North Cascades National Park

18 Jul 2013               North Cascades National Park

            Getting to the North Cascades was an easy jaunt.  We dropped off Austin at his brother’s house in Bellingham, showered up, thank God (thanks Jessica!), hit up Boundary Bay Brewery, and headed to the mountains.  We left Bellingham on Chuckanut Drive, which was as beautiful as heavily advertised, and set up camp in Lone Fir Campground in the National Forest east of North Cascades National Park.  That night we planned our trail running adventure for the next day.  Katherine’s leg was feeling better, but we did not want to pick anything too crazy, just in case.  We decided on a 7 mile loop trail around Ann Lake, and went to sleep.

This is the drive back up the mountain to the lake. No joke.  It was this nice!

Here's a shot of the camp at Lone Fir. 

            That night, Katherine did not sleep well.  We were set up in our hammocks, right next to each other.  I put my earplugs in and didn’t hear another thing until morning.  Katherine kept hearing a big animal snapping branches in the brush next to us.  Being in bear country, of course her mind decided a bear was coming.  The animal came into the campsite and continued to stomp around while Katherine held her breath.  After not hearing anything for some time, Katherine decided to go back to sleep.  The next time she woke, a deer was staring through the bug net into her hammock.  Not expecting a deer about 5 inches from her face, she yelled and the deer ran off.  The crazy deer came back and stalked Katherine all night.  There were hoof prints all around her hammock.  I think she was hanging in the place it usually beds down, or maybe she is the deer whisperer.

            The next morning we suited up, and drove to the Ann Lake trail head.  What a beautiful trail run!  After climbing steeply through the forest for about a mile or two, we got our first view of the lake.  For the next 2 or 3 miles the trail circled the deep blue alpine lake, then the trail descended through the forest again.  There were just a few patches of snow left, and they were not treacherous to cross.  We had blue bird skies and comfortable temperatures.  We were happy we picked this trail. 

The wildflowers were out in full glory just for us.  So we thought. 

            The next morning we decided to move a little closer to Spokane, and camped near Sherman Pass.  There were a zillion bugs; a huge, raucous redneck family next to us; and another camper warning us he was stalked by a mountain lion or wolf the entire night before.  Boo-yeah!

            Next stop: Spokane.  I hope the Ensers are ready for us.

Deception Pass, Washington State

16 Jul 2013               Deception Pass State Park, Washington

            The next morning, we took the ferry back to Anacortes, and headed south on Whidbey Island.  We stayed in a wonderful campsite at Deception Pass State Park.  Austin was with us for 2 nights.  It was a great place to be.  Giant trees and crazy airplanes above.  

Here's a shot of our wonderful campsite.  Austin had the tent, while we slept in the bug/rain shelter next to the truck.  It was all good once the planes stopped.

          The Navy has a testing base south of the campsite and the planes above gave a wonderful show.  At night on the beach, one F-18 even screamed overhead with full afterburner.  By 9pm or so, they chilled out.  Now, sleep was possible. 

Right from our camp, we took a trail to the beach, and then along the coast to the giant bridge.  Katherine and I left Austin for a bit and did a little trail run along the coast.  It was amazing!

We followed the trail along the right up to the bridge. Nice!  The current was tremendous through the pass. And still, boats were blasting through it.  Way to go!

How 'bout a little "breakfast for dinner" in the Dutch oven?  Yummy!

San Juan Island, Washington

14 Jul 2013               San Juan Island, WA

            We arrived at the Anacortes Ferry Terminal just on time.  For these big ferries, they recommend being there at least an hour early, and 2 hours early if you can, to secure a spot.  I was worried about the H3 being over-height, so I took off the radio antennas.  I had no idea what to expect and just drove up to the booth, paid, and went to my corral lane.  Then we waited.  Once we began loading, an announcement was made over the loudspeaker calling walk-ons and telling everyone to get back in their cars.  We drove down the ramp and onto the ferry.  How weird.  I have never driven onto a boat before.  People up here around Puget Sound do it all the time, but for me this was a novel experience.  To make it even better, we were parked all the way to the bow of the ship with a wonderful view of the channel crossing.  The trip from Anacortes to Friday Harbor, San Juan Island was a little over an hour.  The weather was beautiful and the skies were amazingly clear.

This guy made the decision to put us up front.  Wow, the power he has!

I had to go back down to be sure the parking brake was set.  Now I noticed the wheel chock on the front right wheel.  I guess they figured I was a moron. 

This was the view out the back of the Ferry with Mt. Baker in the background.

            Arrangements were made for our friend Austin to meet us at Roche Harbor, on the other side of the island.  We had to park the H3 and load gear onto the boat.  The drive across the island was a scenic stroll through farmland and horse property.  Austin was waiting just as we planned at the little, quaint, Roche Harbor.  I used to see Austin every day teaching school in Las Vegas.  We even did a few music events together, so being finally able to meet up again is a real treat.

Austin, "Show me your crab claws!"

            The yacht we were staying on must have been almost 70 feet long!  Austin’s mom and stepfather own the beast, and were hosting a massive summer party for their grandchildren.  How great for Garner and Katherine to show up and wreck the place!  Not only were Austin’s mother and stepfather on their boat, but also 3 grandkids, Austin’s sister-in-law Jessica, Austin, me and Katherine, and Jessica’s friend Monty.  There is a master bedroom, front bedroom, another 2 person sleeping quarters, and the floor.  Katherine and I decided to rough it in style and sleep on the very top.  This was a great place to be.  Stars were out in full glory at night, no bugs, and the temps were cool.  It was beautiful.

Katherine thinks I am going to let her sleep.  Yea, right.

            The next day was unforgettable.  We just happened to show up for opening day of Dungeness crab season.  Holy cow!!!  We love crabs.  Austin’s mom Gretchen is an expert.  She knows where to go, how do catch the crabs, and she can clean a crab like no other, a true professional.   

We had one crab “pot” and two sets of “rings.”  The pot is easy.  You just put bait, we used raw chicken parts, in the wire box, drop it with a float, come back, and hope there are crabs.  The rings are another story.  You have to tend the rings and work a little bit to get your crabs.  The bait is in the center of the ring with two other rings on the outside.  These are all connected with netting.  Once you pull up on the set of rings, it creates a funnel, and the crabs can be lifted to the surface.  We did this all on the small boat in several outings.  It started out with only a few crabs coming in, but a little later in the morning, we hit the jackpot.  Katherine and I both got our fishing/crabbing licenses and started marking our crabs.  The night before I read the fishing manual, and found out that crabbing is highly regulated.  

GMAN using the rings.

Checking the size.  Smaller than 6.25" and it's illegal.  

Opening day is a huge deal.  There were crabbing pots everywhere out in the channel around the harbor.  When we were done for the day, Gretchen showed me the best way ever to clean a crab right on the dock.  Great, one down, and 20 more to go. We even took in some rock crabs which made the experience even more fun with their hard shells.  

Check the video below!!!!!

Austin and I readied the giant boiler and the fun began.  We cooked them up and called all the kids over.  It was a feast.  We ended with another wonderful night relaxing and talking with Austin and Jessica, then sleeping on top of the boat.

Seattle, Washinton

11 Jul 2013               Seattle, WA

           The drive from Mt. Rainier to Kent was really a pleasure.  We slowly came back into civilization along country roads and made a grocery stop.  Our lodging for 3 nights was the Kent/Seattle K.O.A (Kampsite Of America).  I can’t tell you the last time we stayed in one of these places.  It’s a total different experience from camping in a remote national park.  There is almost always a pool, game room, bathrooms, showers, camp store, and TONS of R.V.’s.  When we got there, I couldn’t believe how closely packed the sites were and how crowded the place was.  Oh well.  We wouldn’t be staying there for long, since all we needed was a place to sleep after traveling into Seattle every day.  The tent site areas were tighter than skinny jeans, but we made do. 
 

           Katherine wanted to try Seattle’s public transit system, especially since it would be a pain driving the H3 into the city for 3 days.  We set out to see how this all worked.  It turned out to be a great way to travel.  The KOA had a bus stop right out on the main road that took us to the Sea/Tac Airport stop.  From there, we could take the light rail into downtown Seattle, or another bus.  We tried both ways, and they worked out great.  The busses had some interesting “bus people” which made for awesome people watching.  Parking in Downtown would have been a mess, and expensive.  On the bus, we could sightsee and not have the extra stress of driving or worrying about sampling too many of the breweries.  The transit maps and schedules take a little getting used to.  The routes might not make sense at first, causing confusion.  We stuck with it and did a 4 “leg” trip to the Boeing factory.

            The Boeing Factory is in Everett, Washington, 40 miles to the north of Seattle.  This was a must on our trip, but I didn’t want to drive, so this is where the public transit came into play.  We got there, but it took just over 2 hours.  We had reservations for a tour at 11am, and since we showed up early, the attendant moved us back to an earlier time so we wouldn’t have to wait around.  The tour started out in the Future of Flight building with a movie telling us how Boeing has changed the world.  After the movie, we piled into the tour busses and headed to the giant factory buildings.  Wow!  These were huge, so huge that the one with the 777 and 787 is ranked as the biggest building in the world by volume.  We entered through underground tunnels and took an elevator to a few overlooking balconies.  Sorry, I don’t have pictures to post of the inside, since all cameras were required to be checked in lockers where we started.  I thought the tour was thorough, and it gave me a good idea of the process used at Boeing.  Some planes are on a moving track as they are built, and the others are put together in sections.  The most interesting thing I saw was the carbon fiber construction used on the 787 Dreamliner.  The body sections for the plane have to be heat treated as they are put together in giant sections.  This requires an oven to be built around the plane and kept in place while the heating is happening.  From the overhanging balcony that we were on, it was quite impressive.   After the tour, we took the bus into downtown and met our friend Gabrielle.

            We got off the bus as close to the Space Needle as possible, walked a block or two, and met up with Gabrielle.  We were in search of the Bastille Day celebrations, but we were a day early.  This worked in our favor since the Polish Folk Festival was happening instead!  We got 3 plates of pirogues and stuffed cabbage, along with some imported Polish hop, yeast, barley, and water mixture.  The folk music was fun and the weather continued to be on good behavior.  We chatted with Gabrielle for a while before she had to leave.  I think the downtown Seattle area is a great place to visit, and with friends and food, it is even better.

            On our way back to the light rail, we sat down in a restaurant to rest for a while and met a woman, Danielle.  She wanted to see if we were interested in taking a cat home, and then the conversation went all over the place.  Somehow, it always turns into funny or gross food you can, or have tried.  Right when the talk was getting crazy, her fiancée, Nathan came to get her.  We chatted for even longer about our travels and had a great time.  On the train back, we met another friendly woman who talked with us for most of the ride.  She was a French woman who moved to Seattle at age 21 after meeting her musician husband on a trip here.  She had her mother with her, who kept telling us stories in French as we just smiled and nodded, and her kids who had just spent the day celebrating one of their birthdays.  Meeting people in these cities is always a surprise, you never know who is out there.  I preferred these fine folks to the Portland drummer at the food trucks. 
 

           Seattle is a fascinating city and I want to plan a trip back really soon.  Getting around is simple and the people we met and talked to were really nice.  The seafood was a treat and the breweries have more to sample than one sitting allows.  Now, we are off to meet Austin in the San Juan Islands.  I have to look this all up on a map.  I have no idea where it is.