Lydia's Visit and Anacortes Vacation with KP and Family: 7/13 - 7/29/14

Following the 4th of July festivities with Kelly Paul (KP), Tammy and Devon, we moved the RV up to Portland, into the Portland Fairview RV Park.  This is a nice, large park, within the Portland metroplex, and convenient to the Portland Airport.  While the park is well maintained, it apparently does not come equipped with sufficient electrical service to meet the needs of the newer big rigs.  It was unusually hot in Portland, and the electrical circuit for our string of RVs kept clicking off.  Upon inspection by one of the park employees, I was told that I could only run one AC.  We managed, but it was an inconvenience.

Portland Fairview RV Park

BB safely flew from Portland to Austin and secured our granddaughter Lydia and chaperoned her for Lydia's very first airplane flight back to Portland.  Upon arrival, Lydia detailed her maiden airplane trip and her upcoming week on the paper tablecloth at the restaurant that night.

BB and Lydia Catching Up

Lydia's Vacation Map

Lydia

From Portland, we moved closer back to North Bend and checked into the Winchester Bay RV Resort, just North on US101 from where Kelly, Tammy and Devon live.

Aerial View of Winchester Bay / Salmon Harbor

Pleasure/Fishing Boats at Salmon Harbor

RV Spots @ Winchester Bay

This is a very nice RV park, near Salmon Harbor, where the Umpqua River flows into the Pacific.  Since the Oregon Dunes is nearby, this park is heavily used during the summer by ATVr's, and by fishing enthusiasts.  Unfortunately, I am neither of those, so this park, while spacious and well-maintained, seemed a little hectic to me.  However, when BB and I first visited this park during March of 2014, it was lightly used, and appeared much quieter.  Regardless, this park was a good staging point for some activities involving both Devon and Lydia.

Lydia was interested in seeing the Pacific, so we went back to the beautiful beach around Bastendorf Beach, past Charleston, OR.  Here are some pictures of Lydia and Devon enjoying the beach:

Lydia at the Pacific

Devon and Henri Play at the Beach

Lydia and Sea Kelp

Pictures in the Sand

Lydia & Devon in the Cove Cave

Devon

Just Showing Off

Kelly, Devon, Lydia and I also toured the Umpqua Lighthouse.  Oregon is blessed with some beautiful lighthouses which make for fascinating tours.  This particular lighthouse was built at the mouth of the Umpqua River and was first lit (using mineral oil lamps) in 1894.  It was automated in 1966, and is now being run as a museum by Douglas County, Oregon.  The beautiful first-order Fresnel lens, manufactured in Paris in 1890, is something to see and the signature two-white flashes and one-red flash is beautiful to see at night.

Devon, Kelly, BB, Lydia and our tour guide

Devon, Kelly, BB and Lydia

The Umpqua Lighthouse

Lighthouse at Night

First Order Fresnel Lens from Inside the Dome

On Friday the 18th, Kelly, Devon, Lydia, BB and I also took a guided tour of the Oregon Dunes through Spinreel Dune Buggy and ATV Rentals.  This was a great one-hour tour which provided history of the ecology of the region, and some wild rides up and DOWN the steep sand dunes.  Everyone had a grand time.

Our Dune Buggy

BB (upper left), Lydia and Kelly

Devon and BB

Devon, BB and Lydia

The Group at the Ocean

On Saturday the 19th, Kelly, Tammy and Devon hitched up their RV and met us in Winchester Bay, and we convoyed to the Columbia Riverfront RV Park, in Woodland, Washington, for an overnight stop enroute to our vacation in Anacortes Washington.  This is a great, smaller park, in a rural setting, right on the mighty Columbia River.  While we only stayed one night, BB and I would definitely go back to this nice park.  It is amazing to me to see the size of the commercial ships that routinely go up and down the Columbia.

Columbia Riverfront RV Park

Playground and Lawn by the Columbia

Our RV's

Lots of Shipping on the Columbia

From Woodland, WA, we convoyed with Kelly up to beautiful Anacortes WA, and check into the Pioneer Trails RV Park.  This is a beautiful park and one BB and I would love to go back to.  The weather was delightful and the scenery in this part of Washington State is something else to behold.

Our RV's at Pioneer Trails

Our Back Yard

As a special treat, Devon had his 13th birthday on this trip.  It was so great to celebrate this milestone with him and with family!

Kelly, Tammy and Devon

13 Candles!

Ice Cream Cake; Yum!

The islands in northwest Washington State are spectacular and is something you should see.  From our base at Anacortes, you can take numerous ferry rides to many of the other islands.

One of our first trips a car drive over to view Deception Pass which, as noted on the map above, is south of Anacortes  This is a beautiful area with a spectacular bridge built by the CC  in the 1930's.  Deception pass connects the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Skagit Bay.  Fidalgo Island is to the north and Whidbey Idland is to the south.  Deception Pass was mapped by Joseph Whidbey in 1792 and was so named by George Vancouver because it had mislead him into thinking Whidbey Island was a peninsula.  Interesting name and history; beautiful scenery.

Scenes from Deception Pass

While there, we also took a ferry ride from Anacortes to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.

Heading from Anacortes to Friday Harbor

Washington DOT Ferry

One of the Car Storage Decks on the Ferry

Ferry Passenger Lounge

Friday Harbor was a little crowded, so we drove to Roche Harbor on Whidby Island and had a delightful lunch.  We also toured the quaint town of Roche Harbor.

Tammy, Devon and Kelly

Scenes from Roche Harbor

It seems that in any economy, there are "niche" jobs that need to be performed, and that some enterprising individual will fill that need.  In the RV world, one of those jobs is RV mobile repair and RV cleaning and detailing.  In the maritime business, especially in those areas which have pleasure craft, here's an individual who provides a critical service, all with a sense of humor:

After lunch, we headed back to Friday Harbor for the return ferry ride to Anacortes.

Ferry Landing at Friday Harbor

Kelly Relaxing on the way back to Anacortes

We also toured the Anacortes yacht basin and the Cap Sante viewpoint.  While there are some impressive commercial vessels in this part of the world, there is also an amazing assortment of pleasure boats here as well.

Kelly on the Dock

Replica of a Square Rigger

Devon and Kelly

Harbor Scene

Devon, Tammy and Kelly

Views from the top of Cap Sante ViewPoint

The Cap Sante ViewPoint is a Great Place to Take Pictures

Views from the ViewPoint

Devon and Lydia Exploring

Devon making Sure Kelly's Hat doesn't Blow Away

We had such a wonderful time with Kelly, Tammy and Devon, and it was delightful having our granddaughter Lydia along for the trip as well.

As in any camping trip, we spent many evenings around the campfire, roasting Smores and making sure we all smelled like woodsmoke.

Devon and Lydia Roasting Smores

During our trip, my Grand Daughter Lydia made everyone bracelets!  We wore them proudly!  Nice job, Lydia.

Clockwise from Bottom Center:  Paul, Bonnie, Tammy, Devon and Kelly

Regretfully, the vacation came to an end, KP and his family departed for North Bend and church camp for Devon at Camp Lutherwood, while BB, Lydia and I departed for Seattle in preparation to take Lydia back to Austin and pick up our Grandson Grant for a week stay in Seattle.

Sad to See it End!  Safe Travels, Kelly, Tammy and Devon

While in Seattle, we stayed at the Lake Pleasant RV Park in Bothell, WA. We'll update the blog to document some of the things we do with Grant in Seattle soon.  Stay tuned.