Blogs from Washington, United States, North America - page 7

After a good night's sleep, another day begins without fanfare. A few hunters left way too early, so we stayed in bed. This is not a working vacation. As usual, the chef prepared an awesome breakfast. Eventually, the chef even got dressed. This is one major advantage of RVing: bedclothes are just fine when you don't even have to emerge. After a while, we took another little stroll around the park. It is a nice park, and this time, we walked through the kiddie play area. They have a good collection of playground toys and games. There's even an RC car track. (The cars are available for rent from the office. Fancy that.) We might even have to try that out. You see, Natalie beat me at checkers last night, 2 out of 3, so we ... read more

We decided several months ago to do this experiment, and wait until kids should be back in school. (Vacations seems to be more peaceful when children are in school.) You see, when I retire in a couple years, our temporary plan if everything continues well, is to sell our house and move into an RV and travel until we find a place we want to settle down. It really wouldn't work well if we buy the RV, use it for a month or two, then decide we dislike the whole exercise. So, if we learn about RVing first, we won't make that mistake. After reviewing RV rental outfits online, we decided to rent from Ryan's RV Town, and are quite pleased with the choice. They are very friendly and considerate, and they rent late model, quality ... read more

Woke up in Hoodsport pretty early, as we got to bed early last evening. The RV Park, Glen Ayr, was pretty nice. Had full hookups and decent WIFI. It’s located right on the Hood Canal, and has access to a marina. After a nice breakfast, we departed for Quinault, WA via the Olympic National Park. This trip allows us to visit three National Parks that we’ve not before seen: Mt. Ranier NP, Olympic NP, and Crater Lake NP. We passed Lewis and Clark NP, but didn’t stop. As we headed north on US101, we intended to make stops at the Light House in Dungeness, WA, as well as 4-5 stops within the National Park. We soon discovered that the signage to these places was very poor, or not existent at all. We could find no signs ... read more

TRAVEL DURING COVID In order to allay my daughter’s fears about my bringing home Covid from my trip to Mexico I followed suggested guidelines from the Covid Prevention Center while traveling; avoid crowds, wear a mask, and keep a safe distance apart. As an additional precaution when I returned to the United States, I decided to self-quarantine, camping alone for two weeks in a State Park. (The weather was so nice I actually stayed 21 days). I am a backpacker and have hiked in the Cascades in Washington State for almost thirty years. Usually, my trips are in the high country. Sometimes I hike with my daughter and sometimes with friends, but I often hike alone. This is however, a high-density camper area and I am rarely truly alone anymore. Someone is always passing me on ... read more

Now, many of us have our favorite sign in America. It could be the famous Las Vegas sign on the Strip, or the big Hollywood sign in the hills above LA. It might be Nathan's on Coney Island, or Randy's Donuts in LA. Some of you like Wrigley Field in Chicago or Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Any of the Route 66 signs evoke childhood memories of cruising down the highway until reaching the famous Santa Monica Pier. One of my favorites in the Pike Place Market sign in Seattle. Each of you probably have a favorite. And I may have missed a few, like Disneyland, Times Square, Gaslamp San Diego, Cafe du Monde in Nawlins, or Acme Oyster House in Boston. So, if I had to pick one sign that means the ... read more