got on the train.  We had walked over from the RV Park.  We got off in the dark at the wrong station which added an additional 4 miles to get us home. Fortunately we were not in a bad area.  From Vancouver we took the Ferry to Vancouver Island.  We were able to get one night in the Provincial Park but had no other reservations.  This could have been a disaster because Canada celebrates Labor (Labour) Day like the US does.  There were absolutely no sites anywhere.  Chris sat on the computer for a few hours trying to catch a last minute cancellation, which he fortunately did.  We ended up at beautiful French Beach Provincial Park.  We moved to Victoria (on Vancouver Island and the capital of British Columbia) for a few days after the long weekend to see the area.  Butchart Botanical Gardens was our favorite.  I've included a few of my favorite pictures.  There were dahlias the size of dinner plates.  We had beautiful weather in Vancouver.  Headed to Port Angeles, WA on the Ferry.

Downtown Vancouver.

Our campsite at French Beach.

 Mystic Beach and French Beach

I loved the flowers, obviously, by the number of pictures I took.