Boeing Plant Tour

Tuesday, 29 May 2018
Gig Harbor RV Resort — Gig Harbor, Washington
Temps: 65F (18C) / 47F (8C)

It behooves no one to dismiss any novel idea
with the statement that “it can’t be done.”
~ Bill Boeing ~

After spending the Memorial Day long weekend at home, we were ready for another outing.  This time, our destination was 25 miles (40 km) north of Seattle … meaning we had to plan around the rush hour traffic that clogs pretty much every road leading north from Gig Harbor … especially on weekday mornings.  I don’t know if hopping on I-405N at the first opportunity helped or not, but at least we were able to use the HOV2+ and the Express Lane to ease our way north with minimum difficulty … and that was after delaying our departure for the 71-mile (114 km) drive until after 9:30a.

Gig Harbor’s History Museum

Sunday, 27 May 2018
Gig Harbor RV Resort — Gig Harbor, Washington
Temps: 73F (23C) / 47F (8C)

The Fishing Seasons
Fish for salmon in summer and fall,
Gather sardines when winter winds call.
Anchovies school off warm winter coasts,
Pull Dungeness crab with January boats.
Turn on your night lights and go seining for squid,
All through the year, they wiggle and jig.
The most elusive of all are down in the deeps,
Where the halibut roam and the black cod sleeps.
~ Anonymous ~

Friday was to have been our day for sightseeing.  But we had to jiggle our plans when the replacement of the CR-V’s rear brakes took a little longer than expected and the work lagged from Thursday through the end of the day on Friday.

Mt Rainier … Noblest in Form

Wednesday, 23 May 2018
Gig Harbor RV Resort — Gig Harbor, Washington
Temps: 77F (25C) / 52F (11C)

Of all the fire-mountains, which, like beacons, once blazed along
the Pacific Coast, Mount Rainier is the noblest in form.
~ John Muir … conservationist … 1906 ~

With the forecast calling for a glorious blue-sky day all across the state, today we headed to Mount Rainier National Park (MRNP) …  the fifth national park of the nation … and home to the 14,411-foot (4,392 m) tall mountain for which the park is named.

7 Miles @ Point Defiance Park

Monday, 21 May 2018
Gig Harbor RV Resort — Gig Harbor, Washington
Temps: 68F (20C) / 50F (10C)

We have a plan!  It calls for alternating sightseeing with other stuff — such as checking out our options for ‘future livability’ … daily errands and chores … and just chillin’ on the patio.  Another part of our plan is to stay home on the weekends … leaving those days to be enjoyed by people who have a work week to consider in their plans.  We explore locally, of course, but don’t necessarily do anything blog-worthy.  It’s because of our plan that I’m able to skip three days to write about today ;-)

Seattle Underground to Waterfront Dinner with Friends

Thursday, 17 May 2018
Gig Harbor RV Resort — Gig Harbor, Washington
Temps: 66F (19C) / 50F (10C)

Skipping a day in the blog as we did nothing noteworthy yesterday.  Moving on to today’s fun times.

We’d heard horror stories about the traffic going in and out of Seattle, but were hoping that they were exaggerated.  Turns out they aren’t … and it’s made worse by the ongoing construction.  The bottomline for anyone coming to the area — you have to plan around rush hour traffic … otherwise, you’re going to be miserable.  Staying in Gig Harbor, which is south of the Seattle hub-bub, that means delaying our departure to mid-morning if we’re heading north.  Which is what we did today.

A Reminiscing Kind of Day … Olympia to Tacoma

Tuesday, 15 May 2018
Gig Harbor RV Resort — Gig Harbor, Washington
Temps: 66F (19C) / 53F (12C)

Have been settled in at Gig Harbor for three days now.  We took the first two days at our home base easy — the adrenaline rush that was keeping us going since leaving Houston just under a month ago fizzled out I think … we just felt weary.  The weather cooperated with blue skies and sunshine, though.  We took advantage of that to enjoy our patio … and also strolled into and around Gig Harbor.

Colorful blooms are in the gardens all around Gig Harbor.

Driving Day … Jefferson to Gig Harbor

Saturday, 12 May 2018
Gig Harbor RV Resort — Gig Harbor, Washington
Temps: 70F (21C) / 46F (8C)

We changed states today.  Nothing new in that, really … we’ve been doing so since we left Houston over three weeks ago.  The difference is that we’ll be staying in this state for a while.  The other thing we did today was to cross the 45th parallel — which is half way between the Equator and the North Pole.  There was a road sign that marks the crossing, but it came up much too fast for me to take a photo of it ;-)

Driving Day … Gold Hill to Jefferson

Friday, 11 May 2018
Emerald Valley RV Park — Jefferson, Oregon
Temps: 67F (19C) / 48F (9C)

Technically, a very long 409-mile (650 km) drive would have allowed us to skip this overnight stop, but we don’t drive long days like that anymore … unless absolutely unavoidable.  So, we programmed the GPS for Jefferson, Oregon — about halfway between Eugene and Salem — and set off from Valley of the Rogue State Park shortly after 9:00a.

Murals & Bears in Grants Pass

Thursday, 10 May 2018
Valley of the Rogue State Park — Gold Hill, Oregon
Temps: 66F (19C) / 51F (11C)

This was to be our easy day … resting up after two days of sightseeing … preparing for the next two days of driving.  That’s not to say that we did nothing … no sirreee!

A Day at the Oregon Coast

Wednesday, 9 May 2018
Valley of the Rogue State Park — Gold Hill, Oregon
Temps: 75F (/56F)

The original plan Sue and Mo had made for today was to take us for a drive through the Applegate Valley.  Maybe taste some wine … have a picnic at one of the wineries … see a covered bridge or two along the way.  That changed with an email from Sue this morning.  The new proposal was to skip the Applegate Valley since none of us are big wine drinkers, and go to the Oregon Coast instead.  Yay … beach time!

Crater Lake & More

Tuesday, 8 May 2018
Valley of the Rogue State Park — Gold Hill, Oregon
Temps: 80F (27C) / 52F (11C)

Woke up at 6:00a … feeling refreshed after a good night’s sleep that recharged our batteries.  Despite the proximity of the park and campground to I-5, we didn’t hear any traffic noise … it was very quiet indeed.  Today was one of the two days of sightseeing Sue had planned for us.  Mo was unable to join us as she had a prior commitment, so it was just the three of us that went off gallivanting at 9:30a.

Uh Oh Driving Day … Bordertown (Reno) to Gold Hill

Monday, 7 May 2018
Valley of the Rogue State Park — Gold Hill, Oregon
Temps: 82F (28C) / 48F (9C)

It was a crisp 43F (6C) when I woke up at 5:30a … brrr.  But we were cozy in the Phaeton as we went about preparing for another driving day.  We left the casino campground at shortly after 8:00a, made the turn onto US-395N, and within two minutes were in California.

Driving Day … Tonopah to Bordertown (Reno)

Sunday, 6 May 2018
Bordertown Casino RV Resort — Reno, Nevada
Temps: 73F (23C) / 39F (4C)

I woke up from a restful night’s sleep at 5:00a to Mui cranking on the generator.  The batteries had done well overnight, but they were just under the 12 volts Mui likes to see on the controller.  I debated going back to sleep.  Nah … better to get up and enjoy the peaceful desert setting.

Driving Days … Prescott to Las Vegas and Onward to Tonopah

Saturday, 5 May 2018
Boondocking @ Millers Rest Area — Tonopah, Nevada
Temps: 79F (26C) / 46F (8C)

We’re two days out of Prescott now.  We stopped over at a military campground in Las Vegas last night.  Tonight we’re at a boondocking site off of US-95 just west of Tonopah.  Nothing really exciting about either day, so this will be a round-up post to make the blog whole.

iPad Tray

Friday, 4 May 2018
En Route to Las Vegas, Nevada

I’m way behind on my road trip posts, so I really shouldn’t be digressing to post
about Mui’s solution to a small dilemma I had, but I’m going to do so anyway ;-)

I love doing counted cross-stitch … the smaller the stitch the better … and no pre-printed patterns.  But when my eyesight started to get bad, I gave it up and picked up other hobbies … such as photography and blogging.  But I missed my embroidery.

Last Day in Prescott

Thursday, 3 May 2018
Point of Rocks RV Campground — Prescott, Arizona
Temps: 68F (20C) / 42F (6C)

Cold morning … only 36F (2C) when I got up at 6:00a.  But, unlike yesterday, sunrise led to blue skies and the warm rays of the sun streamed in through the windshield to keep us toasty.  There was little in the way of wind … which made all the difference in the world.

Cold & Rainy-ish in Prescott

Wednesday, 2 May 2018
Point of Rocks RV Campground — Prescott, Arizona
Temps: 50F (10C) /38F (3C)

Brrrr … cold morning … cold-ish day.  Had a bit of blue sky first thing, but overcast with on-and-off drizzle was the rule of the day.  So, we stayed home to take care of chores.  Just because we’re on a road trip, the routines of “life” don’t stop for fulltimers like us.  This was a good day to take care of such things while we waited for the sun to peek out and the day to dry out so we could go for a walk.

Mui goes on the roof to get the rainwater off the slide toppers … and while he’s at it, he takes a rooftop panorama.  Those solar panels will help us to boondock for a night next week.

The Smoki Museum

Tuesday, 1 May 2018
Point of Rocks RV Campground — Prescott, Arizona
Temps: 61F (16C) / 40F (4C)

Woke up to 47F (8C) @ 6:00a.  It warmed up a bit as the day progressed — especially once the overcast lifted and the sun came out.  But a crisp breeze won the battle … the day remained a bit nippy … and drizzly.