June 1 - Tuesday
We budgeted the month of May for California.  Now May is over and we will travel to Oregon.  This will be a longer travel day than we like to do.  Generally, we try to keep the driving time under 4 hours.  We want to spend tomorrow at Crater Lake before heading west to the coast.  June and part of July will be spent in the Pacific Northwest.  We got a fairly early start and stopped for some "roadfood" in Redding at Buz's Crab House. (We rate it a two 'yums' up.)  After lunch, we got some stunning views of 14,162 foot high, snow covered Mt. Shasta as we continued north on I-5 and then drove through Siskiyou pass, the highest point on I-5. We then pulled into Joseph H. Stewart State Park about half way between Medford and Crater Lake. It is a gorgeous park located on the banks of Lost Creek Reservoir.  The sites are huge and it is one of the nicest campgrounds we've enjoyed anywhere. 

June 2 - Wednesday (Sandra's Birthday)
After the family treated Sandra to breakfast in bed complete with roses, we drove to Crater Lake. The route wound though deep evergreen forests before we reached the west gate. Due to the massive amounts of snow they receive each year (over 40 feet!!!) the road is only open to the Rim Lodge and only the west side to Discovery Point. We picked up the Junior Ranger books for the girls and watched an introductory film about the park. We then had lunch at the Lodge which had been build around 1915 and completely rebuilt in the 1980's. After lunch, we took a hike past Discovery point on the roads that had been plowed but still closed to vehicles. Sandra and Becca took the longest hike and got a view of the Watchman's tower. It felt surreal having a snowball fight among towering snowdrifts while running around in sunny, 70 degree weather. We returned to the visitor's center for the girls to turn in their books and watched a very short video on what it takes to clear the roads each year. Clearing a mere quarter mile of road means removing well over 1 million cubic feet of snow!

On the way back to our campground we stopped by some scenic sites, including the Rogue River Gorge (where the friendly chipmunks nearly jumped into the car), and Mill's and Barr's Creek falls. We also grabbed a slice of Boysenberry pie at Beckie's Cafe and learned that Memorial Day weekend had been busy up here as well. They had sold out of over 50 pies each day. 
After dinner, Bill and Alex spotted a fox while on their bike ride. 

June 3 - Thursday
If we didn't have campground reservations planned out through Washington, we would have gladly stayed longer at this state park. We headed  out today to the South Jetty campground, located just south of Florence. As we get near the coast, we passed by the Dean Creek Elk viewing area where we spotted many of the resident Roosevelt elk. We also passed by some of the remarkable dunes that make the area between North Bend and Reedsport part of the Oregon Dune National Recreation Area. We pulled into a pretty wooded site that feels like it's in the heart of the forest. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing at the campground. Sandra managed to get a gorgeous view of the sunset over the Pacific after returning from a brief reconnaissance of nearby Florence.

June 4 - Friday
Bill took Alex on a morning bike ride to the nearby dunes. Since it is part of a National Forest, our Golden Access Pass gets us in without paying additional fees. There was a lot of wildlife to see.  They saw a deer, a bald eagle sitting on a wooden railing on the top of the dune, some crabs being caught, some seals playing in the river, and a hawk.  There is a small pier where people go to catch crabs.  They lower a wire net on a rope to the bottom.  In the net they put some chicken. Then after 15 minutes you pull up the net.  People were catching lots of crabs but no keepers.  All females and males under 5.75 inches have to be thrown back.

Later in the morning, Sandra and the girls drove down in the car.  We parked, climbed over the dune to the cold Pacific Ocean, looked for shells and rocks, and played on the beach. The girls had fun creating a museum that contained interesting shells, crabs, bird tracks, stones, etc. 

After relaxing for most of the afternoon back at the campground, we drove over to the north jetty but failed to spot any seals or sea lions as we had hoped. We did a few errands and then enjoyed a movie night.

June 5 - Saturday
We spent a rainy morning in the RV.  After lunch, we headed north of Florence to explore the area.  In Oregon, there are many sites for rockhounding on the beaches near where streams enter the Pacific.  Its sort of a 2 for 1 deal.  You get a walk on the beach and get to pick up pretty rocks.

At the first place we stopped there was a film crew taking footage of the "not yet manufactured" 2005 Nissan Pathfinder on the beach for an upcoming advertisement.  They had a prototype of the new model they carried around in a trailer and had been filming at scenic sites throughout the west for a few weeks.  We found some nice pieces of agate at this location.

We had intended to check out the local sea lion caves but got sidetracked by stopping at Heceta Head Lighthouse.  We climbed to the top of the lighthouse as a volunteer told us the history of the lighthouse and the surrounding area.  The volunteer also told us of a place a bit north of here where seals congregate near the beach.  We saw many harbor seals at the Strawberry Hill.  It was too late to tour the sea lion caves by the time we got back that far south but we stopped at a highway pullout near the caves and saw several sea lions on the rocks and in the water below.

June 6 - Sunday
We intended to go to the Methodist Church in Florence this morning.  We checked the church listings at the campground.  We called the phone number to get the service times from the answering machine.  We put the address into Mapquest.com and got directions to get there.  We even left the RV in time to be early enough to find parking and the right building for the service.  Although their answering machine and the sign on the lawn say the service is at 11:00, the service began at 10:00 (summer schedule, who knew).  Oh well, we tried.

We stopped at a store to get a photo album and some shipping boxes.  Hopefully, if we ship some stuff home, the RV will be less cluttered.  We've been picking up books for the girls to read at used bookstores along the way and they are starting to add up.  We should just trade them in and get new ones as we go along but the girls insist that they are all "keepers".

After lunch we went to the sea lion caves and did some more rock hunting at a beach near there.  There were only a few Stellar Sea Lions in the cave but there were several dozen on the rocks and beach nearby.

June 7 - Monday
We moved just a bit up the coast today to Whalers Rest Campground just south of Newport.  The campground is very nice and within walking distance to the beach.  We got a campsite next to the playground. After getting settled in at the campground, we ran some errands which included getting our backlog of 8 rolls of films developed.  It will take some work to sort through them all and put some of them on the website.

After dinner, we walked down to the beach to watch the sunset.  At this latitude and approaching the longest day of the year in a couple of weeks, sunset isn't until 9:00.  

June 7 - Monday
We moved just a bit up the coast today to Whalers Rest Campground just south of Newport.  The campground is very nice and within walking distance to the beach.  We got a campsite next to the playground. After getting settled in at the campground, we ran some errands which included getting our backlog of 8 rolls of films developed.  It will take some work to sort through them all and put some of them on the website.

After dinner, we walked down to the beach to watch the sunset.  At this latitude and approaching the longest day of the year in a couple of weeks, sunset isn't until 9:00.  

June 8 - Tuesday
We went rock hunting/beach walking at the nearby beach in the morning.  After lunch, Bill took the girls to the pool while Alex napped in the RV. No west coast beach sunset tonight since the sky is overcast.  After dinner, Bill and Laura went to the late showing of Shrek 2 at the local cinema.

June 9 - Wednesday
We went rock hunting/beach walking at Agate Beach just north of Newport.  After lunch we went to the Oregon State University Hatfield Marine Science Center.  The girls loved the touch tank with sea urchins, small rays, and several flounder.  All the children loved watching the octopus in one of the main tanks.

We went to dinner at Dory's Cove in Lincoln City, about 25 miles north of Newport.  Their clam chowder was delicious and the steamed clams came in a tasty broth with mushrooms and diced red peppers.

We worked on putting all the recently developed pictures onto the website.  It took over 2 hours to upload the new pictures on the campground's not so high speed internet connection.

June 10 - Thursday
Yippee! The digital camera has arrived at our house in FL and is now on its way to us in Oregon.

Bill took the kids to the beach in the morning to play in the sand while Sandra organized the RV for our trip tomorrow.  Later, in between rain showers the kids went across the street to the playground and watched cable TV when it rained.  This part of Oregon has gotten 34 inches of rain so far this year. 

The late afternoon was filled with the excitement of cleaning the beach sand out of the car and reorganizing the basement storage area of the RV.

June 11 - Friday
We moved up the Oregon coast to Pacific City today.  This campground is also within walking distance of the beach.  We didn't drive that far but by the time you pack up, disconnect everything (water hookups, sewer  hookups, electrical hookups), hitch up the tow dolly, load the car, check out, drive to a new campground, check in,  unload the car, park the RV, unhitch the tow dolly, and reconnect everything it takes a pretty big bite out of the day.  

We explored the campground and the beach in the late afternoon.  After dinner, we played mini-golf.  Alex didn't nap today we so he went to sleep relatively early. We try to take advantage of these rare occasions to play games with the girls, something that is hard to do if a 2 year old is awake and vying for everyone's attention. 

June 12 - Saturday
We discovered yesterday that the Rose Festival was today in Portland.  We were intending to make a trip to Portland at some point anyway.  We got a late start but still took in most of the parade by parking near the end of the 4 mile parade route.  The floats, horses, and marching bands were wonderful.  There was a band from Portland's sister city in Taiwan made up of drums, cymbals, and flutes.  There was an alligator float over 90 feet long.

As we left the parade and crossed the bridge over the Willamette River we could see the dragon boat races in the river below.

After lunch we drove up the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge, stopping at scenic overlooks and waterfalls.  On the way home we stopped in Tillamook which was right on the way to check the hours for the two cheese factories there.

June 13 - Sunday
Last week the church had the wrong service time on their answering machine.  This week, the church here doesn't even give the service times on their machine. 

We went back to Tillamook to visit two cheesemakers, Blue Heron and Tillamook.  Tillamook is famous for its cheddar although they produce other dairy products as well. The factory has a self-guided tour and you can watch the cheese makers in action at this highly automated plant. They also serve ice cream which we made sure to sample.  Blue Heron focuses more on French style cheeses such as Brie.  They also had a petting farm and our kids enjoyed feeding their kids. 

Since we were in Tillamook and the rockhounding book for Oregon listed some beach sites nearby and it was low tide we headed for the area listed in the book.  At other places on the Oregon coast we found the sites listed in the book to be depleted and had better luck elsewhere.  Today, we found many attractive agates and pieces of jasper as well as some pieces we suspect are "Oregon Jade" right where the book said they would be.

On the drive back, we stopped at the Cape Meares lighthouse as well as enjoyed the scenery along the coast. When we entered the campground, we conducted a bunny count since this campground has loose domestic bunnies all over it. We saw 13 between the gate and our site. The kids enjoy feeding them carrots and seeing them in our campsite. 

June 14 - Monday
Double yippee! We have our digital camera back. It was all fixed under warranty and made the mail circuit from NY to FL and onto OR. The lag time for getting pictures onto the web site should now decrease.  The picture quality is better than our film camera as well.  Its very nice to click away without worrying about running out of film and be able to immediately review the pictures and delete bad ones.

We went crabbing today. We tried to find a spot nearby but the one the campground recommended didn't work out so we wound up going to a public pier in Garibaldi, north of Tillamook. The folks who were crabbing at the pier back at South Jetty, OR used chicken carcasses and one of them told Bill they even spray the bait with WD-40 as the oil supposedly attracts the crabs. We figured since our chicken included carcasses from our KFC lunch, we had enough oil to attract them!  We caught  about 20 crabs but no keepers. In Oregon, a crab has to be 5 3/4 inches wide and male to get eaten.  Women and children crabs must be thrown back.  

In between the hauling in of the crab pots, the kids liked to go down to the rocks along the shoreline. One time when they were down there, a woman stopped by with a camera and asked if she could take their picture. The local museum was having people take pictures for a 'day in the life of Tillamook County'.

The sun finally came out full strength after many, many overcast days (welcome to the Oregon coast!) so we went back to a stretch of beach just north of Cape Meares to enjoy the sun and surf as well as gather a few more rocks. 

June 15 - Tuesday
Today we moved up the Oregon coast to Seaside, our last stop in Oregon.  The campground has a nice heated pool and a kiddie pool so the girls and Alex are happy.

While Sandra shopped to re-stock the pantry, Bill and the kids checked out the playground and the clubhouse. After dinner we took a brief drive to the center of town to the famous Turnaround to admire the End of the Trail monument dedicated to Lewis and Clark. Later Bill and the girls did puzzles in the clubhouse and then the girls went swimming. Our last three campgrounds have had indoor heated pools and the girls proclaim this one to be the nicest yet.  

June 16 - Wednesday
Today was Lewis and Clark day.  In the morning we went to Fort Clatsop National Memorial, the reproduction of the fort where the Corps of Discovery spent the winter near the Pacific Coast a little bit south of the mouth of the Columbia River.  Due to the popularity of the Memorial and the small size of the actual fort, they have instituted a brand new shuttle program that began June 14 which required timed tickets. We didn't realize this until Sandra was reading a local visitor guide as we were driving up but fortunately you can still park in a nearby lot and go standby to take the shuttle over. There is also a fee that our National Parks pass doesn't cover but does give a discount on. 

Fort Clatsop is a reproduction that is located very close to the original site. There was a farmer who recalled where ruins of the fort had been and a diagram of the fort had been left by the explorers etched on hide. These items were used to recreate the fort in honor of the expedition's 150 year anniversary. All the children enjoyed entering the fort and touching the furnishings such as animal pelts covering the beds.  The fort consisted of two rows of buildings facing toward each other. One the 'important persons side', the first room belong to Sacagewea, her husband and baby. In the middle was the room Lewis and Clark shared and on the end was the bunks for the other officers as well as the smoke/storage room. The enlisted men all stayed in a series of bunk rooms that made up the other side. 

The girls enjoyed the activities the fort offered. (One advantage of visiting during peak season is that many more programs are available.) Sandra and the girls enjoyed writing with quills and ink. Based on the smudges on their fingers, it's a wonder that the journals and diaries of the day weren't filled with smudge marks! Becca also enjoyed watching a demonstration on fire starting that showed three methods and then got to make sparks with flint and steel. Then we toured the excellent exhibits in the visitor's center and watched a short film about the journey of the Corps of Discovery. The center has an outstanding gift shop and we purchased a Ken Burn's DVD on Lewis and Clark as well as a game for the girls. Alex wanted the Fort Clatsop Lincoln log set but we didn't succumb to that purchase.  

After lunch in Astoria, we crossed into Washington and went to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center on Cape Disappointment. The views from the center, based on top of an old WWII gun battery, were fantastic on this clear, sunny day. Inside, the center has outstanding exhibits. The walls chronicle the journey and then another part has many hands on activities to try. The girls learned how much food had to be hunted to keep the group fed each day (they ate about 10 lbs of meat per person a day!), the feel of different fabrics (linen, hides, and broadcloth) of clothing they wore, magnified views of the fleas that plagued them (ewww), the new specimens they gathered, and more.  The Interpretive Center also helped answer the question - why did they choose the area of Ft. Clatsop to make camp? The reasons include that it had an abundance of game, close to fresh water yet within reasonable distance to the shore where they could make the salt needed to cure meat for their journey back, and they felt it was sheltered from the storms and may offer better weather than Cape Disappointment. They never found the better weather. They had only 6 clear days during the entire time they were camped there.

We returned home by dinner time. Since we are in a wetter climate and warm weather is here, the bugs are out.  We purchased a screen tent last week and put it up for the first time today since we have a nice grassy area next to the RV.  We cooked and ate dinner outdoors protected from the insects. Afterward, the whole family enjoyed a nice long time at the pool. 

June 17 - Thursday
This morning we got out the bikes and rode to the south side of the campground where there is another playground.  The kids like to check out all the playgrounds and the larger campgrounds often have more than one.

After lunch Bill took Alex for a bike ride through Seaside while Sandra and the girls ran errands and shopped.  There is a large outlet shopping plaza within a mile of the campground.

After dinner we drove to Cannon City and went to the beach to see Haystack Rock and the sunset.    

June 18 - Friday
Laundry, playgrounds, pool, RV cleaning.  Today we mostly hung out at the campground.  Now that school is out the campgrounds are beginning to fill up with people our age on vacation and their kids.  There are also a lot of kids camping with their grandparents.  Laura and Becca spent the day playing with Taylor, a girl from the Sacramento, CA area who's camping across the street from us with her grandparents, who are from Oregon.  Alex has also had more kids to play with.

After dinner, we all rode bikes into Seaside.  We went to the Lewis and Clark Salt Works which is a block  or so from the beach. Here several members of the Corps of Discovery boiled sea water to extract the salt for their return journey.  It was a 24 hour operations that took them about 6 weeks to make 4 bushels of salt. From there we rode along the Prom, a concrete path that runs along the beach.

June 19 - Saturday
Said farewell to Oregon and moved into Washington state. We're staying near Ocean Shores on the Olympic peninsula in one of the smallest, oldest campgrounds in the system. It has very little in terms of amenities (not even laundry) but it works fine for us. It is a short trail to the ocean and there are more kids here than we've seen at many parks yet. The girls saved an unsupervised, very young boy from falling off the top of the playground equipment. They grabbed his arms and held him until Sandra could run underneath and catch him. Over half the kids are here with grandparents. Our next door neighbors are here with FIVE of their grandchildren from three different sets of parents. As the grandma, who raised five herself, explained "this gives them a chance to get to know each other". Smart and fearless woman!

June 20 - Sunday (Father's Day)
Since Bill got to choose how to celebrate his day, he proclaimed it a "zero mile day". We stayed put in the campground where Sandra fed Bill huge, non-heart healthy meals. Dad managed to get in a nap, a short run, two bike rides, and a walk to the beach. We also gave him gifts like hiking boots and a trail book so he can try to ward off the effects of too calorie laden treats. The kids played and played. We watched to remainder of our Lewis and Clark video. It helps portray what an amazing accomplishment their journey was.

June 21 - Monday (The longest day of the year)
Today is the first day of summer.  We took a daytrip to the Hoh Rainforest in Olympia National Park.  We stopped for lunch on the way at the beautiful Quinault Lake Lodge.  The lodge is on the register of historic places and perched on the shores of Quinault Lake. We did a short hike on the nature trail in the Quinault rain forest where we admired a pretty little ravine and saw some the largest clovers we've ever encountered. The girls learned about nurse logs. Laura loved the different mosses.

Then we drove onto the Hoh Rainforest. We all did the Hall of Mosses nature trail. Then Bill and Becca continued on and did the Spruce Trail where Becca learned to tell the difference between a hemlock (with flat smooth needles) and a spruce (with spiky needles). On the way out, we stopped for a snack at the Hard Rain Cafe and chatted with the owner. The cafe is for sale  - anyone interested? The Hoh valley gets over 12 feet of rain a year!!!

June 22 - Tuesday 
Today was a travel day away from the coast to Chehalis, WA. We got one of the only remaining sites with sewer (they only have about 40). Bill took all the kids to the pool  where Alex tried out his new Sponge Bob Square  Pants water wings. Sandra stayed at the RV, got a small dose of peace and quiet before making fudge and dinner. Bill then took the girls to the nearby Walmart Supercenter where he had some of our digital photos burned to CD.

June 23 - Wednesday
Laundry, haircuts, prescriptions, some shopping, and a car wash filled the morning.  Tonight, we drove to Seatac for a birthday party for John,  a cousin we had not met before. We had a lovely dinner at what Alex referred to as "the hugging restaurant" based on the warm greetings among the large number of people there.  We spent some time visiting in John and Nancy's home afterward. On the drive back, even night owl Laura fell asleep.

June 24 - Thursday
It is still overcast but we set off for Mt. Saint Helens anyway.  We made a stop at the first visitor's center. This is actually run by the state of Washington. We learned that there are two more, run by the national park service further up the road so we headed on. We drove through dense fog that broke up a bit by the time we reached the Coldwater Ridge visitor center. There the girls got their Jr. Ranger workbooks and we went on a ranger led hike.  Ranger Pamela did a wonderful job explaining how the lateral blast damage impacted a far larger area than expected and then how life came back more quickly to the blast area than expected. During our stop there, the summit of Mt. St. Helens poked through the clouds once or twice but it was shrouded in fog most of the time. We also watched the short movie and toured the exhibits. 

At the second visitor center, Johnston's Ridge, the view of the peak was clear the entire time we were there.  The girls learned about the different type of seismograph marks and what they meant. We all watched the large screen movie. At then end of the movie, the screen rises and pulls up curtains that reveal a large window looking right onto the summit. Although we knew it was coming, it was still a spectacular conclusion. The girls managed to finish all their Jr. Ranger activities and turn in their books. This national monument is run by the forest service and not only do they get their badge, they also receive a copy of a real seismograph roll, postcards, and a coupon good for a free small glass animal and ice cream at the Coldwater Ridge visitor's center. It's their most generous and tasty reward yet! Naturally we stop back at Coldwater Ridge on the way out and the girls enjoy their treats.

We return to the campground and use our new ice cream maker. The kids find a giant pet slug on Alex's stroller and are greatly amused to have Seattle's mascot in our campground. 

June 25 - Friday
We let the kids play at the campground in the morning but when the clouds appeared to be breaking up after lunch we decided to head for Mt. Rainier to check out the southern part of the National Park.  We went to the southeast corner and went to the visitor center at Ohana??? to get Jr. Ranger workbooks.  It was far too late in the day by that time to complete them and turn them in today but if time and cloud free days permit we hope to return to Mt. Rainier National Park from the north next week to explore that side of the park and they can get their Jr. Ranger badges then. If not, we can also mail them to the park.

We drove west through the park toward the visitors center at Paradise.  On the way, we got some good views of Mt. Rainier.  At Paradise, the clouds closed in and blocked out the summit.  We continued past Paradise to Longmire where we went on a hike on the "trail of the shadows".  There are springs here and the  Longmire family had set up a health resort.  The trail looped around a meadow and went past bubbling springs, an old cabin, and through some old growth forests.

Near the end of the trail we looked up at Mt. Rainier.  The clouds had lifted and the summit was clear.  We drove back up to Paradise and want on a hike on the Nisqually Glacier vista trail. 

June 26 - Saturday
We moved to our most northwestern campground today.  We are just east of Seattle.  From here our travels will take us east until we reach New England.  The campground here is very full since it is the weekend, summer, and the week before the Fourth of July.  We will stay here for 10 days to explore the Seattle area and visit with some of the friends Sandra has here from her many years with McCaw/AT&T Wireless.

We settled into the Cascade campground in the early afternoon.  They had a lot going on since it is summer and Saturday.  The kids enjoyed pony rides and a bounce house followed by ice cream.  We shopped nearby in the late afternoon and after dinner enjoyed s'mores and a live band, the Hired Hands, back at the campground. The group is a husband and wife team whose 9 year old daughter also performs a few numbers with them. They are full time RVers and play at many of the Thousand Trail locations but this is the first time our schedules coincided. 

June 27 - Sunday
Bill and the girls (Alex had the sniffles) traveled back to SeaTac to attend church with Bill's cousin(on his mother's side John and his wife Nancy.  We had told them of our recent troubles trying to find out the service times in various places so they invited us to attend church with them.  After church, John and Nancy came back to the campground with us for a picnic lunch.

After lunch, we got a call from Bill's cousin Don who lives in Alaska but was in the San Juan Islands working on an update to his travel book.  They were flying out later in the evening but we managed to hook up in the University District in Seattle for a quick dinner.  It was great to meet his wife Karen and his children for the first time.  Don's daughter Ziza is a year younger than Becca and his son Rio is a week younger than Alex.

June 28 - Monday (Becca's Birthday)
Bill cooked Becca's cholesterol filled breakfast request - eggs with ham and cheese plus sausage and bacon, plus a bagel with cream cheese! Then she opened a few presents before heading off to activities at the campground. She made a necklace at crafts, tried to do a water balloon toss (didn't even make it past the first round after Laura's toss fell short and broke all over Becca's legs), and played candy bar bingo. Then we headed off to lunch at a McDonald's with a play place. Afterward, we all saw Shrek 2. We then picked up Becca's new bike. Finally we went back to the RV for mac and cheese and a chocolate cake with coconut filling to wrap up the birthday festivities. Becca proclaimed that she loved all her presents and had a great day. 

June 29 - Tuesday
This afternoon we ventured into Seattle again to go to the Pacific Science Center.  After several hours exploring the science museum we went over to Pike Place Market, a Seattle landmark.  On the way home, we detoured to Snoqualmie Falls which is only 5 miles from our campground. 

June 30 - Wednesday
The end of another month.  This morning was time for the car to be serviced again.  Since we are in one spot for a while and near a major city we are trying to deal with things here like vehicle service and doctors appointments.  At the science museum yesterday they had an eye exam chart.  Becca could only read the top row.  She has been complaining that her distance vision is blurry.  She still reads several books per week with no problem so her near vision appears to be unaffected.  We will try to get her to an eye doctor while we are here.

After lunch we took a dip in the pool.