Last year for vacation I originally planned to cut over to the Pacific Northwest after doing Glacier. However my niece was having a baby so we changed our plans to do Colorado instead and be with the family and saved the Pacific Northwest for this year.
Oregon and Washington are the only Western states I haven't been to, in the lower 48 at least. I've seen pictures but they just don't do the Pacific Northwest any justice. Growing up in California I thought we had the best everything, behind Hawaii, and I couldn't be more wrong. All the traveling the last couple years has made me realize I'd rather be almost anywhere in this country than back in my home state. I've realized I'm not as much as a beach bum as I thought either. I'm more of a mountain man.
This year we traveled with my sister's family as well as my dad who brought along my youngest sister's boys. We had a nice caravan with two trucks and trailers and an RV pulling a car. Finding gas in a caravan with big vehicles is not a fun task! Our first day started off with some fun and delays when my sister got a blowout on their RV in a part of the central valley that didn't have a shoulder. We were already moving slow because of the wind and crappy conditions on I-5 and then a blowout. We were supposed to make it up to Redding but had to stop in Willows. We did some Walmart camping and it sucked. It was hot, even at 10 PM and I had to sleep with all the windows open. Since the windows were open I had to sleep with Zach to make sure no one broke in through his window. I kept getting woken up by cars in the parking lot. There was one spot that a couple cars parked in with the driver just sitting there for a while. I'm now wondering if it was the place for drug deals.
After Willows we made it up to Oregon, Washington, then two stops in Canada. To have some fun with the kids I changed my name on my phone to Big Daddy and changed the voice to an Australian woman. Throughout the trip I would randomly say "OK Google, what's my name". The response was your name is Big Daddy, in an Australian woman's voice. The kids laughed every time. I have a lot more details about all of our stops below.
Roseburg, Oregon
Mt. Hood, Oregon
Astoria, Oregon (Goonies Day)
Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park, Washington
Sol Duc Falls, Olympic National Park, Washington
La Push, Olympic National Park, Washington
Victoria, Canada
Lynden, Washington and Vancouver, Canada
Mount St. Helens
What better socks to wear for some redneck Walmart camping? First official libation hour of vacation.
Roseburg, Oregon
Our first real stop was in Roseburg Oregon. It seemed like a good place to stop and my Aunt lives there right off I-5. Due to all the fun with my sister's blowout the previous day we didn't get into town until probably close to 3:30 or 4 and we were gone the next day before 11. It was too short of a stop. Next time we'll have to make a few days out of this stop.John P. Amacher County Park. This is just a couple miles away from my Aunt Tina's house. We only stayed a night here. There's actually a lot more to do there than I imagined. Lots of people tubing in the river.
After leaving Roseburg we drove up to Portland with a stop in Eugene on the way. My dad's friend moved there in 1993 so we gave him a visit. Their family used to be really close to us and we spent a lot of holidays together. We met up at a mall and parked the trailers like rednecks for a few hours. Mall security came by to make sure we weren't planning on setting up camp and they let Zach play with the sirens.
Mt. Hood, Oregon
Last year in Jackson we did the mountain roller coaster. It was cool but it was a rip. One ride for the four of us was 75 bucks. Mount Hood had much better deals. We paid $161 for the four of us and got tickets for Ski-Bowl. Our tickets covered most the rides, just not the zip-line and the tree top walk. We stayed busy all day and I think the $161 was well worth it.
Riding up the ski lift for the sled. I think this was the best ride I did. I believe it was 2/3 mile down with a top speed of 37 mph and average around 20 mph. It's a little more sketchy than the mountain coaster. If you go too fast you can wipe out. Jeremy tried to go as fast as he could and tipped to his side. The friction burned a hole in his sweater and his shorts. After that he was afraid to ride again, yet he'll jump skateboards. Go figure.
Astoria and Ecola State Park
When I started planning this trip I worked around two destinations, Olympic National Park and Astoria, Oregon. Why Astoria? The kids all love the movie The Goonies. So I looked up all the Goonie sites I could find and carved out a day for Goonies site seeing. After we got done with Mt. Hood we watched The Goonies at camp before our trip to Astoria the next day.
Our first real stop of the day. Lower Columbia bowl. This is where Chunk had the scene spilling his milkshake against the window while watching the police chase.
My original plan was to dress up like Mouth, in a purple rain shirt with a grey jacket. However a few weeks before the trip my sister hijacked my plan and decided everyone is dressing up like a Goonie. Natalie asked who she can be, my sister and I both looked at each other and said "Duh, Rosalita". Natalie told us we are racist, but really.
So here is our crew.
Brand - Jeremy
Chunk - Zach
Sloth - Dean
Andy - Aubrey
Stef - Adri
Mouth - Ryder
Mikey - Cody
Data - Dominic
Rosalita - Natalie
Troy - Jeff
Mama Fratelli - Cassandra
Francis - Dad
Jake - That's me
(Interior Jailhouse)
(A jail guard unlocks a cell block to call the inmates out for their lunch.)
Guard: Lunch time.
(The Inmates exit their cells and are talking to each other.)
Guard: The longer you animals bark the colder your lunch gets. Come on, move it out!(Looks toward the last cell) You too down there. (Walks down the cellblock) Hey turkey...
(Guard walks down to an open cell where one inmate has not emerged. He walks in and discovers that the inmate, Jake Fratelli, has apparently hung himself. There is a note on his chest reading, "To whom it may concern". The guard removes it, turns it over and reads the back.)
Guard: "You schmuck. Do you really think I'd be stupid enough to kill myself?" (Repeats last two words to himself) Kill myself?
(Jake opens his eyes and grins, and knocks the guard unconscious. Jake untangles himself by removing a pipe from his belt which supported his weight.)
After visiting all these sites this is when thinking will ruin the movie. So the first problem is when they take off for their adventure they pass Mikey's dad, as they are going downhill, past the museum. First picture below, Mikey's house is the red arrow on the right and the Museum is the arrow on the left. Not a realistic path they would have taken. In reality hey would have been on Leif Erikson drive which turns into Marine drive. The hill would have been to their left.
Now here is the bigger problem. They ride something like 22 miles from Astoria to Ecola State Park where the restaurant is. They end up in the basement, then some how back under Astoria 20 miles away, rattling up pipes at the Astoria Country Club. But then at the end they come out of the cave just south of Ecola State Park.
Don't try to think about geography when you watch this movie!
This is the road the Goonies rode to the lighthouse. I forgot I had GPS coordinates for where Brand went flying over the edge. From what I have read it is now overgrown and looks nothing like in the movie in that spot.
Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park
Our next trip was up to Port Angeles so we could see Olympic National Park and Victoria. There were a lot of places I wanted to see in Olympic National Park that I didn't get to see on this trip. Next trip will include Quinalt and Hurricane Ridge. We only spent 5 nights there and I think I'll need double that to make the next trip worth it. Rainforest are my favorite biome and I'd like to hike there day and night looking for frogs and hiking through rain and fog.
About an hour from Port Angeles we came across this. I had to get a picture for my dad.
About an hour from Port Angeles we came across this. I had to get a picture for my dad.
This year they happen to be in a bad drought and only have had half their normal rainfall. There is a slider behind Zach where they show the current annual rainfall. It shouldn't be behind Zach this time of year, it should be higher up than I am tall.
On our way back to camp the girls wanted to souvenir shop in Forks, where one of the worst movies ever took place. I think I nailed the Bella face.
Sol Duc Falls
Sol Duc Falls was about an hour from camp. I believe this is the most visited waterfall in the park. The parking here sucked and part of it is government stupidity. Thanks to the ADA they have two handicapped parking spots, at a trailhead! Both were in use when we got there. Then some hikers came back and their spot was open for a couple hours. There's no common sense with government regulation.
After parking it was 3/4 mile to the waterfall.
Sol Duc Falls
Devil's Punchbowl
After Sol Duc Falls, on the way back to camp, we made a stop at Devil's Punchbowl. This is off the Spruce Railroad Trail on the north side of Lake Crescent. From the trailhead to the old train tunnel, which no longer has train tracks, is about a mile. Devil's Punchbowl is off to the side right off the middle of the tunnel.
A lot of people like to jump off the cliff. Depending on where they jump it's 35-50 feet to the water. One guy was a little on the bigger side and we were a little anxious watching him try to jump. He leaned back a little too much and almost hit his head on a rock coming down.
No one can imagine the hell this kid gives us. He wanted to walk the whole way back. If we tried to hold his hand or hold him he would scream bloody murder. Look at that crazy face.
La Push, Washington
Going to the beach was not part of the plans for vacation. Why would it be? Who grows up in a warm climate and then thinks about visiting a cold beach? Well I saw some pictures of the La Push tide pools and thought it might be cool to check it out. I have to admit, a cold foggy beach is a lot more awesome than I ever imagined. There's something calming about being on a foggy beach and the tide pools were just as good or better than some I have seen in warmer climates. There were lot of anemones, star fish, and crabs. Not quiet what I was expecting to find at a beach in Washington. Plus the forest in the background just makes it that much better. The older I get the more I'm not liking being in the sun all the time. After our visit to La Push I think I'd rather have a foggy day on a beach like this than a day cooking in the sun on a tropical beach.
This was our first stop at First Beach. We had lunch here and looked around a bit before taking off to Second Beach to find the tide pools.
We had to hike about a mile through the forest to get to second beach.
Here are some of the creatures we found at the tide pools.
Ryder putting his finger in a sea anemone.
Looks like this anemone just had a crustacean lunch.
Natalie wouldn't go out to the water and I had Dean so Aunt Cis got to be Zach's best friend for the afternoon.
We walked a sandbar out to the big rock at low tide.
The most purple star fish I saw all day.
A cave on the backside of the big rock.
More starfish and anemones.
We think these are some sort of sand crabs attacking a jellyfish.
No one wanted to get in the water. Certain people were crying that their feet were going numb, boohoo.. The water was 58-60 degrees and my niece had been taking a swim. I decided to join her and we created the polar bear club. The water is only cold for a couple seconds and then it actually felt very refreshing. The funny thing is due to the humidity there it felt warmer getting out of the water than it does getting out of my 85 degree pool when it's 105 here. When it's dry it doesn't matter how hot it is, getting out of the water will make you shiver. When I got out of the water at La Push it felt like I was wrapped in a warm blanket.
Polar Bears
Clouds coming in around Hurricane Ridge.
Victoria, Canada
Dean was being a terror on the boat. I put on the Always Sunny In Philadelphia soundtrack and he finally fell asleep.
The whole point of going to Victoria was to see Butchart Gardens. Being how I'm the type of person that likes visiting botanical gardens, it has been on my to-do list for a few years. It was everything I was expecting it to be however I felt a little rob. Everyone was walking too fast like it's a race and we were done in a couple hours. Regardless it is the best botanical garden I have been to. Even better than the tropical gardens I have visited and the smell of the flowers was amazing.
The hanging gardens.
Dean bean loves flowers and trees.
There is a forest with a small walkway between the hanging gardens and the sunken garden.
The had several of these moss covered rocks that looked like animals throughout the park.
The sunken garden. The most well known part of the garden.
There is an island in the middle of the garden hidden in plain sight. Just to the right of where the sidewalk disappears you can see people up high. This is a 25-35 foot high island you can walk up in the middle of the sunken garden. You don't even know it's there until you get down there.
The rose garden.
Dragon statue in the Japanese garden.
I don't know what these flowers are called but they were unique.
Zachy Zach smelling the Easter Lilies.
This was the strangest tree I saw in the gardens. It's called a monkey puzzle tree and it grows in Argentina and Chile. It's a conifer but the leaves look like leaves from an aloe and the trunk almost looks like a pineapple.
Dean stopped and knelt down on this rock then tried to give the flower a hug.
Pictures from a tall rock island in the middle of the sunken garden.
Being how I have always lived in warm climates I have never seen flowers like this. Flowers from the far northern hemisphere almost remind me of a pine cone.
Eating Gelato in the Italian garden.
This pond had a lot of lilpads, papyrus, dragonflies, etc.
Right by the exit they had a greenhouse with two windows we could open. The smell coming out of it was very powerful.
Back on the boat.
Lynden, Washington and Vancouver, Canada
After our day in Victoria we packed it up and drove to the other side of Puget Sound to Lynden, Washington. We stayed less than a mile from the Canadian border and had a nice view of Mt. Baker close by which still has a really heavy snow pack. Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier are two of the snowiest peaks in the lower 48 with Mt. Rainer getting an average of 121.4 days of snow a year.After dinner in Lynden, Washington Dean actually let Jeremy hold his hand.
Wild blackberries growing in the KOA. The kids were foraging for a while then came back the next morning with a bowl.
Vancouver was another place that had a lot of sites that I didn't get to see. Keep reading and you'll understand why I don't really feel like it's a big loss and I'm not in a hurry to go back. Stanley Park and Capilano were definitely made the trip worth it but I don't really care to see the rest of the city now.
From the lookout at Stanley Park.
Dean finally let Grandpa push him without crying.
And then he fell asleep.
The hallow tree. They thought it was a cool enough spot to put on a map for the park. I didn't really see the big deal about it.
We had dinner downtown and had the best beer I've ever had. Okanagan Spring 1516 Bavarian Lager. During dinner a lady came over and said Dean is the best behaved baby. The entire table erupted in laughter. If she would have stuck around for ten more minutes she would understand why.
Zach at Capilano Suspension Bridge Park.
Bridges in the treetops.
This exhibit compared the lengths of bats, owls, falcons, and eagles.
Exhibit showing how fast different tree species grow.
Dean with Grandpa.
The tree top bridges that we walked.
View of the cliff walk from the suspension bridge.
The cliff walk.
We went back to Vancouver for a second day. This time we headed right into downtown. The traffic there is a nightmare. It's nothing like Calgary. The lights don't seem to make sense. They all have yellow but a lot of them skip the yellow and the green flashes then it goes right to red. The problem is the green can flash for a few seconds or a minute. I have no idea what they were smoking when they came up with those lights.
The steam clock.
This girl walked by my nephew in the gift shop asking someone "Who would want to rub beaver"? I'm not going to answer that.
I had some really high exceptions for Vancouver. Our visit to Calgary last year was very nice. The city was perfectly manicured and everyone was so nice. Parts of Vancouver are really nice too. Driving over the bridge into Vancouver it reminded me of Asia, like Hong Kong, with tall sky scrapers cut into the mountains with gigantic trees growing next to them and trees planted on the tops of almost every building. The mountains are a beautiful deep green with clouds hugging the peaks all day.
However once we got down towards Chinatown, Hastings Street to be exact, I realized what a crap hole the inner city is. I had no idea that Vancouver has the worst skid row in North America with thousands of druggies living on the street. Socialism at it's best. I learned they have injection sites with 12 injection stations, monitored by nurses, where over 500 injections take place a day. People pick up their welfare checks and needles are exchanged right in the welfare lines. People are zombies long before they even get back to skid row. People have tried to have these injection sites shut down but the courts ruled against them saying you can't deny a druggie their right to "Medical care". It's mind boggling what people thing is a right. There is no enforcement of public drug use. I repeat, there is no enforcement of public drug use.
Vancouver is the second least affordable housing market in the world, behind Hong Kong. A 670 sq. foot loft downtown cost 900+K (650K or so American). You have the uber rich and then you have this.....
A minute before I took this picture was the first sign we were walking into trouble. I saw a girl on the corner with her thong hanging out (way out), makeup bag open on the sidewalk, looking like she's getting ready for work. Then we turn the corner and another girl doing the same thing. Then we came across this. A standing sleeping zombie holding her purse. My sister told me I'm going to get jumped taking this picture. By who? She's asleep. Then we turn another corner and it was like The Walking Dead. First they see one zombie, then two, then there's the herd. The picture below doesn't show how bad it really is. Hundreds of homeless living on the sidewalk, doing drugs, looking like zombies. They don't even try to hide it. I saw people crushing their drugs right on the street. Hitting bongs on against the wall then smiling like dopey. Needles right there in the open. My sister saw a girl coming out the alley with scratches on her face holding her crotch. People with razor blades on their key chains. All this in broad daylight! Welcome to socialism and tolerance for everything. I consider myself mostly libertarian but society shouldn't have to accept everything. Doing drugs openly on the street should not be accepted in civilized society.
Hundreds and hundreds of zombies shooting up on the street.
Back out of skid row.
We tried to eat in Chinatown at a place everyone talked up. It was authentic Chinese. We ended up walking out. The menu was confusing, they were rude and ignored us, they threw all the forks in front of me instead of putting them in front of each person. We were the only white people in there and after being ignored for ten minutes I said eff this and we walked out. We walked back towards Gas Town and found a Thai restaurant in the mall. The mall was weird. Nice in some parts but then a dark sketchy corner. 9/10 people in the McDonalds were homeless on drugs and one of them was fighting with a worker that he didn't get his food. Then upstairs the mall was nice and clean. The Thai was really good. Probably one of the best Thai restaurants I have eaten at.
Mount St. Helens
On our way back to California we spent 2 nights by St. Helens. We got there a lot later than expected because traffic going through the Seattle and Tacoma area was absolute hell. We didn't get to hike through any lava tubes or anything and had to cut Mt. Rainier out of our plans but we did get to drive up to Mt St. Helens. Really wishing I had time to do Mt. Rainier.
At the Silver Cove RV resort.
This is about halfway up the mountain. We stopped here for the kids to see the discovery center and then we got rained on during lunch.
Mt St. Helens hiding in the clouds. This is about a mile down the road from the observatory.
After Mt St. Helens we headed home. The plan was to get home in three days. The first day we were supposed to get to Redding, then Riverside, then home. Well we pushed through and made it all the way down to Stockton the first day. Stopping in Stockton sucked. We found a Walmart that had signs stating no overnight parking for trailers/RVs. We figured they wouldn't give us a problem and it was just a notice so they can kick the trash out. No one kicked us out but I was woken up by a pack of coyotes in the parking lot and the street sweeper going through the parking lot with flashing lights. Again, like in Redding, it was hot and I had to sleep next to Zach with the windows open. After a couple hours of sleep we were back on the road shortly after 6 and got to Riverside in the early afternoon. I cleaned the truck and had family dinner with the siblings. I was going to sleep a couple hours before driving home but couldn't sleep. So we took off at 9:40 PM and I was fine until we got to Arizona. I had to stop times after between the border and home to close my eyes for a few minutes before pushing another hour or so. After sleeping a few minutes at the Chevron in Quartzsite I woke up with Highway Patrol watching me from the pump. When I moved to gas up he moved to the side of the building like he was watching me. They tell you to pull over if you are tired and rest but when you do they watch you like you're on drugs or something.
Here is my trip. 4813 miles, 3583 of them hauling the trailer.
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