San Juans vacay Days 6 & 7: the long way home

Thursday it was time to start heading for home.  We said goodbye to park proprietor Sandy.  Mount Vernon RV park had really clean showers and we got our laundry done in a warm, clean, well lit laundry room. Bonus! This park was nice, even if the sites were a bit too close together.

 

I had a very hard time deciding on which homemade breakfast goody to eat at Calico Corner in Mount Vernon.

Apple cinnamon roll did not disappoint.

Then up and over Stevens Pass on route 2.

Does this count as winter camping?

The reason for the detour over the snowy pass was so I could see Leavenworth.  The entire town has a Bavarian theme, and survives entirely on either destination shopping or lodging for Stevens Pass ski area.  Drew says there issome excellent mountain biking near here too, but it was toocold and we were en route to home, so we just walked around, bought a souvenir of the trip, and had  lunch.

Even the Starbucks looks Bavarian

 

 

The Maypole is the center of town.

 

After our little detour, there was nothing left to do but cruise for home.  We made it as far as the Oregon Trail RV park in Baker City Thursday night. 

The place was nice, and had a much-enjoyed hot tub, but the WiFi network only let two devices connect! Ridiculous.

Friday morning we rolled out after breakfast and espresso in the cutest little town of Baker City. We’ll have to make more time here next time through. 

So our business trip to the San Juan Islands was a big success.  I got to see and experience some places that hold special significance for Drew. Dewey had a good romp around the country and served us well. I was able to visit my friend and saw more parts of the country that make me continue to wonder if we should just sell all we own, buy a nice RV, and live address-free for a while.

San Juans vacay Day 5: not all business

After our bad experience at the Northwest RV park, we stumbled around in the dark and found an RV park run by the city of Oak Harbor, Washington.  The park was called Staysail RV; why the name was obvious once we got there. It was windy as all get out and on the harbor. Between the wind and rain, we had a fitful night of sleep.

Wednesday was Veterans Day, so I took my veteran for some coffee at Whidbey Coffee. What a great little coffee shop with free WiFi

Today was also the day to do the business we came up here for.  The rental house needed a new roof and so we met the roofer to discuss where to put in solar tubes to bring some light into the house.

It’s a cute house.

With the business done, it was back to tourist and bike adventures.  We stopped and walked out on the bridge over Deception Pass.

The narrow straight at Deception Pass that makes Whidbey Island and island.

The tide was coming in and I can see why the water is so dangerous; it was really cruising through there.

But the real event of the day was riding the Cranberry Lakes trail system. There are 15 to 20 miles of trails on Fidalgo (Anacortes) Island in a block of land the community has set aside for recreation.

Huge Big Leaf Maple leaves on the trail. The common name for this tree is appropriate.

The trail is a mix of wide walking paths, and narrow trails with technical rocks and roots.

An occasional look out spot to remind you that you are riding on a heavily populated island.

Swamps and lakes are everywhere.

Loved these mushrooms growing on a log.

I’m tired of the typical smiley face pose.

Drew thought this was a rhododendron tree. The bark sure was red.

We had a great ride and saw only a few hikers.  What a jewel of a trail system to have in your community.
After the ride, what else but…


We stopped at the new North Sound Brewery, where Drew’s old Navy buddy is the head brewer. The beers he is making are exceptional. How cool is it to know a real live Pacific Northwest brewmaster.

Drew and Rob.

Rob gave us a private brewery tour, which made us feel special and drink more of his beers.

Because this brewery doesn’t have food either, we snagged big plates of Mexican food at the restaurant across from the RV park. The chili rellano was one of the best I had ever had, and the decor was kind of fun too.

"I don't normally surf in the Pacific Northwest, but when I do, I surf with these two awesome mountain bikers."

 Then we retired to our home for the night, the Mount Vernon RV park.

San Juans vacay Day 4: rinse and repeat

After dinner, back at the campground, we enjoyed a chlorinated hot tub in place of a pay shower. That’ll show them to make the Jordans pay for a shower.
In the morning, we bid farewell to West Beach Resort and made our way to town.

Pulling out of the soggy campground. The straight is beyond the trees.

East Sound is the inlet of water that divides Orcas Island into two “wings”.  The wind howls up through the inlet somethin’ fierce.

Back we went to Moran State Park to ride some of the other trails and repeat some of yesterday’s fun ones.

This time we rode the mostly level path on the east side of Mountain Lake. 

At various times, a drop or two of dew would fall from the trees, but we talked to a 40-year island resident and 25-year Moran State Park Ranger and he said he has never seen it so dry!!!!!!  I had a good laugh at that.  If this is dry, I am terrified of wet.

Mountain Lake

I was really, really bundled up today, and stayed warmer than yesterday despite the cooler temps and lack of sunshine.  We also avoided the big descent that we did yesterday and instead tried part of the 6 miles open to equestrians.  They were rutted, as we had been told, but that gave us a chance to hike a bike and warm up.

Horse damage.

How many layers does it take to keep Lucy warm? 5.

We said goodbye to Moran State Park just in time to blast through town and buy some provisions for the night.

No time to shop at the cute shops in Eastsound, so I just took a picture for you as we drove by. Biking's more fun than shopping any day. 

Provisions included frozen burritos for dinner and a delicious choice of microbrews from a mind boggling selection of beer at the little supermarket that serves this island population of about 5000 people.

Then to kill time as we waited for the ferry to Anacortes so we could head down to Whidbey Island

And since it was dark on the ferry, we got to do a jigsaw puzzle. 

We called ahead to the RV park we wanted to stay at at 5 pm, but unfortunately, they closed the office at 3 and had no way to get the WiFi code or bathroom key after that, so instead, we plugged in for some power to nuke our burritos, filled up with fresh water and dumped our waste tank before getting the heck out of there before the airstrikes started. Watch the videos to see what I mean.

So we ended up at a rather barren RV park on the harbor in Oak Harbor.  Because laundry facilities were not included, and it was windy as all get out, we hunkered down in the smelly van to write a post for you.



Tomorrow we will meet with the property managers for Drew’s house here. Until next then...

San Juans vacay Day 0: traverse

 

On October 9 we learned that Drew’s horrendous November schedule came with 9 days off starting Nov 6.  A nice window to get to Whidbey Island to oversee the the new roof going in on Drew’s house that is left over from his military days. 

I picked him up at the airport at 1 am N0v 6, we went home and slept for 6 hours, and then we blasted off in the amazing Dewey campermobile for a whole ‘nother adventure.

 

Rural roadside view between Utah and Idaho.

 

We were hoping to make it into Oregon, but we got as far as Caldwell, Idaho before we had to stop for the night at the Country Corners RV park.  A very lovely, convenient joint.

Van life

 

“Morning” at the RV park. Despite the nearby freeway and sun up at 7 a.m., we rolled down from the bed at 8:40.  The black out velour roller shades work like a charm.  So does the electric heater.

 
After a stop at The Rustic Cup coffee joint, home of delicious vegetarian sandwiches and espresso drinks (and “pop” instead of soda),

it was time to make some miles to Washington.

Tour of S Utah Days 11&12: Not really Utah

 

Detour back to Colorado

Our plan for Sunday had been to ride early in Moab and motor on over to see friends in Grand Junction, Colorado, but the trail we wanted to do was a bit of a detour off of Hwy 191 so instead we chose to go ride near Grand Junction and Fruita instead. New things!

We’ve ridden the some of the Kokopeli area trails before

Drew on Mary’s Loop overlooking the Colorado River. We rode this trail a few years ago.

Me on Moore Fun trail. New to both of us and over both our heads. Still nice to try something new.

The view from Moore Fun is, in my opinion, more beautiful than the riding.

Colorado River from Moore Fun

I was challenged but careful on all the difficult technical sections of Moore Fun, and it was a stupid bush on an easy section that finally got me in the end.

Made it to day 11 with nary a scratch, and then this from a bush.

But the owie didn’t hurt once we got to friends Jon and Kathy’s house in Grand Junction. 

We had out first nice private showers in a week (glorious) in time to accompany them to a family Mothers day barbeque.  It was nice to enjoy good home-cooked food with good down-to-earth people.

Home

In the morning we departed as Jon and Kathy left for work and made Salt Lake by 2 PM to the delight of our fur children.  I was one day late for Mothers Day but they gave me all the love they had been storing up for me all week.

 

“Meow. Happy Belated Mothers Day, Mom. Meow.”

The End

We had a fun and adventure filled 12 days of exploring the goodies southern Utah hides in her rugged beauty.  I’ve lived in Utah for 20 years and I will say that this was the best Utah vacation I’ve taken yet.  The days and nights out among the rocks and canyons with my best friend for company, the freedom to detour to unknown places, the shelter and coziness of our van, and the time to enjoy it all.  Here’s to another 20 years of exploring this diverse, wonderful state with the best travel companion I could image.