Tuesday September 12, Day 56

Starting trip meter: NA
Starting time: Easy day, no driving.
Starting Location: Olympia, WA

Greeting us patiently outside of our door in the morning was Chaucer, and a toy that he had brought for us to play with. He is an English Springer Spaniel, and very playful and loving. After showers and breakfast, which by the way consisted of farm fresh eggs, Dave’s homemade bread, and Bobbie’s canned preserves from berries grown by them, we started out to drive to Mt. Rainier.

The weather could not have been more delightful for our drive to Mount Rainier National Park. We drove through forests with huge Douglas Firs and Cedars, some of which were as much as 200 feet tall. Along the way, we stopped and took a short walking trail with signs that explained the ecology of the area. There was a feeling of being in a cathedral with the quiet beauty surrounding us. Once at the visitor center, we enjoyed the lodge and the observation areas, then hiked up a couple of trails to get an even more interesting view of the mountain and it’s glacier flows. Luckily there were just a few clouds, and with the brilliant sunshine we were able to see all of the mountain. Now, I must explain what UP really meant when I mentioned taking the trails. The visitor center parking lot was 5400′, and we started walking UP steep inclines to even further heights. Barney climbed them with what seemed to be little effort, while I was panting and wheezing and stopping to catch my breath. Bobbie Lou was the champ, and came to my rescue several times by pushing me up the hills by my butt. The spot where we stopped gave us an incredible view of the mountain and some of it’s glaciers. The view was definitely worth the agony of getting there.

We ate dinner at E. R. Rogers Restaurant in Steilacoom, WA. The food was excellent, and we were all stuffed when we left. The restaurant is in a home that was built back in the 1800s, and was a part of a lot of local history.

Bobbie found our old high school year books, and their wedding pictures, from 39 years ago, September 9, and we shared a number of old stories, and reminisced until very late.

Today’s weather: Gorgeous all day. High 75° and low 55°.
Miles driven today: 0

Today’s Pictures

Wednesday September 13, Day 57

Starting trip meter: 11605
Starting time: 10:45 AM PDT
Starting Location: Olympia, WA

Got off to a late start this morning due to sleeping in from our late night. Packed up our things, had breakfast, and loaded up the van with all of the goodies that Bobbie was sending along with us, fresh blueberries from their garden, a jar of cherry preserves, and 2 pieces of pie for our desert tonight. We said our goodbyes, and with very pleasant memories of their lovely home started on our journey south. We certainly enjoyed our time with Bobbie Lou and Dave and we thank them so very much for wonderful hospitality.

Left Olympia on I-5 and drove until we could cut over to the coastline which is US Route 101, and also known as the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). Although the views were pretty overlooking the ocean, we could not make any time by going through all of the small seaside towns, and we decided that after we camped tonight on the beach, we would head inland for a while, and return to the PCH as we got closer to the California coast and the Redwood forests.

We stayed in South Beach State Park Campground just south of Newport, Oregon. After our delicious dinner of sweet corn, tomatoes, and grilled pork chops, we walked to the beach. Even though there had been a full moon out earlier, it was completely covered then with clouds. In the distance you could see lights from what we imagined were ships, and perhaps a beacon light or two, and we could also hear their muffled fog horns off in the mist. It was eerie and exciting at the same time.

Back at our campsite, Barney built a roaring fire and we toasted marshmallows. By the time we turned in for the night, the moon was back out and the light from it made everything glow softly. It was beautiful there.

Today’s weather: Warm. High 82°/Low 57°
Miles driven today: 279

Today’s Pictures

Thursday September 14, Day 58

Starting trip meter: 11884
Starting time: 10:00 AM PDT
Starting Location: Newport, OR

Before leaving town in the morning, we stopped at Wal*Mart and picked up a few things. Took route 20 west to I-5 to try to improve our time a little. Going through all of the little towns was interesting but very time consuming. At Grants Pass, OR, we drove route 199 toward the California coast and back to the PCH. That stretch of road was a really nice treat after being on the interstate highway most of the day. It was all winding two lane roads completely lined with trees in fall colors. Some leaves would fall from time to time and glow in the sunlight. The last stretch climbed high into the mountains, and started following a river encased in massive rock lined cliffs. The evening fog bank was coming in about then, and the soft gray mist made it all the more beautiful.

Luckily for us we found the campground that we were looking for just before it got dark. It was the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. What an incredible place it was. The entire park was set in a grove of monstrous sized redwoods, and each site had so much space that you felt you had the woods to yourself. We were allowed to drive through the park and select the site that we wanted, and that gave us also the opportunity to see areas that we would not necessarily have time to walk to. Everything had been left completely natural, so if a tree had fallen, the remains were still there to nurse the forest along. We tried to capture pictures to reflect the beauty but it is impossible.

Much to our disappointment, we were never able to get a fire going in our pit, so we had to resort to the old fashioned way, and cook on our charcoal grill instead. No problem, dinner was great, however, Barney was a bit perturbed that his cave man gene for fire starting had not prevailed, as it has in the past. In actuality, the wood that we bought from the ranger was damp, and she had warned us of that fact in advance.

By the way, this was a dry camping only park, which means that there is no power or water at your site. For us that means that we cannot use the microwave, our electric blanket will not work, nor will we have any coffee in the morning. That is not all bad depending on what we have planned for dinner, and as long as it is warm enough that we can be comfortable sleeping. They did have hot showers, 5 minutes for 50¢. That is always fun!

Today’s weather: Mostly sunny, high 78°/low 50°
Miles driven today: 327

Friday September 15, Day 59

Starting trip meter: 12211
Starting time: 8:15AM
Starting Location: Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, CA

Awoke shortly before 7AM, and immediately pushed open the shades to be able to look up and stare at the magnificent trees reaching toward the rising sun. What a sight! Since we could not lollygag over a cup of coffee before getting up, we proceeded to getting up and ready the van for departure. After taking a couple more pictures, we got on our way.

The drive immediately upon leaving the park was a feast for the eyes. There were redwood trees everywhere, some so close to the road that they had been scuffed by passing vehicles. They are truly one of our nation’s treasures. Barney mentioned for all of the spectacular beauty that we had seen in Alaska, this surely equaled or surpassed it. I guess we are both hopeless nature lovers.

We pulled off to follow a sign that offered a scenic coastal drive in the Prairie Creek State Park. At first, we were the only ones on the entire drive, and it shortly became a narrow one lane gravel road. It was deeply wooded, and at one spot where we had stopped to look over the ocean and the coastline, we were several hundred feet up. We had just resumed our drive, when we spotted an elk with a large rack of antlers on the edge of the road ahead of us. He was exciting to see.

Continuing on down 101, we took the cutoff to the Avenue of the Giants. This is a stretch of 2 lane road that winds through the the Redwood National Forest and offers the tallest living thing, the Sequoias. Some have been measured as tall as 360′, and can live to be 3000 years old. The forest is made up of many “youngsters” that are only 1000 years old. Barney tried to measure his arms around one of them, and although he was unable to get to the back side of it, he estimated that it was at least 50′ around at his shoulder level. They are ramrod straight, and some of the literature referred to them as the “Magnificents of the Mist”. They draw their required moisture from the cool fog banks. We stopped so many times to just walk among them and stare up at the tops. There was no way to take a picture and truly capture what you can see peripherally in person. What an awesome feeling.

Instead of heading back over to the coast when we left the Avenue, we decided to stay on 101, which at that point was more inland. Around 4:30PM, we were less than 200 miles from San Jose, so we decided to go on and not spend another evening at a campground. The weather could not have been any greater, and we loved seeing the hillsides of northern California.

From Santa Rosa on, we could see the fog bank rolling in from the ocean, and we were hoping that we could beat it to the Golden Gate bridge. We stopped on the northwest side of the bridge, and found that the fog had beat us to the city side, so we could not get much of a picture. Although the traffic in San Francisco was heavy, and it was drizzling, we were able to drive through it without too much difficulty. We arrived in San Jose around 9PM, and were glad to pull up to Fred (my son) and Ann’s home.

Today’s weather: Cool this morning. Sunny and hot this afternoon. Low about 55°/high about 80°.
Miles driven today: 439

Today’s Pictures

Saturday September 16, Day 60

Starting trip meter: 12650
Starting time: N/A
Starting Location: San Jose, CA

Most of the morning was spent cleaning up the van, washing clothes, deodorizing the coolers, taking the car top carrier down and scrubbing out the charcoal dust which had accumulated from all of the bumpy gravel roads. Then…….at last, doing the same thing with the occupants of the van! Of course, the little girls helped us all the way.

We still had time to visit a little with Ann’s mother, Elsie before she left, and to play with the granddaughters who we had not seen since early summer in Jacksonville. We were amazed at all of the changes that they had made to the house since we were last here in November. They have worked so hard, and they really have a lovely home.

In the afternoon, we were invited to the home of Linda and Stan Shogren. She and Barney are distant cousins and have been communicating via e-mail for several years, but had not met before in person. They live in San Mateo, which is only a 45 minute drive from San Jose. We had a very pleasant afternoon sharing information about ourselves and our families, looking through pictures of ancestors, and learning about all of the activities that they are involved in. Linda was a home economics teacher at one time and is a master chef, teaches sewing, is very involved in the assembly of scrapbooks, and buys and sells anything and everything on eBay. She has developed extensive genealogy on the Postons. Stan has created a number of stained glass masterpieces. They are hung in almost every room of the house, and are positively beautiful. We were treated to a sumptuous dinner of steaks grilled by Stan, and all of the trimmings prepared by Linda. Our visit was much too short, and we hope to meet their son Peter in the future, as we were able to do with their daughter Anna. Come and visit cousin!

Today’s weather: Warm, 80s/60s
Miles driven today: 67

Today’s Pictures

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