Day 14: Winthrop, WA

~ Just the Facts ~

Camping:  Pine Near RV Park, Winthrop, WA

Restaurants:  Three Fingered Jack's Saloon, Sheri's Sweet Shoppe

We drove out of North Cascade National Park and saw some of the prettiest views imaginable.  These are some beautiful mountains.  We also drove an incredible grade that made us glad we were doing it going east instead of going west!  Yikes it was steep.

We rolled along some beautiful countryside and ended up in the town of Winthrop, WA.  It's a cute town that has saved itself by becoming a tourist town.  All the original buildings house shops and restaurants.  There's a great atmosphere in the town.  We had lunch and walked around downtown shopping.  Greg and Gage bought new hats!

We liked it so much that we decided to stay the night.  We checked into the very nice Pine Near RV Park and turned on the AC.  Great spot.

Day 12-13: North Cascades National Park

~ Just the Facts ~

Camping:  Newhalem Campground, Loop C, Site 108

Restaurants:  Cascade Burgers, 

A new national park is a good day for the Miller's. North Cascade was a surprise for us. We envisioned it being a "sky island" -- one of those parks that you climb in altitude to get to and that climb lifts you above the heat. Not so.  North Cascade is at about 500 ft in elevation and was plenty hot.  Thankfully, we had plenty of shade so we didn't miss the air conditioners too much.  

NCNP is a serious temperate rain forest -- like the redwoods that we call home.  However, the trees are quite different and the underbrush in the forest is much more dense.  Everything in the park is covered with moss and anything not covered in moss is likely to be covered in berries or ferns.  

The river that runs through NCNP is dammed in several locations and there are lots and lots of power poles and lines everywhere in the park.  There is lots of hiking and boating in the park.  We did a very long drive on our free day there.  

At one high overlook, we saw an interesting phenomenon on the water below us.  The wind was pushing on the water, rippling the surface.  We watched it grow and grow and all of a sudden, the wind was upon us, too.  

Then the rain started.  Big, fat raindrops that felt so good after the heat we'd been in.  We stood there and watched the weather move in around us.  So beautiful.  

We noticed some folks in a kayak and canoe on the lake below who were probably not enjoying the weather as much as we were.  

After that, we explored the nearby town of Concrete, WA where we found this amazing high school that crosses the road.  We also had ice cream and then took off up a beautiful side road to another dammed up lake.  

At one point, we got out and did a nature trail loop through the forest and 600 year old Douglas Firs.  It was so beautiful as well as being hot and humid.  

 We'd been warned that the glacier run-off made the lakes dangerously cold but Baker Lake was not. It was refreshing and delightful.  We skipped rocks and enjoyed cooling off.  

Mt Shuksan

Rained on the way back.

Mt. Baker, looking up the aptly named Boulder Creek

We woke up the next morning to rain.  And had to pack up wet chairs and gear!  Oh well.

Day 11: Bellingham, WA

~ Just the Facts ~

Camping: Larrabee State Park

Restaurants:  Rocket Donuts, Black Pearl

College: Western Washington State University, Fairhaven College @ WWU

We camped in a state park along the coast but in a forest.  It felt a lot like home although the trees were not redwoods, of course.  Somehow I forgot to get a picture of our campsite.  We were just there for an overnight and were tired after driving out of Seattle's traffic.

Bellingham is a very cute town.  In the morning, we drove through town and found a place to park the motorhome on a level, shady spot.  Bellingham is rather hilly so that wasn't as easy at it sounds.

The "people" in this art piece represent the people who live on the islands in the bay off the coast of Bellingham.  It was a very cool exhibit.

The tour was led by two students and they did a great job of guiding us through the campus and explaining what life is like for WWU students.  The entire campus is an outdoor art exhibit and some of the art was amazingly cool and some was whimsical. 

We really enjoyed the tour and the campus.  Ruth was feeling good about it except that it has a pretty large student body (not UofO big or U-Dub big but still).  At the end of the tour, Ruth and Greg walked over to the Fairhaven campus.  Fairhaven is like a college inside a university.  They were lucky enough to find a professor working who gave them a tour and talked to Ruth -- kind of a mini-interview.  She was so happy -- what a great experience.  

Seriously amazing views!

All the art at WWU is meant to be interactive.  Here's Greg, Gage, and Ruth interacting with The Stairs to Nowhere (which is what the kids call it).

After the tour, we had lunch at a great Pho/Asian Fusion place, did some grocery shopping, and headed out to North Cascades National Park.  A brand new national park for us . . . exciting.  Plus, we are hoping to get up in elevation and out of the heat.  Fingers crossed. 

Day 9 - 10: Seattle WA

~ Just the Facts ~

Camping:  Seattle-Tacoma KOA, Kent, WA

Restaurants:  BBQ Pete's, Fogon's, 

Colleges:  University of Puget Sound, University of Washington

Leaving Portland, we headed to Tacoma to tour University of Puget Sound.  Another great school that we enjoyed immensely.  The campus was beautiful and we could easily imagine the kids being happy there.

After a nasty drive through Seattle's rush hour, we settled in at the KOA in Kent, Washington.  We were hot and tired but still had enough energy to celebrate Greg's birthday by going to a nearby BBQ place with some rather delish bbq and Shiner Bock beer!  

We had our first tour of a large urban school at University of Washington.  U-Dub is impressive and beautiful but both kids decided that urban and large was not for them.  

Ruth decided this statue looked like the personification of the Migraine.  :) 

If you look closely, this one has birds nest materials behind it.  

We LOVED the "Harry Potter" library.  You could almost hear the music! 

After the tour, we found a great Mexican restaurant and then went down to Pike's Place Market.  It was hot and humid and crowded but so much fun.  

Oh, and the Mountain was out.  Mt Rainer, as seen from U-Dub's campus

Day 6, 7, & 8: Portland, OR

~ Just the Facts ~

Campground: Barton County Park

Restaurants: The BBQ Truck at @ Nature's Country Store, Hopworks Urban Brewery, Joe's Donuts, Coffee House in the Grove, Food Trucks,
College:  Pacific University, Lewis & Clark College, Reed College, Portland State University

There are lots of colleges in the greater Portland area.  Thankfully, we were only visiting 3 of them with a driveby one to be sure it wasn't a good fit.  

We camped in a county park about a half-hour outside of Portland.  It was along the Clackamas river and just beautiful.  We had the place almost to ourselves.  Really peaceful.  Oh, and bunnies were hopping around.  

Our first trip was to Pacfic University which is in Forest Grove, about 40 minutes west of Portland near the coast.  Greg had to take a conference call so the kids and I left him in the car outside a cute little coffee shop while we did the tour.  Different schools handle prospective student tours differently.  At Pacific, you meet with an admissions counselor before you go on the tour.  We enjoyed that meeting -- one on one attention is good!  The campus is beautiful.  And, Ruth *loved* it.  Definitely on the list.  

Ruth with Boxer, their Chinese dragon-goat-dog mascot

Gage at the indoor field - huge and perfect for the Northwest's weather

Pacific is a beautiful campus

We headed back to Portland to have lunch with friends from college days, Adlai & Lisa and their son, Henry.  It was too short but a great chance to catch up with them a bit.  After lunch, we made our way to Lewis & Clark University just outside Portland.

Lewis & Clark is another great college.  We were pretty tired and it was pretty hot so we had to keep reminding ourselves that 90F weather was not the norm in Portland.   Also, we found that doing 2 tours in one day was a bit much!  

The last college we visited in Portland was Reed College.  Another spectacularly beautiful campus.  We got excited about this one.  

 After visiting Reed, we drove by the very urban Portland State campus, had lunch at the food trucks and then took a long drive up the Columbia and then wound our way back through beautiful Oregon countryside to our campground.  What a day.

Portland is famous for it's food trucks! What a great way to eat! Everyone gets what they want!

Oregon roadside bathrooms often have fresh flowers.  We've seen this before!

Beautiful spot to look down on the Columbia River. 

What an amazing view!