On to Seattle

Well time flies when you’re having fun; or so they say. I can’t believe it’s been 10 days since my last blog entry. I am keeping a written daily journal but there are too many unnecessary details in it to bore you with. So I will try to summarize what we’ve been up to.

Lewis and Clark Caverns (a vertical cave)

The day of my last entry we went to visit Lewis and Clark Caverns. They were amazing and so different from the other caves we have visited. For example they were not as “touristy”. We had to climb a steep path for about ½ hour to reach the cave entrance. Once inside the vertical cave, the pathway was more natural as opposed to being a boardwalk. We even had to slide down a 4 ft. slide to get from 1 level to another. The stalactites and stalagmites and columns were beautiful as were the colours. Check out the photos to see what I mean.

Missoula - the community park - best playground ever

Between there and Seattle, WA, where we are currently camped, we stayed in 4 other places in Montana and Washington. While in Missoula, Montana then Spokane, WA we didn’t do too much except wander around their waterfront parks. Both were very nice especially for relatively small towns / cities. The

Coeur D` Alene - a small community on a lake built up for the tourist industry

waterfalls in Spokane were very pretty but not large. The other side trip we did make while in Spokane was to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. This is a very pretty tourist town on a lake. It’s a bit like Niagara-on-the-Lake.  The campground in Spokane had a neat “Dog Park” with jumps, ramps, etc. Bill had fun teaching Sunny to pretend he was a show dog!!!

We moved on from Spokane and realized we had missed going to the Grand Coulee Dam so we stopped at a place called Ephrata, WA rather than going on to Ellensburg as originally planned. We set up camp and drove about 60 miles to see the dam. It really was worth the

Grand Coulee Dam - 3 three times the concrete as Hoover - nearly a mile wide - three power plants - largest electric generation in North America

drive.  The drive itself was very scenic and the dam is immense. Unfortunately, we missed the last tour of the day so just explored the area around the dam on our own and watched a couple of informational videos at the Visitor’s Center.

The next day we moved on to Yakima RV Park which was part of a working cattle ranch. We didn’t see anyone and paid by putting our money in an envelope and leaving it in a locked box….. From this campsite we drove about 60 miles again to a

Leavenworth - a bankrupt town made into a Bavarian Tourist magnet in the 60s Travelocity in Leavenworth as well

place called Leavenworth, WA. It is a small tourist town in the mountains that the locals converted into a Bavarian Style Town about 40 years ago. They did this because the town was dying and they needed a source of income. This worked because they draw two million tourists each year who spend many $$$’s in the numerous shops. We ate supper at a beer garden and had German sausage and sauerkraut and beer.

Three days ago we arrived in Seattle, WA (actually a suburb called Bellevue). The stay here began rather badly!!! When we tried to turn into the gate of the campground, called Vasa Park, Bill realized he could not make the turn because the gate was too narrow and the turn too sharp!!! So there we are stuck; blocking traffic (an island in the middle of the road prevented people passing us), we couldn’t go forward or backward!!!! Yikes…up goes my blood pressure… Bill had to unhook the car; a man from the campground had to stop traffic in both directions and reroute it; I moved our car; 3 people were directing Bill to get him backed up and straightened out to be able to enter the VERY narrow gate…HE DID AN AMAZING JOB and no damage done at all…. WHEW!!! Apparently we were supposed to go into the parking lot across the road, do a 180 degree turn and come through the gate straight on. But nobody told us!!!

Haggmans and Clarks

Anyway since that adventurous beginning, we have had a wonderful time here. We met up with our friend Debbie Haggman who was a neighbour of ours when we lived in New Brunswick. They have been living in Renton, WA for the last ten years. We went to their house on Thursday and she drove us into Seattle and was our tour guide. We saw most of the tourist spots like Pike’s Market, The Curiosity Shop, the waterfront and we went on The Underground Tour. See photos for more info. Then yesterday (Friday) Bill and I drove north to the Boeing Plant were they build 747, 777, and the new 787 planes. The tour was very informative and the size of the whole operation is amazing. From there we drove back into Seattle and visited the Space Needle and the area around it called Seattle Center. Haggmans had invited us for supper. Kurt is working out of town so we didn’t see him until then. Debbie made us a great dinner and we had a wonderful visit. (Just like old times only a few years later). Today we are waiting for Haggmans to come to see the RV and then we are going to Tacoma and other places.

Guess that’s enough for now. I hope this wasn’t too long and boring for you. I’ll write again soon.

Ann/ Mom/ MaeMae