Anacortes, WA

We've been at Pioneer Trails RV Resort in Anacortes, Washington for the last week.  The best thing about this park is the awesome grassy off-leash dog park that's here in a secluded clearing in the deep forest. Totally surrounded by tall tall pines, ferns, shrubs, blackberry bushes and trees of all kinds. The woods are so dense, it just feels like Sasquatch could come walking out of there any second! Harley LOVES it and never tires of fetching the frisbee there and occasionally sniffin' butts of other dogs (although we usually have it all to ourselves). He makes a beeline for the entrance whenever we're near it.

But we are about ready to pick up and head south on Friday, the 24th to begin making our way toward the Oregon coast.

Those of you who know me best are familiar with my special homemade green chili and breakfast burritos that I affectionately refer to as "Esteban's" (Spanish for Steve's). So Debbie and I just had to stop and eat at my namesake restaurant here in Anacortes.  It was mui bien!  

Our next stop will be at Cosmopolis, WA south of Aberdeen. We plan to spend a couple weeks there if the RV Park is nice and if (big if) we can get satellite TV reception.

Until then - be happy.  Life is good!

Pacific Northwest

Catching up... we've been in Washington state now for a couple weeks.  Driving cross-country, we've mostly avoided the interstates and bigger cities... finding bliss on the smaller two-lane highways.  What a great way to see the country.  The roads have been great and very scenic. After a short visit in Bellingham (just south of the Canadian border on the Puget Sound) we've spent the last week in a terrific RV Resort at Fidalgo Bay in Anacortes, WA (north of Seattle). What a great place! The only down side was that early in the mornings when the tide was out, man was it stinky! But other than that... very nice. I did manage to play a round of golf at the Similk Beach G.C. which was just 6 min's from the RV. Nice course, but the heavy air & elevation messed with my game. I couldn't get the ball to the green, under clubbing almost of my approach shots. The weather has been great here, high's in the low 80's & low's in the mid 50's. It's wonderful to sleep with the windows open for a change.

Riding bikes at sunset

"I can see Russia from here!"

Working on my girlish figure, the rolls show how much

it's needed!!

The water was like glass this day. These are the cabins at the resort.

Wow - spotted a bald eagle

Bye!

A view of the Puget Sound off Chuckanut Dr just south of Bellingham

We finally made it back to the cemetery near this little white church on the hill where Dad's parents are buried. It's a beautiful spot north of Mt Vernon (where Dad lived for a number of years) and very close to the spot where he grew up.  I spread Mom & Dad's ashes on his parent's graves.  

My Dad's parent's graves 

Before we got to Anacortes, we visited my niece (Monica) and her family in Royal City in eastern Washington & man was it hot, 103 the first day & 108 the next. We stayed at the RV park which just happened to be at the golf course & of course I had to play a round. Debbie gave Monica her motorcycle leathers since we no longer have the Harley and they are thinking of buying one soon.  Looking hot, Monica! I gave my leathers to Monica's husband Trevis.

After we left Montana, we crossed northern Idaho staying a few days in a great RV park in Hayden, just north Coeur d'Alene.  Our space was very large and was a great place to get the pets outdoors for a little exercise.  

  

Little Willie is growing!  Here he is giving Jimi "what for".  Love those cats!

Giddy-up!

Glacier National Park - MT

Dropped anchor in Hungry Horse, Montana at the Canyon RV Campground & Cabins. Joined up with Joe & Carolyn Segler, our friends from Sioux Falls. The site we had was really narrow, my extended awning was only 2' from our neighbors rig. The location was in a very pretty area, which made up for some of the discomfort, but I wasn't able to enjoy sitting outside the bus. Tuesday Debbie, Harley & I drove into the beautiful Glacier National Park, it was spectacular! The road we took up to the summit was called "Going to the Sun" and it felt like it! What beautiful, lush green mountains. The lakes and rivers were a startling blue-green color. We were really struck by the waterfalls and wildflowers. And best of all... we have escaped the heat and have enjoyed temps in the 80's. Ahhhh - relief.

On Wednesday we took Joe & Carolyn's Paddle Ski out on Lake McDonald which was formed by the glacier 10,000 years ago. It's 475' deep. 

Here's Carolyn & Debbie (avoiding the deep, hugging the edges)

This is Joe.  (Where's MY picture?... need to fire the photographer).

On Thursday Joe & I went fly fishing. This is the only fish either one of us landed that there is a picture of anyway. Joe said he caught a couple more but no pic's. I on the other hand, didn't catch a damn thing except some bushes on the shore. I did have a couple of strikes, but couldn't keep them hooked. I still had a good time though. Beautiful place to fish. I should have taken some pic's of the rivers we fished.

Anaconda, MT

We really enjoyed the small town of Anaconda, MT.  The RV park was nestled at the foot of a mountain and right on Warm Springs Creek. Back home, we'd had our bicycles in the garage (collecting dust) for the last 25 years so we finally took them in for new tires and a little oil. We found Sven's Bicycle shop downtown and it felt like we were visiting Mayberry! What a treat. The trails followed along the creek which was a wonderful place for biking and walking Harley. On Friday I was able to play a round of golf at the Old Works Golf Course, a Jack Nicklaus design, built using federal EPA Superfund money. It was built on the original site of the Anaconda copper smelter and they used left over slag that had been tumbled to remove the sharp edges in the sand traps. Really beautiful and tough course. Saturday I went fly fishing on the South Fork of the Clark River with one of my camping neighbors, I didn't catch anything but a good time, but Bill did. I spent most of my time tying & losing fly's in the brush along the bank. Bill gave me two pan sized Brown Trout he caught though. I have them in my freezer waiting for a good time to fry them up. I'll be eating them lane though, Debbie doesn't care for trout. We weighed anchor Monday, heading to Hungry Horse, MT.

    

Big Sky RV Park - Anaconda, MT

Freedom at last and on the road again. The bus is finally fixed (fortunately all was under warranty) and we've headed west on I-90 from Billings to Butte. The drive was so very pretty! Just past Bozeman is especially scenic with beautiful grassy meadows, peaceful mountain valleys and clear blue skies. We're staying for a few days in the small town of Anaconda (near Butte). There is much to do here -- fishing, golf, a tour bus ride we plan to take and just exploring the town on bicycles. The RV park has a great little stream across the road from us and behind us is this steep rocky hill (looks more impressive in real life than in the photo). Loving life.  

Billings, MT

Dropped anchor in Billings, MT for a few days.  Staying at Billings Village RV Park. We're here for service on the bus... need a particulate filter sensor.  Couldn't get an appointment at Cummings until Monday afternoon so we're laying back for the weekend.  Steve is washing the bus today by hand. Thankfully there is cloud cover to offset some of this heat.  We were horrified to hear of the shooting in Denver today. Saying prayers.

Little Willie has made friends with his mentor - Jimi.

Ten Sleep, WY

Today we're in north central Wyoming.  It was a beautiful drive through the Big Horn mountains however the RV struggled.  We climbed a 7% grade and overheated.  Long story short, we made it to the little town of Ten Sleep, WY where we're staying for several days.  We are trying to get parts (air filter, hoses, etc) but we're finding them difficult to come by here in the middle of nowhere.  We'll be keeping Fed Ex in business! In the meantime, we are enjoying the peacefulness and beauty of our surroundings.

Back home to Denver

Back to Denver.  We spent the last week of June & first part of July back in Denver to attend our nephew Tanner's wedding as well as take care of many doctors visits and other business.  It was good to connect with friends... Tim and Nancy are so much fun and our former neighbors, Greg & Sharon... all are very special to us.  We certainly miss them & our family while on the road.

We recently experienced a tragic loss of our most special and beloved cat Tommy.  We'll never forget his sweet personality and "extra large" presence in our lives.  Once we got back to Denver, we had to search for another kitten. After a rather extended search, we found little Willie (William Cooper Fields or WC Fields) at a PetsMart through the Lucky Paws Rescue.  He is precious and is holding his own with his big K9 brother, Harley.    

Learning the Ropes in NE & SD

Our first 2 months on the road was fun.  First we headed north through Nebraska, stopping for a week at beautiful Lake McConaughy.  The beach was awesome and we had it all to ourselves.  Then it was on to Grand Island where we caught a pretty sunset.

Then we headed to our first real destination - Sioux Falls, South Dakota where we'd planned to set up our domicile for tax purposes, voter registration, mail forwarding, etc.  We stayed for a whole month there in a shady RV park that was just lovely.  Met great people too - Joe & Carolyn pictured below were terrific and we found much in common with them.  Other residents - Mr & Mrs Mallard was also always a delight to see as we took our daily stroll.

We visited the falls in downtown Sioux Falls, enjoyed burgers at a great little joint and stopped at the Sertoma Butterfly House & Marine Cove.

We also visited the Black Hills of SD where we found beautiful spots to take a break & walk the dog.  We took a short train ride on an old locomotive from Hill City to Keystone and back.  Nice!