Want a Tour?

We are learning the ins and outs of our trailer.  We have lots of motorhome experience but no trailer experience, so some things are familiar and some are new. We practiced an extra hitch and unhitch after we ran out of water doing laundry (our site had no hookups), so we're still learning what our tank monitors are telling us.

We had two glitches that Bill resolved this morning. Our solar panel wasn't recharging the battery and two 12-volt outlets were not working. Not good. Well, with a little dialog with guys at the trailer company and a little detective work, Bill determined that a loose strand of wire was causing a short, which Bill fixed. The outlets had a blown fuse, which required a trip to town, but a new fuse seemed to solve the problem. Ah... trailer life.

Well we thought you might want a tour.  Let's start inside.

 

The Dining Room

The Kitchen

The Bedroom beyond the Kitchen

The Bath Room

 Now let's go outside.

Outside view

Another Outside View

And yet another outside view

On to North Cascades...

Washington - Discovery of the Maiden

We are staying at Deception Pass State Park near Oak Harbor WA on Whidbey Island.

The day after we got our trailer, Barbara letterboxed with Judy.  Judy picked out some great places to go.  One area was a series of boxes with stamps of Washington state symbols in appropriately Washington Park – a park on the coast in Anacortes.  A superb series for a letterboxing tourist along a 2.2-mile scenic path with nice stamps and a few extra boxes along the way. 

Judy at Washington Park

Barbara at Washington Park

The ecosystem was very interesting as one side of the park was lush and green and the other side was dry.  Here is a Pacific Madrona tree; it looked like someone peeled off all the bark and all that was left was a red undercoat.

The other place where we letterboxed was Rosario Beach, part of Deception Pass State Park.  The views were just fantastic and on top of that the clues led us to the Maiden of Deception Pass story pole. 

The boxes there were just so perfect for the location.  And Barbara thoroughly enjoyed boxing with Judy.

In the meantime, Bill shopped and set up things in the trailer.  There were a few things we planned to get once we got the trailer and a few things we realized we needed to get.  A lot of details as we start to settle in.

We Got Our Trailer!

The previous night we stayed at Birch Bay State Park, a park on the ocean.  We strolled along the beach and Barbara sat at a picnic table as the sun was going down.

 

The next morning we headed out early to cross the border to Canada (you never know how long that’s going to take) and get to Chilliwack, British Columbia for our 8am trailer orientation.  We sailed through the border crossing (perhaps saying we were buying a Canadian-built trailer helped), picked up a quick breakfast at Tim Horten’s, and made it to the trailer manufacturer.

Their orientation explained all the things inside and outside the trailer.  Lots of details! 

Then to simplify the customs procedure, they drove the trailer across the border to the US and we met the trailer there.  Then off we went…

We drove back to Deception Pass State Park, weighing the trailer and buying food on the way and then we moved in. 

We were glad to have our new letterboxing friend, Judy, join us for our first meal in our new home on wheels.  Enjoyed the yummy pie she brought over for dinner – a delightful house-warming gift.

Washington - Chuckanut Drive

Wow!  We’ve been on the road over a week and tomorrow we get our trailer.  Since it started to rain, we decided to try sleeping in the back of the 4Runner rather than pitch the tent.  Surprisingly we were able to do it!  It makes us appreciate even more the accommodations in our future trailer.  :-)

We caught the 8:50am ferry off the island.  The skies were a bit clearer for our ride back.

Then we drove along Chuckanut Drive with its scenic coastal views.

We stopped at Larabee State Park and had lunch at the beach.

Then we climbed a 1-mile trail to an overlook.  Like Rattlesnake Ledge, we were amazed at the wide switchback trails carved into the side of the mountain.

Bill continued on to Fragrance Lake (a 5.1-mile hike in total) while Barbara headed back.  We were a bit nervous as we heard of car break-ins in the area, but we parked within the park and all was well.

Washington - Two Islands

Our day started at a nice campsite at Deception Pass State Park on Whidbey Island.  We took the easy way, going over the bridge rather than the ferry.  The blue star marks the spot.

We got up early enough to catch the 7:25 ferry to Orcas Island, part of the San Juan Islands.  The yellow star marks our destination.

It was a bit overcast, but there still were nice views from the ferry.   

We checked out our campsite and then headed to Mt Constitution.  Bill hiked the 1500ft elevation gain to the summit - a 6.7 mile loop trail.  Barbara sipped a cup of coffee by the lake.

Then Barbara drove up to the summit to meet Bill. The views at the top were spectacular.  The camera didn't quite capture what we saw, but it was well worth the hike or drive.

Mt Baker

Bill enjoyed the hike below stately Douglas fir trees surrounded by a carpet of moss. It was a different feel than trails back east.

Next we hiked the Cascade Creek Trail and saw Cascade Falls and a few other falls.

 

We were amazed by the huge Western hemlock and Douglas-fir trees and even started counting the rings on one recently sawed tree.  It was about 200 years old!

 

Campsite by a lake, but it’s starting to rain… (wish we had the trailer).

Day 7 Stats

Oak Harbor (Whidbey Island) WA to Orcas Island WA

177 miles for Day 6 & 7 (additional miles traveled by ferry)

3420 miles for trip

Washington - Two Gifts

Saturday night around the dinner hour a couple came up to us and offered their yurt for the night.  They had an unhappy 1-year old, had already paid for their yurt, but felt it was better to go home early.  Bill offered assistance as they schlepped their gear back over the bridge. The dad was a graduate of Seattle Pacific, a Christian college in the area.  Well we took advantage of the upgraded accommodations -- our first time in a yurt.  So that was the first gift.

We headed into Seattle.  The cumulative fatigue, unfamiliar roads, and traffic didn’t give us much motivation to get the proper tour, but we went to Kerry Park and got a nice view of the Space Needle and Mt Rainier.

You would think we would be used to roads that are not straight forward since we are from Boston, but Seattle seemed even more complex.  Turn right, next block turn left, turn left again, turn right… Wow.  Good thing we had a GPS.  After all those turns we arrived at Discovery Park.  Bill took a much needed nap, while Barbara hiked down to the lighthouse.  A really nice trail with a cool view – snow-capped mountains in the distance.

Next we took a tour of the Boeing Factory.  No pictures here.  They probably told us ten times that no cameras or cell phones were allowed, but it was very interesting to see how they made their biggest airplanes in the largest building by volume in the world.

The day was topped off with our second gift.  We mentioned earlier that Bill’s credit card number was stolen.  The bank was willing to send us a new card, but we needed an address to send it to.  Fortunately Barbara was able to touch base with a fellow letterboxer she communicated with before our trip: Wise Wanderer.  We had the card sent to her and then she made the special trip to our campsite to deliver the card.  What a huge gift that was to us!

Day 6 Stats

Carnation WA to Deception Pass State Park, Oak Harbor WA

Washington - Gaining Altitude

We ate breakfast looking out over Snoqualmie River. Then we hiked up Rattlesnake Ledge.  Since it was a beautiful Saturday, we think all Seattle chose to hike the trail today, too. The well-engineered trail climbed steadily for 1.9 miles to a majestic view of Mt. Si and Snoqualmie Pass.

Then we went in to Seattle to the Museum of Flight. Heard interesting background of many of the planes in their collection. And Bill toured the inside of a B-17 and saw all the crew stations.  Barbara saw the inside of the Concorde.

Our final stop of the day was the North Bend Library parking lot for WiFi. Glad to get a chance to check email and post this blog.

Day 5 stats 
still in Carnation WA
116 miles for today
3241 total miles