We Regained Our Cool! - Tuesday, August 5, 2020

For the past four days, we have been in a cool, comfortable summer spot in the U.S. After a couple of weeks of high-90s to the mid-100s, first in San Antonio, and then on our eight-day drive to the Pacific Northwest, we have finally found summer nirvana, temperature-wise. Not only that, but our current location is absolutely gorgeous. 

Bob and I have a little history in this area. In about 2004, Bob accepted a job in Fife, Washington, which is near Tacoma. Gig Harbor is just across the Tacoma Narrows from Tacoma. When we moved up to Washington, we bought a home in Milton which was very close to Bob's work. After we had been there a little over a year, we looked at a house that we thought we'd like to buy in Gig Harbor. Eventually, we decided against it, which ended up being a good decision since Bob later accepted a job offer on Oahu in Hawaii. But we still think Gig Harbor is a pretty, charming place!

Here in Gig Harbor, Washington, the temperature is moderated by the Puget Sound, the Pacific Ocean, and the Olympic Mountains. Our afternoon high temperatures since we've been here have ranged from 73 to 79, and our overnight lows are 57-59. 

That will change tomorrow when rain is forecast. Our high will only be 70, with a low of 53. On Friday, we again will be in the mid-70s, and pretty much through the rest of August. Woo hoo. This is great walking weather!

Speaking of that, after spending Sunday and Monday getting set up with cable TV, high-speed internet, and going grocery shopping, my friend Diane and I hooked up for a Gig Harbor Historic Waterfront 10k Volksmarch yesterday. We started at 10:30 a.m. from the Harbor General Store.

I'd guess it was about 73 degrees when we started and about 77 degrees when we finished at 1:15 p.m. It was definitely warm, but breezes off the bay helped to cool us down once in a while. Anyway, let's go explore Gig Harbor and the bay...

This is a maritime town, inextricably linked to the water.

A seiner.

The first three white settlers in 1807 are believed to have been from Croatia, Portugal, and Montenegro. They were fishing in Puget Sound when they had to seek shelter in the harbor during bad weather. Native Americans had a village in the harbor already. The three fishermen liked what they saw and decided to settle here.

One of many historical markers on this walk

Docks in the bay.

Gig Harbor is known as "The Maritime City" and "Gateway to the Olympic Peninsula." People love their watersports in this protected harbor. 

Pretty banners!

Donkey Creek Park

Artistic bench!

Gig Harbor's maritime history.

Walkers, sailors, kayakers, joggers were all out in force today.

Our walk directions led us through historic downtown and all around the harbor. We passed small parks, the municipal dock, walked around Donkey Creek Park, past Finholm's Food Store, past restaurants, and residences. We stayed within sight of the water for most of the walk 

Stories of two Gig Harbor residents lost on Mt. Everest.

Historic Finholm's.

This woman did a lot for Gig Harbor. She was a hard worker!

We walked through Crescent Creek Park and saw a creative marine and wildlife totem. As you walk around the totem, you see, eagles, owls, salmon, seals, a whale, otter, crabs, and many more critters. Look closely, don't miss anything. 

After we did a lap around Crescent Creek Park, we crossed the street and walked Randall Road through a neighborhood to the Public Dock. The tide was way out, so the dock was on the ground. We walked down the dock to get closer to the water. 

Crescent Creek Park Totem.

Picnic shelter built by the W.P.A in 1937,
re-roofed in 2008 for historic preservation.

This young buck loved hanging out in this front yard.

View from the public dock: a well-used water playground. 
This is Tuesday around 11:30 a.m.

A great blue heron just caught his lunch.

This beautiful artwork is in someone's front yard!

A snack along the trail: juicy,
sweet blackberries are in season!

Hydrangeas.

California poppies.

Rotary International clock.

Locks on a bridge.

The Shenandoah: one boat, three lives -- teacher, seiner, tender.

The Shenandoah is being restored for
its 100th anniversary in 2025.

Big, festive color bowls of flowers. 

Marina view.

Trolley food truck and outdoor seating.
It was open earlier.

Chalk art.

The Russell Family Foundation building.

The Russell Family Foundation building above sits behind a hedge, back from the street. It's such a lovely respite to walk through the meticulously landscaped grounds, listen to the waterfalls, and enjoy the Oriental architecture.

We continued down Harborview Drive to its end at a little park at the old ferry landing. From there, we had a spectacular view of Mt. Rainier. However, it was very hazy today, so we could not get a clear picture. I will be returning there frequently to chase the "money shot" of Mt. Rainier on a crystal-clear day. Stay tuned.

Overlooking The Narrows toward Mt. Rainier. 

Puget Sound, low tide. This view is also from the park.

The small park we visited has historical markers about Galloping Gertie, the worst suspension bridge disaster in history, and this old ferry landing and the steamboat service that used to carry passengers across the Tacoma Narrows.

It would have been frightening
to drive on this bridge!

Anemone ranunculoides.

Maritime Pier.

Diane is ordering a snack at Harbor
General Store after our walk.

When we finished our 10k walk, I had a BLT sandwich which came with chips and a dill pickle. Diane ordered a snack and bought a chocolate chip cookie for each of us. That was a very yummy cookie. Thank you, Diane.

Do we recommend this walk? You bet we do. Great job Evergreen Wanderers. I'll be doing this walk again while we're staying in Gig Harbor. Bob will do it with me one evening after he gets off work.

An August River and Gorge - Saturday, August 1, 2020

Bob and I made the Pacific Northwest our home for over 30 years. During that time, the august* Columbia River Gorge played an important role in our lives. And since the month is August, I thought it would be fun to use the other meaning of the word august in my opening salvo.

[*august (adjective): 

1. inspiring reverence or admiration; of supreme dignity or grandeur; majestic.
2. venerable; eminent.]

The Gorge (as it is affectionately and commonly known in the Pacific Northwest) started forming 17 million years ago when hundreds of fissures opened up in northeastern Oregon and lava floods poured out covering 60,000 square miles with lava up to 100 feet deep. 

Six million years ago, the lava floods ceased. The lava cooled and hardened into basalt rock which accumulated up to a mile in depth throughout the region. 

Fast forward to two million years ago, give or take. There was a change in the climate. Global cooling and increased precipitation caused massive ice sheets to form, advance, and retreat. Long story short, the ice sheets blocked rivers causing huge lakes to form behind them in what is now British Columbia (Lake Columbia) and the panhandle of Idaho (Lake Missoula). Huge, deep valleys in western Montana stored water to a depth of 2,000 feet equaling over 500 cubic miles of water (the combined volumes of Lakes Erie and Ontario!). 

At the end of the Ice Age (15,000-17,000 years ago), a huge ice dam holding back Lake Missoula broke, sending a scouring wall of water, rocks, and ice southwest through what is now Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. It is thought this cycle of ice and flooding occurred over 40 times. [The information above was paraphrased from this most excellent website: http://hugefloods.com/Express.html - if you would like more info on the geologic wonder that is the Columbia River Gorge, I highly recommend you read more at the link provided!]

You can imagine how all that water and rock would eat away at the basaltic lava and create the geologic wonder that is the Columbia River Gorge. August, indeed!

A great portion of our drive today was along the mighty Columbia River, the largest river flowing into the Pacific Ocean from the North American continent. The Columbia is one of the world's largest sources of hydroelectric power as evidenced by dams along the waterway. Today, we saw the John Day Dam, The Dalles Dam, and the Bonneville Dam. (I have photos on my cell phone, but our internet coverage is so terrible in this RV park that I cannot put them into my blog until we order high-speed internet, probably on Monday. I can, however, put in photos that I took on my camera.)

What makes The Gorge so important in OUR lives is that one of our first dates was a hike to the top of Beacon Rock, a monolith on the Washington side of the Columbia River. According to OregonHikers.org, "Beacon Rock is one of the most prominent and distinctive geological features in the Columbia River Gorge, an 848-foot landmark that was once the core of a volcano; what remains is what was not washed away by the massive force of ice-age flooding. It is one of the tallest monoliths (singular piece of rock) in North America, along with California's El Capitan, Georgia's Stone Mountain, and Wyoming's Devils Tower."

The hike to the top of the rock is 1.8 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 680 feet. There are approximately 50 switchbacks going up the trail, but who's counting. What you'll really be doing is looking at the views of the river and the switchbacks below you. Bob thought taking me to the top of Beacon Rock would test my mettle. Ha! Little did he know, my sister Janyce and I had been hiking trails in the Gorge for years. I love this kind of stuff. Just call me Nature Girl.

Anyway, driving along the Gorge today, we reminisced about the role this area has played in our lives. The anniversary of our first date is almost exactly 37 years ago (July 30, 1983). We've hiked to waterfalls on both sides of the Gorge, taken the boys to see the dams along the river, watched windsurfers in Hood River, and have gone boating with our friends Charlie and Debbie. 

In addition to the Columbia River, the dams, and Mt. Hood, we also saw Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier today. What we didn't see today were all the spectacular waterfalls that line both sides of the Gorge. It's grand to be back in the Pacific Northwest! (Unfortunately, Multnomah Falls parking lot off I-84 was closed due to the coronavirus. That is one of the top attractions in Oregon. We had planned to stop for a break to view the waterfall, but it was not to be today. Bob was able to see it from the driver's side as we headed west.)

When we reached I-205, we headed north into Washington. I wanted to take a phone of the Welcome to Washington sign, you know, like so many other state sign photos I've posted along the way. There was just a bit of disappointment when all I saw on I-205 was this measly little sign...

It says, "Entering Washington."

We kept looking for a "real" welcome sign but didn't find one on I-205. I think there's one on I-5.

After a slog up I-5 in Washington, we made it to Gig Harbor shortly after 1:00 p.m. and checked into our home for over a month. Our site is a huge pull-through at the end of a row. We have a view of the forest out of our dining room window. The temperature was 69 degrees at 1:00 in the afternoon. Eat your heart out, San Antonians. Later this afternoon, it was sunny and in the high 70s. Wonderful.

This will do!

Plenty of room for social distancing.

We love being on the end.

Sunnie (our cat) is entertained because one of the park's dog walks is across the road from us. He likes to watch them out the window.

After setting up, we opened all the windows to let in the fresh air, sat in our recliners, and promptly fell asleep for 1-1/2 hours. Then it was off to Taco Time for lunch and Safeway for grocery shopping. 

Over-the-air TV is terrible here, so in addition to signing up with Comcast for high-speed internet, we're also going to get cable TV! 

Bob went bike riding this afternoon to check out the route to where he'll be working. He came back completely exhausted. The bike path has really long, steep hills. He said the roads are easier to ride than the bike path. Tomorrow, he is going to walk 1-1/2 miles to his workplace and see if that's better than riding his bike. I know he wants the exercise and he is also kind enough to let me use his truck during the day while he's working.

At one point, we were going to drive both vehicles here from San Antonio so I could have my Escape Pod. However, we like to ride together, share the driving responsibility, and talk along the way. It would have been hard for both of us to drive five-to-eight-hour days to bring both vehicles. Neither one of us would have had a break driving. As it stands now, if both of us need a vehicle in the same day, we can rent one. That will be a lot cheaper than the gas it would have cost for us to bring the Escape!

Okay, has this now become an august blog? Or just the first of August blog? That's all for now. Have a great Sunday.