THURSDAY 30 JULY 2020; ANACORTES, WA

July 30, 2020; Anacortes, WA

It is a beautiful morning here.  Rob went off to sit by the water.  I walked down with Bella to see where he was.  I looked down the shore and there was an Eagle sitting on a post.  Just as I called out to Rob to look the eagle took flight and flew right in front of us from the left into the trees on our right.  It was beautiful.

We wanted to do perhaps three things today.  Go to Marine store to see about getting Rob's Paddle board fixed, go for a drive around Fidalgo Island to include Deception Pass which we heard offered a beautiful view of Mt Baker, and perhaps play some golf.

We headed out and stopped in at Banana Belt Boat and Yacht Sales.  We met with Gary, the broker and told him what we were interested in.  He didn't have a 31' Ranger Tug.  It is the biggest boat that can be trailered and we are very interested in seeing if we could live on it because being able to take our boat on a trailer would be awesome.  We could buy it here.  Learn it and live on it up here in the San Juan Islands and then take it back south east to to the loop and then bring it back here or take it down to Baja.  He did have a Ranger 29'. That is what our friends have and what they are living on up here.  They live down at the Ranch where we live in the Winter and then spend their summers up here cruising around the San Juan Islands.  They are the ones who told us about the Great Loop and started this whole thing for us. We got on the 29' and looked in the state room.  No window, no drawers, no closet, no way!

He showed us some others. One in particular we both fell in love with everything about it.  a 42' Ocean Alexander.  Especially the master stateroom which is aft.  It has a walk-around bed with drawers and windows and cabinets and a beautiful head and it was lovely.

Wow! It was a reasonable price as well.  Only problem.....It is here in the Pacific Northwest.  How do we get it to Florida to start the Great Loop.  Sail it down the west coast, through the Panama Canal, across the souther US?  Um I don't think we could do that...Hire a Captain to do it for us?  $500.00 per day? Ya, No.  Ship it?!

So we are here looking for ideas only.We also looked at a couple 36 footers.  A Monk Trawler and Grand Banks.  Both of them had the same layout as the Ocean Alexander.  But on those the galley was level with the salon and there were tons of window everywhere.  That is my choice now.  6 feet shorter save at least $12. per night marina fees, plus the fuel cost will be less.

At least now we know.

We went to the Marine store and it sounds questionable as to whether or not we can get Rob's paddle board fixed.  Apparently the seam is the most difficult to repair successfully.  We called a shop that does repairs and are waiting for a call back.

We drove around the island.  Skyline Marina was pretty and you can tell what a beautiful clear and sunny day it was.

We stopped just before Deception Pass Bridge for views of the bridge and Oak Harbor Bay.

Then we crossed the bridge onto Whidbey Island. We parked there and got out to take pictures and go for a hike.

Eagle sitting on a branch watching the water.  

Mt. Baker

The Hike was .9 miles down to West Beach, but it started under the base of the Bridge.

We got down to the beach In a couple places. They are sand blasting and painting the bridges. It is really loud even all the way over here.

We finally got to West Beach which is a huge and very crowded beach. 

We thought we would walk back along the beach rather than the trail.  The trail went through the woods and the were some sorta steep and pretty rooty parts.  As it turned out though we first had to scramble over some rocks.

It was still fun and a good little 2 mile hike.  

From there we went to Bellingham.  There is a 31’ Ranger Tug there for sell and we wanted to see if that extra two feet would make a difference for us so that we could be happy with a trailerable boat.  We met with James who is another broker.  He showed us the boat.  It is definitely a no go.  At least now we know what we want.  We thanked him for his time and decided the best thing to do is to contact Curtis Stokes.  He is a broker in the south east and a sponsor of the great loop.  We will get him to find a boat for us somewhere down on the loop.

We were hungry so we headed back toward home.  We went to the Cabana which is next door to and owned by Anthony’s.  It had a bit of a wait so we wandered around a bit.  I had a really yummy Poke bowl with ahi, edamame, pineapple, cabbage, seaweed and rice.  Rob had fish tacos.  Both meals were really good.

We came back to the RV.  This place has a club house right on the water.  It is closed, but it has a patio with tables, chairs and umbrellas. So we sat out there for the evening watching the activities on the water.  There were a couple swimmers, kayakers and off in the distance we saw they were having sailboat races.

While sitting there and Eagle flew right in front of us with a fish in its mouth.  Then it turned back and flew up into the tree.  I looked and saw it was sitting up on a branch.  While I was pointing it out to another woman a second one flew up and joined the first one.

How cool is that? Also while sitting there we saw a seal swimming and fish jumping.  It was really a lovely eventing.

It started getting dark so we came inside and watched the rest of the movie “old Guard” from the night before.  It was pretty good.

Our friends Craig and Pam drove all the way from Grants Pass, OR to their home in Rancho Cucamonga yesterday. 13 hours I believe.  Crazy.  They aren’t much of vacationers.  

WEDNESDAY; 29 JULY 2020; LEAVENWORTH TO ANACORTES

Wednesday, 29 July

I woke up at 6:25, looked down the way and Craig and Pam were gone.  She said she wanted to leave at 7 am, but they must have left at 6.  I hope they stop a lot.  I believe they were going to Grants Pass and that it was a 6 hour drive.  That would put them there before they would be able to get a spot.

I took Bella out for a little walk then alternated between putting things up for travel and working on the blog.  The wifi isn't very strong and it takes forever to get the pictures. When Rob takes pictures with his phone he has to send them to me.  That sometimes takes forever if it happens at all. It gets very frustrating.

Im antzy this morning.  I want to get on the road.  Its only a 3.5 hour drive so we can't really leave until 10 or we will get there before we can check in.

We did get on the road by 10.  I had to stop for fuel immediately.  Rob kept going.  It took me an hour to catch him on the road again.

It was a pretty drive through the mountains.

Once we go on the other side we got an incredible view of Mt Baker. It is 10,781 feet tall.  It was a pretty view.

After catching Rob I decided to zoom ahead rather than follow him.  With the new truck I don't worry about him breaking down anymore.  When we traveled before I would zoom ahead and go check into the RV park.  Then I could find the best route for Rob and direct him in if needed.  Also, if there was something cool I wanted to take a picture of I could stop.

I did go to the RV park and checked us in. I told him the road leading to Fidalgo Bay was horrible and that he needed to go slow.

I parked the jeep and then Bella and I went for a walk.  There is a walking/bike path right next to us.  It goes across the bay in one direction and into town the other way..  I could see the road across the bay so I would be able to see Rob when he started down it.  He was 20 minutes behind me.

At the entrance to the path was this...!...?  whatever it is.

I need to go up and read the sign better about what it is.  I know that it says "public, please add", but other than that I wasn't close enough.

I saw Rob coming so we headed back so that I could direct him into the spot.  It is a tight back in.

We got settled and then rode our bikes down to the marina.  We wanted to check out boats. 

There was a 56' Northern Marine.  It was up on stilts.  The man was there and we started talking to him.  He invited us aboard to check it out.  His wife was also there.  They gave us a tour and told/showed us all about their boat.  It was real pretty.  Definitely more than what we need, although the living space was nice.

We continued on and went to the walk on marina.  Most marinas are locked, but this one wasn't. There are a lot of boats for sell.  We were able to look into windows.  We talked to a couple people.

I started really liking the Nordic Tugs.  We are looking for something between 35 and 45'  The Nordics seem to be very airy with large windows which I will definitely need.  

Then we came upon a 31' Ranger Tug.  The man was on deck and chatted with us for a bit.  The 31 is the largest trailerable boat.  

If we could live comfortably on the 31 feet then that would be ideal.  We are living very comfortably in a 35' trailer, but there is a huge difference between the living space in an RV and that on a boat.  But, we could move everything from the RV (hopefully everything) and then take the boat and store the RV.  Possibly up here at Ft. Lewis.  Storage on Military bases is generally cheaper and way more secure than other places.  We could use the boat up here then take it and start anywhere on the loop depending on timing.  Then we could take the boat back to California and use it for Rob's crash pad when he goes back to work, trailer it up here and do the San Juan Islands like Bruce and Debbie are doing, or take it down to Baja.  It would truly be the ideal situation.  We just have to get on a couple of them and really see how the living space is and feels and what storage looks like.

We went over to Anthony's.  They had an hour wait for both patio and indoor dining.  So we gave them our name and phone number and then rode the bikes back.  There was a sign on our door when we got back asking us to take our fence off the grass.  Their logic is, if there is a fence the pet will concentrate its duty all in one area and ruin the grass.  Hmmm, doesn't make a darn bit of sense to me.  If you have it on a leash its area will be much smaller and it will definitely concentrate its duty into a very small area.  Whatever.  We took it down.

When they called us to tell us our table was ready we drove over.  We had a nice meal.  We met a lovely couple who just bought some property here.  He is an American Airline Pilot and is kicking himself for not taking an incentive line like Rob.  He is very involved with the Union so it wouldn't really work for him.  It turns out he was with the Canadian Army and flew F-18s  He was in Holland the same time Rob was stationed there, but obviously at different bases.  It was really fun chatting with them.

We came back to the park and started watching a movie.  When the connection got bad we gave up and went to bed.

 

TUESDAY, 28 JULY; LEAVENWORTH AND WENATCHEE

Tuesday, 29 July

Its going to be a scorcher.  We have to go to Wenatchee to pick up our bikes, but other than that I don’t think we will be up for much more.

Rob looked on line and saw that the bike shop doesn’t open until 11, so we decided to leave about 10.

We all climbed into the truck and headed to Cashmere.  We wanted to show Craig and Pam the 911 memorial they have there.  It is pretty moving.

Pam at the 911 Memorial in Cashmere, WA

I believe they have added some new item since we were here three years ago.  I don’t remember this piece of the Pentagon...

A piece of the Pentagon 

I also didn’t remember these towers with all the names and where the planes hit indicated on them.

Afterward we went into town to the Applet and Cotlets store.  They did have some samples so Pam could try them...She didn’t like it.  Since she didn’t like it she left and took samples to both Craig and Rob.  Craig didn’t like them either.  Rob does.  I bought a couple boxes and then we headed to Wenatchee.

We went to the Trek shop to pick up our bikes.  They were kind enough to write our all the stuff that needs fixing or replacing on both bikes.  They included the parts that we would need.  That’s great.  We will be in Gig Harbor in a week and will be there for 15 days.  That should be enough time for them to get the parts we need and do the repairs.

On the way back to Leavenworth we stopped at the fruit stand.  They are there full time, sort of like Casa De Fruita.  The have fresh produce, plus salad dressings, jams, salsas, candy, pop corn, tons of stuff.  We got peaches, tomatoes Carmel corn, cherries and even bagels.  Good score!

Rob really wanted this little pig, but we didn’t have any place to put it..... 

We went back to the RV park.  

The motor for the slide arrived, so Rob and Craig removed the old one and installed the new one.  They didn’t even have to fight very much with it.  And,....it worked.  Yippee.

Darleen called to find out when we would arrive in Gig Harbor.  A couple days ago while they were in Seascape, Oregon, a man gave them his catch of fish.  So, she is planning on a fish fry on the day we arrive.  It will be them, Mike and Darleen Vos, us, and Debbie and Bruce.  I am to make a big green salad.  That’ll be fun.

Rob decided to go down to the creek for a dip one more time.  It really is hot.  it is so hot in fact that Bella didn’t even want to be outside while they were replacing the motor.  When she did go out, even for a little while she was panting from the heat.  She and I were going to walk down to the creek with Rob, but I decided it would be to hot since we would not go into the water.  I probably should have gone and set her in the water like I have before to cool her off.  She probably would have enjoyed it.

When he got back we went down to Craig and Pams with a couple beers and visited with them for a bit.  

We are leaving Leavenworth in the morning and they are heading home rather than continuing on.  Their son is buying a new house and she wants to go home and help him move.  She wants to leave at 7 am, so this will be our last time together.  We said our good byes and then went back to our place and fixed dinner.  

We watched the next episode of Yellowstone and then more of the movie we started a couple nights ago.  This time I got upset with it and went to bed before it ended.  Im not sure if Rob got through the rest of it or not.

MONDAY, 27 JULY 2020; ICICLE GORGE TRAIL AND PADDLE BOARDING

Monday, 27 July, Leavenworth.

It is going to be hot again today.  In fact, there is a “Severe Weather Warning” for the area.  It is for fire danger because of the high heat and low humidity.

At 9 am we left for the Icicle Gorge Trail head.  It is up the street a couple miles and then a mile further up on a dirt road.  The dirt road about rattled our fillings out of our teeth.  It is all wash board.  That’s the worse.

The trail was great.  It was 

Along the River

Through the woods.....

   And over bridges

It was a fun hike.  Afterwards we went into town for a brat and a beer.  We actually got to go into the Sausage Garten and sit on their deck.  It was yummy. Pam and I both loved this place with all its beautiful flowers.

Hotel in Leavenworth with beautiful flowers.

Yesterday we decided we wanted to float down the river after our hike since it is getting so hot here this week.  Rob blew up our paddle boards and put them together before we left for our hike.  He set them up on their sides and leaned them against the side of the rig.  Craig never did get in touch with anyone about renting inner-tubes.

They decided they didn’t want to do it. Their Bella was throwing up after the hike and they didn’t want to leave her.  We thought maybe she got over heated.  

When we got back we discovered that Rob’s paddle board blew a seam.  The blow out was about a foot long.  He called about renting another board and they wanted 60 bucks, plus we would have to transport it both ways.  So, then we decided that we would both sit on my board.  Maybe Rob would try to stand while I sat.  As it turned out, when we got to the start Rob was able to rent a board there for $40 and we only had to give it to them there at the end of the float.  Much better.

It was fun.  We also got a nice close up view of the house that we like a lot.

We got out of the rive at the Water Park downtown., but first we paddled around Blackwell’s island,

Craig picked us up and drove us back to the RV.  We rinsed off my board and let it dry off.  We tried to glue Rob’s board back together.  

SUNDAY, 26 JULY 2020; LEAVENWORTH, WA

Sunday, 26 July; golfing in Leavenworth

Last night was another smoky loud night, but not as bad as the night before.  The people next to us have loud voices, but they didn’t stay up until all hours.  Also, it is getting hot here and the air was absolutely still.  I finally got up and turned on the fan.

Since it is warming up over the next three days while we are here  we decided we would play golf today.  It is supposed to be the coolest. Then tomorrow hike since it is predominantly in the shade and then Wednesday go to Lake Chelan and then Wenatchee to pick up our bikes. 

Our Tee time isn’t until 12:10, so that gives us some time this morning.  We had ordered a cell booster and it arrived yesterday, so no would be a good time to install it.  Most RV parks have free WiFi, however, we rarely get a good signal.  Normally we will use the cell signal from our cellphones as a hot spot for our iPads to hook into WiFi.  But, lately our cell signals have been weak in the RV Parks which is often the case.  It will more than likely continue to be a problem and could also be a problem on the boat so we decided to invest in a booster.  

There is an antenna that gets installed on the ladder of the RV, then a relay unit that lives inside the rig and another antenna that picks up the signal inside, from the relay.  Rob and Craig installed it this morning.

I pulled out my sewing machine and decided to make sachets out of all that Lavender I had collected.  I had the first bunch that I collected and then I also had the zip lock bag full.  I sewed 4 sachet bags.  One I loaded with the lavender that was in the vase.  The other three from the zip.  Note to self (and anyone else who will listen) never ever put fresh cut lavender in a zip lock bag and zip it shut.  It is damp when fresh and it gets even damper when zipped.  And, it changes the smell.  It was horrible.  I ended up having to throw it all away.  I can’t describe the smell.  All I can say is it made you snap your head away from it.  The lavender I had in the vase was fine, so at least I ended up with one sachet.  What an unfortunate waste.

We did go off and play golf, just Craig, Rob, Bella and I.  We played at the Leavenworth Golf Course.  It is the same one that we played at three years ago with Ken and Barbara.  However; I think it might have new owners.  It definitely is not is as good a shape as it was this same time three years ago.

I had to go back through my pictures to even convince myself that it was the same course.  

Some aspects were exactly the same; for example....

We still had to wait for the deer to get out of the way...

There were still people rafting in the river..

Our favorite home is still there....

All the pretty flowers are still there...

And there were still fawns at the end.

After golf we dropped Craig off at the RV park and picked up Pam.  The three of us drove to Safeway for a little shopping.  We then drove through town to let Pam see it and then we drove down to the city waterfront park to see where we would take out if we went tubing/paddle boarding tomorrow.  It was fun.

We returned to the RV park and Rob and I were going to Bar B Q chicken, but we decided to eat left overs instead.  Also, we couldn’t get the Bar B Q to work. Perhaps the gas tube is blocked or the regulator isn’t working or something.

Rob went on line and saw how you could take the tube out,  poke the holes clean, tab the gunk out of the tube and if that doesn’t work flush it out with the water hose.  Rob did all of that and, Yippee! It worked.

We watched the only episode of Yellowstone that we had.  The next episode is airing tonight, but we won’t get it for a couple days.  Oh well.  

We started watching another movie with Sean Penn which was a true story about how the CIA leaked the identity of a couple of their agents, but Rob got so upset by it that we quit watching it and went to bed instead.  

SATURDAY, 25 JULY 2020; SPOKANE TO LEAVENWORTH.

Saturday, 25 July 2020, Spokane, WA

Oh my God what a horrible night.  This camp ground allows wood fires, which is nice for gathering and roasting marshmallows, but the smoke always seems to fill up our RV.  That I do not like.

To top that, there were four people directly behind us who were drunk, loud, and carried on well into the night.  I went to bed with my book and quit reading at 11.  But then I couldn’t get to sleep.  Just when I was about to, they’d start up again.  They got drunker and louder and carried on until 1 am.  I couldn't believe it.  Quiet time is supposed to be at 10 pm.  I thought ok, it’s Friday night, maybe they will continue until 11.  But they were oblivious to everything around them.  Finally, at 1 am I managed to get ear plugs to stay in my ears and I was able to go to sleep. 

But I tossed and turned all night, hot and sweaty and then cold, then hot and sweaty, then cold again. The only saving grace with all of this is that I kept smelling the lavender that was in the bag on the shelf.  It would definitely help.

Bella woke me up at 6 so I gave up and got up.

Rob went for a golf lesson at 7 am.  He belongs to Golf Tech and had purchased a certain number of lessons and had a year to get them in.  Due to the Coronavirus they shut down for a couple months which then extended his time to use them.  Now he isn’t sure if he has until the end of August or the end of September, but he feels he better start fitting them in.

I did laundry yesterday, but I had already made the bed before I decided to do it so this morning, since it was so early, I stripped the bed and then washed the sheets and the little bit of laundry from yesterday.  They laundry facility was really nice.

Craig was also up and out so I visited with him and showed him the website where we found the slide motors.  He had talked to Camping World and they had quoted him around $700.  I showed him the site where we had ordered the last one, as well as a site that had it even cheaper.

Rob came back and joined us outside with all the dogs and stuff. Rob fixed Craig one of his veggie smoothies that he always drinks.  Craig thought it was ok.  

I finished the laundry and then we started packing things up.  We have a 3 1/2 hour drive today to Leavenworth. 

We will be passing through Wenatchee.  Three years ago I purchased my e-bike from Trek Wenatchee.  It is in serious need of a tune up, so where better to have it done then at Trek Wenatchee where it came from. 

Since the bike is so heavy, 65 lbs, it wont work on our bike rack.  That is why we transport it inside the rig.  So, we took Craigs bikes off his rack and put them on ours.  Then we took his rack and put it on the back of the Jeep and put Rob’s bike and my bike on it. I will leave the caravan in Wenatchee, drop off the bikes and then catch up with them at the RV park.

I’m excited about going to Leavenworth because I love it there. Three years ago we got to spend three weeks there and I loved every bit of it.  I just hope everything is open.  Calif, Oregon, and Washington have all had big flare ups with the virus again and have had to close businesses back down.  

Bars, nightclubs, gyms, beauty salons, theaters, have all shut down again. Also, masks are now required outside, in public and in all businesses. 

My favorite places in Leavenworth are the Brat Garten and the Beer Garten;  both are outside patio places that sell brats and beers. Im really hoping they are both still open.

The drive was actually somewhat boring.  Western Washington is a lot more barren than Idaho or Montana.

Finally around Quincy it was a bit more scenic.

Rock Island had a big fire...

While we were driving 4 airplanes were dropping fire retardant on it and then after the Dam...

We watched a big helicopter with a water bucket dip into the lake.  

From there we went through Wenatchee and I veered off to Trek.  I found it with no problem.  They have a barrier outside with a sign that says “due to social distancing please do not enter.  Please wait for a team member to come and assist you.”  So a nice young man came to the door.  I told him I had two bikes to drop off and asked if there might be someone who could help me.  He came out and took the bikes off and rolled my bike into their shop.  He took the bikes and all my info and told me someone would call with in the next couple hours to give us a quote and when they would be ready for pick up.  Easy Peasy.  I was on the road again in 15 minutes.  

The rest of the drive was real pretty.  I skirted around the back side of Leavenworth which was just a little disappointing, but got to the RV park and found our spot just as Rob was checking the level. Its a nice shady spot.  We are a bit close together with our neighbors, but we have concrete and grass and with our fence up its a cozy little place.

Pam walked up and complained that they only had dirt and no concrete or grass.  They are just down the street from us.  But, they have a nice mat that they put down so it will be ok.  She was a bit upset with Craig though.  He pushed the button and their slide went out.  Now she’s afraid they wont be able to get it back in.  They cannot drive with it out.  Craig says he went on line and found out he can disconnect something and just push it back in, so he’s not to worried.

Pam had less sleep than I did last night.  Besides all the roadies making all the noise their dogs we a bit restless and she had to take one of them out at 2 am.  Not fun.  Once everyone was all set up, she went in and took a nap. 

Rob, Craig and I went in to town.  I really wanted a Brat and a beer.  

It was packed and we realized it was Saturday.  It was also hot.  It was in the upper, upper 80s.  They had the Main Street blocked off to vehicle traffic.  

Several of the restaurants, wineries, and pubs, had roped off sections in the streets and set up tables out there.  When they opened up restaurants again after the shut down they only allowed 50 % capacity.  Many would prefer outdoor rather than indoor dining.  By closing the street and allowing them to create seating in the street it helped some of the restaurants stay in business.

My two favorites.. ? The Brat Garten had a really long line waiting for tables.  It was always a busy place.  They have big picnic tables and before, you often shared the table with someone else.  Now you can’t really do that and they won’t let you in to stand around waiting for a place to sit.  So the line was out in the street.

The Beer Garten wouldn’t let you in at all.  It was take out only and you had to place your order and pay on line.  Then you remained out in the street until they called your name to pick up your food.  

We walked around for a bit. It was really hot.  We stopped in at the Leavenworth Brewery.  They had a wait of about 30 min.  We gave them our name and phone number and then walked back down to the Beer Garten to place an order.

Rob an I each got a Brat.  Craig had just eaten.  We found a table in the shade in the street that we shared with another couple and ate.  No beer.  That’s just sad.  There was a lot of activity to entertain us.

While we were eating the bike shop in Wenatchee called with the status of our bikes.  Oh my goodness!  My bike needs brakes, a chain, gear sprockets in the front and back replaced and a bunch of other stuff.  Rob’s needs a chain and his breaks bled.  They wanted to charge us $1200. And, they don’t have the parts and wont have them until the 1st.  We are leaving the 29th.  We asked if there was anything they could get done while they have them and they said no.  So, we told them we would just come and pick them up.  Perhaps while we are in Gig Harbor for 15 days we can get them tuned.  Hopefully for cheaper than $1200.

We finished our brats and decided to head back up toward the brewery.  They called and said our table was ready.  When we got there all their outside tables were in the sun, so we ended up down in their basement.  That was much better as it was nice and cool.  

The rules were:  once you were seated you could remove your mask.  If you stood up, you had to put it back on.  There were no menus. They had a scan picture that you focus your phone’s camera on and then look at the menu on your phone.  They had no waiters. You had to mask up and go upstairs to the bar and order.  If one person went for everyone else you had to take everyones’ IDs with you.  (Last night at Anthony’s the menu was on line like this, but after that we had a waitress to take our orders and bring our food.)

Rob and Craig went to the bar and got beers,  I stayed at the table with Bella and they came back with waters and an Ice Tea for me.

Afterward we walked back through town to the truck which we had parked on a side street.

We returned to the RV park.  I looked on the map they gave us and saw that there was a pathway down to a beach in the River.  Actually, we are located on Icicle Creek.

Rob, Bella and I walked and found the path.  There were several people already down there.  Some left when we arrived which was good, because it allowed me to let Bella off her leash.

Whoever was down there earlier built a bunch of carans in the water.  They look pretty cool.  Rob decided to go in for a dip.  A very quick dip as it turned out.  He said it was buddy cold and definitely was named correctly.

We went back to the RV and just chilled for the rest of the evening.