September 10, 2023
Our first night in the Lower 48 was at the first state park in Washington - Larrabee State Park near Bellingham. We enjoyed a hike down to the beach. The trail passes through a tunnel under the railroad tracks and it it painted with a colorful mural. I especially liked the octopus.
in Cornwells' front yard
We spent a few days exploring some of the islands in northern Puget Sound and took the ferry over to San Juan Island (just us, we left the van in Anacortes). We rode the trolley around San Juan Island and got off at locations that were of interest to us.
There are some great old trees at British Camp.
We got off the trolley at Lime Kiln State Park in hopes of spotting some whales. We saw porpoises, but no orcas.
seen at the ferry terminal parking lot
(Our visit to San Juan Island completes our quest to geocache in all Washington State counties.)
There was so much to see and explore on Whidbey Island and we never even got to the southern part!
We crossed the bridge across Deception Pass several times and stopped once to walk across it to the middle.
Not a lot of space between pedestrians and vehicles.
We enjoyed Price Sculpture Garden and the town of Coupeville.
Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve
This gravestone in a cemetery caught my eye.
Admiralty Head Lighthouse at Fort Casey State Park
Anacortes, Washington had some interesting things to see.
W. T. Preston - the last sternwheeler snagboat to work Puget Sound
overlooking Anacortes from Cap Sante Park
After Labor Day, we became serious about moving south. We made a stop at Snoqualmie Falls on the way to Mount Rainier.
Camping amid towering trees in an old-growth forest
moss covers everything
Myrtle Falls near Paradise Visitor Center
Throughout the day, clouds moved across the face of Mount Rainier. This is the best view of the day.
From Rainier, we had to choose a route to get to Oregon. You can't really go directly south and we have traveled all over Washington State. We decided to go west then south and cross the Columbia River near Portland. Another visit to Multnomah Falls was a no-brainer and it has its own exit from the freeway so no detour was involved. You will likely have seen photos of this landmark and may have seen it yourselves.
In our quest to finish our last four counties in Oregon, we routed ourselves through the central part of the state. Such varied landscapes! High rolling wheatfields, endless wind farms, small canyons, national forest lands at 5,000+ feet elevation, and ranchland with open cattle range.
This photo was taken from our campsite on the John Day River near its confluence with the Columbia.
After gaining elevation, we came across this pullout and took in the view. (Hazy photos, but we were intrigued with the location and views of some of the Cascade volcanoes. Most of the mountain views of these past three months have been difficult to photograph because of smoke and haze.)
Mount Adams to the left and Mount Rainier to the right in the far distance
Mount Hood
We could also see Mount St. Helens and Mount Jefferson from there.
We stopped at the Painted Hills unit of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.
As we drove through the town of Burns, Oregon looking for a local cafe to have breakfast, we saw tables set up on one of the side streets and stopped to ask about it. The Harney County Cattlewomen's Association was having its annual breakfast for Rodeo Weekend so we joined the locals and had a STEAK breakfast - it is cattle country, after all. We enjoyed conversations with local residents - the desire to be part of Idaho was mentioned. Brian was able to get a few photos before we left town before the parade closed down the road we needed to get out of town.
optometrist's office
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