Actually Tacoma, but it sounded better to go with the "Ss" for the title.
Although it has been hazy and smoky in Utah over the first part of September, it didn't really occur to us to check the smoke/haze in Washington when we left on September 10th for our RV trip to visit Tosha, Austen, and family. I assumed that the winds were all coming from the west to Utah not north to Washington. We had plans to make a trip to the coast and maybe go see the salmon which start to run in Washington at this time of year. That is something on my bucket list so I was excited about that. And of course, it is always fun to see grandchildren (and their parents, we love seeing their parents, too.) We got a late start because Gary noticed a low tire on the RV and when they got checked, it was suggested that we replace four of the tires. That worked for me, because it allowed me to actually finish all of the little things I want to do before a trip and also spend some extra time in the morning with Rick, Linda, and Duncan who had spent the night on the way to drop Duncan off at BYU-Idaho.
That got us in later that expected to our Thursday camp spot in LeGrande, Oregon, the site of a hot springs. Although we had a pass to the twilight soak at the Hot Springs, we decided that a early bedtime was a better idea.
We did see this parasailer as we headed down the county road to the RV park.
Gary knows me well and pulled into this rest area the next morning for our breakfast stop and my Oregon Trail fix.
Everytime we drive to Washington, I am sure I post a picture of this bridge--the Umatilla Bridge that crosses the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington. It is a sentimental part of my childhood as it was one of the landmarks between my home and my grandmother's in Portland, Oregon.
Notice the hazy sky. At first it was easy for me to think of it as part of a sandstorm or maybe the hazy of rain, but only because I can't smell. For Gary and Jena, they could smell the smoke of the fires burning up and down the Pacific coast line states. Gary said that it was so bad that it left a taste in your mouth like metal.
We took a quick stop at the Columbia River Temple. Growing up here, I never thought that we would have a temple in our own town. It is quite amazing and a tribute to the great Saints who settled here over the years and built the Church.
If you look carefully, you can see a woman in a purple shirt. She and her daughter were eating breakfast there in front of the temple. It was her daughter's fifth birthday and that is what she picked to do for her breakfast. How cute is that!
Such a sad sign to see, but a reflection of the crazy pandemic season that we are in. Despite the fact that the grounds are not open, they are still beautiful and filled with fall flowers in bloom.
For my siblings and the other Richland people who read this blog, here is a shot of the Shelter Belt which now is a trail system in the city.
The Richland Logo--
This is the land that surrounds Richland. It is not the green of the western part of the state. It is a desert and a part of the Columbia Basin.
...which is why the government built Hanford out here to study radiation and nuclear power. My dad rode an hour each way to reach his offices. Here are some buildings still there.
This is why my childhood memories are filled with chasing tumbleweeds, seeing dust witches, catching lizards, and wind--so much wind. It isn't pretty, but it was an awesome place to grow up in the 1950s and 1960s.
The Columbia River was also a part of our life as it flowed on the edge of our town and provided an awesome Lagoon where we went swimming in the summer.
This was one of the dams that were crossing the river.
And just upstream from that was the bridge that we took across the Columbia River--
(Side note: One of my friends from Richland whom I have friends with on Facebook posted a picture of this same bridge a day after we traveled across it. She was heading back from a visit to the Seattle area to the eastern part of the state where she lives. It was so random that we passed the same way within less than a day of each other and we could share it even though we haven't seen each other in person since I moved when I was 16 years old. A benefit of Facebook!)
We headed up a different way than normal because I wanted to share a place that I enjoyed visiting with my family with Gary and Jena.
Sights along the way....
I can remember visiting this place when I was about 12 years old. It was about an hour and half from Richland in the central part of Washington. As we drove down the road, Gary asked me, "Do you think this might ruin your memory of it?" I laughed but did wonder as it did not look familiar at all as we drove up to the visitor center.
The name was right.....
There was petrified wood there....
...but I had no memory of it being so close to the Columbia River......
...even though there was a nice viewing deck overlooking the river....Weird! It didn't match my memory at all of walking on a hill and seeing the petrified trees.
I took this picture for my kids who had asked for some petrified wood!
Then the forest ranger told me that there was a mile trail where the location of much of the petrified wood was originally found about 2 miles down the road.
There I found something that matched my memory closer. There was a tiny little trailside museum which told a bit about the history of the place....
...with the "caretaker house" which fit more into my memory. I remember the ranger who worked there was very nice and told us about some of the history---in my memory anyway. The house is now a private residence. I don't think I would want to live there with a trailside museum and trail head in my basement.
We headed up the trail which matched my memory of the hillside.....
But this is the base of some of the petrified wood. They are encased in cages (to prevent looting and removing of the wood). They are labeled with the type of wood that they are. This is one of the largest finds of petrified wood in the US and also the world and there are several major types of trees that were found in this area along.
A wider look at the cages....
And while it was interesting to see, it didn't match my memory of four or five "petrified wood" stumps in a section that we could walk around. Weird how memories are! We didn't walk the entire trail so maybe that part was around the corner---but I don't think so. These cages were built between 1933-1945 when the site was developed and I didn't visit until the 1960s. It makes sense that they had to protect the rare wood from being removed. I was glad we went. Petrified wood and the varieties of it are quite beautiful and part of the diversity of our world.
A train bridge---
Closeup of the trestles---the sky seems blue but the smoke smell was still in the air...
And then in a very short time, you reach the east side of the Cascade Mountains and go from brown to green...and smoky haze.
Mountain peak after mountain peak....
Friday afternoon, we arrived at the Air Force base where Tosha and Austen lived and got settled into our campsite on base. It is a pretty location but that haze isn't fog, but smoke in the air.
We spent our time at their house. Niki is learning to play the piano and played a song for us when we arrived.
Although Ava took a little bit to warm up to me, she quickly also became hooked on Jena and Grandpa. She was a big grandpa fan.
Saturday morning, I got up and walked about 30 minutes with my mask on before having breakfast in the RV. When I got back to the RV, Gary read me the weather and air quality report which said to "KEEP INSIDE!"
The sign for the campground
We spent the morning trying to figure out if there was anywhere we could go to get out of the smoke and poor air quality, but then gave up and decided to just hang out in their house. We played toys, watch movies, cuddled with grandkids, and talked. It was great!
Because our Saturday plans fell through, we decided to move up the sleep over in the RV for Niki and Cooper to Saturday night since we had made big plans for an indoor water park for Monday. Here are Cooper and Niki in bed in the RV. I was a bit nervous about Cooper since he is only three to sleep there without his parents, but they both did great and we loved having them.
And we had a simple cereal breakfast in the morning which they loved. I let Niki mix two types of cereal in his bowl which he promptly ate and asked for more--because I am a grandma now and I can do things like that.
Back at the house, Ava was trying on her brother's Ironman mask. She didn't seem to have missed her brothers at all while they were gone.
On Sunday morning, we heard from Gary's sister that she was taking Gary's mom to the ER because she had been unable to sleep the night before due to coughing despite having the oxygen. Her cough had continued to worsen despite additional doctor visits since we had taken her on the prior Saturday. After continuing phone calls back and forth, Gary and I decided that we needed to be in Utah with her and his sisters. We had our planned BBQ with Tosha and family and their sweet neighbor, Britney and then headed home for an early departure the next day. We left about 4:30 a.m. and drove straight back to Utah which took about 14 hours in the RV.
(Tosha, Austen, and their family were able to enjoy the indoor water park without us, but they said it would have been funnier to watch the kids splash us rather than them.)
One last view of the Columbia River on our journey home.........
Thanks, Tosha and Austen. It wasn't the trip we planned (notice that theme in my blog and life) but it was memorable. It was great to play toys with your kids and strengthen our connections with them. Thanks for being such great hosts. Love you all!
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