Last Hurrah of Summer - 2015

We've been on the go this year - will think about posting a few make-up blogs with our prior trips - most were covered via my Facebook page. Parenthesis show # nights - trips are with trailer unless otherwise noted:

• Feb (4) - Skiing at Whistler & hanging out with the DeSalvo family
• Apr (4) - Spring break at Ft. Steven's and exploring Astoria
• May (3) - Memorial Day at Conconully with the Allyn & Ward families
• June (3) - Austin with Lisa & boys for Nathan & Stephanie's wedding (not with the trailer)
• July (3) - Last minute 4th trip to Ocean Shores with the Allyn & Perman families
• July (2) - Annual visit to Chelan (not with the trailer) with the Soderstrom & Hombach families and our friend, Drew
• July (3) - Cape Kiwanda with the Allyn family
• Aug (8)- Maryhill -> St. Helen's -> Rainier 

25 nights in the trailer - we pulled out of the driveway, proud at how well we have the art of packing up down. (that's called foreshadowing...). About 100 miles later, Dan asked, 'Did you by chance grab the BBQ?' and maybe another 25 miles, I realize I forgot our pillows.

We resisted the temptation to get a new portable BBQ but did indulge in new pillows - much needed!

First stop: Maryhill State Park
The sites are huge - beware of nasty thorns in the lawn - they punctured both my & Megan's bike tires. There is a beach at one end of the park though Megan and I discovered on our last day that a rocky access point was just across the road from us. Made for a leisurely wake up our last morning, complete with coffee and just the two of us breathing in the gorgeous views. We were able to use our propane fire pit here, despite the burn ban - s'mores for all!

Campground sites are large- beware of thorns!

View of the Columbia River from our site.

Smoke settled in our first full day and largely remained for the duration, often obscuring the views (even the sun). It did tend to clear a bit in the evenings. 

Down the road a bit is Horse Thief State Park. With advance registration, you can take a walking tour and visit some of the oldest pictographs in the NW; still worth a visit to see the examples of petroglyphs that are available for all to visit. As a bonus, the park has kayaks for rent - $5/half day and the ranger I booked with took us out on the lake in search of more pictographs and wildlife. We saw squirrels that live in the rocky areas, out of the reach of predators; signs of otters; herons and even a baby catfish that tried to hitch a ride in Dan's kayak.

"She who watches' - pictograph at Horse Thief State Park

One of many petroglyphs at Horse Thief State Park

Kayaking - Horse Thief State Park

For a side-trip, we visited The Dalles - sadly, the town was quite closed up the Sunday we were there. It was actually pretty disconcerting - every shop front was closed or available for lease. Given there wasn't much in town, we wandered over to the Dalles Dam for a tour - and found it much more informational than last year's visit to Grand Coulee.

Generator room - color changes in the generators give depth perception (!)

Pool near fish ladder - there's a contractor down there who has to identify AND count AND record length of every fish that passes through! Not a job I would wish to have.

And, because we weren't busy enough, we spent two nights at the Goldendale Observatory. The first visit there was a Corvette Club visiting - probably about 70 people! Made it very difficult to participate. Sadly, the second night, much of what we could see was obscured by clouds and smoke. However, we did get a very cool view of the moon and the Double Double (two sets of double stars near each other - so we were seeing 4 total) -- you'll have to forgive me for not taking notes - was too much information shared that night to retain it all.

Evening shot of the observatory building - well worth a visit (or 2).

Second stop: Mount. St. Helens
This stop should have been cut short by a day - the hikes from the campground weren't easy to find -  and given it's late August, no one wanted to hike in the sandy, dusty conditions. (2 of 3 bike tires had additionally proven to be non-repairable). Stayed at Seaquest State park - sites are very small, compared to Maryhill. BUT - we did have power & water hookups.

We spent 1-day exploring the visitor's attractions and learning all about volcanoes. The videos of the eruption are impressive.

No Scherer vacation seems complete without a drive to the ocean - and since we weren't planning to do any hikes at St. Helen's, we set off for lunch (never found it) and Cape Disappointment - lovely drive. Fun little lighthouse visit ... but I didn't have proper sandals (no heel strap) so couldn't go up with the family. Instead, I stared out at the ocean and found what I believe were porpoise playing in the surf! No binoculars to confirm - but there were 4, with fins (not sea lions). From where I was watching, they would most closely match the Vacquita found in this article - but am not sure they would be this far North.

Cape Disappointment - North Head Lighthouse

View from North Head Lighthouse, looking toward the cape

Third stop: Mt. Rainier
Third and final stop! Mt. Rainier - leisurely breakfast and pack up ... oh - it's Megan's birthday! Can't believe we have a 14-year old... and she's spend a large % of her birthdays traveling with the family. Such a good sport!

It was 86-degrees when we pulled in to the Ohanapecosh Campground. I had deliberately selected an end spot - hoping we could easily get in and out (and it worked!). We had an amazing spot right next to the river. On the drive out - the mountain was out, the day was warm - what a simply amazing area to spend the next few days!

Scoping the jump...

Looking at Ohanapecosh river from our campsite.

Megan's birthday bath - first ever rock jump into a river (never mind a glacial river) ... brave kid!

Happy 14th to our gorgeous girl!

Seriously obsessed with the hammock.

Sophia discovered a new love for hammocks ... could barely get her out of it. She built a cozy nest and would have made it through the night had it not been for the rain. At 2:30 AM. Good mom I am, I pulled her in - but felt a little guilty as it was just barely drizzling. About 20- minutes later, that doubt was put to rest as a huge downpour hit us, continuing through the early hours of the morning.




Toured the park (by car) - and sought out a few things we wanted to explore further. Had intended lunch at Paradise, but the dining room closes at 2 and doesn't reopen until 5:30. So we hung out on the mountain, hoping for her to lift her veil ... and ended with dinner at Paradise instead of lunch. Wasn't anything spectacular, sadly - but the setting is so amazing and couldn't beat the company!

Throughout the day we saw a grouse (it all but jumped in our path), a marmot sunning itself on a rock and a bear!

She didn't want to be photographed - this was the best she would give us (short of our drive in, which was clear but we didn't stop for photos). #MtRainier

Playing tourist at the entrance

On the bridge over the Nisqually River.

Steps to Paradise

This little guy was practically rolling in the huckleberries on the downhill side of Paradise

This marmot seemed to love the attention from the visitors. He would leave his perch but run back to it whenever he saw more people on the trail. 

Upstairs view of the lamps at Paradise Lodge. Can't wait to go back!

Gorgeous views at every turn.

With rains setting in, our tour on the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad was canceled... and, returning to camp to find a seasonal pond at the front of our campsite, we decided to pack up a day early. Good thing too - power was out all day at home - just like camping, but with a generator and our own warm beds! =) Happy camping!