Northwest Trip

On May 13th, we headed north in Dusty for Washington State.  Our purpose was to check out some areas as potential places to relocate, and to see my nephew, Aaron Williams, graduate from Whitman College in Walla Walla.

Our first stop was in Napa where we would stay with Nick for the night.  Nick has a small herd of deer living on his property which is an island of nature surrounded by suburbs.

As fun as the deer are it wasn't a good mix with Nick's desire to garden until he built this 8 foot deer fence.

 We drove north the next day on Highway 128 passing this huge beast near Jimtown.

The little town of Geyserville had a number of sculptures in front of homes and businesses.

After following the Noyo River we arrived in Mendocino, a postcard pretty village on a headland.

We stayed two nights in a cottage with this garden view from our front deck.

The Mendocino headland is an excellent whale watching spot earlier in the year.

 We had a wonderful hike in the lush forest of Russian Gulch State Park just north of town.

 A ring of second growth redwoods dwarfing Gail.

 Blooming rhododendrum.

 We enjoyed the solitude at this waterfall.

 We also explored Glass Beach in Fort Bragg.  It used to be the city dump until the 70's, and is studded with sand and surf smoothed pieces of colored glass.

 On the drive up Highway One towards Crescent City we passed several major landslides from the heavy winter rains.  I hope that bulldozer driver is paid well!

 Our motel in Roseburg, OR, faced the Umpqua River.  Gail captured this shot of two Canadian Goose families.  That one family has about 21 goslings!

We also saw Hooded Mergansers in breeding plumage.

The following morning, it was off to Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula.

 Port Angeles is in a beautiful setting.  Although the town had an inviting downtown of a block or two, it is a little rough around the edges.

 We were almost the first car in the morning to drive the 15 miles up to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park.  We watched this unfazed Blue Grouse pecking seeds along the road edge.

 Not in Carlsbad anymore!

 Views of the Alp like peaks.

Next, we drove out to Crescent Lake for some rain forest hiking.

 We hiked a short distance to Marymere Falls, and then followed the Barnes Creek Trail another four miles up the canyon.  It was a beautiful day and we barely saw another person on the trail the rest of the hike.

 The layers of growth on various surfaces is incredible in the rain forest.

 We saw several centipedes.

 The Douglas Squirrel was the only mammal we saw all day.

 The log crossings were made easier with handrails.

 A fern fiddle head.

 Moss growing on a shelf mushroom.

 Another beautiful crossing.

 A rotting log is a nursery to moss, plants, and eventually saplings.

 Salmon Berry flowers.

 The remains of a deer rejoining the earth.

 So organic!

 Back at Crescent Lake, we checked out the lodge.

 A dock for paddle boats.

 Early, the day we left Port Angeles, we stopped by the lake to check for bird life. Three Common Mergansers, two males in breeding plumage and a female.

 Common Merganser pair.

 This female did a lot of head pointing to the sky.

 A male Barrow's Goldeneye, also in breeding plumage.

 Early morning on Crescent Lake.

 Off to the west coast of the peninsula.  We hiked down to this wild beach near La Push.

 We could have spent a lot more time poking through all the driftwood and detritus.

Next, it was on to the Hoh River and Hoh Rain Forest.

Along the Hoh River we saw two Bald Eagles and a Turkey Vulture eating on this fish carcass.

 In the Hoh Rain Forest we saw the clearest running brook ever, and Big Leaf  Maples draped in club moss.

 We could also hear the loud drumming of a probable Pileated Woodpecker, but could not get a glimpse of it.

 Root ball of  a downed Sitka Spruce.

That evening, we made it to Centralia, having snagged the last room at McMenamins Olympic Club Hotel.  We enjoyed dinner and the movie Going In Style in the theater decorated with art and plush couches. The theater used to be the hotel's brothel.  Centralia, halfway between Portland and Seattle, had a fun and friendly old downtown.

In the morning, it was off to Walla Walla for the graduation and a bit of a family reunion.

 Waiting for the graduation to begin is my nephew Logan, my sister Sarah, and Lorie, Aaron's and Logan's mom.

 Whitman College has that New England private college feel with beautiful grounds and buildings. The college has 1,500 students.

 The man standing behind the college president is Judge James Robart who blocked Trump's executive order to ban people coming to the U.S. from seven different Muslim countries.  He received a lengthy standing ovation from the students and practically all others in attendance.  The commencement speaker, Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg, gave an awesome address on the need for the privileged students to use their money and influence to do good for others. She is a Kenyan American who is a renowned educator, political activist, and mom.

 That's our man Aaron heading to the stage!

 Aaron and Logan.

A joyous Williams' faction.

Aaron and his grandparents, Lorie's parents, Lois and Howard.  They made the drive up from Stockton.

A relieved Aaron!  On the left is Brian, fiance to Lorie, and an all around great guy.


Well, from Walla Walla, it was time to head home.  We had a pleasant time staying the night in Jacksonville, OR.  The town seems to be quite vibrant with a rustic and historic downtown, but also seems on the verge of being overwhelmed by new development in Medford and tourists.  We steered southwest to see McMinnville, Oregon once more which also had been on our "possible relocation" list, but like Jacksonville its quaint downtown is quickly being surrounded by the beginnings of sprawl.  On to Lorie's for a quick overnight visit with her and Samantha and Tabatha.  Lorie fashioned her pink hard hat for us which she was going to wear the next day at the opening of the hospital she has been working so hard to make a reality.

We did a lot of driving on this trip. I mean a lot!  3,849.5 miles in thirteen days.  So far, we haven't found the future spot that really grabs us.  Mendocino, Port Angeles, Walla Walla, and Jacksonville all have very strong points, but lack in certain areas.  Arriving home, we had to admit our little house in Carlsbad isn't all that bad while the search continues.

Yummy D and Penelope were certainly happy to see us, and celebrated with a roll in the catnip.