In the "hood" at Hoodsport

Actually, we weren't in the neighborhood when we went to Hoodsport, but it was the best thing I could think of at the time.  Hence the title: In the "hood" at Hoodsport.

We traveled about 45 minutes north from Olympia and our friends, Helen and Milo, traveled about an hour south so we could see them.  It had been about a year and a half since we last met up with them because they moved from Colorado Springs to Poulsbo, Washington.

After a picnic lunch provided by Helen and Milo, Helen led us on a 2 mile hike in the Staircase Campground.  If you talk to Sandy, she went on a WALK, not a HIKE.  She doesn't do hikes.  Just ask her!

If you think your eyesight is going bad and the pictures seem a bit blurry, it is not you!  I got a new, smaller camera, and it was the cheapest one that Walmart had.  BIG MISTAKE!  Most of the pictures taken on this day are out of focus, or in focus in one part of the photo and blurry in another.  Go figure.  The camera is going straight back to the store and I will get another Nikon Cool Pix for my second camera.

Okay, I'm off my rant now and settled down.  I better get re-focused on my blog.

There was one area in the Staircase campground where the trees were covered completely with moss.  This one looked like it was draped in long, white cobwebs,

while this one looked like it came off a set in a scary monster movie.  The gnarled, moss covered branches made it look rather ominous and sinister.

Helen and Jerry walked on ahead of us.  I'm sure she was telling him all about this part of Olympic National Park since she and Milo have been here before.  She is like a walking encyclopedia and has a boatload of information stored in her head.

And what walk/hike in the woods would be complete without a slimy green slug?  I'm sure Sandy and Jerry's small grandsons would love one of these!

Helen knew where every interesting point was on the trail.  We took a side trail to see a gigantic Western Cedar tree with a 14 foot diameter lying on it's side.  Think of all the cedar lined closets that could have been made with this tree!

The photo below was taken by Helen, and I borrowed it from her Facebook page.  Thanks, Helen!  Guess that is why you're seeing me in the pictures for a change.   Sandy is holding on tight to the cable of the swinging bridge, which she wasn't so sure of when we had to cross it.  None the less, we all made it safely to the other side.

No sway to this log bridge and it was sturdy enough to hold the three of us!

And to make a good day even better, we made a stop at the local coffee company that also carried homemade ice cream.  Can't beat a combination like that!

We were all trying to decide what kind of ice cream we wanted.  Most of us wound up with blackberry cheesecake, absolutely delicious from the first bite to the last.  Between the coffee and the sugar in the ice cream, we all were wired up enough to drive home without getting sleepy!

Thanks again to Helen and Milo for planning the day for us and furnishing the picnic lunch.

Olé for Olympia!

With Bountiful, Utah behind us, we had two more days of driving before we met up with Sandy and Jerry (Don's sister and brother-in-law).

The rolling, grassy hills as you enter into southwestern Oregon remind me a whole lot of Arizona's Interstate 17 between Phoenix and Prescott.  Hard to imagine this is the Pacific Northwest.  Right after I took this picture, a motorcyclist passed us up, holding one hand way above his head.  I took a longer look and realized he was taking a picture at 65 miles an hour.  If it were me, I'd be holding onto that motorcycle for dear life. 

It got more interesting and scenic as we headed west along I-84, where the Columbia River flows between the borders of Washington State and Oregon.

 As we got nearer to Portland, we could see Mt. Hood almost straight in front of us.  Signs along this stretch stated there were chain up areas in case of snow.  That made me very thankful we were driving this stretch on a sunny day, devoid of any type of snow, sleet or rain.

After a one night stopover in Fairview, Oregon (just outside Portland), we had only two more hours of driving until we reached our meeting point.

For four days, we will be nestled between the pine trees and ferns at the American Heritage RV Park in Olympia. Ah, peace and quiet!

There are so many vines, bushes and undergrowth here you can hardly see from one site unto the next one.  Quite different than most private RV parks we encounter.

Ah, I smell bacon, and as I peek through the bushes, it looks like Sandy and Jerry are cooking breakfast!  I have to check this out.

Yep, Jerry is stationed at his favorite outdoor grill, cooking up some yummy eggs.  Gotta go, my stomach is calling me!

Beautiful Bountiful

After two days of driving on wind-whipped Interstate 80, we arrived in Bountiful, Utah.  Traveling across I-80 is boring, with few towns/trees/scenery along the way, and we were glad to have a James Patterson audio book to listen to for 8 hours.  Gas mileage dropped  as we slogged our way west, wishing we had a tail wind instead of a strong head wind.

At least when we were on Interstate 84 in Utah, the landscape got more interesting. Here is a view from one of the rest stops in Utah.

We arrived at Fran and Phil Fidel's home in Bountiful on Thursday afternoon.  Luckily, we got the best site, F-1, which included a free spot and meals!  What a deal!  It was a tight squeeze, but Don managed to ease the 5th wheel back into the cemented side area.  There was just enough room to open the door on one side and partially put out the bottom slide on the other side of the RV.

Our hosts, Fran and Phil, posed for a photo under their beautiful Weeping Birch tree.  I've seen and heard of Weeping Willows, but this is a much prettier tree.  Sure wish they would grow in Arizona, but I guess they would look rather strange in our xeriscaped front lawn.

Our gracious hosts not only fed us, but they also chauffeured us around Salt Lake City and Bountiful.  Of course, one of the stops we made was at the famous Mormon Temple in downtown SLC.

 Looks like Fran is either waving at someone she knows, or is trying to get her point across to Phil. Sometimes it takes a little animation to get your point across to the male gender!  Need I say more?....  At our age, I don't know whether it is because we are hard of hearing or just using our selective hearing button.  :- )

A Walk on the Wild Side

On Sunday we took a drive in the late afternoon to check out the Wild Animal Sanctuary.  It's located in Keenesburg, Colorado, just south of I-76.   Trust me, it is way out in the "boonies"!

This is not a place that breeds animals.  The staff here attends to wild animals that were captive under the most unfortunate circumstances. Some were raised to be "pets" in basements, cages and other cramped places/ used for photography sessions or raised for their fur. Some of the bears had their teeth and claws removed, one was addicted to nicotine (the Russian circus trainer used cigarettes as a reward to train it).   The staff here has rescued animals from almost every state in the U.S.

I could almost hear Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz  say, "Lions, tigers and bears...oh my!" as we approached the entrance.

These two lions didn't seem to have a care in the world.  Talk about being relaxed!

There were hundreds of gulls flying around.  Odd to see, especially since this place is so far from the ocean!  Their numbers were matched only by the plethora of rabbits living out here on the prairie.

This bear had just woken up as we approached the enclosure.  He lumbered off to the pile of melons nearby, completely ignoring the gulls surrounding him.  He was on a mission.

The recently completed "Mile into The Wild" walkway allows visitors to observe and photograph animals above their compounds.  It has 100 sections of bridges that were added in multiple stages.  Sometimes, the animals were directly below us!

I caught a picture of these gulls looking down at the ground.  It was almost as if one was saying, "Hey, Gully, look at bear down there!  What in the world is he doing?"

It was late in the afternoon when we arrived, just when the animals were emerging from their dens and becoming more active.  We spotted this lone hybrid wolf up on a huge mound of dirt.

A few minutes later, another two hybrid wolves appeared at the end of the mound.  Didn't see them emerge....all of a sudden they were there and looking right at the first wolf.

It was interesting to observe the interaction between the different members of the pack.  I was snapping away as the gray one got closer and closer to the Alpha wolf.

This wolf was in a different compound and was much fatter and huskier than the first pack.  Looks like he was licking his chops and ready for supper.  Even though there are rabbits everywhere, all the animals ignore them.  They are intermittently fed a special diet, so they are never ravenous enough to hunt down and kill one of those cute bunnies.

It's "TCT" or tiger cuddle time in the early evening for these two!

I got a kick out of these two grizzlies.  The male was lumbering after the female along one side of their huge enclosure.  Apparently, he somehow ticked her off (like guys do at times) and she was having nothing to do with him.  She plopped herself in the big pond of water and wouldn't let him in!  He sat there beside it, looking dejected.  Maybe he learned his lesson and next time he'll be a bit nicer........

It's great to see these animals enjoying life.  They may not be out in the wild, but this is the next best thing.  Plus, they have "room service"!  Even though they can't order off the menu, I bet they are content with the meals.  The cottontail rabbits are also thankful for that!

New Chapter in our Life

This year, we tried something completely new to us: being full time volunteers.  For the months of July and August we are camp hosting at Boyd Lake State Park, located in Loveland, Colorado.

Here we are in our olive green volunteer shirts.  Trust me, if I had picked out a color for volunteers to wear, it certainly would not be olive green!  I feel like I'm in camouflage when I combine the shirt with my khaki shorts. The combination might be good for hiding in the tall grass behind our 5th wheel, but I haven't tried that yet: the possibility of a snake being there keeps me away.

I wondered if I was considered a "host" or a "hostess", and thought about maybe reading up on what it takes to becoming "A Hostess with the Mostest" under Epicurious.com.  That didn't happen. There was a book titled "The Perfect Hostess" but I knew that was never going to happen either. Another book listed on the internet was "Entertaining is Fun: How to be the Perfect Hostess".   Don knows I am "entertaining" at times, but that relates more to me doing goofy things.  I think I'll just settle on being a good ole camp host and leave it at that.

This year, they changed out all the signs in front of the camp hosts sites.  At the end of July, they even added our first names.  I guess the campers here can figure out that I'm Laurel and the guy sitting outside reading is Don...

Boyd Lake has 148 pull through sites in the campground area.  We have a site in Loop A, which backs up to this prairie, allowing us great views of the incoming storms and evening sunsets.  This is a view from one of the many bike paths around the lake.

Don can even choose his lunch off the "A la cart" menu here.  Although he has a lot of choices, he usually chooses a bologna or peanut butter sandwich.  No need for an extensive lunch menu for him.

Boyd Lake is big enough to have a marina and different sections for fishing, water skiing, sailing and jet skiing.  On nice days, especially weekends, it is crowded with boats of all sizes.  There is something for everyone here.  There is boating, skiing, swimming, fishing, walking and bike trails, wildlife viewing (including a resident eagle), waterfowl hunting, camping and picnicking, all within the park.

Here is a view of the swim beach, popular with the locals.

Bret, Tatum, Nate and Ella came over one Saturday while Kim was out of town.  It was one of the hot weekends, so they had fun fooling around in the water.  I think Bret's arms finally got tired of throwing Ella into the water numerous times.

Every weekend, the campground is full, packed with people in tents, pop up campers, huge Class A motorhomes and trailers.  We've seen everything from a  16 ft. tiny trailer that housed 2 adults and 2 large dogs and the gigantic behemoth seen below.  That big fella was shipped over here from Germany and was the most unusual RV we've seen here so far.

It has been a wonderful experience for us.  The other 5 couples who are camp hosting here have become friends and we've had the chance to share our knowledge of RVing with other people who camp here.  It has kept us active (and off the streets), plus we get our site and utilities for free!  Also, our 3 children know exactly where we are at for these two months.  Usually, when we travel during the summer, they don't know where we are at until that evening when we stop (or maybe even a day or two later). 

It's always great to be able to wake up to see the sun rising in the distance, casting a golden light across the calm blue lake in addition to having a wonderful view at sunset from our site.  What more could we ask for?