A Little Ditty about Fran and Diane...Two American Gals Traveling in the West Land

At the Lake Crescent Lodge in Olympic National Park

Diane's red cross at Many Glacier Lodge

Hiking in the snow at Glacier National Park

Red bus jammer tour to Waterton International Peace Park

Mom, Diane, and bears - Oh My!

Fran and Diane's perfect waterfall - shaped like a bottle of wine!

At the end of my first week at Glacier National Park my mom and her best friend, Diane, flew out for a visit.  They picked me up in Browning before we headed up to an area of the park called Many Glacier (named because there are indeed many glaciers in the area).  We checked into the Many Glacier Lodge – a timber structure built by the Great Northern Railroad back in the early 1900s. The hotel is rustic and beautiful – no air, no elevator, no phones, no TV, but an amazing view of Swiftcurrent Lake and the majestic peaks that surround it.  It took mom and Diane a bit to get used to the no air and no elevator.  The four flights of stairs provided nightly entertainment for me as I listened to the 2 ladies prepare for the climb.  Diane was relieved to know that our room was directly across from the clinic – labeled with a red cross.  J  After further exploration, she learned that every door was adorned with a red cross because the lodge is modeled after a Swiss ski chalet and the red cross was used for the room numbers.  That gave us a good laugh.  In fact, my entire week and a half with mom and Diane was filled with good laughs.  They were troopers while visiting Glacier National Park.  Our few days at Many Glacier were filled with hiking, boating, and learning about the park and the Native American tribes that surround the park – Blackfeet, Kootenai, and Salish.  Mom and Diane even tried hiking on snow covered trails.  They had a unique strategy for descending the snow covered hill – traversing the hill as if they were on skis.  Whatever works I guess!  We enjoyed our red bus jammer tour with our awesome guide, Ray, to the Canadian portion of the park – Waterton International Peace Park.  We learned a lot, took in some amazing views, and even had high tea at the Prince of Wales Lodge – fancy, I know!  We left after 3 days and headed west toward Seattle via Going-to-the-Sun road.  We stopped at a park visitor center in St. Mary to learn more about the local Native American tribes.  The exhibits are so interesting complete with photographs and video of the tribe members speaking in their native languages.  It’s amazing to learn about how these incredible people lived for so long off of just the land.  We made another stop on the west side of the park for lunch.  Following lunch, Diane and I waited in line for some ice cream while mom went to a store to grab a couple of waters for the road.  Mom walked out of the store with a bag and I watched her walk over to a table, set her bag down next to a stranger, and then begin talking to this young lady.  It took me a minute to realize that mom thought the stranger was me!  The poor girl looked so confused so finally I called from the line, “Mom, you know that’s not me, right?”  Haha…oh mom!  There is never a dull moment with these two wonderful ladies.  I was the navigator while mom drove toward Seattle.  We were passing a river and mom and Diane wanted to know the name of the river.  I found it on the map – Nine Mile River.  Only problem was that my brain was still stuck learning about the Native American language so I pronounced it “nina meelay”.  Shortly thereafter I realized mom and Diane were rubbing off on me!  We enjoyed another good laugh.  A one-night stop in Spokane and several rounds of “I Spy” later we arrived in Seattle.

After a couple of incorrect turns we found our cozy condo at Harbor Steps.  This was a perfect spot on the 15^th floor of a building in the middle of all the hustle bustle of downtown Seattle.  We unpacked and quickly made our way to Pike Place Market.  I know this is a touristy area of Seattle…but it is SO cool!  Surrounding the market are streets filled with street performers, ethnic food markets, Piroshky, Piroshky (an amazing bakery we frequented), and the original Starbucks of course!  The market itself has fresh fruits, veggies, pastas, fish, and flowers as far as you can see in addition to local vendors selling their crafts and artwork of choice.  For those of you who don’t know mom and Diane, they met 30+ years ago working for SunTrust Bank (then First Virginia Bank, I think).  They are two of the funniest, craziest, kindest ladies you’ll ever meet and they are up for ANYTHING and EVERYTHING.  We left no stone unturned in the Seattle area.  We took a day trip to Mt. Rainier.  When we left in the morning the fog was so thick that it was difficult to see a few feet in front of the car.  However, as we approached the park the fog lifted and we were rewarded with an amazing view of the monstrous peak.  We enjoyed our day there.  We spent 2 days in Olympic National Park where mom got her first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean.  She and Diane loved the time we spent at the tidal pools and in the Hoh Rain Forest (or the enchanted forest as they called it).  We drove up to Hurricane Ridge because I wanted to show mom and Diane the breathtaking view of the Olympic Mountain Range.  The drive up was so cloudy and foggy that I considered turning around.  I’m so glad we didn’t because as we turned the corner we had the most gorgeous, clear view of the mountains.  We also had perfect timing because 15 minutes later the mountains were gone – hidden behind a fog blanket.  We stayed a night at the Lake Crescent Lodge and enjoyed the beautiful view, yummy food, and friendly people.  Back in Seattle we went to Pioneer Square and toured the Seattle Underground…this was completely fascinating and we learned a lot about the history of Seattle.  We ventured to Chinatown to enjoy some performances at Dragon Fest and we had a delicious Mediterranean meal at Café Paloma.  We visited the Seattle Aquarium and enjoyed learning about the Pacific Coast sea life.  These sea creatures are so different from our east coast sea creatures.  We browsed through the Seattle Art Museum for a few hours.  As the world’s best Nordstrom shoppers, mom and Diane just had to see the original Nordstrom’s.  They agreed that it was just like every other Nordstrom and for the first time they both left without purchasing anything (only because they had no extra room in their suitcases).  We took the monorail to Seattle Center – the sight of the 1962 World’s Fair and ascended the Space Needle because you just have to do some touristy things when you’re a tourist.  From the top we had a great view of the different sections of the city including the Lake Union floating homes (as seen in Sleepless in Seattle).  For me it felt strange to be in a large city after being in National Parks all summer.  I really enjoyed Seattle though.  Every day was filled with new sights, yummy food, shopping, and the unbeatable company of mom and Diane.  It was an absolute blast.  On our way back east we stayed a night at the Outlook Inn – a bed and breakfast in Somers, Montana.  The home had a beautiful view of Flathead Lake and best of all we got to love on Sammy and Blondie – two golden retrievers.  Mom and Diane stayed to have dinner with me at Bison Creek Ranch before heading back to Great Falls to catch their flight home.  I was really sad to see them go.  I would love to travel with the two of them again – my belly hurt from laughing at and with them.  I wish I could share more funny stories…but some are just not appropriate enough for the blog!  Mom and Diane have a zest for life that everyone should be lucky enough to have.  So, mom and Diane...tell me...what are the Greatest Hits?   HAHA! J 

At Seattle's Gum Wall - yuck!

Pike Place Peppers

Pike Place Flowers

Pacific Coast jumpy pic!

Can you see the flying fish?

"Glacier National Park is so beautiful that it will mess you up for the rest of your life." - Pat Hagan

Bison Creek Ranch restaurant

Bison Creek Ranch - my cabin is the one on the right.

Keith and his daughter, Molly - part of my ranch family

My fetch buddy - Ponder



Chef Aaron - always cooks with a smile

We arrived in the town of East Glacier Park, Montana at the beginning of July.  Here is my experience during my first week as a temporary Montanan:  We turned down the gravel road beneath the sign for Bison Creek Ranch and caught the first glimpse of my home for the next month.  Bison Creek Ranch has been owned by the Schauf family since the 1950s.  Jake and I walked into the restaurant on the property and were greeted by Aaron – a member of the awesome Schauf family.  Aaron and the other family members (mom – Nancy, dad – Keith, and sister – Molly) live and work on the ranch.  This wonderful family also includes furry friends – Ponder (a spaniel) and Arlo and Gertie (2 pugs).  Jake and I are missing Tillie like crazy so we were so very happy to be greeted by the pups.  After a long day of traveling Jake and I were excited to have the restaurant just steps from our door.  We enjoyed one of the best dinners of our trip.  Aaron just finished his degree in culinary arts and he’s super passionate and excited about cooking.  For a great price dinner includes homemade soup, salad, meat, potato (baked, mashed, fries, or homefries), veggies, bread, and a scoop of homemade ice cream.  During dinner we got to know Molly and several of the ranch guests including Shawna and Stacy from Phoenix, Arizona.  We slept well after a long day of traveling.  The ranch is a bed and breakfast, so I get to start every day with a home-cooked hot breakfast.  I LOVE breakfast!  Jake had to drive to Browning, Montana (about 13 miles from East Glacier Park) to check in at the hospital for his pharmacy rotation.  Browning is in the middle of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.  While he was away, I went to eat breakfast.  Shawna and Stacy would not let me eat on my own and insisted that I sit at their table.  2 hours later we had full bellies and enjoyed a great morning chat.  Shawna is a 3^rd grade teacher and she and Stacy have done a lot of traveling so we had lots to talk about.  When Jake returned from Browning we headed into Glacier National Park to explore.  We had to purchase some bear spray as this park is home to many black and grizzly bears.  No one hikes without it, including the rangers.  When used properly, it ensures that both humans and bears stay safe.  We traveled through the park via the Going-to-the-Sun Road that hugs the mountain side up and over the continental divide offering spectacular views of the snow-capped mountains and glacier-carved valleys.  After exploring for a bit I drove Jake home to Browning.  The drive from East Glacier Park to Browning is beautiful.  The landscape changes from jagged mountains to rolling plains open as far as you can see and dotted with herds of bison, cows, and horses.  I got my first glimpse of Browning as we crested a small hill.  The first 2 buildings in town are the Museum of the Plains Indians and the Casino.  There is a lot of poverty in Browning.  Jake is living in a 6 bedroom trailer within walking distance of the hospital.  He has 4 roommates – Mark (an optometry student from UConn), Melanie (a pharmacy student from Drake University), and Tiffany and Laura (pharmacy students from Sanford College).  They are all very nice and seem excited to be here.  There are 2 permanent fixtures on Jake’s trailer porch – Chewy and Blondie – “res” dogs they call them.  I am already in love with Chewy and Blondie and told Jake we need to make some extra room in the car to bring them both home with us.  There are hundreds of "res" dogs roaming the streets.  Some belong to members of the tribe, but most are strays.  I want to take each and every one of them home. 
I spent the next 2 days on the ranch while Jake started his rotation at the hospital in Browning.  I walked around the town of East Glacier Park to meet some of the local business owners and chat with them.   I promised my mom I would not hike alone, so I spent some time researching the ranger led programs in the park and there are tons of them.  I met up with a ranger in an area of the park called Two Medicine for a nature hike where I learned a lot about the plant life in this area.  I enjoyed eating my packed lunches each day at Two Medicine Lake – a beautifully crystal clear glacial lake backed by Rising Wolf and Sinopah Mountains.  I also spent some time in the evenings at nearby East Glacier Lodge where I met some rangers and learned lots of good stuff at their nightly fireside chats and enjoyed free cowboy music in front of the huge fireplace.  One of the fireside chats was with a 26 year veteran park ranger named Pat Hagan.  He started his chat with the quote in the title of my blog - "Glacier National Park is so beautiful that it will mess you up for the rest of your life."  I am beginning to understand what he was talking about.  Back at the ranch, I enjoyed eating and chatting with Shawna and Stacy and another sweet retired couple from Rapid City, South Dakota – Greg and Sharlyn.  It was like being at adult summer camp and I loved every second of it.  Jake had a good first 2 days of work at the pharmacy filled with orientation, culture training, and a LOT of paperwork.  I went to pick him up on Tuesday night because he had July 4^th off.  He got to spend the night on the ranch and enjoy the home cooked breakfast with me the next morning.  We took a drive up to the northeastern side of the park called Many Glacier – named because it has many glaciers.  There are only 26 glaciers left in the park.  We set out on a hike to Ptarmigan Falls.  On our way we met a nice couple who stopped in Glacier on their move from Chicago to Southern California.  Turns out the girl, Mo, went to the University of Richmond and swam with a girl Jake knows from high school – small world.  She and her husband, Matt, were great company.  The hike to the falls was spectacular.  Most of the hikes on our trip have been tree covered with occasional views.  This hike was on the edge of a mountain with unobstructed views of the Glacier Rockies.  There was almost too much to see at once!  When we arrived at the falls, we stopped to enjoy the sights, sounds, and clean air.  Mo and Matt continued on.  On our hike back we met Jason and Gretchen from the twin cities area in Minnesota.  They were so much fun and made the hike back enjoyable.  We grabbed a quick tailgate lunch and headed out for another hike at the Swiftcurrent trailhead to Red Rock Falls.  There were fewer people on this trail, so Jake and I chatted loudly and I made up a few songs with rhyming lyrics to make sure we didn’t surprise any bears.  Songs make the hikes go by faster for me (I don't know about Jake because he has to listen to my awful voice).  We soon arrived at Red Rock Falls.  Waterfalls never get old to us.  We are in awe every time we stand at the base or top of a waterfall and hear the roaring, feel the mist, and see the power of water.  It is just awesome every time.  After a long day of hiking we spent the evening enjoying dinner and music at the East Glacier Lodge.  I have spent the last 12 July 4^th’s in the Outer Banks watching fireworks over the water.  So, I was a little bummed to hear there were no scheduled firework shows near the park.  However, Jake and I returned to Browning and were greeted by a sky lit up for miles by fireworks.  It was the perfect ending to a beautiful day spent outside enjoying Glacier National Park.  We are looking forward to so many more days of exploring this awesome place.  We hope all is well where you are!

Driving the Going-to-the-Sun Road

Beargrass - misnamed by Lewis and Clark as bears do not eat it

Would you consider working here on Orcas Island?

Our view from the top of Mt. Constitution

A young orca swimming

Quaint town of Eastsound

Eastsound shop

We spent the last few days of June in the San Juan Islands on lovely and peaceful Orcas Island.  To get here we had to take a ferry.  So we spent a night in the port town of Anacortes and were pleasantly surprised by this little spot.  We stayed in a little inn about 20 blocks from downtown that served free fresh baked chocolate chip cookies at 6:00 pm (thanks dad).  We spent the afternoon exploring the waterfront and downtown area.  As we were exploring we ran into Angel (a yellow lab) accompanied by her kind owner.  It’s funny how we always get the dog’s name but sometimes not the owner’s.  We had a nice walk and chat with Angel and her owner.  He told us we were going to fall in love with Orcas Island.  Later in our walk we spotted two guys carrying a little john boat out of a Marine Store.  We were about 15 blocks from the marina and we thought surely they wouldn’t be carrying the boat all the way there.  We watched them walk about 3 blocks before we started to pass them.  As we passed I offered to help them carry the boat.  They looked very relieved and said if we didn’t mind helping they would appreciate it because they had to make it all the way to the marina.  Jake gave me the most evil look…oops!  So about 10 minutes later we were at the marina winded and sweating from carrying a boat down the sidewalk.  The nice gentlemen thanked us profusely and also told us we would fall in love with Orcas.  Jake informed me that although they were nice they were not very smart.  They had a truck parked at the marina and should have driven to the boat store to pick up their purchase.  Oh well – we can’t all be smart at everything! J  We turned in early that evening because we had to be up at 4:30 and at the ferry dock by 5:15 to catch the 6:15 ferry.  We boarded the ferry to Orcas Island and were lucky enough to have the sunrise as our boat ride entertainment.  We arrived on Orcas and made our way to the other side of the island to a little town called Rosario.  We reserved a room with a bathroom, microwave, and fridge through vrbo.com.  When we arrived, we met the owner, Torrey (a retired special education teacher).  After chatting with her for a while she told us she wanted to give us a wedding gift and she gave us the other part of the unit which included a big living room and kitchen for no additional charge.  How sweet is that?!?  So, we were spoiled rotten with our accommodations.  We originally thought Orcas was a volcanic island, but it’s not.  The San Juan Islands all used to be mountain peaks.  At some point the valleys were filled in with water and the mountain peaks became islands.  I’ve become a lot more interested in geology on this trip.  Some pretty crazy things happen to form this beautiful land we live in.  Our condo was just up the hill from the Rosario mansion – the private home of Robert Moran (mayor of Seattle back in the day).  It is now a resort with a really cool museum on the 2nd floor.  We headed to the main town on Orcas Island called Eastsound.  It actually reminded us a lot of Manteo, NC and we both fell in love with it pretty quickly.  The shop owners were super friendly and always up for a chat.  The town had lots of quirky and yummy local restaurants.  We enjoyed strolling through the town and browsing through the shops.  The next day we headed out on a whale watching adventure.  We took a boat out of a town on the other end of the U-shaped island called Deer Harbor.  We spent about an hour traveling through the San Juan Islands and ventured into Canadian waters to meet up with a group of transient orca whales.  We had a naturalist on board who taught us a ton about resident and transient orcas.  The first sighting of these amazing creatures was so very exciting.  There is something so cool about seeing an animal in its natural habitat.  We were able to observe the orcas for about an hour – an adult male, adolescent male, a couple of adult females, and 2 young.  It was just awesome!  On the boat ride back we saw some harbor seals basking in the sun and a beautiful bald eagle.  We cooked in every night on the island because we were so excited to actually have a kitchen instead of our camping stove!  We enjoyed lots of good meals with an awesome view from our deck.  Our condo was within walking distance of Moran State Park.  We enjoyed a great hike around the lake and to Cascade Falls and loved the view from Mt. Constitution.  We returned to the quaint town of Eastsound and decided to visit the only pharmacy on the island – an independent pharmacy called Ray’s.  Jake was immediately drawn to the section dedicated to northwestern wine and ciders.  While looking at the different labels we were approached by an employee who made some wine recommendations and talked with us a little about the pharmacy.  He turned out to be the owner of Ray’s pharmacy and was very interested in talking with Jake about school and his time working at Pitt Street (an independent compounding pharmacy in Mt. Pleasant).  At the end of the conversation he said, “Would you consider working here on Orcas Island?”.   Then he gave Jake his contact information and asked him to stay in touch.  I think that counts as Jake’s first job offer as a pharmacist! J  It was fun to think about living on Orcas.  It sure is a beautiful spot with friendly people.  It’s laid back and has lots of places to explore.  The only downside is it’s a long way from the people we love.  Neither of us were ready to leave this mountain top island.  It felt like a good home for a few days.  We will definitely be back – at least to visit.  We hope all is well where you are!

A pod of transient orcas

We made it to the Olympics!

Kalaloch beach

Tide pool at low tide on Beach #4

Hanging out in the Olympic Mountains

We were fortunate enough to spend 4 days exploring Olympic National Park.  What a unique and amazing place!  95% of this park, located on the Olympic Peninsula, has been designated wilderness area.  For this reason, highway 101 runs along the outskirts of the park with a few spur roads leading into the park, but most of the park is untouched by any kind of development.  This is awesome!  The coast, forest, and mountain ecosystems work together to create a diverse and impressive place.  The Olympic Peninsula is home to Native American tribes – Hoh, Makah, Quileute, Quinault, Skokomish and several others.  It was really interesting to learn about how these tribes built such a rich culture using all that this land has to offer.  We started off on the western-most part of the park on the coast called Kalaloch (pronounced clay-lock).  The campground was right on the ocean and provided us with great access to the beach.  Unfortunately we had no access to showers!  So we went our longest stretch yet without a shower – 3 days.  We had baby wipes and good deodorant! J  This campground was the first place people really seemed shocked by our South Carolina license plate.  It ended up being a wonderful conversation starter.  We met a grandpa hippie named Randy from Ohio who was traveling the country with his wife in their van.  We met a Twilight fan and elementary behavior specialist from Seattle traveling the Peninsula with her mom.  We met a nice gentleman from Charlotte who loves the Outer Banks as much as we do.  In fact, he was headed to spend a week in Buxton with his brother.  Everyone was so interested in chatting with us about our journey.  We woke up early in the morning to meet a park ranger at Beach #4 (apparently they need some help coming up with more creative names for their beaches – they have beach #1, #2, #3, and #4).  The ranger led us on a journey through the intertidal region at low tide.  It was AWESOME!  We learned so much about the coast ecosystem and got to see some really cool creatures.  The ranger was new to the area but already knew so much.  I had fun chatting with him about his journey to becoming a park ranger and all of the fun places he has traveled.  Later that day we headed to the Hoh Rain Forest.  This part of the park is sandwiched between the coast and the Olympic Mountain range and receives 140 inches of rainfall per year.  It was filled with 200-300 foot trees covered in ferns, mosses, lichens, and fungi.  Everything was really green and really fuzzy.  It was fascinating to learn about this temperate rain forest and all of the unique plants and animals that inhabit it.  It started raining while we were in the rain forest (big surprise, right?) and continued raining for the next day.  This didn’t stop us though.  We had a good day exploring and headed to the Kalaloch Lodge to grab a drink.  I had a nice warm latte while Jake warmed up with some microbrews.  We enjoyed chatting with the bartender who was born and raised in Forks.  She said the Twilight series upped their number of summer visitors from 40 per month to 30,000 per month.  She also told us that Stephenie Meyer (the author) Googled “the wettest, most depressing town in America” and Forks is what she found.  You have to drive through Forks on highway 101 to get to the other side of Olympic National Park.  I stopped to take a picture at the “Welcome to Forks” sign for my co-worker Wendy and that was about it for Forks.  The next day the rain stopped and the clouds cleared just in time for us to head up to Hurricane Ridge – named for the 120 mph winds they often get.  On our way up we stopped at a pull-off and could see the Port Angeles waterfront, the Strait of Juan De Fuca, the San Juan Islands, and Victoria, B.C.  It was beautiful!  After a steep drive up a very curvy road we were rewarded with a 180 degree view of the Olympic Mountain range.  It was unbelievable!  The park rangers said it was the first time the mountains had been visible in a few days because of the weather.  We met a ranger to learn about the endemic species of the park – animals that only exist in Olympic National Park – so cool!  Then we met another ranger who took us on a short walk on Hurricane Ridge and shared her wealth of knowledge about the ridge, its trees, and its wildlife.  I really enjoy park rangers and I love learning everything I can from them.  Unlike Jake, Friday, and those close to me who think I ask way too many questions, the park rangers LOVE my questions and they always have an exciting answer for me.  (I love Jake and Friday dearly and admit that I do ask a LOT of questions.)  After a couple hours on Hurricane Ridge we headed down to Lake Crescent to meet another ranger for a walk to Marymere Falls.  The veteran ranger at Lake Crescent couldn’t believe how enthusiastic we were (I was) about the park and all of the cool things it has to offer.  He said he was going to take us on the road to promote the park.  The walk to the falls was a lot of fun.  It was pouring rain so we got to wear our rain gear.  Jake was really excited about this.  Our rain gear is so great that I think we could have actually jumped in Lake Crescent and still stayed dry.  We were joined by a very sweet retired couple from Wisconsin.  The ranger entertained us well on the hike and the waterfall was beautiful.  She even taught us the waterfall trick – you stare at one spot in the falls for 30 seconds and then move your eyes to the rock wall.  The wall and all of the ferns growing out of it look as if they are crawling.  It is so cool!  Give it a try next time you hike to a waterfall – it is sure to provide at least a good 5 minutes of entertainment.  On the walk back we got to see a HUGE banana slug!  This was way more exciting than it sounds when I type it.  Maybe you had to be there!  Olympic National Park was one of the most unique places we’ve ever had the opportunity to explore.  I get to come back with mom and Diane for a couple days in July and I’m really looking forward to it.  Now we’re off to Orcas Island (in the San Juan Islands) for a few days.  We hope all is well where you are!

Rainy hike to Marymere Falls

A BANANA SLUG!!!!

In Search of the ROGUE One-eyed Willy

Yaquina Harbor in Newport



JOY!

Exploring the tide pools at Cobblestone Beach

We left Crater Lake on Saturday and spent the next 5 days traveling the Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy. 101) up the coast of Oregon.  I had high expectations for this leg of our journey and I’m happy to say that the Oregon Coast lived up to my expectations.  The Pacific Coast Highway is really amazing – it runs between the ocean and the string of coastal mountains.  Hugging the coast, it offers awesome views of the Oregon Coast and the Pacific Ocean.  The coast is dotted with volcanic formations called sea stacks that make great homes for lots of sea animals.  We stopped at Cape Perpetua for lunch overlooking the coast.  We continued on to our campground – Beachside State Park.  From our campsite we had just a short walk to the beach.  The sand here is more like Charleston’s – not black like the northern California Coast.  We were both so excited to have the sand between our toes!  We went for a nice walk, relaxed, listened to the waves, and threw the football for a bit.  Falling asleep to the sound of the Pacific Coast waves was really calming.  The next morning we made our way to Newport.  I planned most of the trip because I enjoy doing things like that.  I asked Jake for his input and he is so go-with-the-flow that he said he was fine with anywhere and anything.  I came home one day after school in early May and Jake was beaming.  He said he did find a place he wanted to visit and he found a place for us to stay.  Newport, Oregon was his choice – and our housing – an apartment right above the Rogue Public House.  Rogue is one of Jake’s favorite micro-breweries and he was ecstatic about the possibility of staying there.  “We even get to check-in with the bartender!  And we get Rogue beer in our fridge!”  So we found ourselves in Newport 5 hours before check-in time.  It was so easy to find things to do to fill the day.  Newport is a fishing village.  We grabbed a bite to eat at a little coffee shop overlooking Newport’s fleet of fishing boats.  We walked along the bay and were drawn down a pier by the barking of sea lions.  We spent about 30 minutes watching them interact with each other – funny creatures.  Then we headed over to the ocean side of Newport to take a look at the beach.  We took a long walk on Nye Beach and went to explore Newport’s 2 lighthouses – Yaquina Bay and Yaquina Head.  Both offered lots of information, excellent views, and fun climbs to the top.  Yaquina Head also offered access to amazing tide pools.  This is where we met Walt and Judy - a nice couple from Delaware volunteering at this park.  They come to Newport every other summer and spend their spring volunteering in Pisgah National Forest back in North Carolina.  They had their scopes set up for us to see loads of seals and coastal birds.  We hope to see them in April when Jake will complete a pharmacy rotation on the Cherokee Indian Reservation not too far from Pisgah.  We walked down to the tide pools on Cobblestone Beach – named for the black lava stones that adorn the beach – no sand.  We explored the tide pools with bright green anemones, deep purple urchins, and 12 inch sea stars.  My mom would have LOVED it here – after all she is the best “touch tank interpreter” in all of North Carolina!  This was like a real life touch tank…so much fun!  After a full day of exploring it was time for the highlight of Jake’s trip – he got to walk into the Rogue Public House and check into our home for the next 2 days.  The employees at Rogue are very friendly and helpful and our apartment was clean, spacious, and had a FREE washer and dryer!!!!  We REALLY needed to do laundry – we had about 5 loads.  We spent the next 2 days exploring the port town of Newport, driving to nearby Lincoln City to get our Subaru checked out and ready for the next 4,000 miles of our trip, and getting to know everything Rogue.  We really enjoyed the brewery tour at Rogue and learning about their community-based company.  When they made their home in Newport, the land-lady promised never to raise their rent if they followed 3 important rules:  1.They had to keep a naked picture of her in every Rogue brewery (there is a picture of her at age 65 in a bathtub in France).  2. They had to provide housing above their public houses (the apartment Jake found).  3. They had to “feed the fishermen”.  Like I said, Newport is a fishing village – some years are really good and some are really terrible.  Rogue took this to mean that they needed to support the community and they take this very seriously.  Jake enjoyed trying Rogue’s beer and I enjoyed their homemade root beer.  We really fell in love with Newport and hope to return one day.   We told one of the local shop owners that we were heading to Astoria next and she told us that Astoria was a “magical” place and we would love it there.

Morning coffee on the Astoria waterfront

Seastacks at Cannon Beach (from Goonies)

Sunset over the Pacific Ocean

So off we went further north on the Pacific Coast Highway until we reached the mouth of the Columbia River.  This is where the quaint town of Astoria sits.  Astoria has a beautiful river walk that follows the bank of the Columbia.  A lot of the shops and restaurants are out on piers overlooking the water.  It is such a lovely spot.  We walked the riverfront and met the “official greeter of Astoria” who told us about Astoria, asked if we were enjoying it, took a picture of my “lovely face” (in his words), and gave me a dollar to remember him and spread the word about the magical town of Astoria.  Haha…you never know who you’re going to meet.  We drove to the Astoria Column – the highest point in Astoria that provides a cool view of the city and the 4.5 mile bridge across the Columbia River.  Then we headed up 38^th street to the Goonies house and did the Truffle Shuffle just like Chunk.  We also drove to Cannon Beach to check out one of the best beaches in the area that also happens to be home to the sea stacks featured in the Goonies – the ones that match up with the Fratelli brother’s restaurant to lead the kids to One-eyed Willy’s ship!  We had a blast exploring Astoria and even kept our eyes peeled for pharmacies because we both agreed we could live in this magical little town.  Our campground was across the Columbia River in Washington State at a park called Cape Disappointment.  We settled in and went to watch our first ever sunset over the ocean – can’t see that on the east coast!  It was a beautiful end to our trip up the Oregon Coast!  We’re off to Olympic National Park to camp on the beach for a couple of nights.  We hope all is well where you are!

Crater Lake Trippin' and Wine Sippin'

Crater Lake - looks like we're photo-shopped...but we're really there!

So much snow!

We left the Redwood Forest on Thursday and headed north to Oregon.  We arrived at Joseph Stewart State Park and were very pleased with our campsite.  It was a huge tree-covered spot right on the bank of Lost Creek Lake.  Oregon has such an extensive offering of state parks and recreation areas – it’s impressive.  You really can’t even drive 15 miles without running into another state park.  We set up camp and headed to a cute little town called Shady Cove on the bank of the Rogue River.  For the first time this whole trip it actually felt like summer – 75 degrees and sunny – so we treated ourselves to some Umpqua River Valley Ice Cream at Phil’s Frosty and enjoyed the weather.  We returned to camp and hiked to the other side of Lost Creek Lake to the marina.  The nice ranger warned us that the lake shore is adorned with a lovely plant – poison oak.  So we were very careful and watched where we stepped.  It's nice to end a travel day with a hike.  We woke up early Friday morning and headed to Crater Lake National Park.  As we climbed into the Cascade Mountains we started passing more and more snow.  All of the road signs are on very tall poles so they reach above the many feet of snow.  The roadside is also lined with ten foot wooden poles every 20 feet or so.  These mark the edge of the road for the snow plows.  Obviously they get a LOT of snow!  In fact, upon further research we learned that Crater Lake is the snowiest inhabited place on earth.  Our travel book says “Few people forget their first glimpse of Crater Lake” and we soon understood why.  We made a stop at the visitor’s center and couldn’t wait to get our first look at the lake.  We walked to an overlook and were in awe of the size and color of the lake.  It is SO huge – and the most beautiful deep blue color.  The air looked and felt so clean.  Crater Lake was formed when the dome of Mt. Mazama collapsed.  Subsequent eruptions filled the cracks with lava and formed a solid floor.  Years of rain and snow melt then filled this floor creating Crater Lake.  There are no creeks or streams that flow into the lake so the water stays unusually clear.  There is a road around the lake called rim drive that is actually closed for most of the year due to HUGE amounts of snow.  During our visit the east rim was still closed but we were fortunate enough to get to travel along the west rim enjoying stops at several overlooks with fantastic views of the lake.  We visited the Crater Lake Lodge (built in 1915) and ate lunch with a great lake view.  The area was still covered with large amounts of snow – well over our head in some places.  Because most of the hiking trails were closed (open for snowshoeing and cross country skiing) we finished at Crater Lake earlier than expected.  So we headed back to the quaint town of Shady Cove and visited the Crater Lake Cellars to do some wine tasting.  We were joined by a group of 8 ladies enjoying a bachelorette weekend of wine tasting.  They were from various places around Oregon and had lots of good information to share about the area.  We had a blast hanging out with them and joining their celebration for a bit.  The owner of the vineyard was happy to allow us to taste his wine.  As you know I don’t drink and Jake is more of a beer connoisseur but we enjoyed enough sips to choose a bottle for mom.  The owner recommended that we try a couple other vineyards along the Rogue River Valley.  We took his advice and headed down Nick Young Road to Agate Ridge Vineyards.  What a beautiful little spot!  They had their tasting room set up in a little farmhouse adjacent to fields of grapevines as far as we could see.  The vineyard is set against a backdrop of a huge oak tree and Mount McLoughlin (this image appears on their labels).  We met the vineyard dog, Piper (a golden doodle), walked through the vineyard, and tasted enough wine to pick out a bottle for Ian and Amanda.  Jake and I have never been on a wine tasting adventure before and we both really enjoyed it.  We’re excited for the next leg of our journey – a trip north on the Pacific Coast Highway.  We hope all is well where you are!

Wine tasting at Crater Lake Cellars

Exploring Agate Ridge Vineyards

Big Hugs for Big Trees

Tree hugging a giant coastal redwood

Whale watching on the Pacific Coast

A WHALE!!!!!!

Exploring Stout Grove - a section of old growth coastal redwoods

The Pacific Coast sand

On Wednesday we arrived at Jedediah Smith State Park  - part of the Redwood National Forest.   We set up camp beneath the gigantic coastal redwood trees and made our way to the ranger station to learn about the park.  We were greeted by an awesome older gentleman who was more than happy to tell us about the plethora of adventures available in the area.  We were eager listeners.  It was late afternoon, but we just had to explore a little bit.  We headed down a dirt road to Stout Grove – an area of old growth coastal redwoods.  Jake insists that I mention that Stout Grove is where they filmed the Ewok portion of Return of the Jedi.  We were surrounded by the biggest trees we’ve ever seen.  My dad often jokingly calls me a tree-hugger because of my “save the world” mentality.  But this place really does make you want to hug some trees!   They are just so amazing.  So in the grove we explored, hugged trees, and chatted about how incredibly fortunate we are to be on this journey together.  Dad and Tom Biggs…I’m sure you’ll have a field day with the tree hugging. J  I’ll even post a picture for you.  We returned to camp and attended an evening event entitled “campfire with a ranger”.  The ranger, Adam, was so knowledgeable, funny, and entertaining.  He did a presentation on the history of and wildlife in the Redwood Forest.  We both learned a lot.  The next day we woke up early so excited to explore.  We drove south on route 101 and made a stop to dig our toes in the sand on the Pacific coast.  It was really cool to touch the other coast!  It was so different – cold, rough water and black sand.  We continued further south to Lady Bird Grove – a great hike through old growth coastal redwoods and a spot that was dedicated in Lady Bird Johnson’s honor because of her love for the outdoors and the Redwood Forest.  We also made a stop at the 14^th largest coastal redwood tree appropriately but dully named “Big Tree”.  When we arrived at its base it was anything but dull – estimated 1500 years old, 304 feet tall, 68 feet in circumference.  Sometimes when Tillie is too lazy to turn around to look at me she looks straight up and backwards to the point where she almost tips over.  This happened to me when I looked up at Big Tree.  We headed back north towards Crescent City, CA to take another peek at the Pacific Ocean.  We drove to a spot recommended by the kind park ranger called Klamath Overlook.  When we arrived we could not believe our eyes – there were so many gray whales in the water!  We had to get a closer look so we took a ½ mile hike labeled “strenuous” to another lookout.  It felt like it went straight downhill – not strenuous at all until Jake reminded me that we would have to go uphill to get back…haha.  It was well worth the trip.  We spent an hour at this little overlook just above the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Klamath River watching seals and whales (including a mother and young).  It was beyond exciting and it made my day.  We drove through Crescent City just to see a spot where the ranger told us sea lions like to hang out.  We enjoyed watching them from the edge of the harbor.  It was a day filled with lots of new experiences and we enjoyed every second of it.  We hope all is well where you are.