Oh, the fun we had on this stop of the trip, including two forays into the mountains of North Cascades National Park, #13 on our list of national parks explored on this adventure — and one of the least visited of all the national parks. This isolated park in northern
Month: May 2018
Stop 29: Bellingham, Baker, and Deception Pass
We took a few days in Bellingham to visit Ran’s son and daughter-in-law and new baby, as well as do our usual romping around the surrounding natural attractions, including Deception Pass and Mount Baker. We started the adventure with a drive up to Mount Baker along Highway 542 (Mt. Baker
Stop 28: Olympic Peninsula
Continuing westward, we traveled to the Olympic Peninsula to seek out and explore the amazing variety of Olympic National Park, #12 on our list of national parks we have visited on this adventure. Of all the national parks, this one may offer visitors the most variety, including high, glacier-capped mountains, old
Stop 27: Mount Rainier and Mount Saint Helens
This stop was all about seeing two active and dramatic volcanic mountains in southern Washington. We traveled from Ellensburg (and the not so pleasant Yakima River RV Park) to Randle (sadly misspelled), traveling over the quite beautiful White Pass Scenic Byway (Highway 12), which offered us an early peak at
Stop 26: Columbia Gorge-ous!
We hit the Columbia River Gorge at the perfect time. The weather was wonderful, the trees and plants all green, and wildflowers blooming everywhere you looked! Just wow. (Side note: It is also very windy in the Gorge!) We saw arrowleaf balsamroots, lupines, lilacs, bachelor buttons, larkspur, camas, penstemons, wooly
Stop 25: Beautiful Bend, Delightful Deschutes
We had a sort of homecoming when we came back east to camp in Bend; a few weeks back we had camped about an hour south of Bend in Crescent. And while Bend traffic was not so wonderful, the sites and trails we biked and hiked most certainly were. This