ANACORTES, WA.  We are at the Fidalgo Bay Resort.  Nice but the sites are short and narrow.  We managed to squeeze in.

The drive here was the worst of the trip.  Actually, any drive on I-5 is bad, but today was continual stop-and-go for hours.  We stopped for lunch at a rare rest area, hoping that things would settle down, but they continued unabated.  Three-four lanes solid heavy, nearly bumper-to-bumper traffic, with continual infusions from the right of 2-3 lanes of more heavy traffic.  Very stressful.  An outrage for the state of Washington.  One more reason to avoid the Pacific coast in the future.

We get up early (3:30 am) tomorrow to be sure to get to the ferry docks 45 minutes early for our 6:20 am ferry to Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands.  We shall sail over an hour each way in waters that are supposed to be teeming with Orcas and the like.  If it goes like our recent elk-viewing experience, we shall be very disappointed.

We return here on the 7:20 pm ferry, so it will be late when we get back to Fidalgo Bay Resort.  Then we shall leave Saturday morning for nearby Lynden, WA for the weekend and much-needed rest before we leave for Ferndale, WA on Monday when the RV tour begins.  We have been over a month on our own private tour, so this will be phase 2 of our adventure.

MT. ST. HELENS, WA.  Today we drove Spirit Lake Highway (Hwy 504) to Johnston Ridge Observatory in the Mt St Helens National Volcanic Monument.  In 1980 the volcano erupted, blowing off a large part of one side of its peak, leaving destruction for miles and taking several lives in its wake.  Any tree with a trunk of diameter less than 4 feet was snapped off and blown away.  Nearby lakes were filled in and new ones were created.  The explosion was heard several hundred miles away, and dust filled the sky over the Northwest USA.

Betty Works to Capture the Scope of the Area

In the subsequent 40 years, new life has sprung up everywhere.

More Wild Flowers

What Remains of a Tree Pre-1980 

New Small Lake in Lower Right Above
All Trees Are Less Than 40 Years Old

Scarred Landscape Below Volcano

Many Overlooks to View What Remains of Mt St Helens

 There is a nice visitors center at the observatory, with book store and theater.  At the end of the movie, the screen lifts to reveal Mt St Helens behind the center (see below).

Window Facing Volcano

VANCOUVER, WA (Day 2).  This morning we attended Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCA).  Its location is far off the road, and we drove right past it on our first attempt.  The road has barriers along the center, so no U-turn is possible (or allowed).  We then turned left at the next intersection where U-turns again are not allowed.  After a few side streets we got turned back to the first road and found an opening in the barriers to allow us to enter the road leading to the church.  Thus, we were late arriving for the worship service.

The first thing we noticed about the service was the very nice bulletin they handed out.  It was a 16-page 8 1/2 X 11 inch booklet, with nice printing and attractive graphics on the front cover.  The weekly preparation of the bulletin must be quite an operation.  There are even instructions on the first page inside to familiarize worshipers with how to participate in a liturgical worship service.  This was the first indication that this would be a conservative church.  It is on this page that they "fence the table" for the taking of communion that would be part of the service.  It is also here that they state their practice of allowing "baby noises and wiggly children" in the congregation during worship.  After experiencing what was to follow, we disagree.  Little was done to quiet or control what were very rebellious kids, making it difficult for adults to participate in worship or even to hear the sermon.  We have never understood the logic of placing a higher value on childhood misbehavioral liberty than on the edification of adults.  It seems to us that instruction more suitable for them elsewhere would be more appropriate, and allow adults to hear the sermon and more fully to participate in worship without so many distractions.

The structure of the bulletin was quite promising.  Everything was founded on and read from scripture, with copious selections from the Psalms.  The Trinity Hymnal primarily was used, though a new selection from Keith Getty and Stuart Townsend named Oh For a Closer Walk with God was also used.  A very good violinist and cellist were accompanying the electronic piano throughout.  There were Old Testament and New Testament selections read (and printed out in the bulletin).  There was a Declaration of Faith taken from the Emden Catechism 1544 (new to me).  Following the sermon, the old translation of The Apostles Creed was recited ("Holy Ghost," "quick and dead," etc).  There was a Public Confession of Sin, using a selection from The Valley of Vision.  Then communion was celebrated, followed by The Lord's Prayer and a hymn.  Following the benediction, the congregation sang the Threefold Amen, just as we do back home.

When the time for communion came, they had everyone leave their seats and line up around the outer wall of the building.  Then the elders came around with the elements, first round with gluten-free bread cubes, then second round with real wine (except the inner circle of glasses which were grape juice).  We noticed that any tiny child that requested was given the elements.  Hard to believe that a child that young was able to "discern the body" (I Cor 11:29).  We then were instructed to return to our seats, without instruction on where to put the empty glasses.

The pastor is on sabbatical caring for his wife who has cancer.  The stand-in for the summer has been an army chaplain based at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, WA.  One would not guess that he is an army officer, since we was dressed in an off-red pair of pants, a brown-gold tie, and a sports coat that was a "coat of many colors."   I spoke to him after the service and asked if he was from California.  No, he is from Tennessee, and considered that coat to be "Southern Preppy."  Huh?  It was a collage of paint chips gathered together in a sort of cubism.  His dress, and the fact that the sermon was delivered by walking around on the stage, then into the audience, then back up to the stage, a while behind the pulpit, then back out, would make you think that the sermon was without merit, but it was interesting.

The actual message of the sermon was not bad.  The text was Psalm 1, focusing on "Blessed is the man ... nor sits in the seat of scoffers."  He made numerous references to American history, saying that we became a nation because we won a war that if lost would have resulted in the execution of our founding fathers for rebellion and treason.  And we still would rather "dump the tea in the harbor" than obey law or rule, including the law of God.  One might ask how that accounts for such disobedience in every other country, but after driving many days through California, land of scofflaws, I was attentive.  It does seem that Americans are becoming more rebellious, with the return of "Don't Tread on Me" flags and bumper stickers.  And the younger they are, the more rebellious.  Just look at the kids acting up in this church during the worship service.  I would ask how much time these parents spend at home with these kids in "the nurture and admonition of the Lord" which they vowed to do at each child's baptism.  I have found that when kids misbehave this way in church, it is because the things of God are foreign to them, and they react against the unfamiliarity of the things of God in the worship service.  That was my sermon for the day.

Tomorrow we leave for Silver Lake, WA, where we shall stay for three days.

VANCOUVER, WA.  Another long drive, complicated by stop-and-go traffic for at least an hour getting around Portland on I-5 and I-205.  We have now been on the road for a month, beginning May 16th.  Made it to Washington state, and it is cool and sunny.  Not nearly so windy as Oregon. 

We arrived around 4:50 pm, and the RV park was already locked for the rest of the weekend.  Closing time supposedly is 5:00 pm.  An envelope with our name on it was clipped to the door of the office, so we knew which site was assigned to us.  It was a short drive from the office, and we were set up quickly, then off grocery shopping at the nearest Albertsons.  The Washington state cherries and blueberries look much nicer than the ones we got in California.  And the service and environment much nicer.  So glad to be here now. 

COOS BAY, OR.  We have been following, first, the California Coastal Scenic Biway or Highway or Freeway, then into Oregon, it has been the Oregon Coastal Scenic Biway, all of which led me to believe it was a state road.  Hence, in prior posts I put CA or OR as a prefix, when actually it was always US101, a federal highway.  I went back and corrected prior posts.

US101 in Oregon is not as hilly or twisting as it was in Northern California, but one must add horrific winds off the ocean in Oregon.  The large trees on the right side of the road at times looked like a twister was scrambling them.  Worst winds of the trip, but the motorhome handled it quite well.  Nice to have a 35,000 pound diesel chassis.  Views of the coast were sometimes magnificent, but mostly it was 1/4 mile of water absorbed into fog farther out.

Oregon Coast Today

The trip today once again was slow due to the nature of the road, making speeds much slower than one has on an interstate highway.  Tomorrow we take US101 up until Route 38 eastward to I-5.  Then it will be all interstate highway.  Never been on I-5 before, but hope it will be an improvement over the last few days along the coast. 

We travel to Vancouver, WA for the weekend.  It will be another long drive, another example of my planning off a map and being unfamiliar with the roads here.  One thing we gained leaving the state of California, besides being surrounded by civil drivers for a change, was good Verison coverage and WIFI.  Very interesting that the state that includes Silicon Valley and the birthplace of so much technical prowess, is so stingy with cell phone coverage and WIFI.  The RV parks there were the only place in the country that parcels out WIFI in megabyte packages, after which you must pay for it.  It is simply included free everywhere else.

TRINIDAD, CA (Day 2).  Today was much cooler and damper, with fog along the beaches which drifted over the hills to higher areas, frustrating our photographic efforts.  We followed the advice of the RV park manager, driving to a "scenic" road to the beach, but turned out to be a one-lane winding and twisting road through redwoods mixed with ferns.  Yes, ferns grow here in abundance, just as they do in Washington state in the northwest area.  We met several vehicles coming head-on, with one of us stopping as close to the edge as possible while the other squeezed by.  Once we got down to the beach, it was foggy and not as nice a beach as we saw yesterday. Eventually we gave up on that area and doubled back, also an interesting drive back on that road.

After that we drove to a place that promised to show us elk grazing in a meadow.  Several hikers were there, and none of them saw an elk.  One couple from England (currently residing in LA) said they saw some earlier in the day in Orick beside the parking area of the government administration building.  We went there and in tall grass saw the small group of elk, mostly covered by the tall grass.  As for this RV park, no sign of an elk today either.

We did not pack a lunch today, hoping to eat out at a place along the way.  Wrong!  The towns all along this route have no gas stations or restaurants open.  Depressed area.  One would think with the tourists coming here business would be good.  We finally got some ice cream at a "market" in Orick, which was a convenience store.  We could not get gas until we reached Klamath.

The highlight of the day was the drive along the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway.  Here we saw more huge redwoods along quiet hiking paths. 

Tomorrow we leave the state of California.  Hurrah!  No more very high prices.  Hopefully no more very rude drivers (more on that later).  We shall continue to drive US101 into Oregon, where it will follow along the coastline.  Hopefully it will not be slow driving as it was in California.

The Best We Saw of Elk

Betty Beside an Unusual Tree

Note All the Ferns Among the Huge Trees

Betty Shoots Photo Inside Tree Hollow

Trail Along the Scenic Highway

Several Trees Grown Into One Another

Self-photo of Us Along the Trail

TRINIDAD, CA.  We are staying at the Elk Country RV Resort well north of Trinidad, but that is their mailing address.  It was a short drive today, but ended with our GPS leading us down the wrong entry road for the RV park.  We needed to go down the next road off US101, but were misdirected onto a very narrow private road, resulting in our unhitching the Jeep and backing the motorhome out the road and turning it around in a small area before re-entry to US101. It all worked out OK, since Betty just followed me in the Jeep as I drove the motorhome to the next road to the north.

This park is known for the herd of Roosevelt elk that supposedly come into the park every day.  As I suspected, now that I am here, there is no sign of a single elk.  We sat at our picnic table outside the motorhome waiting to see something until dark, but nothing.  Maybe tomorrow.

After we arrived here today, at the recommendation of the park manager, we drove to the nearby Dry Lagoon State Park along the Pacific Ocean.  It was a free entry and afforded a long walk on the beach near the dry lagoon.  The sand was like finely ground rocks with an amazing assortment of wild flowers growing all over it.  We continued to a place near a rock peak on the shoreline, then turned back nearer the water where the sand was damp and easier to walk on.  Huge pieces of driftwood and various rocks were everywhere.  We took many photos with our phones, with a few included below.

Wildflowers Along the Path on the Beach

Betty Beside Large Driftwood Photographing Peak

Large Driftwood

Wildflowers Growing on the Beach

More Wildflowers

Had to Steady the Flower in the Wind

Hollowed Log Becomes Planter for Wildflowers

Walked Near Water on Way Back

Betty Had to Get Her Feet Into the Pacific

Warning About Some of the Dangers in That Area

More Warnings

Example of Rocks Along the Beach

This Rock Looks Like Fossilized Wood

Back at the RV Park Swallows Build Nests Everywhere

Historic Schoolhouse Where Elk Gather

Inside Schoolhouse

Old Desks Among Few Items That Remain