Two Hams on the Road

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

We are in Bellingham, Washington, visiting Diana and Greg.  And here is the

view from their deck:

The last time I wrote we were in northern California, waiting to explore Redwood

National Park.  The park is a unique mix of state and federal lands and the sign

shows that:

The drive to the park was cloudy and overcast. 

This is not the sunny southern California coast.  But it is this weather that

supports the growth of the redwoods.  The mist and clouds supplement the

rainfall to supply the moisture needed.  We’ve noticed that the streams and rivers

this far north frequently have water in them, although none of them seem at their

normal level.

We took a park road up to an overlook to have lunch.  As we climbed, the sun

broke through and it looked like it was a gorgeous day!  We reached the overlook

and a gorgeous view:

The bank of clouds blocks the view of the ocean, which would have been

spectacular. 

We spread the picnic cloth on the grass and enjoyed our lunch.  Obi used this

time to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. 

He’s enjoying grass underfoot.  He didn’t particularly care for the sand, gravel or

dirt in the southwest. 

We then explored the Lady Bird Johnson Grove, dedicated to her to honor her

work to beautify America.  It’s a nice redwood grove with an easy loop trail

through it.

It’s really hard to photograph redwoods, as they are so tall, but here are a few

shots we took.

This tree was probably hit by lightening, but still survives.

I couldn’t help but think how much fun I would have had as a child playing in this

cozy den:

And there were lots of wild flowers blooming.  We found spring again!

The next day we headed north on our way to Bellingham, Washington.  We took

a scenic drive through Redwood National Park.  These pictures help to show the

scale of the redwoods:

We were in the land of green again and when we crossed over streams, they

seemed to have some water in them.  We headed into Oregon, where Steve had

found us a Corps of Engineers campground.  The Army Corps of Engineers built

most of the dams on rivers in this country, for hydropower, flood control and

recreation.  They also frequently built a campground nearby.  We’ve stayed in

several and really enjoy them.  This particular one, Schwarz Park, had no

hookups, meaning we relied on what we had in the trailer for power and water. 

But it had a really nice view.

That’s the Row River in the picture.  I was really sad we were only going to spend

one night here.  There were only two other campers in this part of the park and

they were both near the restrooms, so we had plenty of solitude.

Except for the two families of geese that apparently lived near by.  We saw them

in the evening and again the next morning, as we got ready to leave.  There were

5 goslings, I think, and the adults kept an eye on us to make sure we weren’t

getting too close.

There were also 3 ducks, 2 with dark heads and one with a red head, that

seemed to be hanging together, although I couldn’t get them in one shot.

We’ve seen a few deer and an elk in the last couple of days, but never where

there are signs warning of deer.  In fact, in all our travels, we’ve never seen the

animals depicted on the road signs anywhere near the road signs.

The farther north we go, the more normal rivers and streams look. And the

greener the landscape.  Greg and Diana say that eastern Washington is pretty

dry.  It will be interesting to see how things are in Alaska, as they didn’t get much

snow this winter.

I’ll be here another week; Steve has flown east to Dayton for an amateur radio

convention and Diana and Greg have been gracious enough to put up with Obi

and me.  Then we’ll head north to Hazleton, British Columbia, to meet up with our

RV caravan into Alaska.

Deb