After the great Lewis and Clark
caravan, with many new RV friends scattering in all directions across
the country, we went back to a more simple life and pace. Well, back
to the hectic pace that is our normal!
We headed to WA, to spend a month
visiting Sheila and our friends and family in the area. We started in
Puyallup and enjoyed the Point Defiance Zoo, plus terrific exhibits
and a special glass blowing demonstation at the Museum of Glass.
Sheila then rode shotgun in Max up to Burlington/Anacortes.
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| Special guest glass artist at Museum Of Glass |
We stayed at the same RV park in that
we used last year. Not only does Anacortes have fantastic weather
during the summer, but gobs of wild blackberry bushes that ripen
while we are there (Maren had the scratches on her hands and arms to
prove it). With Sheila's apartment only 20 minutes away in
Burlington, it is a great location.
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| Sheila's sweet roommate, Tay, getting a "cat nap" |
Our time in WA was a mix of emotions –
happy to visit with my extended family, wonderful family friends, and
friends we knew in Florida decades ago who have relocated to the NW –
and sad to say a final goodbye to the spirit of my sweet aunt Pat at her
memorial. It was so nice to meet several of her childhood friends and
hear stories from her youth. It was also special to visit with her
son, my cousin, as well as an uncle I haven't seen since I was a
child.
We made a number of day trips to nearby
sights – Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Mount Rainier, whale
watching boat trip – and even a multi-day visit to explore Coeur
d-Alene, Idaho, when the canadian border didn't open up in time for a
visit we had planned to Banff in Alberta.
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| Sunset in Coeur d-Alene through smoky skies |
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| The 3 amigos in a gondola on Silver Mountain |
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| Majestic Mount Rainier |
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| Orca on our Anacortes whale watching trip |
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| Sea lions lounging |
We extended our visit by a few weeks
when Sheila started experiencing serious back issues. As I write
this, she is scheduled for surgery, but the wait is extended due to
hospital covid impacts that are affecting even urgent health
conditions. Such a frustrating situation for her. She is fortunate to
have wonderful friends and family nearby who are helping her through
this period and our plan is to fly back for the surgery.
Our run back to Texas for doctor and
dentist visits of our own was brisk, but we did build in a few days
here and there for weather and short stops along the way. We were
very lucky to not have any issues with high winds or storms given we
had wind, rain and snow last year on a similar path. This time we
made short stops while going east at the Cat Tales Wildlife Center
(near Spokane), the Little BigHorn Battlefield (near Hardin, MT), the
site of Custer's Last Stand, and Pompeys Pillar (a monument on the
return path of William Clark on the Yellowstone River). The
battlefield was especially interesting because the staff at the park
were very good a dispelling some of the false rumors and partial
truths that permiate Custer's life. Interestly, we had visited his
home on the way west at Fort Abraham Lincoln when on our RV caravan
months earlier, so this somewhat closed that story.
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| Stones marking where soldiers fell during the battle (black one is where Custer fell) |
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| Monument honoring the 220 soldiers interred underneath |
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| Pompeys Pillar National Monument |
Turning south, we swung through Casper,
WY and highly recommend their National Historic Trails Interpretive
Center, which did a great job covering the American migration west
after Lewis and Clark's expedition. At Colorado Springs we finally
got to the top of Pike's Peak. 14,000 feet up. The cog train has been under refurbishment the previous two times we came through the
area, or weather prevented a car drive up (not my first choice). The
cog train plods up the mountain, slowly but surely, and once you
break free of the trees, the views are dramatic. While there was a
little smoke still in the area from western fires, you could see a
great distance in every direction. Unfortunately we only got 40
minutes at the peak before the cog train returns back down. If you
miss the train, it is a VERY long walk back.
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| Pre-boarding the Cog Train |
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| View from the top of Pikes Peak |
No surprise that we went again to the
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs to see their famous
giraffes. As it turned out, brother David and wife Mary happened to
be nearby after braving the hike up the Manitou Incline. We took the
easy way out and met them after they came back down the mountain.
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| New feeding experience - Rhino! |
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| Feeding Kalid, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo's "gentle giant" (and very tall) breeding bull |
After Pikes Peak, you would think an
8000 foot volcano would be uninteresting, but after missing Capulin
Volcano in New Mexico for a couple years due to a washed out road, we
finally got there too. The views are outstanding and different than
Pikes Peak as you can look more steeply down to the surrounding
relatively flat landscape.
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| Capulin Volcano National Monument |
In Lubbock we stopped at the the Buddy
Holly Center and local prairie dog town. Though Buddy he died in his early 20s, he had a huge impact
on the music of his time, even if his career only lasted 18 months.
Near Forest City, Iowa where Winnebagos are made is the location of
where his plane went down in a winter storm. It is impossible to
imagine what he would have accomplished had he not died so young.
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| Thank you TripAdvisor for recommending we bring baby carrots to prairie dog town |
Every year we return to Austin, it
seems like we recognize less and less. The town and the surrounding
area is growng so fast that empty fields a year ago have buildings on
them. New towers appear every year and apartments are being built as
fast as they can and still aren't keeping up with the people moving
to town.
We crammed our 7 health appointments
into 3 days and almost got away "clean" except Jeffrey had
to have a crown replaced (thank goodness this process is getting faster as he had just enough time to get it done before we left). We had time to fly back to WA to lend
Sheila a hand or two and get some annual cleanup done on Max before
it was time to leave on our trek to Florida – a much shorter visit
in Texas and our apologies for the friends we didn't get to see this
time through. As I write this blog post, we have arrived in Florida and Max is getting a new toilet and fridge freezer doors installed at Lazydays in Tampa, courtesy of his extended warranty (WOOHOO!).
Even with vaccines for Covid, we still
try to balance our adventures and any exposure to others that would
result by doing mostly outdoor adventures with masks and social
distancing when we must be inside. How nice it would have been to put
our masks in storage this year, but I'm guessing they'll be with us for awhile yet.
