Two days later, I relocated to Cathlamet, WA where I parked the trailer at their marina, which was "adequate", but nothing fancy. While there, I walked along the river and found some foxgloves in full bloom.
I also visited a local museum of old time farming equipment, and found an interesting tractor made by the Moline Plow Company or Moline, Illinois back about 1920.
That grey material in the center of the front tire is concrete: read below to discover why.
Below is a picture of the harbor at the marina. Quite a pleasant view.
Later, I took a daytrip to visit boondocking friends Goldie Ward and Frieda Steveson just north of Long Beach, WA, which is situated on a long peninsula, maybe 20 miles long, which runs north from the mouth of the Columbia River. The Pacific Ocean lies on its west and north sides, and the Willapa Bay (salt water) lies along most of its east side. I had expected it to be one vast sandy area, but instead, the peninsula is very heavily forested, with lots of wildlife: raccoons, possum, deer, elk, bear.... on and on. We had a very good visit, and it was great to see them after their absence from our gatherings last winter.
When I left Cathlamet, I drove up onto the Olympic Peninsula to stay at the Escapees Club's RV Park at Chimacum. While there, I made it a point to drive west about 80 miles to view the Sol Duc Falls. En route, I caught a picture of the very attractive Lake Crescent.
And later, the unique Sol Duc Falls, which split into as many as four channels, depending upon the river's waterflow. The name comes from the Quillayute Indian language and means "magic waters".
I originally had planned to tour with my RV all around the perimeter of the park, but found the road I had taken so far was so narrow and winding that I decided to not make that trip. Instead, I packed up and went back south and east to Puyallup, WA where I stayed at the Joint Fort Lewis-McChord AFB FamCamp (Family Campground). This campground is located in a quiet area of the base and in a rather mature forest.
Deep, deep, deep in the big pine woods!
While in the Puyallup area, I met with Frank and Margaret Chamberlain; I had served in the Air Force with Frank and last saw them back in 1985. How great it was to see them again and refresh old memories of times, places and people!
On another evening, I was invited to dinner with Drake and Helyn, friends from the RV boondocking group. We met at their lot in Des Moines, WA where they had their motor home parked, and we enjoyed Margaritas, delicious grilled pork and vegetables, a glorious view from high over the bay, and several hours of enjoyable conversation. Loved it!
While at the FamCamp, I was able to get in some short but rewarding bike rides on the base's quiet roads and paved paths.
Departing Puyallup, I proceeded eastward to Spokane, where I met once again with Ed and Elizabeth Rose. I had last met them in 2008, and I had served with Ed in Viet Nam back in 1968. We met for lunch, and had a good extended talk that must have lasted about 4 hours, discussing old events, old friends and good times - there was also more than one mention of aging minds and bodies ;-)
While parked at the Spokane Elks Lodge, I heard on the radio that Venus and Jupiter were going to be close to the new moon in the early evening sky, so I made it a point to try to photograph them. It turned out relatively well, but I discovered the next morning (during daylight) that I could have caught them without a power line in the picture. But they were still attractive in the evening sky.
When I left Spokane, I drove about 60 miles south and east to the small town of St. Maries, Idaho, where the local economy in the old days was based upon lumbering. I stayed at the small fairgrounds which has 5 sites with water and electric for a reasonable $15/night. I hope, however, to never again traverse Highway 5 from Plummer to St. Maries: the road from Plummer to Lake Coeur d'Alene is narrow and sharply descending, and once it reaches the lake and turns toward St. Maries, it becomes even more narrow, and sharply twisting and turning - several 25 MPH curves, and even an underpass labeled as "One Lane for Trucks and Buses." I don't recall having ever seen that before.
But once I got parked, it was still so early in the day that I loaded the bike onto the truck and drove back to a TrailHead for the "Trail of the Coeur d'Alene" Rails to Trails bike path, and rode uphill 7 miles to Plummer then sped back down. That was enough for one afternoon. Came home, showered, ate then schemed for the next several days. A record heat wave was coming, with temps forecast up to 103, and I planned to get on the trail as early as possible while it was still cool and complete each day's trip before it got hot.
The Trail of the Coeur d'Alene runs 72 miles atop the old rail line that was used to carry ore from the incredibly rich silver, gold and lead mines in or near the mountain towns of Mullan, Burke and Kellogg to Plummer, which sits in the Palouse Prairie. This took place from 1887 to 1992.
In 1989, the EPA determined that the entire rail line was heavily contaminated with chemicals and ore from these mines, and to solve the problem, the rails and ties were all pulled and decontaminated, and the roadbed itself was covered with a 12-oz felt fabric, which was itself covered with new fill and capped with a 10 foot wide strip of asphalt, running from Mullan to the bridge over Lake Coeur d'Alene.
On my second day at St. Maries, I got up at 5 AM, ate breakfast, then drove the truck w/bike to Medimont; from there, I biked back westward some 18 miles to where I had stopped the first day, then turned around and rode back to Medimont - some 36 miles R/T. Then I drove back to the trailer, put on regular clothes, closed up the rig, and departed for Cataldo, still before 12 noon.
Arriving at Cataldo, I signed in at the Kahnderosa RV Park for 5 nights, took a free shower, ate lunch, napped, then got up to scheme for the next few days.
Then next three days, I got up about 4:30, ate breakfast and rode:
Thurs, 25 June: 16 miles westward from Cataldo to Medimont and return.
Friday 26 June: 15.5 miles eastward from Cataldo to Big Creek Road east of Kellogg and return.
Saturday, 27 June: 14 miles from Big Creek Road eastward to Mullan and return.
I had feared the last day's ride as I recalled it as being quite tiring when I first rode it back in 2007, but really, it was a relative piece of cake. Granted, it was slow going, and I had to gear way down, but it wasn't taxing, and BOY!! On the ride back, I was flying!! What a thrill!
During my rides, I saw 13 deer and one moose from the trail. And of course, I got no pictures.
Now I have tomorrow as a free day, and I need to plan where to go to escape this heat
What great adventures you're having! I love hearing all about them.
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