12 October 2016, Wednesday Our objective for the day is to circumnavigate Crater Lake (by car) and stop at all the major overlooks. We begin at Sun Notch, at about 5:00 if Crater Lake were a clock face. Here the sun shines brightly on the Phantom Ship, one of the oldest rock formations in the park at 400,000 years of age. It was uncovered after the implosion and is composed
11 October 2016, Tuesday The morning is cool, but bright and sunny as we drive back to Crater Lake. Our destination is the Mount Scott trailhead. Mt. Scott became the tallest peak in the park after the cataclysmic collapse of Mt. Mazuma. It is a 5 mile round trip to the lookout at the top. The sky is clear and blue, and Crater Lake is an even deeper shade of
10 October 2016, Monday Today we have 120 miles to go to Crater Lake National Park. We eat our breakfast of left over sticky buns, warmed in the microwave in our room – an excellent beginning to the day. Again we drive south, first through rain and then through sunshine. There are miles more of golden pastures and ponderosa pines. Soon we turn north on route 62 and stop at
9 October 2016, Sunday S bakes his sticky buns for our departure breakfast. We carefully gather up our gear and food supplies that somehow have gotten scattered all around the apartment. Soon Jazz is repacked and we are heading south towards Oregon. After we cross the Columbia River we turn east and cross the Cascades near Mt. Hood driving through rain, clouds and fog. On the other side we arrive
6 October 2016, Thursday We are considering a longer hike today, but by the time we finish lazing around, the morning has passed and it is early afternoon. We drive to Bellevue to visit the new REI store there and then make our way to Resonate, a local brewpub. The menu here is limited, but the flatbread pizza, made with local ingredients, is very good, as is our flight of
3 October 2016, Monday We spend most of the day working on plans for our trip home. It is difficult to decide what to see while breaking our journey into manageable daily drives! The rest of the afternoon is spent preparing a very tasty mushroom pie for dinner. 4 October 2016, Tuesday More trip planning, groceries, visits to bank, post office, Verizon… O receives compliments from three different individuals on
2 October 2016, Sunday Today we drive to the Ballard Locks to view the fish ladder. There are actually windows here providing a peek into the underwater salmon world, where the fish appear to be resting and gathering strength for their next leap upstream. From the locks we walk to Portage Bay Ballard for brunch. We each order something different, the more dishes to taste! We return home to Skype
1 October 2016, Saturday After a relaxing morning we drive to the trail head for Poo Poo Point on Tiger Mountain near Issaquah. Yes, the name really is Poo Poo Point, apparently named for the whistles of the trains passing through Issaquah in years gone by. It is raining as we begin our hike, but the rain soon tapers off and we shed our rain jackets as we climb the
30 September 2016, Friday Over breakfast, K and I plan meals for the next several days. It’s nice having a real kitchen in which to cook. O, K and I drive to Trader Joe’s where we get most of the ingredients we will need, then stop at the supermarket for a few more odds and ends. We return to the apartment where I flip over the tent I had left
29 September 2016, Thursday Today is Canada departure day. It seems impossible that we have worked our way through all my many pages of notes and reservations to the last page in my folder, the Washington State Ferry, Elwha. It is a pleasant day for a ferry trip, bright and sunny. We arrive at the terminal early and wait patiently. Jazz is loaded in the center of the ferry, first