Washington State or Bust.....

Otherwise known as "Going to visit Tosha, Austen, Niki, and Cooper!"  We were excited to pack up our RV and head out on our vacation to the Northwest.  In many ways, it feels like I am "on a day by day schedule" which not much time to think about what is ahead.  It was so nice to get into the motorhome on Friday, July 19, and head on vacation and it was a perfect vacation with everything working out as if I had planned it years in advance.  I feel so blessed to live in a country and have resources to enjoy vacations like we are able to do.  (And it is so nice to have Tosha and family at a place where we can drive to visit them.)  As I reviewed our photos, I was struck again on how beautiful all types of the landscapes are.  So, warning:  There are LOTS of photos.  If you have "been there, done that," skip ahead to the posts about five or six ahead.  This was a 10-day vacation so there was a lot of ground covered.

Friday:  Headed from Syracuse, UT, to north of Ontario, Oregon.  Although this trip was not focused on finishing the Oregon Trail (that is slated for 2020.)  I did snap this picture of the Snake River.  My Great Grandfather Owen and my great Grandmother Jane McCurry Owen (and her family) crossed this river many times during the trip out west.

In our research, we discovered that RVs can camp overnight in rest areas, so we stopped at this beautiful site for the night for free.  No showers, but quiet and pretty.  We even loved the sounds of the nearby trains as they passed in the night (because Gary and I are weird like that.)

We had stopped at this rest area because it was located just south of Baker, Oregon, and we were going to make a stop at another Oregon Trail Museum.  My ancestors likely did not make this far as their wagon trail was convinced to try a "shortcut," and turn west a bit south of this location. They became known as "The Lost Wagon Train."  They did make it to the Willamette Valley but many were starving by the time they arrived.

This museum was very well-done and it reminded us of the history and trail that we had followed last summer.  Many quotes were used throughout the museum which reminded me of my Great Grandfather's journal.  It is amazing to think that after a long day of walking and struggling to stay alive that people--humans like you and me--would stop before bedtime and record some of the little and big events of the day.  I was always amazing that my mother, with eight children, could do it as well.  It is quite a gift people leave when they record things in a journal.

One of my favorite parts of the museum is where they created a "rut" in the middle of the pathway between two exhibits.  I don't know why it touched me so much as I crossed it.  I have seen and walked by ruts before, but to look into the dirt and see the hoof prints, wagon wheels treads, and the many footsteps--it was powerful!

Mormon pioneers weren't the only ones who lost children or family members along the way.

This is the view toward the west which greeted the pioneers as they left the Snake River behind and headed northwest to travel along the Columbia River.  Those are the Blue Mountains in the distance and the Cascades Mountains are beyond that.  After making it through the Rocky Mountains, it must have been a discouraging view. Of course, that is why they headed to the Columbia River, to avoid going over these mountains directly.  And as pretty as the view was, that is dust and sagebrush covering the trails now.

I snapped this picture of Narcissa Whitman who was said to be the first "white" woman to come this far west by wagon.  My elementary school was named Marcus Whitman after her husband.  They were missionaries who came to covert the Native Americans to Christianity, but were killed in an uprising.  I read her journal a number of years ago when I was learning about the travels of Lewis and Clark.

This photo shows some of the highlights of the Oregon Trail that we traveled last year.

They had a ring of wagon trails in an outside display.  We are up on a small hill looking over the valley.  I think it is called Hell's Canyon.

Imagine walking through this in the heat of summer
with a wagon and your children!

Lots of fun ways to travel this beautiful country.

One nice thing about the RV is that you can enjoy lunch where ever you are---tacos for lunch in the parking lot of the museum. 

And I still like the brown historical signs along the way. 

Near the museum was another site where you can see the ruts of the wagon trains.  Gary and Jena stayed in the RV--I guess if you have seen one rut, you have seen them all!  However, I headed for the short walk to see them. 

The above sign is a more modern design which is used throughout the states where the Oregon Trail went.  Below is a sign that was posted in 1943.  It struck me that during WWII, that the people of Baker still were thinking about a way to honor those pioneers a 100 years after the first major waves of travelers. 

Definitely a hat day---all day!!!

I know this doesn't look like much but the Umatilla Bridge is an important part of my childhood.  We really did "go over the river and through the woods" to our grandmother's house.  My grandmother lived in Portland, OR, and I grew up in Richland, Washington--those are two opposite types of countryside as you will see. 

That is the old bridge on the left which is currently being worked on.  I was disappointed to not cross that bridge.  When I was growing up, it was a toll bridge.  I guess it was finally paid for, because no tolls now. 

One of the many dams on the Columbia River

Because of the marvel of texting, I sent this picture of the bridge to my siblings and asked them if they could guess where I was at.  That led to some fun conversations about the bridge and the song my mom wrote which included a section about the bridge.  It was called "How Far To Grandma's House?" 

I snapped this picture of the Washington state sign as we drove over the bridge.  Although I was born in Provo, I moved to Richland when I was two months old (with a stay in Portland from 2 weeks to 8 weeks while my dad was getting housing) and grew up there until I was 16 years old. I have lived a lot of places, but nowhere replaces your "hometown," even when you are as old as I am.  Richland area is not beautiful, but it is still that home and as I drove towards it, I felt like I was coming home, like all of those many trips to my grandma's house.

I took this picture of a sign with Richland on it.  We did not make a stop this time, but I hope to go back at least one more time to gather with friends and reconnect to those memories of being a child and a teenager. 

We continued up the road towards Yakima.  Shortly passed the Richland turnoff, I took this photo of what I thought was a dust storm---a very common occurrence in Richland.  However as we got closer, we realized that it was actually a fire.  Fires have been terrible this year throughout the west.

This is the Yakima River.  It flowed down to the east and joined the Columbia River near Richland.  We played along its banks and in the water at times.  It was a very fast moving river and not really recommended for kids just playing with their friends!

A bridge---because you know that I love bridges of all kinds and shapes.  No walking across on this one.

As we continue northwest, passed Yakima, the landscape changes from the desert of the Columbia Basin into the beauty that most people think of when they think of Washington state.  Streams were everywhere and the trees were gorgeous.  Poor Gary had to drive the winding roads that I selected so that we could travel a more southern route through the state than I had ever done.

We made a accidental stop to allow some cars to pass us and as soon as I got out of the RV, I heard the rush of the water.  The sign had said, "Clear Creek Falls" but I was not expecting how beautiful it was.  Waterfalls are pretty in pictures, but in person, the whole site--sound--feel of the air make them magical.

 It is amazing the places that big trees can find to grow along the water and in the cliffs.

 Evergreen trees and light--a great combination

 Wildflowers were blooming everywhere along the road side and paths.

And we turned the corner and there it was--Mt. Rainier.  I saw the mountain during my visit in January from the west, but it has been over 50 years since I was this close to this famous Washington mountain.  We took this southern route because I had never gone on the south side of the mountain, just the more direct freeway on the north side.  Again the grandeur of nature took my breath away.  Big mountain tops are tricky--the close you come to them, the harder they are to see.  At this point, the top of the mountain was covered.....

We headed down Stephen's Canyon

I had done a bit of research on the sites along this southern entrance to the Mt. Rainier Park and found a RV blog who suggested three main stops along this route.  RVs can't always travel roads that show up on maps, so we decided to follow that recommended route.........

There were areas of tunnels, one after the other.

Views of Mt. Rainier which would appear and then disappear.  The clouds moved away from the top so you could see all of it as we got closer.

Lakes and wildflower...and trees. were every where.

The only problem was that there were WAY too many people to stop at any of the suggested stops and park our RV.  It was crazy.  This photo below was taken at Paradise Lodge.  Gary let me out so I could grab some pictures.  There is a short hike up to a meadow that is supposed to be gorgeous at this time of year.  You could see the line of people going up and down the trail--it almost looked like an organized  Walk up the hill because there were so many people.

We pulled over in a view area down the road and got some photos of wildflowers along the road...

And the mountain........I love the Rocky Mountains which line the east horizon in our area, but this mountain is beautiful!

We were here or there!

View off the side of the road--glad Gary was driving....still!

This was from the west where we had dinner before heading for the Air Force base and meeting up with Tosha and Austen and the boys.

Our GPS took us to a locked gate of the Air Force Base and gave us directions to enter there to meet up with Tosha and Austen.  It took a bit to figure our way around and we got to meet up with them around 9:30 pm so that Austen could escort us on to the base and to the Base Campground which was our home for the next few days.

Good to see them,  good to fall into bed and sleep!!!  Vacation was going perfect!!!