A Slice of the Good Life

  When we arrived in WA, on Sunday,  May 17, we camped north of Shelton at Potlatch State Park. We were still with the Herbigs.  We only spent one night here and Michael made pizza in the Dutch oven that was fabulous!  Camping next to us were two nice couples and one woman was a birder and an active volunteer with animal rehab. She was great to meet and talk to.  Later, she fell down her RV steps and broke her arm.  She was taken to the hospital by ambulance. When we left the next day we put a get well soon card on their table

On Monday, we headed to Port Townsend to catch the ferry to Whidbey Island.   A short and scenic route to the island. When we got there,  we made our way to the campground to meet our host and friend, Jenn.

Jenn and later Bear have become dear friends In just one week!    They are really wonderful people and terrific companions.  The Herbigs, Jenn and Bear and us have had a great time together, sharing meals prepared by Michael, lots of great conversation, rides around the island,  and birdwatching at our site (we put up a seed and a hummingbird feeders).  We have also had ice cream parties almost every night!   Michael sliced the ice cream into rounds.

One day Jenn, Jackie, and I ferried over to Port Townsend to walk around and see a movie.  In the distance,  the Olympic Mountains were visible along with beautiful clouds.  Only $6.50 to walk on the ferry, round trip.

The Herbigs left yesterday to head east, but Michael and I plan to stay through June.  The camp and the Island are so beautiful.

And finally, yesterday was my birthday and it was a lovely day!  Breakfast out with all of us and then a peacefully lazy day!  Bear plays a Native American flute and had a few to sell from a father and daughter team, and their flute business is called Stellar.  Michael bought me one for my birthday!  Bear has taught me how to practice and i am playing several times a day.  I love it and I love Michael for such a thoughtful gift!

Today is the 27th and I did laundry in the Wonderwash and Michael has cleaned the inside of the car.

Michael and Jenn at Deception Pass:

Another view of Deception Pass, a waterway, between Whidbey and Fidalgo islands, that is hazardous to sailors past and present:

Moving On!

Where are we now?   Sometimes it is hard to keep track!

Actually, after eight nights of free camping in Oregon the forest camp,  at 4550', with plenty of wet weather,  we headed out on Saturday.   It was a beautiful ride as we descended to sea level.  The woodlands are gorgeous and dense.  We took a few walks during the week and found beautiful wild flowers,  elk dung, odd looking mushrooms.  The trees are huge!

Anyway, we drove and drove, admiring the views.  We are constantly telling each other to look right or look left as we're driving!  Oregon is a beautiful place.  So many roads to explore and trails to hike.

Our destination for Saturday was Woodburn in Oregon still.   We would be reuniting with our friends,  the Herbigs.  It would also be our first night camping at a Wal-Mart!   Many wal-mart allow this, and it was an experience!  Loads of eighteen wheelers parked everywhere with about a dozen campers mixed in!   There was a lot of noise and bright lights.   We didn't have our best nights sleep!

On Sunday we headed into Washington on route 5.  We were headed to Port Townsend off of the Olympic Peninsula.  Once we got onto route 101, the ride became super scenic!   We were surrounded by the Cascade Mountains, the greenest fields we ever saw, and awesome cloud formations. Just spectacular!

We arrived in Port Townsend to catch a ferry over to Whidbey Island where we will stay for awhile.  Happily we met our host Jenn and Bear who are teardrop full-timers.  And we met Michael and Susan (from the forum).  All incredibly nice and interesting people.  They have made us feel so welcomed.  We are camping in a small meadow with the Herbigs as our neighbors. At this campground, sites are purchased by people,  many with rigs that are here permanently. The setting is wonderful with woods, ferns and flowering trees and bushes.  I will take photos later and post them.

Our aim today is to do laundry, a desperate need!  Over the week we will discover the island.      The Herbigs will be here for the week or so, but we will stay longer.

I still am having trouble getting photos to go where I want!!  Above are Michael cooking on our Solo base camp stove, followed be tree stumps with so many age rings.  And purple trillium.

Snow and Hail!

Since Friday the 8th we have been at this forest camp camping for free. We started off with sun and wearing shorts and using our solar panels to charge the teardrop battery.  Now we are under our tent watching and listening to the falling hail!  The temps since yesterday have been in the 30's and 40's so we are dressed in several layers.  But,  we're drinking coffee and Michael made us a great breakfast.

Yesterday after being under the tent for a while, we went into Katie and Michael reorganized his stuff.  We ate cold rice and beans and fruit for dinner and fell asleep around 9pm.

Next, if it stops precipitating, we will reorganize the cargo area of the car.  We are taking a ferry over to Whidbey island on the 18th (in Washington). We are meeting our friends the Herbigs at that time and the 4 of us will camp with a another friend who lives there.  So we will probably leave here around Thursday or Friday to head north.  We're very excited!

Now the sun is out while the hail continues! Love it!

Home Sweet Home

A request was made to see photos of the teardrop,  inside and out.  Hoping that I can post photos again!  Here I go!

Our teardrop "Katie".  

 five storage cubbies at our feet.

galley

Feeling Small Next to Big Trees

We are in what is called a forest camp near the beautiful Diamond Lake.  From where we are we can't see the lake, but no regrets as we sit at our little table under super tall Douglas firs.  A hummingbird just flew to us so Michael is hanging our feeder.  Everywhere I look it is green, yellow and blue!  Sun-lit trees against a jewel blue sky.

Thank goodness for mosquito coils as the entire population of Oregon mosquitos is here!

We found this spot yesterday and are staying here for a few days or so as our cash reserves are low this month and this is a free site.  We are still dependent only on Michael's social security as my payments don't begin until July.

We arrived in Oregon where we are now on May 5 after spending the 4th visiting the Avenue of the Giants in or near the town of Orick, California.  This was a section of humongous redwoods,  trees so tall with trunks so wide, they are hard to wrap your brain around it all!  We made several stops along the way to walk a little and take photos.


En route to Oregon,  we had our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean! We walked Gold Bluffs beach and I stepped right into the Pacific!  The ocean has many outcroppings of rock so it has a special ruggedness about it.  So beautiful! Afterwards we walked into Fern Canyon, cool and moist with ferns everwhere.  As we drove off,  we saw a large herd of elk feeding in a meadow.

On the 6th, our companion Lydia left to return home, but not before we left the coast on hilly, wooded roads. The countryside turned to open lush land and ranches.  Hills and mountains surrounded us as we entered Rouge River National Forest.  A life bird - Western gull.

Awoke to snow flurries Thursday morning.  We have been in elevations of 3000 feet or more and this morning showed us how the weather can change!  Thursday night we camped in a nice state park in Chiloquin.

We went to Crater Lake yesterday and what an awesome sight.  A massive eruption on this mountain 7700 years ago left a deep basin where the mountain peak once was.  Centuries of rain and snow filled the basin forming this deep (1900'), blue lake.  The sun reflecting off of it made several shades of blue possible.  It is a transformed volcano!

Which brings us to now in the forest camp. On this Saturday, we said goodbye to our travel friends, Bruce and Jackie as they travel north to the Portland area.  In a week we will catch up with them and head back over to the coast. Saw another life bird today, a Hermit warbler.

Now to see if I can finally attach photos after setting up a Picasa account.  Wish me luck!

Elk

Redwoods

Loving this life!

Teardropping in paradise is what we are doing, especially since my last post!  Between adventures and beauty, we are as high as a kite!
We loved the town of Lone Pine, a small place with a main street of restaurants and shops.  Lone Pine is on route 395 on the Eastern Sierra Scenic Byway.  I may have mentioned this in my previous post, but it is worth mentioning again.   Such beauty with the Sierra mountain range looming over us.  We were especially awed by Mt. Whitney.  Snow-capped mountains were gorgeous!  


There was a visitor center where we were told we could camp for free.  This was a huge area of round rock formations and we found a private spot among the rocks.  Here and there we would see another camper in the far distance.   Our first looks at rock wrens.  We. Only spent one night in these Alabama Hills, but we could have spent weeks, it was that gorgeous!

When we finally found our way out of the hills,  we were back on route 395.   As we drove, a man in a Porsche drove up next to us to ask about our teardrop.   We pulled over and met Bob,  and gave him a tour!  This happens from time to time and we meet nice people because of the teardrop!

 Finding our way to the Sierra mountain range had us traveling through the Mojave desert,  very sandy, and flat, with what looked like different plant communities.

On the 28th we entered lake country and found Silver Lake, in the town of June Lake, still in California.  We stopped at a small store to get fuel and some water and food supplies.  This area is big for fishing, so many folks at the campground had their rods and reels ready!
Onward on route 89 we found more forest and the green colors were rich and lush!   We were in the Plumas National Forest and found a woodland campground.  We were in bear country so all of our food and toiletries had to be emptied from the trailer and put in. a large bear box. No bear activity though.

On Thursday, the 30th,  we headed to the town of Lakehead for a three day teardrop gathering at the Antlers campground.  We are with friends we met through the Camp-inn fo forum. Brice and Jackie Herbigs, and their friend Lydia McElroy.  The campground is full of.All styles of teardrops. Many are hand-made, and others from assorted companies including Camp-inn. Everyone is so friendly and we all walk around checking each other's teardrop and get tours of the t eardrops. So much fun! And we saw a cool acorn woodpecker.

We are near Shasta lake in CA.  We're heading out tomorrow with our friends towards red woods country!  After that onto Oregon and Washington.

The. Teardrop life celebrated its first month anniversary yesterday.   We are happy and healthy, losing some weight and getting tan!

After two dirt roads this past week, we washed the car and camper.   We're rearranging the stuff in the car today.

I am still trying to figure out how to attach photos.  I have been typing these entries on my phone since most times the computer and tablet won't connect to wi'fi, but the phone will
Go figure.  Once I figure out how to attach photos, I will.

Loving this life!
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