First in line

Poulsbo color...a slice of Norway and Scandanavia

 POULABO, WA - - An early Sunday morning stroll around relatively quiet Poulsbo.  Lutefisk for all.

First, coffee at the Red Cup

Heritage is everywhere

Old sail boats and ??sea serpents?? on display in the harbor basin

 One stop is never enough at Slueys Bakery, a Poulsbo institution

Location, location

Rocking and rolling on the Hood Canal

POULSBO, WA - - On Thursday the wind had picked up quite a bit, but not so much adventuresome hard working fishermen weren't out on the water.  The Hood Canal splits Seabeck from the campground where we stayed two nights. Appropriately named Scenic Beach, it did have a beach (rocky); cold water (to adults, at least) and was scenic.  Watching the craft in the above pic could make you glad you were on solid land.

    

Yes, that's areas of snow on Mt. Ranier as seen from the motel parking lot

     Finding a campground with sites available has become a crap shoot. Most national and state parks now accept reservations six months and more in advance.  Not good for the campers who wander around rather than have a 'set' plan. Worse, a lot of folks 'game' the system by making reservations more to hold sites than show up and use them.  It's very infuriating to see empty sites with reserved status shown and nobody occupying it/them for a day or days.  The gamer loses the registration fee while real campers get screwed.

     Anyway, we had nowhere to stay Friday / Saturday but got lucky in finding a nice motel with a good rate for two nights.  And, we joined the reservation crowd and secured our next week's camping.  Of course each time you make a reservation there's an $8 fee and being out of state tacks on an additional $5...each time.  It's still better than wandering and hoping you find a place for the night.

 

On Highway 101

The Cape Lookout lighthouse (OR) in a bit of a fog

This incident cost us one hour wait on a winding no-detour 101

A typical beach shot on the Washington coast

Tillamook Creamery (OR) makes the best extra sharp cheese anywhere

BREMERTON, WA - -  We're now in Bremerton...site of a naval shipyard and a real good hospital where I got "stented-up" the last time we  were here in 2018. There's plenty of boat traffic to observe and good seafood restaurants (expensive) to check out.  Since WA is not directly on the Pacific (the locales we are in) we are getting sunshine and high 70's which is quite a change from the last two weeks or so.

    
 

What's a little fog??

TILLAMOOK, OR - - So, from bottom to top in the above photo of Pacific Beach, OR  People on the beach; the blue Pacific with small waves; the marine layer...better known as fog; and the blue sky.  The fog is sort of like a curtain.  No wind and it blankets everything;   with a strong wind blowing out then the fog bank stays off shore.  It all has to do with the temperature of the water /the land / the air as relative to each other.  And, if you listen to some of the old-timers then the hotter it is inland then the denser the fog.  We just keep driving along
 

We found cool weather...finally

BROOKINGS, OR - -  It's mid-50's and foggy.  Sounds a bit like grumpy weather, but it's not. After 5 days of over 100-degrees while making our way to the Pacific coast...California initially...we're in weather that is comfortable.  Of course that means long sleeve t's; fleece and warm jackets.  And, since any hair I had on the majority of my head fled 40 years ago, I have my handy fleece beanie.

   

 A little harbor action in Trinidad, CA

  So, what have we done in those missing days???  We've rolled through forest fire smoke; slowly made our way around repairs to hwy 101 where a landslide had rearranged the road; and have been reacquainted with coastal fog, constant coastal fog.  There is also the ongoing battle / competition for sites in the majority of campgrounds.  We've spent two nights in a "parking space" because there was 'no room at the inn'  and we probably had one of the better locations.  And the road goes on. And maybe we'll find more places with wi-fi.

The heat might be better than tornado warnings in OB

CALIENTE, NV - - We've left our high altitude campground at Deer Creek, UT, for a rather long, boring ride through the High Desert. go Tonopah.  We decided to stop for the night in Caliente (Spanish for hot) and at 8pm it's 97 with temperatures toward where we're heading soaring into the110 range.  The main reason to stop is that the next 200 miles are even more desolate than here...except for Rachel, NV and The Little A'le Inn near Area 51. Ah, the pleasures of travel.

Friday's jaunt to Cedar Breaks National Monument

A bit of the huge amphitheater rim at 'the Breaks
 

DUCK LAKE, UT - - Friday's adventure was planned as a ride to Cedar Breaks NM. The monument was called "the place where the rocks are sliding down all the time" by the Southern Paiute.  Later, settlers misidentified the juniper trees as cedars and called the steep, heavily eroded terrain breaks...leading to the eventual name Cedar Breaks.  The above photo is just a small part of the 3-mile wide amphitheater sculpted by erosion from snow, wind, rain and ice plus the movement of an active fault. 

Cedar Brakes is located at 10,000ft altitude...you might heed the sign

 

Farther down the mountain, hundreds of sheep were out grazing

Our little log cabin in the woods

 JACOB'S LAKE, AZ - - Don't let the cozy appearance fool you.  This is an authentic-looking sort-of log cabin complete with faultless workmanship which only crafty field mice or nesting birds could appreciate.  The two-person cell size interior did not lack anything...it was just a bit more compact.  Jacob's Lake Lodge, store, cabins and gas station is just a dot on the map of northern AZ  but is a must-find location for anyone heading to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  And our tie-in??  Working the summer of 2010 at the North Rim

Sunflower snack time

First we check out our options

Then, we land for a snack
 KANAB, UT - - An early morning stop for coffee and a seat on the shop's outdoor patio produced this action.  If I had been quicker when we were parking I might have gotten a pic of the hummingbirds checking out the flower garden buffet.