VIEWS FROM THE MOUNTAIN TOP

Yesterday Phil decided to take us for a new view of the area. What a trip! We took the back roads up to the high mountain tops. It was a good day for taking pictures as it was partly clouding and that allowed the digital camera to see the mountains and not reflect back the sunlight. Here is an example of what I am speaking of....

 

The white you see on the far mountain range is not snow. We went from mountain top to mountain top on the back roads. We found lots of signs of bears but no bears themself ... but that was just as well. Here is one of the trees that the bears had dug into. Phil found the tree for me to get the photos of it...

 

 

Here is a close-up of what he is looking at...the sign of a bear biting  and clawing the hole to get to the termites inside...

 

 

The only live things we saw were the birds. The raven up here are huge birds. There were plenty of other birds to be seen also. But I think the best one I saw was the grouse. Phil spotted it on the road and stopped so that I could get the photo. It is eating the small pebbles. I tried to get other shots of it but sometimes my camera is just too dang slow...

 

 

We saw rugged rocky overhangs....

 

 

There was eye candy everywhere you looked...

 

 

The trees are just beginning to show color. There were yellows with a hint here and there of some red...

 

 

On the way back down off the mountains we stopped at Kalispell Creek and thought we had struck gold. Looking over the bridge into the water I could see gold glittering at the water's edge. Phil decided to go down into the creek to find out what it was. Turned out to be fool's gold but it was a fun experience and for a time it was an exciting one, lol . Here is Phil checking the gold flakes out for me. (By the way, that water is freezing cold)...

 

 

I saved the best to last. This is a view of Priest Lake and the river valley from the top of a mountain. Isn't it a beautiful thing to behold. I stood in amazement at God's creation on earth... America The Beautiful...

 

 

With the clouds so close that you felt as if you could reach out and touch them and the pristine views I really felt as if I was dancing with the angels. I pray that you keep the joy of living in your life and that you always....KEEP ON DANCING... 

 

 

 

 

 

MONDAY MORNING AT PRIEST LAKE

Here it is Monday again. Where does the time go? Since we have been on the road I have noticed that most of my time is involved in yesterday, the present, and tomorrow. It seems that "the past" and "the future" have slipped away somewhere. I know they exist but they have lost their importance in my life. I hope this is a good thing but I guess only "time" will tell.

But right now it is that time when this area will become almost empty of the vacationers as they leave to go home. We have only met our neighbor in site 2, Leonard and Karleen. Very likeable people. I haven't been outside enough to meet others. I did take the girls for a long bike ride yesterday tho. They were so excited. Guess they miss it when I don't.

We have decided to sit out another week here at this RV park to give our budget a break and to let all the vacationers get off the roads. Hopefully, the gas prices will go back down a bit also. Phil is expecting some work to come in and we need to be close to the post office. I have been commissioned to do a horse portrait but email works for me except when I send the finished painting.

Phil has been working on creating a eagle head walking cane. It is coming along really nice. He spent most of yesterday working on it...

 

Seems like all I've done all week is wash clothes. Sure miss my big washer and dryer. The Splendide washer and dryer combination does a great job but it takes about three hours to wash and dry one load.  Very time consuming  which means I really have not taken pictures as usual for the blog. But I still have some to share with you of our hike up the back roads of the area.  Such as the beaver lake...

 

 

Then there were the ducks on the lake. A mama duck and her babies...

 



 

 It was funny to watch her as she tried to stay calm and lead her teenagers away from us. They would duck under logs and pop up on the other side...

 

 

Another thing I noticed is the absents of honey bees. I have seen the bee boxes but no bees. Instead what I have noticed is that the butterflies and the lowly bumble bee have taken over the pollination of the plants...

 

 

My Internet speed is getting slower and slower so I will close off by saying... "Let Your Light Shine" as you dance...

 

 



And KEEP ON DANCING!

 

 

PRIEST LAKE, IDAHO

We are finally back online. Spent the last week at Beaver Campground where we had no internet or phone service. It isn't much better here at this new campsite but will try to get something published on the blog.

Priest lake is a big beautiful lake in the upper portion of the Idaho panhandle just below the Canadian border...

 

Luckily we are on the left hand side of the lake which is less traveled. It is quiet and peaceful on this side away from the parties, jet ski's, and such. So it has been a week of enjoying nature.

We were told there was a bear that was just outside of the park boundry. As long as he stayed outside the boundry I didn't worry about him. The area is full of bear signs from the torn up logs to the best sign of all...lol

 

Yesterday we moved to a new park twenty miles south of Beaver Creek park. It has full hookups which is really nice. Naturally, with the Honda generator we have electricity which makes roughing it so much better. But we can't turn on the mircowave and most of the other electric ran items. We have to watch the amps pulled. It is also gas driven which when there isn't a local gas station handy can be a costly thing. But I think the best thing is getting an internet signal. It is only one bar on the HotSpot but one is so much better than none.

Before we left the Beaver Creek Campgrounds we took a drive up the road which ran through the American Land Management area where there is free camping sites. It is a very remote area but beautiful. Most campsites were near Granite Creek. In looking around we decided the sites were just a bit too remote for us. I took a lot of photos on that trip and will share them over this week. One I will share today is of a shoe tree...

 

This was at the Stagger Inn Campsite on the Washington side near Huff, Idaho. It was an unexpected fun find. People wrote their names, cute saying, and places on shoes and nailed them to a big dead tree. Or they tied the laces together and toss them up into the tree limbs...

 

 

There is already a famous "Shoe Tree" so they named this tree the "Shoe Crew" and hence I guess is the reason for names being written on the shoes. There were leather shoes, tennis shoes, baby shoes, flip flops, and about every other type of shoe except for show shoes. Can't imagine why there were not a pair of show shoes being this is snow country, lol. I had to keep an eye on Phil because several times I caught him trying out shoes for size... I don't think he was testing to see if there was room for his Crocs...

 

 

To those of you that know Phil's brother James, just a note to let everyone know that he is okay and is in Texas riding out the hurricane. He and Dorothy will return to Lousiana when it is safe.

 

And with that note I will close this  and get chores done. Remember to let the music move you as you dance through life... KEEP ON DANCING...

 

 

LOUIS AND CLARK TRAIL STATE PARK

The park we are staying in is called the Louis and Clark Trail State Park, Dayton, Washington. It is located twenty five miles northeast of Walla Walla and just a few miles from Dayton on highway 12. After miles and miles of wheat fields it is a little oasis of green...

Here is an example of what the scenery looks like outside of the park...

Just behind our campsite runs the Touchet River...

In most places the river is less then knee deep, mostly hits just above the ankle but I have found the swimming hole. It is so nice in the heat of the day to just stand out in that cold water. Leaves you refreshed and invigorated for the rest of the day. It is so much warmer down here in the southeastern corner of the state compared to the northwestern corner. We didn't turn on the airconditioner there. I am not complaining because it still beats the Texas heat, hands down.

I took the girls for their ride around the park yesterday and got some nice photos. Seems there are three orphaned mule deer fawns living here in the park. Two are twins and have been here for a few months...

The youngest fawn is a new comer to the park...

There are also three great horned owls that live in the park. While doing my morning meditation I chanced to hear a sound. Looking around and then up I spotted who was watching me...

He wasn't afraid of me and never did fly away... (Maybe after I left he did lol). He looks sort of like a little ole man wearing an english type cap. I love the electric bike for taking photos. It runs so silent that most animals just sit and look at you. Makes for some great photos of them.

Tomorrow we start our journey to Priest Lake in Idaho. It will be a long drive but should be worth the trip. It is a beautiful large lake below the Canada border. Lots to do between now and in the morning so will shut this down for the day. Remember enjoy life while you have it.... Just KEEP ON DANCING no matter what gets in your way... YOU CAN HANDLE IT.... SO... "DANCE ON!

WE LANDED (FINALLY)

We finally landed back in Washington state just above Walla Walla. What a trip... we wanted to see the Oregon coast. We did and it was beautiful ...

We drove across a very long draw bridge between Washington and Oregon. It was half in the fog so you couldn't see the other side. This photo was taken while looking back at the bridge and it really shows the fog...

Going through the little town just after the bridge there was an old fashion lemonade stand. I had not seen one of those in years. Had to hand it to that little girl sitting there on the corner. Not many kids would do something like that anymore. Most expect money to be given to them while doing nothing to earn it. Here is her stand...

 We stopped at a hang-glider spot called Gammon Launch. I took this photo just for Phil. He loved the feeling when he was hang-gliding. Here's to you, Phil...

Phil taking in the view from Gammon's launch...

Phil's view was of the pacific ocean and the Oregon coastline being over ran by clamdiggers that were taking advantage of the tide being out...

As you can see the people are the size of ants... that lauch is high on a mountain, which is perfect for a take off launch. Seemed like almost all the beaches had clamdiggers...

We traveled a little over half way down the coastal highway and found the farther down we went the more packed the campgrounds were. Most didn't have room for our dog's pen. It finally dawned on us that August in not the time to visit the Oregon coast and that the summer rates are high. As a matter of fact, everything is over priced. With that thought we decided to go across state and back up north to a cooler area. We also noted that August is not a good time to head south. Phil put in about twelve hours behind the wheel as we drove down the coast and half way across the state. After checking out several campgrounds we ended up sleeping in a rest area beside the highway. We left the trailer hitched to the truck but slept inside it on our beds. My bed is closer to the truck then phil's and I was awoken to the sound of something in the truck being moved around. We got to the outside before they could get far. It was a man, woman, boy, and two dogs. They were the only ones around besides a man asleep in a car farther away. Everything is locked down in the truck so there was nothing taken. We just wanted them to know we knew what they were up to. Later in the morning we found out that they trashed out the men's restroom. Although I dislike their ways I do feel sorry for those negative people.. we reap what we sow (in thought or action). We hit the road again and angled our way northeast. Heading back towards cooler weather and less crowded places...

                                        

   

We passed snow capped mountains. There were three almost in a line that really looked beautiful. The above photo is one of the mountains. They were hard to get all in one picture so I decided to take a picture of what I could. Just as I snapped the photo it looked like a herd of horses ran across the screen. What the heck was that...

In looking at the photo I realized they were metal not real. I couldn't have gotten a better shot if I had planned it. After many miles we saw another very unusual sight... A real prairie schooner...     

There were other interesting things to be seen but I didn't take pictures of them. We checked out a few campgrounds and turned them down. We went through Walla Walla, Washington. Got onto highway 12 and went through Dayton. Finally landed at the Lewis and Clarke State Park on the banks of a river. In Texas we could call it a creek. The area is mostly wheat farming. Here and there are small ranches on the river valleys. There were a lot of people here in the park yesterday but it is almost empty this afternoon.

At Walla Walla Phil replaced the tires on the trailer. What I didn't know was that when we replace the axel shackles on the trailer one tire had wore off most of the rubber from the misalignment of the wheels. Phil was starting to get worried because of the wires showing through. I was shocked when I looked at that tire. It is a miracle it didn't blow and that is a guote from the man who took the tire off and replaced it. Phil went ahead and bought four ten-ply tires and had them mounted. Keeping the new tire that was bought in Lousiana as a spare. So all is well and we are resting up. We are watching what is happening with the wild fires of the west and planning our  next route accordingly.

It was nice to find a tincan with the label peeled off sitting on the picnic table filled with sunflowers. Such a nice gesture to leave for the next person using the campsite. Must have been left by an angel... When you expect good things you get good things... I simply love dancing with Angels to the tune of life... Not all of us are dancing to the same (soul) beat but the important thing is that we Keep On Dancing...

THE LAST NIGHT AT CLALLAM BAY

As I sit in the still of the night listening to the ocean waves gently washing up onto the beach my thoughts are of the last two weeks here at this beautiful place. There is serenity to be founds upon this shore and in a way I feel a sadness about leaving. This morning we said our goodbyes to our new found friends. They had to leave today. Here they are left to right: Al, Jan Burley, and Ray Burley.

Jan had told us about a beach just down the road that had large starfish. Phil and I decided to check it out. We found some nice treasures. Phil found a ten legged red sunburst starfish. He was in the process of returning a crab to the water when the starfish caught his eye as it rolled with the surf. He waded into the water and after several grabs he caught it. It is a large one and a collectors dream...

As we were heading back up to where the truck was parked we saw three bald eagles. One flew off over the beach while two landed in a tree not far from the truck. So I got a couple of nice shots of them...



 In a few hours we will be on highway 101 headed for the Oregon coast and I wonder what we will find along the way. Whatever happens we will be dancing with the angels.... KEEP ON DANCING!



OH MY, WHERE DID TIME GO?

I just realized that I have lost track of time. Here it is Tuesday and I have been so wrapped up that I have not even thought about the blog. Tomorrow is our last day here at Clallam Bay, Washington. We have been blessed with some wonderful neighbors, Jan and Ray Burley. They are locals as they live in Salkum, not far down the highway. Jan reminds me alot of my sister Shirley and Ray reminds me of my cousin Benny Joe. It was an instant like and they proved to be fantasic neighbors.  I will miss them. Ray went out fishing and showed us some of his day's catch. He caught a King Salmon that would not fit into the cooler... I think it was 18 pounds...

They shared some salmon and whitefish with us. Jan taught me how to cook it the way she does and it was great! Thanks, Jan.

We took a trip around the peninsula on the Highway 101 Loop. It was an all day trip of around 35o miles. Coming around the Pacific Ocean side we went through three rainforests. It was a bit of a shock to see so much of the land had been clearcut. They have replanted in most areas but the growth of large trees take years. In one section just coming out of a rainforest Phil had to slam on the brakes to keep from hitting a young wolf pup that ran across the road in front of the truck. It didn't look old enough to be weaned so somewhere close there had to be little mates and/or mama. What a privilage to get to see him so close up. Naturally, it happened so fast that I never had a chance to get a photo of him. The fog hung around the coastal areas all day but I did manage to get a few good photos. Here is one of the pacific coastline...

We stopped at the Timber Museum in Forks so that I could get a photo or two...

The log hut...

But in all our driving around the loop I really think that we are staying at the best spot. We have the beach directly in front of us. From the kitchen window I get to watch the activities that take place there. I love watching the children with the treasures that they find. Even Phil has been beachcombing for treasures also. Here he is with the first starfish he found...

I think my greatest find was the leopard seal warming it's self on a rock...

Tomorrow is going to be a work day, packing up and getting things ready for the ride down the road to the next place somewhere in Oregon. We are going to the Portland area but haven't made up our minds as to the exact location. Our two week stay here has been wonderful. Listening to the waves crash against the shore has been soothing to the soul. But I am ready to see what is at our next stop. America has so much beauty everywhere you look. The towns are unique and the people we have met have been great. Life is good when you spend it dancing with the angels... Those you can see and those that you can not... does not matter... Just Keep On Dancing....