Sunday  -  July 27th

Today we moved north around the top of the peninsula and set up camp at Elwha Dam RV Resort. We explored Port Angeles and had a nice lunch along the waterfront. Later we drove out to the end of Hurricane Ridge. Once again we shot mostly video so not many photos for the blog .... sorry :-)

Yoly enjoys a well-deserved fish taco

This was shot with our little Canon SureShot and after this, I went back to the truck and got the Vixia. I came back and videoed this guy from 2 feet away for about 10 minutes. He seemed to be affected by whatever he was injesting because when he left, he staggered out into the middle of the road and went off and on three times (stopping traffic) each time ! I shot video the whole time so can't wait to see the HD full version :-)

Saturday  -  July 26th

Crossing the Columbia into Washington reveals instantly the spectacular forests one is about to encounter. Since Washington is one of only 2 states Yoly has never visited, I thought that I'd give her the grand tour of the diversity found there and we started up to our campsite right on the Pacific at Kalaloch State Park (part of the Olympic National Park system). From there we explored the elfen forest that is the Hoh Rain Forest. I shot mostly video this day, so you'll have to wait for the good stuff :-)

Don't worry .... we had reservations :-)

Friday  -  July 25th

Days end brought us to the mouth of the Columbia River and Fort Steven's State Park. This was the termination point for the Lewis & Clark expedition and the area has great history. The park fills the most outbound tip of land at the very mouth of the mighty Columbia.

Wednesday - July 23rd & Thursday - July 24th

We arrived at our oceanside campsite in Charleston, OR and were soon met by our good friend Jerry who lives in near-by Coos Bay. Jerry was born and raised in Coos Bay and knows it like the back of his hand and was generous with his narration in his nature walks along nearby ocean cliffs and botanical gardens. More details obviously when the movie hits the channel.

Tuesday -July 22nd 

Our touristy thing to do this trip was to visit The Trees of Mystery on our way north up the California coast. It provided a beautiful trail through a preserved section of old redwoods and included a ride up a ski lift, through the tops of the several hundred feet tall redwoods and back again. I shot mostly video there. They also had quite a display of area carvings along the exit of the trail. Great way to spend an afternoon.

We spent the night at a beautiful campsite at Mill Creek, Del Norte Coastal Redwoods State Park. In an effort to help my cause, one of the rangers gave us directions to a 35 mile long narrow dirt road that passes through grove after grove of some of the oldest timber in the forest. The whole loop took us over an hour and a half but so totally worth it.

Our peaceful campsite

Saturday - July19th

Two years ago, Yoly and I had a really neat opportunity to attend a Leo Kottke concert at the Old Opera House in downtown Napa. This trip we had front row center seats for a concert with The English Beat, one of my favorite Ska bands from the 1970s. Since we had been there last, the venue went from a theatre layout to a full dinner and wine tasting format. Yoly and I sat with our elbows on the stage and interacted with the band members. Both the lead singer, Dave Wakeling and the sax player bent over to thank us and shook both our hands. Everyone had a great time in spite of the ban on photos or video :-)

And the icing on the cake ..... fresh Napa grade sushi for dinner.

Wednesday - July 16th 
thru 
Friday, July 18th

Firstly, I must apologise for the extended gaps in my fastly receeding ability to keep up to date when so few campgrounds have the means to facilitate this technology. I will try and catch up if I can ........ suffice it to say, it's now August and we've had some awesome adventures so there'll be lots to follow in the coming days. Forecast is for some rain in the next couple days so maybe I'll get caught up at the KOA. So to continue with the story .......

Our next stop was Great Basin National Park where we toured the recesses of Lehman Caves. Because of the dark environment, I didn't shoot any pictures, just video so nothing to see here.

Came west across Hwy 50 (the Lonliest Highway in the World). We stayed in Fernley just east of Reno so we called my brother Ralph to see if he wanted to join us for dinner. He drove the 78 miles from his house and pulled up while we were walking to the front door of the restaurant. We had a great visit and had the waitress involved in our shenanigans ..... see hilarious video to follow this fall.

Then on to Calistoga to see Yolanda, Yoly's mom. Yoly's brother, Ed and his wife Nancie joined us for a Sunday Brunch and everyone had a great time.