The Orcas Island Adventure

[TobyR]

Good read. Inspiring actually. I'm getting close to retirement (couple of years to go!) and trying to convince the wife to let go and travel around, looking for where to land. Talk about living in a tax hungry state...California. Beautiful area I live in but every year there's a new tax or three that the people just love to vote for. I have my eye on a 27FB FC.

[kingfisher24]

on the banks of the columbia, watching the barges and ships sail up and down.

On an agricultural oasis; a beautiful island and a U Pick farm on every corner; sweet corn, cabbage, brussels sprouts, apples, pears, u name it at u picket….and PUMPKINS every where among the corn maze's..the reeders settled this island and their get are everywhere…

Here at reeder beach you can park on the banks of the columbia, albeit among the run down remnants of permanent residents…a long ago 80's 310 airstream motor home sits among the weeds….with junk and wrecks all around it…and it has residents…people…and there are thirty or so other motor homes and sobs parked among the walnut and apple trees….

not a fancy place…just a place to sit by the river, on a old bank of sand and watch the river flow…

tomorrow….into washington……

oh by the way…getting a taste of PNW weather…light rain and grey skies part of the time…sunshine part of the time…..beautiful all of the time

[kingfisher24]

i went out to the river and looked upward and there were masses of geese…flying south…and they are just streaming south 24 hours Day,,crossing the columbia …

some pictures of reeders beach and its airstream residents…and us

first one is us

columbia river RALLY

[kingfisher24]

Ornithological Highlights: Of the 486 bird species found in Oregon, a remarkable 250 of these have been known to use Sauvie Island. Over-wintering waterfowl can number in excess of 200,000……200,000
ducks, geese, and swans. Autumn brings migrating Sandhill cranes, Snow geese, Tundra swans, Cackling and Canada geese. Great Blue Heron and Osprey nest on the island, and Bald eagles both breed and congregate in winter along with wintering Red-tailed Hawks, Northern Harriers, Peregrine Falcons, and the less common Rough-legged Hawks and Merlin. Shorebird numbers have reached 30,000. Three species of birds once common and now rare or unusual on Sauvie Island include the Lewis Woodpecker, Western Meadowlark, and (Streaked) Horned Lark.


AND FOR THE PAST FEW HOURS AND CONTINUING….wave after wave so that sometimes the horizon is black with migrating birds…just amazing

[Lily&Me]

Wow.


Maggie

[Rocinante]

Sounds pretty awesome. How's your trailer holding up under the onslaught? Those are some pretty big birds!

[kingfisher24]

but the bird migration to sauvie coincided with our departure early this morning…to the most beautiful pacific northwest sky…a thick fog boiling off the columbia and the road out of the island at an early hour was filled with all sort of farm implements going about the business of growing beautiful and delicious stuff….

and we headed west along historic US 30 as it snakes along the columbia thru towns in oregon the likes of saint helens…with what…a majesty view of the famous mountain…wonder what it was like when the mountain exploded back then……

then to the longview bridge across the columbia…must be a mile high……

up I5 to Olympia and the Washington Land Yacht Harbor…..a WBCCI airstream park and housing in a gated area…lots of room to park and there is no shortage of aluminum…… there are hundreds of all makes and models

Is that not a 56 whale tail…it is beautiful……sitting alone in storage…..weep….weep

the weather is great…60's…some rain…some shine….

I AM IN WASHINGTON…..

[kingfisher24]

it rained talked with a friend that lives here and she said it's gonna rain at 5 o clock…sure enough it did an then on and off all night

and the leaK AROUND MY SKYLIGHT that I had CAMPER CLINIC II In BUDA…may i never see or hear of them again, fix not a month ago….started dripping with the rain…

oh well doesn't leak when it doesn't rain….but i am in the great PNW in the rainy season…went to home depot and bought buckets…..

but ..because of the rain…everything here is green…without water…you have texas/arizona and california to call a few..

i love it here…..

gonna leave olympia on thursday and have not really decided what to do as we are sort of killing time waiting for closer to the end of the month so we can get to the island…find our winter home…and move in on or about November 1…...

[Tomy]

Some of the rains we've been having the last couple of weeks are not typical of NW weather. Usually it's just a constant drizzle, but the other day we had a torrential downpour. It actually reminded me of when I lived in Dallas and I'd look out the back and it would be raining cats and dogs, look out the front and it's dry was a bone.

If you like remote settings, consider taking 101 up the coast. Some of the beaches along the route are beautiful and unspoiled; First Beach, Second Beach, Ruby Beach, and Shi Shi Beach. These are part of the Olympic National Forest, and are the only wilderness beaches in the lower 48.

The Hoh Rainforest is also along the route. It's like something out of a fairy tale. Especially if you run into this guy.

[kingfisher24]

in the rain

trailer sky light only drips when it rains or after it has rained…and is really hard to tell from the spilled dog water on the floor most of the time anyways:

looked out the window last evening about dark and there was a man in rain gear…walking his dog…in rain gear

and like an old timer on sauvie island told me…ya just wash your car anyway….

we found a laundry in olympia/lacy…i get lost in between the two cities…can't tell them apart…like it matters and washed clothes in the rain…ate indian food at the curry corner last night and the previous evening had vietnamesse fare…all within blocks of our terra port.

a bud pointed me to a county park in Carnation Washington and that is where we will head tomorrow…40 miles from Seattle…but a small country town with sites on a river…i believe…..

oh well…geronimo

[kingfisher24]

it did not rain last night and so far today is the most beautiful sunny/partly cloudy day one could imagine.

I am really growing fond of Washington…bring on the whatever

left the washington land yacht harbor, after a three night stay, and headed the back way to Carnation , Wa and a King county park that is beyond beautiful..tolt-mcdonald county park. we went through yelm and wove our way through the cascade valley and the tiger summit and mere 1300 foot summit but nevertheless a daunting climb and down….

thanks to our great friend DHC-2 for the tip on this stop….

we are going for a stay at deception pass state park before we head to the island next week…gonna explore the seattle area while we are here as we are only 40 miles or so from there...

[Rrroberts40]

Welcome Kingfisher24 to our wonderful state...in many ways growing up and living here all my 58 years it has become somewhat of a joke you learn when young...we are told to tell everyone from anywhere else that it ALWAYS rains here, and is ALWAYS gray and gloomy why would anyone what to live here...I see you saw thru our secret....yes it is a bit wet at times but oh so green all the times....it is a magical place most all of the time and there is soooo much to do here and it is always very close to you wherever you might be. Have fun!

[John&Vicki]

Washington truly is a beautiful state - especially the San Juans. My wife and I will have the good fortune to spend four months there next year in our AS. We will be serving as interpretive volunteers at San Juan National Historical Park on San Juan Island from March 1 to May 15 and atop Mt. Constitution in Moran State Park on Orcas Island from then until June 15.

Stop by and say hello.

[kingfisher24]

certainly hunt you down..

we are going to Orcas next week and are going to find a rental so we can have a house to winter there in and see how the climate works...

we certainly enjoyed our visit to cove palisades and the area around Bend is just magnificent…..

certainly beautiful weather today…….

[kingfisher24]

after yesterday's spectacularly sunny day…it has been …well not rain all the time..but the sky is just wet….and so what

people here, and we, just go about your business..walk the dog in the rain…bicycle in the rain…do whatever….

this valley that we are in is a spectacular place in its self…
so much water and so much greenery and the quaint little towns that line washington highways 202 and 203 going north ; fall city, carnation duval, redmond, botthel are
..well they just look livable…people walk, bicycle whatever in these towns and they have not been revoked, if you will, by large box amerika….

tomorrow we venture to a gem of a discovery (i hope) as i threw a dart on the wall and choose a county park on the cascade highway; rock port, wa and the howard miller steel head county park on the skagit river….

so day four in washington ends with a beautiful rain on the tolt river at carnation, washington:wally

and the island calls

[Tomy]

We may pass each other. My wife and I are doing the Cascade Loop, CCW. Today went across Steven's Pass on 2, into Leavenworth, and then north along the Columbia on 97. We're staying in Winthrop, WA, a cool little cowboy town. We'll be hitting 20 in the morning, west to the Sound and down through Oak Harbor back to Seattle.

I have a well traveled friend who says the Northern Cascade highway is the most beautiful scenic drive in the lower 48. I get to find out for myself tomorrow.

I have to echo what Rrroberts40 says. I've only lived in Washington 12 years, but the diverse beauty is everywhere you turn, so much that I am still exploring. Even in the city, going about your business, you come around a bend and there is a looming Mount Ranier in all her splendid beauty, dwarfing the Seattle skyline.

Snow capped mountains, ocean vistas, enchanting islands, deserts to the east gorged by mighty rivers, rain forests with huge trees covered in thick moss, untouched beaches; this state will have you falling in love with it all over again every where you turn.

My wife is an Oregon coast girl. My kids were all born in the Southeast. When we'd go to do something in the rain, they'd complain, and she'd just tell them "We're ducks. It doesn't bother us."

Wait, what am I doing. IT RAINS ALL THE TIME HERE. Don't come, you'll hate it.

[SoftTouch]

Great adventure!! Good for you!!!

[kingfisher24]

my bud for pointing me to carnation and the tolt mcdonald park…a jewel…

and then somehow my dart throwing pointed me to rockport washington and a skagit county park…right on the skagit river..

howard miller steelhead park…just beautiful as well as the drive here as it veers off washington 9 to washington 530 east…a beautiful drive in the foot hills of the cascades…
the drive as one enters washington from portland and especially as you leave olympia to the southeast is the most majestic mount rainier.

paula pointed out several landmarks along the way …one as we crossed the green river…she recalled "the green river killer"…some sort of mass murderer that dumped victims in the green river…

then, as we drove thru OSO…we began to see signs that people "hearted" OSO…loved it…. and as we drove thru…i having only briefly researched highway 530…

i noted that some sort of slide had occurred recently and the highway was rebuilt thru there... only completed this month…

then as we drove thru, paula recalled the horrible mudslide that covered this part of washington only this past march ….as a complete hillside gave way in a mudslide and buried most of the town of OSO killing 40 or so….

so it rained all last night and part way on the trip this morning and then most of the afternoon and now is just beautiful…some sun…some clouds…some liquid sunshine…..

[AirEgger]

kingfisher24, thanks for sharing your story, it's interesting and inspiring. Good luck with your leak. Low probability of everything going right. Please keep up the posts and pic's.

[kingfisher24]

Sunday morning we left the beautiful county park on the skagit river…headed out on the north cascades highway heading west …..a beautiful and short drive that bring one into anacondas and then following 20 west on to whidbey island…and we were headed for a stay at deception pass state park…now in researching this park i just became confused...

it is a large and varied and very beautiful park…i stumbled around and could only find suitable rv parking at the quarry lake location…

.on cornet road near cornet bay….so the quarry loop is on the opposite side of the road as one would think ….but found it fine…a forrested (what else) loop that was mostly deserted…and it rained both days we were there…most of the time at night…

and what a surprise…we were warned…but if you have never stayed in the area…then you have a surprise coming…

at all hours of the night and afternoon mostly there is the most racket you can ever imagine…sounds like the end of the world…but is only the naval air station on whidbey island and boy do they terar up the sky….

and it's on to the san jaun's from here