THE INSIDE PASSAGE

I couldn’t post last evening due to the complete absence of communications links via internet or cell phone!  There were one or two spots along the way yesterday with a bit of cell service, but otherwise, ZIP!

We spent the day gazing at the beautiful scenery along the Inside Passage with Canada on both sides — mainland to starboard, barrier islands to port.

Through the night last night I awoke to take a snap or two...

Human habitation on the shoreline!

That lone “star” is actually Mars!  Quite bright at 3:00 a.m.

We woke to a foggy morn that took its sweet time burning off, but once it did — Oh MY!  Blue skies, green shoreline, black water — and a whale that I wasn’t quick enough to snap!  Hoping to see more.  Paul was on the look-out most of the day but no luck so far.

We spent the day soaking in the wilderness view, occasionally walking the deck, and playing around on our “little machines.”  Thank goodness for APPS!

Here are some shots of our passage:

We capped off our day with a pick-up dinner in the cafeteria and watched the sunset before heading off to our cabin for the night.

LOADING AND LEAVING SHORE

WE pulled out of our comfy nest in Kent, Washington at 11:00 a.m. and pointed our rented steed north on I-5, but not before having Paul snap the elusive Mt. Rainier in the rear window:

The promised photo of Mt. Rainier!

 After cruising through moderate traffic in Seattle (using the HOV lane helps) I punched in at 75 MPH and only 2 hours later we exited in the town of Fairhaven, just on the edge of Bellingham.

With time on our hands until the 3:00 boarding call, we found a lovely little sandwich shop and enjoyed a leisurely lunch near the port before heading down to the Ferry Terminal.

The loadmaster informed Paul that loading the ferry was a bit like a giant game of Tetris, pulling vehicles of one size and another, heading to one port or another, until it was just right. Meanwhile, everyone waited their turn in the staging area...

Once aboard, we made our way to our cabin, but not before settling Mom in a comfy seat in a forward lounge where she could enjoy the view, the grape, and a game of FreeCell!

We left the dock on time, that is, at 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time, and are currently making our way up the Inside Passage with Canada on our right, and barrier islands on our left.

Paul checked out our cabin and touched base with the folks back home before our safety briefing, then he and I walked the boat and took in the views from the deck.

 

Passengers on the ferry have the option to camp in the solarium or on deck, or sit up in the various lounges.  It’s all too cool for words!  Paul is off exploring the vessel, then we’re headed up a deck to check out the snack bar or restaurant for some dinner.  I’m posting from my iPad on cell service, so hope the pics all come through!  More tomorrow, hopefully with some wildlife sightings to report.

INTO THE EVERGREEN STATE

WHEN we got moving this morning, it was a balmy 78º and dry, dry, dry, which is something those of us from the insanely humid Gulf Coast LOVE for a change!

Having bid friends adieu last evening, we had only to load up and head out this morning on the long road back to more populous regions.  U.S. Highway 20 is a well-maintained mostly 2-lane highway that cuts a tidy track (in this part of the country) from the eastern desert of Oregon, through the Willamette National Forest in the Cascades, and on to join Interstate 5 below Bend, Oregon.

On our way through the Cascades, the vistas are quite spectacular although the drive itself can test the nerves on a road bordered by sheer rockface on one side and sheer drops into vast gorges on the other!  Paul was a bit preoccupied gawking, so our pictures are scarce for this leg of the trip...

  One of many lakes scattered through the Cascades

Douglas Firs densely populate the Willamette National Forest

Once on I-5 we expected, wrongly, to make much better time than on the 60 MPH U.S. 20.  The problem with fine, wide interstates is that they tend to run through high-density cities and clog up at the end of the business day.  So it was that we found ourselves crawling around Portland, Oregon on the
I-205 bypass at 5:10 this evening.  I'm quite sure it would have been faster to stick to I-5 straight through Portland but we got around eventually and entered Washington state around 7:00.

We rolled into the bedroom community of Kent, about midway between Tacoma and Seattle at 8:40 this evening, after enjoying a surprising view of Mt. Ranier!  We don't have a photo tonight as a certain designated photographer was  busy trying to figure out what he was seeing by looking at a map, instead of snapping the picture first and consulting the map later.  So here is our rendition until we're on our way out in the morning and get a good shot...

😂😂😂😂

We're sleeping in tomorrow and tackling the last two hours to Bellingham well rested and excited to board our ferry north.  I don't know what the internet situation will be aboard the ferry, but I will try to post via cellular if nothing else.

HOLED UP IN HARNEY COUNTY

AS is usual for us, we started our day in the late a.m. but today we didn't have to rush to hit the road.  I built in this extra day to visit with my childhood bestie and her husband in Harney County, Oregon.  Patty met us at the hotel just after 11:00 and after setting Mom up with coffee and some reading, Patty took Paul and me out to breakfast nearby, then to a local outfitter to get Paul cowboyed up to hang out today at the ranch with his newly adopted mentor, Mr. Jeff...

  

Paul's new hat and work boots and posing after another rabbit shoot with Mr. Jeff

On our way back to the ranch, we stopped in at a small, local museum-cum-gift shop that featured some fairly unique Pawnee & Navaho products.  Paul picked up some things for his family members before we left.

While Paul and Jeff did manly things outside, Mom and I had a great visit with Patty -- catching up the 40 years of family happenings since we last saw each other when Patty was at UNC Chapel Hill and I was at Campbell University in North Carolina.

I took a few moments outside to snap the view from Patty's and Jeff's front porch before we headed back into town for the night.  The silence is profound and the views spectacular.

A panoramic view of eastern Oregon's high desert

Sagebrush (left) abounds in the high desert!

Patty poses with the Alaska voyagers

We are all so happy we were able to have this time to catch up with a dear friend and will remember it for a long time to come.  Thanks again, Patty and Jeff!  Tomorrow we head for Everett.  It is our hope to once again find military lodging, this time with the Navy at either Everett or Whidby Island.  From there it's less than an hour to Bellingham.  Onward!

PACIFIC TIME!

IT isn't our last time change, but reaching the Pacific Time Zone is a fine milestone for now!  We left the town of Layton around 10:45 and put roughly 100 miles behind us before stopping for fuel.  In the intervening miles we battled a fair amount of traffic in Salt Lake City and caught a fleeting glance of the Great Salt Lake in spite of the DOT's sad decision to put an extra high barrier wall between the north- and southbound lanes of I-15.

Shortly after our fuel stop, we crossed the famous Snake river (for the first of several times) into Idaho and noticed an immediate change of terrain from rocky hills to lush farmland with golden fields of wheat interspersed with emerald corn and potato fields.

 

The Snake River border between Utah and Idaho, and potato fields for miles!

Idaho gave way eventually to Oregon and yet another change of scenery -- this time to high desert with rocky outcrops on surrounding hills and sagebrush as far as the eye could see...

With the extra hour in our day, we arrived at the home of my childhood friend and her husband at 4:30 in the afternoon.  Paul immediately took off with the man of the house to ride the range and do a little vermin eradication -- if you're squeamish, don't look at the photo in the gallery!  We had time for visiting and dinner before heading into a lovely Hotel in Burns, Oregon where Paul finally got his swim before bed.  We plan to hang out here for the day tomorrow to visit a bit more before resuming our trek on Thursday.

PURPLE MOUNTAIN MAJESTIES

KATHARINE Lee Bates got it exactly right when she wrote of the purple mountain majesties in her poem, composed atop Pike's Peak in the Rocky Mountains!  The mountains are indeed breathtaking, although not without a bite -- in my case it was a bit of altitude sickness that aggravated my inner ear, triggering vertigo, and the fringes of a headache.  Fortunately, the vertigo was easily dispatched with meclizine and the headache went away of its own accord when we got below 5,000 feet.

The terrain today was fierce and magnificent with I-70 crossing the Rockies at 10,000+ feet, then dropping slowly to 7,000 feet as we cruised the bare slopes of Vail and continued into a valley bowl, surrounded by high plateaus and desert.  Paul kept his head on a swivel to capture as much as he could with his camera...

The myriad mountain views as we wound down the western slopes of the Rocky Mountain range.

The snowless slopes at Vail imitate an arachnid!

As we left the serious heights of the Rockies and Colorado behind and entered Utah, the scenery changed completely and we found ourselves in a sort of bowl-shaped valley surrounded by massive plateaus on three sides.  We had distant views of the Canyonlands before leaving the barren wilderness for the busy cities of Provo and Salt Lake, finally stopping for the night in the town of Layton, just south of Ogden on I-15.

Paul proves he was there!

 Sometimes we went over, sometimes we went through!

  

Surrounded by plateaus in the eastern desert of Utah

A distant view of the Canyonlands to our south

We're headed through Idaho and into Oregon tomorrow after a night's rest at a better than average accommodation (Home2 by Hilton in Layton).

The view from our room and Mom relaxing after a day on mountain roads.

INTO THE ROCKIES

DAY three found us departing McConnel AFB at 11:00 and making a brief fuel and food stop before getting back on the Interstate and heading west across Kansas -- the heartland, America's breadbasket!  The fields are measured in square miles with corn and wheat alternating and grain elevators dotting the horizon at regular intervals.  The newest crop we saw gives the lie to the idea that America is not investing in renewable energy -- the wind farms were plentiful and extensive all across Kansas, and in Oklahoma (yesterday) as well.

 

Quintessential Kansas -- tidy farmhouses surrounded by trees in a sea of farmland

 The newest crop in the heartland -- extensive wind farms dot the prairies of Oklahoma and Kansas

We crossed into Colorado around 4:30 and immediately gained an hour as we entered the Mountain Time Zone.  Temps increased as we progressed west, and the land developed rolling hills that gave way to foothills and finally the majestic Rockies.  As we made the summit above Denver and began the descent, the mercury dropped 10 degrees in a matter of minutes!  It's a balmy 76 degrees in Idaho Springs, our stopping point this evening.  Paul found the Argo Inn, a lovely creekside hotel since not a single one of the many Air Force bases around Denver had lodging available tonight.

This view never gets old.

Mom enjoying a glass of wine on our balcony overlooking the creek.

Paul is pleased with his discovery of our Inn for tonight.

Our room has a little balcony overlooking a whitewater creek which, we're told, is oft rafted by local enthusiasts.  Paul made his way down to the bank and decided against a dip in the snow-melt-fed creek.  His only regret in choosing this particular Inn?  NO POOL!  But he'll survive.  Tomorrow we're headed to Ogden, UT.