Suncadia Get Away

We spent a few days with our very good friends, Don and Caroline, at Suncadia, just north of Cle Elum, WA. It turned out to be a perfect little getaway. The weather was sunny, dry, and exactly the kind of crisp mountain air that makes you want to stay outside as long as possible.

As always with Don and Caroline, the time together felt easy and familiar. We shared stories, laughed a lot, and enjoyed some truly wonderful meals. Suncadia has great walking trails, and we made good use of them—long, relaxed walks where the conversation wandered as much as we did.

One afternoon we took a short sightseeing trip to Roslyn, the small town best known as the filming location for Northern Exposure starting back in 1990. The main street is only about three blocks long, but it’s full of charm. We drove it slowly, then parked and wandered around for a bit, taking in the history and the quiet pace of the place.

Visits like this remind me how much I value these friendships. Time with Don and Caroline is always cherished, and this trip was no exception. 

The boat rental shed at Suncadia.

Fall colors were amazing.

Very friendly deer.

The famous cafe from the TV show Northern Exposure.

A big guy by our cabin.

View west over the Cle Elum River.

Windy Wanapum

Looking at the Columbia from our camp spot.

When we arrived home from our big Yuma adventure, we took the truck to our mechanics and had them take care of all the little repairs needed so we could feel good about traveling. After waiting for the repairs to be completed for almost two weeks, we were ready to take a short drive to Wanapum Recreation Area near Vantage on the Columbia River.  Our very good friends, Caroline and Don, from Westport, WA, were traveling our way to attend the graduation of their granddaughter from WSU.  We met them about halfway between their house and WSU at the Wanapum Campground, and enjoyed catching up on our lives.

Windy and a bit cool.

We spent three nights at the campground. The first two nights, the wind blew harder than I have ever felt in our camper. It shook everything and made it hard to sleep. During the day, the wind let up a bit. Caroline had parked their trailer in a position that blocked most of the wind. We were able to sit in the sun and chat. Visiting those two is always so nice; we love their company.

On Thursday, we had to get up early and head back to Post Falls. I had an appointment in the afternoon, so we hit the road at about 8 AM and were home by noon. We love spending time with Don and Caroline. We wish we could get together more often.

Back to the Fort

Check out the new wheels!

When we returned from our last trip, I noted that the truck had felt slightly different when driving at lower speeds. My mind always jumps directly to the worst-case scenario; in this case, my scenario was "our transmission was going out."  We made an appointment with our auto repair folks and I explained my feelings when driving. I thought it felt like I was driving a manual transmission, and not giving it enough gas when accelerating. There was definitely something making the vehicle shudder and the most expensive thing I could think of was the transmission.

I delivered the truck to Lake City Auto and they sent their transmission specialist out to give it a test. Within a half hour, I had my answer. The drive lines were out of balance and the U-joints were failing. 16 years of carrying the camper had taken its toll.  We needed it repaired, so I tossed my credit card on the counter and said "Git er done!" I talk like that when I am talking to mechanics. 

To do this I had to remove the camper from the truck and they would have to keep the truck for three days. As unexpected as the repair was, it gave me time to do some much-needed cleaning and caulking on the camper. For two days I worked my butt off waxing, polishing, and renewing the caulk on the big white box.

I picked up the truck and it drove great! No shuttering when accelerating.  I kept the camper off the truck and at our friends the Anderson's farm, while I worked on it. As I drove back and forth to the farm I was on newly paved roads and I noticed a bit of bumping as I drove. Normally I would think it was the old roads of Idaho, but like I said they were fresh surfaces. Bumping along, I figured that the truck tires needed to be balanced so I took the truck to Les Schaub the next day.

At Schaub's, they took the truck into the bay and within 10 minutes the tire tech called me over and showed me one of my tires and wheels on the balancer and it looked awful. The wheel had a very apparent wobble. The tech told me that all the wheels were just like that and they could not get them balanced. Short story, we needed new wheels. Once again I had to remind myself that all the running gear on the truck has been carrying heavy loads for 16 years, and the camper is rarely off. It makes sense, so I once again opened my wallet and tossed the old credit card on the counter.

It always hurts to make repairs to the truck and camper. Linda and I have talked about this many times. We came to the conclusion long ago that we love our house on wheels, we use it more than most people use theirs, therefore we will always make the needed repairs. In fact, we have a savings account set aside for repairs.

Finally, after a week and a half and several dips into the Repair account, we now have a truck and camper that runs like a dream. No bumping or wobbling. We are once again ready to hit the road!

Looking back. It's a long line!

We slid out onto the highway at about 10:45 AM and pointed the nose of the truck west with our sights set on Cle Elum, WA, on our way to Fort Worden to meet up with Don and Caroline Samuelson. We were looking to boondock at one of our favorite spots that we use when we drive to the Seattle area.

All was well and we were cruising along when suddenly the traffic slowed to a snail's crawl. We had just passed the rest area by Sprague Lake when the traffic started backing up.

There was nothing we could do except crawl along at maybe ten miles an hour for twelve miles. At the end of the jam, a lone semi-truck filled with onions sat at the side of the road, totally burned up. We never heard or read anything about what happened.

Forward doesn't look good either. 

We pulled into our boondocking spot in Cle Elum and settled in for the night.  We ate dinner and took a walk. Then it was off to sleep.

Community gardens in Cle Elum.

In the morning we did our thing and got ready quickly and efficiently. Our fuel tank was full because we took time to fill up before we stopped for the overnight stay.  As we drove out of town, we stopped at Safeway for our traditional shared road breakfast, a deli burrito and a donut.

We hit the road for day two of our adventure. We did a quick stop at the North Bend Outlet Mall so Linda could do a bit of looking around before we took I-90 to Hwy 18, 18 to I-5, then on to Hwy 16 (Gig Habor), Hwy 3 (Bremerton), Hwy 104  (Shine), and then on into Ft. Worden State Park.  Did you get all that?

Point Wilson Lighthouse.

I will explain that part of the trip was filled with a large amount of construction, huge amounts of traffic, and speedy rude drivers. We made it to our campsite just a little later than we had planned and were happy to be finished.

Don and Caroline were all set up in their camp spot. we pulled in across the road from them and got set up.

Otters checking out the Coho.

Caroline loaded us into their car and took us down to the lighthouse where she wanted to fish. There were no locals fishing and she didn't catch anything. We did see seals and Linda was approached by a sea otter. The little critter almost walked on Linda's shoes before he scampered off.  As we left the beach a couple local fishermen came down. Caroline chatted and the info they gave pointed to poor fishing.

We spent the evening talking and enjoying being with Don and Caroline.

The next day was a bit of a blur, but the highlight was Caroline catching a Coho from shore. She had been researching fishing in this area and sure enough she hit one! I spent most of the day feeling under the weather. 

One of the bunkers which housed
the coastal artillery.

Finally, it was 6 PM and we turned on the Presidential debate. All of us were nervous and hoped the best for VP Kamala Harris. She didn't let us down. Now we need to get her elected as President!

The next few days were filled with debate talk and fishing. Cohos were starting to run so we fished early afternoons to try and catch one. Of the four days of fishing only one fish was landed by Caroline. Overall, we were early, and only one day displayed fish moving and catchable. We fished hard anyway.

On Friday we quietly got ready and hit the road. We set our sights on Wanapum State Park Campground and exited Ft. Worden early, trying to miss Tacoma traffic. Our route back to the east side turned out to be easier than we anticipated and we pulled into the campground very early. Our site was empty so we settled in and enjoyed the sunshine. 

On Saturday we drove home with no problems. WSU was in the Apple Cup against Washington and we were able to watch the game. Cougs won, which was good. We were happy to be back home and as usual, we started cleaning the camper and getting ready for our next adventure.

Beautiful evening with a view.

Alaska Cruising

 Note: Due to the large number of photos, the photos will follow the trip sections. Hope it is not too confusing.

At 5 AM we pulled the car out of the garage and met our next-door neighbors, Steve and Jodi, standing with their bags in the driveway.  We filled up the back of the car and made sure the houses were locked. We were on our way.  We were headed to Seattle to catch our Oceania cruise ship, Regatta. The drive was smooth with only one traffic slowdown along the way. We arrived with plenty of time to park the car, grab a shuttle, and embark on this ten-day Alaska adventure.

Getting checked in at the pier was very straightforward and within an hour we were on board where we met Don and Caroline, the final pair of our cruise group.  We had a couple hours to explore the boat. We chose to spend most of our time out in the Seattle sun; a rarity we could not pass up.

Our ship cast off at 5:00 PM and we watched the skyline of Seattle disappear. The sun was low in the west, and everything was washed with the light of one of the year's longest days.  We were cruising the inside passage on our way north to Alaska.

After the air turned chilly, we headed inside, got settled in our rooms, and gathered in the dining room where we had our first meal. The food was very good. It would obviously take some experimentation to figure out the ins and outs of meals on the ship, but we had lots of time to work that out. With dinner behind us, we went for an evening stroll on deck 9 and then turned in for the night.

The next morning at breakfast our ship approached Cambell River on our port side.  Linda and I have traveled to this small town at least three times. One of the visits was when we drove up to Port Hardy to fish with John and Loretta Sutherland.  As we watched the town drift by we chatted about our other adventure which brought back memories of staying a night at an RV campground that overlooked the inside passage.  Within an hour we actually spotted that campground on the port side.  We were sure that it was the place we had stayed.  I looked up the post in the Canyonwren Travels blog and sure enough, it was the same campground.  

The islands of the inland passage were amazing! We moved steadily along with an ever-changing horizon on all sides. We were able to spot several whale spouts and I caught a brief photo of one humping up to dive.  We spent quite a bit of time looking for whales but they were few and far between on this trip. We were lucky to spot those that we did.  

As we watch the boat move through the straits, we spotted some Dalls Porpoises playing in the wake around the ship. Linda was near some folks as they spotted the porpoise. One of them said with great confidence that they were viewing a pod of baby Orchas. The black and white colors of the Dalls do resemble Orchas, but they are very small compared to actual killer whales.  Later on, the ship's naturalist explained the differences and set everyone straight on that issue.

We moved north and entered Seymour Narrows. This area is very narrow (hence the name) and the tidal currents are amazingly strong. Once through the tight narrows, we gathered for a fun game of Skip-Bo.  We played on until we drew near an area that we were told was one of the best places to see whales and other sea life.  Blackney Passage is another narrows where the ship has to move carefully through. The concentration of krill, a small sea crustacean and the main food of baleen whales, is very great. Because of the krill, whales gather to feed except for when we traveled through the passage. We spent time up on the rails, watching and hoping, but luck avoided us.

Once past the areas of ocean life, we went to dinner at one of the specialty restaurants onboard called the Polo Grill.  We had a wonderful meal, but in the end, it was obvious that we had to approach meals in a different manner. There was way too much food and everyone overate.  By the end of our trip, everyone had come up with a way to eat without eating too much.  It is a skill you have to work on every time you sit down to dine.

We had a beautiful view as we left Seattle.

Caroline and Linda enjoyed the views.

Linda, Steve, and Jodie settled right in.

View of the sun deck area of the ship.

View from the inside passage of a campground
we stayed at in 2006.

Photo taken in 2006 of a ship in the passage.

Yes, we had great weather through the passage.

Don, enjoying the scenery going by.

Dalls porpoises, not baby killer whales.

The only whale photo I was able to take.

On Sunday we dropped the hook in the waters of Ketchikan where we would then tender into the heart of the town. It was a nice day with no rain and we were given a shopping assignment by Caroline.  Caroline asked if Linda and I could walk to Creek Street and go to the shop that sold the Ray Troll shirts, calendars, and other items. There she wanted us to pick up three calendars that she would use as gifts. 

When we disembarked from the tender we walked to a large outfitters store where I bought a new hat to keep the sun off my ears.  We looked for souvenirs but did not find anything we liked besides the sun hat. Then we walked to the Soho Coho, the store where Ray Troll sells his artwork, and selected three calendars. While we shopped we noticed a quiet fellow behind the counter who was talking with a customer. The customer asked him if they could have a photo with him. We then knew that the man behind the counter was Ray Troll himself. We were surprised and a little shy about asking him for an autograph, so we shopped and bought our gifts.  On the way out of the shop, we noticed some pottery that looked familiar. Sure enough, it turns out that it was created by a friend that we had met down in Melaque, AnnMarie DeCollibus.  We thought that was so cool! 

Near our dock in Ketchikan.

Linda liked the sign until she realized what she was seeing,
then she really liked it and thought it was hilarious.

At the entrance to Creek Street.

The red light district of Ketchikan.

AnneMarie's art; quite the find!

Looking up Creek Street.

We toured the town and caught a tender back. That evening we ate dinner in the Grand Dining Room and then took a late evening tour of the upper decks to see if we could spot some whales. We were told by the ship's biologist that this area was full of whales and the odds were in our favor to spot some of those mammals.  We spent about an hour and a half looking for signs of anything.  The sun sets very late up north and we were able to see well till about 10:30 PM. We got chilled and never spotted anything, but it was fun trying.

At Icy Strait Point (Hoonah,) Alaska we anchored in the bay. Linda and I took a tender into the port.  This whole port had been established to provide livelihoods to the island residents, the vast majority of which were First Nation.  Everything was centered around the cruise ships and is all very new.

We disembarked the tender and walked up to a very new gondola. There we stepped into a cable car and were transported straight up to the top of a nearby mountain. This gondola takes you to an area where you can ride the world's largest ZipRider, featuring 6 ziplines dropping 1330 feet. Linda and I did not sign up for the ZipRider but it looked really fun. Our gondola dropped us at the mountain top and we walked around for a bit. The view was obstructed by fog, but if the fog hadn't been there, we would have had a grand view at the overlook.

We rode back down to the base and then hiked a nature trail over to the old cannery area where the shops, museum, and food were located. It's a very nice place to look around, but Linda and I avoided spending anything at this stop.

Back on board our ship, we went to dinner at Toscana Italian Dining Restaurant. The food was very good and made for a wonderful evening.

Hoonah gondola to the top and ziplines.

Riding up. Our ship was the smaller one.

The next morning everyone was atwitter. It was the day we sailed to visit the Hubbard Glacier.  The weather was slightly foggy as we approached Yakutat Bay. The captain came on the intercom and explained that we would sail into the bay and then weather permitting we would go as close as possible to the glacier. This all depended on the icebergs that had been calving off the face of the glacier and the local weather that the glacier itself creates.  We glided into the bay and as we drew closer to the far end, the fog lifted!  What a spectacular sight.  There was one larger ship near the glacier, so we stopped and slowly rotated giving our ship a 360-degree view of the area.  

Due to the iceberg flows near the glacier face, our captain explained that he felt it unsafe for our ship to get closer, so we remained at our original location as we viewed this amazing place.

After a couple hours, we moved out of the bay and headed to our next port located in Sitka, AK. We would cruise all night and would be at the port for our morning tender ride to shore. 

Entering the bay to see Hubbard Glacier.

OK, a bit carried away with photos here, but
can you blame me?

Enough already!

The next morning we woke up on the hook and caught our tender shuttle to shore, where we met our guides for a tour of the Alaska Raptor Center and a guided walk through a forest.

Our guide named Sam was from Florida and she had been working summers in Sitka with her family. She was quite knowledgeable about the area and we were able to learn quite a bit about totems and the local history. We really enjoyed the tour and the weather cooperated providing a short period of rain and low clouds. 

One of the guests at the Alaska Raptor Center.

We learned all about totems.

Russia owned Alaska at one point, 
thus the Russian Orthodox Church.

Thursday morning, June 29th, we were anchored in Juneau, AK.  We left the ship and found the bus that we had arranged for a tour of the Mendenhall Glacier. On our first cruise to Alaska back in 2013, we also visited the glacier. We wanted to find out if we could see if the glacier was retreating due to global warming.  Steve, Jodie, Linda, and I left our bus and hiked the trail out to Nugget Falls. We goofed around taking photos and then hiked back to the main glacier viewing area and took more pictures.  Check out the two photos from our first trip and see if you can see that the glacier has retreated.

In town, we did some shopping and visited the various sights of Juneau. We took a photo of the Red Dog Saloon. The last time we visited, we spent some time in the saloon but this time an exterior photo was all we had for our visit.

Mendenhall Glacier today.

Mendenhall Glacier in 2013.

Now.

Then... Global warning?

Twins!

The Red Dog Saloon is a very popular place.

Back on board the ship we had lunch and then watched Juneau fade into the distance. Our next stop was the small town of Wrangell.

When we woke in the morning we were docked at Wrangell. Our group gathered on the pier and we walked along the bay to an area where petroglyphs could be found among the rocks. They have provided beach access for wheelchairs, so Don and Caroline were able to go with us. The petroglyphs are on the beach among the rocks. You can wander around to inspect them. The site is a sacred site for the First Nation people so the government is trying to keep everything as natural as possible. This means that the ocean tides have been scrubbing the rocks and someday the glyphs will be hard to see. 

From this point, our group split up and went in several directions. Linda and Jodie hiked inclines and stairs up to the top of Mt. Dewey. It was quite the hike, over 1000 steps. They said it was definitely worth it. The view of the whole town and surrounding area was beautiful.

Steve and I went looking for Dan Roope's fly shop somewhere in town.  Dan Roope is a Coeur d'Alene native who moved to Wrangell many years ago. I thought a stop at the shop might be nice, but we decided that his shop was probably in his home and we didn't want to hike too deep into the city's neighborhoods to make an appearance.

Don and Caroline did a bit of shopping and returned to the ship.

Everyone boarded the ship and it headed out to cruise the Outside Passage around Vancouver Island. This passage is always anticipated because the ship travels in the open ocean and many times the seas are a bit rough.  We were lucky, however, and the movement on the ship didn't wasn't enough to bother anyone too much.

Wrangell panorama.

Back to the future. The phone book
 was from 1995.

Our final port was located at Victoria, British Columbia, Canada on Vancouver Island.  The ship was moored at the pier next to a huge Carnival Cruise ship that held 4500 passengers.  We exited our ship as quickly as possible so that we could be on our next tour before the thousands of passengers exited their boat. Our tour was to the famous Butchart Gardens. 

This stop was one of the tours that Linda was super excited to see.  Our bus took us right to the gate and our entire group entered and explored the beautiful gardens. Even with all the people, the gardens were spectacular. So much color and variety. It definitely lived up to all the hype. When we had explored the sights, we got back on the bus and shuttled back to our ship.

It was early enough that Linda, Jodie, and I were able to take a walk out on the breakwater near our ship. When we returned we cleaned up and everyone met for our final group dinner before we disembarked our ship early in the morning.

That evening after dinner everyone said their goodbyes and returned to their cabins. Baggage needed to be packed and placed in the hallways before 10 PM, so that the crew could get them organized and transported to the area where we disembarked.

The next morning we woke up, showered, and enjoyed our final room service.  We met Steve and Jodie and we exited our ship together gathering up all our luggage as we went.  

Our shuttle took us to our car and we packed it full for the final leg of our journey. Traffic was a bit crowded in Seattle, but once we got out of the business areas, it was smooth going.  Linda and I took turns driving and we had a relatively uneventful trip back home. 

We decided to embark on this adventure for several reasons. Exploring Alaska still calls to me. We haven't been able to put a trip of our own together yet. This was a way to get a quick bite of some of the places we've wanted to see to put them on the list for a longer visit next time. Most importantly, this was a time to spend with good friends and leave some cares and responsibilities for a while. We enjoyed this exploration and time spent with people we love.