Boarding Friend Ship - #52-05

June 6, 2005 (Mon)
Yakima Sportsman SP #6 w/e/s $22.00 B
Coeur d'Alene, ID to Yakima, WA (259 miles today/3163 total) Q015477

Up at 5:30 (43°) off at 7:00 (50.2°) after saying good buy to Ed & Kathy. Clear and sunny. Stopped for gas at the Post Falls, ID Flying J ($2.15) then headed west on I-90 (again). Traffic through Spokane, WA was heavy - like the GSP on a slow day - but it didn't last long. Washington license plate on a gray pick up - "MAGNUS"; 2 Chinooks on a flatbed truck east bound; an east bound class A motor home towing a Chinook Concourse painted to match; huge fields of potatoes, alfalfa, wheat, sweet corn, timothy hay, and peppermint; and rolling hills spotted with sage brush or plowed for planting as far as the eye can see. The Columbia River has carved wide deep gorges through the hills. Gorgeous! We can see trucks the size of periods on a printed page moving along I-82 as we approach the exit for it five miles up ahead. South on I-82 - more sage brush covered hills and the Yakima River is trying to recreate the Columbia River Gorge.

With Henry's help we got to the Chinook factory without trauma at 11:50. They have no facilities for overnight stays. Mike, the service manager, said it would be OK to dry camp in a nearby parking lot but since the holding tanks need to be clean for tomorrow, we elected to come over here to the State Park where we could dump and flush.
________________________

June 7, 2005 (Tue)
Swauk Campground, Wenatchee National Forest #14 dry $6.50s A-
Yakima, WA to Wenatchee National Forest, WA (72/3234 miles) Q015549

Being in the Chinook factory was kind of depressing. The last time we were here, 6 years ago, it was a beehive of activity with dozens of Chinooks being assembled. Today there were maybe six and the formerly bustling retail area was empty space - a sign in the window announced that it had relocated. Apparently the sagging economy, high gas prices, and increased competition has hit sales pretty hard. But Chinook is a survivor, having weathered other bad times, so they will probably survive this one. While Q was in the hospital, we were given the use of a small Ford pick up truck. Also, the waiting room was very nice with comfortable couches and free coffee (and TV if we wanted to watch it).

At 10:00 we went out and found 2 quilt shops where Joy browsed, schmoozed with the owners, and bought fabric. We also looked up what we thought would be a chocolate factory but turned out to be a retail store. We bought some chocolate, of course. On Yakima Avenue we saw a string of railroad cars that had been converted into small shops. There was little there of interest to us except for the dining car which was a Mexican restaurant. The food was authentic and very good.

We had a long list of things we wanted taken care of at the Chinook factory. We had rightly expected to pay for some of it but Chinook took care of it all! What a company!

This campground is a National Forest campground which means lots of trees (very tall here), no hook-ups or showers and pit toilets. Also no wireless signal, so no email tonight. The trees here are the tallest we've ever seen. Majestic and magnificent! There is only one other camping unit here - a class B (converted van) camper. The road is close but has hardly any traffic.
________________________

June 9, 2005 (Wed)
Phil & Gail's driveway
Swauk Campground to Edmonds, WA (146/3381 miles) Q015695

Up at 5:30 (45°) off at 7:05 (50°) Rather than the more heavily traveled I-90 (and the Seattle congestion of I-5), we crossed the Cascade Mountains via the Stevens Pass Scenic Byway (A.K.A Cascades Loop and US-2). Beautiful! Leavenworth, WA is an interesting little town. To avoid extinction, the town fathers decided to transform it with a Bavarian theme. Now the setting (towering mountain rocks), architecture, and commercial offerings are distinctly Bavarian.

We stopped at the Deception Falls parking area and hiked to the falls and for a way down the Tye River - our exercise for the day. It was a beautiful walk through a moss covered forest with the sound of rushing water never far away.

From Stevens Pass, altitude 4106, we descended to near sea level in Everett, WA then south to Edmonds, WA. We got here at about 12:00 and backed Q into Gail and Phil's driveway and parked next to their motor home. It's good to be here.
_____________________

June 10, 2005 (Thu)
Bell Harbor Marina slip B9
Edmonds, WA to Seattle, WA (MnJ Aboard Friend Ship)

We boarded the Friend Ship, Phil and Gail's 36 foot trawler, at about 10:00am and headed out into Puget Sound. The sky was clear with big puffy clouds and the water smooth and calm as we chugged south toward Seattle. A sea lion sunbathing on a buoy lifted his head and complained loudly as we passed but the white harbor seal we saw swimming by later seemed not to care. In Paulsbo we found an empty slip and upset the harbor master by pulling into it. There was a yacht sale going on and we'd stumbled into a reserved slip. He directed us to a "legal" one and we tied up there for lunch. As luck would have it there was a quilt shop in town so Joy and Gail checked it out while Mark and Phil browsed the sales docks and vendor's tent.

We also upset the Coast Guard a couple of times (once when Joy was at the wheel) when we got too close to the naval station - they came over and yelled at us with a bull horn. They said they were conducting underwater experiments and that if we got too close or went too fast it would blow up. Really?? On our way to the Bell Harbor Marina in downtown Seattle the small ferryboat Rachel Marie overtook and passed us.

After settling in we went ashore for a wonderful seafood dinner at Anthony's, a restaurant across the boardwalk from the marina office. A beautiful red sunset over the Olympic Mountains finished off an interesting waterfront walk down Alaskan Way.