Olympic National Park - Guess What We Saw at Rialto Beach! (National Parks Trip #3)

This post represents another installment in the series documenting our West Coast National Parks trip in the summer of 2017.  Alan and I, along with our 18 year old daughter, Kyra, logged a total of 8,513 memorable miles of adventure over the course of five and a half weeks during the months of July and August.

Alan, Kyra and I were up and out early on Day #30 of our West Coast National Parks trip.  Our pace was grueling, but we were trying to see and do as much as possible in the five and a half weeks we had.  The main event of the day was a “hike” to the “Hole-in-the-Wall” at Rialto Beach, and our timing had to be perfect.  The best time to safely walk out to and back from the Hole-in-the-Wall was at low tide.  Not only would going at low tide allow us access to a large number of tide pools, it would also ensure that we could walk back rather than swim.  You don’t want to challenge the tides, people – you’ll never win.  As Geoffrey Chaucer said, “Time and tide wait for no man.”

Olympic National Park - Let the Exploration Begin! (National Parks Trip #3)

This post represents another installment in the series documenting our West Coast National Parks trip in the summer of 2017.  Alan and I, along with our 18 year old daughter, Kyra, logged a total of 8,513 memorable miles of adventure over the course of five and a half weeks during the months of July and August.

After picking up the West Coast National Parks Trip series of posts again in mid-May, I realized that I had forgotten to include the “day number” in the last two posts.  Our last day on the Oregon coast plus the time we spent at Mount Rainier National Park and our arrival at Salt Creek Recreation Area in Port Angeles, Washington, covered Days 25, 26, 27 and 28.  The two days we spent at Olympic National Park (the first of which is documented in today’s post) were Days 29 and 30.  It was hard to believe that we had been on the road for a full month already.  They say time flies when you’re having fun.  Well, it really flies when you’re having fun AND trying to jam as much as possible into each and every day.

Mount Rainier National Park - A Wild Time Among the Wildflowers (National Parks Trip #3)

This post represents another installment in the series documenting our West Coast National Parks trip in the summer of 2017.  Alan and I, along with our 18 year old daughter, Kyra, logged a total of 8,513 memorable miles of adventure over the course of five and a half weeks during the months of July and August.

“Think outside the box.”  This fairly common expression is probably familiar to most people.  It’s a concept that my very logical mind often has difficulty converting into anything useful.  But, when it comes to finding good campgrounds, my brain has figured out that it never hurts to think outside the box.  And that means . . .  power companies.  Back in 2021, when Alan and I spent an extended period of time in Idaho, we camped at two facilities run by Idaho Power.  (Our campsite at Woodhead Park in Hells Canyon remains one of my all-time favorites.)  In researching a good base camp for our visit to Mount Rainier National Park, I discovered that Tacoma Power in Washington operated four facilities with campgrounds – and one of them was less than 20 miles from Mount Rainier National Park.

Northwestern Oregon & Southwestern Washington (National Parks Trip #3)

This post represents another installment in the series documenting our West Coast National Parks trip in the summer of 2017.  Alan and I, along with our 18 year old daughter, Kyra, logged a total of 8,513 memorable miles of adventure over the course of five and a half weeks during the months of July and August.

Despite the fact that Alan, Kyra and I were excited to be moving on to Washington and the three National Parks we would be visiting in that state, our last day on the Oregon coast was bittersweet.  All three of us had fallen in love with the State Parks and State and National Recreation Sites in Oregon that allowed easy access to the beaches and waters of the Pacific Ocean.  Leaving all that beauty behind wasn’t something we were looking forward to.  But, new adventures awaited, and we made the best of our final day on the coast of Oregon.

Recap: National Parks Trips #1, #2 & #3

Most of the photos in this post are from previous stops along the way during our West Coast National Parks trip of 2017.  In trying to figure out exactly where I was in my documentation of the trip, I looked back at our itinerary and our photos.  It’s hard to believe how many intriguing places we visited as we worked our way west toward the coast.  It would seem appropriate to queue up Johnny Cash’s “I’ve Been Everywhere” because it sure does feel like it!

I just checked, and it has been nearly 11 months since my last post documenting our 2017 West Coast National Parks trip.  (Yikes!  Time flies when you’re having fun.)  Alan and I first drafted our bucket list of National Parks more than 45 years ago when we were planning our honeymoon.  We spent a full month tent camping across the country to visit a number of iconic National Parks in the American West.  After the kids came along, we vowed to re-create that National Parks honeymoon trip with them and continue working our way through the list of National Parks we planned to visit.

No Regrets Checklist

The photos in this post are a collection of some of our favorite campsites.  A picture may be worth a thousand words, but it definitely brings to mind some extraordinary memories, too.

I’ve been posting about our 2024 trip to Alaska for about nine months, ending with my previous “Alaska by the Numb3rs” post in mid-February.  (I could have had a baby by now; thank heaven I didn’t.)  It’s transition time for me, and I have to think about where to go from here.

RV ALASKA - Alaska by the Number$

This post marks the end of the RV ALASKA series which documented our four month trip across the U.S., through western Canada, on into Alaska and back in 2024.  I understand that Alaska by the Number$ won’t be of interest to everyone, but I believe it will be of interest to (1) anyone already planning to make this journey and (2) those who might be contemplating this expedition for the future and are looking for some general parameters.  I debated reprinting the tips I had shared in posts throughout the summer, thinking that keeping all trip-planning information together in one place would be the most helpful.  While that’s probably true, in the end, I decided to focus mainly on the numbers.  This post is longer than most as it stands, and I sure don’t want anyone falling asleep on my watch.  So, grab a cup of coffee (or an adult beverage, if you prefer) and settle in for the nitty-gritty details.  To my fellow numbers nerds, I raise my mug of morning coffee in your honor . . . Salute!

RV ALASKA - Homeward Bound!

The day after Cliff and Diane left North Bend, an Army Corps of Engineers campground on the Virginia/North Carolina border, Alan and I poked around the rest of the park under mostly cloudy skies.  With steady rain in the forecast for the days ahead, we cut our losses and headed for home two days ahead of schedule.  The drive north was a wet one.  Even though the Cabela’s in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, was a favorite stop (whether we’re overnighting with the travel trailer or not), it was a pretty dreary evening.  Dumping our tanks in the rain the following morning didn’t do much to improve our spirits.  We are definitely not the material of which full-timers are made.  We were feeling a bit road weary, and we were both happy knowing that “Home” was plugged into the GPS as the destination of the day.

RV ALASKA - 2024 Outdoors RV Owners East Coast Rally

In planning to spend the summer of 2024 in Alaska, Alan and I were working within certain parameters.  We had secured a highly coveted waterfront site at Northampton Beach Campground on Great Sacandaga Lake in central New York for the opening weekend of the 2024 camping season.  Plus, Ryan and Anya (our son and daughter-in-law) and friends Bernie, Carol, Cliff and Diane (fellow Outdoors RV owners) were joining us there.  So, the departure date for our Alaska adventure was actually the day after Memorial Day when we broke camp at Northampton Beach.  At the other end of the trip was the 2024 Outdoors RV (ORV) Owners East Coast Rally scheduled for mid-September at Pocahontas State Park in Virginia.  Because we had missed the last three annual rallies, Alan and I were determined to attend this one.

When we left Dam West on Carlyle Lake in Illinois, we were pushing hard to arrive at the rally on September 19^th.  That would mean two days of driving through Illinois, Kentucky, West Virginia and most of Virginia.  After a quick one night layover at Kentucky Horse Park State Park near Lexington, we pushed on to Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield, Virginia.  By this time, Alan and I were a bit road weary, but the thought of reconnecting with ORV friends, old and new, made the final push worthwhile.  Following the rally, we had planned to spend four nights at North Bend, an Army Corps of Engineers (COE) campground on the John Kerr Reservoir – a large body of water on the Virginia/North Carolina border.  North Bend had been on my bucket list for years, but we never made it there because it was kinda sorta in the middle of nowhere.  As it turns out, “the middle of nowhere” was just an hour and a half from the ORV rally, and Alan and I decided that a few days of down time at a bucket list campground would be an excellent way to end our Alaska expedition.  Little did we know we were in for a surprise ending.

RV ALASKA - Cinnamon Rolls Across America!

I published my first blog post seven years ago in December of 2017.  I started blogging after I escaped from the work force, mainly to document our travels - especially our extended cross-country National Parks trips with our kids.  Plus, I enjoyed creative writing and wanted to do more of it than just produce our annual Christmas newsletter.  And, I was hoping to connect with like-minded adventurers who enjoyed travel and the camping lifestyle as much as Alan and I did.

What has truly amazed me is the number of friendships that have developed during these past seven years.  Connections I expected; ongoing friendships, I did not, but it is with a whole lot of gratitude that I view these relationships.  Many of my connections and friendships are with fellow bloggers; a few are with wonderful people Alan and I have met in our travels.  Today’s post is a story of a friendship that came about strictly due to happenstance and coincidence.  And it’s a “dam” fine story.

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Programming . . .

It was with high hopes that I intended to publish another post in our RV ALASKA series this week.  I’m “this” close to finishing up the trip, and have only a few posts left – including the final, “Alaska by the Numbers.”  But, as it often happens, real life gets in the way, and I find myself up to my ears baking Christmas cookies, wrapping gifts and planning Christmas dinner.  You can expect the next RV ALASKA post shortly after Christmas.  For now . . .

RV ALASKA - Fun & Frolic in Fort Collins

When Alan and I left Ridgway State Park, we made our way back to Interstate 70 and headed east through the Rockies.  We’ve crossed this magnificent mountain range many times, but one particular crossing stands out in my mind.  It was late March of 2017, and Alan and I had just purchased the Creek Side in Everett, Washington.  We were on our way home with our brand new travel trailer, and it was snowing on Interstate 70 in Colorado by the time we hit the Eisenhower Tunnel (elevation: 11,000'+).  I still remember how bad the trailer looked covered in snow and mud.  What a mess!  This time around, we had a blue sky day that allowed us to relax and enjoy the spectacular scenery.  We arrived at Inlet Bay Campground on Horsetooth Reservoir just outside of Fort Collins, Colorado, on Tuesday afternoon, excitedly anticipating the arrival of long-time friends who had booked sites just down the loop road from us.