POTLATCH....TACOMA..... OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON

 Next up was the areas of Potlatch, Tacoma and Olympia Washington

Our campsite was directly waterfront and we had constant visits of seals, otters, eagles and kingfishers. Below you can see a couple of seals passing by, and the low tide extreme that allows you to walk around. 

 

Below, on the boat we rented out of Olympia WA once again hoping to see whales- and did not.

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Below is a visit to "The Old Steel Bridge" made in 1929 and was the highest train bridge in all of north America at the time.  Bridge still survives- but unfortunately NOT the same for the many who have jumped from here.  There are competing messages on the curbs and rails urging either to "Get Help!" or... the opposite.  Not for the faint of heart- as  the guard rails are barely waist high; AND cars can still cross this old bridge- meaning: if your on the bridge when a car is crossing you MUST get up on that sidewalk which hovers next to the depths below! 

 

 View of Mount Rainier from Tacoma... and below that is PIA the Peace Maker with Ilea

Below is part of a touching memorial which is in BAINBRIDGE WA for the many random innocent Japanese who were rounded up right here at this exact spot (see metal footprint outlines) and put on boats to be held at camps against their will.  They had to leave everything behind, and just go.

Below- Glass Bridge in  Tacoma... and also lunch at a Brewery-a converted Fire Engine House

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VICTORIA CANADA (VIA FERRY FROM PORT ANGELES)

 We left the  ol' RV behind in Port Angeles and cruised across to Victoria, BC Canada with our ol' CRV aboard the Black Ball Ferry for a 5 day stay at a VRBO located less than 30 minutes to the city of Victoria. Below- our view from inside the CRV with GPS ready to hit the road once we disembarked from the ferry.

 

Quite a LOT more to see on this large Vancouver ISLAND (Oddly, NOT the place where the CITY of Vancouver BC is located...) much more than I had allotted time for at least. May have to come back some day to see the far western side of the island....  While in Victoria, did the standard views of their BC Assembly Building &the Empress Hotel, Inner Harbor, Fisherman's Wharf & Chinatown (Fan Tan Alley, supposedly the "Narrowest street in the world.") ALSO- did the very unique cool Victoria BUG ZOO! They had a huge collection of large bugs ALIVE, including a leaf cutter ant display that spanned the room. We met the MOSS LADY of Beacon Park, and some of the town deer wandering the streets.

 

Took one day to do a ton of walking and see both the MALAHAT SKYWALK and the Butchart Gardens. At the skywalk,there are many neat wood nature sculptures... there is an area at the very top where one can walk out on a clear glass floor enclosed area- to look down hundreds of feet directly below where you stand.  Darwin REFUSED to walk out there with me for a good 5 minutes... then he did (in his doggy mind) risk his canine mortality and joined me for a little while. Cool place for kids as it has a humongous slide at the top which you can take all the way to the bottom.  Many kids were on it over and over again displaying energy we wish we had as they repeatedly would RUN all the way back up to the top for another slide down.

 

 

And just when we thought we'd had more than enough 'Flower Experiences' on this trip, we just couldn't pass up a visit to Butchart Gardens.  So glad we did not miss this place as it was FANTASTIC! 

 

One day, we took a boat out of the Sydney, North Saanich area to do some (fingers crossed) WHALE WATCHING.... very restrictive boating rules to protect the ORCAS... But only got to see some seals and eagles.  One eagle appeared to be in distress, floating on top of the water, flapping its wings seemimg to be  unable to take flight.  When we ventured closer for a look, (less than 30 feet) it did finally take flight and flew away.  We suspect that it  might have had a huge fish in its claws and perhaps was overly optimistic about the chances of taking flight WITH that added weight in its grips. Weather has cooperated nicely with our plans

 

 

 

After returning to US, our final morning we went to explore the nearby Salt Creek Recreation area tidal pools.  Some green anemone and purple urchins were seen, among other things...

 

 

UPPER OREGON.... EUGENE & PORTLAND.... FALLING TREES- YIKES!!!!

 

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AFTER TIME IN KLAMATH FALLS, WE MOVED JUST A LITTLE NORTH TO COLLIER MEMORIAL STATE PARK… A VERY WOODSY NATURE LOVERS RV DESTINATION.  WE WERE CLOSER NOW TO CRATER LAKE- BUT WISELY HAD ALREADY VISITED THAT EARLIER IN WEEK DUE TO ‘WEATHER FORECAST CONCERNS’. AS IT PLAYED OUT, THAT DECISION WAS WELL WARRANTED!  WHILE AT THIS STATE PARK, A STORM KICKED UP AND BLEW NOT ONE, NOT TWO, BUT THREE TREES DOWN NEAR US IN THE CAMPGROUND.  WE WERE LUCKY!  WE WERE WITHOUT ELECTRIC FOR 2 DAYS!  POLLEN WAS COMING DOWN THICK FROM THE MALE PINE CONES- AND WE COULD SEE THAT ON OUR DASHBOARD!  WHILE THERE WE DID A FEW WALKS ALONG THE RIVER… SAW MERGANSER (DUCKS WITH REVERSE EAGLE COLORATION- BLACK HEAD AND WHITE BODY) AND MANY GROUND SQUIRRELS AS WELL AS A BEAVER.  THIS VICINITY HAD MANY EVIDENT SCARS FROM THE RELATIVELY RECENT FOREST FIRES OF 2020.  INTERESTINGLY, THE NEARBY LOGGING MUSEUM HAD ONLY ONE LOSS OF ONE OLD BUILDING IN THOSE FIRES.

 

 

WHILE STAYING IN THE EUGENE OREGON AREA, WE VENTURED UP TO VISIT THE ADELMAN PEONY FARM… MY GOODNESS- IT WAS ACRES AND ACRES OF SPECTACULAR COLORS AND SMELLS!  IRONICALLY, IN THE MIDDLE OF THESE AROMATIC FIELDS IS A PORTA POTTY, ONE THAT IS SURROUNDED BY AMPLE ROOM FRESHENERS!!

 

ALSO WHILE IN EUGENE, WE VENTURED TO THE WEST OF SALEM TO HIKE THE ‘WATERFALLS LOOP’ OUT OF THE ICE  CAP CREEK  CAMPGROUND.  THIS WAS A SCENIC 3 MILE HIKE ALONGSIDE A RIVER AND A FEW IMPRESSIVE FALLS.  AT A FEW ANGLES YOU COULD WITNESS ‘CONSTANT RAINBOWS’ (AS LONG AS THE SUN WAS OUT!)

 

PORTLAND SURPRISINGLY DID FEEL A LOT LIKE THE NYC AREA TRAFFIC COMBINED WITH UPSTATE NY.  DOWNTOWN WE WERE IMPRESSED WITH THE PIONEER SQUARE AREA WITH SPIFFY CLEAN MASS TRANSIT TRAMS… AND THEY HAD THESE ODD CONSTANTLY RUNNING DRINKING WATER FOUNTAINS- FOR FOUR!

 

SPRINGTIME MEANS MORE TIME FOR FLOWERS!  WE VISITED THE NEAT PORTLAND JAPANESE GARDENS AND ALSO THE PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL ROSE TEST GARDEN (OVER 8000 ROSES OF ALL VARIETIES!)

 

 

MANY INTERESTING PLACES TO EAT DOWNTOWN… ONE OF WHICH WAS ‘HAWTHORN ASYLUM’ WHICH WAS A COLLECTION OF FOOD TRUCKS… WHEN YOU ENTER YOU ARE GREETED WITH THE FRONT NOSE OF A PLANE (‘JET FUEL’ COFFEE SHOP!) IN ADDITION THERE WAS A COOL CENTER FOR RECYCLING…

 

WHILE IN PORTLAND WE TOOK OUT A BOAT TO EXPLORE, AND WERE IN AWE OF THE HUGE SNOW CAPPED MOUNT HOOD (A DORMANT VOLCANO THE SIZE OF MOUNT FUJI) LOOMING IN THE DISTANCE IN FRONT OF US ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER.

 

DID A FEW MORE LITTLE HIKES IN THE PORTLAND AREA… THE LATOURELL FALLS WAS ONE, AND THE OTHER WAS GOING INTO THE ‘FOREST PARK’ TO SEE THE WITCHES CASTLE.  FOREST PARK WAS THE SETTING FOR THE TRUE STORY MOVIE “LEAVE NO TRACE” ABOUT A FATHER AND HIS DAUGHTER WHO ACTUALLY LIVED/CAMPED/HID IN THIS FOREST FOR FOUR YEARS!

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