Gig Harbor, WA

We drove to Gig Harbor last Friday to spend a couple of nights. We left Whidbey Island by ferry, departing from Coupeville and arriving in Port Townsend. We took our Winnebego motorhome and Ford F-150 on the ferry and it was 47-miles shorter and saved us the stress of driving through Seattle on I-5 with its stop-and-go traffic.

We did, however, drive to Seattle on Saturday, so Paul could take his last exam to get his biology teaching certificate. We enjoyed time at a nearby park while he was testing.

Paul passed all four of his exams (in Omaha, Bismarck, Portland and Seattle) for his teaching certificates. He spent much of his time over the past six weeks studying as we drove down the road on our trip from Austin, Texas to the Pacific Northwest. We all celebrated Saturday night with a nice seafood dinner at Anthony’s in Gig Harbor. I enjoyed the grilled king salmon and halibut.  

Early Sunday morning Julie and I drove Paul, Ying and our grandson Connor to the Seattle-Tacoma airport so they could fly to San Francisco to catch their flight home to Taipei.

We left Gig Harbor after we got back from the airport and drove to Salem, Oregon to spend two nights at Hee Hee Illahee RV Resort. Now we’re on our way to northern California to visit Redwood National Park. 

Steve & Julie Cornelius

Whidbey Island, WA

We arrived at Cliffside RV Park on the Whidbey Island Navy base on Sunday, July 22^nd. We’ve wanted to come to this campground for a couple of years. It truly is the best of all the military campgrounds we’ve visited the past five years. It was our daughter-in-law Ying’s birthday on Sunday, so we celebrated with cake and ice cream after dinner.

On Tuesday we went with our friends Vince & Lisa to see the “Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Tour” in Everett, Washington. We drove down to Clinton on the southern end of Whidbey Island and took the ferry to Mukilteo. It was only a 20-minute ferry crossing and that put us only a few miles from Boeing.

Boeing assembles all its wide-body jets at its Everett facility. They have over 30,000 employees here, working three shifts. The airplane assembly building is the largest in the world by volume and covers 98 acres. It could hold 75 NFL football fields. We saw 747s, 767s, 777s, and 787s (both passenger and cargo aircraft) being assembled.     

One of the main attractions on the north end of Whidbey Island is Deception Pass. It connects Skagit Bay, part of Puget Sound, with the Strait of Juan de Fuca. This is the most visited place in Washington state.

We drove to Gig Harbor today to spend a couple of nights and take the ferry tomorrow from Bremerton to Seattle as foot passengers. 

Steve & Julie Cornelius

Columbia River Gorge

We departed West Glacier and overnighted outside of Spokane, Washington on Thursday, July 12^th. We drove south down U.S. 395 through the wheat fields of eastern Washington and headed to a Washington state park on the Columbia River. We met our friends Vince & Lisa at the state park to join them exploring the Columbia River Gorge.

We checked out the Oregon side of the Columbia by visiting The Dalles and Hood River, on the Columbia River Gorge. We especially liked the area around Hood River, with its views of Mount Hood, a lavender farm, and a local winery.

Three days later, last Monday, we moved 70-miles west to Cascade Locks and a nearby Oregon state park where we camped for four nights on a hill in the woods. We drove into Portland on Tuesday and visited their world-famous rose gardens. We also sampled some Voodoo Donuts.

We visited Bonneville Dam & Locks on Wednesday. It was interesting to see the dam, locks, and the fish ladder around the dam.

We went into Cascade Locks on Thursday and took a scenic ride on a real paddle-wheel boat up and down the Columbia River Gorge.

We left Oregon on Friday and drove about 90-miles to Castle Rock, WA to stay at another state park for a couple of nights. We visited Mount St. Helens National Monument on Saturday. It was interesting to see what remains of the mountain after the devastating volcanic eruption on May 20, 1980

Yesterday we drove north up I-5 through Seattle to Whidbey Island, Washington for a five-night stay. We’re staying at Cliffside RV Park on the Navy base and have great views of the San Juan Straits. We hope to see some sea-life while we’re here.

Steve & Julie Cornelius

Montana

We overnighted in Miles City on Thursday, July 5^th, then headed to Billings on Friday. We met my sister Janet and her wife Nancy at the Billings KOA. This KOA, established in 1962, is the world’s first KOA. We enjoyed 18-holes of miniature golf after dinner.

On Saturday, July 7^th we drove to Great Falls where we spent two nights at the Malmstrom AFB family campground. The host Bill had placed wood barrels around the campground where he had planted vegetables for the campers to enjoy. Our grandson Connor experienced a freshly picked carrot growing in the barrel next to our campsite.

Monday, July 9^th, we headed up the road to see Glacier National Park. We stayed for three nights at the West Glacier KOA. It was our first visit to Glacier. We had tried to visit in 2011 on our way to Alaska but the “Going to the Sun Road” was still closed due to snow. This year, they didn’t get the road plowed open until June 30^th.

Tuesday afternoon all of us rode the free shuttle from the Apgar Visitor’s Center at the west entrance up to the top of Logan Pass. The views were spectacular and we also saw some wild life.

Yesterday, we took an hour-long scenic boat tour on Glacier National Park’s Lake McDonald Wednesday afternoon. The lake water is crystal clear and we had great views of the surrounding mountains.

We’re off to Washington and Oregon to meet up with friends Vince & Lisa and see the Columbia River Gorge.

Steve & Julie Cornelius