San Francisco

I hadn't realized Napa Valley was so close to San Francisco! It only took us about an hour to reach our "RV Resort" outside of SF in Pacifica.  The little old lady at the campground was nice enough to give us an "ocean view" spot for the regular price because the campground was being repaved and their weren't many other options.  Once we arrived at our spot, we realized that we were on a cliff ledge which has been eroding more and more every day.  After a little research, which was fueled by my paranoia, I found that some apartments not more than 700 yards away had been evacuated earlier this year because of severe erosion.  Later that night, we moved to a safer spot more inland...

You can see where they moved the railing forward because the edge of the cliff keeps falling away, creeping closer and closer to the pavement and where people are sleeping...
 

That's a 60 ft drop to the ocean folks!

Our first day in San Francisco began with us touring some the city's familiar sights like Lombard Street (the curvy street) and Fisherman's Wharf.  For a rainy day, Lombard street was pretty busy with tourists like ourselves.

Gotta love those San Francisco streets! Like rollercoasters!

If you are a seafood lover, Fisherman's Wharf is the place for you.  There are probably ~20 different seafood restaurants, seafood stands, and seafood carts; each one shouting for your business over the next seller.

 

But our favorite part of Fisherman's Wharf was the Sea Lions! They usually hang out on the docks near the aquarium.  We could hear them barking from the other side of the Wharf.

WARNING: SEA LIONS SMELL! BAD! REALLY BAD!

 

The next day, it was Halloween in San Francisco! We drove up to the Golden Gate Bridge and got some good shots of the bridge and Alcatraz.  The Golden Gate Rec area and surrounding parks were packed with San Franciscans jogging, picnicking, and playing with their doggies.  It was a beautiful day!

Napa Valley

Next stop?! Wine country!!! Who doesn't like wine? Or paying $5 for a tasting and leaving delightfully tipsy!  Our only regret was driving ourselves around instead of hiring a driver or taking a wine country tour, like some of the regulars were doing...Either way, we visited a few wineries and had a great time before heading home with purple grins and flushed cheeks.

Northern Cali and the Redwoods

The Goon Docks

The Goonies has always been one of my favorite movies. My friends and I would disappear for the day and mimic their adventures in the woods and marshes behind our house. Of course we never found any pirate treasure since we lived on the Jersey Shore.

As we approached the west coast I started bugging Jean to go to Astoria, Oregon. We left Vancouver and headed back through Washington on our way to Oregon. However this trip down the coast didn't go as smoothly as we wished. We were driving down Route 5 in Washington when the traffic ahead of us suddenly stopped. I slammed on the brakes, the tires locked up on the truck as well on the trailer. It was all in slow motion as we slid down the highway. There was nothing we could do but lean forward and watch as we smashed into the car in front of us. 

The lady we slammed into was very nice considering I just trashed her car. We exchanged our information and called the police. My front bumper is collapsed and the two driving lights I just installed no longer work. Her rear bumper, trunk and tail light are trashed. I think some of the damage was caused by the steer horns, which we had to remove because the front grill is cracked and the zip-ties holding them on snapped. The police helped us back onto the road and we continued on to Oregon.

The Goon Docks

By the time we arrived in Oregon it was late as that is our style on this trip. We stayed right on the coast while a huge storm was rolling in. The whole night the camper was shaking and trembling from the wind and rain. The next morning we awoke to a sliver of sunshine but the wind was still strong. We stopped and got some coffee and headed west to Astoria. As soon as we pulled into town we spotted the bowling ally from the beginning of the movie where Chunk smashed his pizza and strawberry milkshake against the glass. We made a couple random turns and came across the county jail.

After driving through town we followed the boys bike route from the movie and headed towards Ecola State Park which was about 20 miles away. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot we could pick out scenes from the movie. One of the most memorable features is Haystack Rock. The Lighthouse Lounge from the movie was a mock-up and was torn down after they completed filming. There is a shelter in its place and that is where Jean and I found the fireplace that lead us on our underground adventure for One Eyed Willies gold.

Vancouver

It was still raining when we got to Vancouver but we tried to make the most of our sightseeing.  We took a walk through the downtown area and Gastown, the historic district.  We thought there was a bank robbery on Ballard Street judging by the road blocks, news crew, and SWAT team but soon realized as we got closer that a movie was being filmed.  We watched for a little while, but didn’t see any recognizable movie stars.  

Afterward, we grabbed some lunch at a local brewery and drove through Stanley Park before heading home in the rain.  

 Kenny and I are ready for some sunshine and warmer temperatures!  Time to head south!

Olympia National Park

We were blessed with one day of sunshine in the northwest and then it was gone!  Oh well.  We headed to Olympic National Park in the drizzle hoping to see some more wildlife and the coastal beaches.  

On our way there, we passed through a town called Aberdeen, Washington.  According to the DJ on the radio, it was Kurt Cobain’s hometown.  We were a little skeptical until we arrived at the town and the sign said Welcome to Aberdeen, Come as You Are…It looked like half of the houses and buildings were abandoned…Not really somewhere I would visit again.  

Once we were within the park, we got out of the car at Ruby Beach.  We spent a good hour wandering along the beach and exploring the tide pools.  King had a blast too!  

We left the beach and went back into a forest area called Hoh rain forest.  The place gets 12 feet of rain per year.  It was crazy!  All of the trees were covered in bright green moss.  It would make a perfect Ewok village!  Sorry, I don’t have too many pictures because it was getting dark…

On our way to our campsite near Port Angeles, we passed through a town called Forks.  Apparently it had something to do with Twilight because all of the shops and gas stations and motels had some kind of Twilight souvenirs advertised.  Even our campsite billboard said "Vampires Welcome." Mwahahahaaaaa

 

Seattle

We made it to the west coast!  We are officially out of the country and have started to get strange stares at the steer horns attached to the front of the truck.  Are we going to take them off?  Hell no!  Our first day in the Seattle area it was sunny and beautiful outside, which was totally unexpected.  We took a drive through downtown Seattle and ended up at the bay.  We strolled through Pike Place Market- you know, the big produce and fish market where the fishmongers throw their fresh catch across the room to be weighed?  Made us hungry for seafood!

The first Starbucks is also along the bay street across from the market.  We snapped a few pictures and got a drink.  Some of the locals working at the market didn’t understand why “people take pictures of a coffee shop…”  I guess they don’t realize that they work within a tourist attraction.  

Kenny and I didn’t spend too much time in the city that night because we kept getting stopped by bums for change… Nobody carries cash anymore…

Road Time

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This post in kinda out of place since we posted one the other night after our gas shortage problem. This is merely a recap of the last few days. Since we have been bouncing around and haven't posted anything.


We have logged some decent road time over the last couple days. We left Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons and started north towards Glacier National Park. As soon as we left, we had to climb out of Jackson Hole.
(Jackson is in Jackson Hole, Jackson Hole is the general area, not the town. I learned that from the radio) Almost as soon as we left the city limits there was a warning of a 10% grade up ahead. I thought "10% that's nothing really", well you should of seen us trying to pull 5000 pounds up that mountain. You might have been able to hold a conversation with us as you walked beside the truck.


Went to Idaho Falls, nothing there, move on.


Moved on to Butte Montana. This is where we were had an issue locating gas. We got off of Route 90 at Melrose to get gas. Once we saw the gas station we decided to pass because the place looked a little bit shady. Our GPS said there was a town about 10 mile s up the road that also had gas. This town which I don't think even had a name, had one bar and the lady inside said "We haven't had gas in years. You either have to go to Melrose or up to Butte". We had about an 1/8 of a tank left and some 30 odd miles between us and Butte. So we did what what any adventurous duo would do, we turned around and drove back to Melrose. (See last post)


Arrived at Butte. Drove around the city. Had Pizza Hut. Do not get the Taco Fiesta pizza, sounds like a good idea but by far the messiest one you can make. Left the city.


Arrived in Missoula Montana. We camped at the local KOA which was a behind a TJMAX and ROSS, weird. We started setting up the trailer for the night and the last thing I hooked up was the water, only to find out the campground shut their water off a week prior.  Went to a park in the downtown area to walk King. Stayed for two nights. Hey I told you you this is a recap, no pictures taken really. At this point we are starting to get tired. 


Left after two days and headed north to Glacier National Park. We stayed at a great campground called San-Suz-Ed. It was right outside of the west entrance of the park. The owner cooked us breakfast in the morning.  Pretty sweet. Only stayed one night because the To the Sun Road was closed and we couldn't make it into the park. Getting weaker.


Stayed in Post Falls Washington because it was getting late. Took a walk around Coeur D'Alene Lake in the afternoon. 


Which brings us basically to right now as I'm writing this. We are in Kent, Washington.  So after leaving the Grand Tetons the other day we have driven 1,181 miles according to Google, which is most likely underestimated because we are always going different ways or driving through smalls towns to see what they have to offer.  Like a couple hours ago we were here in Kent but decided we wanted to stay in Gig Harbor which was about 45 minutes away. When we got there and checked out the RV park we decided we didn't want to stay there. For two reasons, one it was kinda cramped and they only had sites for 2 days and we want to stay longer. So here we are back in Kent, after an hour and half detour to see a campground we didn't like. Exhausted staying here for a couple days to recharge. We might had into Seattle from here but we are definitely mot doing anything tomorrow. The next post will be up in a couple days but it should be good since Jean will be writing it.

We're on E!!!

We almost ran out of gas today.  In Montana.  In the middle of nowhere. 

We had burned through a tank of gas in less than 2 hours because of the mountain roads and highways.  30 miles per hour with the pedal to the metal, baby!!! yea!  We ended up pulling over in Melrose, Montana at this bar/cafe/casino/gas station.  It was the only gas for 30 miles according to our GPS.  We were praying that it wasn't a cash only establishment or that they weren't out of gas, because it looked like that kind of place...

 
"I'll take $14 on pump number...7... please?" Note that there was only one pump for diesel and another for regular...

Jackson Hole and Bullwinkle

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We would have spent the next day in Yellowstone again, but we were running low on snacks and drinking water, so we decided to check out the town of Jackson.  We left for Jackson early in the morning, hoping to spot a moose or two along the way.  No luck along the Snake River, where our neighbor had said he saw 8 of them! No luck in Moose, Wyoming! No luck along the 2 mile stretch of land which was a designated MOOSE XING! Where are all the mooooooose!   

We went to a coffee shop in Jackson and got the truck’s windshield fixed.  (In Yellowstone yesterday, a car had kicked up a pretty good sized rock and chipped the windshield.)  We also went to the dog park, but King didn’t want to play for some reason.  Sometimes, my dog is more like a human than a dog.  He just wanted to watch the other dogs play and stand near us.  We tried to run around and get him a little excited, but he just stared at us like we were crazy.  After the no-fun at the dog park, we had lunch at a little café, then went to the grocery store.  

On our way back to the campsite, we decided to take one more trip through the Grand Teton National Park.  We had some time to kill and we heard that moose usually are spotted in the morning and at dusk.  We were lucky enough to see a huge heard of Bison and dozens of elk!  

We drove up Signal Mountain and saw some kind of animal that resembled a caribou.  Chipmunks, yep, but no moose...

 Turkeys, saw ‘em.  

 Deer and coyotes, all there.  

 Sigh...

We were rounding Oxbow Bend, the last loop before exiting the park, with little hope left that we would see a moose.  Wait…what is that brown thing at the edge of the water?!   

(baby on the left on shore and mommy on right in the water)

 Give me the binoculars!  It’s a… it’s a moose!  It’s a baby moose!  And mommy moooooooose!!!!!

Mission accomplished!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!