Last month I explained that the initial purpose of this trip was to attend the Escapees Escapade in Rock Springs, Wyoming and then explore the mountain bike race courses in Oregon and the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. Our plan for next year (2025) is to attend at least 7 mountain bike races presented by Mudslinger Events. To that end, we still had several courses to ride.

Corvalis, Oregon was our first stop in July. The home of the University of Oregon. When I think of Oregon, I think of green trees, hills, mountains, rivers, and lakes. That’s not Corvalis. As we left the eastern side of Oregon, we crossed over the mountains and dropped into a flat land filled with grass and hay fields and some trees. Not much different than the AZ desert, just not quite as hot and more grassy vegetation. The locals were all complaining about how hot it was. It was below triple digits so we felt fine.

Blodgett was the first course to ride. This small town is nestled in a forested area with lush green trees and hills along the coast. The trails are located within the Tum Tum Tree Farm. Throughout the ride, there were signs that indicated when the various sections were planted and subsequently cut or thinned and several of them had been cut 2 or 3 times and yet the trees were primarily tall enough to block out the sunlight. This was pretty amazing to this desert dweller.

We then took a day and drove to the Silver Falls State Park. This had to be my 2nd favorite race course. While I rode, Teri hiked the same trails and tried her hand at fishing. The trees, damp ground, hills and the meticulously maintained trails made this a favorite of ours. After riding and hiking, we checked out some fishing holes but they were too busy as it was the 4th of July weekend. Teri had scouted out some waterfalls during her hike so off we went to explore waterfalls. We started with the North Falls. A short mile long hike to a pool at the base of a 100 ft high waterfall. We were told there should be decent fishing in the pool, but there were too many people. The most exciting fall was the South Fall. This hike was not long, but it had about a bizillion stairs to climb down. Remember, what goes down, has to come back up. There was no escalator or elevator. Once down the stairs, we were treated to an amazing view of a waterfall 177 ft high (yes, I looked it up). But the best part is that as we continued along the trail we found ourselves behind the sheer wall of water cascading from above our heads. No, we weren’t close enough to get wet. The trail was within a cave-like feature that was about 20+ ft from the wall of water. An amazing view.

Our last stop while in the area was Newport. While I rode, Teri walked this seaside town. It is what I consider a traditional seacoast town. The main street is narrow with tourist style businesses lining the street on both sides. A couple blocks to the west and you are on the beach of the Pacific Ocean. This beach is not like the beaches in southern California though. The temperatures are much lower and the water is colder. Only a few brave souls were actually in the water. Teri marveled at the arts and crafts and antique stores that lined the streets. She went to the VERY COOL Seal Rock on the beach and marveled at the tide pools. She also visited the Aquarium located in town. Meanwhile, I was at the race venue in the trees on a 2 track service road. It was a cool 48 degrees in the shade amongst the trees. Don’t be fooled though, this was ‘mountainous’ with the hills rising several hundred feet above the town. As I finished riding the course, I rode into town to find Teri. I was riding on a back street approaching the entrance/exit to the hospital. I saw a car approaching the exit from the parking lot and it was slowing so I continued to pedal. Imagine my horror when the car did not stop as it entered the road and I was looking at the hood ornament not 3 feet from my right leg before the old lady stopped. She then glared at me like it was my fault. Some people should not have drivers licenses nor be allowed to drive. Also, there’s never a cop around when you need one (pun intended because if you know my history, I was a police officer for 40 years). I subsequently found Teri as my heart slid down from my throat and my body quit shaking.

It was time to move on. We stopped in Chehalis, Washington for a quick visit with Jessica (Teri’s neice) and Patrick and their family. It was a wonderful visit. We had reserved our nightly stop over through Harvest Hosts at the Veterans Memorial Museum. As we pulled up to the front door of the museum in the motorhome, I saw the caretaker locking up the gates. I asked where he wanted us to park and he said we could park right on the road against the curb. They were closed for the night and would not be open for another 2 days as it was the weekend. Unfortunately, we were unable to visit the museum. There were several pieces of equipment on display in an outdoor exhibit. He said the items had been donated by the various branches of the military and had seen actual combat. Typically a Harvest Host location asks for a donation as they don’t charge for overnight stays. In this case, I offered a donation but he refused asking us to come back another time. We will definitely be back!

From here we moved on to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. Our first stop was Hoodsport which is on the eastern side of the Peninsula. The road to get there is narrow and winding and had us both white knuckled, especially as other RV’s or semi trucks came at us from the opposite direction. Finally we made it to our campground. From our front window we could see the Hood Canal. This is not anything like the canals in AZ. This is a river about 1 mile wide. It flows all the way from the Salish Sea, which to the best of my knowledge is part of the Pacific Ocean. In any case, it’s a lot of water. Our time was spent sightseeing and hiking. You probably could have guessed that. A quick drive to Bremerton on the eastern side of the Hood Canal and hiking in the Olympic National Forest and along the Skokomish River. We got up early one morning and made the 2 hour drive to the North Fork of the Skokomish River to fish. We had been told there were some nice trout in the area. As we arrived we saw an orange sign that indicated Fire Activity. 100 yards beyond that was another Fire Activity sign facing the opposite direction. We could smell smoke in the area but didn’t see anyone around. We parked at the trailhead, put on our fishing waders and vests, set up our poles and squirmed our way down the embankment to the river. We found a pool that looked promising after about 20 minutes of searching and then I heard vehicles approaching. A lot of them. I saw the front of one of the vehicles. It had a white fender with a green horizontal stripe similar to a Forest Service vehicle. Up the bank I went and approached one of the drivers. I asked if it was ok for us to be fishing where we were and he directed me to the Incident Commander (IC). This gentleman told me the entire area was closed due to forest fire activity. He said he didn’t know the area well as he and his team were the Midewin Hotshots out of Illinois. He informed me that the fire was out and they were there for final suppression efforts but we would have to leave. No problem. As we were packing up, another group of vehicles arrived and parked a little south of the Midewin vehicles. As Teri and I drove past, one of the team stepped out to the Jeep and asked “Do you have our breakfast?” in a very friendly tone. I laughingly informed him we had been kicked out before we could catch anything. He laughed. He and his team were the Grayback Hotshots from Grants Pass, Oregon. He told us that some kids had been camping and shot off fireworks for the 4th of July. I had the impression the kids were younger, but don’t have confirmation. What idiot/s would light fireworks in the forest?! Later in our travels, eastern Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho and Montana would all have active wildland fires. So we made the best of the day and visited the Staircase Rapids on the Skokomish River crossing a swaying suspension bridge (not our first time) and a log built bridge.

The next stop was Sequim (pronounced skwim) near Port Angeles at the northern end of the Peninsula. We found that trying to get an RV campground reservation was challenging as these are prime summer vacation places. We should have made our reservations months prior. Another interesting fact is that the sun is up and it is light until 9pm or later. This means the kids are all up later and then everyone sleeps in. Fortunately our motorhome is fairly insulated so we don’t hear a lot of the noise when we go to bed around 8pm. But we are also up before the sun rises around 5am and are getting busy for the day while everyone else is sleeping. We stayed at the John Wayne Waterfront Resort near the Olympic Discovery Trail. We learned John Wayne would vacation here regularly and there was more to the story that I don’t remember.

The Olympic Discovery Trail is a multi-use paved path that provides a wonderful bike or hiking trail. At one end (not the end but where we stopped) is the Dungeness River Nature Center and the other end just continues on for miles and miles. Teri called it the coolest trail ever. It is designated as a multi-use trail and spans 135 miles between Port Townsend and La Push on the Pacific coast. Traveling along the path you pass through neighborhoods, schools, parks and cross a river or several.

Port Townsend was a short drive from Sequim and we watched the ferries travel across the Hood canal while we ate lunch and then walked the town. Port Townsend is loaded with history with many of the buildings being built in the late 1800’s. As we walked we could see signs depicting the history of the town, how it was built and could still walk into some of the old underground areas. One diner we walked past had the appearance of a soda shop from the 1950’s with the checkerboard floor and the spinning stools at the bar. A trip out to the Marine Science Center Aquarium provided us with insight into some of the aquatic life in the area and the story of capturing and saving whales. We finished the day with a trip to the US Coast Guard Point Wilson Lighthouse.

A day trip to Port Angeles provided us with more history and another underground tour. This one was not as exciting or entertaining as others we have participated in. However the tour was educational as our guide provided us with insight as to how the town was built by knocking away the hillsides with powerful water canons and the ingenious way the town was built above the tide plains. There is a huge wall sized mural that we were treated to. As we approached we could see 2 boats on the water with several children on shore. Both boats were facing us as we stood to the right of the mural and the kids were looking in various directions. One girl in particular, in a bright red dress was looking out at us as we stood to the right. Our guide led us past the mural to the left side and stopped and instructed us to look at the mural again. This time, the smaller boat had changed direction was now facing us as we stood to the left. It was facing in a different direction than the other boat. The girl in the red dress? She was now looking at us again and had followed us with her head and eyes and we walked across the face of the mural. Somehow the artist had created this amazing optical illusion. The wall was solid stone with no holes where the eyes were, I checked. Photos can’t accurately capture the artistic impression of this mural.

Our last adventure in Port Angeles was the Moment in Time and Marymere Falls Trailhead. These were short hikes but had amazing views. We walked among some giant trees, some as much as 100 ft tall and 6-10 ft wide. The crude but well constructed and maintained bridges were fun to cross which led to some fantastic waterfall views. One little squirrel was too intent on eating his nut that he couldn’t be bothered by us.

The next stop was Forks, WA. This town is on the western edge of the state and is famous for the Twilight saga, a TV series about vampires. We found all types of souvenir items for the series throughout the town. The drive to get here was white-knuckled and hair raising. The normal route would be on the US 101 highway however this was closed due to bridge construction. The re-route was to WA 112 and WA 113. The road is narrow and twisting with blind corners that required a speed of less than 15 mph. Some of the switchbacks were so tight I could see the back of the Jeep as we towed it behind the motorhome. Once we arrived, we were exhausted. We stopped in at the Logging Museum and signed up for a logging tour. The caretaker of the museum, Kurt, was from Apache Junction and we shared stories. The museum wasn’t large but had a significant number of tools used through the ages for logging timber in the PNW. We took a day drive to the Hoh Rain Forest and completed an interpretive hike through moss covered trees and sights such as we have never seen before. I can’t imagine living in an area with so much rain and humidity but the sights were spellbinding. As Forks was a major logging hub, they pay tribute to the logging industry and have a huge locomotive on display. The drivetrain was quite different than most. We tried fishing various spots several times but each time we came up empty. A bit frustrating but it was an adventure and beautiful scenery.

One of our hikes took us out to Clallam Bay on the Cape Alava Trail. This was a 7 mile round trip hike. We arrived at low tide. As this is a bay, there are no waves but you can definitely see the signs of the changing tides. While we stood on the beach admiring the view, we were approached by a doe, 2 fawns and what we think was a yearling deer. The doe approached to within 10 feet and did not seem to be disturbed by us.

The logging tour was narrated by Randy, a retired logger. He drove a group of us out to an operational logging site. There we were able to marvel at the job of skinning logs, piling them and finally loading them onto trucks for transport to the mill as he described each aspect of the operation. The trip was extremely educational and as Teri says, jaw dropping cool. At the end of the tour he took us to a cedar mill. Here is where they skin the lumber to make cedar tiles for roofs and various other projects.

Our last stop on the Olympic Peninsula was at the south western end in Hoquiam. The park we stayed at is right on the rivers edge that leads to/from the sea and the level rises and falls with the tides. Our neighbors, Andrew and his wife were from Switzerland and it turns out he was a Capitol Police Officer from Bern. He worked in the mobile force and drove a water cannon truck similar to a fire truck. It is used to combat riots. The stories of our careers were similar and we had a wonderful visit. The town of Hoquiam is an industrial town that has seen better days. It looks run down due to the weather but also appears old as there does not appear to be any new business to generate new development. In it’s prime it was a logging community as the trees were floated down the river and handled by the timber mills before being shipped out. Although logging is still a bustling industry in the area, this town has seen better days.

After spending 2 weeks on the Olympic Peninsula we moved inland and stopped off to see Dan and Brenda in Bonney Lake near Seattle. We parked our house in their driveway and spent several days visiting with them and relaxing. I tried to get out for some bike riding but the area is not bike friendly. There are no bike lanes and no shoulders but I found the drivers to be mostly respectful. There is a wonderful rail trail that spans a couple hours of riding once I got to it. I also found a mountain biking area on the map and decided to try it one morning. So off I went riding from the house to the trailhead. It was about a 45 minute ride to the trailhead. After about 30 minutes, I was climbing a service road through the trees when I heard a bang from the rear wheel. I didn’t see anything wrong, but quickly determined that the hub had disintegrated. I could no longer pedal. An hour later I arrived back at the house. It is no fun walking in riding shoes. A few phone calls and I learned that there might be 1 wheel in the entire state but that shop wouldn’t be open for 3 days. The short story, is that when the shop opened 3 days later, they had the wheel. The only one in the state of Washington. Meanwhile I had also contacted one of the sponsors of Level 10 Racing (my race team), Berd Spokes, and ordered a new set of wheels from them. They agreed to send the wheels to one of our future destinations as a courtesy because they normally only ship to stores. Thank you Berd Spokes.

Much of our time in the Bonney Lake area was assisting Teri’s daughter in finding a new apartment. What a pain that was. Apartment rent is so expensive, I don’t understand how anyone can afford it. We also found out how difficult it is to co-sign or be a guarantor for a renter. For one thing, these apartment companies don’t know how to deal with someone who is not working (retired) and receiving a pension. I was denied as a guarantor because I don’t have a current employer, no current payroll income and no current rental history. It was very frustrating for us and Jessie. We eventually found an apartment for her and we had a wonderful time visiting.

As the month started to wind down, we moved back to the coast starting in the Astoria, Oregon area. The good: this is a wonderful town with lots of history and wonderful views. It is just a short drive to Tillamook, Oregon where the Tillamook Creamery is located. Cheese, ice cream, milk and a lesson in how they make everything and you can spend hours here with the opportunity to taste test everything. We took a day drive a bit further south on the coast to Garibaldi and took a scenic train ride to Rockaway Beach. Both of these towns are located on the ocean and are full of history and views. Rockaway Beach hosts an International Police Museum. We had stopped in at the museum about 7 years ago when we were in the area and were now disappointed to learn that the museum had been moved and was only a small display of what it used to be. After walking along the main street and taking in the sights, we boarded the train for the return trip to Garibaldi.

In Seaside, Oregon we had made reservations at the Thousand Trails RV park and since this is a membership park (we are not members) I expected this to be a very welcoming and inviting park. I was wrong. The average nightly cost was $100 although there was a different rate for each night as we were there from Wednesday to Saturday. As we arrived at the entrance to the park, we were stopped at a gated entrance with a guard shack and 2 employees in the shack. There is no office. Initially, they were unable to find our reservation and said we hadn’t paid, although I had receipts and emails with our confirmation. Our reservations had been separated into multiple reservations rather than 1 continuous reservation. In the meantime, RV’s are piling up behind us blocking the road because there is only 1 lane to enter the park. The exit lane has spikes so if you tried to enter through the exit, you’d puncture your tires. Once we had the reservation issue fixed we were informed we could search for a site and could setup in any available site. They did inform us that they were getting busy and they did not know where we might find a site that would accommodate us. 30 minutes later, after disconnecting the Jeep and driving the Jeep to find a site, we found one. It was less than ideal but it was sufficient. The sites were gravel with narrow grass areas as living spaces. The grass was tinged brown and not cut nor manicured. For $100 per night I expected a much more pleasing and welcoming environment. The rental rules stated there were no refunds issued and if we left early, we would not be refunded the nights, so we decided to stay and make the most of our time in the area. As a side note, we have stayed in much nicer, more inviting parks for less than 1/2 the cost of this park. Thousand Trails has not earned my seal of approval, I will not recommend them to anyone and I will not stay at another one. There is so much more I could say about this park and the management but none of it is nice, so I won’t say it.

Onward. Our next stop was Lincoln City. The drive from Astoria to Lincoln City was along the US 101 route. This road, like many others we’ve traveled on this trip, is narrow but in most cases has sufficient shoulders. Some of the corners can be a bit tight but not white knuckled. This is also the route of the Oregon Coast Bicycle Route so there were bicyclists all along the route. In one situation, as we entered a tunnel, there were 2 bicyclists ahead of us and there was no bike lane or shoulder. We turned on the hazard lights and just idled through the tunnel behind them until they were able to move off the roadway. I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of patience other drivers had for cyclists along this highway. As we topped out above Cannon Beach, we had an amazing view of the seashore and beach that stretched out for miles and about 1000 ft below us. Such an amazing view. All along the route there are small coastal towns with the US 101 being the main thoroughfare and the cars are a steady stream through the towns. One of our favorite stops is Lincoln City Glass where we marveled at the creativity of the glass blowers as we watched them perfecting their craft.

All through our trip we had commented on the lack of rain and the amazing weather we had, albeit a bit warm. That changed quickly. We awoke one morning to the rain and a steady drizzle all day along with the wind picking up. We took a day drive south to Depoe Bay along with a stop in Boiler Bay. As we stood at the overlook of Boiler Bay we could see gray whales blowing water spouts and breaching the ocean water. As the day was overcast, they tended to blend in with the sky and water but it was still a wonderful sight.

Our last stop of the month was in North Bend, north of Coos Bay. We stayed at the Oregon Dunes KOA. Why we chose this park, we don’t have a clue. It was a very nice park and we enjoyed the stay but the primary activity is driving off-road vehicles out on the sand dunes. We enjoyed visiting the area but this was the wrong park for us. Yes, we would stay here again. We did take a drive to Cape Arago to see the sea lions. It was a long drive and we wish we had been closer. Oh, and we forgot the binoculars. Oh well. Just another excuse to visit again in the future.

So this brings us to the end of July. A very busy month. Some amazing memories and the opportunity to visit with friends and family. The trip isn’t over, so stay tuned for next month.

Thanks for traveling with us. Stay Safe.