The Yakima Valley Wine Trail

We are headed to the Gorge at George for the Dave Matthews concert this weekend, but since we had a couple of days to kill we figured we’d spend some time in Washington’s wine country.  The Yakima Valley is dry and sunny – perfect for growing all kinds of fruit.  Luckily the Yakima River runs through it, providing much-needed water for irrigating the vineyards and orchards.

We found lots of great wineries to choose from.  Most tasting rooms charge only a nominal (like $5) tasting fee (a few are even complimentary), so its an inexpensive way to spend an afternoon.

Well, it’s inexpensive until you start racking up “souvenirs”, anyway.

We loved just driving through the countryside.  I couldn’t believe all the apple trees.  Huge clusters of red and yellow apples, just waiting to be picked…can’t wait to hit the Saturday Farmers’ Market!

Great Alaskan Road Trip: Week 16 Roundup

Each Friday, I post some relevant (and not-so-relevant) stats about the trip, as well as a little write-up of what it’s like to live out of a van for weeks on end. Here’s where we are overall:

• Total miles driven: 11,391
• Total miles by ferry: 537
• Total days on the road: 109
• Total nights in a hotel: 4
• Total miles hiked: 110.44

Camping at Deception Pass State Park on Whidbey Island

Some interesting stats for this week:

• Fuel stops: 2 (diesel: $4.10/gal in Puyallup, WA; $3.95/gal in Grandview, WA).  We are averaging 22.6 miles per gallon, not too bad! 
• NPS Sites Visited: 2 (San Juan Island Historical Park and Mt. Rainier NP)

Great campsite in old-growth forest at Mount Rainier National Park

We’ve had a couple of people send in questions about day-to-day life in the van, so I thought I’d answer those today. 

Q: How do you do laundry?  Do most of the campgrounds have laundry facilities?

A: We haven’t had too much difficulty with this aspect.  Most RV parks have a few coin-op washers and dryers.  And there are always Laundromats – most small towns seem to have one, and we’ve used them a couple of times.  Some places are cheaper than others, of course, but usually it is anywhere from $2 to $4 to wash and dry, per load. We try to keep a good supply of quarters on hand.

One complaint about the van is that there’s not really a good space to put a clothes hamper.  So we have a mesh bag that we keep on the floor in the bathroom.  It’s not too bad at first, but as the pile of dirty laundry grows we sometimes have to shuffle the bag around when it gets in the way.

Q: A question about your shower in the Sprinter - do you use it, or have you been using campground showers?

A: We have yet to use the inside shower in our Sprinter, although I have used one in a Roadtrek we rented before we bought our van.  The bathroom is pretty small as it is, once you pull the shower curtain around you don’t have a lot of room in there.  Other drawbacks are: the handheld shower nozzle makes it more difficult than it needs to be, the water tankage isn’t really sufficient to take a lot of showers “off the hook” (not a problem if you are at a campground with full hookups though), and probably the most important drawback to me is that the bathroom floor (and sometimes the walls if you’re not careful) ends up all wet.

Kevin did use the outside shower once (with swimtrunks on) and it worked well, but used more water than we thought it would.  Not a big deal if you have a water hookup available, but the fresh water tank only holds 25 gallons so if you are boondocking for an extended period of time you’d want to watch how much you use.

But I think for a short trip of boondocking in a national park or something like that, two people could probably use the shower once or twice with not too much fuss.  We probably would use it if we were just on a three- or four-day “camping” trip.  But for day-in, day-out use on a long road trip like we are on I think it would get old to have to heat the water each day, then dry out the bathroom when you are done.  Much easier to just use the shower facilities at the RV park.

The shower facilities at RV parks run the gamut – some are incredibly nice (private bath/toilet/sink) while others are more college dorm-style (several small private changing alcoves and shower stalls in a large room).  Cleanliness runs the gamut as well (always wear shower shoes, obviously), but so far we’ve only come across one place where we took a pass.

One item that I am glad we picked up before we left on the trip are our quick-dry Sea to Summit towels.  There’s not a lot of towel rack space in the van to fully dry out the nice fluffy bath towels that we usually use at home.  The quick dry towels are great, although they take some getting used to (think car shammy cloths).

Mount Rainier National Park, Washington

It’s hard not to love Mount Rainier.  With its spectacular meadows full of wildflowers, it seems like the most tranquil place on earth.  But it’s not.  As an active volcano, Mt. Rainier is fraught with danger.  As an active volcano in close proximity to major metropolitan areas, it is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world.  It hasn’t erupted since the 1800’s but even a small eruption could release catastrophic volcanic mudflows, as the mountain’s glaciers would melt and push a slurry of deadly debris towards Puget Sound.  (Can you tell we went on a walk with a Doom-and-Gloom Ranger who did his best to scare the bejeesus out of us?)

Putting on a brave face for the camera.

And the dangers just multiply if you are one of the insanely brave (or bravely insane) climbers who attempt the summit.  Crevasses, rockfalls, avalanches, and whiteouts are just some of the conditions you’ll face.  The mountain claims the lives of about two climbers per year, on average.

A team of flea-sized climbers make their way through a snowfield

Dire superlatives aside, Mount Rainier is one of our favorite parks.  There are plenty of hiking trails that reward you with wildlife encounters and gorgeous views of the mountain.

There are also some lovely waterfalls, like Narada Falls.  A cool mist permeates the air around it, making it a perfect stop on a hot day.

And one of my favorite trails in the park leads through the Grove of the Patriarchs.  It’s an easy walk through an old-growth forest of cedars, hemlocks, and Douglas firs.  Some of the trees are 1000 years old.  Not quite as old or as large as the giant Sequoias (which I love) but still very impressive and humbling. 

Awe-inspiring.

Everett, WA: Boeing’s Future of Flight Tour

It’s no secret that Kevin’s a smart guy – he married me, didn’t he?  But seriously, he’s like rocket-scientist smart.  When he was still in college, he had an internship at Boeing, working on the 777.  So it only made sense that while we were here in Washington we should stop in at the Boeing plant and take a tour of his old stomping grounds.

Unfortunately all of his old Boeing cronies are long gone, so we didn’t get the VIP treatment, just the regular tour that’s open to the public.  While we waited for the tour to start, we looked around the state-of-the-art Future of Flight center, which had interactive plane design software, full-scale replicas of the engines, and even a 727 cockpit (fun for kids of all ages!).

Captain Kevin – Don’t call him “Shirley”.

The tour took us inside the main assembly building, the world’s largest building if you measure by volume.  It’s so large you could actually fit all of California’s Disneyland inside it, with room to spare for parking!

They didn’t allow cameras or phones inside the building, but we did see some cool planes parked outside.  This oddly-shaped one is the Dream Lifter – one of four modified 747’s that were built to carry the parts for the new 787.  Parts for the 787 are sourced from all over the world, and each section of the plane (flight deck, tail, fuselage, etc) is pre-assembled elsewhere and transported in a huge chunk to the plant here for final assembly.  You can see the tail is hinged like a door to allow them to load up the enormous cargo. 

We also had a chance to see some of the unpainted 747’s sitting out on the tarmac.  The green color is a protective coating that they wash off before they give the plane the final paint job.

As I mentioned, we weren’t able to bring our own cameras into the assembly building, but I did find some photos on the web.  This is pretty much what the inside of the plant looks like.  Here’s a 777 being assembled.  It was pretty cool to see them assembling one of the planes that Kevin was involved with!

Photo courtesy of johnnyjet.com

San Juan Islands, WA: Friday Harbor on San Juan

We caught the crowded Saturday afternoon ferry to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.  This is the most populated island, and it’s a popular weekend spot for folks who live in Seattle.  But the word “crowd” is relative – San Juan Island is still a pretty tranquil getaway compared to Seattle’s traffic and tourist crowds.

View of Puget Sound and Mt. Rainier from San Juan Island

We were surprised to find a National Parks site on the island – the San Juan Island National Historic Park.  I guess in the late 1800’s, the U.S. and Britain got into a dispute over who owned the island.  Both sides set up military installations, and a cold war-like stalemate ensued that lasted 12 years.  (The dispute was eventually settled via arbitration, and the British gave up their claim.)  Apparently, the British made their camp quite homey, with a formal garden, fruit trees, and permanent structures.  In contrast, the American camp was kind of a desolate place – it was on the drier side of the island, and the men lived in tents with only a few wooden structures.  Both the American and British camps have been preserved.

Where would you rather set up camp?

Although it was somewhat interesting, I certainly wouldn’t recommend taking a special trip to San Juan just to see the historical park – it’s no Fort Sumter or anything.  I think the main part of San Juan Island’s allure is just hanging out at one of the pubs or cafes in Friday Harbor, watching the boats go by. 

San Juan Islands, WA: Orcas Island

The San Juan Islands are a small island group located between Washington and Canada.  Years ago Kevin went on a five-day kayaking trip through here, and he’s always wanted to come back and explore them by car.  We caught an early morning ferry from Anacortes and arrived on Orcas Island just in time for lunch.

The town of Orcas, one of about three towns on the island.

The island is small, only about 57 square miles, with a population of about 5,000 people.  It’s definitely a rural setting – there are no stoplights but plenty of orchards and farms.  The scenery is gorgeous, and the view from Mt. Constitution (the island's highest point) gives you a great view of all the other islands (and the mainland, on a clear day).

On Friday afternoon, we did a nice hike around Mountain Lake in Moran State Park, then headed to our campsite at Cascade Lake.  The campsites were a little close together, but it was a beautiful day to be outdoors.

On Saturday morning, we spent some time in Eastsound, the island’s largest town.  The main street has a lot of artsy shops and a couple of pretty public beaches.

The Saturday Farmers’ Market was in full swing.

We had a ferry to catch, but that didn’t stop us from wandering past each of the stalls and sampling some of the fresh fruits – organic strawberries and Shiro plums.  They were perfectly ripe and sugary sweet.

Great Alaskan Road Trip: Week 15 Roundup

Each Friday, I post some relevant (and not-so-relevant) stats about the trip, as well as a little write-up of what it’s like to live out of a van for weeks on end. Here’s where we are overall:

• Total miles driven: 10,261
• Total miles by ferry: 537 
• Total days on the road: 102
• Total nights in a hotel: 4
• Total miles hiked: 105.94

It’s easy to see why our Milepost guidebook calls the area south of Cache Creek, BC the “Arizona” of Canada. 

Some interesting stats for this week:

• Fuel stops: 5 (diesel: as low as $4.25/gal in Bellingham, WA up to $4.88/gal in Prince George, BC)  
• Bears sighted: 2
• Buffalo sighted: about 30
• Manta Catamarans sighted: 1

Say…that looks like our boat!  We recognized the distinctive profile of this Manta catamaran anchored off Lopez Island in the San Juans.

It’s been a looong week of driving, but yesterday we made our final border crossing back into the United States.  Yay!  Total number of border crossings for the trip: 12.  This time we had to wait in line at the border with all the Canadians who were heading south for cheap gas and groceries.  We were in line for about an hour, then I made the mistake of “declaring” that we had six – count ‘em six – cherry tomatoes in the fridge.  Well, that got us singled out for an Agriculture inspection which meant that our van was searched inside and out for any additional stray tomatoes or other veggie contraband.  If I had known the delay those stupid tomatoes were going to cause, we would have just eaten them while we were waiting to get to the checkpoint!  Needless to say, our tomatoes were confiscated, and we finally made our way to Bellingham.

We were eager to get to the RV park because we’d ordered our mail delivered, and the package included our Arizona license plate tags for the van (which expire at the end of August, so we were cutting it close.  I was worried about what might happen if we got pulled over in Canada without having proof of valid registration.  We wouldn’t want a repeat of what happened with our Coast Guard documentation back in Martinique!)  Luckily our mail was waiting for us when we arrived, we put our shiny new tags on our license plate, and were once again law-abiding citizens.  Welcome to Washington!

From the Yukon to the US: Bound for the Border

We haven’t posted much in the last few days, but that’s because we’ve been covering a lot of ground.  From Skagway, the route we took skirted the Yukon-British Columbia border, then meandered through rural B.C. for about a thousand miles.  Most towns are small (less than 1,000 people).  As you can imagine, there aren’t a whole lot of touristy things to do, but we tried.

We are back in Bison Territory.  We saw a big herd just lounging beside the ALCAN Highway between Watson Lake and Liard Hot Springs.  That guy moseyed right in front of our (slowly) moving van without batting an eye.

The Liard Hot Springs was definitely worth a stop.  We didn’t stay overnight, but we did soak in the hot pool for a while.  One end of the pool was a simmering 126 degrees.  It was so hot that when people got out of that end you could tell how deep the water was by the red marks all the way up their torso…like being slowly poached alive.

The towns of Fort Nelson and Dawson Creek (not that Dawson’s Creek…“I don’t wanna wait!  For our lives to be over…”) passed by in a blur.  We did happen to drive through Chetwynd, BC which bills itself as the “Chainsaw Sculpture Capitol of the World”, and holds an international competition every summer.  You can see the results all along the highway as it runs through the small town.

We passed through Prince George again last night, and it was about as exciting the second time as it was the first.  But at least we had another great meal at the BX Pub.  Today’s leg took us through the industrial town of Quesnel.  Forestry is definitely big business in this part of BC – lots of logging trucks on the road, pulp mills, and an MDF factory, which caused the worst smog I’ve ever seen.  The pungent odor was tough to bear – we had to close the vents and try not to breathe until we got out of town.  Bleh.

Tonight is our last night in Canada.  We are in Cache Creek, about 170 miles from the US-Canada border.  We only have a few weeks left on the Great Alaskan Road Trip, but we are hoping to pack in as much as possible before we head for home.  Next up: Washington state…San Juan Islands, music venues, and National Parks galore!

Skagway, Alaska

We are probably confusing the heck out of you guys – one day we’re in Alaska, then Canada, then Alaska again.  Can’t we make up our minds?  It doesn’t make much sense until you look at a map. 

View Larger Map

The town of Skagway is accessible by ferry from Haines (or via cruise ship – luckily there was only one boat in town today!).  But in order to drive to Skagway you have to go through Canada.  We had heard that the highway was pretty scenic, so we decided to detour down from Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory.  The drive followed the historic White Pass, a route that many of the Klondike Gold Rush stampeders traveled on foot.  That was an impressive feat, especially considering that the Canadian Mounties required each person to bring at least one ton of provisions and supplies so that they wouldn’t starve to death on Canada’s watch.  I can’t imagine pushing and pulling all that gear through this desolate landscape.

A six-block area of the old town has been designated a National Historical Park and is managed by the National Park Service.  Back in the 1890’s, Skagway was truly a lawless boomtown full of confidence men, thieves, and women of ill-repute.  We took a guided tour of the Red Onion Saloon, a former brothel.  The price for the tour was similar to what it would’ve been in the 1890’s: $5 for 15 minutes.

The brothel workers made a living out of “mining the miners”.  The girls were paid in gold, and by the time the Klondike Rush was over many of them had become very wealthy women.  Especially the madams, who always manage to get their cut – even from the tourists.